Wayne's Daily Updates: July 13, 2021 Update

It has been a quiet day in many respects today. I am speaking on a panel tomorrow at the UVU Transportation Summit on Provo's transportation strategies, needs and priorities, so I have been spending the last few days doing some research on anticipated growth in Utah County and how Provo fits into that. I'll try to share some of that in a future edition.

I also took a little time this afternoon to walk up and down Center Street and meet some of the folks who are visiting Provo for Nu Skin's annual meetings. I have met some people from Oklahoma, Tennessee and Michigan who are kind of overwhelmed with the mountains. Many were looking for restaurant recommendations (always happy to suggest Provo eateries) and commenting about how nice it is to walk through historic downtown Provo. I answered a few questions about the Provo City Center LDS Temple and even directed some folks to the Covey Center and to Pioneer Book for a break from the heat for an art gallery stroll or some bookstore browsing. We sometimes take for granted our little corner of the world and it is kind of fun to see it through the eyes of our visitors.

CORONAVIRUS STATS

Nationally, the CDC reports 33,726,363 cases with 605,140 fatalities.

Utah: 420,685 cases (up 471 from yesterday); 17,857 hospitalizations; 2,402 deaths (up 3 from yesterday)

Utah County: 100,006 cases (up 122 from yesterday); 2,864 hospitalizations; 411 deaths (no change from yesterday)

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Today is National French Fry Day! Be sure to try at least one of these 15 French fry places in Utah County, and check out some discounted and cheap places today! In honor of National French Fry day answer the question below! You can recommend a spot or an alternative to traditional fries (like sweet potato fries). Results in tomorrow's update. Loading…
If you haven't noticed, the air quality in Utah has been pretty bad due to fires in surrounding states as well as the heat waves coming though, so officials are asking Utahns to limit their time outdoors.
A statewide poll by Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics found that 85% of Utahns are very or somewhat concerned about inflation, with mixed thoughts on how long the high prices would linger.
I-15 has reopened as the "Lime Fire" continues to grow to 3,000 acres on the Utah-Arizona border.

PROVO SOCIAL MEDIA

THE MAYOR'S DAY

Today, Mayor Kaufusi:

Participated in the Wasatch Innovation Press Conference in Salt Lake City
Met with a former congressman
Participated in a meeting with the City Attorney
Held a meeting on economic development
Met on upcoming events in Provo
Held a meeting with Miss Utah
Participated in RDA Executive meeting
Participated in the Night of Vision

FUN STUFF

So, I am a little old school (so... a LOT old school). I'm not so sure about artificial intelligence. But, even I have to admit that I enjoyed this entire chapter of "Harry Potter" written by AI predictive text. By the way, JK Rowling has nothing to fear.