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A new report produced by a coalition of wildlife groups, conservation organizations and universities sounds the alarm bells about the threat of climate change to birds and the potential consequences of continued global warming. The dangers are greatest in coastal areas, where small islands used by birds for hatching eggs away from predators could disappear as ocean levels rise. But the threat is also local, because climate change could reduce the amount of water in the Colorado River basin by more than 20 percent, which would impact birds who depend on the waterways in the basin and those who call the potentially drought-starved grasslands and forests home. Another threat important to Utah is the increased danger and severity of forest fires, which destroys habitat. Oh, wait ... there are no threats here. The Legislature resolved that climate change is a hoax and a conspiracy. Now, move along.
Riverton City Council members are poised to place significant restrictions on where payday lenders can locate as well as the number of payday lenders allowed in their city. The proposed zoning changes would prohibit a payday lender from opening within 600 feet of another lender, and would cap the number of permitted payday lenders at one per 10,000 residents. Currently, that would allow four lenders, two more than are in the city. But really, isn’t one lender enough to fleece its already poor customers?
Alpine School District officials came under fire during a recent public hearing for using words such as “enculturating” (see video embedded below) in their mission statement, which dozens of parents apparently saw as proof that the schools are pushing a socialist agenda. According to an article in the Daily Herald, one angry speaker identified President Obama, gay rights, energy taxes, the national debt, a U.N. army and the district’s mission statement as all part of a growing socialist movement. Another parent said that the socialist agenda was forcing parents to send their children to charter schools instead of district schools (both are publicly funded, by the way). Most parents also drive on publicly funded roads en route to the schools, and maybe even check out books at the publicly funded library or play in publicly funded parks. My God, they’re right—socialism is everywhere.
