Ten Things You Need to Know for Monday – September 14, 2015

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. 

Donald Trump and Ben Carson continue leading the GOP pack nationally. Utahns want campaign finance reform. Utah's open enrollment law could lead to "white flight."

The clock:

• 50 days to the 2015 election – (11/3/2015)
• 126 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – (1/18/2016)
• 133 days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (1/25/2016)
• 134 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – (1/26/2016)
• 178 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
• 288 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
• 421 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)

Monday's top-10 headlines:

1. A new poll shows Donald Trump and Ben Carson continue to lead the GOP race nationally. Hillary Clinton is still in front of the Democrats, but her support appears to be weakening [Washington Post].
2. Bernie Sanders has a double-digit lead over Clinton in Iowa [The Hill].
3. What did we learn from Rick Perry's failed presidential bid? [The Week]
4. A new poll shows a significant majority of Utahns want an overhaul of the state's campaign finance regulations [Utah Policy].
5. Critics say the state's open enrollment law for public schools is leading to some "white flight" [Tribune].
6. The Utah Medical Association is opposed to a proposal that would shift the costs of expanding Medicaid to health care providers [Associated Press].
7. Former Salt Lake County Councilman David Wilde succumbs to cancer at the age of 59 [Tribune].
8. Rep. Ed Redd tells a town hall meeting about the benefits of medical cannabis [Herald Journal].
9. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will be in Utah next month to headline a fundraiser for the Pregnancy Resource Center [Deseret News].
10. California's wildfire season is quickly spreading out of control [Los Angeles Times].

On this day in history:

• 1814 – Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner" after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812.
• 1901 – President William McKinley died of wounds inflicted by an assassin eight days earlier. He was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.
• 1959 – Soviet probe Lunik-2 became the first Earth-launched space vehicle to land on the moon.
• 1962 – Princess Grace of Monaco – American film actress Grace Kelly – was killed when her car plunged off a mountain road by the Cote D'Azur.