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Situational awareness - January 4, 2018

Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City. Happy statehood day! 122 years ago today Utah was admitted as the 45th state.

On tap today: Rep. Gage Froerer is considering running for a Weber County post. The super PAC that supported Roy Moore is raising money to get Rep. Mia Love to possibly run for U.S. Senate. An explosive new book is tearing Washington apart.

Tick Tock:

• 18 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
• 63 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 64 days until the filing period for candidates in the 2018 election opens (3/9/2018)
• 70 days until the filing deadline for the 2018 elections (3/15/2018)
• 75 days until the statewide caucus meetings for Utah Republicans and Democrats (3/20/2018)
• 107 days until the Utah GOP State Convention (4/21/2018)
• 114 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention (4/28/2018)
• 173 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018)
• 306 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1,034 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Utah news highlights

Rep. Gage Froerer may join the exodus of state legislators

The veteran Republican lawmaker tells UtahPolicy.com that he is considering retiring from the legislature at the end of the current term to run for a spot on the Weber County Commission [Utah Policy].

Shadowy super PAC using Mia Love to raise money

The super PAC that supported failed Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore is raising money to find a conservative candidate for Utah's open U.S. Senate seat. The group is sending out fundraising emails suggesting Rep. Mia Love might be interested in the race, but her campaign says that's not in the realm of reality [Utah Policy].

Other Utah headlines:

• Sen. Orrin Hatch says if Congress had not passed the GOP tax overhaul bill, he would probably be running for an eighth term instead of retiring [Deseret News].
  
  
• Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn says he hopes Mitt Romney runs for Utah's open Senate seat in 2018 [Tribune].
  
  
• Gov. Gary Herbert thinks voters will approve the medical marijuana ballot initiative in 2018 [Tribune].
  
  
• The 2018 State School Board elections will remain a nonpartisan affair following a judge's ruling, but the state plans to appeal the decision [Tribune].
  
  
• LaVarr Webb offers up his favorite stories about LDS Church President Thomas Monson, who passed away on Wednesday [Utah Policy].
  
  
• The Kaysville City Council is expected to censure Councilman Dave Adams and call for his resignation after allegations that he extorted a Layton sod farmer for $250,000 [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• A state audit finds state workers are paid less than employees in the private sector, but get more generous benefits [Tribune].
  
  
• A Midvale man has been charged with making threats to kill President Trump [Deseret News].

National headlines

• An explosive new book about the Trump White House quotes former strategist Steve Bannon saying the meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russians at Trump tower in 2016 was "treasonous" and "unpatriotic" [The Guardian]. The book also claims President Trump never intended to win the 2016 election and his victory caught his team completely off guard, so they never had a plan for what comes next [New York Magazine]. Trump fired back at Bannon saying he "lost his mind" [Washington Post]. Trump's lawyers also sent Bannon a "cease and desist" letter for breaking a non-disclosure agreement, which suggests at least some of what he said in the book is true [Politico].
  
  
• Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has filed suit against special counsel Robert Mueller to narrow the scope of the Russia investigation [New York Times].
  
  
• President Donald Trump dissolves his controversial voter fraud commission saying that states refused to turn over their voter information to the group [CNN].
  
  
• Congress and the White House are working to hammer out a budget deal before the next funding deadline in three weeks [Politico].
  
  
• North and South Korea are slowly resuming diplomatic talks while leaving the United States on the sidelines [New York Times].

On this day in history

• 1847 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.
  
  
• 1893 - President Benjamin Harrison granted amnesty to all people who had abstained from practicing polygamy since Nov. 1, 1890. It was part of a deal for Utah to achieve statehood.
  
  
• 1896 - Utah is admitted as the 45th state.
  
  
• 1974 - President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
  
  
• 1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as governor of Minnesota.

Today At Utah Policy

Rep. Gage Froerer may retire from Utah House, mulling run for Weber County post By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor State Rep. Gage Froerer confirmed to UtahPolicy on Wednesday that he's considering running for the Weber County Commission next year and retiring from the House, where he has served in District 8 since 2006....

Thomas Monson remembrance: 'The best thing I did all day' By LaVarr Webb, Publisher When I was managing editor of the Deseret News, working with Publisher Jim Mortimer, Pres. Monson was our board chairman. He was a very engaged board chair and, as a former printing executive, very much enjoyed being associated with the newspaper....

Pro-Roy Moore super PAC pushing Mia Love as a possible Senate candidate in Utah By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor A right-wing super PAC that supported Roy Moore's failed Senate bid in Alabama is raising money to find a conservative candidate for Utah's open Senate seat and is pushing Mia Love as a possibility....

Weekly survey: Will 2018 be a 'wave election'? By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Political observers say 2018 could be a "wave election" for Democrats. What do you think is the most likely outcome of the 2018 midterms? Vote now....

2018 Utah candidate tracker - Congress By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor There's a U.S. Senate seat up for election in 2018 as well as all four U.S. House seats. Here's our list of rumored and declared candidates....

2018 Utah candidate tracker - Utah Senate By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor 2018 means another election cycle is upon us. Half of the Utah Senate seats are up for election this year, including an unexpected one because of a retirement. Here's our running list of candidates for those seats....

2018 Utah candidate tracker - Utah House By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Next week candidates can start gathering signatures to get on the 2018 ballot. All 75 Utah House seats are up for election this year. Here's our running list of who's in, who's out and who's challenging....

CYBER 24 podcast: VLCM panel discussion part 2 By Marty Carpenter In part 2 of our panel discussion with four leading cybersecurity experts, we discuss how someone can hire someone to launch a cyber attack on your business that could shut you down. We also discuss where a business should executive should start to address cybersecurity when...

Policy News

Salt Lake Chamber statement on announced retirement of Senator Orrin Hatch Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, issued the following statement regarding the announcement from Senator Orrin Hatch that he will be retiring at the end of his current term....

Wise Words

Respect

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Lighter Side

UFO's

"It was revealed that the Pentagon had a top secret program to investigate UFO's and aliens. Which is why Trump announced plans to build a dome over the earth and make E.T. pay for it." Jimmy Fallon