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Ten Things You Need to Know for Wednesday – August 19, 2015

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Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. 

Lawmakers meet in special session to consider the prison move. Democrats think the Legislature should deal with Medicaid expansion. Becker pulls a proposed $150 million recreation bond from the ballot.

The clock:

  • 76 days to the 2015 election – (11/3/2015)
  • 152 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – (1/18/2016)
  • 159 days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (1/25/2016)
  • 160 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – (1/26/2016)
  • 204 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
  • 314 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
  • 447 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)

Wednesday's top-10 headlines:

  1. Lawmakers meet in a special session today to consider moving the prison from Draper to Salt Lake City and four other non-related issues [Tribune, Deseret News].
  2. Utah Democrats are upset that the Legislature is dealing with the prison issue before addressing Medicaid expansion [Deseret News, Tribune, KUER, ABC 4].
  3. Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker pulls a proposed $150 million open space bond from November's ballot [Deseret News, Tribune, ABC 4, Fox 13].
  4. The LDS Church announces women will add women as permanent members of three formerly all-male committees within the Church [Deseret News, Tribune, ABC 4, Fox 13].
  5. A new poll shows most Utahns did not watch the first GOP presidential debate. However, those who did watch say Donald Trump and Marco Rubio were the winners [Utah Policy].
  6. The final vote tally from Salt Lake City's primary election shows Jackie Biskupski with a 15-point win over Ralph Becker. Derek Kitchen and Nate Salazar will face off in Council District 4 [Tribune].
  7. A group pushing term limits files a lawsuit against the state after election officials reject their petition proposal [Tribune, Deseret News].
  8. All three of the counties along the Wasatch front will vote on a sales tax hike to fund transportation this November [Utah Policy, Tribune, Daily Herald].
  9. Two Utah lawmakers claim the federal government may have deliberately released toxic waste into the San Juan River and want Attorney General Sean Reyes to investigate the possibility [Tribune, Deseret News].
  10. The White House appoints its first openly transgender full-time employee [The Guardian].

On this day in history:

  • 1812 – The U.S. Navy frigate Constitution defeated the British ship Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, earning the ship the nickname "Old Ironsides."
  • 1934 – A plebiscite in Germany approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler as Fuhrer.
  • 1960 – U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers was convicted in a Moscow court and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released 18 months later and exchanged for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
  • 2004 – Internet search engine Google went public.
  • 2010 – The last American combat brigade exited Iraq, seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion began.