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Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing
Morning Must Reads for Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 334th day of the year. There are 32 days remaining in 2016.
Greg Hughes will meet with Donald Trump's transition team this week. Mitt Romney meets with Trump again about the Secretary of State post on Tuesday. Republicans plan a "lightning strike" on Obamacare in early 2017.
The clock:
- 20 days until the Electoral College meets to cast their votes for president and vice president (12/19/2016)
- 52 days until Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President (1/20/2017)
- 55 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (1/23/2017)
- 100 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
- 343 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
- 707 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
Ten talking points for Tuesday:
- House Speaker Greg Hughes will meet with Donald Trump's transition team about possibly taking a position in a Trump administration [Utah Policy].
- Utah House Democrats meet Tuesday night to pick their leaders for the next two years [Utah Policy].
- Mitt Romney will meet again with Donald Trump on Tuesday about the Secretary of State job [Utah Policy]. LaVarr Webb says Romney would be wise not to take a post in a Trump cabinet [Utah Policy]. Trump's flirtation with Romney is not sitting well with some of the loyalists within his inner circle [Washington Post]. Trump is also considering David Petraeus, who pleaded guilty to leaking classified information and lying about it to investigators, for the Secretary of State post [Politico].
- Donald Trump taps Georgia Congressman Tom Price, a fierce opponent of Obamacare, to lead Health and Human Services [Politico].
- Congressional Republicans are considering a "lightning strike" on Obamacare early next year to jump-start the Donald Trump era [Bloomberg].
- Congressional Democrats send a second letter to Rep. Jason Chaffetz demanding that he launch an investigation into Donald Trump's innumerable conflicts of interest with his business empire [Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, Tribune].
- Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox calls Donald Trump's claim that millions of illegal votes were cast during the presidential election is "dangerous" [Deseret News, Tribune].
- Utahns hit the polls in record numbers this year as nearly 58% of eligible voters cast ballots [Tribune]. Democrat Suzanne Harrison asks for a recount in her 3-vote loss to Republican LaVar Christensen [Deseret News].
- Changes to Utah's tax policy have cost public education more than $1 billion a year according to a new report [Utah Policy, Tribune].
- Utah's abortion rate ticked up slightly in 2015, reversing a four-year decline [Deseret News].
On this day in history:
- 1877 - Thomas Edison demonstrated a hand-cranked phonograph that recorded sound on grooved metal cylinders.
- 1929 - Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd radioed that he'd made the first airplane flight over the South Pole.
- 1963 - President Lyndon B. Johnson named a commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
- The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution authorizing "all necessary means," including military force, against Iraq if it didn't withdraw from Kuwait by Jan. 15, 1991.
Today At Utah Policy
 | House Dems to Elect 2017 Leaders Tuesday Utah House Democrats will finally meet on Tuesday night to pick their leadership for the 2017 Legislature.... |
 | Opinion Briefs: Don't Do it Mitt Memo to Mitt: Run, don’t walk, away. Mitt Romney is a patriotic fellow.... |
 | Hughes Set to Meet with Trump's Transition Team Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes Monday was off to Washington, D.C., where he was to attend several ALEC meetings.... |
 | Utah's K-12 Education Funding Effort Still Dropping Changes to Utah’s tax rates and structure as well as the allocation of revenue dedicated to public schools has meant a decline in funding effort for K-12 education in Utah. ... |
 | Romney to Meet with Trump Again President-Elect Donald Trump will meet again with Mitt Romney on Tuesday about the Secretary of State post.... |
Policy News
 | EDCUtah Hits Its Target with New Website When EDCUtah launched its new website last July, the organization had three specific goals:... |
| Office of the State Auditor Completes Audit of State's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report The State of Utah’s Division of Finance recently completed its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for fiscal year 2016. ... |
| Governor Orders Flags Lowered in Honor of Fallen Trooper Governor Gary R. Herbert has ordered the lowering of the flag of the United States of America and the flag of the State of Utah on the day of Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Eric Ellsworth’s funeral, Wed., Nov. 30, 2016.... |
| The Utah 1033 Foundation Responds to a Community Tragedy and a Utah Highway Patrol Trooper's Death Utah’s law enforcement community was once again struck with the passing of a hero.... |
| Mayor Biskupski Joins 32 Mayors to Urge Climate Action in Letter to President-elect Trump In a show of broad cooperation and commitment to addressing one of the most pressing needs of our time, Mayor Jackie Biskupski on Tuesday joined 32 other mayors from cities around the United States in asking President-elect Donald Trump to work with cities, rather ... |
Local Headlines
Salt Lake Tribune
Editorial: Impending move of Utah State Prison provides opportunities and risks
Beware of rules that put a crimp on business, new chamber report warns
Democrats demand that Chaffetz probe Trump's potential conflicts of interest
Utah Lt. Gov. Cox hits Trump over 'dangerous' and baseless claims of voter fraud
Utahns voted in record numbers this year
Report: Changes to Utah taxes pulled $1.2 billion a year from schools
Herbert says Utah needs to welcome refugees from war-torn nations
Deseret News
Op-ed: Community-based solutions - A new vision of self-government
Editorial: Housing proposal needed for Utah homeless issue
Utah lawmaker files resolution seeking halt to Dakota pipeline
Recount filed over Rep. Lavar Christensen's 3-vote win
Trump's claims of voter fraud 'dangerous' and erode confidence, Lt. Gov. Cox says
Could Obama's efforts to help undocumented immigrants unravel during Trump's presidency?
Other
Graduation rates remain steady; improvement seen at small schools (Logan Herald Journal)
National Headlines
Democrats don't see a need to change policy just the way they sell it (McClatchy)
Iranian vessel points weapon at U.S. helicopter (Reuters)
Trump gives Romney a second secretary of state interview (Daily Mail)
Pennsylvania State Department says Stein missed recount deadline (Washington Examiner)
Annoyed Dems dismiss recount as 'waste of time' (The Hill)
Terrorism suspected in car-and-knife attack at Ohio State (Associated Press)
Suspect Identified in Ohio State Attack as Abdul Razak Ali Artan (NBC News)
Trump meets Petraeus in fraught quest for top diplomat (AFP)
Why Nancy Pelosi's leadership drama probably isn't going away anytime soon (Washington Post)
Senate Democrats signal Sessions is in for a fight (Politico)
Wise Words
Sympathy
"There is no grief like the grief that does not speak." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Lighter Side
Cruzin
"Right now, the focus is on who Trump will appoint to his cabinet. In fact, C-SPAN aired a live feed of the elevators at Trump Tower that captured potential cabinet members going up to meet him. It even caught the moment when Ted Cruz was approaching the elevator and everyone inside frantically hit the "door close" button." Jimmy Fallon
