How does fake news spread? A lesson in checking your news sources. The LDS Church offers a legal document against medical marijuana initiative. Romney comes out swinging against pastor with anti-Mormon bias.
Welcome to Monday. How does fake news spread? Essentially, by those who don’t want to check whether the purported story is actually real. They click, they share, they add to the noise because it sounds like what they believe. Too often a social media user adds to the fake news cycle unwittingly — but to the detriment of real news. [Politico]
Topping the news: The LDS Church weighed in on a Utah medical marijuana ballot initiative for the second time, releasing a seven-page legal document listing the issues medical marijuana would cause the state, including creating “significant challenges for law enforcement.” [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13]
-> San Juan County officials determined that Democrat and Navajo Willie Grayeyes does not meet the qualifications to run for an open county seat and will not appear on the November ballot. Grayeyes has hired a legal team to fight the decision. [Trib]
> Mitt Romney lambasted the decision to include Robert Jeffress, a controversial Texas pastor who has made derogatory comments about Mormonism, Islam and Judaism, to give a headline speech at an event moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. [Trib]
Tweet of the day: From @jrsalzman: “Modern-day politics is just one giant game of soccer with everyone falling down pretending to be hurt.”
In other news: At least 14 archaeologists and environmental specialists, including some from Utah, were blocked by the Bureau of Land Management from attending a major scientific conference last month. [Trib]
-> In Utah and across the country, more women than ever are running for office. However, they are still behind in getting elected or securing nominations. [Trib]
-> While Salt Lake City’s public golf courses were profitable in the 1990s, they now cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. [Trib]
-> South Jordan police are investigating whether a Tesla sedan’s semi-autonomous autopilot feature was initiated when it crashed into a fire truck at 60 mph. [APviaTrib]
-> Utah is one of six states involved in a legal battle with Washington state after it decided to reject coal-export permits for a terminal on the Colorado River. [APviaTrib]
-> Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Keith Squires called a 17.6 percent jump in violent crime in the state “concerning.” [Trib]
-> Paul Rolly writes about Mitt Romney’s experience at the Iron County Republicans’ Lincoln Day Dinner, an event that included a five-minute prayer from Nevada rancher and anti-federal-government hero Cliven Bundy. [Trib]
-> Pat Pagley shows what just about every homemade Mother’s Day card ends up looking like. [Trib]
-> Frank Pignanelli and LaVarr Webb discuss whether Utah’s citizen initiative signature rescission process is fair. [DNews]
Nationally: North Korea’s Foreign Ministry announced the country will dismantle its nuclear test site within two weeks. [WaPost] [NYTimes]
-> President Donald Trump showed a willingness to rethink penalizing ZTE, a Chinese electronics maker that failed to punish employees who violated American trade controls against Iran and North Korea. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is serving as Trump’s new legal consigliere in an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, said the president and his team are moving from “defense to offense” in terms of strategy. [WaPost]
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— Thomas Burr and Connor Richards
Follow @sltribpolitics