This is your daily news rundown for Tuesday, March 17. In this edition:
- Tuesday is caucus night in Utah. Here's how to get involved
- Most Utahns are worried about Great Salt Lake, but are less united on solutions
- There's now a Greyhound bus route between Utah and Seattle
What does caucus night mean for Utah politics, and how can you get involved?
Tuesday evening is caucus night in Utah — but what does that mean, and how can you participate?
Every other year, political parties hold caucuses to elect delegates who will then represent their precinct at county and state conventions, where they vote on party candidates for state and federal office.
In Utah, GOP caucuses are only open to registered Republicans who live in the state. Democrat caucuses are open to all registered voters who aren’t also participating in a Republican caucus.
You can check on the Utah Republican and Democratic party websites to find your precinct and where the local caucus will be held.
Check-in for caucuses begins Tuesday evening at 6 p.m.
Utahns are worried about Great Salt Lake — but what solutions do they prefer?
The vast majority of Utahns are concerned about Great Salt Lake — but the solutions they prefer differ, according to a new Deseret News Hinckley Institute of Politics Poll.
The institute polled 800 registered voters earlier this month.
Of those, 81% were either somewhat or very concerned about the lake’s water levels.
Over half of respondents said the best way to get Utahns to use less water is to provide incentives for water-efficient landscaping, while about a quarter wanted restrictions with penalties on cosmetic water use like watering lawns.
Less than 10% thought Utahns don’t need to use less water at all.
About 80% said they had already changed their behavior in some way because of low water levels in Utah — watering their lawn less, taking shorter showers, and washing their car less frequently being the most common answers.
According to the Great Salt Lake commissioner, the lake needs 261 billion gallons of water added to bring it out of its “serious adverse effects” status.
There’s now a Greyhound bus route between Utah and Seattle
Travelers in the West are now a little more connected, with a new Greyhound bus route between Seattle and Denver that also has several stops in Utah and Idaho.
That includes Salt Lake City, Provo, Price, Green River, and Boise.
There are 13 total stops along the route, with access to local transportation and rail systems in Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Colorado.
There will be one trip a day in each direction starting Wednesday.
