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Salt Lake magazine offers an insightful and dynamic coverage of city life, Utah lore and community stories about the people places and great happenings weaving together the state’s vibrant present with its rich past. Its Community section highlights the pulse of Salt Lake City and around the state, covering local events, cultural happenings, dining trends and urban developments. From emerging neighborhoods and development to engaging profiles long-form looks at newsmakers and significant cultural moments, Salt Lake magazine keeps readers informed about the evolving lifestyle in Utah.

Jul 18
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On our Terms: A conference fighting rape culture

By City Watch

On Our Terms, a series of empowering and educational discussions for theYWCA, will be held on July 27, August 3 and August 10 at the Salt Lake Masonic Temple. Proceeds from the On Our Terms series will go to create a scholarship for self-defense training for residents of the SLC YWCA, an organization designed to eliminate racism and empower women.

The series is designed to discuss rape culture and offer empowerment to women in a safe environment.

A press release from the event states: “The On Our Terms series will explore some of the most pressing issues facing interpersonal dynamics in modern culture, and what we can do to protect and uphold ourselves using the strength of our self-awareness, the clarity of our words, and the power our minds first and foremost—with practical self-defense techniques thrown in for good measure.”

Schedule & Presenters:

  • Wednesday, July 27, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
    • Chelsea Kilpack – The Power of Consent: Modeling Enthusiastic Consent Every Day
    • Marty Liccardo – Bystander Intervention
  • Wednesday, August 3, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
    • Nubia Pena – Redefining Power / Boundary Setting
    • Shannon Cox – “Rape to Prison Pipeline,” the Utah Story
  • Wednesday, August 10, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
    • DeAnn Tilton – Start by Believing & Victim Blaming
  • Chelsea Kilpack & Miyo Strong – Self Defense

The Salt Lake Masonic Temple is located at 650 E. South Temple.

Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased at onourterms.eventbrite.com

 

Jul 14
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“Red Rock Testimony” fights for Bears Ears

By City Watch

A new book, Red Rock Testimony: Three Generations of Writers Speak on Behalf of Utah’s Public Lands, hopes to influence the Obama administration and Congress as they make decisions about southern Utah’s public lands. Copies of the book have been delivered to the Obama administration, every member of Congress, and public lands managers at the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and the United States Forest Service.

This issue was brought to the national spotlight in October 2015 when five southwestern Native nations proposed the creation of Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah. In May of this year, Native American tribes and their supporters rallied to oppose the Utah legislature’s move to denounce President Obama’s designation of the national monument. Public land arguments have been in the news since the Bundys’ takeover in Oregon and Representative Jason Chaffetz’s Public Land Initiative.

The book’s 34 contributors are writers from different backgrounds, races and generations who all agree on the spiritual, cultural and scientific importance of protecting the proposed Bears Ears National Monument. The book’s contributors include: Charles Wilkinson, the preeminent scholar of public lands and Indian law, Navajo Poet Laureate Luci Tapahonso, Utah’s first poet laureate David Lee, MacArthur Fellow Gary Paul Nabhan, writer-philosopher Kathleen Dean Moore, former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, former Utah state archaeologist Kevin Jones, millennial essayists Anne Terashima and Brooke Larsen, Ute Mountain Ute tribal councilwoman Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, former members of Congress Mark Udall and Karen Shepherd, bestselling essayists David Gessner and Lauret Savoy and recent Utah Bureau of Land Management Director Juan Palma

A website called redrockstories.org was also created as part of this project. The site encourages interactive submissions celebrating redrock country and promoting protection of public lands.

This is not the first time a testimonial work of literature has attempted to influence government decisions. In 1995, a work titled Testimony: Writers of the West Speak on Behalf of Utah Wilderness influenced President Bill Clinton’s decision to proclaim Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument the following year.

A press release for the book stated, “These redrock writers have created a community chorus, a montage of hearfelt words that includes Native and Hispanic voices, warnings from elders and challenges from millenials, personal emotional journeys and lyrical nature writing. These pieces address historical context, natural history and archaeology, energy threats, faith, and politics. Together, they offer a remarkable case for restraint and respect in the incomparable redrock landscape of southern Utah.”

bears ears quote

Jun 15
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Urban Garden & Farm Tour

By City Watch, Eat & Drink

“Farm-to-table” and “organic” are tossed around so much that they have practically lost all integrity and meaning, but Wasatch Community Gardens doesn’t think it has to be that way.

The Urban Garden & Farm Tour on Saturday, June 25 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. is a chance for Salt Lake Valley residents to learn and share ideas about how to build self-sustaining communities with fresh food. This self-guided tour includes stops at backyards, urban homesteads and community gardens that embody the Wasatch Community Gardens’ mission to “empower people of all ages and incomes to grow and eat healthy, organic, local foods.”

The event is ages 12+ and costs $10 per person. Once participants register, they will receive a downloadable tour guide with details about each stop on the self-guided tour. To purchase tickets, click here.

Tour stops will showcase:

Urban chicken-keeping
Small-space intensive gardening
Water-wise growing
Permaculture gardens
Container gardening
Small livestock
Beekeeping
Small urban farming
Season extenders

photo credit - Wasatch Community Gardens

photo credit – Wasatch Community Gardens

May 18
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Tips for Tastemakers

By Adventures, City Watch, Eat & Drink

Tastemakers is a two-night dining event that showcases the best of Utah’s food and wine. This year’s event is on Thursday, June 2 and Friday, June 3 from 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. each night at the Gallivan Center. Tickets are only $30 for a general tasting pass and $85 for VIP access, which includes exclusive tasting and five drinks.

Here’s some tips from the Salt Lake Magazine staff on how to get the most out of Tastemakers:

Take your time:

Guests can sample dishes from 25+ restaurants. That’s a lot of food that you don’t want to miss out on. Make sure you allot plenty of time on both nights to really enjoy your experience.

Hitch a ride:

Tastemakers provides a variety of ways to get around. Take a Greenbike, a bike taxi, or catch an Uber ride after a few drinks.

Get out of a rut:

The Stroll Restaurants at Tastemakers are the perfect excuse to break out of the age-old culinary question of “Where should we eat tonight?” These tastings allow Tastemakers guests to visit downtown restaurants and get acquainted with each place’s menu and atmosphere. Enjoy the Stroll and add some downtown restaurants to your dining choices.

Use the buddy system:

Tastemakers is the perfect event for groups of friends or a unique date. Grab your BFFs or your significant other to get a taste of Utah’s best food and drink. At only $30, the Tastemakers general ticket price is a steal to have a two-day premier culinary experience with friends and dates.

For more information about Tastemakers, and to purchase tickets, click here.

Apr 26
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DABC v. Brewvies

By City Watch
Despite a plea from former Mayor Rocky Anderson for citizens to attend the Utah DABC meeting Tuesday and speak out against the recent enforcement action against Brewvies, not much protest happened. (If you couldn’t make the meeting because you had to work, comment here.)

The DABC is threatening to fine Brewvies Cinema Pub and suspend its liquor license for showing an R-rated film (Deadpool). Utah Code forbids an establishment serving alcohol from showing a film or visual reproduction of asexual act or even heavy petting.

Brewvies hired Anderson as their lawyer and filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the state.

 

DABC Chairman Jeff Wright made it clear at the beginning of the meeting that the commission would have “no dialog with the public” about Brewvies while the suit was pending. He also made it clear that the commission “did not create, did not write, but must enforce” the state’s liquor laws. (See our blog about the folks behind the DABC curtain.) In other words, yelling at the DABC about the state’s stupid liquor laws is the equivalent of screaming at the busboy because your soup is cold.

Two citizens did speak, anyway. Jon V. Harper, the Democratic candidate for state Attorney General, used the opportunity to slam the Republican AG’s office for taking on another expensive lawsuit that they are destined to lose. The section of liquor law applying to Brewvies is flat-out unconstitutional he said, and similar laws have been struck down in other states. Harper referred to a U.S. Supremes case:

The U.S. Supreme Court clearly ruled in 1996, in 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island, that liquor regulations cannot be used to restrict speech that would otherwise be prohibited under the First Amendment. In other words, the State cannot restrict the showing of Deadpool at any location simply because alcohol is involved.

He said the AG’s office should have held off on any action until the Legislature had a chance to eliminate the unconstitutional bits. (As if.)

Zachary Zundel, a citizen not running for anything yet, attempted to engage the commission in a Q & A that bordered on stand-up comedy (not entirely inappropriate at a DABC meeting), but was stopped short.

Zundel’s point was that the law against serving up alcohol along with sexually suggestive images could put some churches (which must have DABC licenses to offer wine with communion) in legal jeopardy if they display explicit images of Christ’s Passion, such as Bouguereau The Flagellation of Christ. (Frankly, this seems unlikely.)

Zundel also pointed out that the labels on some wine bottles in DABC stores are sexually suggestive and probably in violation.

Apr 04
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Garage Under Fire

By City Watch, Eat & Drink

The Garage, probably SLC’s most enchanting bar, with its outside venue romantically lit by refinery glow, is in a fight for its life.

It has to do, as a matter of fact, with that Tesoro Refinery that provides the scenic post-industrial backdrop to your cornhole tournaments.

We heard this Monday from owner Bob McCarthy about Tesoro’s attempts to buy the land the bar occupies and force out the roadhouse:

“Tesoro made a generous offer to our landlord and she did not accept so Tesoro has reclaimed their land and taken our parking away.”

With only 11 parking places on Garage property to offer patrons, McCarthy is working with the city and state to find more space, including designating parallel parking on Beck Avenue or maybe renting the parking lot at the abandoned Warm Springs children’s museum–then shuttling patrons three-quarters of a mile to the Garage.

 

That the Garage barely survived a three-alarm fire four years only makes it more beloved to us.

“Make no mistake—we are open for business and The Garage will survive!” says McCarthy. “If you can’t burn me out, a little parking dilemma shouldn’t be much to overcome.”

Big Oil’s threat to nightlife as we know it—along with fine spring weather—makes it the perfect time to grab a beer, some Road Kill Chicken and a dose of live music at The Garage.

Ride your bike.