November 5, 2020 Update

Happy day three of election week.  I suspect we will have final counts from enough states to decide the presidential election by this time next week.  But as important and symbolic as the presidential election is, probably the races that should matter most to us are "down ballot."  Our state and local elections (this year school board, county, and ballot issues) have much more influence on our quality of life, but they are usually not very high priority for voters.  The good news is that if we are patient, all of these key issues will tend to work themselves out and we will get some clarity on the close races shortly.  

CORONAVIRUS STATS

Nationally, the CDC reports 9,463,782 cases with 233,129 fatalities.

Utah:  124,292 cases (up 2,807 from yesterday); 5,830 hospitalizations; 632 deaths (up 7 from yesterday)

Utah County:  32,248 cases (up 746 from yesterday); 1,063 hospitalizations; 88 deaths (up 2 from yesterday)

NEWS YOU CAN USE

• As far as local elections go, it looks like Utah County voted against a new form of government, and the gap between McAdams and Owens is tightening for the 4th Congressional District as votes continue to come in.
• If you saw the Amber Alert yesterday, you will be happy to learn that the 10-month-old baby has been returned to her family after the efforts of some good Samaritans, who found the baby in her car seat abandoned on a random front porch. The individuals who stole the car and the baby were caught and arrested.
• Google released the most googled phrases on Election Day and "fries near me" and "liquor near me" were at all-time highs. The next top phrases were searching for pizza, Chinese food, sushi, and Mexican food. It appears a lot of people were looking for comfort foods to cope with the stress of the elections, so if you reached for those extra french fries, you're not alone! 

PROVO SOCIAL MEDIA

THE MAYOR'S DAY

Today, Mayor Kaufusi:

• Held a meeting on the roads in Provo
• Participated in a meeting on the new City Center building
• Met with the Customer Service Director
• Met with individuals from Downtown Provo
• Participated in a South Utah County Transit meeting
• Met with individuals from Public Works
• Attended MPO
• Participated in a COG meeting

FUN STUFF

How much has Provo changed in 25 years?  Well, the BYU Music group Vocal Point reminds us that while we used to risk being "podunk" and our mayors have gotten much better, music has frequently defined each era.  And PS- Ruby we are way better then Des Moines.  Enjoy!

Friday night is also BYU's big game at Boise State (and on the Smurf Turf).  Go Cougs!

Wayne