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Morning Must Reads for Tuesday, November 15, 2016

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Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 320th day of the year. There are 46 days left in 2016.

Utahns want better-funded schools. Jim Dabakis loses his leadership slot. Gov. Gary Herbert announces another special session.

The clock:

  • 34 days until the Electoral College meets to cast their votes for president and vice president (12/19/2016)
  • 66 days until Inauguration Day (1/20/2017)
  • 69 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (1/23/2017)
  • 114 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
  • 357 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
  • 721 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)

Ten talking points for Tuesday:

  1. Poll: Utahns overwhelmingly want better-funded schools to move the state out of last place in per-pupil funding [Utah Policy].
  2. Sen. Jim Dabakis is ousted from Senate leadership, which means he loses his spot on two powerful committees [Utah Policy].
  3. Sen. Ralph Okerlund says he sees a real opportunity to make progress on public lands issues in a Donald Trump administration [Utah Policy].
  4. LaVarr Webb wonders why states that legalize marijuana (either medical or recreational) get away with violating federal law [Utah Policy].
  5. Gov. Gary Herbert calls a special session to fix some gas tax funding issues for Wednesday [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
  6. Donald Trump‘s plan for his first 200 days in office includes either renegotiating or withdrawing from NAFTA and stopping the TPP [CNN].
  7. President Barack Obama holds his first press conference since the election of Donald Trump. The president says Trump will remain committed to NATO [Fox News]. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin speak by phone and agree to foster better relationships between their two countries [New York Times].
  8. Donald Trump asks for top-secret security clearances for his children [CBS News].
  9. Donald Trump‘s chief strategist Steve Bannon, who previously ran Breitbart News, is raising some eyebrows because of that website’s history of “Mormon baiting” [Tribune].
  10. Former Rep. Kraig Powell’s nomination as a judge clears a Senate committee despite some opposition from LGBT groups [Deseret News, Tribune]. 

On this day in history:

  • 1777 – The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation, a precursor to the Constitution of the United States.
  • 1864 – General William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea begins with the burning of Atlanta, Georgia.
  • 1969 – 250,000 people demonstrated in Washington against the Vietnam War.
  • 2011 – Hundreds of police officers in riot gear raided the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City, evicting hundreds of protesters and then demolishing the tent city.