Happy Monday (and welcome to 2020)!
Tensions are flaring inside the campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang over how to spend his newfound campaign riches. Some are encouraging him to pour it into the New Hampshire primaries, while others are arguing for investing in the campaign’s Iowa presence. [Politico]
Topping the news: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints saw its smallest increase in membership in Utah in decades and nearly half of the state’s 29 counties actually saw a decline in church membership numbers. [Trib]
-> Utahns in Congress support the killing of Iran’s top general but want more information about what led up to it and what comes next. [Trib] [DNews]
->The state’s biggest property tax delinquents include a hospital chain, a ski resort and the state of Utah. [Trib]
-> Utah has named its selections for the operators of 14 medical cannabis pharmacies allowed under the new medical marijuana law. [Trib]
Tweets of the day: @MichelleLQuist: “I’m in Utah County. Someone just asked if I’m wearing essential oils.”
-> @Mskriebe: “Today I looked at the headlines and all of them have left me with a sense of dread.
I think about my children and all the children I work with at school.
An out of control deficit and more instability is a sad future.”
Happy birthday: Belatedly to the state of Utah (admitted to the union Jan. 4, 1896), and to Kent Winder and Josh Loftin on Sunday.
Also in the news: Former Utah Republican Party Chairman Thomas Wright jumps into the governor’s race. [Trib] [DNews]
-> State lawmaker Kim Coleman makes her official campaign launch for Utah’s 4th Congressional District, clearly aligning herself with President Donald Trump. [Trib] [DNews]
-> The second largest bloc of Utah voters — those unaffiliated with any party — are being told to request a mail-in ballot if they want to vote in the state’s upcoming presidential primary. [Trib]
-> An Arizona prosecutor says as many as 22 residents in the polygamous enclave of Colorado City, Ariz., may have improperly registered to vote and cast ballots in 2018. [Trib]
-> Seventeen protesters camping in the park outside Salt Lake City Hall were arrested following a confrontation with police who were trying to enforce a curfew. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13]
-> Weber County opponents of the recent tax reform legislation join the effort to repeal the changes. [StandEx]
Nationally: In the rapidly evolving confrontation between the United States and Iran, blasts ring out in the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iran gives formal notice that it won’t abide by the terms of the 2015 nuclear agreement and Iraq’s parliament votes for a nonbinding resolution to expel the U.S. military, estimated at about 5,000 troops. [AP]
-> Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismisses the Iraqi government’s call for U.S. troops to withdraw, saying it doesn’t reflect the will of the people. [WaPost]
-> The U.S.-led coalition combating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria suspends its operations to prepare for expected retaliation by Iran for the drone strike that killed Iran’s top general. [NYTimes]
-> Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the Trump administration would have been negligent if it did not launch the attack that killed Iran Gen. Qassem Soleimani because of the plots he was hatching to damage American interests. [NBC]
-> Democrats express skepticism over the intelligence that Pompeo says showed Soleimani posed an “imminent” threat to American lives and interests and want to see more evidence. [Politico]
-> Los Angeles is moving to ban campaign contributions from developers with projects before the city council. Critics say the new law doesn’t go far enough. [LATimes]
-> The 41-year-old Indian Child Welfare Act is under siege in U.S. courts with one judge ruling it is unconstitutional because it’s based on race. [DenverPost]
-> Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial begins Monday in Manhattan. [NYTimes]
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