Ten Things You Need to Know for Thursday - August 20, 2015

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Thursday, August 20, 2015 - 10:30am

Utah Policy

Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City.

Legislators approve moving the prison to Salt Lake City. Gov. Gary Herbert and Rep. Mia Love join an anti-Planned Parenthood demonstration. Lawmakers consider rules for cops wearing body cameras.

The clock:

75 days to the 2015 election - (11/3/2015)
151 days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) - (1/18/2016)
158 days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature - (1/25/2016)
159 days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary - (1/26/2016)
203 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature - (3/10/2016)
313 days to the 2016 Utah primary election - (6/28/2016)
446 days until the 2016 presidential election - (11/8/2016)

Thursday's top-10 headlines:

Utah lawmakers approve moving the state prison from Draper to Salt Lake City [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune, ABC 4, Fox 13].
Gov. Gary Herbert and Rep. Mia Love appear at an anti-Planned Parenthood rally at the Capitol [Deseret News, Tribune, Fox 13].
Utah lawmakers hear about the benefits and pitfalls of legalizing medical marijuana [Tribune, Deseret News, Fox 13].
An interim committee considers how to resolve primary elections where the winner has less than 50% of the vote [Tribune, Deseret News].
Legislators consider statewide rules for police wearing body cameras [Deseret News, Tribune].
Rep. Fred Cox, who was part of an unsuccessful bid to put the prison move to a popular vote, wants to make it a little easier to get referendums on the ballot [Tribune].
Lawmakers consider overhauling the makeup of the state school board [Tribune, Deseret News].
A group of Utahns file a lawsuit over government surveillance of phone calls during the 2002 Winter Olympics [Tribune, Fox 13].
Federal authorities are investigating claims of racial discrimination in the Salt Lake School District [Tribune, Deseret News].
Attorney General Sean Reyes tours the site of a massive toxic spill into the San Juan River [Deseret News, Associated Press].

On this day in history:

1741 - Danish navigator Vitus Jonas Bering discovered what is now Alaska.
1858 - Theories by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace regarding evolution were published in a British scholarly journal.
1953 - The Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb.
1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure.
1968 - About 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the "Prague Spring" - a brief period of efforts to democratize socialism in the country.

Today At Utah Policy

Legislature Approves Relocating Prison to Salt Lake City
By Bob Bernick
With the expected debate and the expected outcome, the Utah Legislature formally adopted Wednesday evening a new prison site out by the Salt Lake City International Airport....

Rep. Chris Stewart Discusses the 2015 GOP Presidential Race (Video)
By Bryan Schott
Donald Trump is sucking all the oxygen out of the 2016 GOP presidential race, but Utah Rep. Chris Stewart thinks there's plenty of room for other candidates to make some noise....

Bishop Slams EPA over Methane Emissions Plan
By Golden Webb
Rep. Rob Bishop says a new proposal to slash methane emissions from oil and gas productionshows that the Obama administration prefers to indulge"the fantasies of the environmental Left" rather than invest inAmerican energy security....

Is a Drive for Power Engulfing the State Board of Education?
By Kim Burningham
I am convinced many actions in the public arena are motivated by the desire for power, and I have concluded the true measures of a public official may well be, “Is power for power’s sake the goal? How did they use power? Was the power used to serve the community?...

Weekly Survey: Johnson vs. Herbert
By Bryan Schott
Jonathan Johnson made it official this week announcing he would challenge Gov. Gary Herbert for the Republican nomination in 2016. Can Johnson beat Herbert? Vote now in our weekly survey....

Policy News

Education = Economic Growth
There is one surefire way to boost growth and improve equity: improve the quality of K-12 education, says Robert Lithan in a recent Wall Street Journal article. He cites evidence that a nation’s future economic growth can be predicted by student performance....

Mayor Becker and City Council Respond to Prison Relocation Decision
Mayor Ralph Becker and the Salt Lake City Council are extremely disappointed by the Utah Legislature’s decision Wednesday to relocate the prison to Salt Lake City without adequately exploring or addressing the myriad and serious concerns and issues associated...

Accelerating the Growth of Utah's Aerospace and Defense Industry
The recent 2015 Aerospace Manufacturing Attractiveness Rankings by PricewaterhouseCoopers placed Utah among the top five states in the nation for aerospace manufacturing attractiveness. Such a ranking is golden for the Beehive State, because the report goes to...

Press Release: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah Senators Demand Answers in EPA Investigation of Mine Spill
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO), Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) announced today that they have sent a letter to Arthur A. Elkins, Inspector General of the Envi...

Zions Bank Wasatch Front Consumer Price Index Dips Slightly as Transportation and Food Prices Decline
The Zions Bank Wasatch Front Consumer Price Index decreased 0.2 percent from June to July on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. ...

Luncheon with the Ambassador of Malaysia
World Trade Center Utah, in partnership with the Governor's Office of Economic Development and the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce is delighted to welcome His Excellency Dr. Awang Adek Bin Hussin, Ambassador to the United States for Malaysia, who will be joining us for a l...

Press Release: Most Water Utilities Missing Opportunity to Stretch Water Supplies
As many U.S. communities are struggling to support growing populations with limited water resources, very few of them are utilizing water connection charges to increase water-savvy residential development projects in their communities. ...