It's Wednesday! Just like that we're halfway through the week.

• Today's weather: ☀️ Cold again and sunny, with highs in the mid-30s and lows in the teens.

Today's newsletter is 636 words — a 3-minute read.

On his first day in office, President Trump fulfilled a campaign promise to issue extensive pardons to Jan. 6 rioters.

By the numbers: Of the approximate 1,500 pardoned, 18 are from Utah, according to an NPR database.

State of play: Federal charges for the Utahns who were pardoned range from assaulting law enforcement officers, demonstrating at the U.S. Capitol, trespassing, disorderly conduct and the theft of government property, per NPR.

Driving the news: "This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation," per the executive order.

Zoom in: One of them is John Sullivan from Salt Lake City, who prosecutors said filmed the fatal shooting of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt and sold the footage for more than $90,000. Sullivan claimed he was a citizen journalist.

• He was sentenced last April to six years in prison, 36 months of supervised release and required to pay $2,000 in restitution for felony obstruction and other charges.

The big picture: A majority of Americans surveyed opposed Trump's plan to issue pardons for the rioters, a Washington Post-University of Maryland national poll released last month found.

The other side: Several federal judges also opposed the wide-ranging pardons, Axios' Ivana Saric and Erin Doherty write.

• U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee who has handled Jan. 6 cases, said in November that "blanket pardons for all January 6 defendants or anything close would be beyond frustrating and disappointing."

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The three-member Garfield County Commission has proposed naming a county road after President Trump.

State of play: The two roads under consideration for renaming are the Burr Trail Scenic Backway and a road that connects Antimony, Utah to Scenic Byway 12, also known as John's Valley Road.

• The former would be renamed to "Donald J. Trump Presidential Burr Trail Backway" and the latter to the"Donald J. Trump Presidential Highway," according to a public notice.

What they're saying: "We live and die on our public lands with one administration to the next," Commission Chair Leland Pollock told Axios, adding that Trump did "amazing things" for the county, including reducing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Yes, but: Activists are calling for the preservation of the road named after Latter-day Saint pioneer John Atlantic Burr through a Change.org petition.

• They also argued that the name change would lead to "tourism boycotts" impacting the local economy.

The latest: Pollock noted that renaming John's Valley Road would be his preference.

What's next: A public hearing is scheduled for 1:30pm Jan. 27 at the Garfield County Fair Building.

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🏛️ Utah's Republican-dominated Legislature kicked off its 45-day session yesterday, with a focus on energy production, higher education spending and elections. (Salt Lake Tribune)

🫨 A 3.4-magnitude earthquake shook southern Utah yesterday morning near the town of Boulder. (FOX 13)

👎 The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied the Utah Hockey Club's application to trademark the "Utah Yetis," saying it would lead to confusion. An outdoor products company is already named Yeti. (KSL.com)

Above all else, Rob Sparrer and Chris Sparrer-Baer prioritize quality in their restaurants. Serving quality food. Creating a quality dining experience for customers. Providing quality training opportunities for restaurant crew members.

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It's getting easier for Utah EV owners to locate public charging stations.

By the numbers: There are almost 30 charging stations per 100,000 residents in Utah, and almost 1,000 charging stations total, according to federal data.

The big picture: There are more than 207,000 publicly available EV charging ports in the U.S. today — up from around 95,000 when Biden took office in January 2021.

Why it matters: EVs and charging have been a chicken-and-egg-problem that's now getting a little easier.

• People won't buy an electric car unless they're confident they have somewhere to charge it.
• Companies won't invest in charging infrastructure without enough EV owners to plug in.

Editor's note: Cox Automotive and Axios are both owned by Cox Enterprises.

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Rob and Chris grew up working in McDonald’s restaurants with their father. It’s where they learned important leadership skills. These skills have helped them succeed as franchisees, creating a quality dining experience for customers and career opportunities for crew members.

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🍿 Kim watched "Late Night with the Devil" with her dog, Snookie.

🤒 Erin is back today!

Today's newsletter was edited by Ross Terrell.