Procedural maneuver backfires on Senate Republicans. Only voters on the far-right oppose "Count My Vote" and SB 54. Another possible site for the new prison bows out.
Countdown:
- Days until the opening day of the 2015 Utah Legislature – 41
- Days to the final day of the 2015 Utah Legislature – 86
- Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections – 238
- Days to the 2015 election – 322
- Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – 398
- Days until the 2016 presidential election – 693
Tuesday's top-10 headlines:
- The Taliban storms a school in Pakistan killing at least 126 people [CNN].
- The U.S. Senate is set to confirm 24 of President Obama's nominations before adjourning thanks to a procedural maneuver by Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee that backfired [The Hill].
- A new survey finds only voters on the far-right in Utah oppose "Count My Vote" and the SB 54 compromise [Utah Policy].
- Members of the Prison Relocation Commission are struggling to deal with opposition to the sites identified as possible new locations for the state prison [Tribune].
- The West Jordan site selected as a finalist for the new prison is off the table as property owners pull it from consideration [Deseret News, Tribune].
- Former Rep. Jackie Biskupski says she's "likely" to run for Salt Lake City Mayor with an official announcement coming early in 2015 [Utah Policy].
- Education officials release this year's grades for Utah's public schools [Deseret News, Tribune].
- Marc Sessions Jenson, a player in the scandal involving former attorneys general Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow, will stand trial next month [Tribune].
- Congress passes a bill allowing BYU to purchase Y Mountain [Daily Herald].
- Super bad news for Real Salt Lake fans: GM Garth Lagerwey is leaving the club and heading to the Seattle Sounders [Tribune, Deseret News].
On this day in history:
- 1773 – The Boston Tea party took place as American colonists boarded a British ship and dumped more than 300 chests of tea overboard to protest tea taxes.
- 1916 – Gregory Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen.
- 1944 – The Battle of the Bulge during World War II began as German forces launched a surprise counterattack against Allied forces in Belgium.
- 1998 – President Bill Clinton ordered a sustained series of airstrikes against Iraq by American and British forces in response to Saddam Hussein's defiance of U.N. weapons inspectors.
