The president is once again ramping up anti-illegal immigration rhetoric. Utah lawmakers make it clear the medical marijuana compromise bill is not sacrosanct. A fundraising effort on behalf of Rep. Mia Love by the Republican Party of the Virgin Islands is a scam.
Happy Thursday. President Donald Trump has been cajoling Republicans to make immigration the centerpiece of their midterm campaigns and he’s ramped up his own rhetoric, threatening to call out the military to close — not just secure — the U.S.-Mexican border amid news of an immigrant caravan headed north from Honduras. In a tweet storm, Trump vowed to call out the troops, stop foreign aid payments and threatened to junk a new trade deal with Mexico if the caravan isn’t stopped. [WaPost]
Topping the news: House Speaker Greg Hughes made it clear during the first public hearing on the new medical marijuana compromise legislation that it is not a “porcelain doll” that needs to be handled carefully and is immune from amendments. [Trib][DNews]
-> School safety recommendations in Utah would cost an estimated $100 million the first year to implement, including providing students in every school access to mental-health counseling and altering school buildings to provide a single point of access. [Trib]
-> The Virgin Islands Republican Party has reported spending $204,000 to support Rep. Mia Love, however Mia Love’s campaign says it’s seen none of the money and calls the fundraising effort a “scam.” [Trib]
-> Utah lawmakers speak out against Proposition 3 to fully expand Medicaid in the state and Sen. Jacob Anderegg, Lehi Republican, went so far as to vow to overturn the initiative if voters pass it. [Trib]
Tweets of the Day: From @aedwardslevy: “My favorite thing about poll stories is that it’s an entire beat devoted to the idea that what the public thinks truly matters.”
-> From @jenspyra: “I was too lazy to get a DNA test so I just checked my phone to see how many times I’d called my mother in the past 24 hours. Just as I suspected: 98% Ashkenazi.”
Happy Birthday: to State Rep. Sue Duckworth and state Sen. David Hinkins.
In other news: Utah’s 1st Congressional District debate featured two challengers — one Democrat and one United Utah Party candidate — going after longtime incumbent Rep. Rob Bishop, accusing him of being a career politician and being beholden to special interests. [Trib][ABC4][Fox13]
-> But a new poll shows Bishop doesn’t have much to worry about, with 52 percent of registered voters favoring him in the race, far ahead of his opponents. [Trib]
-> Gov. Gary Herbert appointed 32-year-old Casey Snider as the newest member of the Utah House, replacing Rep. Curt Webb in House District 5. [DNews][KUTV]
-> Lawmakers are concerned about the watershed protection law that some say threatens private homeowners and give municipalities too much power. [DNews]
-> Democratic and Conservative superPACs are now both airing ads against Rep. Mia Love and challenger Ben McAdams. Some $1.5 million in outside money is funding new attack ads in the state. [Trib][DNews]
-> The Utah State government ended its fiscal year with a $265 million surplus. Some $107 million has gone straight into reserve accounts and $158 million is available for spending. [Trib]
-> A Ute Tribe case has made its way to the Federal District Courts in Washington, D.C., staking claim to 2 million acres in Eastern Utah. The US Department of the Interior has disputed the case, alleging that the tribe forfeited the land in 2012. [Fox13]
-> Lawmakers are pushing to address a problem that threatens to block Utahns from getting through airport security with a driver license. [Trib]
-> A proposed new Utah law would make it so the victims or families of victims of violent crimes would be able to request a review of their case if a year has passed and it still hasn’t been solved. [DNews]
-> The Alliance for a Better Utah has condemned Utah House District 31 candidate Fred Johnson for offensive social media posts. In one post about a woman who reported a sexual assault, he referred to her as a “psycho gold digger” and in January referred to people participating in the Women’s March as “pigs”. [Trib]
-> A Utah legislative committee gave its support to a measure which would increase access to attorneys for children in the Juvenile Court system in Utah. [DNews]
-> Pat Bagley illustrated a member of the GOP “marrying the mob”. [Trib]
Trib Talk: The Trib Talk podcast features investigative journalist Eric S. Peterson who reported and wrote a two-part series on the 40-year-old unsolved murder of gay, black Socialist Anthony Adams and the problems of missing evidence in Salt Lake City police cold cases. [Trib]
Nationally: A 144 year-old postal treaty has allowed China to ship small packages to the United States at a greatly discounted rate that has flooded markets with cheap Chinese goods and undercut American competitors. President Trump has decided to pull the United States out of this treaty in order to open up a new front in the trade war between the two countries. [NYTimes][BBC][WSJ]
-> Senator Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test demonstrating that she had a Native American ancestor 6-8 generations ago has sparked criticism for Republicans, some Democrats, and Native American tribes. Among critiquing tribes were the Cherokee Nation, who said that tribes determine their own citizenship and that a DNA test neither specifies that she is a Native American, nor which tribe she belongs to. [NYTimes][BBC]
-> The Florida Panhandle was ravaged last week by Hurricane Michael, which has left 200,000 voters in communities devastated by the storm and without electricity, cell phone service, and fulfillment of basic needs. Election day is a mere three weeks away, and officials are working tirelessly to find ways to make it safe and accessible for victims of the storm to vote in the 2018 midterm elections. [NYTimes]
-> Top White House advisor Jared Kushner has stayed in the background in the past few weeks in the wake of controversy over Saudi Arabia and their alleged connection to the death of missing dissident Saudi journalist, Khashoggi. Kushner has cultivated close ties with the crowned prince of Saudi Arabia, but has stayed out of the way of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as the sensitive issue is handled. [CNN]
-> Canada became the second country to legalize recreational marijuana on Wednesday. [BBC]
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-- Dan Harrie and Cara MacDonald
https://twitter.com/danattrib and Twitter.com/carammacdonald