Category: Utah - Jay Evensen

Salt Lake City, a den of sin

12/12/2016

Salt Lake City, that den of sin and vice; a city where anger and hatred is more prevalent than on the mean streets of Chicago; a place where jealously reigns far worse than in New York City; and a place where excesses and vices are worse than in Miami.

Salt Lake Vice? That might not be a ratings bonanza as a new prime-time crime show. But then, the above description might come as a surprise to a vast swath of the nation and to the millions who have visited the city as tourists.

What do we tell children about the clowns?

10/11/2016

It’s hard to write about the current clown scare without resorting to cheap jokes about presidential politics. Yes, the race might be a squeaker, with one or the other winning by a plastic red nose — but enough about that. It’s time to get serious for a moment about the bozos wandering the streets, scaring our children.

Bad clowns, often as illusive as Big Foot sightings, are out in force, apparently, and that includes in Utah.

Utah is a bad state for teachers? Think again

9/26/2016

If you’re used to hearing bad news about public education in Utah — teachers are underpaid and in short supply, classrooms are too crowded, politicians don’t care, etc. — here’s a switch. Wallet Hub just released a study that ranks Utah ninth in the nation on a list of the best states for teachers.

Low teacher pay is not unique to Utah. The study ranked the five states with the highest salaries and the five with the lowest (adjusted for cost of living). Utah didn’t make either list. Michigan has the highest paid teachers and Hawaii has the lowest.

Utah, not surprisingly, made the list of the highest student-teacher ratios, coming in 50th, just below California (the study measured the 50 states plus the District of Columbia).

Also, Utah was on the list of the lowest public school spending per student, but, contrary to some other per pupil expenditure lists, it did not finish

The easiest thing to hack is our trust

8/31/2016

If nothing else, the past few days have shown that Utah’s Republican Party probably should rethink the way it lets people vote over the Internet during presidential primaries.

Might as well just set up a Wiki-election and let everyone change things as they please. It would save everyone a lot of trouble.

You can’t trust the Internet. You can’t trust Washington. Heck, you can barely trust yourself.

Is Gary Johnson changing what it means to be Libertarian?

8/22/2016

Is the current Libertarian presidential candidate trying to change what it means to be a Libertarian? Or is he just making the party’s rougher edges a bit more palatable in a year when the party has a real chance to make inroads?

Gary Johnson says he isn’t changing a thing, but he sounds a bit different than other Libertarians I’ve met.

In a meeting last Friday between the combined KSL-Deseret News editorial board and the Libertarian presidential ticket — Gary Johnson and William Weld — the topic somehow turned to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I was astounded to hear Weld say the two of them would have signed that act were they in the White House back then.

Why was I astounded? Because I’ve met with many Libertarian presidential candidates through the years. They always have assured me that the Civil

This is what it feels like to have your state matter politically

8/17/2016

Is this what it feels like to be in play? A couple of op-eds and an off-hand remark during a campaign speech?

It may be worth noting that it’s early yet. If polls show Utah tightening in October, people in these distant parts could be getting a lot more attention than they’re used to getting. Attention is a good thing in presidential politics, especially if we get promises in exchange for votes.

So far, all we have are op-eds Hillary Clinton and

Crime is down; trust the facts, not politicians

8/15/2016

The crime rate is down. Violent crimes are off 45 percent nationally since 1995 and 34 percent in Utah. Property crimes are off 43 percent nationally and 50 percent in Utah during the same period.

Those are cold, hard FBI crime statistics. And yes, Utah’s homicide rate is up a bit in recent years, but in real numbers there aren’t many murders in the Beehive State. The homicide rate here remains lower than at any time in the 1990s. The Utah Foundation laid this all out in a recently published paper.

Who is Evan McMullin and why is he running for prez?

8/10/2016

Last week could be exhibit A in the case to prove 2016 is the most abnormal presidential election year in modern history.

The Democrat, Hillary Clinton, was dealt another body blow — the release of 44 previously unseen emails that seemed to show an inappropriate relationship between her former position at the State Department and the Clinton Foundation.

The Republican, Donald Trump, was hit by

Let's discuss Facebook's Utah overtures in public

8/9/2016

In New Mexico, public officials are cryptically referring to what the Albuquerque Journal calls a “data hosting company called Greater Kudu LLC.”
Here in Utah, public officials refer only to something called “Project Discus,” which sounds like a track-and-field training center.

In Luleå, Sweden, an obscure town near the Arctic Circle that proved no match for my intrepid bicycling skills as a Mormon missionary nearly 40 years ago, local politicians recently spoke in hushed tones about “Project Gold.”

A buck is simply not a buck everywhere

8/4/2016

The same $100 bill buys different amounts in each of the 50 states. That shouldn’t surprise anybody.

A two-bedroom apartment in Mississippi costs about $769 per month, according to MyApartmentMap.com. The same unit would cost about $2,785 in New York.

A gallon of gas costs $1.81 in South Carolina, according to gasbuddy.com. It costs $2.32 in Utah and $2.74 in Hawaii.

Those figures have a significant impact on the standard of living in each of these states, as well as on how much someone would need to earn in order to live comfortably. Many of us instinctively understand this, especially if we travel frequently.

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