As someone who has spent years working with local businesses and serving in city government here in Draper City, I’ve seen and experienced how national policy decisions show up in very practical ways at the community level. One of the most impactful examples is the federal defense budget. I ...
For some years I worked for a small-town weekly newspaper. The paper may not have been as important as the New York Times, but my desk was magnificent. You think the one in the oval office is nice? You should have seen mine. Never in my life before or since have I had such an important-looking ...
In case you are not familiar with the phrase short-term rental, we’re talking about a furnished property that is rented to guests for a temporary stay, usually for less than 30 days. The STR’s are an alternative to hotels and can be booked on platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo. The practice of ...
Are the campaign texts, fliers in the mail and candidate ads on social media getting annoying? Probably so, but these minor irritations are part of an important process that will affect all of us. Even though it’s not November, which is typically election season, it’s an important time to ...
Utah’s education system has leaned hard into workforce readiness. In K-12, students build college and career readiness plans, middle schoolers take the class College and Career Awareness, and the state’s Career and Technical Education system explicitly aims to align learning with Utah’s ...
This one is for all of the Pride and Prejudice lovers out there. Speaking of lovers, let’s take a moment to pause and think of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Ahhhhh. “The Other Bennet Sister” has finally come to America on Brit Box (very well done), and I’ve discovered the author Shannon ...
When families buy homes in residential neighborhoods, they do so with certain expectations. They expect streets designed for residents, not revolving tourists. They expect neighbors, not nightly guests. Most importantly, they expect the city’s zoning laws to mean something. That is why the ...
Throughout my time representing Utah’s 2nd District in Congress, I consistently sounded the alarm on the devastating effects that social media has had on our nation’s youth. The data speaks for itself: the unchecked spread of addictive algorithms and predatory platforms correlates directly ...
Short-term rentals (STRs) are currently not legal in Orem's residential neighborhoods. As Orem City considers proposals that could legalize or expand short-term rentals, I believe residents deserve a thoughtful and transparent discussion about the long-term impacts such a change could have on ...
This month marks one year since the decision to rezone Wilkerson Farm — a decision that forever changed one of Orem’s most beloved community spaces and raised serious questions about leadership, land-use judgment, developer influence, and whose voices truly matter at City Hall. For many ...
