Republican Salt Lake County Mayoral candidate Mark Crockett wants to reduce the population at the Salt Lake County Jail by releasing lesser offenders and issue them cell phones where they will receive encouraging messages to help them stay out of trouble. Utah Democrats are offering suggestions for those messages at the #TextsfromCrockett hashtag on Twitter and humor has ensued.
Countdown: There are 166 days to the 2013 municipal elections, 249 days until the start of the 2014 Legislature, 525 days until the 2014 midterm elections and 962 days until the 2016 Iowa Caucuses.
An analysis says expanding Medicaid coverage will save Utah more than $130 million and would give health insurance to 123,000 residents [Tribune].
A new report ranks Utah #1 for economic outlook next year [Utah Policy, Tribune].
House Majority Leader Brad Dee goes on a European vacation with three lobbyists, but Dee insists the trip was above board because everybody paid their own way and they didn’t discuss politics [Tribune].
Former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is caught on tape offering to get $2 million for Utah Businessman Darl McBride if he would shut down a website critical of another Utah businessman. That money was to come from a third Utah businessman who was in trouble with the Attorney General’s office [Tribune].
Former Legislator and current blogger Holly Richardson says she’s had enough with the “culture of corruption” permeating the Attorney General’s office [Holly on the Hill].
Sen. Orrin Hatch wants to hear from Utahns who think they have been inappropriately targeted by the IRS as part of his investigation into misconduct by the agency [Tribune].
Kennecott lays off 100 workers because of the massive landslide at their Bingham Canyon Mine [Tribune, Deseret News].
The Boy Scouts vote to allow gay members in their ranks [Deseret News].
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman launches a new political action committee to support Republicans who share his point of view [Tribune].
Gov. Gary Herbert says he is confident the state can work out a deal to avoid taxing the electricity used by the new National Security Agency data center at Camp Williams [Tribune].