Good morning.
Saturday in this rural college town will be mostly cloudy, with afternoon showers, and a high of forty-nine. Sunrise is 5:49 AM and sunset 7:54 PM, for 14h 04m 05s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 13.4% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred seventy-second day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
On this day in 1899, composer & pianist Duke Ellington is born. On this day in 1862, the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi begins: “Following their victory at Shiloh, 110,000 Union soldiers marched to Corinth, Mississippi. The city sat at the junction of rail lines that stretched south to Alabama and Florida, and north to Kentucky and Virginia. It would take three weeks to drive Confederate troops from the city.”
Recommended for reading in full —
Andrew Restuccia, Josh Dawsey, and Daniel Lippman report on the White House eyeing [Milwaukee Sheriff David] Clarke for Homeland Security post: “Clarke is in line to be appointed as assistant secretary at DHS’ Office of Partnership and Engagement, which coordinates outreach to state, local and tribal officials and law enforcement. The position does not require Senate confirmation. A senior administration official cautioned it’s “not a done deal yet.” Clarke, a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, has long been rumored as a possible candidate for a job in the administration and met with Trump in November at Trump Tower. He also spoke at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last year. He has come under fire in recent days amid revelations about the case of Terrill Thomas, who died of dehydration last year at the Milwaukee County Jail after guards turned off the water in his cell.”
Audrey Carlsen, Jesse Drucker, Stuart A. Thompson, and Nadja Popovich report that Trump Could Save Tens of Millions of Dollars in One Year Under His Proposed Tax Plan: “Mr. Trump could save as much as $10.4 million on business income and $16.6 million on income from real estate and other kinds of partnerships under this plan, compared with his tax burden under current law. (In 2005, much of this taxable income was offset by a $103.2 million write-down in business losses.)”
Maria Sacchetti and Ed O’Keefe report that ICE data shows half of immigrants arrested in raids had traffic convictions or no record: “The two-month total represents a 32 percent increase in deportation arrests over the same period last year. Most are criminals, administration officials have said. But 5,441 were not criminals, double the number of undocumented immigrants arrested for deportation a year earlier. The administration has released a detailed breakdown of the criminal records only of the raids in early February. Trump has said that public safety threats are his top priority. Shortly after he was elected, he vowed to first deport serious criminals from the United States. But critics say immigration agents instead have also targeted students, parents of U.S. citizens who do not have serious criminal records and minor offenders.”
Felicia Schwartz reports that Sec. of State Tillerson Proposes 2,300 Job Cuts From State Department: “WASHINGTON—U.S. chief diplomat Rex Tillerson is floating a plan to slash 2,300 jobs and 26% of the budget from the State Department, affirming the Trump administration’s intention to favor military over diplomatic spending, people familiar with the proposal said. Mr. Tillerson’s proposal follows the Office of Management and Budget’s plan that included President Donald Trump’s call to cut funding for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development by 31%. Officials cautioned that the budget discussions continue and the administration’s final funding request to Congress won’t be released until the second week of May.”
How would one Make The World’s Tiniest Cup Of Coffee Out Of A Single Bean? Here’s how: