Blog Archives - Jay Evensen

Fix existing parks before acquiring more land

2/24/2016

Politicians would rather build new things than allocate money to fix old things. That may be human nature, but it definitely is good politics, and it explains why national parks are in such disrepair.

That’s the essence of an intriguing report issued by the Property and Environmental Research Center, titled “Breaking the Backlog.” The nation’s parks are $11.9 billion behind on their honey-do lists, and that is five times more than the amount Congress gives it each year. The combination of those two things makes for an uncomfortable reality.

The bottom line of the report: Don’t build any more parks until Washington figures out how to take care of what it already has.

A funny thing happens when a group makes such a common-sense proposal in Washington. Interest groups appear, trying to make common sense sound like heresy. The chief conservation officer of the

What does hosting a debate really mean for Utah?

2/23/2016

Quick, can you name the small university in Florida that hosted a presidential debate in 2012? How about the locations of the last three Republican primary debates? (Hint, they also were the states that hosted the last three primaries/caucuses.)

It’s easy to lose your footing in the strong under toe of hyperbole that has swept Northern Utah since the announcement last weekend that a Republican presidential primary debate is coming to Salt Lake City on March 21.

Apple's stand honors freedom over security

2/17/2016

The @FBI is creating a world where citizens rely on #Apple to defend their rights, rather than the other way around. – Ed Snowden on Twitter.

Apple, like any other business or a politician, responds to the wishes of the people.
And at the moment, tough privacy protection is popular.

That may or may not matter as the largest privacy showdown in modern history begins to unfold in the courts. Not long ago, however, things would have been quite different.

A year ago, The Atlantic calculated that if Apple were a country, it would be the 55th richest one in the world. If any company has the power to stand firm against the FBI’s demands, this is it.

But circumstances surrounding the company’s popular stand against that agency say a lot about

Beware of asking voters to approve large tax increases

2/17/2016

If a truism exists about Utah lawmakers, it is that they don’t like it when voters try to do their jobs for them.

And if a truism exists about Utah voters, it is that you could go broke overestimating their willingness to raise their own taxes.

Utah is one of the 26 states plus the District of Columbia that allows citizen initiatives or

Fear of immunizations threatens all of us

2/10/2016

The other day, Kul Chandra Gautam came by the newspaper to meet with our editorial board. You’ve likely never heard of him, but he has the kind of resume that would inspire anyone who believes in the human spirit’s ability to rise above circumstances.

Born in a tiny village in a remote part of Nepal, with no roads, no telephone, no electricity and no school, he somehow ended up at Dartmouth and Princeton, then eventually became a senior official with the

Utah's porn resolution hard to hear over the giggles

2/9/2016

The porn culture may have difficulty dealing with Utah state Sen. Todd Weiler.

After all, he’s not the kind of wild-eyed, right wing fanatic who fits nicely into a convenient stereotype. He’s an attorney. He’s articulate. He makes a point of acknowledging Supreme Court cases that protect adult pornography as free speech, and that he isn’t interested in trying to ban it outright.

He even compares those who would deny the mounting evidence about pornography’s harmful effects to climate change deniers.

Water, labels, antiquities, the draft and the Super Bowl

2/3/2016

With winter entrenched and spring just a distant dream, it’s time to stare out the window awhile and wonder at the passing parade of issues:

Are you thirsty yet? Will this be the year the Utah Legislature finally takes water conservation seriously? Will this be the moment when politicians realize worries about a long-term drought aren’t all wet?

Hope springs eternal.

A new analysis of scientific research, “Effects of Drought on Forests and Rangelands in the United States: A Comprehensive Science Synthesis,” was released in recent days. That’s a mouthful of a

The Wild West and speed limits - it's complicated

2/2/2016

Utahns have a thing about speeding tickets.
As near as I can tell, it’s not that we believe people ought to drive dangerously fast. It’s a fairness thing. We want to have a fair shot at not being caught, perhaps.

That might explain why, 20 years ago, the state outlawed the use of cameras along roadsides to

Coffee, tea, or you wanna piece of me?

2/1/2016

Americans have become somewhat used to seeing headlines like this recent one from the Chicago Sun-Times: “Chicagoans help subdue unruly passenger on detoured United flight.”

Some passenger goes nuts — in this case a woman who started snatching necklaces off people, including a flight attendant — and flight crew members cooperate with Good Samaritan passengers to subdue the agitator until the plane lands safely.

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