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The Davis Journal | September 2, 2022

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Sept. 2, 2022 | Vol. 3 Iss. 35

NEWS BREAK Biden approval rating jumps up

After hitting a record low in July, President Joe Biden’s job approval rating is up six percentage points to 44%, his highest in a year. While this uptick represents a significant improvement on the heels of several policy successes for Biden, he still remains underwater overall, with 53% of Americans disapproving of his job performance. The increase in Biden’s job rating is largely buoyed by political independents, whose approval rose from 31% last month to the current 40%. Democrats' (81%) and Republicans' (4%) ratings of Biden are not significantly changed over the same period. These findings are from an Aug. 1-23 Gallup poll, which spanned an eventful period in Biden's presidency. While recovering from COVID-19, the president announced the U.S. had killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. In the days following, congressional Democrats passed Biden's sweeping domestic spending plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, a health care, climate and tax package.

Moderna suing Pfizer over COVID vaccine technology

DAVIS CHAMBER PRESIDENT AND CEO ANGIE OSGUTHORPE greets Gov. Spencer Cox and first lady Abby Cox at a chamber town hall at Davis Technical College. The governor talked about how individuals and communities need to come together in order to make a change for good.

Governor encourages unity to bridge the divide in America

Photo by Becky Ginos

By Becky Ginos becky.g@davisjournal.com KAYSVILLE—From race issues to housing, Gov. Spencer Cox addressed a variety of topics at a town hall hosted by the Davis Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. It was one of the stops the governor and first lady Abby Cox made as they visited Davis County. After the town hall, they were scheduled to take a tour of the receiving center in Farmington where law enforcement can bring people they have arrested for drug offenses in for treatment.

“Organizations like this (chamber) are important,” said Gov. Cox. “The root cause of the divide we’re seeing is the loss of institutions in our nation. The U.S. is very unique. We have powerful institutions here. I know we’re not a perfect institution but it holds us together and holds us accountable to keep each other in check.” It’s not designed to solve all the problems, it’s designed so no one has too much power, he said. “I have so many good ideas but I’m lucky if in two or three years the legislature passes a messed up version of my good ideas.” Groups like the chamber and rotary

bring people together, said Gov. Cox. “We learn from each other and that makes our country a good place.” Faith based institutions and churches also bring people together, he said. “It’s people who are similar but different. The poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich worship together. It’s imperfect people trying to get better.” Church attendance is at its lowest in the country, said Gov. Cox. “People don’t belong to faith communities. What’s left is that we are lonelier than ever before. We’re wired for connection. How are we Please see COX: pg. 2

Handy to run for legislative seat as write-in candidate By Tom Haraldsen tom.h@davisjournal.com

UTAH REP. STEVE HANDY addressed a crowd of supporters as he announced plans to run as a write-in for his seat in the Utah Legislature.

Photo by Tom Haraldsen

LAYTON—It took Utah State Rep. Steve Handy (R-Layton) a few months of “strategizing and agonizing” before he made a decision, but on Tuesday, the longtime public servant filed papers with the Davis County Clerk to begin an effort to retain his seat in the Utah State Legislature. He kicked off his write-in campaign Tuesday night at a rally with about 80 friends and supporters in Layton Commons Park. “Voters of House District 16 deserve a say in who will be their voice at the State Capitol,” he said in a statement before the rally. “We feel strongly that our views and values align with the community. I am confident voters will respond positively to my record.”

At the Davis County Republican Convention on March 28, Handy was defeated by challenger Trevor Lee, a political newcomer who got 59 of the 92 delegate votes. Handy did not gather signatures to assure his name would appear on the ballot for the Republican primary election. “I came up about three delegates short of getting into a primary,” he said in an interview with the Davis Journal before Tuesday’s rally. “I made a tactical mistake, I didn’t think I needed to gather signatures.” There are more than 18,000 registered voters in HD16, with 11,773 of them registered Republicans. Only 92 came to vote at the county convention. Handy and his wife Holly said that immediately after the county convention, “We had people contactPlease see HANDY: pg. 2

Moderna’s unexpected patent infringement lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech over COVID vaccine technology says more about the future market for mRNA shots than the current state of the pandemic. With the federal government’s vaccine purchases likely to drop off, experts see top manufacturers jockeying for customers and using the technology for other conditions. Moderna on Friday alleged Pfizer and BioNTech copied technology that Moderna first developed years before the pandemic in producing the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in the U.S. Moderna isn’t seeking monetary damages for sales prior to March 8, 2022 or asking for Pfizer’s vaccine to be removed from the market. Nor is it seeking financial gains from vaccine distribution in 92 developing countries. “We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel.

Missouri reinstates spanking in schools

A school district in Missouri announced it will reinstate spanking this school year – but with a parental caveat. Cassville School District superintendent Merlyn Johnson said he did not take the job a year ago with a plan to reinstate corporal punishment – a disciplinary measure the 1,900-student Barry County district abandoned in 2001. Cassville is a small town with a population just under 4,000 people about 60 miles southwest of Springfield, near the Arkansas border. Parents were recently notified of a policy approved in June by the school board to once again allow spanking in school – but only as a last resort and with written permission from parents. Each family will be asked to opt in or out.

Facebook planning to combat election ‘meddling’

With midterm elections just months away, Facebook parent company Meta has announced a plan to fight election meddling. The company says hundreds of people are working across more than 40 teams to combat the spread of false information by nefarious groups, individuals, and foreign governments. Meta said it has spent about $5 billion on safety and security last year alone. The company claims it has banned more than 250 white supremacist groups from its platform.


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