Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Morning Must Reads for Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 320th day of the year. There are 46 days left in 2016.

Utahns want better-funded schools. Jim Dabakis loses his leadership slot. Gov. Gary Herbert announces another special session.

The clock:

• 34 days until the Electoral College meets to cast their votes for president and vice president (12/19/2016)
• 66 days until Inauguration Day (1/20/2017)
• 69 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (1/23/2017)
• 114 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
• 357 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
• 721 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)

Ten talking points for Tuesday:

1. Poll: Utahns overwhelmingly want better-funded schools to move the state out of last place in per-pupil funding [Utah Policy].
   
   
2. Sen. Jim Dabakis is ousted from Senate leadership, which means he loses his spot on two powerful committees [Utah Policy].
   
   
3. Sen. Ralph Okerlund says he sees a real opportunity to make progress on public lands issues in a Donald Trump administration [Utah Policy].
   
   
4. LaVarr Webb wonders why states that legalize marijuana (either medical or recreational) get away with violating federal law [Utah Policy].
   
   
5. Gov. Gary Herbert calls a special session to fix some gas tax funding issues for Wednesday [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
   
   
6. Donald Trump's plan for his first 200 days in office includes either renegotiating or withdrawing from NAFTA and stopping the TPP [CNN].
   
   
7. President Barack Obama holds his first press conference since the election of Donald Trump. The president says Trump will remain committed to NATO [Fox News]. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin speak by phone and agree to foster better relationships between their two countries [New York Times].
   
   
8. Donald Trump asks for top-secret security clearances for his children [CBS News].
   
   
9. Donald Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon, who previously ran Breitbart News, is raising some eyebrows because of that website's history of "Mormon baiting" [Tribune].
   
   
10. Former Rep. Kraig Powell's nomination as a judge clears a Senate committee despite some opposition from LGBT groups [Deseret News, Tribune]. 

On this day in history:

• 1777 - The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation, a precursor to the Constitution of the United States.
• 1864 - General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea begins with the burning of Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1969 - 250,000 people demonstrated in Washington against the Vietnam War.
• 2011 - Hundreds of police officers in riot gear raided the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City, evicting hundreds of protesters and then demolishing the tent city.

Today At Utah Policy

Utahns Overwhelmingly Want Better Funded Schools By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor Utah remains last place among the states in per-pupil spending, and Utahns are not happy about it....

Dabakis Toppled from Senate Leadership Slot By Bob Bernick and Bryan Schott Senate Democrats picked their leadership for the next two years on Monday, and Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, was ousted from his leadership position....

Let's Pick & Choose What Federal Laws We Obey By LaVarr Webb, Publisher The election was pretty good for advocates of medical and recreational marijuana, with a number of states making marijuana use legal – for certain purposes – according to state law....

Okerlund Sees Opportunity for Public Lands Progress in Trump Administration By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Senate Majority Leader Ralph Okerlund says he's hopeful that many public lands issues in the West can be solved with Republican Donald Trump in the White House....

Policy News

EDCUtah Readies to Take Next Steps in Mega Sites Program When EDCUtah laid out its FY 2016-2017 Program of Work, the organization challenged itself to develop and deploy a statewide mega sites program that would focus on large tracts of land that could attract landmark economic development projects. The aim was to complete the fir...

Gov. Herbert Announces Exploratory Committee to Study Utah Inland Port Plans are underway to develop an inland port in Utah and EDCUtah is grateful to have a seat on the exploratory committee, which Gov. Gary Herbert announced during the third annual Utah Global Forum on Oct. 24.Inland ports are sites that possess strong transportation assets a...

Utah.Gov Honored by Center for Digital Government Utah.Gov was recognized by the Center for Digital Government in three of its industry leading contests....

Utah Broadband Outreach Center Celebrates Award-Winning Year The Utah Broadband Outreach Center and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development celebrated an award-winning year at the 2016 Broadband Tech Summit. The industry-focused event highlighted the state’s broadband accomplishments as well as best practic...

Wise Words

Rule of Law
"The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom." John Locke

Lighter Side

A Good Run
"There's talk that Donald Trump may appoint Sarah Palin as secretary of the interior, which means she would oversee the National Park Service. When they heard that, bears were like, "Well, we had a good run." Jimmy Fallon