How to Sound Smart About Utah Politics – July 2, 2014

Warrant in the Swallow investigation targets an aide for Jeremy Johnson. Uintah County Commission election decided by just three votes. 54 new laws go into effect.

 

Countdown:

  • 125 days until the 2014 midterm elections
  • 208 days to the opening day of the 2015 legislature
  • 489 days until the 2015 elections
  • 565 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucuses (tentative)
  • 860 days until the 2016 presidential election

Wednesday’s top news stories:

  • Newly unsealed search warrants in the John Swallow investigation target computer records belonging to an aide for accused fraudster Jeremy Johnson [Tribune, Deseret News].
  • Mike McKee wins his election for Uintah County Commission by just three votes over Bart Haslem. A recount is underway [Deseret News, Tribune].
  • Top executives for the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News file sworn statements denying they have a plan to close down the Tribune [Tribune].
  • 54 new laws passed by the 2014 Legislature went into effect on Tuesday [Tribune].
  • After missing a court deadline, Utah files documents missing from their appeal of a ruling forcing the state to recognize same-sex marriages performed in the state [Tribune].
  • An anti-gay group plans to hold their national conference in Salt Lake City next year [Tribune].
  • Iron and Beaver counties are asking Congress to allow states to manage wild horse populations instead of the BLM [Tribune].

On this day in history:

  • 1776 – The Continental Congress passed a resolution that “these United Colonies are, and of right, out to be, Free and Independent States.”
  • 1881 – President James A. Garfield was fatally shot by Charles Guiteau.
  • 1937 – Aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first around-the-world flight at the equator.
  • 1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law.
  • 1976 – The Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual.