Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City.
Romney has a big cash advantage. Zinke visits Salt Lake City. President Trump is heard on an audiotape plotting to pay off a woman with whom he allegedly had an affair.
TICK TOCK
- 104 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
- 187 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
- 832 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
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HERE ARE THE STORIES YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO TODAY
Romney’s massive cash advantage
The latest FEC disclosures show Mitt Romney raised 17-times as much campaign cash than Jenny Wilson during the most recent fundraising period. Romney also has 14-times as much cash on hand – http://bit.ly/2LkkAeU
Trump administration ignored public lands data
Newly unearthed documents show the Trump administration intentionally dismissed evidence that public lands boost tourism as they sought to shrink two national monuments in Utah – http://bit.ly/2mC4iPO
Utah’s job picture still glowing
Utah again leads the nation in year-over job growth according to the latest employment figures. Utah’s unemployment rate remained steady at 3.0-percent – http://bit.ly/2v2Qi5D
“Political Insiders” say Biskupski is taking the wrong approach on inland port
Our “Political Insiders” have some harsh words for Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski’s refusal to take part in negotiations over the inland port – http://bit.ly/2A9tPcW
I’m not dead yet!
Sen. Orrin Hatch’s office was surprised to discover that Google thought the longtime senator passed away in 2017 – http://bit.ly/2A63k8h
OTHER UTAH HEADLINES
- Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke visits Utah to kick off the Days of ’47 Rodeo [Deseret News, Tribune].
- Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Chris Stewart celebrate the passage of their bill to create a new national 3-digit suicide prevention hotline [Deseret News].
- Rep. Chris Stewart says he’s seen no evidence that Russia tried to help Donald Trump win the 2016 election despite Vladimir Putin’s own admission [Tribune].
- Turnout for the July primary elections was up, but only 24% of eligible voters cast a ballot [Tribune].
- 19 mayors offer up their endorsement of Rep. Mia Love in her race against Ben McAdams [Deseret News].
- Rep. Norm Thurston says the standards for gathering signatures for citizen initiatives and removing signatures should be the same [Deseret News].
- Utah’s 2018 wildfire season will cost the state an estimated $47 million, one of the most expensive ever [Deseret News].
- A legislative audit finds Upstart, the state’s technology-based in-home preschool program is not serving low-income children as well as it could be [Deseret News].
- A new study finds the number of women leaders in Utah is getting smaller [Deseret News].
- The Bird dockless electric scooters will return to Salt Lake City after the company signed a temporary operating agreement with the city [Deseret News, Tribune].
- Fox News personality Abby Huntsman, the daughter of former Gov. Jon Huntsman, is in talks to join ABC’s daytime talk show The View [Hollywood Reporter].
NATIONAL HEADLINES
- President Trump is heard on a newly released audio tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how they would buy the rights to a woman’s story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier – https://cnn.it/2Llp994
- The White House is proposing up to $12 billion in aid for farmers who have been hurt by the trade war with China and other countries – https://nyti.ms/2LnQMyb
- President Trump says he’s very worried Russia will interfere in the 2018 elections in order to help Democrats – https://abcn.ws/2Lkk6pb
- Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell says Russian President Vladimir Putin “will not be welcome” in the U.S. Capitol if he accepts President Trump’s invitation to visit Washington later this year. House Speaker Paul Ryan says Putin would not be invited to address a joint session of Congress – http://bit.ly/2v3GDvE
- A Senate committee is set to grill Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about what happened during President Trump’s one-on-one meeting with Vladimir Putin – https://nbcnews.to/2vbC96j
- Lawmakers unveiled a new bill that would give President Trump greater power to waive certain sanctions on Russia – https://wapo.st/2LoVV95
- The White House has stopped publicly announcing when President Trump has phone calls with foreign leaders – https://cnn.it/2LlsCEC
- Homeland Security officials warn Russian Hackers may have the ability to reach control rooms of power plants and other utilities across the U.S. – https://on.wsj.com/2LnijQo
- The number of immigration enforcement arrests at workplaces has soared under the Trump administration – http://bit.ly/2v5uHcv
- During his most recent trip abroad, President Trump was reportedly furious that TV’s aboard Air Force One were tuned to CNN instead of Fox News – https://nyti.ms/2LkBHxg
- Ivanka Trump is closing down her namesake fashion brand – https://on.wsj.com/2Lls41w
- House Democrats introduce a bill to require two years of debt-free college in the U.S. – https://abcn.ws/2LonzTJ
- 22% of the U.S. population does not speak English in their homes – https://washex.am/2uZCtog
- An appeals court in San Francisco ruled on Tuesday that the 2nd Amendment guarantees a right to openly carry a gun in public for self-defense – https://reut.rs/2LoN47x
- The Georgia lawmaker who dropped his pants and yelled a racial slur on Sasha Baron Cohen’s new show has resigned – https://nbcnews.to/2uYIUYS
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
- 1567 – Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.
- 1783 – American Revolutionary War: The war’s last action, the Siege of Cuddalore, is ended by a preliminary peace agreement.
- 1788 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completes his Symphony No. 40 in G minor.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Congress passes the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
- 1868 – The Wyoming Territory is established.
- 1917 – Mata Hari was sentenced to death in France as a spy for Germany in World War I.
- 1961 – Cold War: In a speech, President John F. Kennedy emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO.
- 1969 – Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This is the start of the “Vietnamization” of the war.
- 1978 – The world’s first “test-tube” baby, Louise Brown, was born in Oldham, England.
- 1985 – Actor Rock Hudson revealed he had AIDS.