Utah SmartPhone Shots

One day I was thinking, "Hey, why do only photos taken with fancy DSLR cameras have a group to share their artistic talent?"

So I started this Flickr group, where you share and view photos taken only with smartphone cameras.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/utahsmartphoneshots/


Have you ever taken a photo on your phone or iPod Touch and thought it looked pretty cool for the tool you used and then a real photographer thought it looked like crap? Well maybe it truly did look like crap, but it is still fun to share with others without being intimidated by posting a picture on a blog of pictures done by "professionals."


Now there is a place to share your photos without worrying about someone who has a DSLR laughing at your cheap equipment and wannabe photo skills.

Shooting photos with a smartphone require a different kind of talent and an artistic eye that cannot be captured the same with a Digital SLR camera.

There is no monetary benefit to the group. It is just a fun place to share your artistic talent and see others.

Time Lapse Video of Salt Lake City storm

I took this time lapse with my Droid Incredible after I heard a thunderstorm was coming toward the Salt Lake valley on Sunday.

Mobile Journalism: Investigating towing in Sandy City

With a small news tip from a concerned citizen, I discovered this gem of a story about how one towing company has made more than 2,600 tows in a single vacant lot in 2 1/2 years. On average the tow company gathered at least a $725,000 in fine money from car owners.

Read the investigative story here. 

I am trying to add multi-media to more of my stories now to bring some new innovation to the Salt Lake Tribune, so I have a video I also made to go along with the story see my video here.

Car Seat Safety

Think you know everything about car seat safety?

Read how long car seats work before they expire here.
If you want to see my mobile journalism clip along with the story, watch this. You might learn a few new things.

Citizens work to repeal HB477

THE DAY MY 20-YEAR-OLD GRAMA DIED

March 4, 2011 went down as a day of infamy in Utah at the Capitol with the passing of HB 477. It became known as the day our GRAMA died. It became the day public records and transparency in a state with one of the best public records laws in the United States is now slated (pending the signature of Governor Herbert) to become one of the worst in the nation and even rival limited freedom of information laws in Mexico.
These are the folks that passed it. Keep them in mind next time you vote. Are they truly representing you and open transparency in government?
In the House:
In the Senate:
So who accesses these records and why is this such a big deal?
First, listen to regular citizens who commented during a rules committee hearing on Friday about it.
I did a live video stream of the proceedings from my phone.
According to a story in the Salt Lake Tribune, the majority of Freedom of Information requests made nationally were done by commercial businesses and private citizens. The news media comes in at only 6 percent, according to a 2006 report from the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government.
Who does this bill effect? The people. However it doesn't reflect the what the people want. A Dan Jones poll indicated more than 90 percent of Utahns disagreed with the passing of the bill. So why was it passed?
"It is a bill created by the legislature, for the legislature, and against the people," to quote my mother who said it so aptly.

HB477 bill sponsor Rep. John Dougall (photo above courtesy of ABC4.com) 

See the interviews of reporters asking him why the rush in the bill. Does he have something to hide?
FOX13 interview
ABC4 interview
Legislators along with Dougall gutted a law made in 1992, to allow the public rights and access to public records. Basically anything created by the government is a public record, unless deemed to be private.
An amendment to the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA)
Legislators voted in the House and the Senate to conceal many public records including text messages, IM, voicemails, and some e-mails. They also made the legislative branch of government exempt from disclosing any of the written conversations they have with their constituents. This is a tough blow to Utah open records laws in the state. However, they didn't stop there. On top of making these new restrictions, they added "overhead and administrative" fees that could be added to any government record request. Essentially removing any type of financial cap on how much an agency could charge to have someone obtain a public record.
So for example, if you wanted to request a regular government record like a birth, divorce, death certificate, land use or water rights history those fees could now go from nothing to an inflated cost just to get a copy.
When I was a student reporter working at The Signpost at Weber State University, I did an investigation on felons working in higher education. Under HB477 this sort of story would have no chance of being accomplished at a collegiate level, because of new charges in fees.
Here is a well thought out editorial by the managing editor of the Valley Journals and also with the Utah Foundation for Open Government. click here:

Washington County Flooding #wacoflood

As a mobile journalist, I have spent the past 3 days in southwestern Utah reporting for the Salt Lake Tribune on the 2010 Flood in the St. George area. I also had a few reports via telephone for Utah Public Radio. My boss told me to expect a call from them. That was my first time doing news reporting for a radio station. Here is the file from my UPR interview to listen to below.

Below is a chronicle of what I did down there. Lots of pix, video, and stories being told.

Here is the most recent story I wrote along with some other fellow reporters down in St. George.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/50927066-78/wednesday-washington-flooding-residents.html.csp

I learned there are more than 400 dams in Utah, with the majority being earth-filled.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50928078-76/dam-dams-state-filled.html.csp

Dam was holding as of Wednesday morning.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50924373-76/washington-wednesday-county-kemp.html.csp

The first story we wrote after getting down to St. George.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/50921905-78/dam-county-tuesday-river.html.csp

Here are a few fun videos and interesting pix I took on my cell phone of crazy waters, that didn't damage any homes, but looked pretty awesome, nonetheless.

Three whirlpools in New Harmony in the Harmony Heights subdivision. (click the whirlpools text to see the video). Also video of one whirlpool closer up.
This bridge at at the base of the subdivision was not in danger, but further up a few bridges or culverts were in question. Residents said the night before water was actually flowing over the road. A couple TV stations reported that this bridge was the one city officials were worried about, but that was incorrect. It was a different bridge further up the mountain.

Residents in Toquerville and prison inmates, yes prison inmates form Purgatory Correctional Facility were being bussed in who were helping fill sandbags.  Water came close to some homes, but looks like they were safe after sandbagging.
Toquerville private residence was getting help from sandbaggers.

Here the night before in Washington City, water was being pumped out of the storm drains and back into the Virgin River. The streets were flooding because the water from the river was blocking the drains from actually draining. Some homes were sandbagged, but ended up being safe from any flooding damage.

In the city of Ivins water was spilling over the backside of Snow Canyon. It was gorgeous. This pic doesn't quite capture how awesome it was.

This is the superficial erosion on the exterior of the South Creek dam, where the initial concern was raised on Tuesday morning. The dam ended up being fine, despite initial reports of it leaking.

This is a pic of where the 9th hole of a golf course once was at South Creek golf course.  The link to the story about how the flood affected the community recreational areas.  I contributed to this story, with reaction from clients at Southgate.

Here is a picture I took of a road washed out completely on the way up to the dam in Enterprise.

Elizabeth Smart Trial Coverage

Along with the live streaming video I took outside of the courthouse, I helped out with this final story on the guilty verdict for Brian David Mitchell who was on trial for the 2002 Elizabeth Smart kidnapping.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50849318-76/mitchell-smart-trial-verdict.html.csp

Below are pictures of me along with numerous other journalists from around the nation at the event. Photos were taken by the Salt Lake Tribune, AP, and Reuters.

(Bottom_Left) Me and the back of my head. I am in a leather jacket taking video comment from Ed Smart, after his daughter Elizabeth, and wife Lois just finished speaking.

(Bottom-Center) Holding up a digital voice recorder along with the cell phone camera, recording a live video feed to the newspaper's website. Mobile Journalism in action.
Juror 7 speaks to the media in the Brian David Mitchell trial during a news conference outside federal court Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 in Salt Lake City. Mitchell was found guilty for the June 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart. (AP Photo/Colin E Braley)

You can see my Droid Incredible and my hand in the far right on this shot. I was streaming live video to the Salt Lake Tribune's website of the reaction from the defense.
Rebecca Woodridge, step-daughter of Brian David Mitchell, is interviewed outside federal court Friday, Dec. 10 2010 in Salt Lake City. Mitchell was found guilty for the June 5 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart. (AP Photo/Colin E Braley)