Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City.
Lawmakers override Herbert’s vetoes. UTA overhaul begins with a high-profile firing. Trump may meet with North Korea’s Kim in Sweden or Switzerland.
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Tick Tock
- 2 days until the Utah GOP State Convention (4/21/2018)
- 9 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention (4/28/2018)
- 18 days until the final day a veto override session may begin (5/7/2018)
- 68 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018)
- 202 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
- 285 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
- 932 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
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Here are the news stories driving Thursday
Turf battle
Lawmakers override two of Gov. Gary Herbert’s vetos, expanding their authority when it comes to the Attorney General’s office and intervening in lawsuits [Utah Policy].
UTA overhaul claims a scalp
The Utah Transit Authority fires President and CEO Jerry Benson because of the overhaul bill passed by lawmakers during the 2018 session [Utah Policy].
Lawmakers add to their summer workload
Legislators complain they have too many boards and commissions they are part of, but they voted to add 10 more task forces that they are a part of [Utah Policy].
Trade war toll
The World Trade Center Utah says the burgeoning trade war with China could hit Utah’s economy hard [Utah Policy].
Rollin away
Rollin Cook steps down as Executive Director of the Utah Department of Corrections [Utah Policy].
Other Utah headlines
- The Utah GOP is asking the full 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the recent ruling against their appeal over SB54 [Deseret News].
- Republican U.S. Senate candidates Mike Kennedy and Larry Meyers have failed to file required financial disclosure forms ahead of the GOP state convention [Tribune].
- The Salt Lake City Council may shift new revenue from a proposed sales tax hike away from hiring new police officers in favor of public transit improvements [Tribune].
- A state audit finds that officials in Plymouth have inadequate controls in place for spending using public funds [Deseret News, Tribune].
- Sandy City passes the states strictest anti-idling ordinance [Deseret News, Tribune].
- A new study finds nearly one-third of homes in Salt Lake County could be destroyed in the event of a major earthquake [Deseret News].
National headlines
- President Donald Trump may hold a face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Sweden or Switzerland according to sources [Bloomberg].
- Dozens of Democratic challengers have raised more money than Republican incumbents, which is fueling speculation the GOP is on track to lose control of the House in November [Politico].
- House Republicans want to push another massive tax cut bill this summer to shore up their chances in November, but Republicans in the Senate are not interested in more cuts [Washington Post].
- President Trump’s allies are worried his personal lawyer Michael Cohen will flip following the FBI raid on his offices [Politico].
- Farmers across America are so worried President Trump’s trade war with China will lead to economic hardship for them that they may shift their votes away from Republicans in November [New York Times].
- U.S. Trade officials say they should have a preliminary agreement with Canada and Mexico on NAFTA sometime in the next three weeks [CNBC].
- An ex-Playboy model who allegedly had an affair with Donald Trump has been freed from a contract that prevented her from discussing the tryst [New York Times].
On this day in history
- 1775 – The American Revolutionary War begins with an American victory in Concord during the battles of Lexington and Concord.
- 1927 – Mae West is sentenced to ten days in jail for obscenity for her play Sex.
- 1971 – Charles Manson is sentenced to death (later commuted to life imprisonment) for conspiracy in the Tate-LaBianca murders.
- 1987 – The Simpsons first appeared as a series of shorts on the Tracey Ullman Show.
- 1993 – A 51-day standoff with the Branch Davidian cult near Waco, Texas ended when fire destroyed the group’s compound after it was tear-gassed by authorities. Cult leader David Koresh and about 75 of his followers were killed.
- 1995 – The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City is bombed, killing 168 people.
- 2000 – A federal appeals court ruled in a high-profile case that 6-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez could stay in the U.S. until judges heard a full appeal from his relatives who sought to retain custody of the boy. He was eventually returned to his father in Cuba.
- 2011 – Fidel Castro resigns as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba after holding the title since July 1961.
- 2013 – Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev is killed in a shootout with police. His brother Dzhokar is later captured hiding in a boat in a backyard in the suburb of Watertown.