Photograph: Brian Cahn/ZUMA Press/Corbis
From our picture desk’s selection of the best news images on Wednesday 25 July:
Has he got a licence for that moustache? Participants take part in the annual Days of ‘47 Pioneer Day Parade, which honours the settling of Utah by the Mormon pioneers who arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 24 July 1847
Our mascot needs to work on his ‘stache.
When SkyWest Airlines employees got to their St. George, Utah home base this morning, they found a strange sight — one of their planes, a Delta Airlines Bombardier CRJ-200, was sitting in a ditch for some reason. It appeared someone broke into the plane and tried to drive away with it. (See photo, above.) Now, the mystery has taken a dark turn, as Brian Joseph Hedglin, a 40-year-old former SkyWest pilot, was found dead inside the plane of an apparent suicide. Hedglin was wanted for questioning in the death of his girlfriend, Christina Cornejo, who was found dead in Colorado Springs on Friday. Very strange. (photo via KSL)
He was working more than full time on the Olympics. I worked with him on a regular basis and it seemed to me he was giving everything he had time-wise, energy-wise to the Olympics. Regardless of whatever political differences Mitt and I have, having worked with him as closely as I did, I was extremely impressed with the diligence and competence he brought to that drive. He really rolled up his sleeves and seemed personally engaged in many of the details that others might have pushed off onto underlings.Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson • Discussing Mitt Romney’s time organizing the 2002 Winter Olympics in the city. Anderson’s statements refute reports that Romney remained as CEO of Bain Capital for years longer than he originally claimed, reports which the Obama campaign latched onto earlier today. Anderson is otherwise ideologically opposed to Romney, as a former Democrat now running against Romney for president under the Justice Party banner.
» Goal was to “transcend,” not “conquer” church: Former members of the LDS Church, after an increasing disagreement with church policies/opinions/explanation of its own history, signed the necessary letters of resignation over the weekend. While some people struggled with the decision to leave the church, others felt secure with their choice.
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Here’s how sure Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is that he’s going to win his Republican primary on Tuesday: His opponent, Dan Liljenquist, got sick of waiting for Hatch to agree to a debate, so he just held a one-man debate (the intro is shown above). Between the 13 videos on YouTube, Liljenquist’s “debate-style town hall” has a total of 99 views. Meanwhile, Hatch got an endorsement from Mitt Romney the next day. Hatch hasn’t even begun to sweat. (Side note: You know who holds one-man debates? Improv comics. Not politicians. Improv comics.)
Republicans probably aren’t going to like this ad, wherein the son of two proud Republicans “comes out” as a Democrat (much to his parent’s horror). Nevertheless, it’s a significant enough departure from most political ads that we think it warrants mentioning. While it was put out by Ryan Combe, a Democrat running for Congress in Utah, it’s less an ad for Combe—who makes but a brief appearance at the end—and more an ad for the Democratic party in general. Utah is an extremely Republican state, and Combe’s thinking seems to be that there are plenty of potential Democratic voters who, were they more educated on the party’s platform, would happily help elect more Democrats. Will it work? Who knows, but it’s at least a new approach. source
Who goes up this trail thinking, I’m going to have to look out for booby traps? A kid could say, `Oh cool, a shelter,’ and run right across the trip line.Utah County sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon • Discussing a set of elaborate booby traps on a hiking trail in Utah, both which could’ve proven deadly to the wrong person hiking on said trail. One, a 20-pound spiked boulder, would’ve come swinging, if a hiker tripped a wire. Another would’ve put a hiker in a bed of spiked wood. The suspects, who have been apprehended, used a shelter as a way to lure people into the traps. Our guess: One of the suspects was named Wile E. Coyote, the target was a really fast bird, and the booby traps had the ACME logo stamped on.
Hatch got 59% to Liljenquist’s 41%. Fell short of 60% needed to avoid primary.#UTSEN
— davecatanese (@davecatanese) April 21, 2012
Orrin Hatch will now face Dan Liljenquist in a June 26 Utah Republican primary.
— Matt K. Lewis (@mattklewis) April 21, 2012
Regarding a story we touched on earlier – Orrin Hatch will indeed face a primary, after failing to top the precious 60% mark at the Utah Republican convention needed to secure the nomination – and missing it by an agonizingly slim margin.
Utah’s nominating convention on Saturday favors Hatch: Back in 2010, a fellow Republican Senator, Bob Bennett, lost his seat in a similar nominating convention, facing tough competition from Tea Partiers, eventually losing his seat to current Sen. Mike Lee. Hatch, who spoke very unfavorably of his competition, is looking fairly strong in polls leading in to the convention, which picks the candidates which eventually will take the Republican nomination. If Hatch can get 60 percent, he can avoid a primary outright. And recent polls show that he’s at 59 percent, with a 4.43-percent margin of error and 15 percent undecided. Utah is strongly Republican, so winning at this convention is tantamount to winning the race. If the 78-year-old Hatch wins, he says it’ll be his last term — he’s currently finishing out his sixth term. (photo by Gage Skidmore) source
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
Congrats Tumblr!
Don’t screw this up Yahoo.
In 2007, I was...
I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
These people are not conservatives. They’re not Republicans. They’re radical libertarians and I’m doggone offended by it. I despise these people, and I’m not the guy you come in and dump on without getting punched in the mouth.Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch • Criticizing the right-leaning figures in his own party (the Tea Party, perhaps?) who are giving the six-term senator trouble. Hatch, who is facing challenges from Utah state Sen. Dan Liljenquist and Utah state Rep. Chris Herrod, is confident that he’ll be able to squeeze out a seventh term. But the criticism Hatch is getting from those to the right of him seems to be rubbing him the wrong way. (By the way, the “getting punched in the mouth” bit is of note because Hatch was once a boxer.)
Newt Gingrich may not make the ballot in Utah, after the check for his $500 ballot fee bounced. Utah Elections Director Mark Thomas confirmed that, after receiving the candidate’s paperwork and check in March, the state was recently contacted by the bank to notify them of the bounce. The state has apparently made multiple attempts to contact Gingrich, and have now given the candidate an April 20th deadline for the payment. Should they not hear from Gingrich in the next 8 days, he’ll be removed from the ballot. (Photo by Don Irvine Photos) source
This, friends, is what we talk about when the phrase “conflict of interest” comes to mind. West Valley City, Utah Mayor Mike Winder accurately reported his four freelance stories for the newspaper in every aspect … except the name, for which he used an alias in an effort to tell good news about his city.
Stories like this are an indicator that it’s a slow news day. Our favorite part is the bombshell Huntsman quote after the fold, “It’s my residence.” source
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