Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is "National Cellophane Tape Day." On this day in 1930, Richard Drew invented what would later become known as scotch tape.
Hughes says lawmakers should not cut taxes next year. Lee would beat Owens in a 2016 matchup for U.S. Senate. Weiler says Utah should embrace the Healthy Utah plan for Medicaid expansion.
Countdown:
- Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections – 76
- Days to the 2015 election – 160
- Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – 237
- Days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – 244
- Days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – 245
- Days to the 2016 Utah primary election – 399
- Days until the 2016 presidential election – 532
Wednesday's top-10 headlines:
- Even though Utah has had some big budget surpluses in recent years, House Speaker Greg Hughes says lawmakers should resist the urge to cut taxes [Utah Policy].
- Our latest poll suggests Sen. Mike Lee would beat Democrat Doug Owens handily if the two were to face off in 2016 [Utah Policy].
- Utah Republicans cheer a federal court's refusal to lift an injunction of President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration [Deseret News].
- Sen. Todd Weiler argues Healthy Utah is the state's best option for Medicaid expansion [Tribune].
- Rep. Paul Ray is proposing capital punishment for those found guilty of child-sex trafficking [KUTV, Tribune].
- The Miller family pulls a plot of land near the Tooele Motorsports Park from the list of potential sites for the new Utah prison [Tribune, Deseret News, Fox 13, ABC 4].
- A mine owner is suing Saratoga Springs and some developers, including Josh Romney, over a deal that would hinder his operations and could potentially bring the new prison site to the area [Tribune].
- Salt Lake City Mayoral candidate Luke Garrott alleges current Mayor Ralph Becker has done an inadequate job of vetting Brian Dale, who Becker appointed as the city's new fire chief [Deseret News].
- A new state audit says DABC needs to make some changes to their accounting system and give upper-level managers more training [Tribune, Deseret News, KUER, Fox 13].
- A survey of Salt Lake County employees finds they would like to be paid more, but a generous benefits package keeps them from looking for other jobs [Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1647 – Alse Young became the first person executed as a witch in America when she was hanged in Hartford, Conn.
- 1703 – Czar Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg as the new capital of Russia.
- 1937 – San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge was opened.
- 1941 – The German battleship Bismarck sank after attacks by British ships and planes.
- 2004 – A federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld Oregon's law authorizing doctors to help their terminally ill patients commit suicide.
