First, some very important new from this week comes from our friends at the Mormon History Association (from their Facebook page):

We regret to announce that Debra and David Marsh have resigned as executive directors of the Mormon History Association. We thank them for their service and wish them well in their future endeavors. MHA office assistance is in place. We are grateful to MHA’s program committee and local arrangements committee, who continue in their efforts to provide an outstanding 50th-Anniversary Conference this June.

Board of Directors, Mormon History Association

We also are sad to hear that announcement, but have every confidence that the MHA Board will make #MHA50 the best MHA yet.

Another item of importance from MHA: registration fees will go up after April 30th. Register HERE to save money–money that could easily be spent on one of the fabulous tours offered this year!

Our Summer Book Club was picked up by both Peggy Fletcher Stack of the Salt Lake Tribune and Jana Riess of Religion News Service. You can follow the book club (we are reading Richard Bushman’s Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling) here. More on the book club a week from tomorrow!

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the LDS First Presidency spoke at USC and announced a new Mormon Studies Chair named after John A. Widtsoe. This Facebook page is a big fan of Widtsoe–if you like him, this page shares quotes from his papers and correspondence.

Nevada Senator Harry Reid baptized a former Senator from South Dakota.

In an article I originally thought was published by The Onion, Utah State Senator Mark Madsen is leading the push to legalize marijuana in Utah.

The American Historical Association has released a draft of standards to evaluate digital scholarship to be used while evaluating candidates for tenure.

What did we miss? Post them in the comments!