This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In broken Washington, at least a government shutdown isn't likely. Utah's delegation reacts to Trump's Syria attack. Poll: Most Utahns don't own a gun.
Happy Monday. Bipartisanship is often missing in Washington these days, as polarization takes on a starring role. Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" to confirm Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, health care and tax reform face challenging battles, but yet in an unusual development on Capitol Hill, where budget brinkmanship has become a reliable expression of political dysfunction, nobody is threatening to shut the government down. [<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/with-a-deadline-looming-nobody-is-threatening-to-shut-down-the-government/2017/04/09/d68789ee-1a17-11e7-bcc2-7d1a0973e7b2_story.html?utm_term=.860ecdffcc9c">WaPost</a>]
<strong>Topping the news: </strong>Members of Utah's congressional delegation praised Trump's retaliatory airstrike on Syria in response to a chemical attack in the country. However, Sen. Mike Lee said there are still many unanswered questions about how to move forward and wants the president to declare his long-term intentions for Syria to Congress. [<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865677327/Sen-Mike-Lee-wants-Trump-to-present-military-plans-for-Syria-to-Congress.html"; target="_blank">DNews</a>]
-> The offices of Sens. Orrin Hatch and Lee scrambled to prevent the deportation of a Draper woman who has been living in the U.S. for the past two decades. But they were unsuccessful, and the Colombia native boarded a flight back to her home country. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5151199-155/final-appeal-fails-to-prevent-deportation"; target="_blank">Trib</a>] [<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865677263/Protesters-gather-at-airport-to-denounce-deportation-of-Draper-mother.html"; target="_blank">DNews</a>]
-> The activist group "Utah Indivisible" said they want Rep. Mia Love to follow the lead of fellow Reps. Jason Chaffetz and Chris Stewart and host a town-hall meeting. They will continue to ask her to host one until she does. [<a href="http://kutv.com/news/local/activists-press-rep-mia-love-to-hold-town-hall-meeting"; target="_blank">KUTV</a>]
-> Though Utah is generally considered a firearm-friendly state, more than half of its registered voters say they don't own a gun. However, the rate of personal gun ownership in the Beehive State is still significantly higher than the rate reported in multiple national polls. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/home/5143469-155/despite-firearm-friendly-climate-more-than-half"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]
<strong>Tweets of the day: </strong>From <span class="username u-dir" dir="ltr"><a class="ProfileHeaderCard-screennameLink u-linkComplex js-nav" href="https://twitter.com/SopanDeb"; target="_blank">@SopanDeb</a>: </span>"My congratulations to all the aunts, uncles and high school classmates on social media who just discovered they are experts on Syria."
-> From <span class="username u-dir" dir="ltr"><a class="ProfileHeaderCard-screennameLink u-linkComplex js-nav" href="https://twitter.com/BresPolitico"; target="_blank">@BresPolitico</a>: </span>"Copy & paste for your boss' Syria statement: 'Proportional response'; 'Appropriate'; 'Congress must be consulted'; 'We need a strategy.'"
<strong>Opinion section: </strong>Ed Firmage, a University of Utah law professor, outlines three possible legal roads to the impeachment of President Donald Trump, which he anticipates is imminent. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5036683-155/three-chances-to-avoid-four-years"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]
-> J.B. Brett, a certified massage therapist who has worked with chronic and acute pain and injury clients for 23 years, calls for a bipartisan approach to find out what works and what doesn't in the Affordable Care Act. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5147749-155/op-ed-the-aca-individual-health-market"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]
<p class="p1">-> Steve Nelson, a geochemistry professor at Brigham Young University, says nuclear processing at Yucca Mountain in Nevada is not the answer to the waste problem, arguing that nuclear power itself is dying. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5142635-155/op-ed-nuclear-reprocessing-and-yucca-mountain"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> The Bears Ears Tribal Commission outlines its newly-formed partnership among land management agencies and its five tribes — an effort to protect and manage the natural resources and cultural history at Bears Ears National Monument. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5147909-155/op-ed-bears-ears-tribal-commission-brings"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Eve Tallman, a retired librarian who lives in Moab, calls an initiative from Utah's Sutherland Institute promoting the rescission of Bears Ears a "misguided campaign fraught with misinformation and veiled interests." [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5147858-155/op-ed-rescinding-bears-ears-national-monument"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Justice Morath, an assistant professor of psychology at Salt Lake Community College, urges Utahns to defend wonder, discovery and inquiry at this month's March for Science that will take place around the country and in Salt Lake City, St. George, Moab, Park City and Logan. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5147790-155/op-ed-protect-our-sense-of-wonder"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Evelyn Everton, the Utah state director of Americans for Prosperity, applauds a bill passed in this year's Legislature that eases occupational licenses and training requirements for some specialty contractors and apprentices in plumbing and electricity — legislation she says will create jobs and stimulate economic growth without compromising public safety. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5147898-155/op-ed-good-news-about-utahs-occupational">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Gary Birdsall, the president and CEO of the South Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, provides a look into his email correspondence to members of the State Homeless Coordinating Committee, arguing they still have time to conduct the homeless shelter site selection process in an "equitable manner" and urging them reconsider the selection of a site in his city's borders. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5149835-155/op-ed-its-not-too-late-to"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> John Gustav-Wrathall, president of Affirmation: LGBT Mormons, Families & Friends, says the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can have validity and power for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and encourages both communities to foster a middle space of consensus where individuals are free to "grow into the full measure of their creation." [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5142576-155/op-ed-bridging-the-chasm-between-lgbt"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Columnist George Pyle considers The Salt Lake Tribune's place in a world where he says small start ups are stifled by laws and regulations that protect them from new forms of competition. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5145376-155/george-pyle-wheres-our-protection-from"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
-> Pat Bagley imagines the cost of Trump's decision to airstrike the Middle East in the name of freedom. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/5152079-155/bagley-cartoon-the-constant-gardener"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]
-> Robert Gehrke says Democrats played the only card they had in their hand too early in Trump's tenure when they attempted to filibuster Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5152612-155/gehrke-democrats-wasted-their-best-tool?fullpage=1"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]
-> Frank Pignanelli and <span class="il">LaVarr</span> Webb look at the impact Gorsuch's nomination will have on Utahns. [<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865677419/Stormy-political-weather-roils-nation-and-Utah.html"; target="_blank">DNews</a>]
<p class="p1">-> Salt Lake Tribune editorial writer Michelle Mumford and Salt Lake City Councilman Charlie Luke joined ABC4's Glen Mills to discuss the process and aftermath of Salt Lake County's homeless resource center selection. [<a href="http://www.good4utah.com/news/local-news/aftermath-of-the-homeless-resource-center-selection-process/687669221"; target="_blank">ABC4</a>]</p>
<strong>In other news: </strong>Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stirred speculation that former presidential candidate Mitt Romney may run for Utah Senate next year, dependent on whether Hatch seeks an eighth term. [<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865677373/Sen-Mitt-Romney-Senate-majority-leader-fuels-speculation.html"; target="_blank">DNews</a>]
-> A Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll shows that more Utahns are critical of the way the state handled Outdoor Retailer show's exit the state in protest of Utah's public land policies. Of registered voters in the state, 31 percent said the situation was handled poorly. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5152182-155/utahns-not-thrilled-with-states-response"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]
<p class="p1">-> A Weber County inmate who was found mentally incompetent to be sentenced last fall joined an ever-growing number of mentally ill inmates who have suffered for lack of psychiatric treatment in Utah jails. The inmate fractured his neck last month and will likely never move his legs or arms again. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5134031-155/paralyzed-inmate-is-the-latest-statistic"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Information about a Duchesne County inmate's death — one of at least 416 deaths behind bars in Utah since 2000 — is being withheld pending action by the county attorney, who is wading into territory others avoid because of possible conflicts of interest. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5148440-155/info-about-duchesne-county-inmates-death"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
-> A group called Utah Against Police Brutality staged a protest on Saturday seeking for charges against Abdi Mohamed, who police body camera footage shows being shot by Salt Lake Police near the homeless shelter on Rio Grande, to be dropped. [<a href="http://www.good4utah.com/news/top-stories/utah-against-police-brutality-demands-charges-be-dropped-against-abdi-mohamed/689130485"; target="_blank">ABC4</a>]
-> Salt Lake business leaders have formed a Downtown Alliance, which looks to help reduce issues with the city's homeless shelter through a paid "street team" of individuals with backgrounds in social work who act as a "roving concierge." [<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865677366/Downtown-Alliance-to-fund-street-team-to-help-relieve-homeless-issues.html"; target="_blank">DNews</a>]
<p class="p1">-> Activists delivered hamburgers, food, water and socks to individuals at Pioneer Park on Sunday to show their support for the homeless community. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5143964-155/group-rallies-behind-homeless-with-meals"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> In an effort to ensure law enforcement reflects the community it serves, Salt Lake City's police department invited refugees to a job fair at police headquarters. [<a href="http://www.good4utah.com/news/top-stories/slcpd-hold-a-job-fair-for-refugees/689167155"; target="_blank">ABC4</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> State law enforcement agencies are looking into a telephone scam seeking personal and financial information that appears to originate from the Utah Highway Patrol. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5153504-155/utah-police-warn-of-scam-originating"; target="_blank">Trib</a>] [<a href="http://fox13now.com/2017/04/07/officials-warn-residents-about-scam-calls-coming-from-utah-highway-patrol-phone-number/"; target="_blank">Fox13</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Over the past 2 1/2 years, the United Effort Plan has remade the town of Hildale, which was once controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through private sales of properties in the area to non-members. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/4843521-155/for-a-polygamous-sect-homes-have"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
-> Salt Lake City golf managers are seeking the authority for course-by-course pricing flexibility to boost revenue and remedy an approximately $1 million operating deficit — though council members aren't so sure the changes would be enough to get the system out of the red. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5152637-155/salt-lake-city-golf-director-seeking"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]
<p class="p1">-> Draper residents are fighting an order from the Salt Lake County Division of Flood Control to remove a string of beaver dams or face a $25-a-day fine. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5151499-155/leave-it-to-beaver-no-way"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> An analysis from the Center for American Progress and Conservative Science Partners celebrated Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah, calling it "ecologically valuable" and a "national treasure." [<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865677405/Analysis-touts-landscape-night-skies-at-Bears-Ears-National-Monument.html"; target="_blank">DNews</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Students in cooking classes at Harmons City Creek can now enjoy a glass of wine, a bottle of beer or a cocktail during any course they have paid to attend. The grocery store recently became the first in the state to be granted a restaurant liquor license. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/home/5117919-155/harmons-bags-restaurant-liquor-license-for"; target="_blank">Trib</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Brigham Young University officials said sexual violence reports are on the rise after an advisory board made 23 recommended changes in how the university handles such reports. [<a href="http://fox13now.com/2017/04/07/reports-of-sexual-assault-increase-at-byu-in-wake-of-changes-at-title-ix-office/"; target="_blank">Fox13</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> A Mormon man from Kenya who holds dual-citizenship in Utah is running for president of his home country. [<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865677450/Utah-Mormon-running-for-president-of-Kenya.html"; target="_blank">DNews</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Democratic National Chairman Tom Perez and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will stop in Utah this month as part of a multi-state effort to unify and motivate Democrats in post-election involvement. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5152527-155/dnc-unity-tour-with-tom-perez"; target="_blank">Trib</a>] [<a href="http://kutv.com/news/local/bernie-sanders-tom-perez-to-stop-in-utah-while-on-unity-tour"; target="_blank">KUTV</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> Hurricane Mayor John Wayne Bramall pleaded guilty to helping two other men poach deer from his property in Kane County, for which he will serve 18 months or probation. [<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/5158251-155/utah-town-mayor-accepts-plea-deal"; target="_blank">APviaTrib</a>] [<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865677455/Hurricane-mayor-accepts-plea-deal-in-poaching-case.html"; target="_blank">DNews</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> The Sugar House Community Council hopes to tear down the Shopko off I-80 and 1300 East which closed in January, and put a new street through its parking lot to increase pedestrian connectivity. [<a href="http://fox13now.com/2017/04/09/sugar-house-community-council-details-plans-for-shopko-block-overhaul/"; target="_blank">Fox13</a>]</p>
<p class="p1">-> The Utah Highway Patrol hosted a motorcycle training course at Salt Lake Community College that they hope will halt increasing trends of motorcycle fatalities. [<a href="http://kutv.com/news/local/uhp-trains-motorcyclists-on-wet-roads-hopes-for-zero-fatalties"; target="_blank">KUTV</a>]</p>
<strong>Nationally: </strong>Ahead of his visit today in Moscow, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke on the phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the chemical weapons situation in Syria. Later, Tillerson called Russia "incompetent" for its continued support of Syria President Bashar Assad. [<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/09/us/politics/tillerson-russia-syria-chemical-weapons.html"; target="_blank">NYTimes</a>] [<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rex-tillerson-moscow-visit-russia-failure-syria-killings/"; target="_blank">CBSNews</a>] [<a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/tillerson-visit-moscow-u-s-russia-face-fresh-tensions/"; target="_blank">PBSNews</a>] [<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/08/politics/tillerson-lavrove-syria-strike/"; target="_blank">CNN</a>]
<p class="p1">-> After Trump's air strikes on Syria, refugees from the country faced mixed emotions, simultaneously welcoming an attack on the government they'd fled and struggling to view the president as an ally. However, Trump has not yet shown a willingness to reconsider his hard line on Syrian refugees after the chemical attack. [<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/us/syria-refugees-trump.html"; target="_blank">NYTimes</a>] [<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrian-refugees-see-glimmer-of-hope-in-trumps-policy-shift/2017/04/09/c56b6a86-1d3c-11e7-bb59-a74ccaf1d02f_story.html?utm_term=.08b78ff3a09f"; target="_blank">APviaWaPost</a>] [<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/07/politics/trump-syria-chemical-attack-refugees/"; target="_blank">CNN</a>]</p>
-> The Senate on Friday confirmed Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, who became the 113th justice of the Supreme Court on Friday with a 54-45 vote that fell mostly along party lines. Gorsuch will be sworn in today, filling the seat left vacant by the death of Antonin Scalia. [<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/07/politics/neil-gorsuch-senate-vote/"; target="_blank">CNN</a>] [<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/us/politics/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court.html?_r=0"; target="_blank">NYTimes</a>] [<a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/04/07/522902281/senate-confirms-gorsuch-to-supreme-court"; target="_blank">NPR</a>] [<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/senate-set-to-confirm-neil-gorsuch-to-supreme-court/2017/04/07/da3cd738-1b89-11e7-9887-1a5314b56a08_story.html"; target="_blank">WaPost</a>]
<strong>Where are they?</strong>
<ul>
<li>Gov. Gary <strong><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/GovHerbert"; target="_blank">Herbert</a> </strong></strong>meets with staff, receives an update with the lieutenant governor and attends a Red Cross Heroes Award Luncheon at the Little America Hotel. Later, he meets with the his leadership team, makes calls to constituents and heads to an Economic Summit Preparation.</li>
<li>Lt. Gov. Spencer <strong><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/SpencerJCox"; target="_blank">Cox</a> </strong></strong>meets with the state Homeless Coordinating Committee, attends an update with the governor and a staff scheduling meeting and meets with the governor's leadership team.</li>
<li>State Auditor John <strong><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/FrugalDougall"; target="_blank">Dougall</a> </strong></strong>attends various meetings, including a lunch with the deputy director of Utah's Office of Management and Budget, and attends the Millard County Republican Party organizing convention.</li>
</ul>
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— Thomas Burr and Taylor Stevens
<a title="Thomas Burr" href="https://twitter.com/thomaswburr"; target="_blank">Twitter.com/thomaswburr </a>and <a href="https://twitter.com/tstevens95">Twitter.com/tstevens95</a>