http://www.utahstories.com Utah Stories is about highlighting and protecting individuality in a world becoming more homogeneous every day. We offer mini-documentaries highlighting independent small business success stories; We also offer grass roots perspectives, and analysis from those whoes lives have been impacted by corporate or government power abuse. en-us http://www.utahstories.com/graphics/rss.gif http://www.utahstories.com 90 36 http://www.utahstories.com/videoAlone4.html?MovieName=vc1 Verl Cook's farm is located in a city hungry for big box corporate investment. Real estate developers are salivating over Cook's farm 40 acres of farmland just off 1-15. See why Verl Cook says he and his family will never sell. http://www.utahstories.com/park_city_arts_festival.htm Photo and video highlights from the 2008 Kimball Arts Park City Festival. Includes video with commentary on the best the festival has to offer. http://www.utahstories.com/localvore_farm.htm Utah Stories spends a couple of hours touring Verl Cook's beautiful farm below the Timpanogos Mountains as development encroaches on one of the last family farms in Orem. http://www.utahstories.com/salt_lake_courthouse_expansion.htm Federal government courthouse funding uncertainty could leave Market Street Salt Lake City without Port O'Call and a giant hole in downtown Salt Lake City for years to come. http://utahstories.blogspot.com/2008/08/historic-preservation-infringing-on.html When Does Historic Preservation Infrige on Private Property Rights? http://www.utahstories.com/videoAlone4.html?MovieName=km0 Utah Stories films Kurt And Melody Bellock in their studio and up the the Kimbal Arts Park City Arts Festival. See the incredible way the Bellocks have innovated the art of recycling old dead trees into valuable living art. http://www.utahstories.com/wooden_bowls.htm Kurt and Melody Bellock find joy in transforming dead old growth urban trees into living works of art. http://www.utahstories.com/salvage_artist.htm Brandon Beach ditched a $150 thousand dollar per year job to rummage through trash heaps for materials to make art. Find out why he says the trade-off has been well worth the sacrifice. http://www.utahstories.com/samak_smokehouse.htm Cherry wood smoked beef jerky made at the base of the Uinta Mountains fulfills the dreams of Samak Smokehouse owners Jen and Dave. http://www.utahstories.com/tumbleweed_mini_houses.htm Utah Stories examines the growing popularity of the U.S. mini-houses compared to european dachas and cottages. http://www.utahstories.com/mushroom_man.htm Have you seen the mushroom man? Meet Robert Angelilli a former ski bum/ Executive Chef now makes his living as a mushroom broker and vendor at the Farmers Market http://www.utahstories.com/brandon_beech.htm The first in eight-week Farmers Market series, Utah Stories profiles salvage artist Brandon Beech http://www.utahstories.com/amtgard.htm Investigating the growing national appeal of medieval live action role playing in the Utah and the United States. http://www.utahstories.com/pioneer_park_improvements.htm Are the city improvements making a difference in Pioneer Park? Utah Stories investigates by talking to homeless vagrants as well as police officers and farmer's market organizer Kim Angeli. http://www.utahstories.com/omar_living_cuisine.htm Omar Abou-Ismail has built from scratch a successful restaurant in Sugar House. Hear his opinions and ideas for the future of the Granite Block. Also, Omar's take on what a genuine counter-culture needs to be about. http://www.utahstories.com/westgate_timeshare_scams.htm Part III in the ongoing story of attempting to fight back against Westgate Resorts rip-off timeshare scam. http://www.utahstories.com/sugar_house_plans.htm See all of the revised plans for the Sugar House Granite Block only on Utah Stories http://www.utahstories.com/sugar_house_conflict.htm Craig Mecham wants to invest nearly $200 million dollars in Sugar House. However, progress has stalled and city leaders could mandate penalties that could derail his vision. http://www.utahstories.com/return_to_common_sense.htm How the Media has failed in providing useful information to citizens to help them be free and self governing. http://www.utahstories.com/travis_hess_foundation.htm Travis Hess has survived Cancer three times. Hess lost his three-year-old daughter died of cancer. Today Hess has a foundation that helps families pay their bills and live strong despite the hardship cancer can inflict. Also, hear from Dan and Andrew Arnold a father son who are fighting Cancer with the help of the Hess Foundation. http://www.utahstories.com/sugar_house_granite_block_update.htm Craig Mecham talks about the stalled progress on the Granite Block and why he believes Utah media outlets have been unfair in their treatment of the project. http://www.utahstories.com/lds_flds_confusion.htm Besides the international media, many in Utah confuse FLDS with the LDS faith. A history lesson on the two church's differneces. http://www.utahstories.com/downTownSLC.htm UtahStories.com began with one idea: to begin building a living, on-line historical document on Salt Lake City and eventually all of Utah. We started by asking long-time Salt Lake City Merchants their opinions about the growth development of downtown Salt Lake City for as long as they can remember. The interviews were excellent and their insight unlike anything you have read in any history books. Now we are getting back to our original intent: to continue collecting stories to better understand our world in a greater context. We are still actively seeking stories that provide greater insight into our collective history. If you or someone you know has a great story to tell that can shed more light on the history of Salt Lake City, we would love to hear from you click here to send us your story. http://utahstories.blogspot.com/2008/04/interesting-comments-on-utah-stories.html Two of our stories posted on Youtube and received a lot of recent debate in their respective communities. http://www.utahstories.com/skybridge_approved_in_salt_lake.htm Skybridge passes City Council 6-1, saving Mormons from undue harm from outside economic interests and from potential hazards of street life. http://www.utahstories.com/chemical_imbalance_myth.htm Watch our entire interview with Dr. Lili Wagner about how and why Utahns are more medicated for anti-depressants than any other state. Also see our short segment on the myth that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance. http://www.utahstories.com/chemical_imbalance_myth.htm How drug companies and the media promote the myth that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance. Also, Better methods of staying mentaly healthy & treating depression. http://www.utahstories.com/happiness_paradox.htm According to recent studies Utahns quest for perfection and material satisfaction could be direclty corolated with our being the most depressed state in the nation. http://www.utahstories.com/vegas_timeshare_scams.htm In-depth report about timeshare rip-off tactics and scams offered by Westgate Resorts in Las Vegas. http://www.utahstories.com/skybridge_3.htm The neglected history of Salt Lake City History and the hidden secret agenda of the skybridge http://www.utahstories.com/skybridge_3.htm Bishop Burton, presiding Bishop for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, grants UtahStories.com a question regarding the City Creek Center Skybridge http://www.utahstories.com/pole_dancing.htm Studio Soiree is a new business in Sugar House offering pole fitness lessons. Participants include men learning acrobatic manuvers shaping up for rock climbing. Owner Niquie Eastman is using her lessons to teach "sexiness" doesn't need to be erotic and gross, but has more to do with confidence and acceptance of one's body. http://www.utahstories.com/skybridge_2.htm World renound, London based consulting firm offers free advice for Mayor Ralph Becker,"Skybridges don't work in complex urban environments." http://utahstories.blogspot.com/2008/02/interconnectivity-in-marketplace.html Fresh out of the Great Depression the most prominent urban planners of the day imagined special utopian-like planned communites. Away from the cities everyone would be happier and better off. Read how the suburban myth was propagandized, resulting in a disconnected city-centers and places without meaning. http://utahstories.blogspot.com/2008/02/revisionist-history.html Utah.com is a part of the the Utah travel council's effort to attract more tourists to Utah and Salt Lake City. With record numbers of visitors vacationing in Utah, the effort is working. However, their web content is very misleading. Here is one quote on the history of downtown Salt Lake City "In the 1970s new businesses and shopping malls were built and classic older buildings were renovated. City-wide beautification projects generated vitality and activity in the downtown community." Talk to any merchant on Main Street and they will offer a story exactly opposite of what is said here. http://www.utahstories.com/skybridge_1.htm The City City Creek Center is being touted as the means to revitalize Main Street in Salt Lake City. No doubt what the L.D.S church's sponsored plans are beautiful. However, there are many critics of the assertion that a sky bridge is a " critical key component of the project ". Many believe that the sky bridge is only a mechanisim to keep shoppers from venturing outside of the project. Is the City Creek Center being built for the residents of Salt Lake City? Or for the shareholders of Taubman Company? Taubman is a well recognized national mall developer, who has a financial interest in the City Creek Center. Utah Stories examines whether Taubman's bridge is a confict to the overall stated goals of the project. This is our second video installment on this subject and third story. For nearly one year we have made attempts to get Taubman and/or CCRI's point of view. However, they have refused all requests for interviews. Our story is one-sided but that is only because the other side is unwilling to defend their position, outside of the Planning Commission doors. http://www.utahstories.com/videoAlone4.html?MovieName=oo1 The original artspace buildings are Pierpont are no longer being run under the Artspace non-profit organization. Tenants now worry about what may happen under their short-term lease arrangement. http://www.utahstories.com/videoAlone4.html?MovieName=rm1 Watch the entire eleven-month saga compressed into a four minute video. http://www.utahstories.com/about_utah_stories.htm Why it is usefull to look at the problems plaguing America from a computer programmer's perspective http://www.utahstories.com/taco_cart_3.htm What to make out of the taco cart battle? Is it culture warfare? class warfare? Or are taco carts just bad for business? http://www.utahstories.com/sugarhouse_6.htm How the Sugar House Granite block became battleground for a culture war between bohemian punks and yuppie professionals. http://www.utahstories.com/artspace_1.htm How some argue that Salt Lake City 's hip art center has experienced gentrification with the ironic turn of making the neighborhood less safe. http://www.utahstories.com/city_creek_3.htm City Creek plans were unveiled to the public. See all of the new plans Taubman released along with the debate over how downtown Salt Lake City is rebuilt. http://www.utahstories.com/city_creek_4.htm Taubman Partners and CCRI released there revised plans to the Salt Lake City Planning Commision Wednesday evening. The planning commission was mostly impressed by the changes and from those on the commision who spoke it apears that the closed top heated skybridge plan will get final approval. http://www.utahstories.com/downTownSLC.htm Who better to listen to concerning the downtown Salt Lake City redevelopment plans than local merchants who have been around 50+ years. Utah Stories revisits interviews and opinions expressed by merchants such as Bill Bennion, Tony Weller and John Speros. http://www.utahstories.com/glen_beck.htm Glenn Beck is the most influential L.D.S member in the media today. Find out what Beck does that other Mormon peronalities fail at. http://www.utahstories.com/timshare_nightmares.htm A first-hand look at the tactics and schemes timeshare salespeople use to dupe you into owning an overpriced share of a false hope. http://www.utahstories.com/bosnia.html In my Western mind-set I have basic ideas that I consider truisms: free markets work, capitalism is better than the repression of socialism or dictatorships. In short: more freedom equals more prosperity. Find out why these ideas fail to work in bosnia http://www.utahstories.com/city_creek_2.htm Is it a private mall or is it a public square? This was the main topic of debate regarding the new revised City Creek Center plans that were released Thursday evening at an open house in the City and County building. Taubman Partners showed key revisions to the project in a slide show presentation. http://www.utahstories.com/smart_growth_munich.htm Visit Munich Germany, a place that offers one of the best mass transit operations in the world. See some of the best ideas for designing a vibrant, active city by centering development around transit and bike paths. With no suburban sprawl and a very strong economy Munich offers a great example to Utah and the West for designing and maintaining a transit operation that works. http://www.utahstories.com/city_creek_1.htm Final skybridge video now available. Including newspaper clipping from 30 years ago and improved narration. http://www.utahstories.com/city_creek_1.htm Uncut interviews of former Salt Lake City Planning Director Stephen Goldsmith, Daniel Ball & Mayor Rocy Anderson. All are outspoken critics who believe the City Creek Center will end up a disgrace for Salt Lake City and another tragedy for local merchants. http://www.utahstories.com/city_creek_1.htm According to, Stephen Goldsmith, initial Planner of the City Creek Center, the new CRI Taubman plans will short-change Salt Lake City residents so Taubman shareholders can monoplize the buying public. http://www.utahstories.com/city_creek_1.htm City Creek skybridge video investigation Part I is complete! Hear from Mayor Rocky Anderson, Sam Weller, John Speros and Bennion. They all are opposed to the skybridge. Mayor Anderson has some harsh words for the South-end retailers who he says " need to stop bitching, get off their butts and raise hell over this " http://www.utahstories.com/utah_vouchers_3.htm Updates to our voucher story on the forces at work fighting both for and against vouchers in Utah. Find out what Libertarian beliefs are and why Libertarian Patrick Byrne, (CEO of Overstock.com) is putting over $2 million dollars of his personal fortune into the Utah voucher battle. http://www.utahstories.com/utah_vouchers_3.htm You might be surprised to find out what huge multi-national corporation is funding the voucher battle in Utah. UtahStories.com unveils the hidden motives behind both sides of the issue and uncovers why this battle being fought in Utah is largely funded by money coming from greater powers, interests and organizations. http://www.utahstories.com/utah_vouchers_2.htm Follow the begining of our three-month voucher investigation. UtahStories.com begins to find the real motives behind vouchers. Why are some of America's biggest corporations and Unions funding the voucher battle in Utah? Hear from members of the board of Parents for Choice. Hear how newly elected Jim Bird believes politicians have been bought out by the very deep-pocketed Parents for Choice. http://www.utahstories.com/utah_vouchers.htm Watch every point made in the Utah House of Representatives debate when vouchers passed last February. Utah Stories has both sides. http://www.utahstories.com/transcript_second_Instalment_main%20street.htm New photographs, newspaper clippings and history into how and why Main Street Salt Lake City was traded for malls thirty years ago http://www.utahstories.com/sugarhouse_5.htm Owner/Developer Craig Mecham and Redrock Devlopers get the burning coals of city power poured over their beautiful plans http://www.utahstories.com/sugarhouse_4.htm Owner/Developer Craig Mecham answers tough questions regarding the developments of Sugarhouses' beloved Granite Block http://www.utahstories.com/utah_places.htm Why does every city in Utah have a Lowes, McDonands, Wal-Mart? Why does every place seem to look just like every other place? A broad look at how Utah cities are being developed for corporate America rather than local businesses. http://www.utahstories.com/utes.htm The Ute Indians are finding riches buried under their ground in black gold. Despite this apparent success, most living on the reservation in Fort Deuchesene live in poverty and ruin. Hear the accounts of teens who spoke to us. http://www.utahstories.com/utah_stories.htm People who don't follow the beaten path. Video interviews with a bronze sculptor, violin maker, computer scentists, super home canning champion and a metal chaser. http://www.utahstories.com/pioneer_park.html Pioneer Park is the place where the Mormon Utah Pioneers spent their first year in the Salt Lake Valley surviving the harsh winter and lack of food. Today it is a park full of drug pushers, drug users and transients. We get a unique persepective into this odd place by interviewing those who are considered "the problem ". Watch transient and (possible) drug-dealer interviews http://http://www.utahstories.com/farmers_market.htm The neighborhood around Pioneer Park is now thriving due in large part to the success of the Farmers Market. So why is it that drugs are practically sold side-by-side with vegetables in what is now a nice part of town? Hear the opinions from some of the farmers. http://http://www.utahstories.com/sugarhouse_2.htm Soren Simonsen's effort to put a moritorium on the Grantie Block in Sugar House fails. http://www.utahstories.com/sugarhouse_3.htm Mecham unveils plans for the Sugar House Granite Block. See all the photos of how the favorite local spot will look after the two year development project is completed. http://http://www.utahstories.com/taco_cart.htm Can a taco cart and a Ferrari store exist on the same city block? A battle is brewing that is causing annimosity among the Mexican taco cart patrons and the retailers who say the carts are ruining their business. http://http://www.utahstories.com/greg_sumner_photos/greg_sumner_photos.htm Greg Sumner photographs and great Sugar House resident quotes about the loss of the favoirite local hang-out. http://http://www.utahstories.com/sugarhouse.html Is Sugar House, considered by many as the last local spot in Salt Lake, now destined to go corporate and become like downtown Salt Lake City's Gateway? Get all sides of the issue of this story that is so common in America. Where local culture and local charm are so often traded for the promise of more tax income that corporate chain stores can provide. http://www.utahstories.com/smart_growth.html As the population of Utah continues to grow, an uncomfortable yet critical question must be dealt with: Are we sacrificing our quality of life to accommodate more people? If you are concerned about air pollution, traffic problems, congestion and maintaining our wilderness and mountains then no doubt these aspects have have not improved as our population has increased. So what can be done to help maintain the character and quality of life along the Wasatch Front and the West? In a three-part series Utah Stories examines questions concerning "smart growth". Its a buzz word that has attracted a following but yet many conservatives consider another liberal tactic to control our lives. What are the best compromises, solutions and ideas for handling our inevitable fate of at least 1 million more people in the next 13 years? In part one, we look the negative impact sprawl is having on our health and communities. In part two, we examine what planners and City Leaders can do to improve the situation. Finally, in part three, we compare our lifestyle and growth pattern to cities that have virtually no suburban sprawl issues; We look to see what we can learn from places that have effectively handled their growth and maintained their living standards. http://http://www.utahstories.com/utah_vouchers.htm How do we make sense out of the propagada the special interest groups are feeding us over the air-waves? Read everything you need to know about vouchers and school choice. http://www.utahstories.com/wal-mart%20research1.html Many films have been made both for and against Wal-Mart and big-boxes. Bitter contention and debate has made this a divisive issue for many communities. The debate ultimately comes down to value. Should we place more value in our local community and local merchants; or does the greatest value come from the lowest price? In this investigation Utah Stories will look at the communities that have fought to keep Wal-Mart out and in the end lost or coalesced. As of today the record for city opponents vs. Wal-Mart in Utah is 0-3 for Wal-Mart. Sandy, Draper, Centerville all had opponents who saw Wal-Mart as a threat to their local communities. However, Wal-mart is a well-seasoned opponent in this area and they have fought this P.R. battle many times. Wal-mart has a huge war chest and they often spend hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars on publicity campaigns to convince citizens that their stores will offer more value in their tax revenue, employment opportunities and community incentives. Recently Wal-Mart convinced Sandy residents that rather than having a nature park and condos on their 300 acre former gravel pit development they could provide something better. Since the Sandy gravel pit was developed for Wal-Mart virtually nothing has been written about whether or not Sandy residents are still happy with their decision voting in favor of allowing Wal-mart to occupy the space. We will examine the latest battle grounds:Wal-Mart vs. the quaint Heber Valley and Wal-Mart vs. Sugarhouse. Both communities oppose the stores today, but like the others will they surrender to the enticing values and smiley faces? Wal-mart will likely spend a small fortune in the coming months on P.R and good spin, we will keep track of the score. For previous articles written on this subject and all of the specific questions we will attempt to answer in this on-going investigation. Click on the Wal-Mart Investigation link at the bottom of our home page. http://www.utahstories.com/guns.html A Utah Stories.com exclusive looks at the pros and cons of allowing guns on campus and the ongoing battle in Utah between school administrators and gun rights activists. See how one student has started a club to fight to maintain his second amendment rights. Find out what students at the University of Utah think about guns on campus in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy. http://www.utahstories.com/pioneer_park.html Like many other cities Salt Lake City has one park that attracts homeless, alcoholics, drug users and drug dealers. After repeated attempts by former Mayor Deedee Corradini and Rocky Anderson to clean up the park and crack down on offenders. It seems that law enforcement efforts have proven futile. We thought we would get a different side of the story from the downtrodden and homeless folks in the park who have seen the problems and attempted solutions first-hand. It wasn't easy to get these people to talk, we had to bribe them with burgers or money. By the end I had many burgers left and no money but I think this report shows a very unique perspective on the issue that politicians and law enforcement have neglected to see. http://www.utahstories.com/utes.htm Left behind, best describes the state of affairs for many of the Utah citizens who live on the Uintah-Ourray Reservation. Left behind from the success most of our state enjoys, left behind from good education, left out of enjoying a good like most Utah citizens. Ninety-percent of Ute teens drop out of High School. A huge portion of tribal members are on public assistance due to alcoholism and substance abuse. The Utes were once a strong close-knit group who were dedicated to passing on traditions to family. Today many children grow up neglected and abused. Why? Davis County residents have seen big changes in their communities in the past 10 years. Many are happy about the growth they have seen because their property values have risen so dramatically. However, some argue that they are loosing their sense of place, that the small town feel of towns like Centerville, Woods Cross and Clearfield is all but gone. The question I would like to answer in the coming two weeks (depending on the response I get to this story) is: What could have been done differently to retain more of the identity these places once had? How can we retain the small-town feeling of these and other cities along the Wasatch front and we grow and develop further. Is there a good solution to maintain strong city centers with fewer chain stores and more local merchants? Is there a good balance between accommodating traffic needs and still maintaining strong local businesses and local charm? Respond at richard@utahstories.com http://www.utahstories.com/ http://www.utahstories.com/sugarhouse.html An overflow crowd showed up on Tuesday, March 27 to show their opposition to the Sugarhouse redevelopment project. Young, old, hippy yuppie and grungy alike all demonstrated that they like Sugarhouse just the way it is. The City Council gave the crowd a total of half and hour to state their concerns. However beforehand Council members made it clear that there was no chance they were going to reverse their decision. So what happens next? Is there any hope of saving the unique local charm that exists on this block? Sugarhouse will indeed be transformed, but into what? We will continue to press for answers in the coming weeks, keep checking for updates and developments to this ongoing story.