Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. There are 71 days left in 2015.
Jason Chaffetz drops out of the race for Speaker. Utah has another budget surplus. About 1/4 of voters say they’ll vote for Jackie Biskupski because of Chris Burbank’s ouster.
The clock:
- 13 days to the 2015 election – (11/3/2015)
- 89 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – (1/18/2016)
- 96 days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (1/25/2016)
- 97 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – (1/26/2016)
- 1421days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
- 252 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 384 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
Wednesday’s top-10 headlines:
- Rep. Jason Chaffetz drops out of the race to replace John Boehner as Speaker after Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan says he’s willing to step up if Republicans will unite behind him [Washington Post, Time, Utah Policy, Fox 13, ABC 4, Deseret News, Tribune].
- Utah House members (mostly) reveal how they voted on Medicaid expansion [2 News].
- Utah’s posts a $103 million dollar surplus [Utah Policy, Tribune].
- A new poll shows about 1/4 of voters are more likely to cast their ballot for Jackie Biskupski due to Mayor Ralph Becker‘s ouster of former police chief Chris Burbank [Utah Policy].
- More independent billboards supporting Biskupski over Becker are popping up in Salt Lake City [Fox 13].
- Mayor Ben McAdams lays out his budget priorities for the next year with a focus on criminal justice [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune, KUER].
- Mormon Apostle Dallin Oaks references Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis during a speech, saying public officials should not apply their personal convictions to their jobs [Deseret News, Tribune, 2 News, Fox 13].
- The Salt Lake City Council votes to suspend impact fees for 12 months [Tribune].
- New taxes passed by the 2015 Legislature will cost the average Utah family about $140 more per year [Deseret News].
- If it passes in November, Prop. 1 will raise $108 million for transportation, including $58 million in Salt Lake County [Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1805 – A British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson was killed in the battle.
- 1879 – Thomas Edison invented the first practical electric incandescent lamp.
- 1967 – Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters marched in Washington, D.C.
- 1987 – The U.S. Senate rejected President Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- 2003 – Invoking a hastily-passed law, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a feeding tube reinserted into Terry Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman at the center of a bitter right-to-die battle.
