This is the Way
The Utah Way. Well, that was a fun and yet unsatisfying read. The Salt Lake Tribune made a valiant effort to define what "the Utah way" means to all those politicians who like to use it—often and with impunity. The word most often used was "collaboration," not to be outdone by "inclusiveness." Yeah, to read this article, one would think Utah is a collaborative haven in which everyone respects everyone else's views, and we somehow come to that elusive consensus that results in a happy public outcome. The story came close a few times to hearing what people really think. "At its worst, it's a sound bite used to explain away policy decisions without the real work of reaching consensus," said Jean Hill of the Catholic Diocese. If you want to hear what it really means, Gov. Spencer Cox gave us a clue when he indicated that the Biden administration should pretty much let Utah do what we want with public lands. In other words, it's the Utah way or the highway.
Thirst Traps
At least the Utah Rivers Council realizes that Utah is in a drought—and it's not a fleeting phenomenon. They and 10 other Colorado River Basin organizations are seeking a federal investigation into the Central Utah Water Conservancy District and how they're spending $800 million to promote water conservation. In a nutshell, it's about corruption, conflict of interest and the curious case of conservation-denial. If you don't know what the Central Utah Water Conservancy District is, you may know of the Lake Powell Pipeline, which hopes to send water south from the Colorado River. The district, of course, says everything is on the up-and-up, that lobbyist and former legislator Christine Finlinson isn't benefitting her business interests despite ties to the district. She, however, is ready to sue the Utah Rivers Council for its accusations, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Finlinson has said that conservation would be too expensive to implement. But there is a human cost to depleting water supplies.
Fanning Flames
The Deseret News wins City Weekly's absurdity award for defending itself against the preposterous. Yup, Hal Boyd, executive editor of Deseret national, penned this piece of, well, satire? "Opinion: No, the Deseret News doesn't have a 'leftist agenda'." Really. Boyd apparently is paying too much attention to someone who's been paying too much attention to social media. It was a "colleague" (who shall remain nameless). Boyd disputes the claim that "we somehow use The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—the publication's owner—as a Trojan horse 'front' to surreptitiously push this 'leftist agenda.'" After much googling, we found posts (long posts) on Quora arguing over whether the Deseret News is or isn't leftist. And now Boyd himself has given voice and publicity to that fake news.
