June 2020

If you live many dusty miles from a decent grocery store (and in the midst of a pandemic, in which your county has the second highest case rate in the state), you might find the notion of growing your own food a life-saver. That is, if you had access t …

Salt Lake City’s recent protests and perspectives from a young black student. You can call the protest violent. By the end, it was. But understand that when you do so, when all you are willing to see is the parts of activism that make you most uncom­fo …

Since its inception in March, the Neighborhood Resili­ency Initiative (NRI) has installed over 20 community gardens in the Salt Lake Valley, from Rose Park to Draper. The project’s purpose is to increase the supply of locally grown fresh food by connec …

As millions of people across the country take to the streets and raise their voices in response to the killing of George Floyd and the ongoing problem of unequal justice, many people have reached out asking how we can sustain momentum to bring about re …

Sixteen years ago I moved to Utah and was greeted with two jokes: first, that all spicy food was intercepted at the state border and dusted down with a mythical “blanding agent,” and second, that Utahns had invented fry sauce because ketchup alone with …

CHAKRA FIVE Location: throat. Governs: our metabolism during activity and determines our resting metabolic rate.  Main issue: communication and self-expression. Externalizes: as both the thyroid and parathyroid glands. Element: sound. When balanced: we …

Summer Solstice is just around the corner! The last few months have been a bit dark and heavy for many of us, so I’m looking forward to celebrating the Sun, the Summer, and a little magic along the way. I’m here to introduce you to a few of my favorite …

Red Butte Garden’s new executive director, Jimmy Turner, arrived in Utah from Australia on March 13. The same day, in response to Covid-19, the garden shut down. At a time when this garden, the largest botanic garden in the Intermountain West, was abou …

The Lisbon Valley Copper Mine that operates on federal and state lands in San Juan County went bankrupt in March, just a few months after announcing plans to extend the life of the mine by pumping sulfuric acid into the ground to dissolve copper ores. …

Osho Zen Tarot:  Completion, Harmony, The Creator Medicine Cards: Turtle, Turkey, Whale Mayan Oracle: Muluc, Ben, Oc Ancient Egyptian Tarot: Five of Disks,  6 of Swords, King of Swords Aleister Crowley Deck: The Moon, The Tower, Prince of Disks Healing …

In these uncertain times, one thing we know for sure: People love tacos. The grand convergence of Taco Tuesday and Cinco de Mayo caused a drive- through/pickup gridlock around the state. I heard of wait times of two hours at any food provider with a va …

Yoga teachers often describe yoga poses in terms of their heating and cooling qualities. Many of us sequence our everyday yoga classes with these qualities in mind. For example, I like to start a practice with heating poses, and move gradually to cooli …

You may remember the story—in 1991, in Oracle, Arizona, about an hour north of Tucson, eight people sealed themselves inside “Biosphere 2,” a glass-enclosed space built to mimic Earth’s biome. Their mission over the course of two years was to explore t …

Hansjorg Wyss, a Wyoming resident and long-time supporter of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, has contributed $1 billion to help start a new campaign to protect 30% of land and water in the U.S. by 2030. At present, only 15% of land and 7% of oce …

Red Butte Garden’s new executive director, Jimmy Turner, arrived in Utah from Australia on March 13. The same day, in response to Covid-19, the garden shut down. At a time when this garden, the largest botanic garden in the Intermountain West, was abou …

In May Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) released updates on the Little Cottonwood Canyon Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the road from the intersection of State Route 190/Fort Union Boulevard to the town of Alta. The study addresses tr …

Friends of Great Salt Lake has created kid-friendly self-guiding field trips for Antelope Island State Park and Great Salt Lake State Park. Learn about the watershed while you look for migratory birds, handle oolitic sand and hunt for brine shrimp! …

Mulching is the art of nourishing and protecting your soil with a layer of organic matter applied evenly to the surface. It mimics the way that nature recycles organic matter to build soil. Nature abhors bare soil and goes to great lengths to cover it. …

In May, the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) and Rocky Mountain Power signed a Joint Clean Energy Cooperation Statement for the industrialized area under development near the Salt Lake Inter­national Airport and Great Salt Lake. As a first step, Rocky …

Meet the rural and urban gardeners of 80 years ago. Editor’s Note: In April, we invited you to become modern day Victory Gardeners (James Loomis, “Bring Back the Victory Garden,” https://catalystmagazine.net/bring-back-the-victory-garden/). Here we pre …

June 1  Average temps today: high 78º, low 54º. Sunrise: 5:58am. Sunset:   8:53pm. June 2  These easy annuals are pollinator-friendly: alyssum, cosmos, calendula, zinnia, sunflower. June 3  There are female dragonflies and male damselflies. Dragonflies …

A controversial landfill on Promontory Point in Box Elder County has run into financial trouble. Promontory Point Resources, LLC, owned by the California-based company Allos Environmental, failed to make the March payment on a $16.27 million bond that …

A legislative audit of Utah’s Permanent Community Impact Funds released in May found that money is being misspent for industry subsidies and economic development instead of for the intended purpose to mitigate social disruption caused by boom-and-bust …

A legislative audit of Utah’s Permanent Community Impact Funds released in May found that money is being misspent for industry subsidies and economic development instead of for the intended purpose to mitigate social disruption caused by boom-and-bust …

A congressman once told me that Utah’s vast barren desert was an unappreciated economic asset. Everything we make, he said enthusiastically, involves some kind of toxic byproduct that has to be disposed of. – Chip Ward Audit: Community Impact Funds mis …