Deseret News

• Natalie Gochnour: Citizen referendums are not the best way to do tax reform
• Editorial: Eliminating clergy-penitent privilege raises First Amendment red flags
• Proposal for late starts at Salt Lake high schools gets chilly reception
• Inside impeachment: Confessions of a former House manager
• Romney, Lee vote for new U.S. trade deal with Mexico, Canada
• Rep. Chris Stewart joins effort for more suicide prevention resources
• After nearly 20 years, Utah state Rep. Patrice Arent is retiring
• Utah governor orders stop to HIV campaign containing sexual innuendo
• Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg coming to Utah on Saturday
• Utah gubernatorial candidate Thomas Wright names Rep. Rob Bishop as his running mate
• Salt Lake leaders site temporary homeless shelter in Sugar House

Salt Lake Tribune

• Utah tax reform attracts opposites to referendum campaign
• White Mesa uranium mill in San Juan County lays off a third of its workforce
• Democratic Rep. Patrice Arent announces retirement
• Presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg planning Utah stop
• Congressman Rob Bishop will be Thomas Wright’s running mate in 2020 governor’s race
• State Sen. Allen Christensen won’t seek reelection
• New temporary emergency homeless shelter to open in Sugar House neighborhood
• Utah kid forced to clean his forehead on Ash Wednesday gets promise from Trump
• Republican support of Mitt Romney falls, poll shows

Other

• Utah gubernatorial hopeful Wright touts business experience, 'fresh perspective' (Standard-Examiner)
• Utah gubernatorial hopeful Thomas Wright picks Rep. Rob Bishop as running mate (Standard-Examiner)

• Big setback for Utah mines as Bay Area port city bans coal (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Only 2 workers are available for every 3 open jobs in Utah, analysis says (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Utah is facing a major worker shortage, report says (Deseret News)

• CNN’s Debate Performance Was Villainous and Shameful (Rolling Stone)
• Sanders Supporters Shocked to Find Bias at CNN (American Spectator)
• Trump ‘broke the Chinese Communist Party’ with phase one trade deal, says Steve Bannon (CNBC)
• The GAO Ruled Obama Broke the Law in 2014, But No One Called for His Impeachment (PJ Media)
• DOJ Is Investigating Comey’s Role in Leak of Classified Document during Clinton-Email Probe (National Review)
• Nancy Pelosi Is Doing Putin’s Bidding (Federalist)
• There's a revolution going on in the Mideast. Why doesn't the West see that? (National Post)
• Illegal Alien Crossings Down an Extraordinary 78 Percent (PJ Media)
• Jeffrey Epstein Accused Of Sex Trafficking Hundreds Of Girls As Young As 11 In New Lawsuit (Daily Caller)
• Journalists Rage After Republican Calls CNN Reporter a 'Liberal Hack' (NewsBusters)
• CA Gig Bill Author Throws Temper Tantrum in Interview, Calls Those Affected Liars (RedState)

Canada Here They Come
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they’ll no longer be senior members of the royal family and they might move to Canada. I give them a lot of credit — tons of celebrities always threaten to move to Canada; they’re actually doing it.” — JIMMY FALLON

Youth

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." Frederick Douglass

President Trump is officially on trial

The Senate began the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Thursday. The first day of the official proceedings were marked by conflict over whether to call witnesses and new evidence about President Trump's dealings in Ukraine [Washington Post].

The Senate is cracking down on reporters covering the impeachment trial, hindering their ability to do their job covering the proceedings [CNN].

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Ukraine scandal

Lev Parnas, the indicted former associate of Rudy Giuliani, alleged President Trump was fully aware of efforts to push the Ukrainian government to open an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden. Parnas also says Trump tried to fire Ambassador Maria Yovanovitch multiple times [Politico].

Parnas accused former Energy Secretary Rick Perry of telling Ukraine's president he had to announce an investigation into Joe Biden and the energy company that hired Biden's son as a board member when he attended the new president's inauguration last May [Bloomberg].

The non-partisan Government Accountability Office says the Trump administration broke the law when it withheld aid to Ukraine [New York Times].

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Iran

Iran's supreme leader called President Trump a "clown" who will "push a poisonous dagger" into the backs of the Iranian people [AP].

Several U.S. service members were injured during last week's Iranian missile attack on an Iraqi air base despite initial claims that no casualties had taken place [CNN].

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Trade deal

The Senate passed the revamped North American trade agreement to re-write the rules of trade with Mexico and Canada [NBC News].

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Tax cuts

The Trump tax cuts delivered a $32 billion windfall to the top six U.S. banks as they cut jobs, cut back on new borrowing and delivered bigger payouts to shareholders [Bloomberg].

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Yikes!

A Georgia election server contains evidence it was possibly hacked before the 2016 presidential election according to an election security expert [Politico].

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Polling

A new poll shows black Americans are deeply pessimistic about opportunities available to them in the United States. The survey also finds that more than 8 in 10 black Americans believe President Trump is a racist and he has made racism a bigger problem in the country [Washington Post].

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Mystery virus

A mysterious SARS-like virus has spread from China to Japan [Bloomberg].

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