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Sarah Palin on Mitt running again: 'We need new blood.' AG Reyes took secret trip to rescue child sex slaves. Poll: 56% of Utahns want more payday loan controls.
Happy Thursday. Not surprisingly, potential 2016 candidates on the Republican side aren't too pleased by the idea of Mitt Romney jumping into the race. Sen. Rand Paul called Romney "yesterday's news," and former Alaska governor and VP candidate Sarah Palin was skeptical: "We need new energy. We need new blood. We need new ideas." [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/14/sarah-palin-mitt-romney_n_6473200.html" target="_blank">HuffPost]
Topping the news: Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes took a secret trip to Colombia last October to participate in taking down a child sex trafficking operation. [http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865619642/Utah-AG-Sean-Reyes-made-secret-trip-to-rescue-child-sex-slaves-in-Colombia.html" target="_blank">DNews][http://fox13now.com/2015/01/14/exclusive-the-utah-ags-secret-trip-to-participate-in-a-child-sex-trafficking-sting/" target="_blank">Fox13]
-> A new report says Utah's tax burden os at a 20-year low because of pre-recession tax cuts. However, the poor and middle-class are paying nearly twice as much as the wealthiest 1 percent. [http://www.sltrib.com/news/2058634-155/utahs-tax-burden-hits-20-year-low" target="_blank">Trib][http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865619629/Utahs-tax-burden-at-20-year-low-report-says.html" target="_blank">DNews][http://utahpolicy.com/index.php/features/today-at-utah-policy/4511-study-utah-tax-burden-lowest-in-last-two-decades" target="_blank">UtahPolicy]
-> A new poll shows some 56 percent of Utahns favor more controls on the payday loan industry. [http://utahpolicy.com/index.php/features/today-at-utah-policy/4514-poll-utahns-favor-limits-on-payday-loans" target="_blank">UtahPolicy]
-> Utah lawmakers and Gov. Gary Herbert are still split over his Healthy Utah alternative to Medicaid expansion, but they hope to find a compromise within the next week. [http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865619593/Can-state-leaders-Herbert-compromise-on-Medicaid-before-session.html" target="_blank">DNews]
Tweets of the day: From @http://www.twitter.com/JohnJHarwood" target="_blank">JohnJHarwood: "Pretty much all that's left is for McCain to get in the race."
Happy Birthday: Former state Rep. Steven Mascaro.
Tune in: University of Utah history and ethnic studies professor Ronald Coleman, NAACP's Alain Balmanno and activist Joan Mulholland join Jennifer Napier-Pearce to talk about the film "Selma," the civil rights movement and the continuing struggle against prejudice and discrimination. Watch Trib Talk live at 12:15 p.m. MT on http://sltrib.com/" target="_blank">sltrib.com.
In other news: The state held the first public hearing about Utah's proposed wood-burning ban in Tooele yesterday to gauge public opinion, and boy did they get it. Nearly 200 people attended the hearing, expressing their adamant disapproval for the ban. [http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865619592/First-wood-burn-hearing-begins-today-in-Tooele-County.html" target="_blank">DNews]
-> State Sen. Jerry Stevenson, a co-chariman of the Prison Relocation Commission, thought he had the perfect solution for the new location of the state prison: a remote spot in Tooele County where the military once destroyed weapons from decades ago. Until he found out the military is still regularly blowing up weapons, which would cause the prisoners to be rocked with regular aftershocks of explosions. [http://www.sltrib.com/news/2039732-155/army-blows-up-potential-utah-prison" target="_blank">Trib]
-> ABC News' Jeff Zeleny sat down with Sen. Orrin Hatch to talk about his love of writing songs. [http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/sen-orrin-hatch-shares-passion-writing-love-songs-28232424" target="_blank">ABCNews]
-> UTA recently did some research and determined that it would cost an extra $49 million to expand its late-night service, something that rider groups and petitioners have been asking for. [http://www.sltrib.com/news/2059506-155/uta-extra-late-night-service-would-be" target="_blank">Trib]
-> Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker gave his State of the City address yesterday, telling a crowd of elementary students that they have an equal chance to succeed and asking them to help him get their families to be more environmentally friendly. [http://www.sltrib.com/news/2054869-155/becker-lays-out-rays-of-sunshine" target="_blank">Trib][http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865619590/Beckers-speech-to-children-includes-dig-at-lawmakers-for-inaction-on-air-quality.html?pg=all" target="_blank">DNews][http://utahpolicy.com/index.php/features/today-at-utah-policy/4509-becker-goes-back-to-school-for-state-of-the-city-address-video" target="_blank">UtahPolicy]
-> House Speaker John Boehner announced that Rep. Chris Stewart will serve on the House Intelligence Committee. [http://www.sltrib.com/news/2058509-155/utahs-stewart-named-to-intelligence-committee" target="_blank">Trib]
-> The West Valley City Council voted Tuesday to release previously withheld records of the 2012 officer-involved shooting death of Danielle Willard. [http://www.sltrib.com/news/2058587-155/west-valley-council-votes-to-open" target="_blank">Trib]
-> The Orem City Council voted last night to ban all new billboards in the city and put restrictions on electronic billboards after residents complained the bright lights disrupted their quality of life. [http://www.sltrib.com/news/2058318-155/orem-restricts-electronic-billboards" target="_blank">Trib]
-> Salt Lake City officials are still trying to decide where to put the huge Hoberman Arch, one of the icons from 2002 Winter Olympic. [http://www.sltrib.com/news/2050133-155/hoberman-arch-will-it-ever-rise" target="_blank">Trib] [http://www.ksl.com/?sid=33106555&nid=148&fm=latest_videos" target="_blank">KSL]
-> Former chief executive of The Community Foundation of Utah, Fraser Nelson, has joined Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams' staff as the first director of data and innovation. [http://www.sltrib.com/news/2059034-155/fraser-nelson-to-lead-innovation-for" target="_blank">Trib]
-> Pat Bagley offers his take on the third coming of Mitt Romney. [http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/2059163-155/bagley-cartoon-the-third-mitt-eration" target="_blank">Trib]
Nationally: In a continuation of the battle between Congress' aggressive conservative agenda and President Obama's veto power, the House voted Wednesday to block funding for the president's immigration orders. [http://linkis.com/thehill.com/blogs/fl/FkmVM" target="_blank">TheHill] [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/us/politics/house-votes-to-revoke-legal-protections-for-millions-of-immigrants.html?_r=0" target="_blank">NYTimes] [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/14/house-votes-to-overturn-obama-immigration-actions-bill-now-goes-to-senate/" target="_blank">FOX] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/01/14/house-votes-to-block-obamas-immigration-actions-but-exposes-new-gop-divisions/" target="_blank">WaPost] [http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/13/politics/house-immigration-vote/" target="_blank">CNN] [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/immigration-reform-republicans-house-114251.html" target="_blank">Politico] All four Utahns in the House voted for the GOP measure. [http://www.sltrib.com/news/2058514-155/congress-utahns-back-bill-to-thwart" target="_blank">Trib]
-> In an effort to protect transgender and gender non-conforming people, a new law in California requires all businesses in West Hollywood to make their single-stall restrooms gender-neutral. [http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-weho-gender-neutral-restroom-20150113-story.html" target="_blank">LATimes] [http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/14/gender-neutral-single-stall-bathrooms-required-in-california-city/?cmpid=cmty_twitter_fn" target="_blank">FOX]
-> Customers can expect slower tax refunds, fewer identity-theft protections and worse customer service from the IRS this year due to drastic budget cuts. Only one good thing will come from the smaller budget: fewer audits. [http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765666300/IRS-cuts-taxpayer-services-as-filing-returns-gets-harder.html" target="_blank">AP] [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/14/irs-chief-warns-refund-delays-poor-customer-service-this-tax-year/" target="_blank">FOX] [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/irs-service-degraded-taxpayers-to-pay-price-114257.html" target="_blank">Politico] [http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/irs-warns-slower-tax-refunds-identity-theft-risk/story?id=28202174" target="_blank">ABC]
-> A new Pew Research study says that only 20% of Republican women care about having a female president in their lifetime, compared to 69% of Democratic women. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/01/14/a-female-president-republicans-and-democratic-men-dont-really-care/" target="_blank">WaPost] [http://time.com/3666086/only-20-of-republican-women-want-a-female-president-in-the-lifetime/" target="_blank">TIME] [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/female-president-america-poll-114256.html" target="_blank">Politico] [http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/01/14/woman-president-pew-research-hillary/" target="_blank">USAToday] [http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/01/14/hopes-for-a-woman-president-split-along-party-gender-lines/" target="_blank">WSJ]
Where are they?
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— Thomas Burr and Erica Palmer
https://twitter.com/thomaswburr" target="_blank">Twitter.com/thomaswburr and https://twitter.com/erica_palmer">Twitter.com/erica_palmer