Legaspi Company eyeing western Salt Lake. Gigante USA grocery superstore may anchor the Redwood Road site.

The Deseret News is reporting that the Legaspi Company is asking the Salt Lake City Council for a $2.25 million loan to help spur their efforts in building a shopping center on the city's west side. The shopping center would be located at Redwood Road and North Temple and the Legaspi Company is hoping to lure Gigante USA grocery superstore to the area.

The money, if given to the group, will come from the city's revolving business funds, which is replenished as past businesses repay their loans back. Gigante USA currently has stores in California, but has been looking to tap into the Salt Lake market for quite some time.

Gigante USA is an offshoot of Gigante Mexico, one of the largest supermarkets in Mexico.

Bush to Katrina evacuee: "Were you the only black man in Salt Lake City?"

Time Magazine has a great article on Pres. Bush's visit to New Orleans last week. In it, Bush is quoted as saying the following:

Touring New Orleans last week, he met a man who had survived for days on canned goods before being evacuated to Utah. "Were you the only black man in Salt Lake City?" Bush asked.

Apparently, the first thing Bush thought to ask this man was whether or not SLC had any black people. This guy probably saw his entire life uprooted by a hurricane, God knows if he lost any family members and Pres. Bush wants to know whether he was the only black guy in Salt Lake.

But that shouldn't be much of a surprise, as Bush pretty much said the same thing while in Brazil (he was surprised that Brazil had black people, too). How out of touch is this president? And what possesses someone to ask such an inane question?

For what it's worth, Mr. President, Salt Lake City does have a black population. Yes it may be small when compared to many other large populations, but it does exist. Maybe someone needs to forward the following links to the White House.

NAACP Salt Lake Branch.
Rep. Duane E. Bourdeaux (D - Salt Lake City)
Utah Jazz Roster
Calvary Baptist Church
Article on Somalian Refugees in Salt Lake City.

Idiot of the week update!

Yes, I have updated the slog idiot of the week. Go view it, read it and enjoy it!

LDS Church to SLC: No information is good information!

Yesterday the Salt Lake Tribune reported updated information on the downtown Salt Lake City malls. Except there really was no update and the article was mostly quotes from annoyed business owners who have been left in the dark over the entire redevelopment.

I can't fault the Tribune, maybe the prodding will finally get the LDS Church to release information on the development. Probably wishful thinking on my part, but hey it doesn't hurt to pretend, right? Like let's pretend Salt Lake City will get a new tallest out of this and the architecture won't conform to the typical blandness of past LDS office buildings (I'm looking in your direction LDS Office Building).

Maybe we should all just sit at the foot of the LDS Office Building and throw one long temper tantrum until the LDS Church finally reveals the details of this project. It could be fun, we can call it a Tantrum Sit In. Hey it works for toddlers, why not us?

I'm rambling, so here's some samples of the great update.

Many shops in the malls have moved or closed. And Taubman Centers Inc., the Michigan-based company working on the redevelopment with the LDS Church, hoped to begin a major overhaul on what it is calling The Shops at City Square. Didn't happen. Will it this year? The LDS Church isn't saying.

Well of course the LDS Church isn't saying anything. They haven't said anything since releasing their plans in the fall of 2003. Why would we expect them to change their tune now? I mean we're only going on three years this October, but who's counting?

"We don't know where we'll be, where we're going or a timetable," said Bart Stringham, president of Utah Woolen Mills, 59 W. South Temple. "We thought we would know something last year, by the end of last year. We keep expecting. . . . The rumor that we've heard is it could be as much as a year before anything gets going." Utah Woolen Mills is an important piece in the puzzle because it has a long-term lease and owns property on the Crossroads block. The church must figure out where to place the shop before proceeding.

Well isn't that nice. Even Utah Woolen Mills has no freaking idea what's going on. This either means Bart Stringham will look up one day to the sound of a wrecking ball entering the side of his store, or the LDS Church is still not ready to move on their plans. Now while I might be tortured by the current development actions of the LDS Church, I'm guessing they're not that sadistic to start construction without informing Mr. Stringham.

Bruce Reading, with the law firm Scalley & Reading, said his 40 employees are moving this week from KeyBank to Gateway Tower West, 15 W. South Temple, and he said other KeyBank tenants are emptying out. He noted that the church wanted to pull down the tower last fall. He hasn't been told a new deadline.

I'm starting to think that I'll wake up one day, take a stroll downtown and notice that the Key Bank Tower was cleanly demolished the night before. Hey, they're keeping us in the dark, who'd be surprised if they worked in the dark?

He said he would be "floored" if the buildings aren't demolished this spring. Louis Zunguze, director of the city's Community Development Department, said planners are ready when the church is. The city has not issued any building or demolition permits related to the malls, he said. "Something is about to happen sometime. We are ready. We're just waiting for their word."

Yeah and Pat Robertson is waiting for The Rapture to happen, too. Doesn't mean we'll be seeing good Christian folk disappear into thin air anytime soon. Ooh, that might be a great bet in Vegas. What are the odds the LDS Church actually develops the malls before The Rapture begins (well that is if you actually believe in it)? Hm, at this moment I'm inclined to say the odds are 1,000 to 1 that we see development before the end of times. Prove me wrong LDS Church, prove me wrong!