August 2016

“If you want to practice medicine, you better find something else,” an allopathic doctor once adviseded a sincere young pre-med student. Babbie Lester heeded that doctor’s words and took a different path to helping others heal. After college, she appre …

Sitting at a long steel commercial kitchen countertop in her chef’s apron, Perola Drogueti spoons a thick creamy pudding of condensed milk from a large metal bowl and smears it into the bottom of a plastic cup. Snapping a vanilla wafer cookie in half, …

A hidden gem resides just below Millcreek Canyon. Built in 1922 by Nathaniel Baldwin, the inventor of headphones and other sound products, the Baldwin Radio Factory is located 3474 S. 2300 East in Salt Lake City, soon to be City of Millcreek. Now about …

Great Salt Lake is a living laboratory and bohemian refuge whose water rights need defending. Salt Lake City is just far enough removed from the lake for which it was named that the salty shorelines are easily forgotten. But if you hike up to Ensign Pe …

Risque Soiree has  an active clientele  in Utah. People still talk about Stanley Kubrick’s weird and kinky last film… the one where Tom Cruise leads us into a world of seduction, wealth and erotic liaisons. Eyes Wide Shut was scintillating yes, but tha …

Salt Lake City will transition to 100% renewable energy for municipal electricity needs by 2032 and reduce carbon emissions by at least 80% by 2040, Mayor Jacki Biscupski recently announced. Atmospheric CO2 is responsible for climate change that threat …

The Mountain Accord process that began in 2013 has resulted in a plan for the future of the Wasatch Mountains that everyone can agree on. Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Ut-3) announced the bipartisan Central Wasatch Conservation and Recreation Area Act …

On the other hand, the proposal for a Bears Ears National Monument is an example of what happens when politicians play political games instead of engaging the community. U.S. Congressmen Rob Bishop (R-Ut-1) and Jason Caffetz (R-Ut-3) are trying to ram …

Supposedly, one reason to transfer federal lands to state ownership is that states could manage the land “better.” But data used to prove this point in a recent report issued by two conservative think-tanks has been proven false. Access Divided: State …

Editors from the nonprofit Torrey House Press delivered a book of poems and essays about Utah public lands to every member of the U.S. Congress. Thirty-four writers contributed heartfelt words to Red Rock Testimony: Three Generations of Writers Speak o …

The Army Corps of Engineers has declined to issue a permit for the Sanpete Water Conservancy District to build a dam on Gooseberry Creek saying that “the proposed project has the potential to cause significant adverse effects to the quality of the huma …

A toxic algae (cyanobacteria) bloom in July closed Utah Lake entirely to human activity. Although toxic algae growth may be due to normal lake cycles, it is also associated with fertilizer runoff, leaking septic systems, effluent from water treatment p …

A committee tasked with drafting the official party platform for the Republican Party voted to include “requiring the federal government to convey certain federally controlled public lands to the states,” making the GOP the official party of taking the …

A monthly compendium of random wisdom for the home, garden and natural worldAUG 1 Today is Lammas, the beginning of the fall harvest season. AUG 2 NEW MOON. This month has two birthstones: lovely green peridot, brought to the surface by volcanoes, and …

Your essence creates the forms you experience in your life. The more willing you are to dive deep into your essence, the more clear the reality becomes because you are no longer needing to project your unresolved issues into the external world. When yo …

Now’s the time to take advantage of the abundance of fresh herbs in the garden. Make a salad sing with diced fistfuls of parsley, sorrel and chives added to a basic vinagrette. Add sage and basil blossoms, too, for a strong burst of their fresh, famili …

How many times would you guess you’ve practiced Adho Mukha Svan­asana (Downward Facing Dog pose)? Or how about Trikonasana (Triangle pose)? Pick any one of yoga’s staple asanas and you may have placed your body in its requisite shape hundreds or even t …

When we think of terrorism—both conceptually and literally—most of us will immediately think of it as an outside, threatening force that we must protect ourselves from. It is something that happens to us, not with us and certainly not because of us… …

In the world of permaculture, this weed has a worthy job to do. I love bindweed. (Or morning glory, if that’s what you prefer to call it, or Convolvulus, if you’re a proper geek.) No, seriously, I do. Admitting this to any companion in the garden elici …

It’s possible your tomatoes are better traveled than you are. Have you ever asked where they came from? Chances are, if you’re buying that Early Girl outside the months of summer it’s coming from Florida. It could also be coming from China, India, Spai …

Contemporary art is another way that a community can celebrate its identity while also challenging itself to confront uncomfortable topics,” says Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) Director Kristian Anderson. Anderson, who has led the 85-year-old …

It’s weird to have to hesitate before calling when you need the police: Will the cops make a situation worse? Cops killed more than 100 unarmed American black people in 2015. This year has seen more high-profile killings. If I were black, particularly …

The “lunch beep” vacation was about 48 summers ago but I remember it like it was yesterday’s selfie. In the days before all cars had entertainment centers or air conditioning and nobody had a pocket computer, you had to roll down the windows and experi …

Environmental news from around the state and the West. Climate positive SLC Salt Lake City will transition to 100% renewable energy for municipal electricity needs by 2032 and reduce carbon emissions by at least 80% by 2040, Mayor Jacki Biscupski recen …