Wednesday Morning Emerald City News Roundup 11.26.08

Putting the heat on the gangstas, and emulating Riverdale Road south of 12th and Wall

We'll make brief note of two items in the news today, relevant to Emerald City issues:

1) The Standard-Examiner's Kris Shawkley reports that "Ogden Police Chief and State Senator Jon Greiner will again present a controversial gang bill" that died in the Senate upon adjournment of the 2008 legislative session.

The bill, which is actually a souped up loitering statute, faced opposition last year from the ACLU and other civil libertarians, this morning's article reports. The chief objections of the bill's opponents revolve around potential racial profiling issues and the relatively subjective standards which would permit police authorities to categorize individuals as gang members.

From the tone of the article, Std-Ex readers might be tempted to conclude that the re-introduced bill might face an uphill fight this year. Looking back at the bill's status last year however, we're going to go on record and predict that the bill will clear both the Senate and House this year in quick legislative Jon Greiner slam dunks. The bill breezed through the Senate last year by a 16-10 votes, and merely got stalled in the usual end-of-session logjam.

Contrary reader views are welcome of course.

2) The Std-Ex reports this morning that the Ogden City Council has, despite the looming recession, once again taken the Godfrey bait, reallocating $1 million in capital improvement funds to that shopping center project at 12th and Wall Avenue. The section of roadway adjacent to this new shopping center will "spur commercial development on other neighboring parcels south along Wall Avenue to 17th Street, and west from 12th Street to Gibson Avenue," according to city deputy director of community and economic development Richard McConkie. It will become Ogden's answer to Riverdale Road, McConkie confidently predicts.

Needless to say, we're brimming with joy over this. We don't have half enough bumper to bumper traffic in Ogden already.

And about the cool 1 mil that the council has dedicated to soil contamination cleanup: The City will "seek" reimbursement, business development manager Tom Christopulos says. We're not quite sure what Mr. Christopulos means by this. Ace Reporter Schwebke apparently didn't have the curiosity necessary to ask the obvious followup question. Hopefully though, Ogden City will work out a binding contractual arrangement with the landowner and the developer, PRIOR to spending all that taxpayer dough.

Well? The blogosphere eagerly awaits our readers' ever-savvy comments.