Ogden Transportation Study: Currently On Track

The only real apparent obstacle? Boss "Gondola Boy" Godfrey

Interesting article in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune, regarding the tantalizing possibility that Sugar House may be the first community in Utah to adopt a "modern" street car system. We incorporate Brandon Loomis's introductory paragraphs below:

The view from a Sugar House front porch is homey: narrow streets, tree-canopied sidewalks, stroller-pushing moms.
Paint in the kind of slow-moving streetcars that rumbled over urban Utah rails decades ago and you'd think it was the 1950s. It soon will be, in a sense, if a joint study by Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake and the Utah Transit Authority leads where planners hope - to Utah's first modern streetcar line.

(And alas... here we were hoping Ogden City would be "the first." It appears these forward thinking Salt Lake County entities "somehow" got the jump on us, however.)

Toward the middle of the article Mr. Loomis describes the proposed route:

The Sugar House route stretches for two miles behind dozens of warehouses and tire shops from the Granite Block's south edge around 2200 South to TRAX light rail at 2100 South. The two cities and UTA are splitting the cost of a $300,000 study, and the line ultimately could cost $37 million and serve 2,300 people a day. Construction would come after the three parties find funding.

According to the article, not only is this a joint study by Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake and the Utah Transit Authority that's already underway, but Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker stands solidly behind it:

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker has pushed to expedite the link, and city planners see it as just the start of a web connecting denser neighborhoods with TRAX.

Being the curious type, after reading this SLTrib article, we wondered what's happened to Ogden's pending combination transportation and alternative analysis which we last discussed in mid-May of this year.

We spoke with Council Chair Amy Wicks this morning; and she kindly provided this information update:

1) Shortly following the council's above-referenced council work session, a meeting was convened with representatives of all the major "stakeholders." Representatives from the following public and private entities were in in attendance, among others: The UTA, UDOT, WSU, McKay Dee Hospital, Weber County and the Ogden Mayor's Office. In the course of this meeting the UTA agreed to draft an interlocal agreement for a joint study, apportioning the obligations of each of these stakeholders with respect to the pursuit of the subject transportation study analysis. Although this draft agreement has not yet been yet received from the UTA, it's expected to be completed any day now.

2) UTA's Mick Crandall has already confirmed that the $200 thousand in federal transportation study funds, which were stealthily granted to UTA for Ogden City's benefit last year, would be fully applicable, as at least a portion Ogden City's share of the costs of the combo transportation alternative/EIR analysis.

We'll consider this to be good news, evidence that the process of adopting a "modern streetcar system" in Ogden is generally "on track."

The bad news?

We have a lingering sensation that Boss Godfrey might not share Mayor Becker's commitment to reasonable transportation alternatives -- such as streetcars. In truth, Ogden citizens have every reason to remain gun-shy. Hopefully our city council can continue to keep his feet to the fire on this -- and disabuse Boss Godfrey of his gondola obsession.

That's our update. We thought our gentle readers would want to know about this.

Who will be the first to comment?

More Bob Geiger Screed Blowback

The first Std-Ex general reader reaction pops up in today's letters to the editor section

On July 31, The Standard-Examiner published this jagged and logically disconnected rant in its editorial page section, which generated plenty of reader mirth within this WCF article's lower comments section.

Bobby G.'s laughably ill-reasoned screed now generates the first inevitable Std-Ex reader blowback, with this morning's letter to the editor:

"Ann Milner neutral on gondola project"

We frankly don't understand the tactics of the Godfreyites, in blindly and venomously attacking the faculty and administration of Weber State University. Our locally situated home town university is a source of considerable pride all across our general community. Such clumsy tactics are bound to backfire, just as they seem to have done.

We also question the wisdom of holding the referenced Godfrey/Peterson gondola dog and pony show on a university campus in the first place. University campuses are of course venues where hard questions are bound to be asked, just as Std-Ex reader Lee Badger suggests in his above-linked letter.

Nor do we understand the Godfreyites' persistence in relying upon Mr. Geiger as their designated spokesman.

We suspect gentle reader Danny framed the Godfreyites' latter tactical problem best, in this comment, appearing under the above-linked WCF article:

The evolution of Bob Geiger:
1. Stimulating but wrong.
2. Just wrong.
3. Starting to sound daft.
4. Just boring now.
Nobody left in Lift Ogden but this strange, silly little man and his daddy.

So what about it, gentle readers, can sensible Emerald City citizens all rest easy, so long as Captain Geiger (U.S.M.C. - Ret.) remains one the the Godfreyites' main mouthpieces?

Powder Mountain Update: Two Northern Utah Newspapers Throw in Their Own $.02

The Salt Lake Tribune and Standard-Examiner editorial boards finally chime in on the Powderville brouhaha... at long last

By Curmudgeon

There appeared, Sunday and Monday, two editorials regarding the recent Powder Mountain Putsch. The first appeared in the Standard Examiner on Sunday, entitled "A Broken Process Displayed." [Yet oddly, it does not come up under "Editorials" on the paper's free site. Saturday's editorial appears, as does today's but none for Sunday. Curious.]

Here's how it opens:

On Tuesday, Top of Utah residents finally got to see up close and personal how big an egg their legislators laid in 2007. The Weber County Commission OK'd the incorporation of a town at Powder Mountain --- because, they said, the Legislature forced them into it.
Maybe. Then again... At the very least, it would be interesting to see what might have happened had the commissioners, each of whom expressed grave misgivings about the creation of a Powder Mountain town, refused to OK the incorporation."

Indeed it would have.

The editorial also notes that not a single incumbent Northern Utah legislator voted against the Developer's Dream Bill [HB 466] --- not one. Interesting editorial well worth reading and pondering. Too bad it's inexplicably not up on the paper's free website.

The second editorial appears this morning in the Salt Lake Tribune. Headline: "John and Jane Does should govern resort town". It too is well worth a look. From the editorial:

But the Weber commission members, when reviewing the resort's proposed list of council members last week, understandably balked at what could be an attempt by the resort to stack Powder Mountain's first town council with resort supporters. The list contained the minimum number of names to fill the council and mayor seats, denying the commission a choice.
Elections won't be held for two years, so the composition of the first council is important. It will lay the foundation upon which the town is built, enacting planning and zoning regulations and putting municipal services in place. So the County Commission is determined to seat a council that represents all residents, not just the resort owners, and is inviting residents to apply directly to the county for a council position....
So circle Aug. 19 on your calendar. That's the day of the showdown in the Weber County Commission's corral, when commission members may choose a council and mayor. The commissioners need to stick to their guns, and give the John and Jane Does of Powder Mountain control of their town.

The developer's hand-picked list of town council members and a mayor that the Commissioners [under the law] must pick from "could be an attempt by the resort to stack Powder Mountain's first town council with resort supporters." Could be? Gee, ya think?

The Trib's editorial board apparently believes that the Republican Weber County Commissioners have spines, despite all evidence to the contrary --- after all, they voted to deprive their constituents in the new Powder Mountain of all right of representation and the right to vote for two years. They whined a lot when they did it, but they did it. By unanimous vote. Have to wonder if the Trib reporter told the editors of the Commissioners hymns of praise for public-spiritedness of the developers' hand picked list of town officials.

But hey, miracles do happen. ['69 Mets for example]. Maybe this Halloween the Great Pumpkin will appear and visit the land's most sincere pumpkin patch. And who knows, maybe Trib's editors think the Tooth Fairy is real too.

We shall see.

Editor's Addendum: Our friends at Ogden Valley Forum also posted a thoughtful article on this topic yesterday. Be sure to check out the reader comments.

Ogden Lawn Nazis Hound 83-year old Ogden Resident

More evidence that Ogden mayor Boss Godfrey is not human
And... a few qustions for the Lawn Nazi Department's Gordon Sant

Thought-provocative article in this morning's Standard-Examiner, regarding an elderly Ogden lumpencitizenette, who's drawn the ire of Boss Godfrey's Code Enforcement Lawn Nazis, according to this morning's fine Charlie Trentelman writeup. In our usual lazy journalistic fashion, we link the pertinent paragraphs below:

OGDEN — Ella Williams’ very neat but very dead lawn could cost her $125.
Her lawn is immaculately trimmed, one of the neatest lawns in the block. The sidewalk is swept, the gutter in front is pristine. Her whole yard is one of the best kept in the neighborhood.
Her lawn is just dead: brown and crunchy.
Which is why the city of Ogden gave her a notice: two weeks to either bring her lawn back to life or face a $125 fine.
Her neighbor, Verna Price, is angry that Williams got the notice. From where she sits, Williams, 83, does more to beautify the neighborhood than anyone else.
“Every day she gets up and sweeps the gutter from her house, which is on the corner, down to the ditch,” Price said. That means she sweeps to a point several hundred feet south of her own home in the 1200 block of Mountain Road, including the gutter in front of an apartment block next door.

According to Charlie's report, Ms. Williams' in-ground sprinkling system went "on the blink" this summer, (presumably we'll assume, due to freezing pipes during our harsh 2007-08 winter. ) We'll also take the liberty of assuming that the cost of bringing in a backhoe and a plumber crew, and locating the presumably leaking pipe, digging it up and replacing it doesn't exactly fit onto this fine and gentle woman's retirement budget.

Nevertheless Boss Godfrey's "Lawn Nazis" are doggely bearing down on this unfortunate woman, and suggesting that she be fined 125 dollars, even though she can't water her lawn without flooding her basement. Undaunted, Ogden City bureaucratic Godfrey Nazis nevertheless treat her like any other Ogden City Gangsta. This qoute from the morally/ethically-challenged Keith Morey, one of Godfrey's foremost Lawn Nazis, is particularly notable:

Keith Morey, head of Ogden Neighborhood Development, which includes code enforcement, said he sympathizes with Williams’ problems, too, but the city can go only so far.
“It depends on where you want to draw the line in the sand,” he said. “Can you say we want green lawns, but only if you’re in your 20s and 30s and 40s, and after that we don’t want green lawns?”

The Little "shite' Keith is no doubt somebody Godfrey recuited to an Ogden City job from one of the local wardhouses... somebody who will lay down and die in defense of the "blessed" little Godfrey twerp.

Obviously the little shite has no recognizable human "soul." 'Tis is of course a common personality defect among Godfreyites/Gondolist a-holes.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Wouldn't it be reasonable to cut this eighty-something woman a little slack? The little shite C-smoker Keith blindly but surpisingly poses the "Real" question: Where exactly does a humane society "draw the line?"

Isn't it a little STUPID of us, who reside in a mountain desert to insist everybody in MattGodfreyWorld should have continuously green lawns?

What part of "desert" do local people not understand?

Is there anyone here who would oppose the Ogden City Council in passing an ordinance requiring Boss Godfrey to be hauled to the nearest red antihill, and be buried up to his neck, just for fun? That would be desert justice indeed.

Ogden City Council, please take note.

In that connection we ask Chief Ogden Godfreyite Lawn Nazi Pawn GORDON SANT just what's happening, exactly, with regard to this Ogden City scofflaw:

Gadi Leshem

What about it, Gordon, we limpencitizens ask. Have you sent thirty-plus letters to Gadi Leshem regarding his series of thirty-plus neglected properties?

Are you indulging in selective enforcement?

Have you sent 14-day letters to Gadi, regarding his 35-plus rundown Ogden properties, or not?

Or are you just being a Godfrey Code Enforcement revenue raising Robot?

Enquiring minds need to have the answer to these questions.

[END OF RANT]

Prostitution Remains Standard-Examiner Front Page News

A few queries re the Standard-Examiner's ongoing "Ogden prostitution" series

Embarrassing though it is for your prudish blogmeister to say it, it appears that the Standard-Examiner has recently developed a "prostitution fetish." During the past week, our home town newspaper has previously run no fewer than five Ogden prostitution pieces, most of them plastered all over the Std-Ex front page.

In our never ending effort to conform to the standards of the family-friendly blog that we are, we in the straight-laced editorial offices of Weber County Forum have heretofore averted our eyes, and basically ignored the recent Std-Ex flurry of prurient and voyeuristic ink, hoping against hope that this line of reporting would simply go away.

Alas, the Std-Ex is back at it again, with two more prostitution stories today, each of them again appearing right there on the front page, in full frontal view of children, prudes and everybody!

Prostitution arrests surprise
Recent Ogden sting results in 8 arrests

So we've decided to break our editorial silence. We can no longer hold our tongue. Having plowed through all this material, we ask: What's the Standard-Examiner's point, exactly?

Is this "prostitution series" intended to inform the lumpencitizens that the oldest profession is actually being practiced right here in our hard-scrabble blue collar town? (We think most folks already knew that. In a town that's notorious for its downtown "red light alley," this info isn't exactly news to us.)

Does this series represent an attempt to portray Boss Godfrey as a True Crime Fighter? (Most of us know the real truth about that.)

Does the front page placement of these lurid stories merely represent a Std-Ex attempt to increase news stand sales? (Times are tough for the print media these days, and we confess we wouldn't rule that out.)

And we'll also pose a tangential question: Does the placement of these stories on the front page of the Standard-Examiner violate community standards of good taste?

At least one Std-Ex reader answered that question yesterday, with a hearty and resounding "Yes!"

So we now turn to our readers for their take. What's up with the Standard-Examiner, we ask?

The Dean Martinez Lawsuit Moves to Federal Court

Added twist: Scott Brown reportedly contemplates an "A" Team encore

Last month, the Standard-Examiner reported that former Ogden City Human Resources Department director Dean Martinez had refiled his lawsuit against Boss Godfrey, and various Godfrey administration officials in Ogden's Second District Court. This morning's Standard-Examiner follows up on developments in the Martinez case, and reports that the lawyers for the Ogden City defendants have successfully moved the matter to federal court, ostensibly because some of the causes of action pleaded in Martinez's case turn on federal issues.

Whether this was a favorable tactic for Godfrey and the other defendants we do not know. As has been demonstrated in recently concluded litigation, Godfrey has seemingly enjoyed something of a home court advantage in the local Second District Court, an advantage that will no doubt disappear in a federal court venue, where the typical federal district court judge exercises a degree of political independence equivalent to that of a medieval Chinese warlord.

And here's an interesting twist: We've learned this week from a highly reliable source that Scott Brown, whose personnel file seems to be the chief evidentiary football in this case, is presently being courted by the Godfrey administration for an encore performance in Ogden City government, and that he'll likely be rejoining the Godfrey "A" Team to sort out the currently unravelling Ogden City financial mess very soon.

Inasmuch as one of the key issues in the Martinez case is the city's alleged failure to have disciplined Mr. Brown for alleged acts of sexual harassment during his previous tenure, it will be interesting to contemplate and observe how his prospective return to the Ogden City payroll may affect the litigation.

Our readers can be assured we'll be closely following further developments in this story.

Comments are invited, as always.

Powder Mountain Update: A Plea for Citizen Action

A heads-up regarding ongoing behind-the-scenes political activity

Just to keep our readers informed of developments in the Powder Mountain situation, we'd like to inform interested readers of some behind-the-scenes activity which is currently being undertaken by the community activists in Ogden Valley. In the period between now and the next scheduled Weber County Commission meeting on August 19, 2008, at which time the commission will take up the the business of appointing a new mayor and council, Ogden Valley community activists are launching a public information campaign, soliciting letters and commentary to be directed toward the print media and County Commission, and preparing the groundwork for citizen contribution to a soon to be formed legal defense fund.

For details and contact information, navigate to today's latest article on Ogden Valley Forum.

If you'd like to help out in the effort of our Weber County neighbors to the east to prevail in their valient fight against the overbearing action of a greedy developer in Ogden Valley, now's the time to step up.

We'd like to add one additional call to action. If you, or someone you know is eligible to serve as mayor or council member for the soon to be appointed Powder Mountain Town government, now's the time to submit names and brief resumes to the Weber County Commission. The Commission will be compiling and vetting their own expanded candidate list; and as of our last conversation with Commissioner Dearden a day ago, the Commission had received only one single citizen application.

Standard-Examiner Exclusive: A Bob Springmeyer Interview

The Utah Democratic Party gubernatorial challenger shares campaign tactics with Ace Reporter Schwebke

Interesting locally-oriented story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, wherein Ace reporter Schwebke reveals results of an editorial board interview with Democratic Party gubernatorial challenger (and former Ogden resident) Bob Springmeyer. We dutifully incorporate Mr. Schwebke's opening paragraphs below:

OGDEN — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bob Springmeyer said Thursday his victory in November could hinge on Weber County votes.
“As Weber goes, this statewide election is going to go,” he told the Standard-Examiner’s editorial board. “This is ground zero.”
Springmeyer, who once lived in Ogden, said he’s hoping presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama will re-energize voters in Weber and Salt Lake counties, typically party strongholds, which could help him beat GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman.
“One of the reasons I’m confident about this race is Obama,” he said. “He’s bringing in a whole new group of people (voters) ... that I haven’t seen since Jack Kennedy.”
Springmeyer, a 65-year-old management consultant from Salt Lake City, said he will have difficulty unseating Huntsman if presumptive Republican presidential candidate John Mc-Cain picks Mitt Romney as his running mate. He joked that he might as well go fly-fishing if that happens.

As for Mitt Romney's prospects of sending candidate Springmeyer on a pre-election fishing trip, we don't see a high probability of that. After all, a Romney V.P. selection would drive the GOP's core bible belt wingnuts even more nuts than they already are. Besides, GOP presumptive presidential nominee McCain hasn't historically gotten along so well with Romney himself. So in this connection, we think The Deseret News' Bob Bernick got it right in his morning column. Sorry Utah Republicans... "a Romney V.P. selection ain't gonna happen." Probably good news for Utah Democrats, however.

So, in Springmeyer's analysis, he (and his entire Utah Democratic Party candidate slate) stand a better than normal chance of riding into office on Barrack Obama's coattails, assuming Romney is indeed ruled out of the presidential race.

But even then it isn't quite that simple. As reported here and elsewhere, some diehard Hillary Clinton supporters are still jockeying for a Denver Democratic Nominating Convention floor fight.

We haven't yet spent much time here on Weber County Forum delving into the intracies of the upcoming 2008 General election -- so far. Perhaps this would be a good place to start.

Come one, come all... Democrats and Republicans alike. We think it would be interesting to elicit our own WCF readers' comments and analysis. The entire world blogoshere is sitting on the edge of its seat, waiting to hear "what's up" from the "Weber County Forum Think Tank."

Does this Springmeyer guy have an actual shot at defeating Governor Huntsman? Will Obama overcome lagging polling, and nevertheless become the Democratic nominee? If so, will a horde of Utah Democratic Party challengers be ushered in to office on his coattails, if any? Will Hillary ever "find" whatever it is she's actually looking for? Will George Bush render the whole 2008 election moot, by declaring martial law and going to war with Iran?

So many questions... so few answers...

Boss Godfrey Takes His Cheap Carney Act On the Road

Councilman Stephenson vows to be Godfrey's "Best Trade Show Buddy"

By: A Little Birdy

Visit the world's most EXTREME mayor at Outdoor Retailers Summer Market Show, which is taking place Friday through Monday at the Salt Palace Convention Center and the EnergySolutions Arena. About 1,050 companies will be exhibiting products for buyers, retailers and manufacturers. Along with legitimate sports industry folk, there will be the "High adventure" Mayor of Ogden, Utah, working like a carney, and running a booth.

Check out the high-adventure mayor in Booth 32016.

What a waste of time and taxpayer dollars. I hope they are not still handing out that awful Hitzig gondola DVD piece with the world class cheesy explosion to people visiting the Ogden booth.

Descente/DNA are not listed as exhibitors, but what do you want to bet they are at the show, hanging with Matty? Salomon has booth 32201 and Suunto has booth 20015. Atomic is not registered, nor is Goode.

I heard from a reliable source that at Tuesday's 8/5/08 Ogden City Council work session Brandon Stephenson proposed to the Council that he use his education and travel funds to sell Ogden at these Outdoor Retailer type shows. I guess he wants to "party" with his idol Godfrey, heheh. What happens in Salt Lake STAYS in Salt Lake City, I guess.

A flabby middle aged balding man who has not spent much time outside his yard, who considers his church scout trips to be all the "high adventure" activity you need to give you street cred wants to try to sell our fair city and surrounding recreational jewels to these "extreme high adventure" folk who are going to swarm the city and save us from certain decay. Does he not know that most of the people at these trade shows actually participate in the activities they sell gear for and they like to enjoy the barley pop? Those who actually climb and surf and are not impressed by downtown icicles or artificial waves...

Uggggggggggh!

Too Danged Dumb to Know What's Good For Ogden

Installment #2 in the Standard-Examiner "Godfreyite Sour Grapes Series"

Just to get the conversation going this morning, we'll highlight what seems to be the second installment in the Standard-Examiner "Godfreyite Sour Grapes Series," appearing on the Std-Ex editorial pages. Following closely on the heels of last week's Bob Geiger rant, this morning's Rupert Hitzig guest commentary obliquely restates Mr. Geiger's previous (and preposterous) suggestion that the folks at Weber State University are somehow "opposed to Ogden's economic rebirth."

Briefly stated, Mr. Hitzig's narrative begins with his initial infatuation with Ogden's great "potential," and ends with with his dashed dream to establish a film school within the WSU Communications Department. Here's the gist:

We contacted Weber State University to find out more about its film program, and found out it didn’t have one. But, determined to get interested students involved, we connected with the Department of Communications and the university kindly gathered over 20 members of the faculty to hear our ideas. We proposed an offshoot of the Communications Department that would provide paid, on-set experience as part of the curriculum. We would get affordable labor, and the students would get actual experience on commercial films.
There was some initial resistance at the beginning of the meeting, because it was new and different, but by the time we adjourned, both sides agreed to pursue the idea. It seemed like a win-win situation, or so I thought.
Unfortunately, our fruit died on the vine. Even though we offered to financially underwrite the program, we never got any more interest. After repeated attempts to contact the principals at the university, the vision of cooperation with Weber State and an Ogden rife with production withered to nothing. The enthusiasm for the program and a possible new agenda for affordable production and educational opportunity was just not there.

The problem, suggests Mr. Producer Rupert: We provincial lumpencitizens are just too danged dumb to know what's good for Ogden.

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

Powder Mountain Update: The Town Incorporation Aftermath

A Powderville post-incorporation post-mortem

Several new articles this morning, reporting on yesterday's Powder Mountain commission hearing aftermath. Our calender's tight this morning so we'll be brief, and merely post the links, without any of our own jagged commentary.

This morning's Standard-Examiner/Charlie Trentelman story:

• "Commission approves town of Powder Mountain -- but begrudgingly"

And this story, from the Deseret News:

• "Weber commission approves Powder Mountain incorporation"

We'll also highlight two informative Ogden Valley Forum articles posted earlier this morning:

• "Powder Mountain Incorporation OK'd"
• "Utah's Newest town and the Perps Chosen Six - Welcome to Powderville, aka Powder Mountain Town"

We think this ought to bring everyone up to speed.

Although we've already had a fairly robust discussion under our earlier thread, we encourage those readers who are not "talked out" to pick up any further discussion here.

Have at it, gentle readers.

Redneck Stonehenge Revisited

Development-besieged Hooper farmer spreads his message around the globe

"A lot of people moving from areas like Taylor into Hooper have been complaining about the farms,” Davis said. “(But) you don’t want to tick off a redneck with a backhoe — that’s just not a good idea.”

Standard-Examiner
Hooper farmer’s car fence attracting global attention
August 6, 2008

We were pretty sure the Standard-Examiner had stumbled upon a highly entertaining and newsworthy story on Monday, and so we said in our own WCF post that very afternoon. Little did we realize however, how truly "big" the Rhett Davis "Redneck Stonehenge" story would become. The Std-Ex carries a followup story this morning, reporting that the story has grown beyond a matter of purely local interest, and has now become the focus of intense international attention. We incorporate a few of Greg Boyle's key paragraphs below:

HOOPER — Rhett Davis and his self-proclaimed Redneck Stonehenge have received attention from California to Austria, and Davis isn’t done yet.
On Monday, the Standard-Examiner ran a story about Davis and the ad-hoc fence he erected in his backyard by digging large holes with a backhoe and planting three old demolition derby cars nose-first.
The idea came to Davis after new neighbors who purchased a home behind his farm complained his animals attract too many bugs and his tractor kicks up too much dust. “A lot of people moving from areas like Taylor into Hooper have been complaining about the farms,” Davis said. “(But) you don’t want to tick off a redneck with a backhoe — that’s just not a good idea.”
Within hours after the story was first published, Davis received calls from almost 20 news outlets, including radio stations and newspapers from across the country.
The Standard-Examiner’s story was picked up by news wire services and Web sites, so it was available around the world.

Just how much interest did this story provoke? This morning's google search currently registers 46,600 hits.

How important was this story? Important enough to provoke a Std-Ex editorial this morning -- AND a danged fine Grondahl cartoon.

Weber County Forum Tips O' the Hat go out all around this morning: First to besieged Hooper farmer Rhett Davis (who got the ball rolling,) and secondly to the Std-Ex staff, who disseminated the word via the Std-Ex website and newswires.

We hope Mr. Davis can continue to milk this story for all it's worth. We haven't seen anything this good since, well, this....

Breaking: The Weber County Commission Adopts North Korean-style Politics by a 3-0 Vote

Corporo-fascist Powderville News Flash

By Curmudgeon

This morning, the all-Republican Weber County Commission voted, 3-0, to approve the incorporation of Powder Mountain as a town, and agreed to appoint the mayor and council members for the town from a list submitted [and approved by] the Powder Mountain Resort developers... oh, excuse me, I meant of course by the independent civic minded folks who petitioned to have Powder Mt. incorporated as a town. Heaven forfend anyone should confuse them with the Powder Mt. Resort developers.

We'll update this article today as further information flows in.

Hundreds of Banks Will Fail, Roubini Tells Barron's

Roubini: Yes, That's $2 Trillion of Debt-Related Losses

More chirpy economic news in the U.S. financial press. From Sunday's Reuters story:

NEW YORK, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The United States is in the second inning of a recession that will last for at least 18 months and help kill off hundreds of banks, influential economist and New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini told Barron's in Sunday's edition.
Taxpayers will pay a big price for helping bail out the rest of the financial services industry as well, Roubini said -- at least $1 trillion and more likely $2 trillion.
The banks will become insolvent because of mounting losses as a result of the housing bust and because they have only written down their subprime loans so far, he said. Still in front of them are their consumer-credit losses, for which they lack the reserves, Barron's reported.
He also said there are hundreds of millions of dollars outstanding in home-equity loans that could be worth zero, too.
U.S. consumers, meanwhile, are "shopped out" and saving less, while the Federal Reserve's performance in handling the crisis has been poor, Roubini said, because it failed to see that the problem extended beyond subprime mortgage debt.

Read the full story here: "Hundreds of banks will fail, Roubini tells Barron's"

For those readers whose eyes haven't already glazed over at our mere reference to economic news, Professor Roubini's original Barron's interview is available here: "Yes, That's $2 Trillion of Debt-Related Losses" . (Be sure two check out the two short videos embedded within the article.)

This is the kind of information you're not going to learn about if your information sources are confined to the local press and broadcast news.

Q: So why do we keep harping on the dire condition of the U.S. economy?

A: Because we believe our gentle readers deserve to know the truth.

Tuesday Morning News Roundup

Three Standard-Examiner stories involving Ogden's continuing revitalization

By Curmudgeon

The Standard-Examiner this morning has three stories, all involving, in one way or another, Ogden's downtown [or close] revitalization.

The first is headlined "Ogden To Offer Three Business Grants." From Scott Schwebke's story:

OGDEN -- The city will shell out $20,000 [via a contest] to find the three best business plans for new and unique retail establishments downtown....
The contest that runs through Aug. 25 will help revitalize the city's downtown business district extending from Wall Avenue to Adams Avenue between 20th and 27th streets, said Godfrey. "We want to re-establish retail in the downtown core," he said....
The contest calls for the city's administration to award a $10,000 prize to the entrepreneur who submits the best retail business plan and $5,000 each to second- and third-place finishers. The contest is open to existing businesses that want to expand and new start-up companies.

Sounds like a reasonably good idea to me. There's considerably more detail in Mr. Schwebke's story.

The second Std-Ex item reports that Ogden's High Adventure Recreation Committee wants to build a BMX bike track just west of the Weber River. From the story:

OGDEN -- The city's High Adventure Recreation Committee will seek a conditional-use permit Wednesday from the Ogden Planning Commission to establish a 4-acre BMX bike track at a former landfill site. The track would be located at 2599 "A" Ave....
The track would be operated by a nonprofit BMX organization, said John Patterson, the city's chief administrative officer. The High Adventure Recreation Committee and Weber-Ogden Bicycle Advisory Committee are working together to construct the track, which would be sanctioned by the American Bicycle Association, Simpson said....

And who will pay for the track? Well, that's a tad fuzzy, as the funding for Godfrey Administration backed projects often is. Here's what John Patterson told the Std-Ex:

Exact cost estimates to develop the track haven't been finalized, Patterson said. The city may provide some in-kind labor to build the facility, and other costs could be covered by the operator, he said.

This strikes me as another good idea. The more popular recreational opportunities Ogden can offer, particularly those attractive to young people, the better. [And before the caterwauling starts, yes, I know BMX racing isn't what most folk mean by "High Adventure." I don't care. If it's a good idea, and I think it is, I don't think it matters a hill of beans if it's backed by Ogden's "High Adventure Recreation Committee" or Ogden's "Medium Elevation Adventure Recreation Committee" or Ogden's "Just A Little Bit of Adventure Around the Edges Recreation Committee." It's a good idea... provided the funding can be worked out.

And finally, Charles Trentelman's "Wasatch Rambler" column this morning describes Habitat For Humanity's work rehabbing two dilapidated family homes on lower Doxey Street, and on a family that hopes to get to own one of them, a family that has no hope in hell of qualifying for a regular mortgage on a home in a non-trouble neighborhood. Good story. Good on Habitat for Humanity. And good on the Godfrey administration for making the properties available to Habitat for Humanity for a song [comparatively speaking]. These projects too are part of the process of making downtown Ogden... all of Ogden... a better place to live.

Redneck Stonehenge

A new idea which will surely put Hooper, Utah "on the map"
Boss Godfrey's "vision" of "the "New Ogden" gets mercilessly upstaged

Fantastic new video on the Standard-Examiner "live" website this morning, once again demonstrating our home town newspaper's commitment to the multimedia world which is quickly eclipsing stodgy and traditional print journalism.

You've all heard of Cadillac Ranch, of course, the work of offbeat automotive art structure that put the city of Amarillo, Texas on the tourist map?

Well step aside Amarillo... there's something intensely interesting going on right down the street from us in Emerald City... in Hooper, Utah, of all places, by Gawd. Feast your little beady eyes eyes on this:


The Standard-Examiner has the full explanatory story here. And though it seems, under the circumstances, that Mr. Davis's work of automotive art is probably intended more as a basic and "not so subtle political statement directed toward his sleazy developer neighbors," rather than a grand "rhapsodized embodiment of American hopes and dreams, folly and failure, art and commerce, materialism and spiritualism," we think Davis's cars planted into the ground are danged nice art anyhow.

Perhaps Mr. Davis will have the good sense to put together a grant application and try to get his hands on some of that loose RAMP tax money that's been previously doled out to opportunistic Public Trough Slurpers like Jeff Lowe.

We're amazed, frankly, that Boss Godfrey hasn't already come up with something like this. The little Shite wants to put Ogden City "on the map," yes? So what, exactly is Boss Godfrey waiting for?

And what say our gentle readers about this curious situation?

Powder Mountain Update: Last Chance for the Lumpencitizens to Speak Up?

A call for our Weber County Commission to "choose the right"

This morning's Standard-Examiner finally gets around to reporting what regular Weber County Forum readers already knew: The Powderville town incorporation petition and related business is on calender tomorrow morning for Weber County Commission approval (or rejection.) Here's the word from this morning's Brooke Nelson story:

OGDEN — Requests to approve a resolution granting a petition to incorporate Powder Mountain as a town and appoint its mayor and council are on Tuesday’s Weber County Commission meeting agenda.

It's been nearly a month since the matter was last on the commission agenda for public hearing; and it now appears that the Commissioners believe they've received sufficient citizen input to make a decision in this important matter:

An overview of the ski resort’s latest proposal was presented then, and the full document has been available the past few weeks on the county Web site, www.co.weber.ut.us/commission.
Commissioner Jan Zogmaister said the commission has received some community feedback since the proposal was posted.
“Several people have organized their thoughts, but there are no new concerns that had not already been brought up at the public hearing,” she said, adding she’s received a variety of facts, statistics and maps from the public.
None of the e-mails she personally received about the posted plan was in support of the proposal, Zogmaister said. Powder Mountain officials will attend Tuesday’s meeting, said Powder Mountain spokeswoman Lisa Davis.
“Along this process, we’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from across the board,” she said. “We’re really impressed with the community involvement on this issue as a whole.”[Emphasis added].

Although we're not privy to all the citizen input the Commission has received, some of it has been made publicly available; so we'll present the following online links for our readers' review:

• Powder Mountain Update: Open Letter to the Weber County Commission;
• Comments on Powder Mountain Draft Development Agreement;
• May v. Town of Mountain Village U.S. Tenth Circuit Court Opinion;
• Steve Clarke analysis of Powderville's Development agreement Part I;
• Steve Clarke analysis of Powderville's Development agreement Part II.

It's in this connection that we urge those readers who haven't yet submitted their own input to do so now. And for the convenience of those who haven't yet chimed in on the subject we link the County Commissioners' contact information below.

• Ken A. Bischoff - Email - (801) 399-8406
• Craig L. Dearden - Email - (801) 399-8406
• Jan M. Zogmaister - Email - (801) 399-8406

For our readers' further information, we've already submitted our own input, urging the Commission to reject the developer's petition outright. We believe this course of action is well within the Commission's legal discretion.

We urge our gentle readers to likewise join us in this.

Fearful of possible litigation, our state legislature took the cowards' way out during the last legislative session, refusing to fashion appropriate retroactive remedial legislation, thereby depriving prospective Powderville residents of fundamental voting rights, even as they otherwise prospectively cured the clearly faulty legislation which caused this problem in the first place. It's our hope that our County Commissioners will not follow suit; but that they they will instead "choose the right," conform to their oaths of office to uphold the Constitution, and send a message to the developer that they will not stand for the exploitation of their own constituents by means of a flawed legal loophole. Litigation is inevitable for the county in any event, in our opinion; and we therefore ask: Why should our County Commission find itself on the wrong side of it?

We've reached a most critical juncture, gentle readers. Speak up now... or forever hold your peace.

The floor is open for your ever-savvy reader comments.

Two Uncommented References to the "G" Word

An all-time-indoor track record

By Curmudgeon

Two gondola references in Sunday's Standard-Examiner, and no WCF comments? Wow. I think that's probably an all-time-indoor track record.

The first appears in Charles Trentelman's column: "I'll say it if no one else will," he writes, "The century-long vision of a gondola up Mt. Ogden will never really die, but it is dead for now." [From your keyboard to God's ear, Mr. Trentelman....]

The second appears in Mark Saal's column. Saal found himself thinking about cities with trendy made up neighborhood names like Tribeca and SoHo, and he decided Utah... and Ogden... could use some of the same to to really put us on the cultural map. And his list includes SuProGo, short for "Those Ogden neighborhoods 'Surrounding Proposed Gondola.'"

Mr. Saal invites other suggestions.

Science Saturday Special

A collection of important science stories gleaned by your blogmeister recently

It's Saturday afternoon; and according to Weber County Forum Tradition, we once again set up an open-topic thread. Talk about whatever you want to talk about... but please remember this is a science oriented thread. Here are a few suggested topics within that genre:

• Have scientists discovered a cure for Alzheimer's? If so, Ogden's Dave Harmer needs to learn more about this... quickly!

• Histatin: Why 'Licking Your Wounds' Actually Works. This is something dogs and little kids already know, yes? We wonder how many lumpencitizen tax dollars were wasted on this revealing "study."

• Killer asteroid heading our way. Not to worry, the Russians, with the world's second-best nuclear arsenal, are apparently on top of this.

• Russian explorers reach bed of world's deepest lake in Siberia Perhaps the Russians will find the remnants of America's formerly great economy down there somewhere.

• Final/Final: Water is definitely discovered on the planet Mars. We can't wait to fly up there as the earth dries out with global warming, to fill up our canteen.

• Final/Final/Final: And whatever you do... don't sit don't sit on the bus in the seat next to this guy. Consider this a science story from the wishy-washy world of the non-mathematically predictable psycho-socially based "social sciences."

Remember... this an open-topic thread.

Last one out... turn out the lights and lock up as per usual.

Nighty nite!

Powder Mountain Update: The Weber County Commission Calenders the Developers' Incorporation Request for August 5th

Sierra Club Conservation Chair Schroeder furnishes additional written material

Important Powder Mountain news development from the Ogden Valley Forum blogsite:

The Weber County Commission Web site has the Weber County Commission agenda for August 5th at 10:00AM. Item #6 is a request to approve a resolution to grant the petition for incorporation for the Town of Powder Mountain, and #7 is regarding Powder Mountain's request to appoint the Mayor and Town Council for the town to be incorporated at Powder Mountain. [Emphasis added].

Visit Ogden Valley Forum for further details.

And while we're on the subject, be sure to check out the relevant written material we received last evening from Ogden Sierra Club Conservation Chair Dan Schroeder:

• Comments on Powder Mountain Draft Development Agreement
• May v. Town of Mountain Village U.S. Tenth Circuit Court Opinion

We've been pressed for time, and thus haven't had time to fully read and digest Dan's material. Perhaps we'll find the time to do that over the weekend. In the meantime, we invite our readers to provide their own analysis and commentary here.

From all appearances, it seems that the Powder Mountain matter is rapidly coming to a head, and that the developer is once again operating in "hard-ball" mode.