Countdown: There are 81 days until the start of the 2014 Legislature, 362 days until the 2014 midterm elections and 789 days until the 2016 Iowa Caucuses.
- A former business partner of accused fraudster Jeremy Johnson claims he witnessed Johnson give Attorney General John Swallow a bag of cash in 2010 as part of a scheme to bribe Nevada Senator Harry Reid [City Weekly].
- Gov. Gary Herbert says the missing documents in the Swallow investigation are “cause for concern” [Tribune].
- Swallow’s lawyer says his client did not deliberately delete emails to cover up something [Deseret News].
- The Jordan School District is scrambling to address exploding growth following the failure of a $495 million bond proposal [Deseret News].
- Jordan School District and Bluffdale officials are trading allegations the other side violated state law during the campaign for that half-billion bond proposal [Tribune].
- Could 2014 be the year for a gas tax hike to fund transportation projects? [Utah Policy]
- Southern Utah officials say the government shutdown is a perfect example of why the state needs to take control of federal lands within Utah [Tribune].
- Mitt Romney says it’s a mistake for states to use caucuses and conventions to pick candidates because they limit choice [Tribune].
- Ogden City Council candidate Turner Bitton says he will not concede the race until the results are made official even though returns show he lost to Doug Stephens on Tuesday [Standard-Examiner].
- Two Layton city incumbents say they lost on Tuesday because of public backlash against a development project they approved in 2012 [Standard-Examiner].
- Hyde Park is no longer a “dry” city as residents vote to lift a ban on beer sales [Tribune].
- The BLM is taking public comment on a plan to boost fees in Grand Staircase -Escalante National Monument [Deseret News].
- As many as 300,000 Utahns may get a subsidy to purchase health insurance as a part of Obamacare [Deseret News].