City Cast Salt Lake
🐿 Spying on Salt Lake's squirrels
December 4, 2023
Good morning! Do you have a favorite holiday tradition? Every year, my aunt has a Christmas Eve party where we eat yummy food (wontons and chicken teriyaki) and play games. I always look forward to it. Would love to hear about your cherished traditions!
What's CITY Talking About?
Rural Telehealth
Utah has received $1.7 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for rural telehealth services. The initiative aims to enhance health care in areas of the state with limited resources, with a focus on improving mental health and substance abuse services. It will cover 20 counties and begin early next year. [KUER]
Rio Grande Plan
The Rio Grande Plan, which proposes burying Salt Lake’s rail system to better connect the east and west sides of the city, could cost $3 to $5 billion. That’s according to an analysis commissioned by Salt Lake City and is 10 times the initial estimate. The proposal would free up 75 acres for development by creating an underground “train box” for a network of freight trains, commuter trains, and Amtrak. [Building Salt Lake]
- Related: Our conversation with a designer behind the Rio Grande Plan. [City Cast Salt Lake 🎧]
SLC Swifties
Spotify Wrapped showed that Taylor Swift was the most streamed artist in Salt Lake City this year. The other artists in the top five included Drake, Morgan Wallen, $uicideboy$, and Peso Pluma. What’s on your Spotify Wrapped? [Axios]
- Just wondering: Did the City Cast Salt Lake podcast make your Spotify Wrapped? Send us an email with a screenshot and your address, and we’ll send you a City Cast Salt Lake sticker!
Could AG Reyes Be Impeached?
The hits just keep coming for Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. It started with his relationship to Tim Ballard of Operation Underground Railroad. Ballard has been accused of sexual assault and defrauding donors of his anti-trafficking organization. Now, Reyes has been accused of bullying witnesses related to those investigations. City Cast Salt Lake host Ali Vallarta is asking one Republican lawmaker what we all want to know: Is impeachment on the menu? [City Cast Salt Lake 🎧]
Where Is It?
Many of you knew this Abe Lincoln statue resides in the hallowed halls of Trolley Square.
One Hey Salt Lake reader said, “I just noticed this statue last week when I was at Trolley Square waiting for my husband to get his hair cut! I’ve been there lots of times but had never noticed ol’ honest Abe hanging out there. Maybe he was more noticeable because one of my favorite stores, Tabula Rasa, wasn’t open yet that day.”
This week we have a mural on a parking garage!
What To Do
Story Hour: Camping in Color ⛺️ Wednesday | 7-8:15 p.m.
Learn about the camping program for BIPOC families, Camping in Color, at the University of Utah. [Free, University]
Cumbia House Party 💃 Thursday | 9 p.m.
Every first Thursday is cumbia night at Alibi Bar & Place by Vibras Del Lago. 21+ only. [Free entry, Downtown SLC]
KRCL’s Holiday Soul Party ❄️ Saturday | 8 p.m.
Celebrate 44 years of KRCL community radio at their annual holiday soul party. [$25+, South Salt Lake]
Today on City Cast
Is Impeachment on the Menu for AG Sean Reyes?
“Just who does Sean Reyes think he is?” That’s the question the Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board is asking about Utah’s Republican attorney general — and legislators are trying to find the answer through an audit of Reyes’ office. State Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, is one Republican who requested the report amid a flurry of unfavorable headlines that paint Reyes as someone who appears to want to do anything but be the attorney general. Weiler joins host Ali Vallarta to make the case for appointing rather than electing the state’s top cop and weighs in on whether Reyes could be impeached.
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— Terina Ria
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