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

Think the present is bad? You need the full picture

12/26/2018

0 Comments

 
People are incurably optimistic. That’s more than just an endearing trait; it becomes, over time, a self-fulfilling prophecy.

That’s good news as we sit on the precipice of another new year.
​
A century ago, the Salt Lake Telegram greeted 1919 with an optimistic editorial about the things that had changed because of a grim and deadly world war. Because of the united efforts of foreign born and ethnic citizens to help win the war, the editors said, the nation would enter a new era of equality.

Read More
0 Comments

Pope hits the right note: Christmas isn't about presents

12/20/2018

0 Comments

 
The Pope said something radical the other day. Christmas, he said, should not just be about presents and mass consumerism.
​
Maybe that doesn’t sounds so terribly radical. Your grandparents might have said something similar long ago. You might even hear such a thing in idle talk today. But look around. Judging by what the 21st century has to offer — with its gadgets, cheap fashions and virtual-reality thrills — it seems radical, indeed.

Read More
0 Comments

Utah leaders don't hate electric cars; it just seems that way

12/19/2018

0 Comments

 
Bad timing often speaks louder than good intentions.

Utah lawmakers saw an inequity in the gas tax. So far, so good. A lot of states have seen the same thing. It’s as obvious as a tomato stain on a white silk tie. Owners of electric and hybrid vehicles aren’t paying the tax.

So they decided to impose a yearly fee on the owners of those vehicles, allowing them to participate in the cost of maintaining the roads they are helping to wear out.
​
Oops. Now lawmakers look as savvy as someone trying to improve hygiene by placing a tax on soap.

Read More
0 Comments

Inversions come like swallows to Capistrano

12/13/2018

0 Comments

 
The editorial had a forceful, decisive tone:

“The people of Salt Lake City have made up their minds to eliminate smoke,” it said. “We’re going to have soon a carefully prepared smoke elimination law with plenty of teeth in it. We’re going to have a smoke elimination department with enough men to really enforce the law. We’re going to have — already have to a considerable extent — much voluntary cooperation in complying with that law.”
​
I cite this not just to illustrate how the Book of Ecclesiastes’ applies to Utah when it says, “there is no new thing under the sun,” but to show that the annual winter struggle to see the sun is nothing new.

Read More
0 Comments

Homeless accounting problems must be solved

12/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Few things are as enduring as the myth that the Salt Lake metro area solved its chronic homeless problem in 2015 by giving people housing.

I’ve gotten emails that demonstrate how widespread the story was told, including one from a woman in San Diego who told me the leader of a regional task force there was talking about Salt Lake’s success and urging that city to duplicate the “housing first” program.
​
She had been researching the subject and wondered if the glowing reports from here, claiming a 91 percent reduction in chronic homelessness over 10 years, were true.

Read More
0 Comments

Rep. Stewart hits wrong note on death of journalist

12/6/2018

0 Comments

 
Chris Stewart, Utah’s second district representative to Congress, hit a wrong note this week when he seemed to downplay the seriousness of the murder of a journalist, which the CIA now says was directly ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
​
He wasn’t wrong when he said the United States needs to cultivate allies and do business with countries that don’t live up to our standards for human rights and basic liberties.

Read More
0 Comments

Finding an elusive "will of the people" on marijuana

12/4/2018

0 Comments

 
Now that this week’s unique special legislative session is over (any time lawmakers meet right after an election to change a successful initiative, that is unique), it’s time to explore a couple of persistent myths.
​
The first, repeated on social media and comment boards this week, is that Utah lawmakers never would have passed a bill on their own allowing medical marijuana without the threat of Proposition 2. In fact, they were moving slowly in this direction in recent years. But they were moving far too slowly for many people’s tastes. 

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.