Updates from Organizations - Government agencies - Advertise Various Artists

Stephen Colbert: Remembering a Happier Time. Stephen Helps President Obama Polish His Résumé

‘I Will Say Anything To Win Romney’ is Now ‘OK’ with Trump’s Trade War With China. Disavowing His Lifetime of Standing For Open Markets

Why I am Leaving the Senate by City Weekly

Mormons Quietly Building Multi-Million Dollar ‘Coalition’ to Fight Against Medical Cannabis in Utah. State Establishment Machine Joining In Fight to Stop Initiative. 77% of Utahns Want Passage

I Am THRIFTY With Your Money. In 6 Years in the Legislature, I returned $12,000 in Legislative Travel Allowance. Never Took a Dime. I am the Same Way With UP-Utah Progressives Money. But Getting Our Message Out is Expensive. I Need Your Support. Can You Help With $20 A Month? Or $5 One-Time? If You Don’t Help--We Cannot Get Our Message Out

Utah Politicians. They ‘Guaranteed’ They Would PROTECT Our Sacred Lands. Now, They Are Selling It Off To The Highest Fossil Fuel Bidders! Shame

Trump's EPA Director Scott Pruitt 'makes Betsy DeVos look like Einstein’. Under Pruitt, Utah's Air Quality is Going to Have Us Choking. Mia, Romney Etc., Are Big Pruitt Fans!

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John Oliver: Mike Pence, Exceptionally Good at Dodging Tough Questions

Obama Created Bears Ears National Monument on December 28, 2016. On December 4, 2017, Trump Acted to Gut the Monument.  What it Means, From Grand Canyon Trust.

A Democrat Opening? Rural Utah Has Been 85% GOP For A Generation. But Utah’s $140 Million In Food Exports To China Are Now At Grave Risk Due to Trump’s Brewing Trade War

There are three versions of the Dabakis Report: Weekly Political Digest, Conservation Newsletter, and LGBTQ Update. Are you getting the one you want? Click here to manage your subscription preferences.

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5 Ways Graffiti Vandals Damage

Your Community

In many U.S. cities, the writing is on the walls – graffiti vandalism, that is, creating expensive eyesores that are difficult to prevent and damaging to an area’s image.

A U.S. Justice Department study found that graffiti discourages people from using mass transit, makes business districts less attractive to shoppers and increases fear of gangs among residents. Law enforcement and community officials talk about how graffiti – usually spray-painted or applied with indelible markers – is costly in terms of removal, lowered property values and lost business.

While removing graffiti from buildings, bridges, overpasses and sidewalks drains millions of taxpayer dollars, graffiti vandalism also creates challenges for those trying to track and convict the vandals.

“Graffiti is one of the most visible signs of general decline in an area, and cities are fed up with it,” says Timothy Kephart, founder of Graffiti Tracker (www.graffititracker.com), a web-based system designed to help identify and prosecute graffiti vandals.  “Cities across the nation recognize how graffiti vandals continue to hurt their image and their tax base, so they’re finding different ways to fight back more effectively.

“There are lots of reasons we have to do a better job of cleaning this up.”

Kephart says there are at least five ways graffiti vandalism can hurt your community:

• Removal is expensive. Los Angeles has estimated it spends $7 million annually on graffiti cleanup. Chicago has spent $6 million per year and Las Vegas spends $3 million annually. “Painting over the graffiti is the most common removal process, but spending millions a year to simply do just that is a waste,” Kephart says. “You need to spend time documenting graffiti to have the best chance of catching the criminal.”
• It drives away business. Many people associate graffiti with a general decline in the area, indicative of crime and gangs. “Merchants lose business because customers feel the area is no longer safe,” Kephart says. 
• It erodes The Community. The negative perception of graffiti vandalism can send property values plummeting. “It indicates the community is losing control, and the graffiti, like the crime, can spread like a disease. It results in urban flight,” Kephart says. 
• It is toxic for the environment. Aerosol sprays used for graffiti emit VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that contribute to ozone levels, according to scientificamerican.com. Also, the cleaning substances used to get paint off the walls are harmful.
• It is a gateway to youth crime. Gangs often use graffiti as a form of communication, or for territory “tagging.” Most graffiti is done by youths who are either being initiated into gang activity or see their environment as a starting point for crime. “Often, graffiti is a gateway crime for juvenile offenders,” Kephart says. “If we can identify them at an early age, there’s a stronger possibility they can be re-directed onto a more productive path.”

“Imagine how many cities we could beautify,” Kephart says, “ if we could clean up this graffiti, prevent most of it, and have a way to find the criminals and make them pay the city back.”

About Timothy Kephart

Timothy Kephart is the founder of Graffiti Tracker (www.graffititracker.com), a web-based system designed to help people identify, track and prosecute graffiti vandals. He holds a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Cal State Long Beach. A court-certified graffiti expert, Kephart has testified in homicide trials as it related to using graffiti as a way to prove motive for murder. He worked for the City of Carson as their in-house graffiti expert and was assigned to Carson Station for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

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 Case Dismissed! San Juan County Wins Fight Against SUWA. 

San Juan County, UT – San Juan County has long been a target of special interest groups hoping to destroy rural communities. Yesterday’s ruling in the 7th District Court for San Juan County was a victory for San Juan County and a step towards stopping the continuous assault on rural counties’ authority by these groups.

In response to San Juan County’s Motion to Dismiss, Judge Anderson dismissed the case brought against San Juan County by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance alleging that the Commission violated the Open Meeting Law when meeting with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and members of the Utah Federal Delegation. Judge Anderson stated, “The County Commission was advocating on behalf of the County or its citizens when meeting with members of Congress or Interior officials. Anyone can advocate. Anyone can lobby. That one can do so does not mean one has either jurisdiction or advisory status. The Utah Open Meetings Act was clearly not designed to reach so far."

It is important to know that the Court questioned whether the filing of this action by SUWA was for the improper purpose of intimidating the Commission or other similarly situated officials. The result of this concern is that SUWA must now submit a Memorandum to explain why they believe they did not violate state law by filing this suit. 

Commission Chair, Bruce Adams stated, “SUWA has abused their platform and donors for too long. They have made money on the backs of the taxpayers by filing frivolous lawsuits and exploiting the Equal Access to Justice Act. 

We could not be more pleased that Judge Anderson has seen through the lies of this organization. It is our hope that this will be the first step in a movement to unmask SUWA and the manipulative way they do business.”