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U.S. should make religious liberty a priority abroad

3/25/2015

Pastor Saeed Abedini of Boise, Idaho remains imprisoned in an Iranian jail. It’s hard to find much written about him other than in religiously affiliated media.

Still, President Obama went out of his way Saturday to issue a statement urging his release, along with the release of Amir Hekmati, a U.S. Marine veteran, and Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter

All three are being held on what appear to be baseless charges. But Abedini is being held because of his religious beliefs, and that makes him somewhat symbolic of a much broader level of injustice sweeping the Middle East — one that deserves more attention.

As the president said, Abedini has spent two and a half years in prison. His crime appears to have been converting to Christianity, then returning to his native Iran to visit family and talk about it.

But despite the online posting, which the president tied to the Islamic springtime holiday Nowruz, critics say Obama’s statement was a little perplexing. Will Hall of the Christian Examiner

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Movie subsidies don't help states much

3/24/2015

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Make-believe can be fun. You need more than special effects and a studio full of imagination, however, to believe it could be economic development.

About 20 years ago, I stepped from the parking garage near what, at that time, was the newspaper’s main office and wondered if I had slid through a wormhole. The entire street looked like something from a busy part of Hong Kong. A collection of tightly situated shops lined the street. Chinese lettering abounded. Clusters of people stood at various points, dressed in ways not normally seen in Utah.

The only giveaway was the large truck, a moving van full of motion-picture supplies being carted about by people dressed comfortably as late-20th century Americans.

Touched by an Angel touched our part of downtown that day. Back then, people who lived or worked in and around Salt Lake City became used to their

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Utah lawmakers shouldn't punt to the Judicial Branch

3/18/2015

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I would guess a lot of conservative lawmakers in Utah share the opinion that elected representatives, not an unelected judge, ought to decide important matters. “Judicial activism” is a term best left out of polite conversation, unless you agree it’s contributing to the decline of civilization.

How ironic, then, that lawmakers have decided an important matter — how to select members of the State School Board — should be left in the hands of one unelected man, U.S. District Judge Clark

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Cope with the West's drought using market solutions

3/17/2015

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Take a quick look out the window. Is it raining?

I thought so.

Nothing snaps our attention to all those dire predictions about a long-term drought in the West quite like a winter without snow, followed by an early spring without rain. Well, there was that nice little snowstorm on Christmas. It’s as if the heavens listened to Utahns who are fond of saying, “I hate

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Washington's budget problems are not behind us

3/11/2015

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Utah will not join a list of states calling for a constitutional convention, at least not now. Lawmakers narrowly defeated a resolution calling for it during the 2015 legislative session.

It died in part because some lawmakers worry a convention could careen out of control, like a bus with 34 drivers, with delegates rewriting the Constitution as special interests look over their shoulders.

It’s not a crazy concern. The Constitution allows

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Mysterious 'voice' in Utah rescue had a message for all

3/10/2015

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The “voice” may have been meant for more than just little Lily Groesbeck.

It was primarily for her, of course. Even at the age of 18 months, being strapped upside down in a seat for 14 hours, only inches from the icy waters of a river coursing through the wreckage of your mother’s car must be a horrifying experience. She was, no doubt, inches from death, both literally, given the closeness of the water, and by virtue of fatigue, given her tender age, her lack of

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Open wide and swallow your gas tax increase

3/5/2015

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Are you ready to open wide and swallow a tax increase? After all, it will be good for you. At least that’s what we’re being told.

Utah, according to the experts, faces an $11.3 billion transportation shortfall between now and 2040, and we had better start paying now.

But don’t close your mouth and walk away yet. Once you’ve swallowed a Utah gas tax increase, you may have to fill your spoon with a federal one, as well.

As a Wall Street Journal editorial put it recently, falling gas prices “are the first lucky break for U.S.

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Corradini was controversial, but effective as a mayor

3/4/2015

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Albert Einstein said one measure of intelligence is a person’s ability to change. Deedee Corradini, then, was no dummy.

In the early ‘90s, I was a young reporter assigned to cover City Hall. In those days, newspapers had the financial luxury to give reporters narrow and specific beats, and that bred a narrow and specific type of expertise. My office was in a press room in the City and County Building, and much of my daily routine involved reporting on, and getting know, Corradini, whose office was down the hall.

Not that I was an expert on Salt Lake’s first, and so far only, female mayor, who died Sunday at the age of 70. But I had a unique front-row seat to a set of decisions that helped define the way the city looks today. Like most people, Corradini was far too complicated to define in simple terms. Sometimes, she would march down the hall to let me know exactly what she thought of my reporting. Other times, she would pull me aside before a City Council meeting to share the latest joke.

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U.S. should make religious liberty a priority abroad

Movie subsidies don't help states much

Utah lawmakers shouldn't punt to the Judicial Branch

Cope with the West's drought using market solutions

Washington's budget problems are not behind us

Mysterious 'voice' in Utah rescue had a message for all

Open wide and swallow your gas tax increase

Corradini was controversial, but effective as a mayor

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