Because President Donald Trump is overwhelmingly popular with his base, finding someone to challenge him in the 2020 election has been a persistent preoccupation for a group of ‘Never Trumpers’ in the GOP. But the president now has one challenger — William F. Weld, the two-term Republican governor of Massachusetts more than two decades ago — and a handful of dissident Republicans who think they know how to defeat Trump in a primary contest. [NYTimes]
Happy Wednesday.
Topping the news: Critics are attacking the appointment of 15 people to serve on an advisory committee that will oversee the management of San Juan County’s 200,000-acre reserve as one-sided and unevenly representing interests contradictory to the ongoing preservation of the Bear Ears area. [Trib]
-> Sen. Mitt Romney will embark to the Middle East this week for the first time since taking office as part of his role as chairman of the subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. [Trib] [DNews]
-> At an emotional public hearing on the Salt Lake City Council’s new plan to expand construction of micro-apartments across the city, residents and activists discussed their experiences with homelessness and housing insecurity. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13]
Tweets of the day: @MikeLMower: “Guess who just called to say she drew Sanpete County out of a hat to do for her Utah County Report. She is so stoked her Grandpa Mower is from there as is @SpencerJCox. ‘Dad, it is in the middle of the state. I can’t believe Spencer drives to Salt Lake all the time.’"
-> From @iversonSLC: “I’m at the Rally for Housing Justice. Because no matter how hungry your family is, the rent eats first.”
-> @tstevensmedia: “Hello, as a reporter who covers a lot of city councils, I can confirm that everything about Parks & Rec is 100% accurate except for the robustness of Pawnee’s media landscape.”
In other news: Residents and animal rights activists are asking the Taylorsville City Council to reconsider the city’s partnership with the West Valley City Animal Shelter because it euthanizes animals in a gas chamber — a practice they say is painful and less humane than injection, which the majority of shelters use. [Trib]
-> A new Huntsman Cancer Institute study found evidence that childhood cancer survivors are more susceptible to air pollution and are more likely to be hospitalized on poor air days. [Trib] [DNews] [ABC4]
-> Motorcycle fatality rates rose 24 percent in Utah in 2018, from 38 to 47. At an event on Tuesday, the Utah Department of Transportation and the Utah Highway Patrol urged drivers to look more carefully for motorcyclists and cyclists to take more steps to protect themselves. [Trib] [Fox13]
-> A Utah distillery is using a new crowdfunding rule to allow consumers to buy stock and invest in their company for a minimum of $500. [Trib]
-> The Salt Lake City Council agreed to loan up to $7 million to a developer for the construction of a large hotel that will incorporate Union Pacific Station at The Gateway. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Some homeowners in Cottonwood Heights have been notified that they could lose their homes to a possible expansion of Wasatch Boulevard, which has become a major thoroughfare for commuting as the east parts of Sandy and Draper have developed. [Fox13]
-> Sandy is moving closer to allowing alcohol at its amphitheater, but not all residents are in support of the move. [ABC4]
-> Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley depicts the new advisory committee appointed to oversee San Juan County’s 2000-acre reserve. [Trib]
Nationally: Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, referred to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as simply a collection of Facebook ads and said he believes special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation caused more problems than the interference ever did. [NYTimes] [WaPost] [Politico]
-> The White House instructed Carl Kline, its former head of personnel security, not to adhere to a House subpoena instructing him to appear for a deposition looking into the security clearances of several officials, including Kushner. Now, the House Oversight and Reform Committee is moving toward a vote to hold him in contempt. [NYTimes] [WaPost] [Politico]
-> The U.S. treasury secretary once again delayed a decision on whether turning Trump’s tax returns over to Congress would be legal. The timeline was extended to May 6, though a White House spokesman indicated the president is preparing for a legal fight over their release. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> The Supreme Court will likely allow a question to appear on the 2020 census asking whether the individual filling out the form is a U.S. citizen, despite opposition from critics who say its inclusion will discourage both legal and illegal immigrants from completing the census. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
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-- Taylor Stevens and Sahalie Donaldson
https://twitter.com/tstevensmedia, https://twitter.com/SahalieD
Follow @sltribpolitics