Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City.
Utah's debt is at $2.5 billion. Utah's Congressional delegation is upset over Iran deal. The state spent $1.2 million defending the ban on same-sex marriage.
Countdown:
- 27 days to the Utah municipal primary elections – (8/11/2015)
- 111 days to the 2015 election – (11/3/2015)
- 188 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – (1/18/2016)
- 195 days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (1/25/2016)
- 196 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – (1/26/2016)
- 240 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
- 350 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 483 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
Wednesday's top-10 headlines:
- A new national poll shows Donald Trump is in a statistical dead heat with Jeb Bush for the lead in the race for the 2016 GOP nomination [Washington Post].
- Utah's total debt is at $2.5 billion [Utah Policy].
- Legislative reports show the economic benefit of moving the Utah State Prison is dependent on whatever ends up replacing the facility in Draper [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Utahns in Congress are upset over the deal the Obama administration reached with Iran to limit that country's nuclear program [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Utah spent $1.2 million defending its constitutional ban on same-sex marriage [Deseret News, Fox 13, Tribune].
- Lawmakers butt heads over how charter schools are funded [Tribune, Deseret News].
- A Senate committee advances tech lobbyist Stan Lockhart's nomination to the state school board [Tribune].
- A new study of Utah's millennial population finds that population is much more supportive of gay rights than older residents of the state [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
- The Salt Lake County Council signs off on a proposal to merge the Salt Lake City prosecutors into the county district attorney office [Tribune].
- Gas prices in Utah are sliding down a bit, but they're still among the highest in the country [Deseret News, ABC 4].
On this day in history:
- 1799 – The Rosetta Stone, which helped decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, was found in an Egyptian village by French soldiers.
- 1870 – Georgia became the last of the Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.
- 1965 – The unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passed over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet and sent the first close-up images of the planet back to Earth.
- 1971 – President Richard Nixon disclosed plans to make an unprecedented visit to the People's Republic of China. He made the historic trip in February 1972.
- 1996 – MSNBC made its debut on cable TV and the Internet.
