May 14, 2020 Update

Well - times they are a changing!  As you may have heard, the State has revised the status of the pandemic from orange (moderate risk) to yellow (low risk) as of Saturday, May 16 at midnight.  That has some interesting impacts for us personally and organizationally.  More about that below.

Coronavirus Stats

Nationally, the CDC reports 1,384,930 cases with 83,947 fatalities. 
Utah:  6,749 cases (up 129 from yesterday); 558 hospitalizations; 75 deaths (up 1 from yesterday)
Utah County:  1,435 cases (up 35 from yesterday); 85 hospitalizations; 11 deaths (no change from yesterday)

News You Can Use

• Governor Herbert announced a change in the state's Covid-19 status from orange to yellow effective Saturday, May 16.   The order keeps Grand, Wasatch, and Summit Counties, along with Salt Lake City and West Valley City at the orange level; we along with the rest of the state will move to yellow.  The City's department director team will be meeting Monday to evaluate the City's response as to our facilities and programs.  You can see what the change means for individuals, businesses and organizations in Utah at https://coronavirus.utah.gov/utahs-low-risk-phase/.
• The connection between the Provo River Trail and other trails in Wasatch County is in the planning stages, according to Mountainland Association of Governments and UDOT.
• United Way Director Bill Hulterstrom was featured as an "everyday hero" by the Daily Herald.

Provo Social Media

The Mayor's Day

Today, Mayor Kaufusi:

• Did an interview with CBS News reporter Major Garrett on Provo's response to the pandemic and how local government makes decisions in crises like this one
• Met with mayor's office staff and Legal staff to talk about Public Infrastructure Districts
• Met with the architects and contractors involved in Fire Station 2 and the City Center/Public Safety project
• Did a radio interview with KSL Radio about Provo's status in the top ten metro areas best prepared to recover from the pandemic
• Did an on-camera interview with Channel 2 about recovering from the pandemic
• Met virtually with other panel members to prepare for an online meeting on women in the political process
• Held a virtual meeting with Utah County mayors and others about the response to the Covid-19 pandemic

Fun Stuff

Back to musical tastes - I grew up when James Taylor was among the hottest popular musicians.  Obviously, we have both been growing older.  This appearance on the Tonight Show last week was a reminder that he still has it.  Not so sure about me, however.

Have a great weekend, everyone.  We'll talk again on Monday!

Wayne