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How to Sound Smart About Utah Politics – April 17, 2014

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Herbert says he’s making progress on his “Healthy Utah” plan. Utah’s payday loan rates among the highest in the country. Lt. Governor’s office to investigate anonymous mailer.

 

Countdown:

  • 8 days until the Utah State Republican and Democratic conventions
  • 68 days until Utah’s 2014 primary elections
  • 200 days to the 2014 midterm elections
  • 284 days to the start of the 2015 Utah Legislature
  • 564 days to the 2015 elections
  • 629 days until the 2016 Iowa Caucuses
  • 935 days to the 2016 presidential election

Today’s Utah political news highlights:

  • Gov. Gary Herbert has two big tasks ahead of him with his alternative to Medicaid expansion, convincing the feds and Utah lawmakers to sign off on the plan [Utah Policy, Deseret News].
  • Salt Lake City police officials say they are going to make improvements to how they deal with the backlog of rape kits in sexual assault cases [Tribune, Deseret News].
  • A study says Utah’s payday loan rates are among the highest in the nation [Tribune].
  • Sen. Mike Lee holds a town hall meeting in Ogden [Standard-Examiner].
  • Accused fraudster Jeremy Johnson’s plan to force former Attorneys General Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow to testify in his case hits a roadblock [Tribune].
  • The Lt. Governor’s office is launching an investigation into an anonymous mailer sent to delegates in Utah County ahead of last weekend’s convention [Daily Herald].
  • The South Jordan City Council approves an apartment complex over the objections of a number of citizens and the mayor [Tribune].

On this day in history:

  • 1790 – Benjamin Franklin died at the age of 84.
  • 1861 – The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union.
  • 1961 – CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched an invasion of that country at the Bay of Pigs in a failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro.
  • 1964 – The Ford Motor Company unveiled the Mustang.
  • 1969 – Sirhan Sirhan was convicted for the murder of Robert F. Kennedy.
  • 1970 – The astronauts from Apollo 13 splashed down safely after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft.
  • 1975 – Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, ending Cambodia’s five-year civil war.