“Count My Vote” raises big bucks. Swallow uses campaign money to pay legal fees. Feds will recognize Utah same-sex marriages.
Countdown:
- 14 days until the start of the 2014 Legislature
- 59 days until the final day of the 2014 Legislature
- 162 days until Utah’s 2014 primary elections
- 295 days to the 2014 midterm elections
- 658 days to the 2015 elections
- 723 days until the 2016 Iowa Caucuses
- 1029 days to the 2016 presidential election
Today’s Utah news highlights:
- Backers of the “Count My Vote” citizen’s initiative raised more than $800,000 last year, which is more than any other political cause or candidate in 2013 [Tribune].
- Former Attorney General John Swallow used more than $230,000 of campaign money to pay off legal fees [Tribune].
- An in-depth look at Jason Powers who is at the center of some allegations in the Swallow investigation [Tribune].
- Attorney General Sean Reyes shakes up his leadership team [Tribune].
- The federal government will recognize those same-sex marriages that took place in Utah prior to the Supreme Court stay [Tribune].
- Same-sex marriage proponents rally at the Capitol asking Gov. Gary Herbert to not appeal the decision that struck down Amendment 3 [Tribune].
- The LDS Church calls for civility in the debate over same-sex marriage [Deseret News].
- Don Gale says the LDS Church needs to change their approach to the same-sex marriage debate [Tribune].
- Sen. Mike Lee calls for more bipartisanship in Washington [Tribune].
- A report to the Salt Lake City Council finds Youth City programs don’t reach too many kids on the west-side of the city [Tribune].
- House Speaker Becky Lockhart discusses the upcoming legislative session [Utah Policy].
- Frank Pignanelli and LaVarr Webb chew over whether the state should move the prison [Deseret News].
- Rep. Jim Dunnigan is proposing legislation to raise the speed limit to 80 mph on more Utah freeways [Tribune].
- Lawmakers will consider limits on how people can use public voter information after a list of registered voters popped up online this week [Tribune].
- The Holladay City Council will vote on a proposed non-discrimination measure based on sexual orientation next month [Tribune].
- More bad water news for Utah as the state’s reservoirs are at just 35% of capacity [Standard-Examiner].
On this day in history:
- President George Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag after Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union in 1794.
- American songwriter Stephen Foster passed away in 1864.
- Novelist James Joyce died in 1941.
- Robert C. Weaver, the first black Cabinet member, was named Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966.
- Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey died at the age of 66 in 1978.
- Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the nation’s first elected black governor in 1990.