Latest news with #SaltLakers
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Salt Lake City School District issues first of $730M school improvement bonds
The Salt Lake City School District has initiated the first steps toward a massive overhaul of its high schools, following a vote last year. District officials announced Wednesday that they've issued the first series of bonds tied to the $730 million bond that residents approved in the 2024 election. The bond was proposed to fund plans to rebuild West and Highland high schools, as well as support other projects like a 'modern' new athletic field house at East High School and sustainability projects throughout the district. Officers added that the first issuance follows recent meetings with Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investor Services over the bond market. Both agencies affirmed the district's AAA bond rating following reviews of the proposed projects, the district's financial operations, and the local economy. AAA is the highest credit rating available, signaling the least amount of risk, as noted by the bond agencies. It allows the district to borrow at the lowest possible interest rate. 'This is a win for our students, our schools and our taxpayers,' said Salt Lake City School District Superintendent Elizabeth Grant in a statement. 'We know Salt Lakers are facing rising costs in nearly every area of their lives. Thanks to our district's history of strong financial management, we can make critical investments in our facilities while minimizing the financial impact on our community.' Construction of a rebuilt West High School is on pace to begin in March of 2026, according to the district. The $300 million project is expected to take five to seven years to complete. Highland High School's rebuild is also expected to cost $300 million, but construction isn't expected to take as long. The district anticipates breaking ground on the project next spring, with completion expected in 2030. Construction on East High School's new field house is expected to begin sometime after that, likely two to three years after construction begins at the other schools. The $40 million project is tentatively expected to be completed in 2030. The remaining $82 million in project costs will be allocated toward a student-led Sustainability Resolution that the school board adopted in 2020. The money will go toward new solar panels and electric heat pumps at facilities, enabling the district to achieve its goal of using 100% clean energy by 2030 and becoming 100% carbon neutral by 2040. The district estimates that projects will begin this fall and continue through 2029. The bond received 61% of the vote from Salt Lake City's residents in November 2024. Property tax increases related to the bond will begin appearing on tax notices in August, district officials wrote on a project website. The increase is expected to raise district property taxes by $38.33 per year, or $3.19 per month, for every $100,000 in home value, which equates to $220.80 per year for the median homeowner. Businesses will also receive an increase of $67.70 per year, or $5.81 per month, for every $100,000 in value. Still, district officials say landing the AAA bond rating should help taxpayers save 'millions' in future interest payments over the life of the issued bonds. 'This is an external recognition of Salt Lake City School District's long-standing practice of sound financial management and wise long-term planning,' said Alan Kearsley, business administrator for the Salt Lake City School District. 'We are proud to be able to save our taxpayers money as we begin selling the bonds approved by our community last November.'
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Salt Lake City wants to make popular farmers market year-round with latest Pioneer Park idea
The Salt Lake City Downtown Farmers Market has become one of the largest in the nation since it debuted in 1992. More than 250,000 shoppers attended last year's summer market, exploring produce and other items from over than 300 vendors who came from 16 Utah counties to sell their products at Pioneer Park, according to the Salt Lake City Downtown Alliance, which oversees the weekly event. The city now wants it to become more than just a seasonal event at the park. Salt Lake City leaders unveiled plans for a new public market building to help the park become a 'year-round home' for the market and other events. The city has also tentatively reached a memorandum of understanding with the Downtown Alliance to potentially create a new public-private partnership to manage future park operations, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced Thursday. 'A future where Pioneer Park is utilized to its full potential is a future where Salt Lakers feel more connected to each other, to the outdoors and to our community,' she said in a statement. 'This partnership with the Downtown Alliance builds on decades of success with the Farmers Market and opens the door to that aspiration.' The announcement comes as the downtown park is due for a major overhaul. Salt Lake City plans to break ground on its Pioneer Park Vision Plan this fall, an $18.4 million project that seeks to drastically overhaul the park, which draws large crowds when the market is open but is often empty at other times. On average, fewer than 170 people visited the park every day last year, per the city. A new playground, plaza, pavilion and ranger station, new pickleball courts and a fenced off-leash dog area and natural habitat section are among planned features for the park through the separate project led by the city's public lands division. The city also shared renderings of a new art piece to be installed next year earlier this month. A year-round market could be another feature, but the building would also host a mix of public and private events when the market isn't open, according to the Downtown Alliance. It would replace its current winter market location at the Gateway. The downtown business nonprofit added that it would like to add elements like lawn games, cafe seating, a beverage bar and public bathrooms at the facility. The building's design and other elements are still subject to Salt Lake City Council approval. Construction is tentatively expected to begin as early as 2026. City officials say they will conduct feasibility assessments this year as the proposal goes through a public process. The downtown market not only brings crowds to the park, but also it's become a 'phenomenal economic tool,' resulting in $11 million in annual direct-to-consumer sales, Dee Brewer, executive director of the Downtown Alliance, reported to the City Council earlier this year. It could also help turn one of the city's lowest-rated parks around, he added on Thursday. 'Pioneer Park has endured a bad reputation for decades. We know we can change the chemistry of the park. We have done it every summer Saturday for 34 years with the Downtown Farmers Market,' he said. This year's market returns to the park on June 7. It will continue on most Saturdays through Oct. 25.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion: The Wasatch earthquake is long overdue, and America isn't ready
Experts believe that the Wasatch Fault, one of the longest and most active normal faults in the world, is long overdue for a major earthquake, with a 57% chance of experiencing a magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquake within the next 50 years. This is common knowledge among Salt Lakers, who consider themselves blessed, if not lucky. But luck isn't a plan. And with our national disaster system melting down, they could be on their own when The Really Big One finally hits. Early in his second term, President Trump signed Executive Order 14239, seeking to offload responsibility for disaster response to state and local governments. A few days later, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she planned to 'eliminate' the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This isn't reform. It's abandonment. It's chaos by design. Here's how our disaster system is supposed to work: Local responders are the first in. The state backs them up. And when the scale of the crisis exceeds their capacity, the federal government steps in — like a big brother with deep pockets and national muscle. The Stafford Act authorizes this, and the National Incident Management System is the playbook. This system, when it works, brings order to the chaos of catastrophe. But it is being dismantled before our eyes. And no one has any idea what will take its place. The system hasn't always worked. After Hurricane Maria in 2017, chaos in the first Trump administration led to prolonged suffering in Puerto Rico. Then came the spectacular collapse of federal crisis management in April 2020 during COVID's early weeks. 'We were all told on a phone call — all 50 governors — that we were basically on our own,' said Washington Governor Jay Inslee. Hospitals overflowed. PPE vanished. States were left to compete against each other for lifesaving supplies. The administration's workaround seems to be to write the federal government out of the process altogether. That huge gamble is based on the idea that 'all disasters are local' — a concept that crumbles in the face of true catastrophe. Studies of major earthquake responses — from Mexico City in 1985 to Christchurch in 2010 to Türkiye in 1999 and 2023 — have found time and again that local and state governments were overwhelmed within hours. With several strands of the fault zone passing directly through the city, this matters deeply for Salt Lake City, one of the most seismically hazardous urban areas in the West. If the Really Big One hit today, would we be ready? Not even close. The United States has the resources, the people and the expertise. What we don't have is someone in charge to make things happen. We need FEMA — now more than ever — to manage the increasingly complex and severe disasters of a polycrisis age. A refocused and empowered FEMA would forge strong public-private partnerships, leading a response that is government-led but not government-centric. It would become the national disaster machine we so desperately need: fast, coordinated, relentless. But we are running out of time. One of these days, in the not-too-distant future, Salt Lakers will wake up in a parallel universe. The fault will finally give way, shredding the Wasatch Front and ripping a gash in the earth's crust from Ogden south through Salt Lake City and all the way to Provo. Dazed families will wander through ruined streets. Thousands will be trapped in the rubble. And no one will be coming to help. When that failure happens, it won't stem from a lack of personnel, equipment or technology. It will stem from a lack of competence. And that will be the catastrophe within the catastrophe.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Salt Lake City, Boise seek to skirt laws banning Pride flags by adopting them as city emblems
SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) – The Democratic-controlled cities of Salt Lake City and Boise adopted new city flags this week showing support for LGBTQ+ people in defiance of their respective states' Republican-controlled legislatures, which have banned traditional rainbow pride flags at schools and government buildings. 'Our City flags are powerful symbols representing Salt Lake City's values,' Mayor Erin Mendenhall said. 'I want all Salt Lakers to look up at these flags and be reminded that we value diversity, equity, and inclusion — leaving no doubt that we are united as a city and people, moving forward together.' The Salt Lake City Council had voted to approve the addition of three new city flags that feature LGBTQ+ and Juneteenth designs at a meeting late Tuesday evening. This meeting was called to bring the city under code with the recently passed H.B. 77 flag bill, which allows the display of only 'certain flags on government property.' The measure — which aims to sidestep such violations by adopting the new flags as official city flags — passed unanimously. House votes to overturn California clean truck rules – defying internal watchdog Under the Utah law, which went into effect Wednesday, state or local government buildings can be fined $500 a day for flying any flag other than the U.S. flag, the state flag, a city or county flag, military flags, Olympic and Paralympic flags, official college flags or tribal flags. Political flags are not allowed. It is currently unclear if Salt Lake City will face any litigation due to the passage of its three new flags, which commemorate Juneteenth and acknowledge the city's LGBTQ+ residents and transgender community. According to H.B. 77, the State Auditor's Office is tasked with the enforcement of the flag ban. Idaho's flag ban, meanwhile, took effect April 3, barring government buildings from displaying any flags except those on a short list including the U.S. flag, flags of military branches and official flags of government entities. A separate ban containing some exemptions for school buildings takes effect July 1. The pride flag has regularly flown over Boise's City Hall for years, and Mayor Lauren McLean kept the flag aloft even after Idaho's law took effect. McLean said she believed the law was unenforceable. Last week, McLean responded to the Idaho law by issuing a proclamation retroactively making the pride flag an official city flag, along with a flag honoring organ donors. It allowed both to be flown alongside Boise's traditional blue flag featuring the Capitol building and the slogan 'City of Trees.' The city council voted 5 to 1 for the proclamation during a packed and sometimes rowdy meeting Tuesday night. 'Removing the flag now after years of flying it proudly would not be a neutral act,' said council member Meredith Stead. 'It would signal a retreat from values we've long upheld and send a disheartening message to those who have found affirmation and belonging through its presence at city hall.' Florida seeks to enforce a law making it a crime for people in the US illegally to enter the state Both Salt Lake City and Boise's actions have already faced criticism from Republican lawmakers in each state. Utah State Rep. Trevor Lee (R-Layton), the bill's sponsor, took to X and said, 'Does Salt Lake City really want to play these games? Good luck!' And the bill's state Senate sponsor, Sen. Dan McCay (R-Riverton), also needled Mendenhall by posting edited pictures of flags representing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Israel and 'MAGA Country,' claiming that she should adopt these flags, too, if she truly wants her constituents to feel 'seen.' Idaho State Sen. Tammy Nichols also claimed 'there will be consequences' for Boise in a post on X. Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador also recently warned he would ask lawmakers to add a mechanism in the 2026 legislative session to enforce the state's new ban. Other Idaho communities are also grappling with the restriction. City buildings in Bonners Ferry, roughly 30 miles from the Canadian border, have long flown Canada's flag in a sign of cross-border friendship, removing it only in April after Idaho's governor approved the flag restriction. But the law contains an exception that allows government entities to fly the flags of other countries during 'special occasions.' Seeking to again fly the flag year-round, the Bonners Ferry City Council passed a resolution Tuesday designating every day of the year a 'special occasion' to commemorate friendship with Canada. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Salt Lake City, Boise seek to skirt laws banning Pride flags by adopting them as city emblems
SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) – The Democratic-controlled cities of Salt Lake City and Boise adopted new city flags this week showing support for LGBTQ+ people in defiance of their respective states' Republican-controlled legislatures, which have banned traditional rainbow pride flags at schools and government buildings. 'Our City flags are powerful symbols representing Salt Lake City's values,' Mayor Erin Mendenhall said. 'I want all Salt Lakers to look up at these flags and be reminded that we value diversity, equity, and inclusion — leaving no doubt that we are united as a city and people, moving forward together.' The Salt Lake City Council had voted to approve the addition of three new city flags that feature LGBTQ+ and Juneteenth designs at a meeting late Tuesday evening. This meeting was called to bring the city under code with the recently passed H.B. 77 flag bill, which allows the display of only 'certain flags on government property.' The measure — which aims to sidestep such violations by adopting the new flags as official city flags — passed unanimously. Under the Utah law, which went into effect Wednesday, state or local government buildings can be fined $500 a day for flying any flag other than the U.S. flag, the state flag, a city or county flag, military flags, Olympic and Paralympic flags, official college flags or tribal flags. Political flags are not allowed. It is currently unclear if Salt Lake City will face any litigation due to the passage of its three new flags, which commemorate Juneteenth and acknowledge the city's LGBTQ+ residents and transgender community. According to H.B. 77, the State Auditor's Office is tasked with the enforcement of the flag ban. Idaho's flag ban, meanwhile, took effect April 3, barring government buildings from displaying any flags except those on a short list including the U.S. flag, flags of military branches and official flags of government entities. A separate ban containing some exemptions for school buildings takes effect July 1. The pride flag has regularly flown over Boise's City Hall for years, and Mayor Lauren McLean kept the flag aloft even after Idaho's law took effect. McLean said she believed the law was unenforceable. Last week, McLean responded to the Idaho law by issuing a proclamation retroactively making the pride flag an official city flag, along with a flag honoring organ donors. It allowed both to be flown alongside Boise's traditional blue flag featuring the Capitol building and the slogan 'City of Trees.' The city council voted 5 to 1 for the proclamation during a packed and sometimes rowdy meeting Tuesday night. 'Removing the flag now after years of flying it proudly would not be a neutral act,' said council member Meredith Stead. 'It would signal a retreat from values we've long upheld and send a disheartening message to those who have found affirmation and belonging through its presence at city hall.' Both Salt Lake City and Boise's actions have already faced criticism from Republican lawmakers in each state. Utah State Rep. Trevor Lee (R-Layton), the bill's sponsor, took to X and said, 'Does Salt Lake City really want to play these games? Good luck!' And the bill's state Senate sponsor, Sen. Dan McCay (R-Riverton), also needled Mendenhall by posting edited pictures of flags representing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Israel and 'MAGA Country,' claiming that she should adopt these flags, too, if she truly wants her constituents to feel 'seen.' Idaho State Sen. Tammy Nichols also claimed 'there will be consequences' for Boise in a post on X. Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador also recently warned he would ask lawmakers to add a mechanism in the 2026 legislative session to enforce the state's new ban. Other Idaho communities are also grappling with the restriction. City buildings in Bonners Ferry, roughly 30 miles from the Canadian border, have long flown Canada's flag in a sign of cross-border friendship, removing it only in April after Idaho's governor approved the flag restriction. But the law contains an exception that allows government entities to fly the flags of other countries during 'special occasions.' Seeking to again fly the flag year-round, the Bonners Ferry City Council passed a resolution Tuesday designating every day of the year a 'special occasion' to commemorate friendship with Canada. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
