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Utah Counties Seek State Funds to Help Eradicate Noxious Weeds

Jerry Caldwell stands up to his ankles in light-brown weeds, an agricultural scourge that has spread to all corners of Tooele County and beyond.

Squarrose knapweed, a plant native to the eastern Mediterranean area, first appeared in Utah in 1954 and since has invaded nearly 200,000 acres. Each plant lives six years and harbors 3,000 viable seeds, causing several counties in Utah a major headache, Caldwell said.

Weeds such as these choke out native plants, use too much water, can harm livestock and pose a fire risk.

Caldwell, the Tooele County weed supervisor, has joined nearby counties in requesting $119,000 from a $1 million fund the 2012 Legislature created to help fight noxious weeds. Salt Lake Tribune

Genius awards honor top Utah inventors

Sensors that can be implanted inside a wall and detect when someone enters a room. Materials and processes that make alternative fuels. A tiny (really tiny) camera that can go deep inside your body and send back detailed photos.

These were among three of the innovations showcased Wednesday at the annual Utah Genius Awards luncheon in Salt Lake City.

The awards recognize Utahns who received a number of patents and trademarks in the past year.

To see more: Salt Lake Tribune 

Taco Bell operator looking for more Utah locations

The Salt Lake City office of the commercial real estate brokerage CBRE said it has been chosen by Taco Bell franchisee Mark Peterson to help select the sites for several new locations in Utah.

The Mexican-style fast food restaurant chain will open a 2,500-square-foot store in Payson in May, and several more stores are expected to be announced soon, including one in Herriman, where Peterson already has purchased land.

Russ Harris, vice president and retail specialist at CBRE, represents Taco Bell. "It has been more than 10 years since Taco Bell has opened a new location in Utah," Harris said in a statement announcing the deal with Taco Bell’s franchisee. "They recognize that Utah has a vibrant, expanding economy and is well positioned for growth."

He said the new locations will be in areas with rapidly growing populations. Salt Lake Tribune

U. students to local governments: Be more open

During a year of intensively studying information in the Internet age, a class of University of Utah honors students has developed a set of five guiding principles to help local governments throughout the state become more transparent.

"Information is the currency of democracy. It is the key to citizen engagement," said Theresa Krause, one of the honors "Think Tank" students who will unveil those guiding principles on Wednesday. "The Internet has made data available and changed the way we think about transparency and access to government."

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and Council Chairman Soren Simonsen are expected to be present to express their support for the Transparency Project during its formal introduction at the U.’s Hinckley Institute of Politics.

The project’s goal is to persuade all 270-plus county and city governments in Utah to adopt the principles. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah businesses receive statewide, local awards

Several Utah companies have been named the recipients of statewide and community business awards.

• Industrial Supply Co. of Salt Lake City, given by Associated General Contractors of Utah, an organization of qualified construction contractors and industry related companies dedicated to skill, integrity, and responsibility.
• Mity-Lite Inc. of Orem, given by Utah Manufacturers Association, whose mission is to enhance the business climate of Utah.
• Candle Warmers Etc., given by the Davis County Chamber of Commerce, who offers its members an unparalleled opportunity to invest in the community as well as their own future success.

Salt Lake Tribune

West Jordan is lowest in nation for senior citizens

West Jordan has the lowest percentage of seniors of any city in America with a population of at least 100,000. Just 4.6 percent of its residents are older than 65, two-thirds lower than the national average, according to U.S. Census data released Wednesday. Meanwhile, the new Census analysis also shows that Utah — with its highest-in-the-nation birthrate — finished second-lowest among the states behind Alaska for its percentage of residents older than 65, as older folks here are vastly outnumbered by kids. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah household incomes most equally distributed in the nation

Gini in a Bottle. . .The Census Bureau just released a study on household income inequality using American Community Survey (ACS) data for 2005-2009. . .with interesting results.One of the nice things that the Census Bureau does with the ACS data is calculate Gini coefficients. The Gini coefficient is a ratio used to measure income inequality. Gini coefficients range between “0” (everyone has the exact same income) and “1” (one person has all the income).  A lower Gini coefficient indicates a more equal income distribution, while a higher Gini coefficient signifies a more unequal distribution. 

Interestingly, when areas nationwide are compared:

• The state with the lowest Gini coefficient? Utah (and Alaska--a tie).
• The metropolitan area with over 1 million population with the lowest Gini coefficient? Salt Lake City, Utah
• The large place (over 100,00 population) with the lowest Gini coefficient? West Jordan, Utah

Yes, in Utah our household incomes seem to be more equally distributed than in most areas of the United States.

Why? Without further research, we can only speculate. But, here are a few possible reasons:

• Demographically, we may be more homogenous--a high percentage of married couples (married couple households have higher incomes than other households), relatively small ethnic/racial minority share, because we have more children, our age distribution is flatter than other areas.
  
• The fact that such a high percentage of our population is urbanized may contribute to more equal incomes.
  
• Cultural norms towards higher education and hard work may also factor into more less income inequality. 
• Utah has a relatively high percentage of married couple households. Married couple households--regardless of whether or not both spouses work--tend to have higher and more stable incomes.
• Utah has a high number of workers per family (including teenagers).

Also, just one more thought about incomes. In Utah, we tend to love to talk about our "low wages" (a whole other subject worthy of  a post). However,  I rarely see mentioned that fact that Utah family incomes are higher than the national average.

Are more equal incomes good or bad? True to form, there's no general agreement among economists whether the increasing inequality the U.S. as experienced recently is good or bad. Some economists argue that unequal  incomes provide individuals with the incentive/reward to work harder and be more productive--thus increasing overall economic growth. Others denounce unequal incomes for producing bad social outcomes. As a public servant, I'll refrain from sharing my own opinion.

If you are interested in reading the whole report, click here.

S.L. Valley’s east side has Utah’s oldest median ages

New 2010 U.S. census data show a pocket of adjoining east-side areas in Salt Lake County have the oldest median ages of all communities in Utah that have populations of at least 10,000. Holladay, where the senior center is located, has the oldest median age at 38.5 years old. No. 2 is nearby Cottonwood Heights at 36.9 years. Third is Millcreek at 35.3 years. Fourth is Murray at 34.6 years.

In comparison, Utah overall has a median age of 29.2 years — or 25 percent younger than in Holladay.

Also in Holladay, census data show that about one of every six residents is older than age 65. That rate is nearly twice as high as the rest of the state, where only one of every 11 people is older than 65. 

That east-west age divide historically has existed even within Salt Lake City, which spans both sides of the valley, she said. The only major exception to that general rule is in east-side Draper in the south end of the valley, where new housing developments have been attracting younger families.

University of Utah research economist Pam Perlich says that “all the research shows that people like to age in place. It’s not like people just immediately flee their homes [when they get older]." Salt Lake Tribune

After bleak ’09, most Utah hotels see improvement

Occupancy figures statewide last month averaged 49.6 percent, up solidly from 44.4 percent in November 2009, according to the Denver-based Rocky Mountain Lodging Report. That marks the ninth consecutive month in which Utah hotels filled more rooms nightly than in the same month a year ago.

Hotels in Salt Lake County, location of almost half the state’s inventory of rooms, had a 56.4 percent occupancy mark in November. That was 7.2 percent better than a year earlier, more than offsetting a slight increase in vacancies at county hotels in October. Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake among Newsweek's 'Top 10 Places in America Poised for Recovery'

In an article appearing in its current issue, Salt Lake City is among Newsweek's "Top 10 Places in America Poised for Recovery." According to Newsweek, the Wasatch Front has been bolstered by big names like Adobe, Electronic Arts, and Twitter setting up shop in Utah. In addition, the area's short commutes, decent public schools, excellent recreation opportunities and affordable housing are also seen as major advantages over other areas. Approximately three-quarters of Salt Lake area households can afford a median-priced house, compared to 45 percent in Silicon Valley and about half that in New York City and San Francisco. Deseret News

Note: The full article can be found at http://www.newsweek.com/2010/11/08/the-top-10-places-in-america-poised-for-recovery.html

California businesses lured to Utah by friendly business climate

Utah’s success in luring California-based business into expanding their operations here isn’t playing too well in the Golden State. A consortium of business groups, operating under the Californians Against Higher Taxes banner, is out to convince their government leaders that the state’s business climate needs to be improved. And they are pointing to Utah’s success to support their stand.

“Businesses are fleeing our state for Utah, and they are taking thousands of jobs with them,” said Scott Macdonald, a spokesman for the California group that includes the California Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business/California and the California Taxpayers Association.

The group notes that in recent months:

• San Jose-based Adobe systems announced it will build a $100 million campus in Orem and hire more than 1,000 new employees.

• Twitter, the San Francisco-based social networking company, said it intends to relocate its data center to Salt Lake City.

• The Redwood City-based Electronic Arts Inc., a video-game producer, opened a 20,000 square-foot plant in Utah with 100 employees.

• EBay announced plans for a $287 million building project in Draper to house its primary data center. The Salt Lake Tribune

• Oracle reported it planned to resume construction on a large data center in Salt Lake City that is expected to create 100 jobs.

Passenger numbers, fares are up at SLC International Airport

Passenger numbers at Salt Lake City International Airport picked up in the first half of 2010, a sign Utah’s recession-battered economy is healing. Through June 30, about 10.15 million passengers used the airport, up 1.6 percent from 9.99 million in the same six months of 2009, according to airport figures.

“During the deepest part of the economic downturn, passenger numbers dipped 14 percent in one month. So this increase is significant due to the fact that we had to make up that much of a decrease over time to get into positive numbers,” airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann said Friday. The Salt Lake Tribune

S.L. County home sales up in spring, prices still down

A rush to take advantage of a federal incentive worth as much as $8,000 pushed single-family home sales in Salt Lake County up by more than 10 percent in the second quarter over the same period last year, according to data released Thursday by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors.

But even free money from the federal government couldn’t stop tumbling home prices. The median selling price of Salt Lake County homes — not including condos — sold in April-May-June was down nearly 8 percent to $219,900. The same pattern of higher home sales, but lower prices, played out in the other Wasatch Front counties as well.

And once most of the people getting the tax credit closed on their homes, June sales along the Wasatch Front slumped. The Salt Lake Tribune

Note: The Utah Association of Realtors publishes market reports for various areas across the state at: http://www.utahrealtors.com/quarterly/mktrpts.htm