How to Sound Smart About Utah Politics – April 4, 2014

Herbert praises Utah’s economy. Iron County’s GOP chairman is generating some controversy by challenging for a Utah House seat.

 

Countdown:

  • 21 days until the Utah State Republican and Democratic conventions
  • 81 days until Utah’s 2014 primary elections
  • 214 days to the 2014 midterm elections
  • 297 days to the start of the 2015 Utah Legislature
  • 577 days to the 2015 elections
  • 642 days until the 2016 Iowa Caucuses
  • 948 days to the 2016 presidential election

Today’s Utah political news highlights:

  • Gov. Gary Herbert touts Utah’s economy at his annual economic summit [Deseret News, Tribune, ABC 4].
  • Controversy erupts in Iron County when the GOP Chairman there decides to run for the legislature [Utah Policy].
  • Bob Bernick says the “Count My Vote” compromise should help moderate Utah’s politics [Utah Policy].
  • Utahns get their chance to air their concerns about the states criminal justice system [Deseret News, Tribune].
  • Iron County officials tell the Bureau of Land Management to come up with a plan for removing wild horses or they will take the matter into their own hands [Tribune].
  • A new survey says workplace discrimination against older Utahns is rampant [Tribune].
  • A Utah appeals court upholds the firing of a Davis County attorney who was dismissed because of misconduct during a criminal trial [Deseret News, Standard-Examiner].
  • The Obama administration opens Medicare to elderly, same-sex couples who are legally married, including those in Utah [Tribune].
  • The South Jordan City Council unveils a study calling for a major mixed-used development near the Frontrunner station there [Tribune].
  • Reporters will not be allowed on Temple Square during this weekend’s LDS General Conference [Tribune].

On this day in history:

  • 1818 – Congress decided the U.S. flag would add a new star for every new state admitted to the union.
  • 1841 – President William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia one month after his inauguration, becoming the first U.S. president to die while in office.
  • 1850 – The city of Los Angeles was incorporated.
  • 1887 – Susanna Medora Salter became the first woman elected mayor of an American community – Argonia, Kansas.
  • 1949 – Twelve nations, including the United States, sign the North Atlantic Treaty.
  • 1968 – Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee.
  • 1981 – Henry Cisneros became the first Hispanic elected mayor of a major U.S. city – San Antonio, Texas.
  • 1983 – Sally Ride became the first U.S. woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
  • 1988 – The Arizona Senate convicted Gov. Evan Mecham of two charges of official misconduct and removed him from office.
  • 2003 – U.S. forces seized Saddam International Airport outside Baghdad.
  • 2006 – The Iraq tribunal charged Saddam Hussein with genocide and crimes against humanity.