Happy Halloween!
Sitting inside the White House last week, Mitch McConnell gave President Donald Trump some straightforward advice: Stop attacking senators — including Mitt Romney — who will likely soon judge your fate in an impeachment trial. Since then, he’s been courting his congressional allies with golf, a World Series game and frequent phone calls. [Politico]
Topping the news: An emergency meeting of state and local leaders ended with partners dedicating up to $1 million to help get homeless people into housing, but no new overflow options. [Trib]
-> Utah Democrat Rep. Ben McAdams will vote for a resolution that lays out rules for the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump by House Democrats, and he wants release of transcripts. [Trib] [DNews]
-> While Utah has inched up again in national rankings for math and reading test scores, the state’s minority and low-income students continue to lag behind — and some are now performing worse. [Trib]
Tweets of the day: From @RepAdamSchiff: “Trump has urged Republicans to focus on the substance in the impeachment inquiry, not the process. I can confirm our focus will continue to be on the President’s own words and misconduct. Glad we all agree.”
-> From @jack: “We’ve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought. Why? A few reasons…”
-> From @Acosta: “A WH official said ‘the dog is not at the WH.’”
Also in the news: The iconic Budweiser Clydesdales — and a ghoulish group of pallbearers — held a funeral Wednesday evening to ceremoniously bid goodbye to Utah’s last remaining 3.2% beer. [Trib]
-> Utah’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is expanding its “price reduction” on beer brands to get them off the shelves ahead of Friday’s end of 3.2% beer. [Fox13]
-> Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remain overwhelming Republican despite the “Trump effect.” [ReligionNews]
-> Mitt Romney says says he’s keeping a “completely open mind” when it comes to President Trump’s potential impeachment. [CNBC]
-> Romney applauded the NCAA for voting to allow amateur athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness, but says there’s still work to be done. [DNews]
-> Among the nation’s 51 largest metro areas, Salt Lake City now has the lowest unemployment rate at 2.0% in September. [Trib]
-> UTA’s new budget includes plans to spend nearly a half-billion dollars on operations next year to expand ski bus services, launch a new “micro-transit” experiment and borrow for construction. [Trib]
-> Salt Lake City mayoral candidates urged voters to think about what they want in their futures at their 14th and final debate, ahead of next Tuesday’s election. [Fox13]
-> Utah’s ACT test scores are either 1st or 23rd in the nation, depending on whether all takers are considered or just the top among those bound for college. [Trib]
-> Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley gives his take on who really gets slimed playing Nickelodeon-style tricks on Alexander Vindman. [Trib]
Nationally: Former National Security Adviser John Bolton, a central figure in the Ukraine debacle, has been summoned by the House to an impeachment inquiry. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> Tim Morrison, a senior National Security Council official, announced his scheduled resignation ahead of his scheduled testimony with House impeachment investigators. [Politico] [CNN]
-> Democrats are in agreement, for the most part, on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump — a change from earlier in the month when the idea was feared by nervous moderates. [NYTimes]
-> U.S. troops are leaving Syria, but they’re also being sent back. When all is said and done, the number of U.S. forces in the country will be 100 fewer than those that were there when Trump first ordered the withdrawal. [NYTimes]
-> Facebook and Twitter now have vastly different approaches to monitoring political ads since Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced the company would not run ads of the sort at all. [Politico] [WaPost]
-> As Kamala Harris’ campaign struggles with a lack of fundraising, the presidential primary candidate is dramatically restructuring her campaign, starting with laying off dozens of aides at her Baltimore headquarters. [Politico]
-> The state of Georgia will purge voter rolls by the masses, removing about 300,000 names from their list of eligible voters, or 4% of those registered to vote. [NYTimes]
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-- Lee Davidson and Clara Hatcher
Follow @sltribpolitics
