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Political Cornflakes: Nursing homes are the next target for the Trump administration’s deregulation push

(Steve Griffin | Tribune file photo) Residents at Highland Cove in Salt Lake City participate in a stretching class in 2014.

The latest regulation rollback of the Trump administration is aimed at nursing homes. The proposed relaxation of rules is aimed at relieving the “burden” on facility operators. But critics fear the changes would risk the health and safety of millions of nursing home residents. [NPR]

Topping the news: A clustering of jaywalking tickets in the area near the downtown homeless shelter and Pioneer Park indicate that police are targeting the homeless. [Trib]

-> A new poll says a majority of Utah women believe they have been paid less than a man doing the same job and believe government should do something to close the gap. [Trib]

-> Utah’s fertility rate has fallen below replacement levels for the first time. [Trib]

Tweets of the day: From @CJaneKendrick: “I’m such a middle child that when the checker at the grocery store looks at me and says, ‘I can help the next person in line’ makes me feel super special.”

-> From @Ashbunton: “I licked the Great Salt Lake. Just checking. ‘You can't expect what you don't inspect’ right?”

Also in the news: Utah activists are protesting the plan to build a new 1,000-inmate immigration jail for cases adjudicated in West Valley City and its likely site in Evanston, Wyo. [Trib]

-> A Utah County elementary school ousted a substitute teacher who lectured against homosexuality after a student said he was thankful he was going to be adopted by his two dads. [Trib]

-> Enrollment in Affordable Care Act health plans in Utah has surpassed the signup rate last year. [DNews]

-> San Juan County approved development guidelines for the Spanish Valley project that could lead to a doubling of the county’s population of 15,000. [Trib]

-> Very few schools in Utah follow the rules for verifying the background and training for high-school athletic coaching staffs. [DNews]

-> Sen. Mike Lee strives to diminish the influence of the American Bar Association even as he wholeheartedly embraces the big role played by the Federalist Society in vetting judicial appointees in the Trump administration. [Trib]

-> Legislative leaders say a December special session for tax reform is still a go. [DNews]

-> Tribune transportation reporter Lee Davidson gives a good review of UTA’s new microtransit project — something that he says UTA knows he doesn’t give easily. [Trib]

-> Draper and Midvale have stopped accepting paper products in recycling bins but other Salt Lake County cities have not yet taken that step. [Trib]

-> The Utah Supreme Court will decide whether Agriculture Commissioner Kerry Gibson has legal standing to block the release of a police investigation report into allegations against him when he was a Weber County Commissioner. [StandEx]

-> Rising construction costs means high schools of the future could cost double the roughly $75 million price tag of recently completed schools. [DNews]

Nationally: Republicans in Congress are making it clear they will mount an aggressive campaign to delegitimize the impeachment inquiry. [WaPost]

-> President Donald Trump says the White House will not participate in the forthcoming impeachment proceedings before the House Judiciary Committee. [Reuters]

-> Iran is gripped by the worst civil unrest in 40 years with widespread protests sparking a brutal government response killing at least 180. [NYTimes]

-> A 65-year-old Maine man was killed when he apparently accidentally triggered a booby trap in his own home. [WaPost]

-> Twitter suspended the accounts of Minnesota Republican Danielle Stella, a challenger to Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, after Stella suggested Omar should be tried for treason and hanged. [NYTimes]

-> Multiple federal criminal investigations appear to be closing in around President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. [Guardian]

-> A drug cartel’s attack on a town hall in Villa Union, Mexico, about 40 miles south of the U.S. border leaves at least 21 dead and more injured. [LATimes] [WaPost]

-> An administrative trial in Washington state could determine whether the Makah American Indian Tribe can resume its tradition of hunting whales. [LATimes]

-- Dan Harrie