Not Getting the Facts
Here’s the question: When do we want to know all the answers, and when do we want to work on faith alone? You might ask that in considering Gov. Gary Herbert’s discarding of the federal Medicaid-expansion proposal. Herbert says there are just too many questions bound up in Obamacare—like funding, funding, funding. This, even though the federal subsidy of 100 percent will fall only to 90 percent by 2020. So, Herbert wants to keep pursuing the state’s Avenue H, which provides only for small businesses and their workers—about 7,000 of the 330,000 uninsured in the state. Herbert doesn’t have the answers to questions about the state’s little health exchange. Meanwhile, he wants to take back Utah’s federal lands without having all the answers about costs because he just knows that it will be better.
Come Together
While Colorado tourist agencies are pouring money into airlines to ensure consistent flights to their ski resorts, Utah is trying desperately to staunch the flow of visitors and their vehicles. Three recent studies of canyon transportation were released by Salt Lake County to address the problem, which includes environmental impacts. SkiLink aside, it’s good to see cooperation among groups with differing agendas. Parking, biking, warnings and public transit are all part of the mix. An environmental-impact statement is now in the works, and if public transit is indeed part of the solution, we can only hope the Utah Transit Authority will see the value in running on holidays. UTA kind of missed that idea over Black Friday, when it cut back service to an enraged public.
Caught in Their Lies
It’s hard to know if $26 million is enough to make up for EnergySolutions’ lies to investors, but that’s what the courts will be considering. We should say that EnergySolutions denies that it violated any laws, even though the company’s stock fell 44 percent after its initial public offering in July 2008. Shareholders believe that EnergySolutions withheld information about its petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, saying the company was confident the petition would be granted. It wasn’t. But investors were ready to settle, perhaps fearing that prolonged litigation would hurt profits. It could. After a second-quarter loss, EnergySolutions notched a revenue increase in the third quarter, while warning of “risks and uncertainties,” and that “we may not achieve those plans, intentions or expectations.”
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Katharine Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses column. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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