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How to Sound Smart About Utah Politics – August 22, 2013

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Countdown: There are 76 days to the 2013 municipal elections, 160 days until the start of the 2014 Legislature, 435 days until the 2014 midterm elections and 872 days until the 2016 Iowa Caucuses.

  • The Utah GOP says SLCO GOP Chairman Chad Bennion’s remarks about District Attorney Sim Gill were over the line [Utah Policy, Tribune].
  • Sen. Mike Lee urges a large crowd at his town hall meeting in Spanish Fork to get behind the effort to defund Obamacare [Tribune].
  • Immigration reform takes center stage at Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s town hall meeting in Holladay [ABC 4].
  • Campaign finance disclosures show Attorney General John Swallow bought pre-paid Green Dot cards with campaign funds. The purchases raise some red flags because the cards are often untraceable [City Weekly].
  • Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Rob Bishop say the new F-35 fighter jet is important to the future of Hill Air Force Base [Deseret News]. 
  • The NSA monitored every single email and text in and out of Salt Lake City before and during the 2002 Winter Olympics [Tribune].
  • Two North Ogden candidates for mayor had a dust-up in 2010 after one of their military records when the two men were members of the city council [Standard-Examiner].
  • Former State Rep. Jeff Fox pleads guilty to charges of child porn and marijuana possession, but a judge allows him to go free because of time he has already served [City Weekly].
  • New Mormon missionary age requirements are not hitting Utah’s colleges and universities as hard as initially anticipated [Deseret News].
  • Former Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey, who now heads up a group called Better City, calls Morgan County’s infrastructure an “embarrassment” [Standard-Examiner].
  • A new survey shows most Utahns like the new parking meter system in downtown Salt Lake City [Tribune].
  • A study says Utah is at the lower-end in annual cost to operate a vehicle [Tribune].
  • Officials in Southern Utah confirm the state’s first human case of West Nile Virus this year [Daily Herald].
  • Fare thee well! Reporter Chris Vanocur, who was laid off last year, announces he has taken a position with the ABC affiliate in Columbus, Ohio [Facebook].