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Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Morning must reads for Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 115th day of the year. There are 250 days remaining in 2017.

Utahns want to reduce or undo Bears Ears. President Trump proposes a big corporate tax rate cut. Trump backs off his plan to fund the wall to avoid a government shutdown.

The clock:

• 25 days until the Utah Republican State Convention (5/20/2017)
• 53 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention at Weber State University (6/17/2017)
• 196 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
• 272 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
• 317 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 560 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1,288 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL; DR - 

• NEW POLL: A slim majority of Utahns would like President Donald Trump or Congress to either reduce the size of the Bears Ears National Monument. Another slim majority think Congress and President Trump should not alter the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Bob Bernick says the brewing mess at the Huntsman Cancer Institute could spiral into a huge political problem if it's not fixed soon [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Sources indicate that Dr. Mary Beckerle will be reinstated as the head of the Huntsman Cancer Institute as soon as Tuesday [Deseret News].
  
  
• A state audit says Utah's dual immersion language program is misusing federal funds [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• The amount of private funding needed for new homeless service centers in Salt Lake County has ballooned to more than $24 million [Deseret News].
  
  
• A new study shows Utahns are ignoring the state's mandatory no-burn days even though air quality is very poor [Tribune].
  
  
• The Utah Transit Authority is trying to decide what to do with a parcel of land in Clearfield. The ultimate decision could change plans for transit-oriented growth along the Wasatch Front [Tribune].
  
  
• President Trump says the 100-day standard for judging presidencies is "not very meaningful." However, he also says his first 100 days have been the best of any president ever [New York Times].
  
  
• President Donald Trump proposes dropping the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%. That move would cost the federal government an estimated $2 trillion in revenue over a decade [Wall Street Journal]. Here are five big roadblocks that stand in the way of passing such a plan [Wall Street Journal].
  
  
• President Trump indicates he's willing to delay his push for funding to build the proposed border wall with Mexico in order to avoid a government shutdown [Politico].
  
  
• Nearly 3/4 of Americans disapprove of Congress's job performance according to a new poll [Wall Street Journal].
  
  
• The Trump administration plans to impose a 20% tariff on softwood lumber imported from Canada [Wall Street Journal].
  
  
• Dozens of Republicans in Congress are asking President Trump to roll back job protections for gays and lesbians in the federal workforce [USA Today].
  
  
• This is mildly concerning. A reception at the White House for the conservative media turned into a full-blown on the record briefing with the president [Politico].
  
  
• Whoops! The State Department and two U.S. embassies shared a blog post promoting President Trump's Mar-a-Lago club on their websites [Politico].

On this day in history:

• 1507 - "America" was first used as the name of a continent on a map. German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller used the name in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.
  
  
• 1898 - The United States declared war on Spain.
  
  
• 1901 - New York became the first state to require automobile license plates.
  
  
• 1945 - Delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.
  
  
• 2007 - The Dow Jones industrial average topped 13,000 for the first time, ending the day at 13,089.89.

Today At Utah Policy

Poll: Utahns want Trump to change or undo Bears Ears By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor As President Donald Trump readies an executive order to review the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, a new poll shows Utahns favor reducing or rescinding at least one of those monuments....

Huntsman Cancer Institute controversy could turn into a huge mess By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor There is an interesting dynamic playing out this week up at the University of Utah, and just a mile south in the U of U Research Park headquarters of the Huntsman chemical/cancer-fighting empire....

Policy News

Wise Words

Character
"[N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt." Samuel Adams

Lighter Side

A Little Help
"The New England Patriots visited the White House, and Patriots star Rob Gronkowski interrupted Sean Spicer's White House press briefing and asked if he needed help. Reporters all laughed while Sean Spicer whispered, "Yes." Jimmy Fallon