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How to Save Downtown SLC
What to do about downtown Salt Lake City? Holly Mullen posed that question in her blog MullenTown on Monday, and has received a lot of feedback (33 responses by Thursday night), many of which are very interesting and insightful. While there are the usual complaints about Mormons, a number of people contributed thoughtful comments.
Salt Lake City Council member Soren Simonsen, City Council candidates Keith Christensen and Jenny Wilson, and former Mayor Ted Wilson (Holly’s husband), all weighed in on what needs to be done to make downtown SLC more lively and vibrant.
Read Mullen’s original post and the responses here. This is blogging at its best, creating a forum for intelligent discussion, not just one-sided rants, as happens so often. Mullen, a former Tribune columnist and now editor of City Weekly, clearly hit a nerve. Add your own comments to the discussion.
Today in Political History
July 6, 1535: Sir Thomas More, appointed to the position of "Lord Chancellor" of England by Henry the 8th, got into trouble when he declined to swear exclusive allegiance to the king. As a result, Sir Thomas was beheaded on this date.
July 6, 1923: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics became a reality on this date. (Source: perspicuity)
Wise Words
“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.”
-- Abraham Lincoln (Source: Quote Garden)
Utah History/Trivia
Camp Floyd was built by troops sent to Utah by President James Buchanan as a response to reports of rebellion in the territory. This event would come to be known as the "Utah War." The camp, located in Cedar Valley near the present-day community of Fairfield, was completed on November 9, 1858, and named after the Secretary of War at that time, John B. Floyd. Its name was changed to Camp Crittenden in 1860, and the site was abandoned in 1861 after the start of the U.S. Civil War. (History To Go)
National Politics
Best Stories From …
-- TIME: "The sequence is firmly fixed for most great American duos. It is never Costello and Abbott, or Cher and Sonny, or Clyde and Bonnie. And up to this point in history, it has always been Bill and Hillary. As the former First Couple campaigned together for the first time in Iowa over the Fourth of July holiday week, their agenda was topped by one goal: the political sleight of hand necessary to change their public partnership from Bill and Hillary Clinton to Hillary and Bill Clinton" (see also related New York Times story).
-- Wall Street Journal: "[W]hy is Rudy Giuliani the leading presidential candidate in a Republican Party long dominated by pro-life, family-values voters in the South and West? Iowa state legislator Mary Lundby ... offers one possibility. 'Many Republicans have questioned whether our entire party focus should be on social issues,' says Ms. Lundby ... This year, she is increasingly hearing from Republicans whose greater interest is the economy or national defense, she says."
-- St. Petersburgh Times: "The financial meltdown of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign could cripple his hopes in Florida and, in doing so, dramatically hasten the fall of the man once considered the Republican front-runner."
-- RealClearPolitics: Columnist Victor Davis Hanson: "After the utter collapse in the Senate last week of a comprehensive immigration bill, Washington insiders are blaming everyone and everything. Supposedly, talk-radio hysteria killed the bill. Or was it the purported racism of yokels? Or did most of us fail to appreciate the hidden benefits of open borders so clear only to those in Washington? In reality, the 1,000-page bill failed because millions of Americans opposed it, believing, among other things, that it provided virtual amnesty to illegal aliens."
Blog Watch
-- At The Senate Site, Sen. Lyle Hillyard pays tribute to USU's Center for Persons with Disabilities, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Says Hillyard: "I was asked by my neighbor to serve on an advisory board about a month before our son Matt was born (32 years ago). When he arrived, we suddenly arrived in the world of disability from the eyes of parents. I have learned so much from the great people and programs at the Center. I well remember coming to the Center to pick up my son who was about 3 years old and watching him eat by himself. I was on the other side of a two-way mirror. He finished and then took the tray over and properly emptied it. I had thought that he was so disabled that he could not do anything on his own. Those few minutes changed my life and taught me that sometimes people can do much more than we expect or will let them do. ... I have found the greatest challenge to most parents is accepting that their child may not be the star quarterback on the football team or the class valedictorian but when we realize the influence they are in our lives and when they are accepted and loved, they can be a more powerful blessing than a star athlete or scholar. I'm grateful for my son. Matt always reminds me when everyone else seems to want to criticize that there is someone who loves without reservation and always says, 'Thank you,' even for small acts of help."
Sierra Club Opposes Nevada Power Plants
The Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club is urging its members to contact Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons to voice their opposition to the proposed construction of a series of coal burning power plants "just over the border from Utah. Together the new White Pine Energy Station and the Ely Energy Center would produce over 4,000 megawatts of power, enough for over 200,000 new homes in sprawling Las Vegas. These plants would be located approximately 150 miles (as the crow flies) upwind from the Wasatch Front and immediately upwind of Great Basin National Park. The Toquop Energy Plant ... would be located just outside of Mesquite, Nevada and immediately upwind from St. George and Washington County." For more info, click here.
Lighter Side
Favorite Headlines
-- You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, but You Can Never Leave
"Berlin Hotel Recreates East Germany"--headline, Associated Press, June 20
-- With Plenty of Time Till Election Day
"Chicago Morgue Finds Missing Body"--headline, Associated Press, June 20
Casual Friday
Utah Fishing Report
The best fishing is now found in the high mountains, away from this oppressive heat. The Uintas are particularly attractive, and will provide great opportunity for fishing, hiking and camping through the rest of the summer.
Streams in the Uintas provide remarkably consistent fishing, often giving novice fly fishers their best-ever experience. Lake in the Uintas can be fickle -- hot one minute and slow the next. Luckily, there are plenty of lakes so if one isn’t producing then try another nearby. Action can be incredibly fast when you catch a lake just right.
Scofield Reservoir offers very good action right now, as do other high-elevation lakes and streams along the Skyline Drive. The Boulders are a great destination and so are the Wind Rivers across the border.
At Lake Powell, striper boils will become common within a few weeks. Early boils have already started up near the inlets and the surface-feeding action will become very good by late July. Expect incredibly fishing there in early August. Read Dave Webb's complete fishing report. |
