Situational awareness – August 23, 2018

Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City.

 How inland port negotiations failed. Why “Better Boundaries” is a big deal. The White House is reeling following Cohen’s guilty plea.


  TICK TOCK   

  • 47 days until the last day to register to vote by mail (10/9/2018)
  • 54 days until mail-in ballots are sent to voters (10/16/2018)
  • 61 days until in-person early voting begins (10/23/2018)
  • 68 days until the last day to register to vote in person or by mail (10/30/2018)
  • 70 days until in-person early voting ends (11/2/2018)
  • 75 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
  • 158 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
  • 203 days until the final day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (3/14/2019)
  • 803 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

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  HERE ARE THE STORIES YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO TODAY  

“Game on”

Gov. Gary Herbert says Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski told him “Game on” when she called to say that negotiations over the inland port were off – http://bit.ly/2LgE67m

Redistricting changes

We break down how the “Better Boundaries” initiative will make fundamental changes to the redistricting process if voters approve the proposal in November – http://bit.ly/2LofvxC

New podcast

Download the podcast of our conversation with Gov. Gary Herbert. It’s also available wherever you get your podcasts, including Spotify – http://bit.ly/2wgTD1B

Whoops!

The twitter account for the National Weather Service in North Dakota attacked Mitt Romney on Wednesday, calling him a fraud – http://bit.ly/2Pqpohr


  OTHER UTAH HEADLINES   

Salt Lake Tribune

Editorial: Secrecy only harms potential of Port Authority

Utah developer seeks to block public vote on former Cottonwood Mall site, threatens to abandon residential and retail project

Utah’s first West Nile death of 2018 reported in Salt Lake County

Representatives of the Mormon church asked Utah’s elected leaders to join the fight against the medical marijuana initiative

Utah County — home of Silicon Slopes — ranks No. 2 among nation’s large counties for job growth, No. 6 for wage increases

Utah’s governor wants to push school safety ideas, including rapidly shutting steel walls

Sen. Orrin Hatch says allegations against Trump are ‘serious’ but don’t rise to impeachment ‘just yet’

UTA finally hiring outside monitor to oversee reforms — 15 months after original deadline set by federal prosecutors

Murray City Council votes to move forward with nuclear energy project, citing growing need to replace coal

Deseret News

Op-ed: Funding the Lake Powell Pipeline is possible — here’s how

Op-ed: Large national monuments don’t damage rural economies — but they don’t help either

Jay Evensen: Port authority needs to let public into the room where it happens

Editorial: Environmental initiatives must also be economical

Utah Rep. Chris Stewart says it’s too early to know if Trump broke campaign finance laws

Health groups urge Utahns to vote for Medicaid expansion initiative

In one Utah elementary, school safety means security doors, compassionate counselors

Salt Lake hosts ‘speed dating’ event for convention industry

Other

Utah County will send tax question to ballot if UTA gives local control to its portion of revenue (Daily Herald)


  NATIONAL HEADLINES  

  • The White House is reeling following the conviction of former campaign manager Paul Manafort and the guilty plea from Trump’s former personal lawyer – https://nyti.ms/2Ln4cFM

  • President Trump lashed out at former personal lawyer Michael Cohen on Wednesday, saying he did nothing illegal when he paid off two women who alleged affairs with him – https://cnn.it/2LjSaNi
  • Prosecutors say the National Enquirer schemed with Michael Cohen to silence adult film actress Stormy Daniels to help President Trump win the election – https://thebea.st/2LlDDRs
  • Michael Cohen has been subpoenaed in the New York State probe into the finances of President Trump’s charitable foundation – https://abcn.ws/2LjrRqI
  • President Trump mentioned a possible pardon for Paul Manafort during a recent interview with Fox News – http://bit.ly/2LmXdwJ
  • Republican leaders in Congress are urging vulnerable members to speak out about the legal troubles currently swirling around President Trump – https://nyti.ms/2LkeeaL

  • Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is reportedly considering a plan to let school districts use federal funds to buy guns for teachers to use to protect their classrooms – https://nyti.ms/2LlC7Pg

  • The Democratic National Committee says they thwarted an attempted hack of its voter database earlier this week – https://nyti.ms/2LmUFi9
  • An undocumented immigrant was charged with killing an Iowa student who has been missing for more than a month – http://bit.ly/2LfyH0l  

  • One of the jurors in Paul Manafort’s trial says a single holdout on the jury is what prevented prosecutors from winning a guilty verdict on all 18 counts – https://fxn.ws/2LlKudm

  • Indicted GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter says he’s is the victim of a “witch hunt” by the Department of Justice. Hunter was indicted for misuse of $250,000 of campaign funds – http://bit.ly/2Lk5QaY
  • China and the U.S. just slapped new tariffs on each other as the trade war between the two countries escalates – https://cnn.it/2LjSf3y   
  • A lawsuit claims Verizon throttled the cell phone data of crews battling a wildfire in California, which hampered those efforts significantly – https://cnnmon.ie/2LgH6Ra

  • Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler sent President Trump a cease-and-desist letter for playing his music at his campaign rallies – https://rol.st/2LkfMl5

  • President Trump’s campaign sent an email to ESPN demanding the network air the national anthem during Monday Night Football games – http://bit.ly/2LpzJXO

  ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY  

  • 1784 – Western Noth Carolina declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin. It is not accepted into the United States, and only lasts for four years.
  • 1939 – Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty. Less than two years later, Germany launched a blitzkrieg attack on Russia.
  • 1970 – Organized by labor union leader Cesar Chavez, the Salad Bowl strike, the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history begins.
  • 1990 – West and East Germany announce they will reunite on October 3.
  • 1991 – The World Wide Web is opened to the public.

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