The Deseret Morning News crunched numbers and came up with some more evidence that Legislators put personal economics ahead of the state's. Lawmakers, of course, say it's just some trivia being sensationalized by the media. Read the story here.

Update: My colleague Robert Gehrke doesn't think much of the DNews expose and says so here. Gehrke argues, "it seems that calling some of these cases "apparent conflicts of interest" and casting the net so broadly doesn't really do much to shed light on the actual conflicts of interest that go on at the Capitol."

But everyone loves fun trivia. So, if conversation falters at your next party, toss this out: "One of every how many bills introduced in the Legislature creates an apparent conflict of interest for its sponsor?"

Answer: One in four (one-quarter, 25 percent).

Take Rep. Lorie Fowlke, for example. Every last bill she introduced this year would affect her job as a family law attorney. Her bills ranged from protective order amendments to stalking amendments to joint custody changes.

The DNews suggests that writing bills that affect their own professions or industry can make lawmakers "power brokers and leaders in arcane areas of the law, or help their professions."

Claire Geddes, a public advocate, told the DNews conflicts are "the number one ethical problem at the Legislature — and legislators just don't take it seriously at all."

"It is infamous that they pass bills that help their own industries," Geddes said. "The public loses big-time, and everyone just acts like it is OK because we have a part-time Legislature. It is not OK."