Ten Things You Need to Know for Friday – August 29, 2014
Bryan Schott
Herbert worried a tax hike will hurt the economy. Utah still negotiating with the feds over Medicaid expansion. Does Lockhart have a chance at Utah's top education job?
Countdown:
67 days until the 2014 midterm elections
150 days to the opening day of the 2015 Utah Legislature
431 days until the 2015 elections
507 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucuses (tentative)
802 days to the 2016 presidential election
Friday's Top-10 Headlines:
President Barack Obama says the U.S. does not yet have a strategy for fighting ISIL [Politico].
Gov. Gary Herbert says he's worried any sort of tax hike in 2015 will hurt Utah's economic growth [Utah Policy].
Herbert says the state should appeal a federal judge's ruling striking down part of the Utah's ban against polygamy [Tribune, Daily Herald].
Utah is still negotiating an alternative to Medicaid expansion with the federal government and could bring the issue to the Legislature before the 2015 session [Tribune].
Herbert thinks UTA has fixed most of the problems highlighted by a legislative audit raising questions about the organization's business practices [Tribune, Deseret News].
Sen. Todd Weiler wants a criminal investigation into the Utah Transit Authority following that legislatitve audit [Fox 13].
Bob Bernick looks at whether Speaker Becky Lockhart has a chance to snag the State Superintendent's position [Utah Policy].
Our "Political Insiders" think Lockhart is not qualified for Utah's top education slot [Utah Policy].
A group of 13 gay rights activists say they will fight charges filed against them for disrupting the Legislature during the 2014 session [Tribune, Deseret News].
The plaintiffs in the case against Utah's same-sex marriage ban ask the Supreme Court to hear the case [Tribune, Deseret News].
On this day in history:
1632 – English philosopher John Locke was born.
1877 – Brigham Young, the second president of the Mormon Church, died in Salt Lake City.
1966 – The Beatles performed their last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
2005 – Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Louisiana coast causing massive flooding in New Orleans.
2008 – John McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate.