Keith: What is up, everyone?I am in southern Utah atBears Ears National Monument, one of the many monuments President Trump plans on reducing. I am Keith Kocinski, and Channel One News starts right now.
Azia: Hey guys, I am Azia Celestino. Let's jump right into what is making news.
President Trump was in Utah yesterday, and in a bold move, the president said he would dramatically scale back the size of protected federal land in the state. The areas of land are designated national monuments, and the move is a really big deal.It could be the largest reduction of protected land in history.Let's head back to Keith in Utah.
Keith: It is a battle over land:who owns it, how it should be used.
President Donald Trump: We will not only give back your voice over the use of this land, we will also restore your access and your enjoyment.
Keith: Young people gathered at the Utah state capitol on Saturday to speak out against President Trump's proposal to shrink the size of national monuments — that is land protected by the government.
Why are you here today?
Trisha: Because I believe in this a lot. And I think what Trump is doing to destroy our national monuments is — it’s horrible. It makes me so sad because it's, like, sacred land.
Bleu: My main concern is by privatizing the land, what they are gearing uptowardsis strip mining and coal mining.
Keith: Environmental groups and Native American tribes are worried about what will happen when President Trump opens up land at two monuments in Utah known for their beauty and history: Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Both are located near Native American reservations.
Braidan: Utes and Navajos have continuously used that land for resource gathering, to heat their homes, to feed their families, for religious exercise.
Keith: To see this beautiful and sacred landscape myself, I hopped in a plane with EcoFlight, flying up to 10,000 feet.Ninety percent of the land overlaps with potential reserves of oil, gas and coal. Some tribal leaders say you can't walk a quartermile without running into something culturally significant.
Leonard: There’s places they have holy springs. There’s places that they do ceremonial; there’s a canyonthat they do ceremonial, where the hidden springs are.
Keith: While some are fighting to keep its designation, others say that the land here at Bears Ears National Monument and countless other monuments across the country essentially handcuff the land, limiting its uses for things like cattle grazing or mineral extraction, taking away opportunities and taxes for the people in this area.
Back in 1906,President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act to preserve land or sites that have cultural, scientific or historical significance. Since then, other presidents have added over 150 national monuments to the list. But now 27 of those are under review by President Trump.
At national parks and monuments, alot of stuff is limited, like agriculture, grazing, hunting, oil and gas drilling and mineral extraction, like coal.Utah State Representative Ken Ivory says that means the people of Utah were losing out.
Representative Ken Ivory: It's good that the monument size would be reduced. We don't think that that power should exist outside of our state in any respect without the consent of the people and the state legislature.That’s what the Constitution requires.
Keith: Doesn't the state benefit from the tourism?
Ivory: The lands aren’t pretty because they’re federal.They’re not pretty because of some designation. They're beautiful because that's the way it was created.
Keith: Many people in Utah are upset because so much of the land in the state is federally owned.
When you hear the stat that 65 percent of the state ofUtah is federal land, what does that make you think?
Kortney Backus: I think that's a huge problem because people come into these areas, and they say,“Okay, take this chunk right here,” but they've never seen it for themselves. Because the second you see it for yourself, I think your thoughts change when you see, you know, people out there pushing their cattle or kids out there hiking or mountain bikers,you know, riding through the trails. There’s so many different uses, and it’s very versatile.
Keith: Kortney Backus is the Utah Future Farmers of America state president and lives near Bears Ears National Monument.
Kortney: I think that it's great that he's looking back into it so that we can consider the opinions of the people in that community. So I think there's a way to keep that land sacred for the, you know,Navajo culture and for the community down there and keep that monument for people to come see, but not the whole, you know, mountainside or all that acreage.
Keith: But tribal members say theyplan on filing a lawsuit to try and block the president's move.
We know that President Trump plans to reduce Bears Ears NationalMonument by around 80 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 40 to 60 percent, and as you guys saw from the rally over on Saturday, this debate isn't going to end anytime soon. All right, back to you guys in the studio.
Azia: Thanks,Keith.
And if you want to see how he managed to get some of those amazing shots in Utah, he has got a behind-the-scenes rundown for you.That is up on ChannelOne.com.
All right, after the break, how one teen is honoring a hero.
Azia: Okay, if you need a splint after a rough practice on the field, a couple stitches for a cutor a checkup for a concussion, where do you go?Either a doctor’s office or an emergency room, right? But what if all you had to do was pop into a local CVS to get treated?
CVS is hoping to change the way things are done with walk-in clinics. That is why this week,it announced to buy health insurance giant Aetna for $69billion. The vision is to make CVS a one-stop community-based space for wellness, clinical and pharmacy services, onethat will include vision, hearing, nutrition, beauty and medical equipment.
Zack Cooper: A company like CVS has 10,000 brick-and-mortar locations. So if you're an Aetna customer, you can access the health care system through a CVS, which a lot of us see around the corner from where we live day to day.
Azia: CVS says it will make visits cheaper than a doctor’s office, but some experts warn they don't believe any savings will be passed onto the consumer and drug prices won’t become any cheaper.Another problem? These two giant companies may hold too much power. That is why this big-time marriage between CVS and Aetna needs to be approved by U.S. regulators.
Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston,Texas, area a few months ago, but,Emily, communities there are still dealing with the devastation, right?
Emily: Yeah, Azia, there is still a lot that needs to be done, and that is why one middle school student is using art to uplift those affected. Take a look.
Freddy Mathis: I can only imagine how bad it was.
Emily: Thirteen-year-old Freddy Mathis from Chattanooga, Tennessee, is talking about the devastation that swept through Houston,Texas,in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.Harvey made landfall in August as a Category 4 hurricane, causing $180 billion worth of damage.It affected 13 million peoplefrom Texas through Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky and killed more than 80 people. The Houston area was hit hardest.
After seeing the impact, Freddy felt like he needed to do something, even if he wasn't a Texas native. Sohis school is planning to honor Houston Police Sergeant Steve Perez, who lost his life during the storm.
Lisa Gossett: We kind of thought about a few different things we could send to them, and I thought, you know, we could do something else.
Emily: So they are sending this portrait Freddy made of Sergeant Perez to the Houston Police Department.Perez was trying to rescue victims of the hurricane when he drowned in the floodwater.
Freddy: I saw a lot of comments talking about how proud they are of me, like, doing this portrait, so I was really proud of myself for doing that, making people feel that way.
Emily: Freddy's art teacher,Lisa Gossett, says the community has rallied behind Houston and are happy that they could help Freddy make such a huge impact.
Gossett: It gives you chills.I mean, he, you know, in sixth grade he was fantastic, and then in eighth grade, you just see more progression. And so I gave him the paper and pencil, and he did the rest.
Freddy: I hope they like this portrait, and thanks for supporting me.
Emily: Emily Reppert, Channel One News.
Azia: Amazing story. Thanks,Emily.
And you just heard today's Word in the News; we use it a lot when covering hurricanes:landfall — when a storm that was over the ocean finally reaches land.
Okay guys, that is all from us. We will see you back here tomorrow.
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