Wednesday Morning News Roundup

Three interesting items to provoke a Weber County Forum morning discussion

By Curmudgeon

Three more Standard-Examiner items worth noting this morning. First, this headline: "Dems tap Smith to replace DeCaria as Weber attorney" .

Ah, if only it were true. Mr. Smith was chosen not by "Dems" but by a unanimous vote of the Weber County Commission, all three members of which are Republicans. [Which has me wondering whether the three elected Republicans on the Commission chose from among the three names sent it by the Weber County Democratic Party the candidate the Commissioners thought least likely to win the job at the polls come November. Mr. Smith will be, as was Mr. DeCaria before him, the County's only elected Democrat. Link to the story and the SE's headline gaffe here.

Second, there's a story about the RDA selling land downtown to someone to develop Phase Two of the Union Square condo project. We measure progress here in Junction City in small ways. For example, from the story, this:

The development would be geared toward buyers who want to live in an urban setting near a host of amenities, including the FrontRunner commuter rail system, a possible street-car system and several retail projects such as a Wal-Mart Supercenter planned at 20th Street and Wall Avenue, Allen said. [Allen is the developer of Phase II.] Note: proximity to a planned streetcar line mentioned as something that would make the condos attractive to buyers. Not proximity to a gondola ride [which was touted in the advertising by the planned developer of the Windsor condos], but a street car. Progress --- however small, but progress none the less.

Finally, on a topic which we discussed on WCF last week, a blistering editorial in today's Salt Lake Tribune, headlined "Coddling Criminals," taking the Lt. Governor to task for his saying he does not intend to enforce the recently passed law requiring candidates to report campaign donations within thirty days of receipt. I especially liked this:

While the law has some teeth, it is unfortunate that those teeth are attached to a dog that refuses to bite, or even growl.... Failure to enforce the law is a gross dereliction of duty by Herbert. Exactly right. And that is an editorial with some bite to it. No shilly-shallying, no "but, on the other hand"-ing. Hebert is a toothless dog by his own choosing, and has promised to commit "a gross dereliction of duty" in office. Yup.

Kudos to the SLTrib editorial board.