Happy Tuesday!
Many obedient asylum seekers followed an old Trump administration rule by signing onto waiting lists and lingering near busy border crossing for months for their turn at processing. Now, a new rule disqualifies most migrants who passed through a third county, such as Mexico. Had they entered illegally they would have had their claims heard under old rules. [ProPublica]
Topping the news: The Utah Supreme Court ruled that the process Utahns must take to file a medical malpractice lawsuit is unconstitutional. [Trib] [DNews]
-> The centrist United Utah Party seeks to use a ballot initiative to create 12-year term limits on state elected officials. [Trib] [Fox13]
-> A Colorado cannabis company is protesting Utah’s move to allow eight, instead of the initially proposed 10, medical marijuana licenses — and might sue. [Trib] [Fox13]
Tweets of the day: From @gopTODD: “Term limits are the most effective way to transfer power from elected officials to lobbyists and career bureaucrats. #utpol”
-> From @onesarahjones: “Al Franken did not get ‘railroaded,’ he repeatedly engaged in behavior that would have cost any normal person their job. He’s still a free and extremely rich man and I can’t imagine feeling sorry for him”
-> From @KylePlantEmoji: “Dudes worship characters like Walter White, Don Draper, Sherlock, Fletcher (Whiplash) because even though they’re not a Good Person, they’re still successful/admired. We want so badly to say our intelligence, our talent, is so great that it makes up for our personal shortcomings”
In other news: A poll from the Public Religion Research Institute showed that more than three quarters of Utahns support laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals, making it the state with the third most support for such protections. [Trib] [Fox13]
-> Cartoonist Pat Bagley celebrates the poll’s findings on support for LBGTQ+ rights. [Trib]
-> Eight Utah airports have scheduled passenger service — but the Salt Lake City International airport captures 98% of the total. [Trib]
-> Advocates for indigenous rights in Utah are trying to educate the public on missing and murdered indigenous people and potential solutions to protect native lives. [Trib]
-> Utah State Auditor John Dougall resigned from an appointed position to oversee the closure of a finically troubled charter school after three days on the job, when a new board was appointed to do the job. [Trib]
-> A federal judge postponed the trial of the last defendant in a massive fraud case involving members of the Kingston polygamous family. [Fox13]
-> The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General is investigating whether Utah lied about job losses and budget cuts to obtain federal grant money. [Fox13]
-> A controversial gravel pit proposal in the Ogden Valley will go before the Weber County Commission on Tuesday. [DNews]
Nationally: President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have reached an agreement on a two-year budget that would raise spending limits by $320 billion. [NYT] [WaPo]
-> Former Vice President Joe Biden advocated or Ukrainian gas production, and his son later went to work for a Ukrainian gas company. [WaPo]
-> Death rates are rising amidst the opioid crisis for young and middle-aged U.S. adults. [WSJ]
-> The Justice Department on Monday told former special counsel Robert Mueller that he should limit his Wednesday testimony before Congress to just his public report on Russian interference. [TheHill]
-> Boris Johnson, one of the biggest backers of the Brexit movement, was elected leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party and will become Britain’s next prime minister. [Poliitico]
-> The California condor is coming back from the brink of extinction. [WaPo]
-> The Louisiana police officer who suggested in a Facebook post that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., needed to be shot has been fired. [TheHill]
-> New York becomes the first state to outlaw declawing cats. [CNN]
Happy holiday: Political cornflakes will take off Wednesday to celebrate Utah’s Pioneer Day, or what cultural rebels observe as pie-and-beer day.
Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com. If you haven’t already, sign up here for our weekday email to get this sent directly to your inbox.
-- Lee Davidson and Sara Tabin