President Donald Trump proposes adding “space force” to the United States military. San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman will run for the Utah Legislature with a focus on rural communities. Students across the country have planned walkouts to mark Florida shooting.
Happy Wednesday. During a speech to a crowd of Marines on Tuesday, President Donald Trump suggested adding a “space force” branch to the United States military. “My new national strategy for space recognizes that space is a war-fighting domain, just like the land, air and sea,” he said. It was unclear if the idea was a joke, but it would likely be prohibited under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. [WaPost]
Topping the news: Claiming rural Utah is “under attack,” San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman announced that he will run for state Rep. Mike Noel’s seat. [Trib] [KSL]
-> Utah lawmakers who voted in favor of a bill to help billboard companies install digital signs and relocate old ones received more, on average, in donations from the industry than those who voted against it. [Trib]
-> Students across Utah and the country have planned walkouts for today to mark last month’s mass shooting at a Florida high school. [Trib]
Tweets of the day: From @nickconfessore: “Maybe the next cabinet secretary won’t even be fired by tweet. He will just show up and someone else will be sitting in the chair and his key won’t work and everyone will pretend not to know who he is.”
-> From @kumailn: “Coincidentally, my cat also concluded her investigation into Russian collusion and found no wrongdoing. Her report will be published soon.”
Happy Birthday: To Utah first lady Jeanette Herbert; Julie Chaffetz, wife of former Rep. Jason Chaffetz; and Julian Babbitt.
In other news: As part of an agreement with prosecutors, the Utah Transit Authority agreed to have a federal watchdog review the agency. Nearly a year later, it doesn’t have one. [Trib]
-> The Utah GOP chairman announced that he will ignore a new bylaw approved by the party’s central committee that could keep Republicans off the ballot. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Lawmakers passed two fewer bills this session than last year’s record of 535, according to BYU professor Adam Brown. [Trib]
-> Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and the father of one of the Florida shooting victims stood alongside several senators and announced a new bill aimed at preventing violence in schools. [DNews] [ABC4]
-> The Salt Lake County Council joined with Salt Lake City in opposing the proposed inland port project. [Trib]
-> The Alliance for a Better Utah is calling for a Utah County commissioner to resign. [DNews] [ABC4] [KUTV] [KSL]
-> The Bureau of Land Management has proposed a new natural gas project in Uintah County that could generate as much as $1 billion in royalties. [DNews]
-> Pat Bagley depicts President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Fifth Avenue. [Trib]
-> Paul Rolly describes the work of one former LDS bishop who is spending thousands of dollars out of his own pocket to teach about the Book of Mormon. [Trib]
Nationally: President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a tweet and intends to replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo. [NYTimes]
-> The special U.S. House election in Pennsylvania was too close to call Tuesday night. [WaPost]
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— Courtney Tanner and Eric Baker
Follow @sltribpolitics