Friday Morning Weber County Forum News Roundup

Feel free to chime in and address any of the lower topics, or start up a discussion topic all your own

We'll highlight four more interesting items we stumbled upon this morning whilst Googling:

1) Top notch editorial in this morning's Standard-Examiner, giving a strong thumbs-up to Gov. Gary Herbert's effort to support the Legislature in providing $500,000 to the Utah Defense Alliance, to advocate Hill Air Force Bases's "importance for U.S. defense in the 21st century" as the latest BRAC base closing process moves forward:

• OUR VIEW: Fund Utah's BRAC investment

Unfortunate as it is that Utah taxpayers will be forced to cough up the funds to save HAFB during the current round of U.S. defense cutbacks, the economic stakes for Utah are direly important, and despite HAFB's obvious logistical "defense-related advantages over other states" you can bet your boots that other competing states will be investing boatloads of cash to save their own federal military boondoggles. That's just how the system operates, folks.

2) Despite our earlier warning that "[p]ickin' a court fight with the feds on this issue is an expensive battle that Utah taxpayers are bound to lose," the Salt Lake Tribune reports this morning that "Utah lawmakers gave a quick green light to a bill proposing to let cities and counties take over federal land, despite strong warnings from legislative attorneys that it is almost certainly unconstitutional." Specifically, "[t]he Legislature’s lawyers said that cities and counties have no standing to exercise eminent domain over federal land and the law would violate a string of Supreme Court precedents and the Property Clause of the Constitution":

• Utah House panel OKs bill to let cities seize fed land

"When it comes to public lands, I consider it a badge of honor to have a constitutional note," said [constitutional scofflaw] Rep. Ken Sumsion, R-American Fork, referring to the note from lawyers cautioning about the bill’s legality."

Notably Rep. Sumison will be running for governor this year. Mindless pre-election message bill, anyone?

3) The Tribune reports positive news on the federal regulatory front this morning, with the following story reporting that "[t]he National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Thursday proposed voluntary guidelines for manufacturers, including a recommendation that they design dashboards so that distracting devices are automatically disabled unless the vehicle is stopped and the transmission is in park":

• Feds ask carmakers to curb dashboard technology

In the midst of a robust national public discussion about the dangers of texting while driving, regulations which would prevent drivers from fiddling with their dash-mounted GPS mapping devices seems to us to be a sensible approach. Our only reservation... will mere voluntary guidelines be sufficient to stop the "technology race" between auto manufacturers, who've been scrambling to one-up each other to plant high tech gizmos under the noses of auto buyers who are enthralled by 24-7, nonstop electronic input? Somehow we don't think so.

4) Yesterday's Standard-Examiner carried another guest commentary from Ogden Captain Of Industry Alan Hall, touting the advantages of a well laid out business plan in achieving success in a startup business venture. Lo and behold, here's a real-life case study, illustrating how a carefully and finely tuned business planning and execution can intricately enmesh:

• Customer at Vegas’ Heart Attack Grill suffers heart attack

There's one instance where a customer won't be complaining he didn't get his money's worth, we'll guess! Chalk it up as another business success, straight out of Mr. Hall's playbook.

That's it for now, O Gentle Ones.

Feel free to chime in and address any of the above topics, or start up a discussion topic all your own.

Weber County Forum Wednesday Morning News Roundup

Several interesting Bits and Pieces stumbled upon by your blogmeister whilst Googling

In the interest of keeping the discussion going, even on another slow news day, here are a few interesting Bits and Pieces stumbled upon by your blogmeister whilst Googling:

1) For those Ogden residents who've been looking forward to repeating the good times in Ogden City's annual Winterfest celebration this year, the Standard-Examiner delivers some very bad news this morning:

• Lack of snow means no Winterfest in Ogden

In this age of global climate change, perhaps the city fathers will be scheduling a beach-themed winter carnival some time very soon.

2) For those readers who are eagerly following the Standard's Alan Hall guest commentary series, here's Mr. Hall's latest, reporting on the outcome of last week's Ogden business leadership pow-wow, wherein "20 community leaders met for the first time to discuss the greater Ogden-area economy":

• Leaders meet to create five-year business plan for area economy

Can we see by a show of hands, O Gentle Readers, how many of you are surprised that our Ogden City Big Government Interventionist "Leadership" is adopting a"central planning" tactic borrowed straight from Joe Stalin's old Soviet Union?

3) Excellent Letter to the Editor which just popped up on the S-E website, decrying the recent bone-headed U.S. Supreme Court decision (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) which ruled, in essence, "that corporations and unions were legally people and could spend unlimited funds on election advertisements."

• Ruling 'corporations are people' needs change

The author, liberty-loving Salt Lake City resident Cameron Morgan, makes a pitch for those lumpencitizens who'd like to see this bone-headed SCOTUS decision overturned to "join "Move to Amend" in pushing for a Constitutional amendment that spells out, in no uncertain terms, that corporations are not people and that they can and should be regulated." Unfortunately, Mr. Morgan fails to supply the necessary "action link," which omission we now cure, for our WCF readers' convenience:

• Move to Amend - End Corporate Rule. Legalize Democracy

If you'd like to weigh in on this issue, be sure to click the "petition" link, either in the MTA website header, or via the "Sign the Petition" button.

That's it for now, WCF readers.

The floor's open for anybody who'd like to comment, or even blow off a little pent-up steam.

Thursday Morning Ogden City News Roundup

A few recent news items, thrown out in the hope of getting a new discussion going this morning

Although we've been somewhat sidelined here at Weber County Forum by this week's tragic 1/4/11 Ogden Shootings story, we suppose it's time to get back into the regular "red meat news" swing of things, and resume our role as community watchdog for all things political, in and around Weber County. So here are a few recent news items, which we'll throw out in the hope of getting a new discussion going this morning:

1) Interesting article on the Standard-Examiner's business page this morning, reporting, that as a followup to Tuesday's RDA session, wherein the the Ogden City Council approved a parking lease agreement between the city and the successor developer of the Earnshaw Building Condo Project, we now learn that the subject parking lot will be turned over to the new developer, Steve Hopkins... get this... rent free.

We are not making this up, folks. Here's the key paragraph from this morning's S-E story:

While the city won’t be getting rent from the deal, Richard McConkie, the city’s community and economic development director, said the city figures that the property tax revenue generated by a completed building would increase the tax increment available to the city by as much as $200,000 annually through 2026.

Read the full S-E story here:

• Ogden leases garage space to condo

Well, at least the beleaguered Ogden City taxpayers will be getting something out of this "sweetheart" developer deal, right? It's a lot better for the taxpayers than Ogden's last couple of parking lot giveaway deals, no?

Seems that around Ogden City, the more things change, the more they remain the same, dunnit?

2) Here's something we received by email yesterday from another alert WCF reader:

MAYORAL FAVORS: Yesterday I heard a bunch of pissed off people talking about Kym and Pete taking over the welcome wagon. A gal that was running it was wondering why rent is half of what she'd been paying, and why do they get the equipment etc., for "free"?

The reference to the "welcome wagon" refers to last week's Wasatch Rambler column of course, wherein Charlie Trentelman reported that "Pete Buttschardt, owner of Rooster’s and Union Grill, is making extremely positive noises about taking [the Tourist Welcome Center's Choo-Choo's Cafe] over."

While Mr. and Mrs. Buttschard did make a small ($150) donation to Mike Caldwell's 2011 mayoral campaign, we're not ready yet to suggest that Mayor Caldwell would on that basis alone give them preferential treatment; although we'll nevertheless be keeping a close eye on this situation, of course, and would welcome any further detailed "insider" information that any of our Gentle Readers may be able to provide, regarding The Caldwell Administration's efforts to to enter into contract with a new cafe operator.

3) Here's the latest S-E Op-ed contribution from Alan Hall, wherein Ogden's own "Captain of Industry" discusses "how to grow our local economy" and "add more people to the area workforce":

• Careful and thoughtful cost cutting needed in down economy

After several earlier columns which were outright "snoozers," it's nice to see Mr. Hall finally launching into a topic where he has actual real-world expertise, we suppose.

4) And here's a thoughtful commentary from Weber County Democrat Steve Olson, who comments on the politically ridiculous Jon Greiner situation and also makes a strong and well-reasoned pitch to his "Republican friends" regarding the "need to respect the nation's conflict of interest laws, even if they disagree with them":

• Greiner forged ahead because he disagreed with law

As a lifelong registered Republican (full disclosure here) we'll give Mr. Olson a definite thumbs up on this one. And what say my fellow liberty loving fellow Republicans about this?

That's it for now, O Gentle Ones. We do have a couple of additional items remaining on the WCF back burner, but we'll save them for later this week.

Have at it, WCF readers. The world-wide webosphere is sitting on the edge of its seat, waiting to hear what you think.

Wednesday Morning Emerald City News Roundup

Who's ready to toss in their own 2¢?

Three items which caught our attention this morning whilst we somewhat unsuccessfully Googled the net for interesting red-meat political news:

1) Bad news this morning for Weber County lumpencitizens who appreciate elected officials with a strong work ethic, community dedication, ethical integrity and common sense. Weber County Commissioner Craig Dearden, one Commissioner who definitely hasn't been a real estate development industry "shill," announces this morning via the Standard-Examiner that he'll be retiring from the County Commission upon the end of his current term of office:

• Weber County Commissioner won't run again

Commissioner Zogmeister is right. Dearden's "stability and wisdom" will be greatly missed.

Sodden prediction (based upon a little insider info): Expect a locally prominent Realtor candidate, one strongly supported by the the "Biggest and Baddest PAC in the Land" to file for Dearden's soon-to-be-vacated commission seat before month's end.

2) In a tangentially-related story, the Standard also reports that "Former Republican Utah legislator Dan Liljenquist announced Wednesday that he's going to run for the U.S. Senate in Utah and will challenge six-term Sen. Orrin Hatch":

• Liljenquist officially enters US Senate race

Unlike the soon to be departing Commissioner Dearden, Senate candidate Liljenquist IS a real estate development industry shill. As our long-term WCF readers will recall, Senator Liljenquist was one of the real estate industry-backed legislative bagmen who worked feverishly to kill Rep. Gage Froerer's 2010 HB 218 (Disincorporation of Powder Mt. Town), an effort which ultimately forced the above-mentioned Commissioner Dearden and the rest of the Weber County Commission to abandon Weber County's carefully crafted zoning rules and to adopt the Powder Mountain Developer's self-serving "Development Agreement," a process which at least one Weber County Forum commentator labeled as "extortionate".

No, we're not big fans of Orrin Hatch; but replacing Hatch with an unabashed corporate shill like Liljenquist would be a big mistake for Utah voters... something akin to jumping outta the frying pan into the fire, wethinks.

3) If only for the sake of archival consistency, we'll direct our readers attention to this morning's Alan Hall guest commentary, which appears on the S-E editorial page this morning. Filled as it is with vague "political platitudes" we're not sure exactly what Mr. Hall is getting at. We've read the article over a coupla times, and despite (or perhaps due to) its rambling "wordiness," we're unconvinced that Mr. Hall (whom we do deeply respect) provides much useful guidance for "elect[ing] the right political leaders" or spending more (already "tight") money on "consumption," for that matter. Nevertheless, we previously vowed to follow Mr. Hall's series of S-E commentaries, so here's the latest, (for what its worth):

• Our problems are fixable if we choose right leaders

There is one of Mr. Hall's points which we do consider encouraging, wherein he urges Utah voters to elect "leaders" who'll "...avoid the pressures of lobbyists." It's refreshing to hear something like this from a "Captain of Industry" like Mr. Hall, don'tcha think?

That's it for now O Gentle WCF Readers.

Now, who's ready to toss in their own 2¢?

Selected Morning Items for Ogden Political Wonks - Updated

A "bird's eye view" of Ogden City economic development programs; the downtown Ogden IRS building nears completion; bonus submission from Gentle Reader Bob Becker

Just to get the conversation going this morning, we'd like to direct our readers' attention to a couple of interesting items on this morning's Standard-Examiner business page:

As a followup to last Wednesday's column, focusing on the role of Weber State University as an "economic engine throughout Northern Utah," Ogden homeboy, hotshot business entrepreneur and Grow Utah venture capitalist/business startup mentor Alan Hall delivers his second of what the Standard-Examiner expects to be a series [by] individual professional community columnists sharing their experiences and advice with readers. This sounds like a danged good idea to us, so we'll jump aboard the bandwagon this morning and provide a link to this morning's Alan Hall column, which sets out upon the ambitious task of providing "a high level overview of Ogden key's economic development programs" :

• Ogden City has five key economic development programs

Considering the complex and labyrinthine nature of meddling in the local Ogden City economy by the Boss Godfrey administration, we believe Mr. Hall has done a serviceable job of boiling it all down. With the exception of neglecting to make any reference to Ogden City's high density housing projects, we believe Mr. Hall's done a good job this morning all-in-all.

Having said that we also have to admit, however, that we winced a little bit when we came upon Mr. Hall's closing paragraph:

As we look to the future, it is obvious that Ogden will continue to play a major role in economic development. We commend past mayors and city councils for their commitments in this important area and anticipate even more focus on this topic from new government leadership in the months to come [Emphasis added].

So what about it, O Gentle Ones? Does Mr. Hall deserve high marks for this morning's "bird's eye view" column, or is Mr. Hall starting to sound like a government intervention cheerleader?

We'll also make note of this morning S-E story, which reports that "construction on a $21 million Internal Revenue Service facility downtown is nearing completion":

• IRS building nears completion

If the prospect of hundreds of Internal Revenue Service re-locating in downtown Ogden doesn't spell good news for Ogden Ogden restaurateurs and retail businessmen, we frankly don't know what could.

So what about it, folks? Can anyone see any downside to this?

That's it for now O Gentle Ones.

Who'll be the first to contribute their own 2¢?

Update 12/28/11 10:18 a.m.: Added bonus... Here's something that just came in from Gentle Reader Curmudgeon, via a comment beneath a lower article:

SE reporting this morning on the Sears corporation planning to close 100 to 120 under-performing Sears and KMart stores nationwide, and possibly more:

• Area workers at Sears, Kmart stores face unknown futures

National press speculating on whether Sears has begun a death-spiral and will be the nation's next major chain store failure.

If one of the stores closed is the Ogden mall store, that mall will be in big trouble, having lost two of its three anchor store [Mervyn's at one end, Sears at the other.] If that happens, Mayor Caldwell may begin his term with a major hole being blown in Ogden property and sales tax revenues right off the bat. Be best for Ogden if (a) it's mall store is not on the target list for closing, and (b) Sears manages to right its ship and return to profitability.

Not good news, especially on a day when the Trib reports on the miserable snowpack in Utah, that one resort has not even opened for the season, and the there's more snow on the ground at the ski area closest to Las Vegas than there is at any Utah resort:

Think snow!