— Park City, UT

Trump Loses Bigley: Handing President Trump a major defeat in his first weeks in office, a three judge appeals panel in San Francisco refused to reinstate his travel and immigration ban from seven Muslim countries. The issue was simply whether the ban should be continued while courts consider whether it’s lawful.

The three judges unanimously said, “We hold that the Government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its emergency motion for a stay.”

The federal government had argued that the court had no authority to review the president’s executive order, but the court said, “There is no precedent to support this claimed unreviewability, which runs contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy.”

The case is likely to be headed quickly to the Supreme Court. The president tweeted, “SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!”

The Supreme Court currently has a 4-4 ideological split. If the vote ties, the decision of lower courts stands.

Selling Fear: At his swearing-in yesterday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, “We have a crime problem.” He went on, “My best judgment, having been involved in criminal law enforcement for many years, is that this is a dangerous, permanent trend. It places the health and safety of the American people are risk.”

FBI statistics say violent crime peaked in 1991 and has been following a downward trend line ever since, with minor upticks in 2006 and 2015. Violent crime, according to the FBI, is half what it was in 1991.

The Woodshed: The White House says Trump’s close aide Kellyanne Conway has been “counseled” about going on Fox News and making a direct pitch for Ivanka Trump’s clothing line, in violation of ethics rules.

“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff,” Conway said. “I’m going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today everybody, you can find it online.”

Federal ethics rules say an employee “shall not use his public office for his own private gain, for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise, or for the private gain of friends, relatives, or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity.”

Heavy Weather: The East Coast is digging out from the first blizzard of the year. In Jackson Hole, Wyo., the lights are off and the entire ski resort is closed after high winds knocked down 17 steel electrical poles.

Outbreak: Dr. Peter Hotez of the Baylor College of Medicine writes in the NY Times that “It’s looking as if 2017 could become the year when the anti-vaccination movement gains ascendancy in the United States,” and “the first blow will be measles outbreaks in America.” Hotez says that the number of people refusing to vaccinate their children in some areas of the country is reaching a critical mass. He says, “When the percentage of children in a community who have received the measles vaccine falls below 90 percent to 95 percent, we can start to see major outbreaks, as in the 1950s when four million Americans a year were infected and 450 died.”

Many “anti-vaxxers” believe that vaccines are linked to autism in children, although the science doesn’t back them up.

Five Rings: After 24 years hosting the Olympics, NBC’s Bob Costas is giving up the chair. He’s being replaced for the South Korea Olympics by Mike Tirico, formerly of ESPN, who joined the network last May.

The 64-year-old Costas has been an intelligent, comfortable, and non-bombastic host who occasionally let loose with an incisively blistering opinion. He  once denounced guns after the murder-suicide of an NFL linebacker.

Social Pages: Actor George Clooney and his wife Amal are expecting twins, according to tabloid reports. It’s the first foray into fatherhood for the 55-year-old Clooney.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin. told a Detroit television interviewer that she’s planning on retiring from music later this year after making one more album. A spokesman said the 64-year-old soul icon plans to do “just nothing.”

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