Monday, January 11, 2010

Notice of an Important Upcoming Emerald City Event

Art as a Vehicle for Social Commentary

Mark your calenders, folks. We're hoping many of you will plan to attend this important upcoming Emerald City event:
WHO: Universe City Department of Visual Arts
WHAT: Amy Wicks: Ogden’s Open Space Plan and More
WHERE: 2556 Washington Boulevard, Ogden
WHEN: January 16,, 6:30 pm
In conjunction with Universe City’s Basin and Range V, the fifth annual artistic response to issues regarding the beautiful mountains that overlookWeber County, Amy Wicks will talk about Ogden’s Open Space Plan and other issues Saturday, January 16 at 6:30 pm. Amy will address Ogden’s Open Space Plan that is currently underway with meetings taking place with the citizen committee, current status of the Mount Ogden Golf Course and Park Complex, water tank projects on the east bench, green/sustainable community initiatives within Ogden City and future land use issues affecting our community.

Amy is a member of the Ogden City Council. She has lived in Ogden since 1997 and was elected to the Ogden City Council in November of 2003, as one of three members representing the city At Large. In 2006 and 2007, she was elected vice chair of the Council and in 2008 and 2009, she served as Council Chair. She has served on the Board of Trustees for Save Our Canyons, Ogden Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Board, Crossroads of the West Historic District Advisory Board and currently sits on the Ogden Nature Center Board.

In her free time, Amy enjoys the vast array of recreational activities found in the Ogden area including snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking, and whitewater kayaking. She is concerned about environmental, open space and sustainability issues and how they affect quality of life for citizens along the Wasatch Front.

An abbreviated definition of Basin and Range is a “geographic region characterized by parallel mountain ranges separated by flat valley floors which extends from the Wasatch Front in Utah to the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, and from Mexico north to Oregon and central Idaho.” The focus of this exhibit is that part of the Basin and Range province that provides the beauty of our own backyard - or front yard, depending on which way your front door faces.

For more information about this exhibit and lecture, contact Benjamin Jennings, 458-8959.

5 comments:

caddyhack said...

Amy Wicks has the right ideas. A Green and sustainable Ogden is an excellent concept that I have espoused for well over a decade. Unfortunately, the gang of land rapists (realtors) that run the Utah legislature have a different agenda. The only thing green about Mayor Godfrey is his money.

An excellent beginning would be a righteous restoration of the Ogden River, with corresponding appropriate and responsible development rather than crap like the Bingham Building built on the banks. (Is the Bingham parking lot drainage filtered or does it dump leaking oil, coolant and other auto fluids directly into the river?)

Good luck Amy, you are awesome.

Bob Becker said...

Also, in re: "Green Ogden" initiatives, don't miss this story by Mr. Schwebke, "Ogden Looking Into Going Green," which ran in Sunday's SE.

Here are the opening graphs:

OGDEN -- The city council is launching a sweeping initiative aimed at partnering with residents and business leaders to protect the environment and preserve natural resources.

Planning for the Green Ogden initiative began about six months ago and has been spearheaded by city council Chairwoman Caitlin Gochnour.

The program, developed in conjunction with Mayor Matthew Godfrey's Sustainable Ogden Committee, is patterned after an initiative implemented in Portland, Ore.The aim of the initiative is to build on existing green activities already sponsored by the city and then expand them to include local residents and businesses, said Bill Cook, the city council's executive director.


Several points worth noting: first, the initiative is being driven by the Council. The new Council clair, Ms. Gochnour, is leading the project, but worth nothing I think that it began under Ms. Wicks term as Chair.

Second, the Council is working with the Mayor's "Sustainable Ogden Committee." Rumor has it that that particular committee was born when Amer Sports came to Ogden, and its head honcho indicated to Hizzonah that the company wanted to be active in Ogden's keeping-Ogden-green committee. Since Ogden didn't have a keeping-Ogden-Green committee, Hizzonah hastily formed and filled the Sustainable Ogden Committee.

It's had a mixed record so far. Some good people have been on it, and it was very active for a time, then became less active. Here's hoping working with the Council will re-invigorate the Mayor-appointed committee. It was a good idea in the first place, and if well led and well staffed, could be a real benefit to the city.

Third, interesting that the project is reported as a cooperative effort between the Council and the Mayor's committee. When Hizzonah won his latest re-election, it would have been smart of him to have looked for ways to work with his opponents, to have looked for projects he and his opponents in the election could have joined hands on for the good of the city [and the Mayor]. He didn't do that, of course. [He's never been known for being smart, particularly, even about his own interests.] He chose instead to continue his "my way or the highway" approach to any one or any city body [like the Council] that dared to disagree with him. And he continued to give full reign to his petulance.

Perhaps the latest Council election has finally gotten his attention and he's looking for ways to build a bridge or two. We shall see.

Interesting story. Worth a look.

ozboy said...

Two things on my mind this morning. (Unfortunately at my advanced age and mileage two things are all that will fit in there anymore!)

1. What is the deal with Geiger being a shovel participant in the Ogden River make over deal? Is there something the mayor is not telling the citizens about his bestest buddy? Is Geiger on the city payroll?

2. My hat is off to Amy. In my opinion she is one of the most outstanding politicians in Ogden's modern history. She is smart, dedicated, easy to look at and has loads of integrity - which is rather refreshing compared to what Ogden has endured under the Godfreyites these last long 9 years. I hope she runs for mayor next time around.

Bob Becker said...

[Maybe some off topic, but maybe not....]

We've talked here at WCF off and on about newspapers, and newspaper reporting, and the SE in particular. And some have said the SE [and other papers in general] have outlived their usefulness, since the web provides a mountain of news faster [and better they say] than the SE, SLTrib, etc. do.

Well, today's NYTimes reports on a soon-to-be-released study by the Pew Research Center that examined exactly this question. It found that, looking only at local news in the Baltimore, Md. area as a case study, that of all the stories on all media [tv, radio, newspapers, magazines, blogs, cable etc.] that provided actual new information not previously reported elsewhere, 95% of those stories came from traditional print media, mostly newspapers. That's 95%.

Lends support, the story notes, to newspaper claims that most of what appears in alternate media consists of simply re-reporting [or commenting on] what newspapers reported first [like my post here].

Since I keep encouraging people to subscribe to the SE, faults and all, because Ogden lives in the news shadow of SLC and much of its urban identity would evaporate if the SE went under, as would much of what the general populace learns about Ogden matters, the Pew reported sounded like good news to me. More ammunition to convince people to subscribe.

But wait. The study goes on to report the 95% of the new information the papers reported in the study area "was driven mostly by government statements, rather than journalists' own digging."

Think about that. 95% of real news comes from the print media, and most of what appears on tv, radio, blogsites is that print media stuff, recycled. But most of the 95% is simply press-release journalism [which is then recycled by other media]. Which means apparently the vast majority of all the "news" we're getting, from any source, consists of government press releases. [How vigorously those press releases are vetted before they appear in papers, or if they're vetted at all, the NY Times story doesn't say.]

So, what conclusions to draw? (a) Local dailies are still the most important source for information about local communities and (b) local dailies should not engage so heavily in press release journalism, or if they do, they should demand of their reporters and editors that such press releases be vetted thoroughly for accuracy, and not simply be lightly re-written and run as news stories.

The brief NY Times article can be found here.

Anonymous said...

Universe City is a fine gallery, and does credit to its stated mission and goal.

Persons of note and local artists of all stripes and talents will find a well-run and vibrant art-space at Universe City; those who will might mark it well, and make it part of their monthly beauty.

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