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Situational awareness - August 17, 2020

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City

State of the presidential race

With less than 3 months to go until Election Day, here's where the various presidential race projections stand as of today:

Princeton Election Consortium: 93 percent probability Biden wins. Electoral votes - Biden 356, Trump 182

Economist: 89 percent probability Biden wins. Electoral votes - Biden 350, Trump 188.

FiveThirtyEight: 72 percent probability Biden wins. Electoral votes - Biden 325, Trump 213.

TICK TOCK

3 days to the 6th special session (8/20/2020)

38 days to the 1st Congressional District debate (9/24/2020)

43 days to the Utah gubernatorial debate (9/28/2020)

45 days to the Utah Attorney General debate (10/01/2020)

51 days to the Vice Presidential debate at the University of Utah (10/07/2020)

56 days to the 4th Congressional District debate (10/12/2020)

59 days to the 3rd Congressional District debate (10/15/2020)

63 days to the 2nd Congressional District debate (10/19/2020)

78 days to the 2020 election (11/3/2020)

156 days to inauguration day (01/20/2021)

161 days to the start of the 2021 Utah Legislature (1/25/2021)

Here are the stories you need to pay attention to this morning:

• The Democratic National Convention begins tonight.
• Democrats heading back to Washington to block Postal Service changes.
• The race in Utah's 4th Congressional District shifts toward the GOP.

TRIVIA

Ten political entities legally share sovereignty within the boundaries of the State of Utah. Utah and the United States are two of the ten. Name four of the remaining eight entities.

The remaining eight are:

• Confederated Tribes of Goshute Indians
• Navajo Nation
• Northern Ute Tribe
• Northwestern Band of Shoshone
• Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah
• San Juan Southern Paiute
• Skull Valley Band of Goshute
• White Mesa Band of the Ute Mountain Ute

Congratulations to Charlie Roberts who was selected at random from all of the correct answers. As a bonus, Charlie points out there's one more entity we forgot. The Republic of Zaqistant, a micronation in Box Elder County. It was created in 2005 by self-declared president Zaq Landsberg.

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Today At Utah Policy

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

• Pignanelli & Webb: Kamala Harris completes Biden's ticket. Next up: conventions
• Greener pastures? Parents seeking options for their kids as start of school year nears
• Jordan District teachers want to know why some online-only teachers are getting extra pay
• Latter-day Saints for Trump group seeks to 'mobilize' church members to reelect president
• Utah's long-term care facilities still struggling with COVID-19 outbreaks
• Hideout Zoom meeting flub botches controversial annexation
• Some Salt Lake protesters decry charges as too harsh, a conflict of interest
• Opposing rallies in Salt Lake call for support for police, defunding
• Gov. Herbert updates Utah's phased guidelines in the pandemic
• Democrats make their pitch for Latter-day Saint votes in a week marked by strong appeals from both parties
• The debate rages: How do you maintain law and order - and free assembly - in Utah?
• Utah delegates worry virtual Democratic convention to nominate Biden may lack excitement
• Utahns are catching COVID-19 at home, data shows
• Federal money flows to meet surge of Utah domestic abuse calls

Salt Lake Tribune

• 79 teachers have retired or resigned in Salt Lake County due to COVID-19 concerns
• Ben McAdams and Burgess Owens sound off on federal response to the pandemic
• Costs soar 81% for new UTA bus facility - from $52.5 million to $95 million
• Hideout City Council repeals controversial annexation resolution
• Mitt Romney says world must awake to growing threats from China
• Senate confirms native Utahn as deputy U.S. trade representative and ambassador
• Salt Lake City street redesign guide draws praise, complaints
• Utah will still have its annual state fair during the pandemic - with some changes
• Scores of immigration documents allegedly destroyed by Salt Lake City postal worker
• Neither pro-police nor anti-police rallies like Mayor Erin Mendenhall's reform orders
• Latter-day Saints laud Joe Biden at national event, say he reflects their values better than Trump
• These house calls aim to improve Utahns' health by learning more about their lives

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NATIONAL HEADLINES

Democrats rush to rescue the postal service

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling the House back to Washington for an emergency session to block Postal Service changes that Democrats fear could hamper efforts to use mail-in voting for November's election [WaPo].

Democrats also want new Postal Service chief Louis Dejoy to testify at an emergency House Oversight Committee hearing on Aug. 24 [CNBC].

Several states are considering legal action against the Trump administration to stop changes that could slow mail service ahead of November's election [CNN].

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Run-DNC

The Democratic National Convention kicks off tonight. The four-night event will take place virtually with speakers joining from around the country [WaPo].

You can see the full schedule of speakers here.

President Donald Trump will participate in every night of next week's Republican National Convention [Fox News].

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Coronavirus

The FDA approved a saliva test for Covid-19, which could make testing cheaper and more widely available [StatNews].

Scientists say they are seeing "strong, lasting immunity" in people who have caught the coronavirus [NYT].

Forty percent of Covid-19 tests in the U.S take too long, which is not helpful in slowing the spread of the virus [CNBC].

Here we go again. President Trump is pushing an unproven plant extract as a treatment for Covid-19 [Axios].

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Economy

Retail sales rose for the third straight month, but the jump in consumer spending was not as big as expected [CNBC].

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Russia investigation

A former FBI lawyer will plead guilty to making a false statement as part of U.S. Attorney John Durham's probe into ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign [AP].

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Sizzler

Death Valley hit 130 degrees on Sunday afternoon. That could be the hottest temperature ever reliably recorded on the planet [WaPo].

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BUSINESS HEADLINES

• National company eyes Provo as attractive market to continue expansion (Daily Herald)
• Park City Chamber/Bureau leader readies to retire, creating opening for Arizona tourism official (Park Record)
• Op-ed: How the gig economy will be key to Utah's COVID-19 recovery (Deseret News)

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Policy News

CYBER24 episode 92: Apple security enhancements coming for iPhone, iPad
Apple recently held its annual Worldwide Developers Conference - this year with no in-person audience.

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More National Headlines

• Former Obama Speechwriter laughs at media claims Kamala Harris is a 'moderate' (Legal Insurrection)
• Kamala Obama (Spectator)
• Bahrain Joins Egypt, Oman in Supporting UAE, Israel Deal (Bloomberg)
• Rather Than Reopen, It's Time to Rethink Government Education (National Review)
• The 2020 San Francisco exodus is real, and historic, report shows (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Hollywood Apocalypse NOW: Rich and famous are fleeing in droves as liberal politics and coronavirus turn City of Dreams into cesspit plagued by junkies and violent criminals (Daily Mail)
• Leftists Make Hashtag #WrongTrump Trend on Twitter After President Trump's Brother Dies (PJ Media)
• Congressional Oversight Is Broken. Here's How To Fix It (Federalist)
• Out of the Way, FDA (National Review)
• What Will Not Recover: Government (AIER)
• More Than Sixty 9-1-1 Calls Go Unanswered During Portland Riot (PJ Media)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1585 - The first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Raleigh lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina.

1807 - Robert Fulton began the first American steamboat trip between Albany, N.Y., and New York City.

1915 - A Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing 275 people.

1946 - Animal Farm by George Orwell is first published.

1969 - Category 5 hurricane Camille hits the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing 256 and causing $1.42 billion in damage.

1988 - President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; later that same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about the relationship.

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