Happy Memorial Day
Utah Policy Daily will be taking Monday off, but will magically reappear on Tuesday with links to all the political news published over the long weekend. Don’t get sunburned.
Campaign Tip
Create Political Fighting Force
(Sponsored by Xi Corporation, Utah 's political data specialists)
Any membership list can be turned into a political fighting force. Suppose you are a candidate who has been endorsed by an association or any organization that has a lot of members or affiliates. Those members are obviously good prospects to be very helpful to your campaign.
They can provide an almost instant grassroots organization to serve as neighborhood captains and to drop literature, put up yard signs, contact their friends and neighbors, appear on endorsement lists, and so forth.
However, for these likely campaign volunteers to be put to good use, you need to place them in their voting districts and legislative districts so you can fill in holes in your grassroots organization. You also need to know who among them are active, registered voters and involved in political parties, and are thus likely to be of most help.
You learn these things by being adept at manipulating data yourself, or by working with a political data firm to run your list against the state voter file and political party data to see who on the list has been a county or state delegate, a precinct worker, or a party caucus attendee. You can turn any list of Utah citizens into a valuable campaign asset by doing so. You can also have the list “cleaned” by correcting phone numbers and addresses and formatting it so you get the lowest mail rates. You can also “household” the list to avoid sending duplicate mail pieces to the same address. And you can “geocode” the list to create maps. All of this is not very expensive.
If you operate an association or other organization with a lot of members or affiliates, you can turn your membership into a political fighting force by “politicizing” your membership list as described above. If, for example, you want to influence a piece of legislation and a particular state representative is a crucial vote or chairs a key committee, you can pull up a list of your members in that House district, see who is actively politically and involved in political party activities, and therefore who might be most influential with the representative. For more information on this topic, contact Jenn Wheelwright, 537-0900.
Podcast Watch
Jennifer Napier-Pearce’s InsideUtah.com podcast this week features Hinckley Institute of Politics director Kirk Jowers (:38) on what a house call by the Mexican president means for Utah; City Weekly editor Ben Fulton (8:21) on good, bad and ugly Google searches by Utahns; and YWCA CEO Ann Burkholder (14:24) on 100 years serving Utah women.
Blog Watch
At The Utah Amicus, Todd Taylor says: "It is frustrating to know that in a time of plenty, when the State of Utah has had surpluses in excess of $1 billion, that we won’t take care of the neediest in our community. The Republican Legislature's failure [Wednesday] to vote on basic health care for the poorest of us sorely disappointed the citizens of Utah. Providing the extra Medicaid funds is the right and moral thing to do" (See also here, here, and here)... Rural Blogging says a nightmare is unfolding in Monticello... Dee's 'Dotes has a "VoicePost" about her opposition to the Divine Strake bomb test scheduled for June at the Nevada Test Site.
-- Compiled by Golden Webb
UTOPIA Piquing Interest
This month’s UTOPIA Team Email features a story about the recent flurry of press coverage on the municipal fiber-optic network. Included are two detailed cover stories by IEEE Spectrum and Digital IQ technology magazines, as well as reports that municipalities in Minnesota and Tennessee are looking to replicate the UTOPIA model. The UTOPIA Community MetroNet will enter phase II later this year, beginning construction in Tremonton, Brigham City, Perry, Layton and Centerville.
Washington Watch
Hatch: No to Immigration Reform Bill
Sen. Orrin Hatch votes against immigration reform legislation that would allow millions of illegal immigrants to earn U.S. citizenship: "I can’t support this -- it creates more problems than it fixes. We passed some strong border security provisions, and that’s good. But blanket amnesty doesn’t work, regardless of how it’s disguised" (see press release); Hatch urges the Senate to pass legislation that would expand federal funding of stem cell research (press release).
Bennett: Yes to Immigration Reform Bill
Sen. Bob Bennett says the just-passed immigration reform bill is "not perfect, but it's a necessary step. It includes important provisions that will strength our borders, without which we have little chance of managing or resolving our immigration challenges" (see press release).
Cannon: Fund Border Protection Activities
Rep. Chris Cannon urges his House colleagues to approve the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2007: "Our borders have to be secure for homeland security to even be a possibility, and this bill provides for expanded border protection activities and increases in border security personnel, as well increased funding for port security" (see press release); Cannon applauds "the announcement by the U.S. Treasury Department that the long distance telephone tax that began in 1898 to fund the Spanish-American War will end and that the Internal Revenue Service will issue refunds of tax on long-distance service for the past three years" (press release).
Utah 'Critical Foundation' for Novell
Novell Vice President Kent Erickson addresses the Utah Technology Council, discussing Novell's present and future and noting that Utah continues to be a critical foundation for the company (see press release).
Casual Friday
Landowner Gives Land and Money to Help Columbia Spotted Frog
By Scott Root, DWR Conservation Outreach Manager
FRANCIS -- Something historic happened May 23 on the bank of the Provo River near Francis.
In addition to donating more than 600 acres of land to protect Columbia spotted frogs, a private landowner did something unheard of—he gave the Division of Wildlife Resources more than $235,000 to help cover the costs of monitoring and protecting the frog.
A dedication ceremony on May 23 culminated a five-year effort among the DWR, other natural resource agencies and the Victory Ranch Club to protect the Columbia spotted frog. The Victory Ranch Club is an exclusive development that includes home sites, golf cabins, an equestrian center and a Rees Jones designed golf course.
The development is also committed to preserving and enhancing the wildlife habitat found along the Provo River.
In addition to donating more than 600 acres of land, at the dedication ceremony Victory Ranch Club owner Bob Larsen presented an endowment fund check for $237,500 to the DWR to cover the costs the division will incur to monitor the easement area throughout the future. With tears in his eyes, Larsen said, “It’s an emotional thing for me to be able to say that nothing, nothing will ever be built on this river. I think this agreement is a model for generations to come, and I think this will help Utah immensely. I’m proud to be able to do this.”
Larsen says the area immediately surrounding the Provo River could have been developed into a beautiful golf course. Not only did the Victory Ranch Club decide to relocate the golf course to another location, the development may also preserve up to 2,000 additional acres of land for open space and wildlife.
Krissy Wilson, native aquatic species coordinator for the DWR, says the conservation easement is a good example of how private developers and natural resource agencies can work together to protect wildlife. (Read the entire article and view photos.)
Outdoors Report
-- It’s a great year for rafting Utah’s rivers. Read about it in the Morning News.
-- Tribune’s compilation of must-dos with kids at Utah’s national parks, monuments and recreation areas.
-- Camping over Memorial Day? Check out the Tribune’s list of open campsites.
-- Morning News reports about fishing smallmouth bass in southern Utah.
-- Tribune’s Short Hike of the Week takes visitors to Weber Canyon.
-- Find out about upcoming events in the Morning News’ Outdoor Notes and the Tribune’s Recreation Roundup.
-- Use the Morning News’ interactive map of Utah to plan your recreation activities across the state.
-- The latest wildlife news and information and the fishing report on the DWR website
Weekend Events
New Films Friday
-- X-men: The Last Stand: Rotten Tomatoes review.
Concerts
-- Lunch Bunch Concert Series, Gallivan Center, weekdays at noon through September 22,
-- Jazz on the Plaza, The Gateway, Thursdays through July, 6 p.m.,
-- Mountain West Chorale, sacred, patriotic, Americana and international folk songs, Friday, 7:30 p.m., Assembly Hall, free
-- An Evening of Ballets, Ballet West, May 26, 27, 31, June 1-3, Capitol Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
-- Wagner's "The Ring," Utah Symphony, Friday and Saturday, Abravanel Hall, 8 p.m., (355-2787)
-- Michael and Alicia McQuay on piano and harp, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Assembly Hall, free
-- Singers Unlimited Spring Concert, May 30-31, Rose Wagner Theater, 7:00 p.m.
-- The Madeleine Choir Festival continues until June 11, events Sundays at 8 p.m.
Theater
-- "The Miracle Worker" through June 3, Hale Centre Theatre
-- "The Foreigner" through June 3, Alpine Playhouse
-- "Always . . . Patsy Cline" through June 3, Desert Star Dinner Theatre
-- “Phantom of the OBT” through June 3, Off Broadway Theatre, Morning News review
-- "The King and I" through June 3, Center Street Musical Theatre
-- "Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping" through June 3, Children's Theatre of Salt Lake
"Grease: High School Edition," through June 10, Terrace Plaza Playhouse
--“Barefoot in the Park” through July 1, Provo Theatre Company
-- "Spitfire Grill," through July 10, Hale Center Theater Orem
-- "Desperate Homemakers: The Big Fat Sequel to My Big Fat Utah Wedding”, Desert Star Cabaret Theatre
-- "The Rat Pack Remembered", Desert Star Dinner Theatre
Museum Exhibits
-- The Ten Commandments: An Arnold Friberg Art Exhibit, Utah Cultural Celebration Center, through May 26
--Bold, Bad, and Dangerous Exhibition through June 8, Robert Motherwell: Te Quiero Exhibition through May 31, Deference to Deffebach Exhibition through May 31, Salt Lake Art Center
-- Curious Workmanship: Utah Furniture 1847-1897 Museum of Utah Art and History through May 31
-- 82nd Annual Spring Salon through July 2, Springville Museum of Art
-- Intimacy Without Restraint: The Gesture Paintings of Hyunmee Lee Exhibition through July 9, Utah Museum of Fine Art
-- In Focus: National Geographic Great Portraits Exhibition through September 23, Utah Museum of Natural History
Et cetera
-- Park City Gallery Stroll, May 26, 6-9 p.m., Kimball Art Center
-- Scandinavian Heritage Festival, May 26-27, Ephraim, Utah
-- Moab Arts Festival, May 27-28, Swanny City Park, Moab
-- Science Lecture Series: “How Running Made Us Human”, May 30, 7:00 p.m., Salt Lake City Main Library
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