Dirt2Table: Celebrate Spring!

The preparations for the 2018 Fairpark Community Celebration of Spring and Plant Sale are underway, scheduled for May 5, 2018 at the Northwest Community Center.

We are starting some varieties of peppers and tomatoes that we didn’t start last year, so keep your eyes open for our Catalog, which should be on the website by around March 15th. This year the big event will be on May 5 (Cinco de Mayo), so mark your calendars!

This has been the mildest winter out of the last five winters at least, maybe longer. Die back on unprotected fig trees didn’t happen in Salt Lake valley this year. Speaking of Figs, at this year’s plant sale we are going to have three varieties available as rooted starts to plant here in our community. Also new to the plant sale will be some heirloom varieties of apple and pear trees as well as Aronia berry plants. It seemed like it was about time to start offering some perennial food producers in our community event. We will also have more varieties of FREE seeds for things like lettuce, spinach, beans, cucumbers, squashes and more. We provide the free seeds only on the day of the event, and not with pre-orders.

We are looking for some help with putting on workshops and answering questions for beginner gardeners, so if you are an experienced gardener or know someone that is, we would sure appreciate your help on the day of the event to help answer people’s questions.

There will be a lot of opportunities to volunteer to help with growing over 4,000 starter plants this year, so please reach out if you are interested. Write to dirt2tableslc@gmail.com or call 801-502-1991 to find out why and when volunteers are needed.

Education Corner: Tracking Education Bills

The 63rd Session of the Utah Legislature is well under way. There are many bills under consideration regarding Education.

The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) has a bill tracker on it’s website, which can be directly accessed at:

https://schools.utah.gov/file/97bec1b3-f073-4f1b-bc8e-0f19d7e6e690

While there are many pieces of legislation under review covering an array of topics, we would like to highlight bills that address student mental health issues.

According to the Utah Department of Health, suicide rates among youth age 10-17 have soared, “growing at an average annual rate of almost four times faster than the rest of the nation”. This is a serious health concern among Utah’s children. Providing programs in schools to address mental health issues is one way of addressing this issue.

House Bill 264, Elementary School Counselor Program, authorizes the State Board of Education (board) to award grants to local

Education agencies to provide targeted school-based mental health supports in elementary schools; authorizes the board to make rules for grant applications and awards; and requires a local education agency that receives a grant to submit an annual report to the board.

Read the bill here (amended January 29th): https://le.utah.gov/~2018/bills/hbillamd/HB0264.pdf

House Bill 308 requires the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health to create a Telehealth mental health pilot project grant program for LEAs. The bill aims to provide increased access to students in underserved areas around the state, where it is often difficult to access services. The bill can be viewed here: https://le.utah.gov/~2018/bills/hbillint/HB0308.pdf

If you want to stay up to date on Utah Legislative activity regarding education, The USBE has an entire page dedicated to the 2018 Utah Legislative session which can be viewed at https://schools.utah.gov/policy/legislativesession.

Gateway Inn

As many of you know, the Gateway Inn on 819 W. North Temple has become a center of criminal activity in our neighborhood. An article in the West View community newspaper last Fall pointed out there is a strong disparity in the number of police calls coming from the Gateway Inn and its neighbors at the All Star and Econolodge. In the first 10 months of 2017, 750 calls were made regarding the Gateway compared to 250 at the Econolodge and 150 at the All Star.

Many serious crimes were reported at the Gateway including a murder last August. There have been multiple violent episodes there like 10 large fights, many drug calls and numerous calls involving guns or knives. Another murder happened in November.

The Fairpark Community Council is deeply concerned about the criminal activity taking place at the Gateway Inn. In speaking with police and community leaders, we have found the following to be true.

People loitering outside the facility act as lookouts for the criminal activity taking place inside. They also deal drugs and facilitate prostitution.

Police have complained Gateway employees tip off residents when SLCPD responds to that location.

The current status of the Gateway Inn is an impediment to growth and improvement in our area.

Police, the Mayor and our City Council are aware of the problems.

At our January meeting, Detective Oliver shared a recent sweep arrested 45 people. All but two were released within 24 hours. The Health Department also went in and closed 14 rooms. All but two were reopened within a day. The owner went to the City and offered to sell the property for $8 million. This is a $1.5 million increase from the last time he offered. It’s a $6.5 million increase from two years ago.

A study by West Side Studio last year suggested a city ordinance that limited stays in such establishments to no more than 30 days could help alleviate the problem. Given the hugely disproportionate amount of police calls to the Gateway Inn, it has been suggested their management help pay for police costs and additional security. Detective Oliver recommends any security hired by the Gateway be SLCPD. A City ordinance would need to be enacted for this to happen.

What can residents do?

Report every criminal incident in the area no matter how minor. Use the SLC app or call the non-emergency number 801-799-3000.

Ask the City Council and the Mayor for the suggested ordinances in paragraph 6.

Ask the City Council and Mayor for increased police patrols in the area.

The Community Council has spoken directly with the Mayor, our Council representatives, House Speaker Hughes, SLCPD, UHP Commissioner Squires and management of the Pioneer Park Coalition about this problem. Scott Howell from PPC spoke at our December meeting and Commissioner Squires will speak at our February meeting. Police action is taking place but the justice system moves slowly and everyone gets the due process of law.

The Gateway Inn is the largest source of criminal activity in our neighborhood. Drugs are being made and sold, women are being exploited and people are dying. It’s far past time to make a stand for our Fairpark neighborhood.

Pedal in the City: Jordan Parkway Trail Finished!

A long awaited dream for Fairpark residents and bike enthusiasts all over the city has come true. Residents can now cycle the entire Jordan Parkway Trail without skirting around side streets between sections of trail. The Jordan River Trail Bridge was officially opened and dedicated at celebration event on November 18 at Fisher Mansion. This bridge completes Jordan River Trail, an urban paved trail that follows the Jordan River through Salt Lake City from Davis County through Utah County.

Speaking at the dedication ceremony included David Litvak,SLC Mayor’s office, Ben McAdams, Salt Lake County Mayor, James Rogers, Salt Lake City Council District 1, Stan Penfold, Salt Lake City Council District 3, Rep. Sandra Hollins, District 23, and Kyle Lamalfa, former District 2 City Council Member, who was instrumental in moving forward the completion of the Jordan River Parkway Trail.

More information is available at the Jordan River Commission (http://jordanrivercommission.com/) and the Salt Lake City (http://www.slcgov.com).

Annual Community Coat Exchange

Bring a coat, take a coat: If you need a coat, come get one. If you have a coat, we know someone who can use it.

Fairpark Community Council is once again partnering with Blue Sky Institute for its annual Community Coat Exchange.

The Community Coat Exchange has been an ongoing event in Salt Lake City, Utah since 2005.

The event is held annually at Pioneer Park from 10am to 1pm the day after Thanksgiving.

The Coat Exchange is a collection and distribution of winter coats and other clothing items. The idea is for people to bring donations to any of the drop off centers before Thanksgiving or to the event itself. The drop off for Fairpark is All Chay restaurant, 500 North 1264 West. Chapman Library is the drop off for the Poplar Grove area, 577 South 900 West.

At the event, no questions are asked: If you need a coat, come get one. If you want to exchange a coat, bring the coat you want to donate and take one in exchange. If you have a donation of coats, we know people who can use them.

Left over coats are donated to the Crossroads Urban Center Thrift Store, a project of the Crossroads Urban Center which advocates for low income and homeless people. The Crossroads Urban Center Thrift Store gives clothes away to poor people and also sells clothes and other goods in its retail shop to the general public to help fund the Crossroads Urban Center programs.

Please call 801-502-1991 for more information.

http://www.coatexchange.org

2017 Utah State Fair a Success!

The 2017 Utah State Fair is expected to break another record for attendance, a record broken just the year prior. This year’s success can largely be attributed to the additions of the circus and the new Days of ’47 Stadium, which allowed for more large-scale events. This latter trend will continue throughout the year, as the Fairpark is planning upwards of 30 stadium events through 2018. Stay tuned to what’s in the works by checking www.utahstatefairpark.com (and keep an eye out for the more informative, user-friendly website design).

The Fairpark is excited to announce Pumpkin Nights October 13-29. Pumpkin Nights is a family-friendly, immersive Halloween experience (that highly encourages costumes). SLC is one of 3 cities they chose to host the festival this year, so it’s a pretty big deal for our community. Tour 4,000 carved pumpkins, carve your own, watch Halloween movies, get lost in a hay-bale maze and complete a site-wide scavenger hunt. Visit www.pumpkinnights.com/slc/ for more details. Click on the image for a full size map to illustrate what’s in store for you at Pumpkin Nights.

Education Corner: Starting the day ready to learn: It’s what’s for Breakfast

Many children arrive to school without having eaten breakfast. Starting the day hungry is not conducive to learning. There is ample evidence behind the science of eating breakfast to start the day ready to learn and perform, and how school breakfast programs set the stage for students on a daily basis.

A 2013 study on the effects of breakfast on behavior and academic performance in students (Frontiers in Human Neuroscience August, 2013) revealed that effects of breakfast consumption and school breakfast programs positively affect learning in children, across socio-economic status, in terms of behavior, cognitive, and school performance.

The Food Research and Action Center produced a brief of research findings in 2016 that demonstrated a correlation between breakfast and school performance among children.
In the Fairpark community, Backman Elementary School’s Breakfast in the Classroom Program is an exemplar of how students are ready to learn as a result of the structure to provide nutrition at the start of the day. A description of Backman’s breakfast program can be viewed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=S02qUcxEmO8

Fairpark Community Neighborhood Clean-Up September 23

Dirt2Table: Springing into Autumn: A Gardening Celebration

Now that community residents have been through their gardening season, fruits of our labor are being realized through fresh vegetables and fruits harvested, eaten, canned, and dried!

But just because summer is coming to a close does not mean the gardening is over! We would love to hear your gardening stories, share a taste of your goodies, and participate in continuing education on gardening.

To that end, Fairpark Community Council and Dirt2Table will hold an Autumn Equinox Celebration on Saturday, September 30th from 10-2pm at the Northwest Community Center. We will have workshops on grafting and pruning, making cold frames, and fall and winter garden maintenance. We will ask residents to celebrate their garden adventures through the sharing of seeds, bulbs and scion wood as well as something from the garden (fresh, canned, dried, a recipe from garden goodies, etc.).

So as you enjoy the results of your gardening efforts this month, begin gathering your ideas for goodies to share, and plan to attend the celebration! Bring your friends and neighbors! Please save the date and watch for more details, including workshop times. Check our website, Nextdoor, Facebook page, September’s Gazette and posted flyers in the community.

More information: dirt2tableslc@gmail.com

Westside Arts Fest Draws Big Crowds

It was a sunny day with a light breeze and kids ran around with painted faces and balloon animals. The first annual Westside Arts, Food and Music Festival was in full swing. “This is our first year and we couldn’t be happier with the turnout!” said Restore North Temple Founder, Jade Sarver. “The whole purpose of this event is to bring our entire community together to appreciate all the things our neighborhood is known for. Our food, our art, our music and our history!” The event was well attended with estimates in the range of about 500 people. The event was free to attend and featured over 30 local artists and vendors, as well as 3 stages packed all day with live music from bands like The K Tones, individual guitarists and singers like local favorite Dan Weldon, and local dance groups like the popular Malialole Dance group, who performed several traditional dancers, and even got a few audience members to jump in. “I’m here for the food trucks!!” said one festival goer. The Red Food truck sold delicious Peruvian sandwiches, and Facil Taco truck sold locally flavored fare. “We are so thankful to Westview Media, the River District Business Alliance Neighborworks and Rocky Mountain Power for being our key sponsors. We were able to put on this free event for neighbors through generous donations from local businesses,” said Sarver. The event was held at the Sugar Space Arts Warehouse. “This was a hugely successful event,” said Brittany Reese, owner of Sugar Space. “We would love to host more events like this in the future.”

Restore North Temple is a citizen-led, grassroots movement to bring the entire west side community together to support the restoration of our Grand Boulevard, North Temple. The purpose of this movement is to unite residents, community organizations, and businesses to reduce crime, increase economic development and improve the perception of the west side of Salt Lake City, particularly focused on the North Temple corridor.