If Salt Lake City’s Homeless Had a Say in The over $20 Million Spent on Them, Here Is How They Would Spend it “I think there should be a shelter for both men and women, it’s not healthy to separate couples,” said Savannah who was living outside in a tent at the former homeless encampment called Fort Pioneer. She added, “Also, they need a place where they allow … [Read more...]
Homeless in Salt Lake City: The Worsening Conditions of the Chronically Homeless and Those Suffering from Mental Disorders
Editor's Note: This article previously incorrectly stated that the Geraldine E. King Woman's Resource Center was operated by The Road Home Organization. The Geraldine E. King Woman's Resource Center is operated by the Volunteers of America. The Road Home operates the Men's Homeless Resource Center, Gail Miller Resource Center as well as the Midvale Family Homeless … [Read more...]
Free Speech and Censoring of Independent Voices and News Outlets
Big Tech platforms such as Twitter and Facebook along with large corporate media outlets are actively silencing and censoring independent voices and opinions. Utah Stories has personally been silenced and shadow-banned for our social medical posts on the LDS Church's involvement in Utah's medical cannabis legislation, as well as our coverage of a right-wing protest at Utah's … [Read more...]
Five Points that the Utah State Legislature Should Consider in Revising Utah’s Medical Cannabis Laws
The Utah State Legislature has been working to fix the original highly flawed medical cannabis legislation since its inception in 2018. While the cannabis laws have come a long way from where they began, there are still some enormous flaws that end up limiting patient access to only the upper-class and wealthy, due to the medical recommendation card requirement. Perhaps by … [Read more...]
The Hostility of Repression and Into the Storm
A look back on January 6th, Q-Anon, and free-speech suppression On January 6th, 2021 Utah Stories covered the Utah State Capitol “Stop the Steal” demonstrations. We interviewed the Proud Boys, Boogaloo Boys, some Utah militia members, and Trump supporters, who were chanting “Stop the Steal!” A few attendees were waving Q flags. Various speakers were calling for more government … [Read more...]
Why Is the 600% Increase in Homeless Spending Resulting in More Homelessness in Utah?
What Can the State or City do to Alleviate Homelessness? A report was recently released (in November of 2021 by the Utah State Auditor’s Office). The report details what it has found to be some of the reasons why despite massive spending increases the homeless population only continues to increase. Currently, the major issues associated with the homeless epidemic are a lack … [Read more...]
Homeless Families Braving the Cold Rather Than Stay in Shelters in Salt Lake City
On North Temple, near 15th West, I find a family who is choosing to camp in an empty parking lot under tarps rather than stay in a shelter. A woman and her two adult sons are taking extreme measures to survive in the frigid temperatures. They use candle wax as well as hand sanitizer to burn small fires under their tarps and blankets to stay warm. Why are they taking such … [Read more...]
The Californication of Utah
California has been known for decades as the leader of the Western United States both in terms of the booming tech economy and the widening class division between the rich and the poor. Tech companies have the rare distinction of being both an enormous benefit for producing high-paying jobs for engineers, programmers, and support staff–oftentimes minting thousands of … [Read more...]
The Main Street Divide: Remembering Main Street Salt Lake City of Christmas Past
Downtown Salt Lake City’s Main Street has always had two very distinct halves: The North half is almost all LDS-Church-owned and now the billion-dollar City Creek Center has almost every fashionable Wall Street traded chain store one could hope for (Tiffany's, Louis Vuitton, Coach). With over five million annual visitors to Salt Lake City’s Temple each year, now we can host … [Read more...]
MAIN STREET SALT LAKE: Open Drug Use is Hurting Local Businesses
Downtown Salt Lake City: Main Street — Three homeless men sit in the former business entrance to the Off-Broadway Theater and distribute rations of spice or possibly weed. In broad daylight on the busy thoroughfare, they roll joints and watch the passers-by. Around the corner, acrid plumes of blue smoke fill the air. The SLCPD, like most metro Police departments, have … [Read more...]