No Sen. Chaffetz. eBay to expand Utah operations. Bachmann-Huntsman?

Happy Tuesday. It was the much-hyped Senate battle that ended before it began: Rep. Jason Chaffetz says he's not going to challenge Sen. Orrin Hatch for his seat, opting to remain in the House and fight the debt instead of a fellow Republican. [Trib] [DNews] [ABC4] [Politico] [Fox13] [UtahPolicy]

-> Time magazine wonders whether this decision shows the flagging power of the tea party. [Time]

-> Tale of the tape: The Trib's Robert Gehrke was first with the scoop that Chaffetz wasn't going to challenge Hatch. Politico came in second. DNews, third.

-> Questions that remain: 1) How will Chaffetz and Hatch get along now? The run up to this moment was pretty dicey and its unclear whether bridges can be rebuilt. 2) How does this leave the 2012 races: several hopefuls have already signed on, others are in the wings. Who jumps in? Who follows Chaffetz's lead?

Topping the news: eBay announces plans for a new facility in Utah that will create some 2,000 jobs. [Trib] [ABC4] [DNews]

-> Jon Huntsman says he could be a VP pick for Michele Bachmann but doesn't think it's going to happen with Mitt Romney. [TheHill]

-> Not wanting the DNC to use his own words against him, Huntsman hits back with his own video slamming the president for failing to lead. [YouTube]

Mark your calendars: U.S. Senate Majority Leader and SUU alumnus Harry Reid will speak at Southern Utah University in a fireside chat with SUU President Michael T. Benson as part of the University's Convocations Lecture Series - open to the public - on Thursday, September 1, in the Great Hall within the Haze Hunter Conference Center.

Tweet of the day: From the parody account, @jasoninthepress: "If I was running for Senate I would have announced at Cougar stadium, where I was a legend."

Where are they?

• Rep. Chaffetz speaks at the District Export Council meeting, offers remarks at the Fidelity Investments event, attends an Elephant Club Summer Social and joins a Chaffetz night golf fund-raiser at Cascade Golf Course in Orem.
• Gov. Gary Herbert meets with Lt. Gov. Greg Bell and hosts a CEO roundtable at the Governor's Mansion.
• SL Co. Mayor Peter Corroon attends a ribbon-cutting for the U.'s Neuropsychiatric Institute.
• SLC Mayor Ralph Becker attends a new employee orientation and hits the City Council meeting.
• WVC Mayor Mike Winder hits his City Council meeting.
• President Barack Obama remains on vacation at Martha's Vineyard.

In other news: Bob Bernick notes that redistricting isn't going well, especially since the state school board map, which usually slides be, took a separate meeting to figure out. [UtahPolicy]

-> Pat Bagley offers his take on the toppling of the Libyan dictator. [Trib]

-> The proposal to pump water from aquifers under the Utah-Nevada state line and pipe it to Las Vegas would translate to big water bill increases for residents there. [Trib]

-> The Legislature's Redistricting Committee threw a couple of surprises to the public on Monday -- they adopted a school board map created by a non-politician and let reporters listen in on backroom deliberations. [Trib]

-> Peg McEntee argues for an independent redistricting committee. [Trib]

-> Utah's new Democratic leader is taking a southern Utah swing to try to persuade conservative folks there they would be better off supporting Democrats who wouldn't take them for granted. [Trib]

-> And a local redistricting effort in Herriman is controversial. [Trib]

-> Utah business leaders meet with representatives of the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon to discuss a new guest worker partnership authorized by the Legislature. But the law does nothing to get around federal caps on visas. [Trib]

-> The state is taking applications for cash rebates for wind and solar installations. [Trib]

-> Utahns as a whole look like the picture of health compared to the nation as a whole. [Trib]

2012 watch: Iowa Gov. Terry Brandstad says Huntsman will remain an asterisk in the polls if he continues to skip the Hawkeye State. [RadioIowa]

-> Huntsman has attempted to make up ground in New Hampshire but is lacking strength so far. [MSNBC]

-> Vanity Fair comes up with several things that would fit inside Romney's proposed 11,000-square-foot home he wants to build. [VanityFair]

-> Romney gets an invite, but Huntsman doesn't make the cut for a forum sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint. [MSNBC]

-> An "independent, who has voted in both party's primaries" says he's backing Huntsman in a letter to the editor of the Concord Monitor. [Monitor]

-> McKay Coppins takes a look at how the two Mormons in the race handle the science questions. [DailyBeast]

Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com.

-- Thomas Burr
Twitter.com/thomaswburr
with editor Dan Harrie