News roundup: How Mitt Romney spent his summer vacation
How Mitt Romney spent his summer vacation. Herbert names former BYU athletic director as GOED head. Swallow, Shurtleff face court hearing.
Happy Wednesday. So how did Mitt Romney spend his summer vacation? By hiking around the American West, of course. Romney posted pictures of himself with his wife, Ann, and five of their grandkids and noted that they'd spent plenty of time touring around some of Utah's most scenic landscapes, including Zion, Bryce and Capitol Reef national parks as well as Goblin Valley and Lake Powell. (Not sure why the author of this piece has such a fascination with the fact that parts of Doctor Who were shot at Lake Powell. There are a million other reasons to vacation there). [WaPost]
Topping the news: Gov. Gary Herbert named Vale Hale, a Utah County businessman and former athletic director at BYU, as the state's new director of economic development. [Trib] [DNews] [StandEx] [UtahPolicy]
-> Former Attorneys General John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff face their first trial dates before a judge today. [DNews]
Tweet of the day: From @BenBHorsley: "Just yelled 'Matheson for Governor' at @SpencerJCox I don't think he thought it was as funny as I did."
-> From @SpencerJCox: "Still laughing. Thought it was 'Matheson sucks'"
Happy Birthday: To Sen. Orrin Hatch's spokeswoman Heather Barney, Sen. Mike Lee's Communications Director Brian Phillips and former Republican congressional and gubernatorial candidate Morgan Philpot.
In other news: Residents spoke out about Rocky Mountain Power's proposed charge for those with solar panels during a community meeting. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Officials from the Bureau of Land Management began their roundup of 140 wild horses in Utah. [Trib] [KUTV]
-> Paul Rolly writes about a seemingly homophobic incident regarding homophones that ended with the termination of a blogger at an English school for foreign students. [Trib]
-> Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker is determined to fix the area's golf course deficit. [Trib]
-> Jordan School District has agreed to improve its communication with cities in order to prevent a split. [Trib]
-> The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is still working out the kinks with its liquor licenses. [DNews] [KUTV] [Fox13]
-> You may not quoth the raven, but you can shoot the crow. Beginning in September, Utahns can join the state's first crow hunt. [Trib]
Nationally: House Republicans are proposing an appropriation of $659 million rather than the $3.7 billion President Barack Obama requested to help solve the border crisis. [NYTimes] [WaPost] [WSJ] [Politico]
-> Democrats have used the calls for Obama's impeachment as a way to fundraise money. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> A White House report states that billions of dollars are lost as nothing is done to improve the climate. [WaPost] [Politico]
-> Both the U.S. and the European Union have imposed more economic sanctions on Russia for the country's part in the Ukraine conflict. [WSJ]
Where are they?
Rep. Jason Chaffetz attends two hearings on the IRS, discusses the border in a Homeland Security hearing, accepts a National Retail Foundation award and hosts a fundraising dinner for Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis.
Rep. Chris Stewart participates in a Republican Study Committee meeting, meets with the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, goes to a classified briefing on wildfires and hosts a telephone town hall meeting.
Gov. Gary Herbert spends his day at the Governor's Native American Summit at Utah Valley University.
SL Co. Mayor Ben McAdams attends a Future of Unincorporated Salt Lake County meeting.
SLC Mayor Ralph Becker celebrates former Salt Lake City Mayor Robert Baskin.
President Barack Obama speaks on the economy in Missouri and travels back to the White House.
Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com. If you haven't already, sign up for our weekday email and get this sent directly to your inbox. [Trib]
— Thomas Burr and Courtney Tanner Twitter.com/thomaswburr and Twitter.com/CourtneyLTanner