The UtahPolicy.com daily newsletter gets you up to speed on the top local and national news about politics and public policy. Send news tips or feedback to bschott@utahpolicy.com, or message us on Twitter.

Situational awareness - September 19, 2019

Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City

Thanks for reading Utah's must-read daily political news rundown. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to sign up for our emails.

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

• Utahns support laws to bar gun sales to those who have been deemed a danger by a mental health professional.
• Reyes discusses the case against Google.
• President Trump's communications with a foreign leader prompted a whistleblower complaint over a "promise" he made during a telephone call.

Let's talk!

We've started a discussion group on Facebook dedicated to Utah politics.

Join here.

Giveaway!

I've got tickets to "Disaster! The Musical!" at the Empress Theater in Magna to give away to some of our lucky readers. The show runs from October 4-19. I'm playing Maury in the production.

Send me an email to be entered into a drawing to win.

TICK TOCK

Days to the 2019 Utah municipal elections: 47 (11/5/2019)

Days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature: 130 (1/27/2020)

Days to the Utah presidential primaries: 166 (3/3/2020)

Days to the 2020 Utah primary elections: 278 (6/23/2020)

Days to the 2020 election: 411 (11/3/2020)

Today At Utah Policy

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

• Jay Evensen: Face it, you need to pay more for water
• These 6 voters make the case for Donald Trump in 2020
• Utah lawmakers eye package of bills to keep kids from experimenting with e-cigs
• Herriman lawmaker resigns from Utah House to devote more time to job
• Should Utah stop police facial recognition searches of drivers' photos?
• What ending vehicle safety inspections has meant for Utah roads
• Utah congressional candidate confronts convictions of sexual battery
• What is chronic absenteeism? Utah school board says it needs consistent definition to improve data collection and target resources

Salt Lake Tribune

• 3,546 standardized tests from Utah students came back with no scores, new review finds
• Utah school district accidentally shared a flyer about ex-employee threatening to kill people
• Utah congressional candidate pleaded guilty to sexual battery in 2010, but says he's the victim
• Utah representative from Herriman to step down, citing his busy job and travel schedule
• Utah lawmakers scrutinize law enforcement's facial recognition scans of state driver licenses
• Physician, ex-senator scares Utah lawmakers about dangers of cannabis use during pregnancy, adolescence
• Utah legislative committee revs up new plan for vehicle safety inspections
• New voter privacy law hurts Utah political parties, so they want it changed

Other

• Weber County Commissioner Gage Froerer gets backing as wife reappointed to housing body (Standard-Examiner)
• Clearfield Mayor Mark Shepherd 'definitely leaning' toward U.S. House bid (Standard-Examiner)

---

---

NATIONAL HEADLINES

Jaw-dropping story

A whistleblower complaint that the acting director of national security is withholding from Congress reportedly involves President Trump's communications with a foreign leader. Trump's interaction with the unnamed leader included a "promise" that was so troubling it prompted a U.S. official in the intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint [WaPo].

---

Iran

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the attacks on Saudi oil facilities an "act of war" on Wednesday [WaPo].

President Trump is weighing a "menu" of responses toward Iran for their alleged role in the attack on the Saudi oil fields [NYT].

President Trump says he's ordered the Treasury to "substantially increase" the sanctions on Iran [NBC News].

---

Gun control

There's a proposal to expand background checks for gun purchases making the rounds in Congress, but President Trump has not yet signed off on the plan [Politico].

---

Oh no

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is apologizing after a photo surfaced showing him wearing brownface makeup to a party at a private school where he was teaching in 2001 [Time].

---

Trump administration

President Trump taps Robert O'Brien, the nation's top hostage negotiator, as his new national security advisor [Politico].

The White House is withdrawing the nomination of Jeffrey Byard to head FEMA [Politico].

---

Economy

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by another quarter-point [NYT].

CEO confidence falls to the lowest level since 2016 [Axios].

---

Let's all freak out!

The Navy confirms the videos purporting to show UFOs are legitimate, but won't say what the mysterious objects are [CNN].

---

---

BUSINESS HEADLINES

• Proposed skyscraper would be the tallest building in Utah (Deseret News)
• Utah Airbnb hosts book $37 million over summer travel season (Deseret News)
• Ogden-based MarketStar acquires Irish firm, expands European footprint (Standard-Examiner)
• Local analysts warn U.S.-China trade battle impacting Utah companies (Deseret News)

---

Policy News

McAdams bipartisan bill seeks fair taxpayer return for oil and gas drilling on public lands
Congressman Ben McAdams, together with Florida Republican Congressman Francis Rooney, introduced legislation to adjust oil and gas royalties and return fair market value to taxpayers for oil and gas development on public lands.

---

Romney: Greatest threat to freedom is an authoritarian China
In an exchange with the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing Wednesday, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) highlighted the threats China poses to freedom around the world and America's responsibility to develop a strategy to confront them.

---

---

More National Headlines

• In whiplash moment, Democrats are now backing away from Kavanaugh allegations (Washington Post)
• With Brett Kavanaugh debacle, The New York Times becomes a dangerous misinformation tool of the left (New York Times)
• George Packer Gets Mugged by Reality (National Review)
• 2020 Vision Wednesday: Trump raised $15 million in California in one day. That should worry Democrats. (Yahoo News)
• Study: U.S. abortion rate lowest since 1973 legalization (UPI)
• NBC News Asks Americans To Confess Their Climate Change Sins (Daily Caller)
• Doomsdays that didn't happen: Think tank compiles decades' worth of dire climate predictions (FOX News)
• Prosecutors: Democratic donor Ed Buck used 'position of power' to drug and manipulate men (Los Angeles Times)
• American Airlines mechanic accused of sabotaging jet may have terrorist ties, feds say (Miami Herald)
• Saudi oil attacks an 'act of war' by Iran, not Yemen rebels, Pompeo claims (FOX News)
• US Fed's Powell downplays concerns about cash crunch on financial markets (AFP)

---

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1778 - The Continental Congress passes the first United States federal budget.

1796 - George Washington's Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public.

1881 - President James A. Garfield died of wounds inflicted by an assassin more than two months earlier. Vice President Chester A. Arthur becomes President upon Garfield's death.

1982 - Emoticons were born when Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott Fahlman proposed using a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis - :-) - to depict a horizontal smiley face.

1985 - Tipper Gore and other political wives form the Parents Music Resource Center as Frank Zappa and other musicians testify at Congressional hearings on obscenity in rock music.

1995 - The Washington Post and The New York Times publish the Unabomber's manifesto.

2008 - The Bush administration asked Congress for $700 billion to buy up troubled mortgage-related assets from U.S. financial institutions.

Subscribers may receive special messages with information about new features, special offers, or public policy messages from clients and advertisers.

Advertise With Us