More on and off than shoddy electrical work

By Meg Walter

January 14, 2022

Since we published this story last week, the tale of two contractors and their ill-fated Magnolia Network program has had more twists and turns than the plumbing in a mid-century Sugarhouse home. Andy and Candis released a Notes App statement on Instagram, and more homeowners shared their stories. Various national media ran the story, and Andy and Candis released a number of posts defending their work. Then today, Magnolia announced the show will air after all.

Magnolia president Allison Page told PEOPLE,

"Magnolia Network is dedicated to sharing hopeful and genuine stories. In doing that, we strive to meet people with compassion and to cautiously approach difficult moments with honest understanding.

After speaking with homeowners as well as Candis and Andy Meredith regarding renovation projects for Home Work, and hearing a mix of both positive and negative experiences, we do not believe there was ill or malicious intent. Our commitment now is to provide appropriate resolutions for those whose experience with Home Work fell short of our network's standards.

While Home Work will return to Magnolia Network, we recognize the responsibility we have to act on how we can better support not only our talent but those who put their trust in them and this brand."

City Cast Salt Lake

Earlier this week I talked with Ali Vallarta about the whole fiasco on City Cast Salt Lake.

I stand by what I said about buying a house in SLC. Hire a contractor outside of Instagram.

New Year's Resolutions for (Almost) Every Utah Sports Team

Also this week, Logan Jones gave us a state of play for each of Utah's sport teams as we start 2022.

It’s all or nothing, Utah Jazz.

Everyone recognizes Utah’s championship window is wide open, but for how long? Jazz fans are hungry for NBA supremacy, for a downtown SLC parade, and (maybe most importantly) the league-wide respect a title demands from those quick to dismiss the Jazz as “pretenders” over the past few seasons. The franchise may never be closer to its first championship, behind an all-time efficient offense and a multi-time DPOY winner anchoring the defense. There’s also an unmistakable air of desperation this season after last year’s playoff disappointment, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Read the full piece here:

Alpha Con 2022

Arianna Rees did her best to make some educated guesses about SLC's upcoming AlphaCon event, which will surely be a dumpster fire.

Personally, I have a lot of logistical questions about this conference after looking at this copy-paste hodgepodge of bros. It’s implied that everybody on the poster is an alpha, but if everyone’s an alpha, isn’t nobody an alpha? Am I looking at ten alphas, or one alpha with ten different heads? If it's ten alphas, how are conference organizers going to safely accommodate all of them in one room with a live audience? Are they going to have animal control officers on standby in case someone accidentally sheds blood and the alphas go feral? Sounds like multiple OSHA violations waiting to happen, if you ask me.

Read the full piece here:

Sexy Gondola or Humble Bus?

Scott Wessman compared UDOT's two proposed approaches to solving traffic woes in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

We should pause for a moment and consider how strange a pair these two proposals are.

UDOT narrowing its options to either the bus/lane expansion or the Gondola is a bit like narrowing your post-high-school options to either an accounting major at the University of Utah or joining the circus. It is like narrowing your housing choices down to either a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment in Midvale or the windmill at the end of Mulligan's mini golf course. We are being tempted by flights of fancy.

Read the full piece here:

RHOSLC

LRE asked the important questions we all had in the wake of the 16th episode of Housewives.

After a holiday hiatus, we’re back with another RHOSLC recap in which important questions must be asked. For example: Why does one put a dancer in a hot tub?

Why is Bravo allowing this deviant to get so much precious screen time on our program?

And why are the househusbands golfing at Mulligan’s, one of the world’s ugliest golf courses?

Read the full piece here:

Tweets of the Week

The CDC says it's still pronounced "Zi-un" with the emphasis placed on the first syllable.
— Eli McCann (@EliMcCann) January 5, 2022

Pioneer47 stays undefeated, tweeting this from a chapel in Paris, France. #GoCougs
— Kyle Griffitts (@Coachkyle42) December 26, 2021

So sick of Cancel Culture. You can’t even send a 1,000 word email accusing the Jews of mass genocide to 200 of the most powerful people in the state without losing your job anymore.
— Dustino's Pizza (@dustinlocke) January 5, 2022

50% of my childhood memory of Church is the man walking down the aisle counting people
— Dan LeFevre (@dan_lefev) January 9, 2022

weird how I am the one person perfectly balanced in my approach to covid, neither too strict nor too careless, while others seem to fall too far in one direction or another
— Scott Wessman (@scottew) January 9, 2022

From the Podcast

This week on Hive Mind:

On RHOSLC, we can't believe that the best this Hollywood production can do is MULLIGAN'S! Also the unfortunate Seth of it all.
Pop Culture Pop In discussed the arrival of baby Mulaney as well as Andy Cohen's drunken New Year's Eve antics.
Bad Movie Club reviewed the holiday favorite Christmas Twister (2012) and what you need to do to be ready for the next time SLC experiences one.
Beehive Eats reviewed SLC's The Rose Establishment, plus Oh Mai and our favorite Thai dishes.
We also reviewed the train wreck called Being the Ricardos, as well as a recap of this week's Golden Globes ceremony.