OCR Text |
Show VIEWPOINTS The Park Record. A-13 WED/THURS/FRI, DECEMBER 23-25, 2020 EDITORIAL For many, a time of grief I t is a time of year to be with family. But with the kind of large festive gatherings that typically mark the holidays inadvisable this year, Parkites are finding other ways to celebrate the season with the people they love, from socially distanced meet-ups on the slopes to long-distance video chats. But as families that have been spared the worst of the pandemic this year huddle around their brightly lit Christmas trees or sing carols via Zoom, they should pause for a moment and take stock. For too many families, the holidays this year are filled with grief rather than joy. More than 319,000 people across the country are no longer here to celebrate with their loved ones due to COVID-19. Statewide, that number has now eclipsed 1,150, while in our community, which has been more fortunate than most, five residents have died of the coronavirus. It can be easy for many of us to grow numb to the numbers as they flash across our television sets or computer screens. But for the people who are mourning the loss of a friend or family member to this terrible disease, PERSPECTIVE COVID shows we need a bill of rights for essential workers JILL RICHARDSON OtherWords those in the retail industry. One of our priority goals is an Essential Workers Bill of Rights, which would guarantee improved health and safety protections, universal health care, increased pay and paid leave, and whistleblower protection. Workers also need a real voice in policy matters that affect our lives, from union organizing rights to personal protective equipment. So we’re pushing to get worker representation on corporate boards. Without these rights, corporate executives and politicians will continue to put their interests before those of essential workers and their families. And retail workers, especially Black women like me, will continue to live in poverty while working for some of the largest and wealthiest employers in the world. During the pandemic, the wealth of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Walmart’s Walton family has skyrocketed to record levels, according to a new report by Bargaining for the Common Good, the Institute for Policy Studies, and United for Respect. The contrast between this wealth and the struggles essential workers face is shameful. If this nation wants a real conversation about dignity for people like me and the people I organize, then we have to embrace bold solutions. And we can start with an Essential Workers Bill of Rights and a voice for workers in decision making. Think about what corporate America would look like if workers actually had a seat at the table. Corporations would prioritize investments in their workers instead of padding their CEOs’ pockets. The millions of retail workers who now have to rely on food stamps and other public assistance could provide for their families. Let’s push toward this dream by expanding opportunities for the working people who are critical to the health and security of our nation — today, during the pandemic, and beyond. Note: This op-ed was originally published at OtherWords.org. During the pandemic, essential workers have become public heroes. These frontline workers include tens of millions of retail employees, from those who stock our grocery shelves to those filling orders for Amazon. With so many people seeing firsthand how low-wage workers make our society function, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform our society so that everyone can earn quality pay and benefits. But beyond symbolic displays of gratitude, essential retail workers have not yet seen this transformation. At Walmart, the largest private employer in the country, workers are still not receiving adequate hazard pay, safety protections, or paid leave. The company remains the top employer of workers who are forced to rely on food stamps and other aid. At Amazon, employees still face rigid limits on bathroom breaks and other policies that compromise their health and safety in the midst of a pandemic. At least 20,000 Amazon employees have tested positive for COVID-19. These issues are deeply personal to me. For four years, I worked at my local Walmart as a cashier and later as a customer service manager — all while raising my son as a single mother and working on a bachelor’s degree. I started out making only $7.78 an hour and was never able to get a full-time position, let alone a stable schedule. I understand the stresses faced by retail workers at our country’s largest employers, including struggling to pay bills and not being able to care for a sick child because of unpredictable hours and low wages. Despite the challenges of the job, I got my degree in social work and now support retail workers across the country as an organizer for United for Respect. This national organization of Jill Richardson is pursuing a PhD working people fights for bold policies in sociology at the University of that would improve lives, particularly Wisconsin-Madison. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Keep it local 'Tis the season, to be sure. The influx of visitors — both domestic and foreign — has begun. The numbers are anticipated to be well below normal this year, but the faucet is still on. Outof-state license plates and record home sales substantiate the theory that people are not only visiting, but moving here, in many cases from states with the worst COVID statistics. Grocery stores last summer were quick to respond to the need to protect populations in the "vulnerable group" of senior citizens. Now the group that The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER .......................Andy Bernhard Editor ....................................Bubba Brown Staff Writers ...................... Jay Hamburger Scott Iwasaki Alexander Cramer Contributing Writers .................Tom Clyde Teri Orr Amy Roberts Tom Kelly Joe Lair Engagement Editor..............Jeff Dempsey Photographer ......................... Tanzi Propst Circulation Manager ..............Lacy Brundy ADVERTISING Advertising Director ............Valerie Spung Advertising Assistant .......Jessica Burlacu Advertising Sales ....................Jodi Hecker Joseph Siemon Rebecca Sturzenegger Director of Digital Marketing ...Tina Wismer Digital Sales Executive............. Erik Jones Production Director .................. Ben Olson Production ..........................Louise Mohorn needs protecting might be expanded to include "locals." Particularly near our ski areas, the stores are packed with vacationers either just picking up something for the evening meal or stocking up for their weekly rentals; it's not a stretch to assume many are from areas of the country less successful than Utah in monitoring and slowing transmission rates. The grocery retailers would be doing a great service by providing the safest possible environments for locals to shop. Eliminating even one stress factor from grocery shopping — potentially higher virus exposure — would ease the minds of those who live here year round and typically don't consider grocery shopping a high-risk activity. Whether combining it with current "seniors' hours" or establishing a new, dedicated time slot, such an option would go a long way toward keeping Utahns safe (and increasing customer loyalty). It may also help with isolation and mental health concerns by providing another protected opportunity to see friends and neighbors during "locals only" designated time slots. Allyson Hogan Pinebrook The right priorities Here’s a recommended priority list for dispensing the COVID vaccine: • all medical/hospital/pharmacy workers • all nursing home residents and workers • all first responders (police, fire, EMT) PERSPECTIVE the reality of the pandemic is all too real, the suffering it has caused all too sharp. As our community celebrates Christmas and New Year’s this week and next, we all must take a step back and process what has unfolded over the last nine months. Let us never take for granted the people who matter most. Let it also be a call to action as we near the end of a long, difficult year that has tested our collective will. Everyone is exhausted. Everyone is yearning for a return to normal. Everyone is eager for the day we can begin referring to the pandemic in the past tense. The thought may even cross one’s mind to ease up, particularly as the prospect of mass vaccination in the coming months becomes more tangible. Don’t be tempted. Remain steadfast. By this time next year, the pandemic will hopefully have come to an end. We’ll gather to celebrate the holidays in ways the coronavirus has made impossible. If we continue to do what’s necessary to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, we can ensure that it will be a time of joy, rather than anguish, for as many families as possible. Latest Russian Olympics ban for doping scandal isn’t worth paper it's printed on JIM LITKE Associated Press sports columnist Pigs will fly before we see an Olympics without doping. Fantastic as that sounds, it's practically a guarantee. Let's be clear: The Olympics, and all big-time sports for that matter, were never really “clean.” But with the establishment of anti-doping agencies worldwide, there was at least the hope they would be “cleaner.” Yet even that modest aspiration got tossed out the window Thursday, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided to halve what would have been an already lenient four-year proposed ban on the serial-doping Russian Federation. “So they can't fly their flag or sing the anthem at the Games for another two years?” said Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. “Big deal.” Competitors who got caught cheating at the games in ancient Greece had their likeness carved into stones placed on the pathway to the Olympic Stadium. Apparently, though, shaming folks doesn't carry the sting it once did. The Russians got caught running the biggest state-sponsored doping operation in the history of the planet in 2016, and despite being busted twice since, never really shut it down. And why would they, given their disciplinary history? The first time the International Olympic Committee caught on, it ordered the Russians to keep their flag, anthem and junket-loving officials — but not necessarily their athletes — out of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang. This is the kind of impression that made: Yet another Russian anti-doping lab got busted soon after — for tampering with the very data that was supposed to prove things had changed. The World Anti-Doping Agency responded this time around with a proposed four-year ban, though just like the earlier one, it was more symbolic than stinging, basically another “in-name-only” punishment. That, even though the court essentially concluded Russia was guilty on all counts. So the nation will be barred from formally entering teams at the rescheduled Tokyo Games next summer and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, as well as several other high-profile sporting events for the next two years. But it will send athletes to all those competitions, and softening the measures put in place for Pyeongchang, • all teachers and staff who actually work in schools (not administrators or virtual teachers) • all grocery store workers (clerks, stockers and maintenance) • all truck drivers and transportation industry hands-on workers • all over the age of 65 and those with selected (doctor-certified) medical conditions • all restaurant and bar workers • all retail workers • anyone else who wants it (including professional athletes and the entertainment industry) • and last in line, all elected politicians (federal, state and local) because they have continued to take full pay during the pandemic while contributing virtually nothing to mitigate its effects. Ken Miller Jeremy Ranch Let’s apply some common sense Hey Park City (mayor, council and staff), Time to get real. "Great“ idea to propose an increase on property taxes when many people in town are struggling to get through each day. Got to love how our elected officials have no problems spending other people's money. Guess you all are taking that from the federal government’s playbook. How about making some minor and relatively "inexpensive" changes to some of the roadways in and out of Park City while fewer people are riding our extensive bus system this season. those athletes will wear Russia's red, white and blue uniforms with “Russia” pasted on the jersey so long as it also displays the words “Neutral Athlete” or “Neutral Team” with the same prominence. Worse still, the original CAS decision forced individual Russian athletes to prove they'd steered clear of the state-sponsored doping operation. Now, the burden falls on WADA to prove they took part. Small wonder, then, that The Associated Press story about the reaction back then was headlined: “Russia claims victory with loopholes in Olympic sanctions.” “The full extent of (the Russian doping program) still hasn't been revealed because of their coverup,” Tygart, the USADA chief, said. “And yet, the maximum sanction they get is to be rebranded as neutral athletes from Russia. It makes no sense. “It also sends a very powerful message to others that, ‘Hey, if you want to win, this is the new rules of the game.’ You put in place a state-sponsored system, allow your athletes to go, and worst case is if you do get caught,” he concluded, “you just cover it up as best you can.” The conflicts of interest at the top of the Olympic movement are so many and varied that there's little hope it will reform itself. The IOC, rich and fat off TV and licensing deals to which countries like Russia contribute plenty, lines the pockets of both WADA and CAS and is much less concerned about whether the games are ''clean'' than whether they turn a profit. Effectively, that leaves the task of calling out dirty athletes to the competitors themselves. But in a nice bit of serendipity, the IOC this year said it was considering amending Rule 50, which governs protests by athletes during the games. Under the proposed change, any protest, so long as it's peaceful, will essentially be allowed without punishment. The IOC took up the amendment in recognition of the increasingly activist tones being struck by athletes around the world in reaction to a growing social justice movement calling out racism and inequality. Chances are good, though, that many of the athletes disgusted by having to chase juiced-up competitors will use some of those newfound freedoms to protest their presence at the games. Thanks to the court's muddled ruling, at least the offenders will be easy to spot. Public transportation utilization from December to April and beyond, will be down dramatically. No matter what you try to do, people aren’t getting on buses if they don’t have to. (Please don’t take this as my proposing everyone drive their own car.) Having lived in Kimball Junction for four-plus years, a “local” knew when to travel and when not to. If you don’t have the luxury of choosing when to travel, you figured it out. I have since moved to Hideout (don’t even go there) and seen the “other side” of the commute into and out of our beloved Park City. A few simple suggestions (with minimal cost): • Coming into Newpark on S.R. 224 going north, allow right-hand-turning cars to move over sooner starting at Bear Club Drive. Less congestion at the light and less chance of an accident with someone being blind-sided. • Have two left turn lanes coming off U.S. 40 (both east and west) at Exit 4. Both exit ramps are plenty wide for three lanes currently. This will cut down on the time the light needs to stay green for the exit ramps and keep traffic flowing smoother on S.R. 248. • Have two left turn lanes on S.R. 248 to U.S. 40 going west, starting just after the film studio. • Implement two lanes coming into town from 6 to 10:00 a.m. and two lanes leaving town from 2 to 7 p.m. on S.R. 248. Very minor pavement work would be needed. We just need to apply common sense and cut through red tape. Rich Ford Hideout Make a difference Stop the Polluting Port Coalition is asking for donations to commission a Human Health Risk Assessment study in order to ascertain the detrimental impacts the Utah Inland Port will possibly impose on human health, life expectancy and premature death rates along the Wasatch Front. The group shouldn’t have to pay for and commission this study, but it appears from what I understand that it will otherwise not be done. So concerned residents and environmental groups are stepping up and taking it upon themselves to have this study done, which will use traffic patterns, science and projections to see the full impact that the inland port will have on our future. If enough money is raised, I am hoping they will also do an environmental impact study as I am certain this project will negatively impact our Great Salt Lake, its migratory birds and more. Please donate whatever you can so that they can complete this important study. They have raised almost half of the needed $20,000 for the Human Health Risk Assessment study. No amount is too small. Go to UPHE.org (Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment), go under donate and select “stop the polluting port campaign” under "designation," and your donation will be restricted for this purpose. This is a tax-deductible donation as applicable by law. If you care about quality of life in Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Front, this is your chance to help make a difference. Jean Tabin Snyderville Basin |