The Chain Restaurant Stimulus Plan

Liquor license limits could increase, as long as it means less people drinking and does not benefit locally-owned businesses.— The way to woo a legislator, as any lobbyist can attest, is through their stomach. And, apparently, it is even more effective if the food is served up by a national chain that has not opened [...]

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Tequila News

As a college student, I loved visiting Tijuana. Crazy women. Rocking nightclubs. Cheap tacos. Insane cab drivers. And free tequila. Outside of almost every bar, restaurant and dance club, aggressive Mexicans pushed free tequila on willing Americans. I quickly learned that there was an easy way to play their game: Accept their offers, go into [...]

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Cowering Donkeys

Utah Democrats demonstrate their primary skill: acquiescence. Resolutions carry pretty much no practical weight, yet they can offer the chance to deliver strong rhetorical punches. Running them is a strategy that Republican legislators, especially those struggling to distinguish themselves, embrace annually. Democrats, however, flail helplessly to get completely innocuous resolutions pass, and then let most [...]

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Kill The Newspaper

A new Facebook group has launched, aimed at saving the printed newspaper. Almost everyone I know in the news business has joined this group in the last few days. I haven’t  joined, and I won’t. Here’s why. The newspaper, as in the actual printed product, is quickly becoming irrelevant. Any news organization continuing to print [...]

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Cow Farts Create Hot (Legislative) Air

Global warming claims get legislators hot and bothered. Climate change happens, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. What is not happening, however, is a definitive reason attributable to man. People, put down the pitchforks, at least the ones pointed at me. That’s not my argument, that’s the argument made by Rep. Kerry [...]

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Hits & Misses: Rainwater, Senior Slackers, Democratic Revolt

Blooming Legislation Capturing rainwater is an easy “green” renovation for homeowners. It’s also illegal in Utah, something Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, wants to change. On Feb. 1, the Senate approved his bill with a 25-2 vote, which would allow property owners to collect up to 2,500 gallons of rainwater on their property [...]

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Nixing Nicotine

The e-cigarette is touted as the healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes, at least if the marketing is to believed. For at least some current e-cig users, the marketing is not a lie. Brian Anderson told the House Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday morning that the e-cigs, which are essentially inhaled shots of nicotine, have [...]

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Jerry, To His Friends

J.D. Salinger’s friends recount tales of his life, proving that he was anything but a recluse.— To some people, such as City Weekly’s own Stephen Dark, J.D. Salinger had a seemingly huge impact on their teenage lives, especially with Catcher in the Rye. The book did not have that same impact on me, but it [...]

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