Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is "National Chocolate Macaroons Day." I'm on a diet, so have one for me today.
Obama's approval ratings fall. Big crowds protest a possible prison relocation in Eagle Mountain. Utah's favor term-limits for elected officials.
Countdown:
- Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections – 69
- Days to the 2015 election – 153
- Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – 230
- Days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – 237
- Days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – 238
- Days to the 2016 Utah primary election – 392
- Days until the 2016 presidential election – 525
Wednesday's top-10 headlines:
- President Barack Obama's approval rating has dropped again following a brief uptick last month [CNN].
- Big crowds greet officials at the final prison relocation open house in Eagle Mountain [Tribune, Deseret News, ABC 4, Fox 13, Daily Herald].
- A new poll finds Utahns favor term limits for elected officials [Utah Policy].
- New census numbers show Utah is once-again last in per-pupil spending behind all other states and Washington, D.C. [Tribune, Deseret News].
- The U.S. Senate passes Sen. Mike Lee's bill to curb domestic spying by the NSA [Tribune, EFF].
- A fourth candidate, retired engineer George Chapman, has entered the race for Salt Lake City Mayor [Tribune].
- The Salt Lake City Council votes to put up $6.5 million to tap a $27 million federal matching grant to extend the Sugar House Streetcar line [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Burbank says despite calls to the contrary, more police officers are not needed in Salt Lake City [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Attorneys for Utah argue the state's anti-polygamy law should be upheld because it protects women and children from abuse [Associated Press].
- Who woulda thunk it? The United States may be the country that cleans up international soccer as FIFA President Sepp Blatter steps down just days after winning another term [Forbes].
On this day in history:
- 1621 – The Dutch West India Company received a charter for New Netherlands, present-day New York City.
- 1888 – The poem "Casey at the Bat" was published in the Sunday edition of the San Francisco Examiner.
- 1942 – The Battle of Midway began. It raged for four days and was the turning point in the U.S. campaign against Japan.
- 1965 – Gemini IV astronaut Ed White made the first American space walk.
- 2008 – U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois clinched the Democratic presidential nomination on the final day of the party's primary season.
