Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City.
What are the top issues facing Utah? Rand Paul visits Utah. Biskupski takes a leave of absence to campaign full-time.
The clock:
- 64 days to the 2015 election – (11/3/2015)
- 140 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – (1/18/2016)
- 147 days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (1/25/2016)
- 148 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – (1/26/2016)
- 192 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
- 302 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 435 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
Monday's top-10 headlines:
- Utahns say education, the economy and government overreach are the top issues facing Utah policy makers according to our latest poll [Utah Policy].
- GOP presidential candidate Rand Paul visits Utah over the weekend [Deseret News, Tribune, ABC 4].
- A federal appeals court rules the plaintiff in a lawsuit against the National Security Agency's bulk data collection does not have the standing to sue [Washington Post].
- Jackie Biskupski takes a leave of absence from her job with the Salt Lake County Sheriff office to campaign full-time [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
- Some lawmakers are floating an idea of raising the sales tax on food to pay for Medicaid expansion, but Gov. Gary Herbert vehemently denies that plan is on the table [Tribune].
- Rep. Kraig Powell is working on legislation to replace the so-called "Zion Curtain" with a separate bar or lounge area in restaurants that serve alcohol [Fox 13].
- Rick Larsen of "Utah Term Limits Now" discusses his group's efforts to establish term limits for executive branch offices in Utah [Utah Policy].
- President Obama is in Alaska on Monday to rename Mt. McKinley as Denali, which will end a decades-long battle between Alaska and Ohio [Los Angeles Times].
- Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker tries to get on the "Donald Trump immigration crazy train" by proposing a wall along the Canadian border [Washington Post].
- Yawn! Kanye West announces he will run for president in 2020 [The Hollywood Reporter].
On this day in history:
- 1888 – Mary Ann Nichols, a prostitute, was found murdered in London's East End. She is regarded as the first victim of Jack the Ripper.
- 1897 – Thomas Edison was awarded a patent for his movie camera, the Kinetograph.
- 1980 – Poland's Solidarity labor movement was born with an agreement that ended a 17-day strike at the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk.
- 1992 – White separatist Randy Weaver surrendered to authorities in Naples, Idaho, ending an 11-day siege by federal agents that claimed the lives of Weaver's wife and son and a deputy U.S. marshal.
- 1997 – Britain's Princess Diana died of injuries a few hours after a car accident in Paris that also killed her companion, Dodi Fayed, and their driver.
