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...]
Homeless Policies in Salt Lake City: Paying off? Or an Endless Money Pit?
The homeless in Salt Lake City has always been on the periphery, but today they are camping right on Main Street impacting local business operations and causing blight, especially the area formerly occupied by Sam Weller’s Zion Bookstore. Utah Stories wrote in a previous article about the hardship of business owner Omar Mullahkhel, who has operated the Market on Main … [Read more...]
The Battle Over Utah’s Environment: Great Salt Lake Great No Longer?
Will the Great Salt Lake Become a Casualty of The Mega Drought? With impending population growth and the increasing scarcity of water, there is a battle brewing over Utah‘s environment and future. “The Mega Drought” is what some are calling this very dry 2021 water year in Utah and the entire Great Basin area. Lake Powell is at its lowest level since inception and the Great … [Read more...]
How the Coddling of American Minds is Destroying Free Speech & Public Discourse
**This story was edited 10/14/2021 to include some of the results of our Reddit forum experiment (see bottom) **This story was edited 10/13/2021 to include an example of bothsiderism, and to correct a few errors. Our founding fathers came from extremely diverse backgrounds, economies, and political beliefs, yet they were able to assemble a … [Read more...]
Salt Lake City’s Inland Port: From Bad to Worse
Opinion Just twenty-five years ago Salt Lake City’s tech sector was a tiny piece of the economic picture of the region, Geneva’s plant in Vineyard, Utah was still producing thousands of tons of steel and Utah’s mining industries and toxic waste disposal were leading sectors of the economy. Back then an “inland port” offering more jobs, more traffic to Salt Lake City’s airport … [Read more...]