Community Spread

We are interrupting our coverage of the legislative session to do a quick mini-episode to follow up on our show with Andi Beedles about the Weber Housing Authority’s plans to open a permanent supportive housing project in Ogden. We have a special guest, George Barragan! You probably know George from 614’s social media as the brave 13-year-old who made poignant comments at the council meeting. I wanted to have him on to hear his thoughts about what made him want to speak his mind at that meeting. 

If you’ve tuned into The Community Spread podcast before, we hope you’ve found value in the voices we’ve elevated, the topics we covered, and the opinions we’ve shared. We fundamentally believe the State Legislature here in Utah is doing a poor job of representing Utahns and that if more people heard the voices of their lawmakers during these sessions and were informed of the consequences of the laws they pass, they would be even more unpopular than they already are. So, for the next 5 or 6 weeks, we plan to bring you weekly information about a few bills that are under consideration by our lawmakers. We will bring their voices from committee hearings and the voices of the public as they courageously make their way to the capitol to oppose some of the worst impulses of our representatives. I’ve brought in our Social Media goddess here at 614 Productions, Kari Harbath, as well as political junkie Colby Petersen. We hope you have as much fun listening to the show as we did recording it. If this fills a void in your local news consumption and you like what you hear please share it with a friend. 

On the Pod today we have Andi Beadles. Andi is the executive director of the Weber Housing Authority and is working on a project that will house 25 of the most chronically homeless individuals in Ogden in Permanent Supportive Housing. This housing project will have 24 hour supervision and support from case managers. This innovative solution for Ogden would do a lot to care for our cities most vulnerable. However it is facing opposition from Ogden City Council and is up for a vote on January 14th. We need your help so that the council knows our community supports this type of project. You can contact the Ogden City Council members via phone or email here! Also a large presence of individuals who support the project showing up on January 14th will make a huge impact! So join us that day so we can prove that Ogden is different!

Currently women in Utah can receive and abortion up to 18 weeks but only because Utah courts have put a temporary stay on one of the most extreme anti-abortion laws in the country that The Utah Legislature passed in 2020. Kevin and Angela discuss just how extreme the state legislature is on abortion and why it's important to have a pro-choice voice like hers in the house. Mentioned in this episode:Rally for Reproductive Rights

Kevin discusses with Juli and Dirk how recent anti-transgender legislation has effected their son who is transgender.  Dirk and Juli wanted to share their experience because many people don’t get the opportunity to get to know people whose lives have been affected by anti-transgender legislation and a general culture in Utah where transgender people are vilified and marginalized.

Ogden City Council candidate Priscilla Martinez on the pod to talk to us about her unique life experience and what it's been like to run for City Council in Ogden. Her background in social services, education, and health makes her a uniquely qualified candidate to represent District 3 in Ogden.

Jaynee Nadolski is the Senior Associate Commissioner for Compliance & Governance of the Big Sky Conference. She also serves as the Senior Woman Administrator for the conference office and is the league's liaison between the NCAA and conference institutions for all compliance, academic and governance issues. Jaynee is also an accomplished two sport high school and collegiate athlete. She came on the podcast today to talk about the progress that has been made, and still needs to be made, both nationally and locally in women's sports.

On the pod today we have Ogden City Councilmen Luis Lopez. Luis was born and reared in Guadalajara, Jalisco – Mexico. Under intense pressure from the Mexican government he and his family immigrated to the United States at the age of 19 under the protection of the DEA. In this episode we explore his experiences during an extremely difficult time in his life as he and his family were seeking political asylum here in the United States. His story was detailed in the NY Times back in 2013. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/us/us-mexico-dea-informant.html

Adrienne Gillespie Andrews is the Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer at Weber State University where she has worked for almost 16 years. She holds bachelor of arts degrees in Political Science and Women's Studies from the University of Utah; a MS degree in Women’s Studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato; an MA in Political Science from Rutger's the State University of New Jersey and graduate certificate in Conflict Resolution & Mediation from the University of Utah where she is completing a Ph.D. in Education, Culture and Society. Andrews has worked in a variety of government capacities including as the Director of the Center for Youth Policy and Programs for the State of New Jersey.Adrienne stopped by to share with us her passion for social justice and to explain how we can do better as a community. In the intro I talk about the diversity commission's response to Fort Bingham Road citizen petition, that Adrienne is involved in. Page 31 is the letter from James Singer

Today on the pod we are continuing our celebration of Black History Month by having important members of our local black community share their experiences. Returning guest Miss Betty Sawyer, president of the Ogden NAACP, is here to share with us some important black history starting with the Emancipation Proclamation, through the restoration era amendments, into the civil rights era, and today. Miss Betty shared her experience with being one of 12 black students to integrate her high school. Tune in through the whole thing you won’t want to miss it!

On the pod this week, we have a great guest to kick off Black History Month, Wynter the Poet! Some of you may recognize her voice, she spoke the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from a Birmingham Jail last month. She's on the pod today to talk about her journey from growing up in Utah, and how poetry became her saving grace through some extremely tough times. Also, we broke down her poem "When We Say Black Lives Matter" for us in our first ever 'Okay Stop' segment. AND to top it off she blessed us with another original poem that won the 2018 Ogden Pride award. As always, please like, subscribe, rate and Share with your friends and family. Thanks,

On the Pod this week, Brock Abel speaks to us about what it was like growing up knowing that he was different, but not knowing what to do about it. Brock knew he was gay at a pretty young age, but didn't really know how to handle that and didn't really know how to come to terms with himself. He talks about how society, culture, and religion shaped a lot of the homophobia he faced both externally and internally. He even decided at one point to try and get married to a woman and make a marriage work. Join us as we listen to Brock's journey of self love and honesty. As always, share subscribe and like this episode with anyone you may know that might need to hear this story.