Jay Evensen
  • Front Page
  • Opinions
  • Second Thoughts
  • Portfolio
  • Awards
  • About

It's 2020: Where is my self-driving car?

8/31/2020

0 Comments

 
A few weeks ago in Arizona, a Tesla, reportedly on autopilot, smacked into an emergency vehicle that was parked on the side of an interstate while an officer was investigating another accident.
Which got me thinking, where is my self-driving car?

Read More
0 Comments

Those school buses don't mean everything is normal again

8/25/2020

0 Comments

 
My morning bike ride — one of the more positive behavioral traditions I’ve adopted since working at home — has been complicated this week by school buses and well-dressed children toting books under their arms.
I don’t mind. It’s the kind of warm and tender scene I haven’t had enough of during the past five months — a gentle sign that the world is returning to normal.
Except that it’s not. 

Read More
0 Comments

Mail-in voting can be as safe as any other method

8/19/2020

0 Comments

 
As the rhetoric heats up over election fraud and voting by mail, it’s important to remember this number: 3,143.
That’s how many counties, and county equivalents (boroughs, independent cities, etc.) exist in this country. You might be concerned that Washington is usurping local control in myriad ways, but national elections remain about as local as they can be. 
Each of those counties conducts elections under its own rules — many of these are set by their states, but counties often retain control over certain elements of how votes are collected and tallied.
That’s a beautiful thing.

Read More
0 Comments

A competitive congressional race is a rare thing

8/19/2020

0 Comments

 
If you live in Utah’s fourth congressional district, consider yourself lucky. You live in the rarest of political territories -- a competitive district. 
You might say you’ve gone retro. 
Back in the 19th century, the U.S. House of Representatives saw a 45% turnover each election, on average. On 15 different occasions back then, more than half of the House was new after an election, according to Josh Huder, a senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University.

Read More
0 Comments

Returning to school - a problem without a certain answer

8/5/2020

0 Comments

 
Now we know -- the people who crowded a Utah County Commission meeting several weeks ago to protest Gov. Gary Herbert’s mask mandate for schools this fall represented a minority.
Most of you think it’s right that students, teachers and administrators wear masks right now. 
A poll commissioned by the Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics found 62% of Utahns agreeing with the governor, with 27% opposed and 10% saying they don’t know.
But that’s about all a lot of people know with any surety. Only 48% answered yes to the question of whether their local schools should open for in-person classes, and a whopping 21% weren’t sure.

Read More
0 Comments

A century ago, people hated wearing masks, too

8/4/2020

0 Comments

 
History may not repeat itself exactly, but this pandemic has some verses that sound an awful lot like those heard a century ago, when the misnamed Spanish Influenza raged.
If you could hop aboard a time machine and visit a meeting of the Weber County boards of health, Ogden city leaders and a committee of business leaders in early December, 1918, you would hardly notice you had gone anywhere.

Read More
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Search this site


    Like what you read here?

      Please subscribe below, and we'll let you know when there is a new opinion.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    The author

    Jay Evensen is the Senior Editorial Columnist of the Deseret News. He has nearly 40 years experience as a reporter, editor and editorial writer in Oklahoma, New York City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. He also has been an adjunct journalism professor at Brigham Young and Weber State universities.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Campaign 2012
    Congress
    Crime
    Culture
    Iran
    Oil And Gas
    Poverty
    Steroids
    Taxes
    Utah
    Washington
    World Events
    World Events

    Links

    Deseret News
    Newslink
    Marianne Evensen's blog

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.