City Watch

Longtime Utah journalist Marcos Ortiz died in his home on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 68 years old, according to ABC4. The local news outlet says the cause of his death is as of yet unknown.

Ortiz worked as a journalist in Utah for more than 30 years. With a penchant for true crime, he became ABC4’s senior crime and justice reporter and developed the long-running ABC4 series, The Justice Files, about unsolved crimes in Utah. He reported on some of Utah’s most notorious crimes and criminals, like Ron and Dan Lafferty, the Salt Lake City Strangler, the death of Elizabeth Salgado, the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell, the Ogden Hi-Fi murders, and even D.B. Cooper.     

ABC4 general manager and vice president Mark Danielson said in a statement, “Words are difficult to find as we learned of the loss of our colleague and friend, Marcos Ortiz. He was an icon in Utah: a journalist, a mentor, a coach, and a friend. He reminded us how to be curious while leading by example. He will be missed by all and remembered always.”

Ortiz was more than his work, of course, as celebrated as it is. He is survived by his wife Sandy, to whom he was married for 34 years, his daughter Olivia, who graduated from law school at the University of Utah, and their family dog Franklin. In his own words, Ortiz loved his Cavalier King Charles’ dog, Sir Charles, a wonderful companion for more than 17 years who preceded Ortiz in passing. On a personal note, Ortiz also gave solid wine recommendations. 

Some stories are hard to tell. Especially stories about those who have died tragically. They’re often surrounded by grief and shame and pain that we would rather turn away from than confront. As a journalist, Marcos Ortiz did not shrink from telling those stories. He made a career out of it. He spoke to countless grieving family members, desperate friends and investigators so he could tell those hard stories. Now, the people who knew Marcos Ortiz are trying to tell his story. As someone who worked with Ortiz for years, I don’t know if any of us could do that job as well as he could.

The opportunity is closing for members of the Utah public to give feedback on Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola project. The Utah Department of Public Transportation’s (UDOT) public comment period closes on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, as opposition to the gondola finds a foothold in Salt Lake County. 

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson has been a vocal opponent of the UDOT plan, and just in the past week, the Salt Lake County Council passed a joint resolution recommending that the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) eliminate the gondola as a potential option to alleviate Little Cottonwood Canyon’s traffic woes. 

Any Utah skier knows that the traffic congestion on S.R. 210 up to Alta and Snowbird is a nightmare during the ski season. Possible traffic mitigation projects included widening the highway, bussing and versions of the gondola, but none of them satisfied all or even most concerned parties. Ultimately, UDOT chose the $550 million gondola proposal over the bus-based solutions.

The proposed Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola would carry passengers from a station at La Caille at the mouth of the canyon to stations located at the base areas of Alta and Snowbird. The gondola would run every two minutes, each cabin is set to carry 35 passengers and the ride will take 30-40 minutes, depending on which ski resort is their destination. To support the gondola, UDOT would construct a 2,500-car parking lot at the base of the canyon for people riding the gondola to park as well as numerous towers along the entire length of the canyon. The impact of that construction, especially the towers is one of the points of contention for the project. (See more on the UDOT gondola plan.)

“Instead of constructing 23 sky-scraper-sized gondola towers that will devastate the majestic views of the canyon, UDOT should pursue common-sense solutions that invest in more practical, adaptable and less invasive transportation strategies,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Wilson in a statement, following the council’s resolution to oppose it.

The mayor also objects to the initial construction cost of $550 million (funded by taxpayers) for the gondola, which would have just two stops, each at private ski resorts, who stand the most to gain. Wilson also contends that the Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola would remove only 30% of vehicle traffic from the canyon road. 

The Mayor also offered some alternatives to the gondola, saying, “These solutions on their own have the potential to solve the traffic problem without destroying our canyon. This common-sense approach will demonstrate that the costly and unsightly gondola is not right for our canyons.” The alternatives she would support include: electric, high-quality buses with mobility hubs; tolling; parking management strategies such as ski parking reservations and enhanced smartphone app technology; multi-passenger vehicle incentives such as micro-transit, carpooling, and rideshare programs; and traction device requirements with expanded inspection hours and enforcement.

UDOT is accepting feedback from the public on its Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola plan through their website littlecottonwoodeis.udot.utah.gov until Oct. 17, 2022. 

Last month, President Joe Biden announced his plan to forgive student loan debt for some student loan borrowers. And, ever since then, student loan borrowers (such as myself) have had a lot of questions. Who qualifies? How is this going to work? How much of my debt will be forgiven? 

This impacts a lot of people. 43 million Americans have outstanding student loans, about 92% of those people have federal loans of some kind and, all told, we owe about $1.6 trillion. Many of us have had some leeway the last couple of years because of pandemic forbearance on all of our loan repayments, but that’s set to expire for most borrowers come December 31, 2022. Before that rolls around, most of those 43 million people could get relief in the form of student loan forgiveness—either reducing the amount of debt we hold or absolving it entirely, depending on how much is owed. 

Off the top, we know this is a one-time student loan debt relief and The U.S. Department of Education changed this week exactly which loans would be eligible. Here’s what we know. 

Who is eligible for student loan forgiveness? 

Borrowers are eligible if their income on their 2020 or 2021 tax return is either less than $125,000 for individuals or less than $250,000 for households. For dependent students, their eligibility is based on their parents’ income. Loan forgiveness could come in the form of up to $20,000 in debt relief for Pell Grant recipients or up to $10,000 in debt relief for those who did not receive a Pell Grant.

The Biden administration recently changed which federal student loans qualify for the debt relief program. Based on the most recent change they are: 

• Undergraduate and Graduate Direct Loans
• Parent PLUS and Grad PLUS Loans
• Consolidation Loans (underlying loans disbursed on or before June 30, 2022)
• Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program Loans held by The U.S. Department of Education (ED)
• Perkins Loans held by ED
• Defaulted loans (ED-held or commercially serviced Subsidized, Unsubsidized, parent PLUS, grad PLUS; and Perkins held by ED)

Borrowers can check with their loan service provider if their loans are direct loans or if their lender is the U.S. Department of Education. 

People who made payments on their student loans during the pandemic forbearance will also be eligible for a full or partial refund for the payments that they made during that time. 

How will student loan forgiveness work? 

Student loan borrowers will need to file an application for the debt relief. The U.S. Department of Education will post an online application sometime next month, October 2022. Once the application is submitted, the Department of Education will review it, determine your eligibility and work with the loans’ service or services to process the debt relief. Federal student loans borrowers will have until December 31, 2023 to apply. 

What do student loan borrowers need to do before then?

There’s not a lot to do right now, honestly, but wait and see. It’s too late to consolidate loans if borrowers needed to do that to qualify for forgiveness. Any updates will be posted at studentaid.gov where student loan borrowers can also login to or create an FSA account to track their loans. They can also make sure their loan servicer has their most current contact information.

There are some lawsuits to keep an eye on that could throw all of this out the window, depending on how the ruling goes. This week, Attorneys General from Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska and South Carolina filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration in a Missouri federal court. The lawsuit alleges that the student loan forgiveness could hurt lenders of privately held student loans because it encourages borrowers to consolidate their loans with the federal government (denying the private loan lenders of repayments). The change in eligibility, however, excluding privately held student loans that have not already been consolidated by September 29, 2022, seems to have been done to weaken that legal argument. 

Four score and 95 years ago, (that’s 175 years ago) the Mormon Pioneers made their grand entrance into the Salt Lake Valley. Ever since, all Utahns, Latter-day Saints or not, have celebrated this day. With fireworks, rodeos and parades galore, us pioneer descendants really know how to throw a party. Pioneer Day’s evil twin, the subversive Pie and Beer Day, is celebrated in Utah with pride, as well. It eschews the cultural and historical significance, instead allowing sinners to take advantage of the state holiday to consume the eponymous pie and beer. No matter how you choose to celebrate—sinner or a saint style—you really can’t go wrong.

Pie & Beer Day Events (For Sinners)

Pie and Beer Day (official): The Gateway, SLC, July 24, noon

Urban Backyard Show Pie & Beer Day: The Urban Lounge, SLC, July 23, 6:00 p.m.

2nd Annual Beehive Bash: The Monarch, Ogden, July 25, noon

Pie and Beer Day Pie Eating Contest: Cache Bar, Logan, July 23, 8 p.m.

Pie and Local Beer For Pie and Beer Day: Park City Culinary Institute, SLC, July 23, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

Pie N’ Beer Weekend: Prohibition, Murray, July 22–23, 7:30 p.m.

Pie ‘n’ Beer Day Pairing: Epic Brewing Company, SLC, July 24, 1 p.m.

Pie (Pizza) & Beer Day: Hive 435 Tap House, St. George, July 23, noon

Pioneer Day Events (For Saints)

Salt Lake County

Days of ’47 Parade: Salt Lake City, July 23, 9 a.m. 

Salt Lake Bees’ Pioneer Day Fireworks: Smith’s Ballpark, July 22-24, 6:35 p.m. 

Laser Light nights: Liberty Park, Salt Lake City, July 23, 9:45 p.m. 

Red Butte Garden Pioneer Day: Red Butte Garden, July 24, free admission 9 a.m.-9 p.m. 

Cottonwood Heights Butlerville Days: Butler Park, July 28-30 

This Is The Place Pioneer Days: This is the Place Heritage Park, July 23 and 25, 10 a.m. 

28th Annual Native American Celebration in the Park: Liberty Park, July 23, noon 

Utah County

Provo Pioneer Day Extravaganza: Kiwanis Park, July 23, 10 a.m. 

Spanish Fork Fiesta Days: Spanish Fork City Park, July 20-25 

Orem Pioneer Day Celebration: University Place, July 23, 5 p.m. 

Mapleton’s Pioneer Days Celebration: Ira Allan Sports Park and Mapleton City Park, July 16-23

Northern Utah

Ogden Pioneer Days: Ogden Pioneer Stadium, July 20-23 and 25 

‘Riders in the Sky’ Pioneer Day Concert: Ed Kenley Amphitheater, Layton, July 23, 7 p.m. 

Logan Pioneer Day: Willow Park, July 23, 7 a.m. 

North Logan Pioneer Day: Elkridge Park, July 25, 7 a.m.

AWC Pioneer Day Festival: American West Heritage Center, Wellsville, July 23, 2021, 10 a.m.

Tremonton Hay Days: Jeanie Stevens Park, July 22-23

Central & Southern Utah

Washington City Pioneer Day Celebration: Veterans Park, Telegraph, Baseball Complex, July 23rd, 8 a.m. 

Beaver Pioneer Days: Beaver City, July 22-23 

Sand Hollow Resort Pioneer Day Celebration and Firework Show: Sand Hollow Resort, July 23, 5 p.m.

Spring City Pioneer Day: Main Street, Spring City, July 17-24 

Fairview Pioneer Days: Fairview City, July 11-23

Monroe City 24th of July Celebration: Main Street in Monroe, July 21-23

Wasatch Back

Charleston Town July 24th Pioneer Day Celebration: Charleston Park, July 23, 6:45 a.m.

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