President Donald Trump stokes national anthem controversy before the Super Bowl. Jon Huntsman Sr., a philanthropist and a family man, dies at age 80. Utahns remember Huntsman for his kindness and dedication to curing cancer.
Happy Monday. The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl — the first time in the franchise’s history — on Sunday night. But the game kicked off with President Donald Trump restating his controversial opposition to players kneeling for the national anthem. The country’s service members, he said in a written statement, deserve “the greatest respect for defending our liberty and our American way of life. … We hold them in our hearts and thank them for our freedom as we proudly stand for the National Anthem.” [Politico]
Topping the news: Jon Huntsman Sr. died Friday at age 80. He was a philanthropist and a family man. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Utahns expressed their sadness at the news and praised Huntsman for his dedication to curing cancer. [Trib] [DNews] [KUTV] [Fox13]
-> His eight children are now tasked with fulfilling their father’s legacy. [Trib]
-> Robert Gehrke reflects on Huntsman’s influence. [Trib]
Tweets of the weekend: From @SonnyBunch: “I’m going to be honest. I missed the memo release. Is America … still a thing?”
-> From @pourmecoffee: “I have listened to hours of ‘dossier’ and ‘memo’ being said on TV and I could really use some assurances right now there is not a webinar out there.“
Happy belated birthday: To Tyler Cain, constituent services specialist for Gov. Gary Herbert, who celebrated Sunday.
In other news: Interior Department officials announced at a Friday meeting in Salt Lake City that President Donald Trump’s administration is considering making changes that include consolidating land agencies into regional offices to allow more coordination with state and local offices. [Trib] [DNews]
-> New Trump-appointed officials overseeing U.S. Small Business Administration operations in Utah are working to make sure that companies in rural Utah are getting help from the federal government. [Trib]
-> Salt Lake City has a $144 million wish list this year. Street maintenance, public safety, affordable housing and transit plans are among the city’s priorities. [Trib]
-> The Utah Department of Workforce Services will be investigating members of the polygamous FLDS Church who may have misused the federal food stamps program to get cash. [Trib]
-> Plural wives in Utah are casting their support for replacing Utah’s statue of television inventor Philo T. Farnsworth, which currently stands in the U.S. Capitol, with one of Martha Hughes Cannon, the first female state senator. [Trib]
-> Some House Republicans aren’t giving up on their proposal to create a new legislative committee to oversee local governments, school boards and state agencies. [Trib] [KSL]
-> There are seven statewide public hearings tonight on the Keep My Voice initiative, which are required before it can gather signatures to land on the November ballot. The movement is seeking to strike down an election law that allows candidates to qualify for the ballot by gathering signatures, using the the caucus-convention system or both. [Trib]
-> A bill saying Utah should pursue a bid to host the 2026 or 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games advanced out of committee Friday. [Trib]
-> Utah lawmakers are considering a bill that would reorganize the Utah Transit Authority and hike taxes on rental cars and hotel rooms to fund mass transit and highways. [Trib]
-> Utah Rep. Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, is sponsoring a bill that would cut taxes back to current rates even if voters approve the Our Schools Now initiative to hike sales and income taxes to fund education. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Two bills aimed at protecting domestic violence victims from their abusers passed through committee Friday. [Trib] [KSL]
-> Three out of four Utahns support a bill that would ban the use of handheld phones while driving, according to a new poll by The Salt Lake Tribune and the Hinckley Institute of Politics. [Trib]
-> The Utah Senate Economic Development Committee voted unanimously Friday to send a bill to the full Senate that would make the Utahraptor the state’s official dinosaur. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Utah lawmakers opened a record-breaking number of 1,341 bill files for this year’s legislative session. Last year’s record was 1,298. [Trib]
-> Members of the advocacy group Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment plan to push state lawmakers to take action on air pollution. [Trib]
-> Paul Rolly tells the story of Gov. Gary Herbert‘s interaction with the anesthesiologist for his kidney stone surgery — one of his biggest critics for the state’s environmental policies. [Trib]
-> Frank Pignanelli and LaVarr Webb analyze how Trump could affect local elections. [DNews]
Nationally: House Republicans released a memo Friday that accused the FBI and the Justice Department of abusing their surveillance powers to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser. President Donald Trump declassified the memo despite concerns. [NYTimes]
-> Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urged Trump on Sunday to release the Democratic memo as a counterweight to the Republican memo. [Vox]
-> Trump spoke to Republican lawmakers Thursday with a speech at the GOP retreat in West Virginia. [WaPost]
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— Courtney Tanner and Madalyn Gunnell