Ten Things You Need to Know for Wednesday - December 10, 2014

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Friday, December 12, 2014 - 8:15am

cal News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Congress reaches a deal on a spending bill. Torture report details C.I.A. actions during the Bush Administration. Utah has a big budget surplus.

Countdown:

Days until the opening day of the 2015 Utah Legislature - 47
Days to the final day of the 2015 Utah Legislature - 92
Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections - 244
Days to the 2015 election - 328
Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) - 404
Days until the 2016 presidential election - 699

Wednesday's top-10 headlines:

Congress reaches a spending deal to avoid a government shutdown [Washington Post].
A new report gives gruesome details of C.I.A. torture during the Bush Administration [New Yorker].
BYU graduate Jay Bybee, who wrote the controversial memo which was used to greenlight that torture program, did so because of bad information [Tribune].
Utah has a budget surplus of more than $600 million but lawmakers still want some tax cuts [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
Legislative Democrats nearly derail a plan to hire an attorney to move forward with a plan to sue the federal government over public lands in the state but ultimately relent [Utah Policy].
An independent commission recommends a pay hike of nearly 37% for Gov. Herbert [Tribune].
Incoming House speaker Greg Hughes names Greg Hartley as the new Chief Deputy of the House [Utah Policy].
Newly elected Rep. Mia Love sends a letter to the Prison Relocation Commission urging them to keep the new prison from being located in Saratoga Springs [Deseret News].
Utah Democratic Party chair Peter Corroon says he hopes Doug Owens runs again in 2016 [Utah Policy].
The Salt Lake County Council approves a $1.1 billion budget that includes no tax hikes [Tribune].

On this day in history:

1817 - Mississippi was admitted to the union as the 20th state.
1948 - The U.N. General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
1964 - The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize.
1980 - Rep. John W. Jenrette resigned to avoid being expelled from the House following his conviction on charges related to the FBI's Abscam investigation.

Today At Utah Policy

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Legislative Democrats Almost Block State From Hiring Attorney to Sue Feds Over Public Lands
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