Ten Things You Need to Know Today – Monday, January 25, 2016

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. There are 341 days left in 2016.

Bloomberg is eyeing an independent run for the White House. Utah lawmakers get back to work today. Utahns support the effort to take control of public lands.

The clock:

• Today is the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (1/25/2016)
• Seven days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus – (2/1/2016)
• 15 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – (2/9/2016)
• 45 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
• 57 days to the Utah Republican and Democratic caucus meetings (3/22/2016)
• 89 days to the Utah Republican and Democratic State Conventions (4/23/2016)
• 155 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
• 288 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)

Monday’s top-10 headlines:

1. Billionaire and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg is seriously considering an independent run for president [Wall Street Journal, ABC News].
2. Donald Trump boasts that he could “stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot someone” without losing support from voters [CNN].
3. The lastest election forecast gives Trump a 55% chance of winning the Iowa caucuses [FiveThirtyEight].
4. Tina Fey reprises her role as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live and fricassees the former Vice Presidential nominee [Time].
5. 94% of the campaign cash given to Utah legislators came from special interest groups, not constituents [Tribune].
6. A majority of Utahns support the effort to wrest control of public lands within the state away from the federal government [Utah Policy].
7. As the 2016 Utah Legislature gets underway today, Democrats and activists continue to decry closed caucus meetings by legislative Republicans [Deseret News].
8. Some of the big issues lawmakers expect to tackle this year (in no particular order):
   1. Medicaid expansion [Deseret News].
   2. Guns [Deseret News].
   3. Liquor policy [Tribune].
   4. Air quality [Deseret News].
   5. Online sales tax [Fox 13].
9. Gov. Gary Herbert says he’s skeptical of a plan, pushed by Democrats, boost funding for public schools [Utah Policy].
10. Nearly 70% of Utah Mormons support the LDS Church’s new policy on same-sex couples while non-Mormons are decidedly opposed [Tribune].

On this day in history:

• 1533 – King Henry VIII secretly married Anne Boleyn, his second wife.
• 1787 – Shays’ Rebellion suffered a setback when debt-ridden farmers led by Capt. Daniel Shays failed to capture an arsenal at Springfield, Mass.
• 1915 – Transcontinental phone service was inaugurated by Alexander Graham Bell in a hookup between New York and San Francisco.
• 1961 – Newly inaugurated President John Kennedy had the first televised presidential news conference.