Happy Monday!
Twitter remains the perfect vehicle for starting and spreading theories, misinformation and racist screeds — as evidenced by the recent social media firestorm over the jailhouse death of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s. [WaPost]
Topping the news: As Election Day approaches, it’s time to take another look at The Tribune’s special guide to the Salt Lake City mayor’s race. [Trib]
-> The Standard Examiner has put together a helpful guide to northern Utah elections Tuesday. [StandEx]
-> A Utah Supreme Court case is based on the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance appeal of more than $50,000 in legal fees lower courts said it owed for filing a “frivolous” open-meetings challenge. [Trib]
Tweets of the day: From @jackiebiskupski: “I have been informed that a mailer sent by People4SaltLakeCity PAC in support of David Garbett includes an image of us together at a City function that could be construed as an endorsement. I do not endorse David nor have I formally endorsed any candidate.”
-> From @mjfree: “Trump prefers sexual predators who don’t get caught. #EpsteinSuicideCoverUp
-> From @MEPfuller: “I wasn’t sure how widespread the Epstein conspiracy theories were, and then I saw that the guys who sang “Pumped Up Kicks” think he’s alive, on his way to the Middle East to get plastic surgery. So I’m gonna say it’s crazies almost all the way down.”
Happy Birthday: to Kendall Splawn.
Also in the news: After the state Legislature repealed and replaced two of Utah’s three voter-passed ballot initiatives, a cannabis advocate and former legislator have proposed a law to block lawmakers from interfering with successful initiatives. [Trib] [KUER] [FOX13]
-> Deaths in drug rehabilitation centers are on the rise in Utah. [StandEx]
-> Questions are raised about the integrity of a recent Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll on the Salt Lake City mayors race when it turns out dozens surveyed live outside the city. [Trib] [DNews]
-> To accommodate a congressionally mandated expansion of the Utah Test and Training Range, some government land swaps are underway. [DNews]
-> Voter turnout in Salt Lake County ahead of Tuesday’s election has been lower than county officials anticipated, with only 22.75% of ballots submitted in Salt Lake City as of Friday afternoon. [Trib]
-> Pushing back against tax reform warnings by the governor and Legislature, David Stringfellow, chief economist in the State Auditor’s Office, said the state’s sales tax is not broken. [Trib]
-> About 100 volunteers from the Utah Jewish community gathered outside of the state’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in West Valley City to protest the organization’s handling of undocumented children. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Cartoonist Pat Bagley depicts “Vox Populi." [Trib]
Nationally: President Trump retweeted an unfounded conspiracy theory about former President Bill Clinton’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide. [NYTimes]
-> President Trump ordered the military to punish prosecutors who tried a Navy SEAL who was charged but acquitted of war crimes in the death of a captured Islamic state fighter in Iraq. [NYTimes]
-> While President Trump visited the families of people affected by the mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso, he became angry that press coverage focused more on his attacks on political adversaries than on his visits, so he commanded his aides to begin producing proof that in El Paso people were happy to see him [NYTimes]
-> Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide in jail has brought conspiracy theories about the roles of politicians involved with Epstein to the center of political news. [Politico]
-> Prison guards did not check on Epstein for several hours before his death, according to unnamed Washington Post source. [WaPost]
-> The NRA singles out Kamala Harris’ position on gun control — for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks — as “ridiculous.” [CNN]
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-- Dan Harrie and Alison Berg
