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Urban Solar

Urban Solar

The feds are proposing solar on public lands--but what about rooftops?

By Amy Brunvand

In October 2012, Interior Secre­tary Ken Salazar signed a record of decision creating a program for utility-scale solar energy on public lands in Arizona, Cali­for­nia, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. This sounds like a positive step in the right direction toward a clean energy future, but there is a catch.

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The Granary District

The Granary District

Could a temporary shipping-container retail project bring life to the Granary District?

By Shane Farver

It may look to the casual passerby like an urban sacrifice zone—the area encompassing foundaries, factories and warehouses that have seen better, more purposeful days. Along with the concrete silos, abandoned scrap iron recycling yard and an auto body shop with guard chickens, the industrial and railway corridor of Salt Lake City that extends from 6th South to 10th South, and from 3rd West to I-15 also houses a Tibetan Buddhist temple, an excellent restaurant, an alternative music all-ages venue, a pyramid with mummies in it, a cupcake shop, a couple art collectives and, soon, Utah's first net-zero mixed-use building with onsite solar production.

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In the Garden: Lessons Learned in Allergy Season

In the Garden: Lessons Learned in Allergy Season

DIY remedies are sometimes the best.

By Alice Toler

I used to hate my allergies. What's to like about them? When I get a good snootful of pollen, it feels like my brain is trying to evacuate itself through my sinuses. Sometimes I start to teeter into asthmatic territory. I lose my ability to think properly. I can't physically function at all. It is incredibly frustrating. Spring is a lovely time of year, but I've learned to associate fresh plant growth with inevitable bodily distress.

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First Unitarian Church Sees the Light

First Unitarian Church Sees the Light

And it is solar powered!

By Adele Flail

One congregation here in Utah is already providing a model for what we may see as more and diverse people of faith organizing to protect the environment. The First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City, located at 569 South and 1300 East, has already embraced the need for action, according to the Church's minister of over 26 years, Reverend Tom Goldsmith.

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Confessions of a Snake-a-Holic

Confessions of a Snake-a-Holic

Why I love snakes (and so should you).

By David Jensen

If you ask the average person for an opinion about snakes, the result will range from unbridled excitement to utter revulsion. As a confirmed, self-diagnosed snake addict, I fall into the first category. I have loved snakes since I was a kid, and the kid within me still thrills at the prospect of finding or catching a snake. Teaching people about snakes and being a snake ambassador have al­ways been second nature to me, and I knew early on that saving snakes was a cause I believed in.

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Facts About Flukes

Facts About Flukes

A fluke by any other name is still gross.

By Diane Olson

Flukes, also called trematodes, are a type of parasitic flatworm that infests everything from ants to elephants. Ranging in size from 0.2 to 4 inches, they resemble leaves or pieces of ribbon with big, leech-like suckers; have no respiratory or sense organs; and excrete through their mouths. There are between 8,000 and 24,000 species worldwide; fortunately, a mere 35 of them inhabit humans and none of those typically live in North America. Fluke infections are, however, a huge health problem in Asian, Africa, South America and the Middle East.

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How a Soccer Bond Turned into an Argument About Due Process

How a Soccer Bond Turned into an Argument About Due Process

Could the Supreme Court weigh in on SL's infamous soccer complex?

By Katherine Pioli

The city counted on creating an overwhelming environment to get what they wanted. We warned them. We told them that we would fight every step of the way," an impassioned Jeff Salt told me during a recent phone interview. The topic of our conversation was one that most Salt Lake citizens forgot about long ago, though it still affects every Salt Lake resident: the battle over the Jordan River soccer complex, as it has come to be known, and the $15.3 million bond citizens passed to pay for it a decade ago.

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Victory for Move to Amend

Victory for Move to Amend

New city ordinance allows citizens to measure grassroots support for reining in corps.

By Alice Toler

In a way, the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling has done us all a favor when it comes to recruiting individual enrollment in the democratic process: Bring up campaign finance reform at a dinner party and you're liable to be met by a roomful of glazed eyeballs, but pose the question as to whether a corporation is a person, and you're much more likely to get some conversational engagement.

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Chakra Series: Chakra Four

Chakra Series: Chakra Four

Feel the power: What you should know about belly fat.

By Todd Mangum

Through the third chakra we begin to access the astral planes —more subtle frequencies of energy than are experienced through our five senses alone. This center is receptive to the impulses that inform our "gut instinct," that way of knowing without knowing why. Through the third chakra we develop our courage, determination and will. It is said that someone who is courageous and willing to take risks has a lot of guts.

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Editor's Notebook: Rallies and Everyday Actions

Editor's Notebook: Rallies and Everyday Actions

Utahns march on Monsanto.

By Greta Belanger deJong

In 1973, then-National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger said, "Who control the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls the money can control the world." On Saturday, May 25, 2013, over two million people around the globe declared they were not up for being controlled. They participated in The March Against Monsanto. According to Associated Press: Participants rallied 436 cities spanning 52 countries.

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Community Events

Wed Jun 19 @ 6:00PM - 08:00PM
Urban Chicken Keeping Basics
Wed Jun 19 @10:00PM -
20th Annual Antelope Bike Ride
Thu Jun 20 @ 6:00PM - 08:30PM
Creative Waterwise Gardens for Pollinators
Thu Jun 20 @ 6:00PM - 08:00PM
Meet the Artist: Muralist Roger Whiting
Thu Jun 20 @ 7:00PM - 09:00PM
Food Poetry Slam: Eat Your Words
Fri Jun 21 @ 4:00PM - 05:30PM
The Backyard Chicken Fight!
Fri Jun 21 @ 5:00PM - 09:00PM
Bowling For Rhinos 2013
Fri Jun 21 @ 5:30PM - 08:30AM
Campout
Fri Jun 21 @ 7:00PM -
Summer Solstice Concert Fundraiser at Riff's Acoustic Music in Park City, Fri., June 21st
Sat Jun 22 @ 9:00AM - 11:00AM
4th Annual Early Bird Brunch

Catalyst Blogs

  • Jun 18, 2013
    Come meet the Windsor Street flock!
    Written by

    You've read about them. You've watched them grow up from tiny little bobble-headed peepers into egg-laying, kiddie-pool-swimming, midnight-honking backyard mobsters. You've even watched one of them wage mortal combat with a watering can. Now come meet the Windsor Street flock this Saturday 22nd June as a featured stop on the Wasatch Community Garden's Urban Garden and Farm Tour.

    Posted in Fowl Play
  • Jun 12, 2013
    The Aquarium Age: June 12-18
    Written by

    Separating the wheat from the chaff won't be easy this week. Planetary crosscurrents pull in different directions simultaneously, and daily life reflects that astral hodgepodge with too many situations, individual and collective, in need of attention. Expect to feel stretched, especially if you have more than one iron in the fire, more than one child to take care of, or more than one friend who is wrestling with dire circumstances. The good news is that positive occurrences are also a part of the mix.

    Posted in Aquarium Age
  • Jun 11, 2013
    More goslings on the way!
    Written by

    More exciting news on the Windsor Street Farm. Ethel the goose has proven our naysaying wrong and started sitting a clutch of her eggs. For the longest time, we suspected that her genetic line may have had the tendency towards broodiness bred out of it. Every time it seemed she might sit on some eggs, every time she got our hopes up, within a night and/or a day, she’d be off the nest again. But this time’s different. This time she’s on the next for a good solid month…we hope.

    Posted in Fowl Play
  • Jun 06, 2013
    Dorothy and the Goslings
    Written by

    The goslings are growing bigger every day. We haven’t named them yet, though I have suggested calling them “Thanksgiving” and “Christmas.” Dorothy the hen is doing a great job of raising them. She sticks up for the little ones and flies in the face of the dogs or cat or geese when they get too near.

    Posted in Fowl Play

Regulars and Shorts