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Situational awareness - May 31, 2019 Good morning from Salt Lake City and TGIF! Welcome to Utah's must-read daily political news rundown. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to sign up for our emails. Here's what is driving the day: - Lawmakers announce 8 town hall meetings on tax reform.
- Trump threatens Mexico with tariffs over immigration.
- New documents show the Trump administration added a citizenship question to the 2020 census to help Republicans.
Friday Trivia Today's head-scratcher comes from guest quizmaster Shykell Ledford. What was the name of the Utah county, included in Tooele's current borders, that was incorporated in 1856 and dissolved in 1862? Send your answers to me via email at bschott@utahpolicy.com. The first three readers who send in a correct response will be recognized in Monday's newsletter.
 News tips/story ideas Kindly send suggestions, concerns and news tips to us via email at bschott@utahpolicy.com.
The UtahPolicy.com daily newsletter gets you up to speed on the top local and national news about politics and public policy. Our news is curated by Managing Editor Bryan Schott, along with help from Golden Webb. ((Click here to subscribe))
TICK TOCK Today is the 151st day of the year. There are 214 days remaining in 2019. 3 days until the municipal election filing period opens (6/3/2019) 7 days until the municipal election filing period ends (6/7/2019) 8 days until the Independent American Party Utah State Convention (6/8/2019) 22 days to the Utah State Democratic Party Organizing Convention (6/22/2019) 26 days to the first Democratic presidential primary debates in Miami (6/26/2019) 60 days to the second Democratic presidential primary debates in Detroit (7/30/2019) 74 days to the 2019 Utah primary elections (8/13/2019) 104 days to the third Democratic presidential primary debate (9/12/2019) 158 days to the 2019 municipal elections (11/5/2019) 241 days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature (1/27/2020) 249 days to the 2020 Iowa Caucuses (2/3/2020) 277 days to the 2020 Utah presidential primary (3/3/2020) 518 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
Today At Utah Policy  Bob Bernick's notebook: Stop beating a dead horse
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
Since the 2014 Utah Legislature passed SB54, I have written I-don't-know-how-many columns saying this may be the end of this issue.And it never was.
 Lawmakers set eight town hall meetings to discuss tax reform
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
The Legislature's special Tax Reform Task Force will hold eight public town halls around the state, starting the end of June, to hear citizens and special interests' concerns about changing how items are taxed in Utah.
 Watch: Reyes says disabled military vets should have student loan debt forgiven
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Attorney General Sean Reyes says military veterans with permanent disabilities should have their student loan debt wiped out.
 Cities Work podcast: Dealing with wildfire (part 1)
By Utah League of Cities and Towns
ULCT members gathered for the Annual Convention in Salt Lake City when mayors and council members started getting the word- their communities were burning.
 Independent American Party Convention June 8
By Press release
The Utah Independent American Party will hold its State Convention/Independence Summit on Saturday, June 8, 2019, at Juab High School in Nephi.
OTHER UTAH HEADLINES Deseret News Salt Lake Tribune Other
NATIONAL HEADLINES Trump threatens Mexico. President Donald Trump said he would impose a 5-percent tariff on all imports from Mexico next month unless the country cracks down on the flow of illegal immigration coming into the U.S. - https://wapo.st/2MnmxIy - Stock futures and the global stock markets slumped on the news - https://cnn.it/2MkYE4u
- If Trump follows through on his threat to impose tariffs, it could sink Trump's proposed trade deal with Mexico and Canada - https://wapo.st/2MutaZs
Bombshell. New documents show a deceased GOP strategist was a driving factor in the Trump administration's decision to add a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Thomas Hofeller wrote a study showing adding that question would advantage white, non-Hispanic voters, allowing Republicans to draw political boundaries that would put Democrats at a disadvantage - https://nyti.ms/2MnH0wM
Mueller - President Trump admitted on Thursday that Russia helped get him elected in 2016, then walked that admission back shortly afterward - http://bit.ly/2HN2jUh
- Trump attacked special counsel Robert Mueller as being conflicted because of a personal vendetta against Trump, a claim that has been repeatedly discredited - https://wapo.st/2HLJFMy
- Attorney General William Barr says special counsel Mueller "could've reached a decision" on whether President Trump obstructed justice - https://cbsn.ws/2HNC5Ry
- President Trump railed against a growing call for the House to instigate impeachment proceedings against him, calling impeachment "a dirty, filthy, disgusting word" - https://politi.co/2HLJeSq
- Over 50 House members now say they favor beginning an impeachment inquiry against President Trump - https://nbcnews.to/2HMyP8S
2020 - Democrats unveil a $90 million super PAC targeting grassroots turnout in seven swing states - https://politi.co/2HLKcOy
- The Democratic National Committee is demanding that each of their presidential primary debates feature at least one woman moderator - http://bit.ly/2HLhtt7
Nancy Pelosi doesn't want to talk about President Trump anymore. "I'm done with him, in terms of talking about him," she said during a Thursday interview - https://wapo.st/2HN14V4
Boring but important. The U.S. has dropped to third place in the ranking of most competitive economies, falling behind Singapore and Hong Kong - https://cnb.cx/2MnJqeQ
North Korea purge. Kim Jong-un has reportedly executed that country's special envoy to the United States on spying charges following the breakdown of the second summit with President Donald Trump - https://nyti.ms/2Mze999
Media slap fight. The New York Times is warning reporters about appearing on cable news shows that are too ideological, including MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show - http://bit.ly/2HLgsRP
Measles cases exploding. There have been more measles cases in the first half of this year than in all of 1992, which was the last massive outbreak - https://nyti.ms/2HMyxyU
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY 1859 - The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time. 1911 - The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 1921 - A race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma kills at least 39 people. 1927 - The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15 million vehicles. 1977 - The Trans-Alaska Pipeline is completed. 2005 - Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was "Deep Throat" in the Watergate scandal.
Policy News Sandy City Public Utilities Director Tom Ward reinstatedMayor Kurt Bradburn announced today the reinstatement of Tom Ward as Sandy City's Public Utilities Director after completion of an independent investigation conducted by the law firm Parsons Behle & Latimer.
Dorsey & Whitney congratulates partner David Barlow on nomination as judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of UtahInternational law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP congratulates Partner David Barlow on his nomination by President Donald J. Trump to serve as Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.
Casual Friday: Weekend Events & Outdoors ReportOutdoors Report--Salt Lake Tribune:Off-roaders are revved up to see southern Utah's Factory Butte reopened to motorized use. But environmentalists are gearing up for a fight.--Salt Lake Tribune
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