LDS Church not getting involved in Amendment 3 fight. Lawmakers consider changes to DUI laws.
Countdown:
- 17 days until the start of the 2014 Legislature
- 165 days until Utah’s 2014 primary elections
- 298 days to the 2014 midterm elections
- 661 days to the 2015 elections
- 725 days until the 2016 Iowa Caucuses
- 1032 days to the 2016 presidential election
Today’s Utah news highlights:
- The Human Rights Campaign is asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to take steps so that the 1,300 same-sex couples married in Utah have their licenses upheld [Tribune].
- The LDS Church will not get involved in the ongoing fight over Amendment 3 [Fox 13].
- Meet Mark Lawrence, the man behind the court challenge that led to Amendment 3 being declared unconstitutional [Tribune].
- Attorney General Sean Reyes sends a letter to county clerks directing them to finish the paperwork on the same-sex marriage licenses they issued before the Supreme Court granted Utah a stay in the case [Deseret News, Standard-Examiner].
- Salt Lake County Republicans select Robert Spendlove to replace Derek Brown in the Legislature and Aimee Winder Newton to fill David Wilde’s seat on the County Council [Tribune].
- Polygamists in Utah are asking Reyes to not appeal a court ruling against the state’s polygamy laws [Fox 13].
- Some changes to state law may result from the John Swallow scandal [Standard-Examiner].
- Lawmakers may consider a measure to lower the legal limit for driving under the influence [KUTV].
- Rep. Kay Christofferson wants to privatize state-run golf courses [Daily Herald].
- The Utah GOP made some changes to the caucus system for nominating candidates [Utah Policy].
- Crews have begun the demolition of the Deseret Chemical Depot [Tribune].
- Utah settles with Phillips 66 in a lawsuit alleging the oil company took payments from the state’s Petroleum Storage Tank Fund they weren’t entitled to [Deseret News].
- Another dry winter may mean more drought in Utah [Deseret News].
- A new website is posting the personal information of about 1.5 million Utah voters [Fox 13].
On this day in history:
- Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was published in 1776.
- Florida became the third state to secede from the Union in 1861.
- Utah grocer John Morrison and his son Arling were shot to death in their Salt Lake City store and police arrested labor activist Joe Hill for the crime despite evidence another man was responsible in 1914.
- The League of Nations came into existence in 1920.
- “Masterpiece Theatre” premiered on PBS in 1971.
