All Categories - Jay Evensen

We need to pay more for the water we use

6/20/2018

I like interactive websites that let you pretend you’re a politician faced with a difficult problem. The U.S. Geological Survey site has one that makes you a mayor in a city with a water crisis. What will you do?

Fortunately, I know the answer to that, because the website also calculates the total results from everyone who plays, broken down by state.

Of the 686 Utahns who had participated as of

Inland port's conflict-of-interest squabble feeds cynicism

6/19/2018

Cynicism, that hardiest of weeds on the soul, requires only an example or two to take root, and then it feeds well on mere suspicions.

And right now, some members of the new board overseeing the Utah Inland Port Authority, including outgoing House Speaker Greg Hughes, are, to put it delicately, weed food.

The board was supposed to hold its first public meeting Monday, but everything fell apart rather

Fertility rate decline is something to be feared

6/13/2018

Two recent news stories have made me think about the future with fear and trepidation.

One is the report by the trustees of Social Security that said the nation’s premiere retirement account is bringing in less than it needs for the first time since 1982, and that Medicare isn’t doing well, either.

The second is that the fertility rate in the U.S. has dropped to a record low, a rate of less than 1.8 children per woman. Demographers define the replacement rate — the rate at which the current generation can replace itself without declining — at 2.1. We haven’t been there in a while.

The two are related. It shouldn’t be too difficult to see that.

Under current conditions, fixing Social Security and Medicare would be possible with some relatively painless reforms, if Congress and the president act

Salt Lake County has to get this housing project right

6/12/2018

The Olympia development may be a mammoth housing and commercial project that — like Oz on a western horizon so distant it would catch the morning sun even later than Daybreak — would lure about 30,000 people into mostly high-density housing on a 930-acre swath of unincorporated desert west of Herriman.

But it is so much more.

For one thing, it is a test that could determine how

Social Security is going bankrupt and no one seems to care

6/7/2018

Frankly, I was surprised by how little attention the news out of Washington got on Tuesday — that the Social Security program has to dip into its trust fund for the first time since 1982.

Oh, there were stories in the major media. You may have heard it on morning radio programs.

But by afternoon the nation was focused on more interesting things, such as the president disinviting

Why give mammoth Facebook a tax break on data center?

6/7/2018

A little more than 10 years ago, Google decided to pit North and South Carolina against each other in a competition to win a large, new data center. Only after getting promises of big tax incentives from each did the company reveal that (surprise!) it was going to build two centers after all, one in each state.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

Facebook’s decision to build data centers in both

State school board races shouldn't be overlooked

5/30/2018

If you have school-aged children, maybe you’ve noticed the fees. Schools are hitting you up for everything from textbook rentals to activities and lab fees. And if you have more than one child in the system, you may not afford a vacation this summer.

A recent internal audit by the State Board of Education concluded these are jeopardizing the idea of equal access to education.

Would a forced vote on DACA signal a new day?

5/29/2018

After several minutes of telling the combined editorial boards of the Deseret News and KSL why she decided to defy her party leadership and attempt to force a vote on a bill to protect the children of undocumented immigrants, Mia Love felt the need to add, “You can tell this is something, obviously, I feel frustrated about.”

Frustration is nothing new in Washington. Way back in 1910, it was the emotion responsible for the House procedure she is attempting, known as a discharge petition. Through it, members of the House can force a bill from the clutches of a speaker and onto the floor for a vote.

But because frustration, even in Washington, rarely rises to a level equal to the fear of political retaliation, the discharge is considered radical.

Don't blame self-driving technology; blame the humans

5/24/2018

The latest statistics from the National Safety Council show more than 40,000 people died in automobile-related accidents in 2017.

Chances are, even after reading this, you will get back in your car sometime today without much of a concern. After all, what are 40,000 compared to the 263.6 million drivers in the U.S.? Even average Americans can do that math (sort of).

Another secret development deal that needs to be aired

5/22/2018

SALT LAKE CITY — Just once, it would be nice to learn that officials in Utah have been secretly negotiating with a company to come here, and that the state is insisting the company provide millions directly to local school districts.

That’s it, just money for schools.

The only thing they would get in return is a realization that a well-educated workforce will provide them with solid, knowledgeable and innovative workers for years to come.

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