What You Need to Know About Utah Politics Today – November 1, 2013

Countdown:  There are 4 days to the 2013 municipal elections, 87 days until the start of the 2014 Legislature, 368 days until the 2014 midterm elections and 795 days until the 2016 Iowa Caucuses.

  • A lawyer for embattled Attorney General John Swallow says he did not intentionally delete emails that have been discovered to be missing as a part of the House investigation. He blames the snafu on the switch to a new e-mail system [Tribune].
  • Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says the closing of national monuments during the government shutdown did not have a political motive [Tribune].
  • Rep. Chris Stewart’s staff will use the federal Obamacare exchanges for health insurance [Tribune].
  • Most of the donations to Luz Robles’ campaign come from inside Utah, but none of those are from the southern part of the state [Utah Policy].
  • Fact vs. myth in the fight to change Utah’s caucus system [City Weekly].
  • Bob Bernick says the changes to the caucus system adopted by the Utah GOP is a case of “too little, too late” [Utah Policy].
  • Nothern Utah officials hail Gov. Gary Herbert’s plan to develop a strategy for managing the state’s water resources [Standard-Examiner].
  • About 250,000 Utahns will see a drop in food stamp aid due to a cut in the SNAP program [Tribune].
  • A study says Utah’s liquor taxes are ninth-highest in the nation [Tribune].
  • Fundraising in the West Valley City mayoral race is lagging for both candidates as we near election day [Tribune].
  • In-kind donations are causing some controversy in the Orem mayoral contest [Daily Herald].
  • Salt Lake City Council candidate Bill Davis is caught claiming endorsements from LGBT groups that never actually endorsed him [Tribune].
  • Utah gets high marks for efforts to helping people with mental illness who are accused of a crime [Tribune].
  • Federal land managers start implementing their plan to protect the greater sage grouse in Utah and other states [Deseret News].
  • Salt Lake City police will post warnings on cars found idling during cold weather [Tribune].