This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The most dangerous conspiracy theory about the election: that it's rigged. Owens criticizes Love over taxpayer-funded mailers. Handicapper: Love-Owens race now 'lean Republican' from tossup.

Happy Wednesday. In a presidential campaign consumed by conspiracy theories, the most dangerous one looming over these final six weeks isn't about President Barack Obama's birthplace or whether Hillary Clinton is sick with more than pneumonia. It's the suggestion that the election itself won't be on the up and up. Though GOP nominee Donald Trump said at the debate that he'll accept the voters' wishes come November, he's also still telling audiences that he believes the system is rigged against him. [<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/2016-election-conspiracy-theory-rigged-228807">Politico</a>]

<strong>Topping the news: </strong>Salt Lake County Recorder Gary Ott didn't show up to a County Council meeting, citing worsening of his case of shingles, where he would have been asked to respond to an auditor's finding that he has very little involvement in the management of his office. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4405113-155/salt-lake-county-recorder-gary-ott?page=1"; target="_blank">Trib</a>] [<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865663423/Audit-Recorder-Gary-Ott-has-very-little-oversight-or-involvement-in-his-office.html"; target="_blank">DNews</a>] [<a href="http://fox13now.com/2016/09/27/salt-lake-county-recorder-has-little-oversight-in-his-own-office-audit-reveals/"; target="_blank">Fox13</a>] [<a href="http://kutv.com/news/local/audit-finds-sl-county-recorder-is-mia-in-his-own-office"; target="_blank">KUTV</a>]

-> Rep. Mia Love has spent $274,800 in taxpayer money during her time in the House to send mailers to her constituents, a legal practice that her opponent Doug Owens finds wasteful. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4403559-155/doug-owens-criticizes-mia-loves-use"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

-> Political handicapper Sabato's Crystal Ball has moved Utah's 4th Congressional District race between Rep. Love and Doug Owens to "Republican lean" when it once was a "tossup." [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4403345-155/not-a-tossup-handicappers-now-say"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

<strong>Tweets of the day: </strong>From @<a href="https://twitter.com/weknowwhatsbest"; target="_blank">weknowwhatsbest</a>: "What are the odds that the only person in America that has never heard of the Clinton Foundation or the Benghazi scandal is Lester Holt?"

From @<a href="https://twitter.com/SnoozeInBrief"; target="_blank">SnoozeInBrief</a>: "Trump was badly let down by his microphone, which kept picking up the actual things he actually said and transmitting them to the public."

 

From @<a href="https://twitter.com/sammyjohester"; target="_blank">sammyjohester</a>: "I've been hearing so much about democratic and republican parties lately that the only party I want to attend is a pizza party."

<strong>Happy Birthday:</strong> to host of "The Left Show" J.M. Bell and former state senator and U.S. Senate candidate Scott Howell.

<strong>In other news:</strong> An audit of the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control found Utah liquor store employee salaries on the low end, in part because of a tight, Legislature-determined budget, but with heftier health insurance and retirement benefits than workers in other states. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4404006-155/audit-highlights-low-wages-among-utah?page=1"; target="_blank">Trib</a>] [<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865663435/State-liquor-outlets-should-run-more-like-convenience-stores-Utah-auditor-says.html"; target="_blank">DNews</a>] [<a href="http://www.good4utah.com/news/dabc-audit-shows-hourly-state-liquor-store-employees-the-lowest-paid-in-the-nation"; target="_blank">ABC4</a>] [<a href="http://kuer.org/post/dabc-audit-shows-some-progress-makes-recommendations-staff-efficiency#stream/0"; target="_blank">KUER</a>]

-> The National Park Service has held off on its decision to cut commercial guides from working in Arches' Fiery Furnace next year after a letter from Rep. Jason Chaffetz defended the guides and demanded reconsideration. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4372395-155/arches-national-park-may-eject-commercial?page=1"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

-> District 4 state school board candidates David Thomas and Jennifer Graviet agreed on devoting all state income-tax revenue to K-12 schools and opposing the new APT program that lets aspiring teachers sidestep a teaching degree but clashed over if school board elections should be partisan matters. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4405309-155/utah-school-board-candidates-debate-over?page=1"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

-> Granite School district has received $200,000 from the State Department of Workforce Services to try out a new Medical Innovations Pathways program that would give high school students shooting for the medical field college classwork, an internship and a medical manufacturing innovations certificate before they graduate. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4403494-155/utah-launches-program-to-train-high"; target="_blank">Trib</a>] [<a href="http://kutv.com/news/local/new-health-sciences-pathways-program-for-high-school-students"; target="_blank">KUTV</a>]

-> The University of Utah has rolled out a Center for Research on Migration and Refugee Integration to help Utah's 65,000 refugees with language, education and employment. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4389621-155/university-of-utah-launching-center-to?page=1"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

-> Utah Transit Authority President and CEO Jerry Benson now says that what was believed to be a virtual closed committee meeting last week was actually only three members of the board and some staff in a conference call. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4404904-155/uta-revises-explanation-of-closed-door-meeting?page=1"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

-> Google Fiber announced this week that it will serve residents of three downtown Salt Lake City low-income apartment complexes free of charge to launch its Gigabit Communities Program, which aims to help up the disadvantaged with technology. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4403729-155/google-fiber-opens-up-new-world"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

-> The U.S. Government Accountability Office pleads for a standardized national solution to laboratories' mishandling of pathogens and lackluster reporting of those incidents. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4403608-155/gao-report-problems-working-with-pathogens"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

-> Pat Bagley identifies a trend in the way wealthy New York real estate tycoons view federal taxes. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/4404748-155/bagley-cartoon-tax-dodgers"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

-> Paul Rolly rounds up the eviction of a GOP party-deserter from his office spot in the Capitol, incumbent Attorney General Sean Reyes seeking campaign contributions without an opponent polling over 5 percent and a Millcreek resident's report of a yard campaign sign stolen and returned with hate speech written on it. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4395718-155/rolly-utahs-senate-republicans-banish-gop"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

<strong>Nationally:</strong> Donald Trump gave several exxcuses on Tuesday for why his debate performance wasn't up to par — including a microphone malfunction and a biased moderator — while Hillary Clinton continued to point the spotlight at his blunders in her campaigning. [<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-clinton-builds-on-a-strong-debate-trump-lobs-attacks-and-complaints/2016/09/27/6bb4cd2e-84cc-11e6-92c2-14b64f3d453f_story.html"; target="_blank">WaPost</a>] [<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/27/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-debate-reaction/index.html"; target="_blank">CNN</a>] [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/us/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-debate.html?ref=politics&_r=0"; target="_blank">NYTimes</a>]

-> The Trump campaign reported bringing in $18 million in online donations after the presidential debate. [<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/donald-trump-post-debate-fundraising-228805"; target="_blank">Politico</a>] [<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/27/trump-campaign-says-18-million-windfall-followed-mondays-debate/"; target="_blank">WaPost</a>]

-> Hillary Clinton will gain a high-profile GOP endorsement in a swing state on Wednesday: former Virginia Sen. John Warner. [<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-to-score-another-gop-endorsement-former-senator-john-warner-of-virginia/2016/09/27/43caf6e6-84cf-11e6-a3ef-f35afb41797f_story.html"; target="_blank">WaPost</a>] [<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/27/politics/hillary-clinton-john-warner-gop-endorsement/index.html"; target="_blank">CNN</a>] [<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/john-warner-hillary-clinton-228819"; target="_blank">Politico</a>]

-> Senate Democrats blocked a stopgap spending bill that excludes aid for Flint in a 55–45 vote on Tuesday, leaving reconciliation or excluding Baton Rouge aid from the bill as possible options to avoid a government shutdown. [<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/09/27/will-democrats-force-a-federal-shutdown-over-flint-relief-funds/"; target="_blank">WaPost</a>] [<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/27/politics/government-shutdown-funding-bill-zika-flint/index.html"; target="_blank">CNN</a>] [<a href="http://time.com/4510437/senate-blocks-spending-bill-government-shutdown/"; target="_blank">Time</a>]

<strong>Where are they?</strong>

<ul>

<li>Rep. Jason <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/jasoninthehouse"; target="_blank">Chaffetz</a></strong> questions the FBI director at a Judiciary hearing and votes.</li>

<li>Rep. Chris <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/RepChrisStewart"; target="_blank">Stewart</a></strong> goes to a House Intelligence Committee briefing, sits down with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, votes and chats with constituents in his Washington office.</li>

<li>Rep. Mia <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMiaLove"; target="_blank"><strong>Love</strong></a> makes an appearance at a Full Financial Services committee hearing before talking with the president of Salt Lake Community College and voting.</li>

<li>Gov. Gary <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/GovHerbert"; target="_blank">Herbert</a></strong> drops by a Read Today/KSL event, attends the Zion's Bank Golden Key Awards and ends the night with a Road Home Chili Cook-Off.</li>

<li>Lt. Gov. Spencer <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/SpencerJCox"; target="_blank">Cox</a></strong> meets with the Affordable Housing Task Force and the Governor's Advisory Team.</li>

<li>President Barack <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama"; target="_blank">Obama</a></strong> honors Kyle Busch and his team members for his 2015 Nascar Sprint Cup Series championship then travels to Fort Lee, Va., to take questions from the military community and address the crowd at a CNN Town Hall meeting.</li>

</ul>

Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at <a href="mailto:cornflakes@sltrib.com" target="_blank">cornflakes@sltrib.com</a>. If you haven't already, sign up for our weekday email and get this sent directly to your inbox. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/pages/email"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]

— Thomas Burr and Zoe Woolf McGinn

<a title="Thomas Burr" href="https://twitter.com/thomaswburr"; target="_blank">Twitter.com/thomaswburr</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/zoewmcginn"; target="_blank">Twitter.com/zoewmcginn</a>