OTHER UTAH HEADLINES   

Deseret News

Editorial: Utah must get the homeless solution right

Jay Evensen: A wakeup call for better accountability of homeless programs

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch laments discord, calls for civility in final Senate speech

Salt Lake City a 'no-brainer' choice to bid for another Olympics, Ski Utah leader says

Herriman City Council calls for immediate resignation of mayor accused of misusing funds

Group wants Utahns to keep safety, new DUI law in mind as they enjoy the holidays

Utah Inland Port Authority hires 6-month interim director for $100,000

Salt Lake Tribune

Michelle Quist: Slow down the Inland Port. It's the Utah way.

State wants to launch a full-blown study of health risks of dust blowing from Point of Mountain

Gehrke: We shouldn't squander Legacy Parkway's special features before we know what we want it to be

'Something has to give': In his farewell address, Utah's Orrin Hatch says the Senate is in crisis

Cafes, bars, police say Utah's toughest-in-nation DUI law - taking effect Dec. 30 - should not scare residents from eating out and partying

U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber won't testify before House panel on Clinton probe

UTA passes budget that increases spending by 13.3 percent

Temporary UTA chief delays retirement as agency seeks permanent director. Deal will pay him $106 an hour for part-time work.

Inland Port Authority Board hires an interim director in hopes of advancing Utah development project

Inland port board opponents raise concerns about the project's impact on Legacy Parkway truck ban

  NATIONAL HEADLINES  

• Republicans in the House are set to leave town on Thursday with no plan on how to avoid a partial government shutdown next week. Congress has until midnight on Dec. 21 to reach a funding agreement - https://politi.co/2GeUgkv 
  
  
• Republicans in Congress were finalizing a plan to blame a possible government shutdown on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. That plan went in the trash when President Trump said he would be proud to shut down the government unless he got funding for his proposed border wall - https://wapo.st/2Gi1eoH
  
  
• Special counsel Robert Mueller is expected to shift the focus of his investigation to how Middle Eastern countries are attempting to influence U.S. politics - https://thebea.st/2GeUtEj
  
  
• Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a scheme to buy the silence of women who alleged extramarital affairs with Trump - https://nyti.ms/2Gi0Iaf 
  
  
• The publisher of the National Enquirer admitted to paying hush money to a woman who alleged an affair with Donald Trump to keep the woman's story from influencing the 2016 election. The admission is part of a deal the company made with federal prosecutors to tell everything they know about Trump in an effort to avoid prosecution - https://politi.co/2GePSBM
  
  
• Nancy Pelosi cuts a deal with several Democrats who opposed her bid to become speaker next year by agreeing to limit her time as head of the House to two more terms. The move all but assures a win when the new Congress convenes - http://bit.ly/2GcqyMI 
  
  
• Several more Republicans may be headed toward the exits in Congress now that they are in the minority in the House - http://bit.ly/2GdEBll
  
  
• President Trump turned down Rep. Mark Meadows' bid to become the next White House chief of staff - https://wapo.st/2Gfd3fq 
  
  
• President Trump is reportedly considering Dave Bossie for his new chief of staff - http://bit.ly/2GgFYQd
  
  
• Former major league slugger Jose Canseco wants to be the next White House chief of staff because he's worried Trump is looking like a "Twinkie" - https://wapo.st/2GfnijY
  
  
• President Trump has canceled the annual White House Christmas party for the media - https://fxn.ws/2GctIjy
  
  
• Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe bought tens of thousands of dollars in stock in one of the nation's top defense contractors just days after announcing his support for a big boost in defense spending in next year's budget. When asked about the stock purchase by reporters, Inhofe dumped the stock - https://thebea.st/2GdPFPf 
  
  
• Lawmakers reached a deal on Wednesday to overhaul sexual harassment policies in Congress - http://bit.ly/2GhaGZq
  
  
• British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote from members of her own party, but her difficulties resulting from the Brexit process remain - https://wapo.st/2Ga66My
  
  
• The Trump administration is moving to deport Vietnamese immigrants who fled that country during the Vietnam war - http://bit.ly/2GdNoDL 
  
  
• Republican Rep.-elect Mark Green from Tennessee walked back his embrace of the conspiracy theory that vaccines cause autism and that the Centers for Disease Control may have "fraudulently managed" data on the topic - https://wapo.st/2GdEruf 
  
  
• Gun deaths in the U.S. rose to the highest level in 20 years according to new data. 40,000 people died from guns last year. The increase was largely the result of a rise in suicide rates - http://bit.ly/2GfQoQd
  
  
• MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski used a homophobic slur to refer to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Her apology wasn't much better - http://bit.ly/2Gi2TdV
  
  
• The Boy Scouts of America may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a way to halt many of the lawsuits the organization is facing alleging inappropriate conduct by employees - https://cnn.it/2GdN9bL

  ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY  

• 1577 - Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England on his round-the-world voyage.
  
  
• 1636 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. This is recognized as the founding of the National Guard.
  
  
• 1816 - The first savings bank in the U.S., the Provident Institution for Savings, opened in Boston. 
  
  
• 1862 - Union troops suffered a major defeat in the Civil War battle of Fredricksburg. An estimated 12,000 northern soldiers were killed or injured, about three times the toll suffered by Confederate forces.
  
  
• 1971 - Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, Dallas County attorney, in the Roe v. Wade case.
  
  
• 1981 - Martial law was imposed in Poland.
  
  
• 2003 - Saddam Hussein, the deposed Iraqi president, was captured by U.S. troops in a small underground hideout southeast of his hometown of Tikrit, ending an eight-month manhunt.

Policy News

More National Headlines

Everybody's Wrong: Donald Trump Won the Chuck-n-Nancy Meeting, and Here's Why (Daily Beast)

Lieu: 'I Would Love to Be Able to Regulate the Content of Speech' but First Amendment Stops Me (Free Beacon)

Beto O'Rourke's Presidential Campaign Is Going To Wear Us Out (Dallas Observer)

Bernie Sanders: America is 'owned and controlled by a small number of multi-billionaires' (CNBC)

U.S. Diplomats With Mysterious Illness in Cuba Had Inner-Ear Damage, Doctors Say (New York Times)

China looks like it's going to give Trump a huge symbolic trade war win, fueling hope for a big deal (Business Insider)

Kelly's Exit Only a Part of Looming White House Staff Remake (Wall Street Journal)

Julin Castro makes early move toward a 2020 White House bid (Washington Post)

Google CEO: Big Tech scrutiny is 'here to stay' (Axios)

How Ted Lieu Became Google's Accidental Champion (Atlantic)