Happy Monday!
President Donald Trump today is slated to bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom upon golfer Tiger Woods, who has long lent his celebrity glow to the businessman’s global properties. Trump has named a villa after Woods at the Trump National Doral Miami and in 2014 asked the golfer to design a course in Dubai as part of a luxury megaproject. Trump is awarding Woods the medal of freedom in honor of his Masters victory last month. [NYTimes]
Topping the news: Utah Republicans elected new leaders — including Chairman Derek Brown — and wrapped up their convention in just four hours — all signaling their determination to put their fractious past behind them. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13]
-> Cannabis patient advocates have amended their lawsuit to remove allegations The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints illegally orchestrated the repeal and replacement of Prop 2. [Trib]
-> Twelve ways the completion of the transcontinental railroad 150 years ago this month fundamentally changed Utah and the nation. [Trib] [StandEx]
Tweets of the day: @RobertGehrke: “Quick reality check for those at the @UtahGOP convention today working themselves into a lather over evil, wicked socialism: You drove on socialized roads to get to a socialized university and sit in a socialized arena. We all paid for those things. You’re welcome.”
-> @IvieNathan: “They could stay home and clean stalls or hang with dad at the GOP State Organizing convention. They are learning that cleaning up manure is involved in both stalls and politics.”
-> @KPete801: “That awkward moment when you’re wearing a ‘My LG loves me’ sticker and run into @AbbyPalmerCox”
Happy Birthday: To state Senate President Stuart Adams.
Also in the news: Several Salt Lake City mayoral candidates have developed stronger stances against the planned inland port amid persistent resident protests against the project, mainly based on environmental concerns. [Trib]
-> Convicted scammer Rick Koerber was first indicted 10 years ago but is still awaiting sentencing, and there was another delay this week for a possible new evidence hearing. [Trib]
-> A Utah native is pushing a campaign to have the president and vice president elected separately. [Trib]
-> A South Salt Lake strip-club owner is fighting to reopen the shuttered business by getting his business and liquor licenses reinstated. [Trib]
-> The Utah Department of Transportation has extended a public comment period as it looks at ways to mitigate traffic congestion in Little Cottonwood Canyon. [DNews]
-> There’s likely to be a noticeable shift in ideology on the state Board of Education soon with the departure of the two most conservative members. [Trib]
-> A decades-old land deal with a former polygamous leader in Hildale, Utah, has opened a current-day dispute over green space vs. development. [Trib]
-> While the Legislature agreed to a scaled-back Medicaid expansion, it cut $10 million from drug treatment funding. [DNews]
-> The South Salt Lake mayor and City Council gear up for a fight after the council proposes cutting $1 million from the mayor’s budget to pay for stormwater improvements and public safety wage increases. [DNews]
-> A documentary chronicles efforts to raise a giant American flag honoring the late Major Brent Taylor, former North Ogden mayor. [Fox13]
-> Changes in water releases from Glen Canyon Dam have a significant effect on the insect population along the Colorado River. [APviaTrib]
-> Salt Lake County Councilman Michael Jensen calls Daybreak the “gold standard” in planned developments as the Council looks to regulate land use in the southwestern county. [DNews]
-> Cartoonist Pat Bagley gives his take on Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the special counsel investigation. [Trib]
-> Columnist Robert Gehrke previews Saturday’s Utah Republican Party Organizing Convention and compares it to the new Avengers movie “Endgame.” [Trib]
Nationally: President Donald Trump named Mark Morgan, head of the U.S. Border Patrol in the final months of the Obama administration, to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Morgan has recently been a supporter of some of Trump’s hardline policies. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> A furious exchange of firepower between Israel and Gaza left more than two dozen dead in the worst combat since the last full-fledged war five years ago. [NYTimes] [CNN] [WaPost]
-> President Trump now says special counsel Robert Mueller should not testify before Congress. Previously he said the decision should be up to Attorney General William Barr. [CNN] [NYTimes]
-> Markets plunge in response to President Trump’s renewed threats to hike tariffs on Chinese imports. [CNN] [WaPost]
-> Wyoming Senator Michael Enzi announces he won’t run for re-election next year. [NYTimes]
-> Joe Biden makes his first campaign appearance in the key primary state of South Carolina. [NYTimes]
-> Apparently having gotten the message from past controversies, Biden is keeping his hands to himself on the campaign trail. [Politico]
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-- Bethany Rodgers and Dan Harrie
https://twitter.com/BethRodgersSLT, https://twitter.com/danattrib
Follow @sltribpolitics