Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 307th day of the year. There are 58 days remaining in 2017

Daily Briefing

Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 307th day of the year. There are 58 days remaining in 2017.

The clock:

• 4 days until the 2017 election (11/7/2017)
• 80 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
• 125 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 368 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1,096 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL; DR -

• What happened and why? Watch our Utah political week-in-review to get up to speed quickly [Utah Policy]. Here's a podcast version if you're on the go [Utah Policy].
   
• Bob Bernick says the right-wing "wackos" in the GOP may try to oust Chairman Rob Anderson after the decision to drop the lawsuit against SB54, but those efforts will probably fail [Utah Policy].
   
• Democratic legislative candidate Jacquelyn Orton failed to disclose some campaign donations in a timely manner, and now faces some possible fines from the state [Utah Policy].
   
• Utah's Republican delegation in Congress heaped praise on the GOP tax reform bill which was unveiled Thursday [Tribune].
   
• Rep. Chris Stewart says Russian troll farms engaged in "cyberwarfare" during the 2016 campaign, but the online posts were designed to make Americans mad at each other, not help Donald Trump [Deseret News].
   
• The LDS Church is donating $10 million to build shelters for homeless people in Utah [Deseret News].
   
• A coalition of environmental organizations is suing the Trump administration over the plan to shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments [BuzzFeed].
   
• A group of Utah residents started an online petition saying President Trump is not welcome in Utah ahead of the president's planned visit to the Beehive State in December [Fox 13].
   
• Six Utah school districts are asking voters to approve bond proposals on election day totaling $800 million [Tribune].
   
• Angry Ballpark residents vented at Speaker Greg Hughes Thursday night over the number of displaced homeless people who were now in their community following the crackdown downtown [Deseret News].
   
• An independent panel says Utah lawmakers should get a pay raise from $273 per day to $285. Lawmakers have not received a boost in pay since 2013 [Tribune].
   
• A judge awarded the United Utah Party $115,000 in attorney fees resulting from their lawsuit against the state to secure a spot on Tuesday's special congressional election ballot [Deseret News].
   
• Salt Lake City Council candidate Amy Fowler says she received threatening and sexually explicit messages on her Facebook page. She has filed a police report because of the incident [Deseret News].
   
• The State School Board voted to reconsider science teaching standards in Utah schools despite objections that the new standards did not include teaching intelligent design and seemingly push a political agenda on climate change [Deseret News].

National headlines:

• Republicans in Congress took the wraps off of their tax reform package. Businesses, corporations, and wealthy Americans would benefit most from the plan [New York Times].
   
• Middle-class Americans may not see the big tax cut they have been promised under the GOP tax reform proposal [New York Times].
   
• The Republican tax reform proposal could have a rocky path to winning approval in the Senate, where the GOP's margin of error is razor thin [Politico].
   
• Both President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions keep insisting they knew nothing about alleged contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives. However, documents keep surfacing that cast doubts on those claims [New York Times].
   
• Former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Paige testified that he told Jeff Sessions that he was traveling to Russia during the 2016 campaign. Sessions twice told a Senate panel under oath he did not know of campaign contacts with Russia [CNN].
   
• Democratic Senators want Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appear before a Senate panel again to answer more questions about Trump campaign contacts with Russia following the guilty plea this week by ex-campaign adviser George Papadopoulos [Politico].
   
• Former Trump campaign aide Sam Clovis withdrew his nomination for a top post at the Department of Agriculture after his name surfaced in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election [New York Times].
   
• Senator Elizabeth Warren says the Democratic presidential nomination contest was rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton after a bombshell report this week that the Clinton campaign was basically in control of the Democratic National Committee during the primaries [CNN].
   
• Several female members of Congress say they were subject to sexual harassment by their male colleagues [Associated Press].
   
• Investigative reporter David Corn was investigated by Mother Jones magazine for inappropriate workplace behavior when he headed up their Washington bureau in 2014. Corn is most famous for publishing Mitt Romney's infamous 47% video [Politico].
   
• President Donald Trump is heading to Asia on Friday for a week-long tour of Japan, China, and South Korea [New York Times].
   
• An outgoing employee at Twitter shut down President Donald Trump's account for 11 minutes on Thursday [CNN].

On this day in history:

• 1493 - Explorer Christopher Columbus first sights the island of Dominica in the Caribbean.
   
• 1534 - English Parliament passes the first Act of Supremacy, making King Henry VIII head of the Anglican Church, supplanting the pope and the Roman Catholic Church.
   
• 1783 - The Continental Army is disbanded.
   
• 1789 - The first District Court established by the Constitution opens in New York City.
   
• 1868 - John Willis Menard was the first African American elected to Congress. Because of an electoral challenge, he was never seated.
   
• 1948 - Harry S. Truman defeated Republican Thomas Dewey. Truman had been given no chance in pre-election polls pulled off the greatest upset in American political history.
   
• 1957 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laika.
   
• 1986 - The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been secretly selling weapons to Iran to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.

Today At Utah Policy

Do we call them 'wackos' or 'dumbos'? - Bernick and Schott on politics Ep. 348
By Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick
The Utah GOP drops their lawsuit against SB54. Will the right-wing party wackos try to impeach party chair Rob Anderson because of the decision?...

Bob Bernick's notebook: GOP blowout
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
Utah GOP chairman Rob Anderson says he is "relieved" that top party officials have decided to end the SB54 lawsuit that has cost the party more than $330,000 and buried it in debt....

Democrat Jacquelyn Orton failed to report campaign donations
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Jacqueline Orton's nascent legislative campaign has run afoul of Utah's notoriously lax financial reporting laws even before she has officially filed to be a candidate....

Podcast: Bernick and Schott on politics #348
By Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick
Bob Bernick and Bryan Schott analyze what happened this week in Utah Politics....

Weekly survey: Who will win the CD3 special election?
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Time to call your shot! Who will win next week's special election in CD3? Let us know your prediction in our weekly survey....

Policy News

Casual Friday: Weekend Events & Outdoors Report
Outdoor Notes--Tribune:As days grow short, look to Ensign Peak for a primo sunset hike--Tribune:When hiking with small children turns to tribulation, seek ye the Trail Troll--Tribune:How Pokmon Go encourages players to get outside and meet other people-- Tribune: Utah releas...

Reps. Love and Fudge sponsor bill to update higher ed reporting
Representatives Mia Love (R-UT) and Marcia Fudge (D-OH) recently introduced important bipartisan legislation to update and modernize the information reported by U.S. institutions of higher education....

Utah Maintains a top ten position in 2017 ?'Bicycle Friendly' state ranking
After a one-year hiatus in which the program criteria were retooled, the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) released its Bicycle Friendly State rankings today. Utah has moved from fifth to eighth place in the rankings....

$1,000 discounts offered to Utahns who convert from wood to gas stoves
Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR) Executive Director Thom Carter joined Gov. Gary R. Herbert at the State Capitol to launch an incentive program to replace 80 wood burning stoves along the Wasatch Front with cleaner gas-burning appliances....

Local Headlines

Salt Lake Tribune

Editorial: The Senate should confirm Judge Petersen

Evolution and climate change already at issue in new Utah school science standards that haven't been written yet

Six Utah school districts put a total of $800 million in bonds up for Nov. 7 voter approval

Jury selected in federal criminal trial of ex-UTA board member Terry Diehl

'Friends' of Canyons school bond in line to get millions if $283M proposal passes, but, hey, what are friends for?

Utah's all-Republican members of Congress laud new GOP tax bill panned by Democrats

Independent panel backs 'overdue' pay raise for Utah Legislature

The hottest Salt Lake City Council races - in open Districts 3 and 7 - see most fundraising, spending

Utah's jail operating standards are some of the best in the country, author says, but must remain private

Deseret News

Op-ed: The needless burdens of occupational licensing

Jay Evensen: The president is coming - brace yourself

Judge signs order barring state from excluding United Utah Party from election ballot

U.S. House floats bill on helium extraction

Sheriff's association fields questions from lawmakers about jail standards

Ballpark residents vent at Utah Speaker Greg Hughes over Operation Rio Grande impact

State School Board seeks resources to help with juvenile justice reforms

Science curriculum changes: long overdue or godless instruction?

USTAR innovation center aimed at seeding aerospace startups

Other

Editorial: Voting in local elections rightfully puts communities in the voters' hands (Daily Herald)

Editorial: Gov. Gary Herbert signed a DUI bill that hurts Utah. Now we're stuck with it (Standard-Examiner)

Weber County's voice on Great Salt Lake Advisory Council a no-show at meetings (Standard-Examiner)

National Headlines

Inside Hillary Clinton's Secret Takeover of the DNC (Politico)

Did Hillary's rigging at the DNC push Biden out of the race? (New York Post)

DNC fires its top fundraiser (Politico)

For many in Trump's America, a year to crow about (AFP)

Millennials: Communism sounds pretty chill (MarketWatch)

American Dream is back: 82% have 'achieved' or are 'on way to achieving' (Washington Examiner)

Hillary defends Trump dossier, makes dubious claims about its release (Washington Times)

Dow closes at record high in wild session after release of tax reform bill, Powell nomination (CNBC)

Trump Announces Jerome Powell as New Fed Chairman (New York Times)

The GOP Tax Plan: 3 Big Wins for Business (Fortune)

Trump announces semiconductor company's return to US (Washington Post)

Wise Words

Respect

"Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?" Confucius
 

Lighter Side

Confused

"For the first time a majority of Republicans say they support the legalization of marijuana. What's going on here? I don't understand, I'm so confused. Democrats like Bush, Republicans liking Kush." James Corden