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Thumbs up, thumbs down: Air quality, rescued puppies, more Swift cleanup, ERA

By Standard-Examiner - | Dec 7, 2019

We’ve got a whopping thumbs down this week for air quality. We’re all guilty parties in this, and we literally have to live with it. It was so poor along the Wasatch (Davis and Weber included) that planes were redirected as they couldn’t land in Salt Lake City amidst the trapped fog and smog. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality informed residents on those yellow and red air days that residents should not use solid fuel burning devices, nor is open burning like fire pits, fire rings and campfires allowed. It urged all of us to reduce our individual vehicle use by consolidating trips and carpooling. Air quality in Weber County is forecasted to be moderate through the weekend. Unfortunately, this probably won’t be the last time we encounter the stifling effects of the inversion this winter.

Nothing warms hearts quicker than puppies, and this week we heard a lot about the rescued Great Pyrenese puppies that were found last weekend. Rescuers found the young puppies at the Monte Cristo trailhead inside an animal carcass, trying to keep warm with ice in their fur. While it was obviously an inappropriate and inhumane way to dispose of pets, we are so glad — and know many of you are, too — that they were found and that locals reached out in great response to adopt them and make sure they were OK. While their situation could cause one to lose faith in humanity, the response restores hope that there are so many Utah residents who will come to the aid of those who need it, human or animal.

The Swift site might as well be a money pit. This week, we learned that the site requires another $813,000 for cleanup. This doesn’t account for the cost of cleaning up chemical waste managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that finished in November, and the entities who will fit the bill are still undetermined. The cleanup is absolutely necessary, but it’s a shame that it’s fallen on all Ogden taxpayers and not the parties responsible.

We support the women who put for a resolution this week for Utah to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. For many young girls, they might not even realize this was proposed in decades past, and failed, as it worked to give women equal rights to men. While women living here have equal rights granted by the state Constitution, not all states do. Women everywhere should enjoy equal civil, political and religious rights. It’s an issue that extends past party boundaries, across different religious aisles and is owed to women and future women everywhere.

It is a good thing that the Davis County Commission approved a $9 million bond this week to construct a new medical wing in its county jail. The Standard-Examiner has reported on this issue at length, and firmly believes that until corrections facilities start to better address the health issues, including mental health and addiction, while inmates are incarcerated, we will not move forward in our communities in reforming these struggling citizens. Despite being held in jail, these people facing their worst days are still entitled access to adequate health care services and treatment.

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