Downtown Salt Lake City — The new Hyatt Regency has become a new crown jewel of Salt Lake City, resting beside the Salt Palace Convention Center. A block to the east, on Main Street, the former Pantages Theater has been sadly demolished. Soon to be rising in its place will be a 45-story luxury apartment tower funded by the Hines Corporation ― which has just over $90 billion in … [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...]
PediCab Legacy in Downtown Salt Lake City
“After 7 years of serving Salt Lake City, Salt City Cycle Cab, LLC turned its last pedal. The effects of COVID-19 destroyed income streams and paralyzed fleet operations. Salt Lake was a fantastic starting point for the Cycle Cab company, and despite the closure of the largest pedicab company in the city, there are still several responsible, dedicated and resilient pedicab … [Read more...]
Bargain Hunting, Past & Present: A Labor Day Reminiscence
Some people in Salt Lake City may remember a magic/novelty store tucked into a sliver of commercial space on Main St. between 1st and 2nd South. In existence as a retail establishment since the 1940's, Loftus Novelty (now Loftus International) began wholesaling operations in the 1960's. In the 1970's it conducted that aspect of the business in a modest warehouse building on 400 … [Read more...]
Longoria Wine Dinner at BTG
Longoria Wine Dinner at BTG If you’re looking for a perfect holiday gift for your favorite wine lover (and maybe that’s yourself), how about treating them to a wine dinner? On Tuesday, December 17th at 7:00 p.m., BTG Wine Bar and winemaker Rick Longoria will host a wine dinner featuring Longoria wines. Rick Longoria is a talented and seasoned winemaker with a track … [Read more...]
True Lies About The Inland Port
Is the Inland Port an example of governmental overreach? Will the Inland Port open a floodgate of corruption? Will the Inland Port be an ecological disaster for the Great Salt Lake and ruinous to valley air quality? Deeda Seed's Side of the Story Questions. So many questions. Deeda Seed, former city council person who is currently with the Center for Biological … [Read more...]
California Schemin’
The following was written and reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Utah Stories. The Story of Scheming Before he pled guilty to running a $125 million fraud and being labeled a “scammer extraordinaire” by the FBI, Deepal Wannakuwatte was known as a charming entrepreneur who owned his own tennis team. He mixed sports and scheming, making … [Read more...]
Homeless Millennials—Weighing In On Big Changes to City Programs
A resource center is not a homeless shelter, and that helps explain their $63 million price tag. Was this a good investment? We will get to that later in the story, but first I would like to know: What do young homeless people think about these new centers? Fairmont Park “Jessica” is a homeless millennial. She says she is “homeless by choice.” “It’s the choices I … [Read more...]
Keys On Main – George Kelly
A high school senior excursion changed the course of George Hasenohrl’s life. During the trip, he and some friends snuck into a dueling piano bar. He watched as the players pounded out Billy Joel and Elton John songs. He knew right then that he needed to learn how to do that. Hasenohrl, who uses the stage name George Kelly, says, “I always wanted to be a performer. In high … [Read more...]