Missing signatures. UTA name change. Better Boundaries. Robert Mueller. Donald Trump. Russia investigation. Thursday morning's political news roundup from UtahPolicy.com

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Situational awareness - May 17, 2018

Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City.

Missing signature packets. No name change for the Utah Transit Authority. The Mueller investigation finishes its first year.

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  TICK TOCK  

12 days until the last day to register to vote by mail for the 2018 primary election (5/29/2018) 13 days until the last day to change your party affiliation before the primary election (5/30/2018) 19 days until primary election mail-in ballots are sent to voters (6/5/2018) 26 days until in-person early primary voting begins (6/12/2018) 33 days until the final day to register to vote online or in person before the primary election (6/19/2018) 36 days until in-person early primary voting ends (6/22/2018) 40 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018) 173 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018) 256 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019) 901 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

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  HERE ARE THE STORIES DRIVING THURSDAY  

Transit tensions

Utah lawmakers tell the Utah Transit Authority to nix the name change to Transit District of Utah, saying the controversy was being used to draw attention away from more pressing issues [Utah Policy].

SCOOP! That's where those went!

UtahPolicy.com first reported that more than 100 missing signature packets for Count My Vote were discovered and sent to Utah County with a demand that they be processed immediately [Utah Policy].

Ballot bonanza

The Better Boundaries ballot initiative claimed victory, saying they have enough signatures to be included on November's ballot [Utah Policy].

Print problems

Jared Whitley says the Salt Lake Tribune's troubles are worrisome, but Salt Lake City has been lucky to be a two-newspaper town for so long [Utah Policy].

  OTHER UTAH HEADLINES  

Attorney General Sean Reyes' office gives in to lawmakers and says they will sue opioid manufacturers [Deseret News, Tribune].
Legislators may make it possible for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to take the Bar exam [Deseret News, Tribune].
Senate Majority Leader Ralph Okerlund underwent a heart and kidney transplant [Deseret News, Tribune].
Lawmakers plan to take another crack at legislating water issues next year [Deseret News].
The state asks a federal appeals court to reject the Utah GOP's request for a review of the recent court decision on SB54 [Deseret News].
The Provo Municipal Council is starting their budget process for next year. Proposals include adding new police officers and a cost of living raise for city employees [Daily Herald].
The Herriman City Council votes to leave the United Police Department, saying the amount of money they pay into the UPD exceeds the service they get back. The city will now form their own police department [Deseret News, Fox 13].

  NATIONAL HEADLINES  

Special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed one year ago today. Here's what he has been looking into over the past year [Washington Post].
The FBI investigation into the Trump's campaign possible ties with Russia started in the summer of 2016 and is codenamed "Crossfire Hurricane." The probe began just days after the FBI closed their investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server [New York Times].
President Trump's layer Rudy Giuliani says special counsel Robert Mueller's team would not indict the president if he discovers wrongdoing in his investigation [New York Times].
A law enforcement official leaked financial information about Michael Cohen, President Trump's personal attorney, because other records highlighting unusual financial activity by Cohen had gone missing from a government database [New Yorker].
The Senate Judiciary Committee released thousands of pages of testimony about the June 2016 meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. The testimony shows the campaign was eager to get damaging information about Hillary Clinton [CNN].
President Trump acknowledges he repaid his lawyer, Michael Cohen, more than $100,000 during the 2016 presidential election, most likely for the payment to keep adult film actress Stormy Daniels quiet in the final days of the campaign [CNN].
Republican leaders in Congress are scrambling to stop an effort to force a vote on several immigration issues [Reuters].
Republicans are not keen on cutting $15 billion in spending from the massive $1.3 billion omnibus spending bill because they fear it would cost them in the midterm elections [Washington Post].
The Senate passes a bill to save net neutrality rules, but the measure still must get past the House and President Trump [CNN].
A whistleblower says Cambridge Analytica, the data firm used by the Trump campaign in 2016, engaged in voter suppression activities online [CNN]. That same whistleblower says the firm shared data with companies linked to Russian intelligence {AFP].
President Trump's massive infrastructure overhaul plan appears to be on ice [The Hill].
Oil prices spike to the highest level since November of 2014, hitting $80 a barrel [Reuters].
It's looking more and more likely that a revamp of NAFTA will not get done this year [Politico].

  ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY  

1792 - The New York Stock Exchange is formed under the Buttonwood Agreement.
1940 - Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
1954 - The Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The decision held that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students are unconstitutional.
1973 - Televised hearings on Watergate begin in the U.S. Senate.

Today At Utah Policy

Lawmakers nix UTA name change By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor The Utah Legislature is scrapping the proposed name change for the Utah Transit Authority, saying the controversy is a distraction from the positive aspects of the bill. ...

The Utah Elections Office just found dozens of Count My Vote signature packets that had gone missing, orders Utah County to process them immediately By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor At least 90 unprocessed signature packets for the Count My Vote citizen's initiative that had gone missing were discovered Wednesday morning in the Utah Elections Office. ...

Better Boundaries qualifies for the November ballot By Press Release With more than 150,000 petition signatures validated by County Clerks from across Utah, the Better Boundaries initiative has met the requirements to be placed on the November 2018 general election ballot. ...

Salt Lake has been lucky to stay a two-paper town this long By Jared Whitley The job I really wanted in my last ward was to be in charge of the newsletter. "My first act," I told people, "would be to change the name from the Crystal City Courier to the Crystal City Courier-Gazette!"...

Weekly survey: Removing signatures from ballot initiatives By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Opponents of the medical marijuana and Count My Vote ballot initiatives pushed to get enough Utahns to remove their names from those petitions to block them from reaching the November ballot. Do you think those efforts will be successful, or will the initiatives survive to q...

Policy News

Rep. Stewart secures $15 million for Utah's largest water resource project Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) secured $15 million dollars for the Central Utah Project, Utah's largest and most comprehensive water resource development program. ...

Utah's business community honors 2018 Business Champions Wednesday the business community presented the Business Champion Awards to pro-business legislators who stood for the interests of Utah businesses during the 2018 General Legislative Session. ...

Salt Lake City's Economic Development Director volunteers to assist with economic recovery in Florida Natural and man-made disasters have devastating impacts on local communities. ...

Local Headlines

Salt Lake Tribune

Editorial: Road Home must work better because the work is necessary

Citing student debt 'crisis,' Utah Reps. Love and Bishop sign letter urging Trump officials to reverse course on oversight of student loans

'The divide holds up': How two rural Utah counties disagree on most everything, but especially environmental policies

Utah 'Dreamers' can go to law school, but can't sit for the bar exam. The Legislature may change that.

Utah A.G. appears to bend to will of frustrated lawmakers - will sue Purdue Pharma over opioid abuse and deaths

Oops - Utah County forgot to process a box of Count My Vote petitions, which might just put the initiative over the top to be on the ballot

Supporters say they have made the November ballot with initiative aimed at reforming redistricting

UTA name is here to stay, but A.G. says agency broke open-meetings law when it acted to give former CEO a golden parachute

Utah Senate Majority Leader Ralph Okerlund receives heart, kidney transplant

Deseret News

Jay Evensen: Here's an idea - replace the prison in Draper with a big park

Editorial: Banning quotas will strengthen trust between officers and Utahns

Utah opposes appeals court rehearing on controversial candidate nomination law

State Senate Majority Leader Ralph Okerlund receives heart, kidney transplants

Utah legislators eye ways for law school grads with DACA status to take bar exam

Primary care doctors could use help referring addicted patients for treatment, lawmakers told

Venezuelan prison riot renews calls to free imprisoned Utah

Next phase of Utah's Point of the Mountain development - how to pay for it all

Lawmakers pull the plug on UTA name change

A.G.'s office tells frustrated Utah lawmakers it will sue Big Pharma over opioid proliferation

Legislature will take another dive on contentious water issues

National Headlines

There are more billionaires in the US than in China, Germany and India combined (CNBC)

Trump says 'we'll have to see' if summit with Kim Jong Un is still happening (CNBC)

U.S. Has Spent $2.8 Trillion on Terrorism Fight, Study Finds (Wall Street Journal)

Baby Bust: Fertility is Declining the Most Among Minority Women (IFS)

Divisions deepen as Mueller probe hits one year (The Hill)

California Leaders Opposed To Sanctuary Law Meet With Trump (City News Service)

Mueller's team has told Trump's lawyers they can't indict a sitting president, Giuliani says (Business Insider)

Democratic Voters Reject Establishment Choice in Nebraska, Clouding November Hopes (Wall Street Journal)

Democratic Socialist women score big wins in Pennsylvania (CNN)

Teachers Take School Funding Fight Straight To North Carolina's Capitol (NPR)

Trump supporter says Cheesecake Factory employees were 'clenching their fists': 'It was just sad' (FOX News)

Wise Words

Forgiveness

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Mahatma Gandhi

Lighter Side

Robot Restaurant

"A group of MIT graduates just opened a restaurant in Boston where the chefs are all robots. Which makes it extra creepy when you find a hair in your food." Jimmy Fallon

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