The United States Senate acquitted Donald Trump after his impeachment trial. Again. The Democrats’ aim, this time, was to disqualify Trump from running for president in 2024.
I hate getting shots. But receiving my first COVID vaccination was a different story. Funny how the threat of a deadly disease can be a great motivator. And despite some reports that the process has problems, it was actually just the opposite.
Last fall, Weber State University conducted a ribbon cutting for a new building on the Davis campus in Layton — Computer & Automotive Engineering (CAE). This month, the computer history museum inside the building just opened. The museum makes clear that no matter your age, you have witne…
It’s been a busy few weeks for Mars exploration. The Hope orbiter, launched by the United Arab Emirates, entered orbit on Feb. 9. It took its first image of Mars just as the Chinese Tainwen-1 orbiter-lander combo arrived at the red planet on Feb. 10.
Jeff Bezos announced last week that he is stepping down as Amazon’s CEO. He built Amazon from scratch. He also built Blue Origin — a pathbreaking spacecraft company — on the side. In the process, Bezos became the richest person of all time.
It is no exaggeration to say that Northrop Grumman’s expansion in Northern Utah is one of the most significant economic development wins in state history. The economic impact is estimated to generate approximately $1.2 billion annually and create approximately 3,000 new, high-paying jobs. Wi…
There is considerable debate in academic circles about whether those with advanced degrees should be given a great deal more respect and money or be given straitjackets in their school color. Being married to one of these people, I can say with all the love and respect in the world that the …
President’s Day is a holiday to celebrate the presidents of this country. Most of us will do something with our long weekend: maybe ski or work some extra hours, or binge Netflix. I personally will be grading 75 exams that I decided to have due the Friday before a holiday weekend. Maybe you …
Valentine’s Day comes next Sunday, just in time to think about the people we love and let them know what they mean to us.
As the country’s political pendulum has swung back to the Democrats, there is a reason to lament that Republicans did not retain control of the Senate: Split-government leads to better and more durable public policy.
America has a new president along with calls for unity, but it remains unclear whether or how America will be able to unite and move forward.
Over the last year, I’ve found that time seems to have lost its hold on me. While days, weeks and months pass, it often feels like mere minutes or even years have gone by. As our efforts to stem the tide of COVID-19 continue and many of us opt to mask up, physically distance and/or stay at h…
The homelessness problem throughout the country, including Utah, has existed for decades. Poverty and low income relative to affordable housing are the root causes of homelessness. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the problem, since many have lost their jobs without adequate financial bene…
After months of hyping conspiracy theories and pressuring election officials to falsify results, Donald Trump incited a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol and stop Congress from certifying the presidential election. If this does not warrant conviction in his upcoming Senate trial, what possibly could?
There are likely long-term impacts on gatherings, travel, eating, medicine and home life because of the pandemic — but, of course, this is a personal perspective based on how you view the pandemic. However, for many seniors, the pandemic will have changed how they receive health care, for ex…
“[i]f you only watch Fox News, because it's reinforcing what you believe, you are not an informed citizen." — Four-star General John Kelly after serving 18 months as President Trump’s chief of staff
Victim’s testimony, a time-honored part of the American criminal prosecution process, has sent thousands of Utah offenders to prison. But justice is not advanced when, years later, crime victims are called again to give emotionally charged encores, moments before parole panel members decide …
Ask just about any parent and they have stories about the rude awakening they received last year when schools shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. From difficulties with internet access to weeklong gaps in education, Utah students have struggled to keep learning, and many have fallen b…
Recently, a friend told me of receiving a pink pamphlet that apparently had been stuffed into the mailbox. The pamphlet said simply, “Trust God, Not Science.” My friend, incredulous, noted specifically the less-than-one year turnaround on creating a vaccine for COVID-19 and suggested I shoul…
Some small Utah town just might have a gold mine hidden in a nearby burrow ...
The other day, partly out of curiosity and partly because I am rapidly becoming a man of a certain age, I found myself reading an article about something called a campus-connected retirement community. These are retirement communities connected to university campuses that offer courses and a…
The Utah Women and Leadership Project recently shared the results of a survey of Utah women who were either currently or formerly elected officials. Our goal was to better understand the factors that influence women who run so that we can find ways to encourage and facilitate more political …
On Jan. 6, the Capitol was stormed by some of President Trump’s followers. In response, many government leaders, especially Republicans, are talking about uniting the country.
I enjoyed Brett Hein’s piece about late Hall-of-Famer Tommy Lasorda’s connections with Ogden (Jan. 8). As someone who attended many Ogden Dodgers’ games in 1966, the year Tommy began his managerial career, I’d like to add an old man’s reminiscences.
It is January and once again I have made the pilgrimage to the bathroom for the required sacrifice of pride to welcome in the new year. As protocol demands, on Jan. 1, I grimly stripped, stepped on the scale and began to move through the stages of grief.
Last year presented some of the greatest challenges Ogden small business owners have faced. Unfortunately, there has been a disproportionate effect on diverse-owned businesses, including those owned by Black and African American entrepreneurs.
Last week, the world watched in shock as a group of violent, angry people attacked the beating heart of our republic: the United States Capitol. It was a pathetic attempt — not supported by the vast majority of those disappointed by the election results — to disrupt the remarkable process es…
Decades ago, a rogue summer windstorm crawled down from the mountain range west of our small starter home and stalked across the valley floor, bashing away at everything in its path. My four young children and I watched it coming toward us through the living room window. I braced them for it…
Facebook and Google haves been in the headlines, alleged to be competitive menaces, but forget about it. Major League Baseball, in truth, is antitrust predator No. 1. In a lawsuit in formation likely involving the 41 American communities just savaged by MLB’s exercise of monopoly power, it w…
During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month this January, the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and state attorneys general are continuing to build an unexpected army of eyes and ears across America that will leave human traffickers with fewer places to hide. Si…
I do not think that I am alone in sharing my gratitude that the calendar page has turned, and we have left 2020 behind. That being said, of the many lessons learned over the last 365 days, one that has left its mark on me is that I have realized I don’t HAVE to do things, I GET to do things.…
It feels like a Christmas miracle. Thanks to the tireless efforts of scientists across the globe, most of us will be vaccinated for COVID-19 by summer 2021.
Who knew that a simple box covered in brown paper with a hand drawn picture of a pile of poop on it could be so inspiring?
Years ago, my dad, sister and I took a class in celestial navigation. You might wonder why anyone would do such a thing, but we all grew up sailing, and this was an opportunity to use some of the world’s oldest technology to navigate the ocean in the modern world. The final for the class was…
It’s Christmastime and for months now I’ve been wallowing in catalogs. For escapist entertainment, catalogs beat just about anything short of Disneyland. Catalog world is pure fantasy.
This holiday season, the world is in desperate need of healing, from our health to the economy to politics. And while we may feel powerless as individuals to solve these big issues, I believe there is a means for each of us to improve our personal and professional lives: the gift of forgiveness.
Many of the same people who criticized Attorney General William Barr for showing leniency toward Roger Stone and Michael Flynn in their criminal matters are now calling for the Biden Department of Justice to prosecute President Trump.
One of the best people I have ever known, Joyce Weston, was an accomplished pianist and much-admired person where I grew up in River Heights, Utah. Despite being roughly six decades older, she and I became good friends when I was a young boy. Being next-door neighbors, I would regularly go o…
The man in the long, wool coat who threw the $100 bill at them left so quickly they scarcely even saw him. It happened that fast.
In the home stretch of the 2020 campaign, presidential candidate Joe Biden leaned hard into the issue of climate change, giving a televised climate speech and running climate-focused ads in swing states. His campaign bet that this issue, once considered politically risky, would now be a winner.
This year has been a mixture of fast and slow, opportunity and obstacle, and want and appreciation. You may recall that I threw down a gauntlet, challenging each of us to try 12 different things to build understanding at the beginning of the year. While I engaged in many of those efforts, th…
One year ago, the Ogden City Council approved a resolution to participate in the Community Renewable Energy Act, known informally by its bill number, HB 411, or CREA. In short, participation in HB 411 allows Ogden to pool with other municipalities across Utah and jointly negotiate in procuri…
Economic hardships of minimum wage workers concern many Americans. Federal minimum wage was enacted in 1938 at $0.25 an hour. It covered 40% of the prevailing hourly rate and covered 50% of non-supervisory workers (Department of Labor). Congress, through a series of amendments since 1938, ha…
Donald Trump’s presidency has been a four-year stress test of America’s constitutional system. Trump’s belligerent governance has weakened the bipartisan fabric — rooted in prudence, decency and comity — that ties our multi-branch system of government together.
The small table offering masks and hand sanitizer just inside our front door was the unlikely greeting to our Thanksgiving Day guests this year. It was symbolic of this year of COVID. The younger cousins wore their masks more naturally than the rest of us — most likely because they wear them…
There is an old saying, the baseball rule: “Never change a winning game, always change a losing one.” Is the COVID fight a losing game? Some states, and some nations, have done lockdowns and others have not. Some mandate mask wearing, others do not. The rate of infection is rising rapidly re…
The silver lining for Kaysville’s fiber infrastructure project defeat is the fact that 8,570 voters or 49.2% voted yes, and this means the project would have been financially successful. In a historically high turnout election, only 143 more yes votes of the 17,425 votes cast would have turn…
About one year ago, the Utah Legislature was presented with “A Plan to Elevate Utah’s Economic Success” by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). This plan was the outcome of a comprehensive effort to tap Utah’s best minds with respect to economic development in order to help …
This year, 2020, has truly been a rather terrifying roller-coaster ride so far, not just for me but for my family, friends, neighbors, community and, indeed, the entire world. My young grandchildren are now growing up with memories of masked faces and eyes filled with fear and frustration.
Back when I attended journalism school in the early 1990s, we were frequently exhorted to “find the drama” in whatever we were covering. Drama sold papers, and if you wanted your precious byline on the exalted front page, you needed to write stories that elevated conflict and emotion. Even i…
I’m about three quarters of the way through teaching my first completely virtual semester and, with the trajectory of COVID19 cases, it looks as if I’m going to be settling in for another.
