Utah
Utah Legislature approves allowing more children at unlicensed day care facilities
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Legislature has given the green light to a controversial proposal boosting the number of children allowed at unlicensed day care facilities.
HB153 cleared its final hurdle Wednesday and now heads to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk.
The bill, which generated a lot of emotion and debate, allows unlicensed providers to care for up to eight children instead of six.
“What I hope it does is encourage more people to be child care providers to help get the capacity that we need,” said Rep. Susan Pulsipher, R-South Jordan, the bill sponsor.
KSL TV recently reported on the child care crisis in Utah as many families struggle to find affordable child care options for their children.
Christina Robles owns two day care facilities – including one at her home in Kearns – and has been watching the issue on Capitol Hill closely. Her facilities are licensed, which she said impacts how she operates.
“I’ll wake up in the morning with a list of things to do to ensure the safety of the kids, to ensure that I can pass any of these unannounced inspections that come through,” Robles said. “That helps keep the kids safe. It helps us make sure that we are abiding by the law.”
Robles is disappointed the Legislature passed the bill increasing the child limit for unlicensed day cares.
“When you say that you can now watch eight children, what incentive does anyone have to become licensed?” Robles said.
Pulsipher added two guardrails to her bill to try to alleviate concerns. First, unlicensed providers will be required to get a background check. They will also be prohibited from caring for more than two children under the age of three at a time.
“I think the people who choose to do child care for the most part are people who love children,” Pulsipher said, “and they care about them, and they’re going to do a good job.”
Child advocates had opposed expanding the limit at unlicensed day cares. But after those changes requiring background checks and limiting the number of small children, one of them expressed cautious optimism.
More kids in unlicensed day care? Utah Legislature mulls changing state law
“We feel OK about where the bill has landed,” said Anna Thomas, policy director at Voices for Utah Children.
Still, Thomas worries about how these new rules will be enforced — and whether eight kids at an unlicensed day care will truly be safe.
“You’re just sort of relying on people to let you know if something is going wrong,” Thomas said, “and people are not going to put their day care programs in the position to be closed.”
HB153 also expands the child tax credit in Utah that parents can claim for their young children.
The vote count on the bill was close in the Senate. It barely passed 15-12. The final vote in the House of Representatives Wednesday morning was 50-21.
KSL TV asked Gov. Cox’s office if he planned to sign the bill, but no one had responded as of late Wednesday evening.
Utah
Utah mom accused of kidnapping autistic son’s 11-year-old bully until he apologized
A Utah mother allegedly kidnapped her autistic son’s bully and kept him at her home until he apologized — then threatened to have her husband beat him up.
Shannon Tufuga, 40, was slapped with kidnapping charges Monday after she rolled up on her son’s 11-year-old bully while he was riding his bike around his neighborhood in early September, according to charging documents obtained by KSL.com.
Tufuga was “driving around looking” specifically for the boy, whom she confronted and corralled into her car without his parents’ knowledge, the documents alleged.
She allegedly hightailed it back to her home in Provo, Utah, and kept the boy there until he apologized to her son.
The boy readily apologized, but even then, the vengeful mom wouldn’t let up, according to the police report. She “threatened to have her husband beat up” the accused bully and sneered that he “was lucky she did not run over his bike,” the documents alleged.
Tufuga eventually drove the shell-shocked boy back to his home.
The alleged kidnapping caused the boy “serious emotional distress” over the following months, and he now suffers from “high anxiety and has had to alter his daily routines significantly,” according to the charging documents.
Tufuga was charged with child kidnapping and aggravated child abuse on Monday, both as second-degree felonies. The charges were lowered from first-degree felonies after the Utah County Attorney’s Office determined that a “reduction would be in the interests of justice.”
Tufuga’s son is on the autism spectrum, according to a post on her Facebook.
Utah
Jazz Injury Report Rules Out 7 Players vs. Raptors
The Utah Jazz are set to face off against the Toronto Raptors to kick off their new week for their second of two meetings across this season, where the Jazz in particular have ruled out a total of seven names on their injury report.
Here’s what the injury landscape looks like for the Jazz and Raptors rolling into the night:
Utah Jazz Injury Report
OUT – Isaiah Collier (hamstring)
OUT – Keyonte George (hamstring)
OUT – Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee)
OUT – Walker Kessler (shoulder)
OUT – Lauri Markkanen (hip)
OUT – Jusuf Nurkic (nose)
OUT – Blake Hinson (two-way)
QUESTIONABLE – Cody Williams (shoulder)
It’s much of the same from what the Jazz have been dealing with across the past couple of weeks.
Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen still remain out with their minor injuries that they’ve suffered past the All-Star break, and Walker Kessler, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Jusuf Nurkic remain out for the year with their respective season-ending injuries.
However, the two names that stick out on this injury report against the Raptors in particular are their two first round picks from the 2024 NBA Draft; Isaiah Collier who’s out with a hamstring injury, while Cody Williams is the latest to be among those listed with a shoulder issue.
For Collier, it’s set to be a third-straight game that he’s been out due to what’s been labeled hamstring soreness, and thus leave the Jazz without both their starting and second-string point guard for the night.
That could lead to either two-way signee Elijah Harkless getting a starting nod for a second straight game following his elevation against the Philadelphia 76ers, or that spot could go to 10-day signing Kennedy Chandler, who played 35 minutes in that same game for a career-high 19 points in his team debut.
As for Williams, he’s been downgraded to questionable for the action due to shoulder soreness; something that could leave him still able to go before tip-off, but remains to be seen based on how he feels before gametime.
The second-year forward has been on a hot streak as of late. In his past five games, he’s averaged an impressive 19.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.0 assists, shooting 50.0% from the field throughout.
If Williams is out of the mix, it’ll leave their frontcourt a bit more shorthanded from what they’ve been used to across the past couple of weeks, and might lead to even more minutes for guys like 10-day signee Bez Mbeng and two-way big man Oscar Tshiebwe to fill those minutes.
Toronto Raptors Injury Report
OUT – Immanuel Quickley (foot)
OUT – Jakob Poeltl (rest)
QUESTIONABLE – Collin Murray-Boyles (illness)
When it comes to the Raptors, they’ll be without a couple of guys on their roster, Immanuel Quickley who’s slated to miss out due to a foot injury, while Jakob Poeltl won’t be playing for Toronto’s second leg of a back-to-back following their previous battle against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Collin Murray-Boyles, on the other hand, has been upgraded to questionable against the Jazz with an illness after previously being out against the Nuggets over the weekend.
Tip-off between the Jazz and Raptors lands at 9 p.m. MT in the Delta Center, where Toronto will have their chance at a 2-0 series sweep over Utah depending on the results.
Utah
POST-GAME: André Tourigny 3.22.26 | Utah Mammoth
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