• Utards: Snowbasin permit expansion. Comment by Jan 5.More savvy electronic chatter on this latest development is also available, via The Teton Gravity Research BB, under the same title header:
• Utards: Snowbasin permit expansion. Comment by Jan 5.While it's probably a mite early to conclude that the two stories are actually connected, references to routes through Taylors, Beus and Burch Canyons would suggest, at this stage of the game at least, that the near-simultaneous Snow Basin permit application and the Peterson clearcutting may be more than slightly coincidental.
• Snowbasin asks to take skiers into public backcountrySuddenly, this conjunction of stories seems to be growing real legs. Imagine that.
Republican Party officials say they will try next month to pass a resolution accusing President Bush and congressional Republican leaders of embracing "socialism," underscoring deep dissension within the party at the end of Mr. Bush's administration.Read the full WaTi article here:
Those pushing the resolution, which will come before the Republican National Committee at its January meeting, say elected leaders need to be reminded of core principles. They said the RNC must take the dramatic step of wading into policy debates, which traditionally have been left to lawmakers.
"We can't be a party of small government, free markets and low taxes while supporting bailouts and nationalizing industries, which lead to big government, socialism and high taxes at the expense of individual liberty and freedoms," said Solomon Yue, an Oregon member and co-sponsor of a resolution that criticizes the U.S. government bailouts of the financial and auto industries.
• EXCLUSIVE: RNC draft rips Bush's bailoutsBetter late than never, as we always say, when we're waxing poetic and spewing out fundamental ideological principles.
Most Top of Utah cities missed a chance to get on the federal stimulus wish list. Last week nine Utah cities unveiled their hoped-for, “Ready-to-Go” projects in a report issued by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.Notably, one Utah City, Sugarhouse, somehow managed to place its streetcar project on the list.
The report lists 15,000 specific infrastructure projects that total almost $100 billion. The incoming Obama administration plans to seek a stimulus bill of close to $1 trillion after the president-elect’s inauguration. Nine Utah cities are on the wish list. Salt Lake City is requesting $780 million in wish-list projects.
But the only Top of Utah city that made the request list was Brigham City.
However, this clearly seems to have been a missed opportunity for some cities to prioritize its needs. [...]The Standard-Examiner thus joins the readers of Weber County Forum in questioning, at least obliquely, the wisdom of our gondola-obsessed mayor, who dawdled for three years on our own streetcar project.
Ogden also needs to make a firm decision on its public transportation needs so it can access assistance.
LAYTON — If the Top of Utah ever has a major disaster, it will likely be measured by Richter scale.More from this morning's Std-Ex story:
The Wasatch Front Regional Council has released the final draft of the 2008 Natural Hazards and Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan and will be looking for cities, counties and the state to adopt it in the next few months.
The plan identifies possible hazards in Davis, Morgan, Salt Lake, Tooele and Weber counties and includes strategies to eliminate or minimize the effects of wildfires, floods, severe weather, earthquakes or any other major disaster.
“Our Katrina will be a major earthquake,” said DeeEll Fifield, WFRC pre-disaster mitigation planner. “This region’s No. 1 identified risk is an earthquake.”
According to the plan, which is available for review at wfrc.org, the Top of Utah’s Wasatch Fault Zone is an active fault zone that can produce a large 7.3 to 7.5 Richter magnitude earthquake on average every 300 to 400 years.While the WCRC is working on this, we're hoping these government bureaucrats haven't completely overlooked another potential local natural disaster just waiting to happen, one which would make a 7.5 Richter scale earthquake seem like a pleasant stroll on the beach:
Davis County contains the highest density of faults in the entire state of Utah. Weber County has had two earthquakes with a Richter magnitude between 5.0 and 5.5 since 1894. Weber County has also felt earthquakes that did not have their epicenters within the county.
• The Yellowstone SupervolcanoIn this latter connection, (and in a truly serendipitous coincidence of timing,) here's something interesting that popped up just this morning on the TYWKIWDBI Blog:
• Is the Yellowstone caldera becoming more active?From the above-linked blog 12/28/08 article:
There was a swarm of sixteen earthquakes in 24 hours this weekend (map above, updates at this link). It probably is not significant, but it is worth remembering that the Yellowstone caldera is a hotspot above a supervolcano, the eruption of which would mean theendoflifeasweknowit, at least for the United States. The Yellowstone one has erupted approximately every 600,000 years, and the last eruption was... lets see... 600,000 years ago.Something additional for WFRC planners to consider, perhaps?
The mystery of Bernard Madoff will be storied a hundred years from now. As history's biggest financial criminal, he took a cheap ripoff that you can use at home—the Ponzi scheme—and turned it into a global empire worth some $50 billion.The author warns that the government is presently using Madoff's tactics to convince you that the injection of multi-billions in federal "funny money" will lift us out of recession, and asserts, effectively we think, that "the whole scheme partakes of the same sense of denying reality that characterized Madoff's scheme."
One ingredient was financial intelligence. Madoff had buckets of it. Early in his career, he was the real deal, an actual innovator. He combined this with an amazing lack of conscience, for his scam was rooted most fundamentally in lying and stealing. The difference between him and all who came before was his grand scale, the grandest scale imaginable.
There is a saying in the world of Austrian economics about the business cycle. The puzzle is not to explain business failures. Those are part of the normal course of life, and the sign of a healthy economy. The puzzle is to explain the "cluster of errors" that appears at the beginning of a recession. How could so many have been so wrong about so much at the same time? The business cycle is a system-wide failure, not merely the mistaken judgment of a few.
So it is with Modoff's scheme. The mystery isn't how one person was able to fool a few. The scheme in which yesterday's "investors" are paid off with the money of today's victims is known in all places and probably all times—and it always goes belly up to the originator's complete disgrace. It is a classic example of how moral laws are self-enforcing in the world of economics.
The critical difference this time is that Madoff ran his scheme during an economic boom, a time when people's normal sense of incredulity is put on the shelf. This is part of the grave cultural distortion introduced by funny money. Money is the most widely demanded good in society, and the Fed is making new quantities of it not as a reflection of new real wealth, but purely as an administrative decree.
• Madoff as MetaphorSomething to consider on another slow Emerald City news day, we believe.
• Top 100 Stories of 2008We have MANY bonafide scientists who regularly read and post here; and in that connection we ask: Did Discover Magazine leave any of your important science stories out?
• Yes, VirginiaIf the piece has more than a slight ring of familiarity to it for regular Std-Ex readers, by the way, it's apparently becoming a Standard-Examiner Christmas-time tradition, in which connection we link the previous two years' Std-Ex editorials below:
• 2007 Std-Ex Christmas EditorialLet's just say the Std-Ex editorial board really likes this piece. And why not, we ask? Not only does it deal with the grand concept of mankind's place in the universe, it also emphasises the power of a newspaper as the voice of authority and reason. It's both mysticism and newspaper marketing, travelling in happy conjunction.
• 2006 Std-Ex Christmas Editorial
• Christmas Lights Gone WildWell... time and technology march on. After an extensive Google search, we're linking a few more of the latest of these Christmas-themed light displays, proving among other things, that plenty of people in America possibly still have the Christmas spirit (and possibly way too much time and money on their hands,) even during this recession plagued Christmas season:
• El Paso Christmas LightsWhether any of these has upstaged the original is anybody's guess.
• Amazing Perth Christmas Lights 2008
• Computerized Christmas lights Carol of the Bells
• 2008 Hallum's House Of Lights Computerized Christmas Lights Display
• Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, et al. v. The Automated Geographic Reference Center, et al.
• White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage BonfireIt's a meaty piece, and well worth a read, we think, as we cast about for a plausible answer to the nagging question: "What the hell went wrong?"
In an unusually harsh decision, the state Board of Pardons is leaving the convicted operator of a giant Ponzi scheme in prison for at least 17 years.Although neither the Tribune nor the Board of Pardons mentions it as part of the "official" rationale for the Board's decision to lock Southwick up and throw away the key, we believe it's fair to infer that there's a special local lesson here for Utah scammers who would abuse their positions of ecclesiastical trust and prey upon unwary victims from LDS wardhouses. The 800-pound gorilla has a mighty long political reach; and it's apparent that Val Southwick (and other potential wardhouse scammers) were just delivered an equally mighty mighty thump in the head -- with a clear message attached: Wardhouse scamming is declared firmly off-limits, capice?
With his next parole hearing set for 2025, that means 63-year-old former Ogden businessman Val E. Southwick might spend the rest of his life in prison, serving out nine consecutive terms for defrauding about 800 investors, many of them elderly, out of about $180 million.
In its rationale for denying Southwick parole, the five-member board cited abuse of a position of trust, the number of victims and the extent of the harm done them. The 17 years set for Southwick's prison sentence is just three years short of a typical prison term of an inmate convicted of first-degree felony murder, according to parole board statistics from a 2006 study.
• Flying J Files for bankruptcyJudging from the tone of the Flying J spokesman, casual readers might even be tempted to conclude that Flying J management is happy to have landed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
OGDEN — Mayor Matthew Godfrey says a whirlwind tour earlier this month of six European cities gave him insight into cutting edge streetcar technology that could benefit Ogden."Eliminate the need for unsightly overhead lines?" Quite a transformation, we think, for the "visionary" little feller who only last year still "envisioned" this ghastly monstrosity as the most desirable (and visually prominent) feature to be added to the future Emerald City streetscape. That's a step in the right direction... we think. There's nothing like a trip through the old cities of Europe, of course, to provide even a rube from Harrisville, Utah a new appreciation of the inherent value and wisdom of clean aesthetics.
The trip from Dec. 9-16 took Godfrey to Vienna, Austria; Munich, Germany; Zurich, Switzerland, and the French cities of Nice, Bordeaux and Paris. [...]
The most unique streetcar system with possible applications for Ogden was found in Bordeaux, Godfrey said.
Instead of overhead lines, the Bordeaux operation is powered by a pedestrian-safe electric supply system buried in the ground, according to American Public Transportation’s Web site at www.apta. com.
The system could be beneficial to Ogden because it would eliminate the need for unsightly overhead lines and the price would likely be no more than 3 percent higher than a conventional streetcar system, said Godfrey.
“I definitely want something wireless and this is the best technology I’ve seen,” Godfrey said.
• Many abuse Weber County's tax rulesWith our local property tax dependant local government officials scrambling to meet their own budgets during the current economic downturn, it seems to us imprudent to ignore some of the loopholes which result in non-collection of thousands of dollars in taxes which ought to go to local governments. Banning the issuance of building permits to developers who are already delinquent in their property taxes seems a no-brainer to us. When delinquent property taxes go unpaid, local governments essentially assume the role of an unwilling lender; and property owners who do pay their taxes in a timely manner assume the economic burden for those who don't.
Ogden » One year after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chairman of the international Waterkeeper Alliance, spoke at an Ogden River celebration -- also billed as a restoration kickoff -- there is still no grand plan for the river.Ms. Moulton goes on to partially enumerate the laundry list of pesky problems which have landed the project on the VERY back burner, not the least of which is the generally dismal state of the economy, wherein funding for projects of this kind is a trifle "tight."
Nonetheless, the celebration did energize community cleanup efforts and a bid for federal funding for restoration of the river, which flows from Ogden Canyon through the city to the confluence with the Weber River west of downtown.
"It's a long process," said Jason Carey, a consultant from Glenwood Springs, Colo., who has been working with developer Gadi Leshem and an ad hoc committee of people interested in restoring the river. "These restoration projects, even the most fast-tracked of them, take at least two years."
Restoring the Ogden River likely will take much longer.
Salt said he believes Leshem used Kennedy to give his project a "greenwash."And this is interesting. Ms. Moulton reports that the city is trying to "find a deep-pocketed partner for Leshem who could finance massive demolition work" on the numerous derelict and abandoned residential fire traps he owns in the River Project area.
"He used Bobby Kennedy to launch the project, and he hasn't kept his commitment to communicate with us or involve us," Salt said.
• Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona upsets BYU 31-21That's two BYU losses in a row. So much for the elusive "Quest for Perfection", we guess.
• Out-legged: Richmond Spiders tangle up Grizzlies 24-7Tough luck, Griz. See ya's on the gridiron next year.
Today's announcement of a $17.4 Billion loan to GM and Chrysler marks another milestone on the road to nowhere currently being followed by the current administration. Under the terms of the loan, "If the firms have not attained viability by March 31, 2009, the loan will be called and all funds returned to the Treasury," Meanwhile,another caveat to the deal is that workers' wages will have to be reduced to make them as competitive as those in Japan and Korea. Oh and the corporate jet has to go as well. This passes for a plan these days. Who are they trying to kid? GM and Chrysler will need this money just to keep the lights on until March before the inevitable industry collapse. [...]A Message From the Auto Industry:
This whole deal is nothing but Political posturing by Bush and Paulson who would like to finish the year with an illusory aura of fiscal responsibility. They don't want the consequences of the $250 Billion in credit default swaps tied to GM to happen on their watch and prefer to leave it to the next administration.
You wouldn't buy our shitty cars. So we'll be taking your money anyway.People Begging on their Knees for a Job at the Dump:
Wanted: Laborer willing to work 10-hour days outdoors in the stench and dust of the Pinellas County landfill. That’s year-round, so you’ll really enjoy the summer months when the landfill is ripest.As an added bonus, we also provide this useful link, for those who'd like to extend their personal thanks to Geedubya, for his careful 8-year stewardship over the U.S. economy:
Starting salary: $9.50 an hour, plus benefits.
Sound like the job for you? With the economy crashing and unemployment rising in the Tampa Bay area, 136 people, most out of work, answered yes last month and applied for three such jobs.
“At one point I actually had a line of people 10 feet out the door waiting to talk to me,” said Scott Hanus, an operations manager for Veolia Environmental Services, which runs the landfill. “I actually had some people down on their knees begging me.” [...]
Some who applied had college degrees, Hanus said, and many had recently been laid off or seen their companies shut down. The three people hired had a fair amount of experience working outdoors and solid customer skills, Hanus said. They started Dec. 8. [...]
“It was pretty hard watching so many people hurting,” Hanus said.
Of course, there are major problems with both of these routes.
The first problem is the side slope, which exceeds 50% almost everywhere and approaches 100% in several spots. Skiing for a mile or two along such a side slope would be pretty unpleasant, so we can assume that the plan is to eventually go in with heavy equipment to cut, fill, and flatten a "trail". How wide would the trail be? A few feet would be enough to ski on, but Peterson stated in 2006 that the width of his "trails" would be about 15 feet--wide enough for the routes to double as snowcat trails and maintenance roads. The expense of constructing over three miles of such roads, which would require retaining walls in many locations, would be enormous. The ecological damage would be enormous as well.
The second problem is aspect. The northern route lies almost entirely on a south-facing slope, as does a long segment of the southern route in Strong's Canyon. In a typical winter, these slopes never hold snow for long. Flattening the routes and packing the snow would undoubtedly help, but there would be no time of year when the routes are dependably snow covered. Investing in snowmaking equipment for lengthy routes on south-facing slopes would be virtually out of the question. And when there's fresh snow of any depth, the gently sloping routes would be rough going until after they've been groomed.
The third problem is land ownership. To complete the Strong's Canyon route would require constructing a road through a National Forest roadless area. Whether the Forest Service would ever approve such a project is anyone's guess--but there would be considerable opposition. The northern route would also continue onto National Forest land at the bottom of Taylor Canyon. Even if no alteration to the existing trail in the canyon is proposed, the Forest Service could very well take issue with use of that trail by significant numbers of downhill skiers.
The fourth problem is clientele. These kinds of routes are not your typical downhill skiing, so it isn't clear who would pay for the experience of descending them. The number of expert skiers who can handle the descent into Taylor Canyon is limited. The Strong's Canyon route would be usable by average skiers, and has a greater chance of being served by a lift, but would involve a gentle descent of over two miles on a narrow trail that many skiers would consider confining and monotonous: perhaps worth a try for the novelty, but not more than once.
So the practical feasibility of both of these routes is questionable at best. And that brings me back to my carefully worded hypothesis: I'm not claiming that Peterson will ever finish constructing either of these routes. What seems clear is only that he is trying to convince people that the routes are feasible. And who are these people? I can only speculate. They could include prospective investors, or a prospective buyer for the property, or government officials, or the general public. Perhaps we'll learn more in the coming months.
In any case, I think it would be incorrect to view these new clearings as a departure from the plans that Peterson announced in 2006. A major system of "trails" that are really roads was part of his plan all along. In his public presentations he was always careful to state that while he would not permit private automobiles in his planned resort, some of his ski "trails" would be usable as roads during the summer. Mayor Godfrey was less clear, saying that he and Peterson were "working on" making the resort roadless, "even for construction", but making no outright promises. (The Standard-Examiner never understood these subtleties. The boilerplate text that appeared in numerous articles during 2006-07 simply described the proposed resort as "roadless".)
Many Ogden residents supported the Peterson proposal in 2006 with the understanding that the resort would be roadless and otherwise environmentally benign. Now that Peterson's concepts have become more vivid, it's time to reassess the environmental footprint of the project and whether it deserves our community's support.
• No gifts period, and that means no exceptions for meals, events, or awards. If a legislator wants to accept something offered, pay for it.The Std-Ex asks much more of our 2009 legislature, of course:
• No personal use of campaign funds — and that includes unused campaign funds.
• No quick passage from legislative service to lobbying. The “cooling-off” period should be a long while, say years. That would allow influence a former legislator might have with colleagues to wane.
We know there are many more aspects of ethics reform to discuss. They include how many legislators can sit on an ethics panel, how the public can file an ethics complaint, the role of an independent ethics commission, how legislators file ethics complaints against each other, and potential voting restrictions on legislators with conflicts of interest on an issue.Nevertheless, the Std-Ex's above three points represent the core of meaingful reform, in our never humble opinion. We believe the people of Utah should settle for nothing less.
We expect all of these issues to be debated and resolved. But we want Utah lawmakers to understand that ethics reform is not just an administrative procedure to be ironed out. Ethics reform is crucial because our Legislature has fallen into a culture of entitlement. Freebies are grabbed by elected public servants who rationalize that their public “sacrifice” entitles them to a meal, or night at a sports event.
OGDEN — The conversion of an old railroad dining car into a tourist information center at the downtown intermodal hub is rolling along and should be completed next month city officials say.Yesiree, it won't be long now before hordes of de-training tourists arrive in Ogden, seeking out the MattGodfreyWorld high adventure fake trolleys, fake rock wall, fake ice cliff and fake sky diving ride located in our downtown center. And when that time comes, it will be Friends of Matt who will be there to help them out.
Improvements to the car’s exterior are complete and efforts are now under way to renovate the interior, which will include restrooms and a cafe, said Phil McDonald, the city’s fleet shop supervisor.
The exterior of the dinning car will be painted with a high-adventure and “Welcome to Ogden” theme.
A directional sign to various areas of the city will be constructed next to the car.
In addition, Jeanie Milne, owner of The Hole, a dough- nut and specialty drink shop at 2393 Wall Ave., will relocate her operation to the dining car.Regular Weber County Forum readers will of course recall that Ms.Milne is also one of the clever entrepreneurs behind the high adventure faux trolley system, which Boss Godfrey has commissioned to ferry tourists between and among the various carny tourist attractions (which are bound to put our fair city on the world high adventure recreation map.)
Her new business will be named Jeanie’s Cafe and Deli and will serve doughnuts, drinks, sandwiches and soups.
Milne said she is pleased the city has selected her as the concessionaire for the rail car information center, because it will provide three times more space than The Hole.
“Working hand-in-hand with the city has been incredible.”
A federal appeals court ruling late Monday is the cause célèbre of the American Civil Liberties Union, as another provision of the Bush administration's Patriot Act falls to the judicial system.Check out the full article below, which includes an ACLU press release on the subject:
Until the ruling, recipients of so-called "national security letters" were legally forbidden from speaking out. The letters, usually a demand for documents, or a notice that private records had been searched by government authorities, were criticized as a cover-all for FBI abuses.
"The appeals court invalidated parts of the statute that wrongly placed the burden on NSL recipients to initiate judicial review of gag orders, holding that the government has the burden to go to court and justify silencing NSL recipients," said the ACLU in a release. "The appeals court also invalidated parts of the statute that narrowly limited judicial review of the gag orders – provisions that required the courts to treat the government's claims about the need for secrecy as conclusive and required the courts to defer entirely to the executive branch."
Because of the ruling, the government will now be forced to justify individual gag orders before a court, instead of casually wielding the power of a blanket gag as the Bush administration has done since the blindingly fast passage of the Patriot Act in Oct. 2001.
• Court sides with ACLU, strikes down Patriot Act gag provisionChalk this decision up as a victory for freedom and liberty, and another blow against the encroaching corporo-fascist totalitarian state. Slowly but surely American courts continue to tediously unwind the assault and damage that's been done to our U.S. Constitutional liberties, during the 8-year Bush Administration nightmare.
“I suspect it’s old work,” [Mayor] Godfrey said Wednesday, adding he’s puzzled why local Sierra Club members are just now noticing the clearing that may be related to the construction of a ski run.
Godfrey, who admitted he doesn’t know for sure when the clearing was done, said he hasn’t talked recently with Peterson about his plans for the Malan’s Basin property, touted as the possible location for a year-round resort.
Standard-Examiner
When, why questions go unanswered after clearing
December 18, 2008
Jock Glidden, a Sierra Club member who hiked to Malan’s Basin on Dec. 6, said he’s stunned by Godfrey’s statement the clearing may be two years old.
“It’s a very fresh cutting,” Glidden said. “It’s beyond belief that the mayor doesn’t know anything about it. He’s playing dumb.”
Standard-Examiner
When, why questions go unanswered after clearing
December 18, 2008
•When, why questions go unanswered after clearingThe Standard-Examiner editorial board also gets into the act this morning, with a pointed editorial, urging the reclusive and publicly mistrusted Mr. Peterson to conduct himself in the manner of a good neighbor, with improved openness and candor:
•Malan's Basin questionsWe're delighted to see the Std-Ex get involved in the investigation and discussion of this story. This, we believe, is just what a local home town newspaper should do.
HUBRIS ALIVE AND WELL IN UTAH GOVERNMENTWho said we don't have a stinking ethics problem in Utah government?
Let's see now - Company gives Shurtleff $10,000.00, A few days later Shurtleff gives company an endorsement letter on state letterhead in direct violation of plainly written state law, company promptly uses said letter to advertise their service nationally, citizens cry foul, Shurtleff has his political insider pal - the Lt. Governor - give reading on legality, political pal says "hey, no problem no violation."
If passed the bill will provide relief for many residential property owners in Weber County and elsewhere who were required by county ordinance to build their homes on larger than one acre of land. The bill would also provide a vehicle for counties to penalize those individuals that illegally claim the homeowner’s exemption on multiple properties within the state.Read the full Ogden Valley Forum article here:
• Froerer Property Tax Relief BillThe folks at Ogden Valley Forum recommend that you take a close look at this bill; and we at Weber County Forum wholeheartedly join them in that.
• Southwick before parole board todayThoughtful perspective from WSU's Provost Michael Vaughn, who presents a sound argument for a less parochial community mentality among citizens and politicians along the highly-urbanized Wasatch Front:
• We live today in a metro UtahAppearing on the Std-Ex front page is this Loretta Park story, informing us that the legislative GOP majority, with an eye toward our declining local economy, is quite serious about deeper and further budget 2009 budget cuts. We hope our local city governments watch closely, and at least consider following suit:
• House asks for budget sessionLast but not least: for Ogden City history buffs. Check out this morning's Wasatch Rambler column, wherein Charlie Trentelman reluctantly deflates another well cultivated and nurtured Ogden City urban myth:
• Ogden madam and Brigham Young's carriageThe Std-Ex lays out a particularly interesting array of diverse topics in this morning's edition, we believe. It's in that connection that we invite your reader comments, and designate this a Tuesday afternoon open topic thread.
OGDEN — The city council will consider tonight an agreement that defines the scope of a $750,000 study that may lead to a streetcar system along the downtown to Weber State University-McKay Dee Hospital corridor.So let's see now. It's been a little over three years since the release of the 2005 Baker Study, which identified possible Intermodal Hub/McKay Dee transit corridors and recommended street cars as a best form of cross town public transit. And it's been almost a full four months since the city counsel passed a resolution joining with all the other aforementioned stakeholders to select a consultant and to fund the study, using that secret federal transportation grant money that our mendacious mayor had concealed from the council for over nine months. (We're assuming, by the way, that the council will vote to move forward tonight, now that we've reached this next milestone -- not an entirely safe assumption with Councilwoman Jeske out of action while she recuperates from her recent back surgery.)
The agreement with the Utah Transit Authority calls for the city’s share of the study, which will include a transit-alternatives analysis and draft environmental impact review, to total $290,000.
Funding will come from $231,250 in Utah Transit Authority federal money pledged for local transportation studies and $58,750 is set aside in the city’s fiscal 2009 budget.
In addition, Weber State University will contribute $140,000.
Intermountain Health Care, which is the parent company of McKay-Dee Hospital, will provide $30,000.
The remaining $290,000 needed for the study will come from UTA.[...]
The UTA has hired Wilbur Smith Associates Inc., which has an office in Salt Lake City, to complete the transit-alternatives analysis and draft an environmental impact review.
Work should begin in the next few weeks and will be completed in June 2010, said Greg Scott, a transportation planner for the Wasatch Front Regional Council and co-project manager for the study.
“It (work) is always a little slower than you would hope, but it’s coming together well,” Scott said Monday
A second, separate phase of the study will include the completion of a final environmental impact statement and preliminary engineering.Hoo boy! We suppose the best we can hope is that the U.S. government (Uncle Sugar - from whom we all hope to soak up substantial funding,) won't be broke by the time we get all our ducks lined up and enter the long queue, along with all the other cities looking for federal monies to fund their own street car systems.
The cost and scope of work for that phase hasn’t been determined, said Bill Cook, the city council’s executive director.
• Trees, brush cleared near Malan’s BasinMr. Schwebke would have made greater headway with this story, of course, if Mr. Peterson had been more forthcoming in his telephone interview with the diligent Std-Ex reporter. Yes, Mr. Schwebke was successful in reaching Mr. Peterson; and this is what the very tight-lipped Son-in-Law of a Billionaire said:
Peterson, in a brief phone conversation with the Standard-Examiner, declined to disclose the purpose of the clearing and wouldn’t say if the aim is to make way for a road leading to a Malan’s Basin resort.While we suppose its possible that Mr. Peterson may regard Mr. Schwebke and the lumpencitizens of Emerald City as merely "nosy neighbors," we nevertheless can't resist observing the vast difference between Mr. Peterson's stingy present public utterances, and those heady proclamations of the year 2005, when he and Blessed Boss Godfrey were running their non-stop Emerald City Gondola/Malan's Basin Ski Resort Public Dog & Pony Show.
“I don’t have any comment on that,” he said.
The Hatch Act, enacted in 1939, oversees some political acts of state and local government officials. The OSC’s complaint claims that Greiner, as police chief, was responsible for managing and administrating four federal grants while competing for and winning the Senate District 18 seat.We believe the Std-Ex is likely correct in its fact analysis and conclusions. In point of fact, it's apparent to us that Chief Greiner and Ogden City have devised a cautious Hatch Act Compliance Program, shielding Greiner from any acts which could be deemed "managing and administrating four federal grants."
In our opinion, the OSC charge is not accurate. We think Greiner has acted specifically within the law because Ogden city’s chief administrative officer, John Patterson, says he signs off on the federal grants received by the city’s police department.
• Judge rules Perkins didn't break federal lawAs a matter of fact, we interviewed Chief Greiner in 2006, during the General Election ramp-up. Greiner informed us at that time that Ogden's Hatch Act Compliance program had been carefully modeled after the Henderson, Nevada program.
Ironically, the OSC complaint cannot force Greiner to give up his state senate seat. Even if he did so, it would not resolve the OSC action. Nevertheless, Greiner should reconsider his state senate duties, since they are restricting his ability, as Ogden police chief, to have a say on federal funds for his officers.And there remain still other and further issues. Potential conflict of interest, anyone? And what about the retirement double dipping issue? We know it's technically lawful... but is it right? And what about the argument that these Hatch Act restrictions, if rigorously applied, infringe upon Greiner's fundamental constitutional rights? Then there's the peripheral question of who exactly picks up Greiner's legal fees, whether or not Greiner prevails. Interestingly, in the Perkins case, it was Chief/Assemblyman Perkins himself (not the Office of Special Counsel OR the taxpayers of Henderson City) who eventually got stuck with the tab.
We want Greiner involved in all important duties as Ogden’s chief law enforcement officer.
• Pardon me, boys: Griz punch ticket for FCS title game in Chattanooga after beating James Madison, 35-27We don't know about the rest of you WSU fans; but for our own part we'll be sending our powerful psychic vibes to the guys on the Montana football squad, hoping for a decisive victory in Chattanooga.
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