Velodrome Fundraiser Canceled?

What happened to Mr. Patterson’s promise?

By Dan Schroeder

Regular readers of Weber County Forum will remember Ogden City’s Tour de Drome event, held on May 1 to raise money for the proposed velodrome and field house. Readers may also have noticed that we haven’t heard much about the velodrome in the last several months.

Now, as October draws to a close, let’s recall some of what was said back in May. Quoting from Scott Schwebke’s article:

The Tour de Drome wasn’t expected to be a big money maker and was aimed at creating a buzz regarding the velodrome and field house project, said [Ogden CAO John] Patterson. “It's the number one high-adventure priority (in the city),” he said....

Another larger bike tour to raise money for the field house and velodrome is scheduled for October, said Patterson.

Yet despite Mr. Patterson’s promise, here we are at the end of October and there’s been nary a word about this “larger bike tour”.

Could it be that the velodrome is no longer the city’s “number one high-adventure priority”?

Or could it be that the event was canceled because somebody at the city finally realized it’s illegal to put on a fundraiser and divert the proceeds to the Ogden Community Foundation?

Or could it be that the fundraising effort for the velodrome has gone underground, avoiding high-profile buzz-creating events, to better keep the money hidden from the city council and the public?

Until we hear more through official channels, the floor is open for readers to share gossip and speculation about the velodrome.

Standard-Examiner: Our View: Gary Herbert For Governor

The latest installment in The Standard-Examiner's 2010 General Election series

The Standard-Examiner editorial board publishes the latest installment in its 2010 General Election endorsement series, with its endorsement of Gary Herbert for Utah Governor:

• OUR VIEW: Gary Herbert for governor

Here are the Standard's video interviews of the Republican and Democratic Party Gubernatorial candidates:

• Peter Corroon (D)
• Gary Herbert (R)

Missing from the Standard's video collection are Libertarian Party candidate W. Andrew McCullough and unaffiliated candidate Farley M. Anderson.

Have at it, O Gentle Ones. The world-wide blogosphere awaits your ever-savvy comments regarding the Utah Governor's race.

Happy Halloween, Everyone

A truly great reader-submitted Halloween-themed video

Here's a great reader-submitted Halloween-themed scary video, just to put everybody in the spirit of this weekend's great ancient, native, pagan, boffo and off-kilter stone-age throwback holiday:

• Sea Bomb

Happy Halloween, everyone, heheheh!

[wink]

Paul Rolly: Eagle Forum's Leader's Spouse Speaks

The scene was described by those in attendance as "a bit eerie"

By Ray

If there is any doubt about how politics works in Utah and the need for real ethics reform, check out the Paul Rolly column in todays SLTrib. It features our Weber County ace legislator Snoozin' Allen Christensen and the ever popular Chris Buttars:

• Eagle Forum's leader's spouse speaks

Rolly: "The scene was described by those in attendance as a bit eerie."

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle Ones.

Weber State University Game Day Thread: Montana @ Weber State

Kickoff @ 1 p.m. in Stewart Stadium

Our Weber State Wildcats will definitely have their hands full this afternoon, as they host the league-leading Montana Grizzlies at Stewart Stadium this afternoon at 1:00 p.m., with Montana arriving in Ogden sporting a five-game winning streak.

To get your Wildcat juices flowing, be sure to catch the Standard's Roy Burton pre-game morning take, with its "clever" Halloween-style twist :

• Strappin' it on one last time

And for the sake of balance, read what the Missoula Missolian has to say about this afternoon's important conference rivalry game:

• Griz return to scene of ’08’s rain-soaked upset

If you can't make it to the stadium, catch the audio broadcast on KLO Radio. And once again, the video version will be webcast on Big Sky TV.

We'll leave our lower comments section open as per usual for your ever-savvy remarks, of course.

Update 10/30/10 4:10 p.m.: WSU puts an end to The University Montana's winning streak, and hands this erstwile football juggernaut a convincing beat-down by a convincing score of 27-21!

Great Job, Wildcats!

Update 10/31/10 9:00 a/m.: The Standard has the post-game story:

• Weber keeps playoff hopes alive in Montana win

Standard-Examiner: Legacy To Stop At 12th; Harrison Won't Be Wider

More evidence that robust citizen involvement in regional transportation planning pays big dividends

Fantastic news for Ogden activists who worked feverishly to notify the Wasatch Front Regional Council concerning your strong opposition to the widening of Harrison Boulevard. The Standard-Examiner's Mitch Shaw reports this morning that the WFRC has revised its Regional Transportation Plan and is "no longer planning to widen Harrison Boulevard from 20th Street to Highway 89." From this morning's SE story:

Now, the plan calls for only operational improvements on the road from 20th Street to Country Hill Drive, and widening the road from four lanes to six from Country Hills Drive to Highway 89.
"We had some concerns from citizens and the city council and the mayor asked us to take it off," [WFRC spokesman Sam] Klemm said.

Read this morning's entire encouraging SE story here:

• Legacy to stop at 12th; Harrison won't be wider

Not only does this plan revision relieve the East Ogden neighborhood from the threat of being crudely bisected by "a potentially 7-lane 'regional arterial;'" it also removes one more obstacle to the selection of a 25th Street east-west corridor streetcar route.

Nice work, Emerald City citizens. This is more evidence that robust citizen involvement in regional transportation planning pays big dividends.

Standard-Examiner: Our View: Wicks For Commission Seat "B"

This is ONE BIG BLOCKBUSTER EDITORIAL...Who will be the first to chime in?

The Standard-Examiner editorial board publishes the fifth editorial in its 2010 General Election endorsement series this morning, giving the editorial thumbs up in the Weber County Commission Seat "B" race to that model of Ogden City Council fiscal prudence, i.e., Ogden City Council political dynamo Amy Wicks.:

• OUR VIEW: Amy Wicks for Weber commission (SE Live Edition)
• OUR VIEW: Amy Wicks for Weber commission (Digital Edition)

View and compare the Standard's video interviews of both major party Weber County Commission Seat "B" candidates here :

• Kerry Gibson
• Amy Wicks

The Standard also provides brief profiles of each of these candidates in this separate story:

• Weber County Commission Seat B

Time to turn this story over to our gentle readers. Whussup with your views on the Weber County Commission Seat "B" race, people?

Update 10/29/10 8:30 a.m.: Ogden Valley Forum is all over this story too:

• Standard-Examiner Endorse Weber County Commission Candidate Amy Wicks

2010 Election News Roundup

Several interesting political items emanate from the Northern Utah media this morning

With slightly less than five days remaining before the Utah General Election November 2, 2010 official polling date, we'll reel off several interesting political items emanating from the Northern Utah media this morning:

1) With Utah early voting concluding tomorrow, The Deseret News presents an interesting examination of the early voting process, citing data from a University of Wisconsin/Pew Center study which suggest that early voting, a process ostensibly intended to increase voter turnout, may in fact actually have the opposite effect:

• Early voting may actually depress turnout, researchers say

2) The Standard-Examiner carries a strong editorial this morning, slamming GOP Utah State Moron Representative Paul Ray's quixotic effort to repeal the 14th Amendment:

• OUR VIEW: Ray's birthright time-wasting

3) For those readers who are carefully following developments in the Weber County Commission "A" and "B" races, be sure to check out Ogden Valley Forum's most recent posting, wherein Blogmeister Valley reveals the results of a six-question candidate survey submitted to all five Weber County Commission candidates:

• County Commission Candidates Respond To Our Questionnaire

That's it for now, WCF readers.

Who will be the first to chime in?

Eye-popping Article in Today's Salt Lake Tribune

Being the curious type, we Googled this afternoon

Eye-popping article in Today's Salt Lake Tribune, reporting that both "major party" Utah Gubernatorial candidates have been spending this election season like the proverbial "drunken sailors." Here's the full story from this morning's Robert Gehrke/Lee Davidson heads-up piece

• Spending in Utah guv race second-most in history

From this morning's SLTrib piece:

With a week until the election, Gary Herbert and Peter Corroon have spent more than $4.4 million battling for the Utah Governor’s Office.
The total spent by the two candidates is the second highest in Utah history, with the exception of the 2004 gubernatorial race in which Jon Huntsman Jr. and Scott Matheson Jr. spent a combined $6.5 million, although Huntsman also had costly Republican convention and primary contests that year.
Herbert has spent $2.5 million on his race, outpacing Corroon, who spent $1.9 million. The totals include spending from their campaign and political action committee accounts.

That kind of money has to come from somewhere, right? Being the curious type, we Googled, to find out how the various campaign finance disclosure laws might compel 2010 election candidates to reveal their campaign donors. And Lo and Behold... here's what we found, for those candidates who are required to file their financial disclosures per federal, state and Weber County laws and ordinances:

• 2010 Campaign Finance Disclosures - Major Weber County Candidates

Special thanks to Doug Larsen, Elections Director of the County Clerk/Auditor's Office, and to the hard-working crew from the Weber County Government IT Department, who made the pertinentWeber County disclosure statements fully available to our WCF readers on less than a couple hours' notice.

Financial disclosure statements are crucially important, people. They let prospective voters know which interests and entities are vying for the candidates' attention... if you know what we mean... and we think you do.

Standard-Examiner: OUR VIEW: Rob Bishop for U.S. Congress

What are your own thoughts regarding the Utah 1st Congressional District race?

The Standard-Examiner editorial board continues its 2010 General Election series this morning, with its endorsement of Rob Bishop for Utah's 1st Congressional District seat:

• OUR VIEW: Rob Bishop for U.S. Congress

Here are the Standard's video interviews of the Republican and Democratic Party Gubernatorial candidates:

• Rob Bishop (R)
• Morgan Bowen (D)

Missing from the Standard's video interview series are Kirk D. Pearson (C) and Jared Paul Stratton (L).

The Standard also provides brief profiles of all four congressional candidates in this separate story:

• Utah First Congressional District: U.S. House race looking familiar

The floor's open for your comments, WCF readers.

What are your own thoughts regarding the Utah 1st Congressional District race?

Historic 25th Street Height Limits Redux

A number of thorny questions arise as we approach an important November 4th Council meeting

Red meat political news is in short supply this morning; so we'll throw out a couple of possible discussion items from our WCF back-burner queue:

On October 14, the Standard-Examiner reported that the Ogden City Council was in the process of hiring a "facilitator" to serve as a sort of "psuedo chair" for November 4th's council work meeting, wherein discussion of a 25th Street height ordinance amendment will be on the agenda. Within our own earlier article on the subject, we opined thusly:

Somebody obviously believes the stakes are high enough that our city council can't be trusted to run their own meeting, so the taxpayers will be paying an unnamed sum for a professional facilitator to "facilitate" the November 4 dog and pony show

Last Friday, The Standard-Examiner editorial board also leapt into the fray on this topic, taking it one step further, panning the "facilitator idea" in no uncertain terms:

The Ogden City Council does not need to have a paid facilitator referee its consideration of a building heighth increase proposed for Historic 25th Street. The debate, which we acknowledge has been very contentious in the past, is whether to allow some buildings to be 55 feet high rather than 45 feet.[...]
It's self-defeating to assume that Ogden's city council can't handle this specific issue debate sans help. Also, the council is paying someone with our money to do a job that is supposed to be done by the council chairwoman, Caitlin Gochnour. It is her responsibility to lead the council through its decision-making process. We have already witnessed that Gochnour has the skills and fairmindedness to handle debate, including the 25th Street issue.

And earlier in the week, the Standard also published this Councilwoman Gochnour letter, "clarifying her position" on the Historic 25th Street height limitation debate, from which we'll clip this except:

The Council is currently considering a petition to increase the existing height limit. Since the initial discussion of this topic, I have had much time to reflect on the controversy and mull over options. I have always believed it is vitally important to preserve and protect the historic character of the district, but that this needs to be balanced with encouraging economic development.
The compromise I brought forward was to support increasing the height limit to 55 feet only if additional language were added to the ordinance, including comprehensive guidelines for rooftop additions to existing historic buildings. These criteria are used by several cities nationwide to guide appropriate rooftop additions in historic districts. [Emphasis added].

Taking into account the above information, it seems obvious to to us that a number of thorny questions arise as we approach this important November 4th Council meeting, such as these, for instance:

Whose idea was it to hire a facilitator in the first place? Is the hiring of a "hired hand" even appropriate in this instance? If Councilwoman Gochnour didn't feel up to the task of "chairing" the 11/4/10 meeting, wouldn't it make more sense for the very capable Vice-chair Susan Van Hooser to serve as the backup Council Chair "stand-in?" As to the "facilitator" issue, we whole-heartedly agree with the Standard-Examiner:

Do Blair and others really believe that both sides of this issue can only be attained if a hired hand guides them through all the information? That's nonsense. The Ogden Council can do this job on its own without wasting our dollars.

And what about Chairwoman Gochnour's conduct in this matter?

Is it appropriate for the Council Chair to be operating with height limit amendment proponents behind the scenes, and publicly expressing her tentative support of a "compromise solution" even prior to public input and full council deliberation?

And there are more questions:

Is it even possible to prudently balance the preservation and protection of the delicate historic character of the 25th Street district, against the aggressive pro-economic development impulses of the Godfrey administration?

And with regard to the "additional (protective) language" which Ms. Gochnour mentions in her letter, the only such language that's been heretofore publicly reported is this:

The amendment under consideration by the city council would prohibit existing buildings on 25th Street from being increased in height through rooftop additions or additional stories unless:
• Documentation is presented establishing that additional height is within the limits of the building's historical construction.
• The addition is not visible from the front of the building or from the sidewalk on the same side of the street or across the street.

So, in the event that the proposed ordinance fails to make specific reference to federal historic preservation guidelines as Ms. Gochnour has suggested, will our City Council Chair and the rest of the Council stick to their guns and reject the ordinance outright, due to that defect?

Even assuming that the proposed ordinance does contain language satisfactorily requiring that Historic 25th street projects conform to "comprehensive" federal historic preservation guidelines, are there other issues which the Council should consider, before amending the standard for height limits on 25th Street?

We certainly haven't made our minds up about the wisdom of even a carefully drafted blanket amendment to the 25th Street District height ordinance, especially since no actual and palpable project plan is on the table.

And with that, we now invite our WCF readers to chime in with their own views on this topic.

Weber State University Game Day Thread: WSU v. Portland State

Kickoff @ 3 p.m. in Stewart Stadium

Weber State football returns to the home turf this afternoon, with our Weber State Wildcats squaring off against the Portland State University at Stewart Stadium this afternoon at 3:00 p.m.:

The Standard-Examiner carries the pre-game lowdown here:

• Opposites say hello today on gridiron

And to add a little perspective to the game from the viewpoint of the visiting team's home town press, here's an interesting pre-game item from the Portland Tribune:

• PSU FOOTBALL: 73-68? Not this time

WSU fans who can't make it to the stadium can of course catch the webcast audio broadcast on KLO Radio; and once again the video version will be broadcast online by Big Sky TV.

Don't forget to post your pithy remarks, WSU fans... You know... in the WCF reader comments section below.

Update 10/23/10 6:15 p.m.: While they are still not playing like world beaters, WSU guts it out, shows some serious offense for the first time this season, and beats a tenacious PSU team by a score of 44-41! Yeah, Wildcats!!!

Update 10/24/10 8:30 a.m.: The Standard provides two post-game write-ups this morning:

• Football: Wildcats hold on to beat Portland State
• Higgins unfazed by rain

Update 10/25/10 6:00 a.m.: More from the SE's Roy Burton:

• Wildcats are making a habit of outgunning Vikings

Standard-Examiner: OUR VIEW: Sam Granato For U.S. Senate

Who will be the first to chime in?

The Standard-Examiner editorial board publishes its third editorial in its 2010 General Election endorsement series in its online edition this morning, giving the nod to Sam Granato for Bob Bennett's soon to be vacated US Senate seat:

• OUR VIEW: Sam Granato for U.S. Senate

Check out the Standard's video interview of Democratic Party candidate Granato. (Republican candidate Mike Lee reportedly couldn't find the time to be interviewed by the Standard-Examiner editorial board):

• Sam Granato

Also missing from the Standard's video series is Constitution Party candidate Scott N. Bradley, whom the SE editorial board declined to interview.

Who will be the first to chime in with their views on the US Senate race?

Update 10/24/10 8:40 a.m.: The above endorsement appears in the SE hard-copy edition this morning.

Standard-Examiner: River Grant Still A Go, But Ogden Mayor Says He's Troubled by Fundraising Exaggeration

The Godfrey administration has gotten away with another little fib

By Dan S.

I see that the Godfrey administration has gotten away with another little fib. Yesterday's Standard-Examiner reported that the state water quality board awarded the city another $1 million for the river cleanup. As part of its application, the city submitted documents saying it was undertaking a campaign to raise additional private funds, in cooperation with America First Credit Union:

• Utah Water Quality Board awards $1M for Ogden River restoration

But today the paper reports that the credit union denies any involvement in such a campaign:

• River grant still a go, but Ogden mayor says he's troubled by fundraising exaggeration

Imagine that.

Standard-Examiner: Hatch Act Filed On Weber Candidate

Perhaps Weber County voters should forget the whole democracy thing, and just let the federal Office of Special Counsel personally select all our Weber County public officials from now on

Well here we go again. Once again, just like in the Jon Greiner case, meddling federal bureaucrats interfere with the orderly process of electing a local law enforcement CEO. Here's the lede from this morning's Standard-Examiner front page story:

OGDEN -- The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is looking into a complaint contending that Terry L. Thompson, a Republican Party candidate for Weber County sheriff, is in violation of the Hatch Act because he has supervised federal grants as part of his duties as chief deputy.
The complaint was filed in June by a law enforcement officer who resides outside of Weber County, said Gary Haws, who is Thompson's Democratic Party challenger. Haws declined to identify the individual or provide information about where the person works.

Read the full Scott Schwebke story here:

• Hatch Act filed on Weber candidate

One high-ranking Weber County Sheriff's Office spokesman hits the nail on the head:

Weber County Undersheriff Kevin McLeod said ... if the Hatch Act is narrowly defined to include use of federal funding for any benefit, it could be possible that no one in law enforcement could run for partisan office.

Here's another good idea: Perhaps Weber County voters should forget the whole democracy thing, and just let Obama's federal Office of Special Counsel personally select all our Weber County public officials from now on, yes?

Leg 8 House Candidate Alan Wheelright Speaks Out!

Alan's tired of education being the central theme of every election, on both sides, but still seeing Utah end up dead last in the Country on per pupil education spending

By Nicely Done

Check it out!

Alan Wheelwright posts on the Ogden Valley Forum!!!!

• Allen Wheelright speaks out!

Open Question to the Utah Education Establishment: “What does an incumbent politician have to do to lose your support?”

Finally a little action in the so far moribund Legislative District 8 House race, we guess.

Comments, anyone?

Standard-Examiner WEBER Plus 2010 Election Candidate Digest

A heads-up on our new SE candidate profiles page

The Standard-Examiner carries a top-notch 2010 General Election rundown in the Weber Plus section of its print edition this morning, featuring profiles of all candidates running in Top of Utah races, from the First Congressional District right down to the various school board offices. For the convenience of our Weber County readers, we've collected all profiles of candidates who will appear on Weber County ballots, and linked them from the following web page:

• Standard-Examiner 2010 General Election Candidate Profiles

We believe the Standard has done a bang-up job of reporting on the 2010 General Election (for the most part); and we congratulate and thank the staff of the Standard-Examiner for their diligent effort in this regard.

We've also placed our above candidate profiles link in our right sidebar election module, for the convenience of WCF readers who may may find themselves doing some November 2, 2010 election eve homework.

The Standard-Examiner: OUR VIEW: Sawyer For Senate District 18

The world-wide blogosphere awaits your ever-savvy comments

The Standard-Examiner editorial board continues its 2010 General Election series this morning, with its endorsement of Democratic Party candidate Betty Sawyer for Senate District 18:

• OUR VIEW: Sawyer for Senate District 18

Check out the Standard's video video interviews of both Senate 18 candidates:

• Stuart Reid
• Betty Sawyer

The Standard also provides brief profiles of each of these candidates in a separate story:

• State Senate, District 18: Candidates put focus on tough issues

Have at it, O Gentle Ones. The world-wide blogosphere awaits your ever-savvy comments regarding the Utah Senate District 18 race.

Standard-Examiner: Commercial Business License Fee Increase Recommended for Ogden

WCF reader query: Does this latest revenue raising proposal have merit... or is this just another taxpayer ripoff designed to line the pockets of Friends of Matt?

This morning's Standard-Examiner reports that "a task force is recommending that commercial business licenses throughout the city be increased by as much as $25 per year to help fund downtown events." Read the full story here:

• Commercial business license fee increase recommended for Ogden

And here's the interesting wrinkle in the story:

Scott Parkinson, a senior vice president at the Bank of Utah who served on the task force made up of downtown property owners, presented the group's recommendation during a Tuesday night city council work session.
A citywide business license hike is an equitable way to generate funding for Downtown Ogden Inc., which is a nonprofit organization that operates a variety of activities, such as the Ogden Farmers Market, Parkinson said. "Downtown Ogden Inc. represents a large part of the branding of Ogden," he said, adding that businesses throughout the city benefit from the organization's events.

That's right folks, this task force proposal would extract increased license fees from businesses throughout the city; but the increased revenue would inure solely to the benefit of Downtown Ogden Inc events.

The ever-vigilant city councilwoman Wicks zeroes right in on the problem:

City Councilwoman Amy Wicks expressed concern regarding how a license hike would be received by business owners outside of the downtown area who may question the benefit of Downtown Ogden Inc events.
"Rocks will be thrown at us if we try to raise business license fees for business owners across the city," she said.

And in a pithy comment beneath this morning's SE story, regular WCF contributor Dan S. throws in his own 2¢:

Good to have this background information on Downtown Ogden Inc. So it's funded by tax dollars to the tune of $325,000 annually, eh? Then why the hell was its logo on the ads for a political fundraising event at the Salomon Center in June 2007? Mr. Musgrave should be required to give a full explanation of that episode before having any of his funding renewed.

So what about it, gentle readers? Does this latest revenue raising proposal have merit... or is this just another sleazy taxpayer ripoff designed to line the pockets of Friends of Matt?

Standard-Examiner: Our View: Zogmaister for Weber Seat A - Updated

Feel free to chime in with your own views regarding the Weber County Commission Seat "A" race

On October 15, The Standard-Examiner announced its intention to "begin running its endorsements in selected races," and to "also post on [its] website video interviews conducted by the newspaper's editorial board with the Democratic and Republican candidates for selected races." The Standard begins it pre-election endorsement series this morning, with its endorsement of incumbent Republican Weber County Commission Seat "A" candidate Jan Zogmaister:

• OUR VIEW: Zogmaister for Weber Seat A

Happily, The Standard has supplied interviews of the two major party candidates, as a supplement to this morning's County Commission endorsement. These two videos are available for viewing here:

• T.R. Morgan
• Jan Zogmaister

Sadly, the Standard neglected to interview unaffiliated candidate Drew Johnson.

The floor's open O Gentle Ones. Feel free to chime in with your own views regarding the Weber County Commission Seat "A" race.

Update 10/21/10 7:23 a.m.: The Standard has also added brief profiles of all three Commission Seat "A" candidates in a separate story:

• Weber County Commission Seat A

Standard-Examiner: Weber County Animal Shelter Upgrade

The Ogden Animal Shelter is having a "going out of business" sale, with great prices on cats and dogs

By Caril Jennings

There's an informative article today in the Standard-Examiner about the closing of the Ogden Animal Shelter:

• Weber County Animal Shelter Upgrade

They are having a "going out of business" sale with great prices on cats and dogs.

Please people, if you've ever considered adopting a pet, now's the time to pay a visit to the Ogden Animal Shelter.

Bust me the hell outta here... Pretty please!

A Coupla Words From Joe Dirt

Stuart Reid! One More Reason to vote Republican in 2010!

By Joe Dirt

HAY! Here's something interesting! In the Weber County District 18 Senate race, look who's raking in all the corporate special interest $dough!

I am NOT making this up:

• Contributions to REID, STUART C

Since I'm a Weber County GOP loser who watches Fox News incessantly, who am I gonna vote for in 2010?

Stuart Reid, of course, the Republican candidate who raises the most special interest money! Doh.

Maybe if he gets elected, I'll tell him I voted for him, and I'll tell him that I'm temporarily unemployed and he'll get me a big fat job with one of his campaign donors once he's elected, of course!

Big Corporate Fundraiser Stuart Reid! One More reason to vote Republican in 2010!

Seems like a no-brainer, no?

Signed, Joe Dirt

Standard Examiner Editorial: OUR VIEW: A National Foreclosure Mess

Think about this, the next time you read some chirpy story which suggests that the World Economy is on the mend

For the second day running, the Standard-Examiner has a truly great lead editorial up on the editorial page. This conjuncture of great editorials has happened quite frequently, now that Doug Gibson has ascended to the office of Editorial Page Editor, we believe. Running on the heels of yesterday's fine editorial piece, the Standard today follows up with this great economics mini-Magnum Opus. The Standard is definitely on a roll again:

• OUR VIEW: A national foreclosure mess

Due to ink and paper limitations, the Standard unfortunately had to tiptoe around the issues involving the current nation mortgage foreclosure mess, we guess:

As we mentioned, this is a national crisis. Bank of America and PNC Financial Services Inc. have stopped foreclosures across the nation as cases mount of proper due diligence not occurring. One Bank of America official has admitted she signed 8,000 foreclosure documents in one month. It is impossible for one official to have sufficient knowledge of such important matters. After all, peoples' homes are at stake.
Frankly, the whole foreclosure mess, along with the economy and the rash handing out of mortgages like candy for the past 10 to 15 years appears to be mushrooing into an ever-expanding scandal. According to the Associated Press, a Florida lawyer handling foreclosure clients is claiming that "in an effort to rush through thousands of home foreclosures since 2007, financial institutions and their mortgage servicing departments hired hair stylists, Walmart floor workers and people who had worked on assembly lines and installed them in "foreclosure expert" jobs with no formal training."

For those readers who'd like to read the whole unadorned story, from a reliable blog which is not hampered by ink & paper limitations, you can read the whole ugly nitty-gritty here:

• "At the Root of the Crisis We Find the Largest Financial Swindle in World History", Where "Counterfeit" Mortgages Were "Laundered" by the Banks

The Standard got off to a danged good start with this morning's editorial; and we're delighted to help finish their fantastic US Economy story here. As dedicated and proven online whistleblowers, it's our duty to fill in the blanks, wethinks. Think about this, the next time you read some chirpy story which suggests that the World Economy is on the mend.

As gentle Curmudgeon would say, "Have a nice day, everyone!"

Standard-Examiner Editorial: OUR VIEW: UTA's Secrecy Bug

Final calculations are useless unless the initial assumptions built into such calculations can be independently reviewed and validated

Just to get the conversation rolling this morning, we'll cast the spotlight upon yesterday's strong Standard-Examiner editorial, hammering the UTA's stonewalling of raw data which ostensibly support a consultant's findings that a proposed mass transit route -- along Washington Boulevard, 36th Street and Harrison Boulevard -- to Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital makes the most economic sense":

• OUR VIEW: UTA's secrecy bug

And whatever you do, don't miss Cal Grondahl's most excellent companion cartoon:

• Grondahl 10/17/10 Cartoon

Here's the key principle, as earlier set forth in Dan Schroeder's 9/20/10 letter:

...it is clear that we cannot trust the bottom-line results when the consultant is unable to show how it obtained them. It is also clear that UTA was negligent in not asking to see the detailed calculation itself, months ago. It is unprofessional and inexcusable for UTA to ask stakeholders to make a $150 million decision on the basis of data that has not been carefully scrutinized by its own professionals. (However, it is human nature to accept results without scrutiny when they tell us what we already wanted to hear.)

As an added bonus we'll refer to an article posted 10/10/10 on Dan Schroeder's blog, Dan's Diary, in which he emphasises the importance of "[u]nderstanding uncertainties, and learning to live with uncertainties, and stubbornly insisting on knowing the uncertainties when making predictions" based on mathematical data:

• Uncertainties in Science and Politics

Here are Dan's money paragraphs:

I’ll end (once again) with a local political example. A respected economic consultant recently predicted that the middle segment of Ogden’s proposed streetcar system will stimulate $8.5 million of investment if it follows one proposed alignment, but only $1.5 million if it follows an alternate alignment. Ten days ago I asked her what the uncertainty range is on those numbers, and she replied, “Well, you can see that we rounded them to the nearest half million.” I’m afraid I laughed at that point, and tried unsuccessfully to convince her that the uncertainties were many times larger. I knew the numbers had been calculated from property value assessments, and that these assessments can be systematically off by 50% or even more. Worse, I knew that the lists of properties to be included in the calculations had been compiled through a subjective, undocumented process. After our conversation I looked up some of the property assessments and quickly saw that you could increase the $1.5 million prediction to over $9 million by excluding just two properties (out of several dozen) from the list. A fair estimate of the uncertainty would be much higher still.

But economic consultants apparently aren’t in the habit of thinking about uncertainty. Undoubtedly this is because their clients don’t want to hear about it; they just want simple answers. In this case the client was the Utah Transit Authority—a government agency that supposedly represents the people. Ultimately, it is the citizens at large who need to learn to think like scientists.

Remember back in math class when your instructor insisted that you "show your work" as you performed mathematical calculations? Same basic concept. The results of final calculations are useless unless the initial assumptions built into such calculations can be independently reviewed and validated.

A Weber County Tip O' The Hat to the Standard-Examiner editorial board for keeping the UTA's highly unprofessional conduct in the public limelight... and a well deserved Hat Tip to Dan Schroeder too, for keeping everybody on their toes in re this matter.

Standard-Examiner: Wildcats Ready To Face Idaho State Specialist

ISU is a team which WSU simply has to beat, or otherwise look forward to a very long rest of season

Our Weber State Football squad will be back on the field, facing Idaho State University at Pocatello's Holt Stadium at 3:30 this afternoon, so we're firing up another WSU Gameday Thread. Check out the Standard-Examiner and Idaho State Journal pregame writeups here:

• Wildcats ready to face Idaho State specialist
• Idaho State's perfect Storm

Oddly enough, it seems that ISU's major threat is a special teams kick return specialist, who's twice this season "returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns in the same game."

WSU is coming off a bye week during which Coach Mac has reportedly "increased the tempo of practices during the bye week to try and get his players moving and thinking faster," in order to "combat the mental errors." We're not going to say this is a make-or-break game for our Wildcats, but with ISU's 1-5 record coming into this game, ISU is a team which WSU simply has to beat, or otherwise look forward to a very long rest of season.

As per usual, WSU fans can catch the audio broadcast on KLO Radio; and the video version is queued up for broadcast on Big Sky TV.

We'll leave the comments section open of course, for your ever-savvy remarks before, during and after the game.

Good luck WSU Wildcats! Lets go out and kick some major butt, and bottle up that "Idaho State receiver/returner extraordinaire Tavoy Moore" guy back in the endzone!

Who wants to go on record pre-game, by predicting the final score?

Update 10/18/10 10:00 a.m.: Final Score... WSU 16; ISU 13. The SE has the post game stories:

• Dodging a blow: WSU football survives
• McBride: Idaho State game film is a 'horror movie'

Science Saturday: Another Asteroid Misses Earth By A Whisker

Headgear, anyone?

We confess we were a little bit freaked when we found out earlier this week that an asteroid the size of a "double decker bus" was aiming toward Planet Earth on Tuesday:

• Asteroid to skim past Earth

Fortunately, the scientists were proven right; and this asteroid missed us by a whisker. Now that it's Saturday, we'll presume we earthlings dodged a bullet on this.

Being the curious type though, we googled, to find out how vulnerable we may be to future meteor collisions and found this, an intriguing video piece which chronicles meteorite discoveries from 1980 to date:

• Asteroid Discovery From 1980 - 2010

Fascinating, no?

Headgear, anyone?

Salt Lake Tribune: Disorder Is Key Ingredient For Inventor’s Creations

Not the usual FOM suspects with suspect talent who rely on the much put upon tax payers of Ogden for their high risk financing? Just a wild guess, we guess

By Ozboy

Here's a story of a guy and his small company who operate out of Ogden and who have won the top prize in some sort of biz invention contest. Read it here - and note it is in the Salt Lake Tribune. Couldn't find anything about it yet in the Ogden Standard:

• Disorder is key ingredient for inventor’s creations

I don't know if this company is part of the Mayor's high adventure fantasy or not, but from the article it seems as though they are a company with a lot of potential who are creative and funded by independent venture capital firms, and not the usual FOM suspects with suspect talent who rely on the much put upon tax payers of Ogden for their high risk financing.

Standard-Examiner: How Tall Is Too Tall On Ogden's Historic 25th Street?

Mr. Schwebke's article reveals a couple of interesting new twists

25th Street Business Association President Steve Conlin's proposal to raise Historic 25th Street's building height limits from 45 to 55 feet is back on the Standard-Examiner front page this morning. Read Mr. Schwebke's full story here:

• How tall is too tall on Ogden's Historic 25th Street?

Mr. Schwebke's article reveals a couple of interesting new twists:

1) Somebody obviously believes the stakes are high enough that our city council can't be trusted to run their own meeting, so the taxpayers will be paying an unnamed sum for a professional facilitator to "facilitate" the November 4 dog and pony show:

OGDEN -- The city council has hired a professional facilitator for a Nov. 4 work session at which a controversial request to increase building height limits on Historic 25th Street will be considered.
Information regarding how much the city council will pay facilitator Pam Gardiol, president of Gardiol & Associates, was not available Thursday because a contract hasn't been finalized, said Janene Eller-Smith, a policy analyst for the council.
Gardiol, a former chairwoman of Ogden's planning and landmarks commissions, said her experience in those two positions has aided her as a facilitator. "It helped me be impartial," said Gardiol, who declined to say how much she is being paid by the council.
Gardiol has served as a facilitator for the city of Seattle, the Utah Department of Transportation, Salt Lake County and other entities.

2) With an apparent eye to the difficulties arising two years ago, when the Windsdor Hotel project developer submitted garish and zoning non-compliant plans for the Windor Hotel remodel, Mr. Schwebke refers to this protective language contained in the new proposed ordinance:

The amendment under consideration by the city council would prohibit existing buildings on 25th Street from being increased in height through rooftop additions or additional stories unless:
• Documentation is presented establishing that additional height is within the limits of the building's historical construction.
• The addition is not visible from the front of the building or from the sidewalk on the same side of the street or across the street.

Although we've already gone on record as opposing a reopening of this can of worms, we'll defer for the time being to the common sense and diplomacy of Councilman Stephens, who believes there's no harm in taking another look at the issue:

Councilman Doug Stephens questioned whether it is necessary to change the height ordinance, as there is no building project on the table for 25th Street that requires the height extension.
"That doesn't mean we shouldn't go ahead and review it," he said. "The height ordinance isn't going away, so it behooves us to talk about it in a work session. It's prudent for us to gather information to analyze the importance of the height ordinance."

As a consequence we'll be standing by with great interest as ordinance amendment proponents lay their new evidence on the table on November 4, all the while harboring the gut feeling that a blanket height limit amendment is not a sufficiently prudent approach.

"Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem

Added Bonus: How Obama and US Bankers will trash the US Dollar, after the 11/2/10 General Election

Hey folks! Check this great video out, wherein mainstream economist John Maynard Keynes dramatically battles it out, "rap" style, with the brilliant Nobel Prize winning Austrian School economist, F.A. Hayek:

As an added bonus, here's the story about how the Obama administration (along with the US banking industry) intend to crank up the monetary printing press, reject Hayek and apply Keynesian principles to turn US Dollars into trash in November (after the 11/2/10 election.) Here's the lede:

It’s amazing, given the attention the Tea Party allegedly is paying to government waste and government spending, that there hasn’t been more controversy about the now-seemingly-inevitable arrival of “QE2” – a second massive round of money-printing cooked up by the Fed to prop up both the government and certain sectors of the economy. A more overtly anticapitalist and oligarchical pattern of behavior than the Fed’s “Quantitative Easing” program could not possibly be imagined, but the country is strangely silent on the issue.

Read the full article here:

• The Fed's Magic Money-Printing Machine, Act 2

Reader comments are invited, of course.

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Preps For $500K Shortfall

The Boss Godfrey solution? Tap into the public safety budget, of course

As the effects of our basket case economy continue to strain our Emerald City budget, Scott Schwebke reports that Boss Godfrey has found a way to compensate for a projected $500K fiscal year 2011 revenue shortfall. Here's the setup:

OGDEN -- The city council adopted an ordinance Tuesday night that adjusts Ogden's budget to reflect a possible $500,000 shortfall in sales tax revenue for fiscal 2011.
The projected revenue reduction is based on figures for June and July, which show a $116,000 decrease in sales tax compared to that collected during the same months in fiscal 2010, said Janene Eller-Smith, a city council policy analyst.
A downturn in the national economy has trickled down to Ogden and is keeping people from purchasing big-ticket items that drive sales tax revenue, said John Arrington, the city's business manager.

And Boss Godfrey's solution? Tap into the public safety budget, of course:

The ordinance adopted by the council compensates for the anticipated $500,000 sales tax shortfall by reducing a budget line item for that same amount that was to be used to fill seven vacant police officer positions, said Arrington.

Read this morning's full Scott Schwebke story here:

• Ogden preps for $500K shortfall

Maybe it's just is, but we're wondering whether the Administration's priorities might be just a mite messed up. So how about it gentle readers? Who'd like to suggest other budget cutting alternatives which wouldn't jeopardize public safety and result in the continued under-staffing of Ogden's Finest?

And just to get the ball rolling, we'll incorporate the text of SE reader Neal Cassidy's thoughtful query in the comments section beneath the above-linked SE story:

Isn't 500K$ the same amount of money Ogden City will lose if Jon Greiner remains as Ogden Police Chief? Is Greiner such a good Chief that he is worth 7 additional police officers?

Have at it, O Gentle Ones. Just because its a slow news day, that doesn't mean our WCF readers can't have a little interactive fun.

Update 10/13/10 3:50 p.m.: Just to add a little perspective to this story, we'll link here Ace Reporter Schwbebke's council meeting Twitter tweets, which he issued during last night's City Council Session:

• Scott Schwebke 10/12/10 City Council Meeting Twitter Tweets

Just another glimpse into the work of an incurious and disinterested SE reporter who's possibly in the wrong business, wethinks.

Standard Examiner Editorial: OUR VIEW: Raise 25th Street Height Limits

The historical designation of 25th Street needs to be diligently guarded, no matter what the 25th Street Business Association and the SE editorial board say

By Dorrene Jeske
Ogden City Council Member, 2006-10

Yesterdays Standard-Examiner editorial, “Raise 25th Street height limits” shows how presumptuous and ignorant the SE editorial board is. Grondahl’s cartoon shows how insensitive and ignorant he is of Ogden’s Historic District. Apparently he doesn’t appreciate history or historical buildings, (He should visit colonial sites along the east coast or Europe and it’s centuries-old buildings.) He sounds like Mayor Godfrey when asked what would happen to the recreation center if it wasn’t a success, “In twenty years it will be torn down and something else built.” What a waste! How does anyone get ahead with an attitude like that? How does a city address it’s capitol improvement needs when they are continually making bond payments? MY generation could hardly wait to pay off their mortgages and free up money for their children’s education and missions.

I take issue with some of the Editorial Board’s statements. One of the statements being “frankly, we think they’re (the 25th Street Business Association) “the experts on this matter.” They were talking about buildings meeting the criteria for historical designation. What an asinine statement! The 25th Street Business Association is exactly what they state they are – business people! Their main purpose is to realize a profit on their investment. Usually guidelines by the National Historical Association require strict adherence to using certain building and remodeling materials, staying within the architectural styles of the building, etc. And usually these requirements are more expensive than materials and components found on the market now. Does the editorial board really think that most of these businessmen will follow the guidelines of the Historical Association of their own free will? I hope that Council members will seek the advice of Kirk Huffaker of the Utah Heritage Foundation, as I did during discussions regarding the Windsor Hotel. He is the REAL historical expert with the degrees to prove it.

We saw what happened with the old Windsor Hotel. The owners were businessmen from California and didn’t give a damn if their plans met the strict guidelines for maintaining the historical designation of the hotel or not. Their plans did NOT! They planned to build a penthouse with an all glass front wall. It looked ridiculous and so out of place on top of the old hotel.

I can see the advantageous of adding an additional floor to the old buildings on Historic 25th Street, but some control by the Council and Ogden City Business Development Department need to maintain the right of design approval to make sure that it is congruent with the design of the building. The Landmarks Commission should also have input on decisions, but with the way the Planning Department was able to manipulate them by not giving them all the documentation and guidelines published by the National Historical Association when the Windsor Hotel was asking for approval, casts doubt on the integrity of both the Commission and the Planning Department.

It’s sad that the past history of dealings with the Ogden City Administration under Matt Godfrey’s reign leaves the citizens of Ogden and perhaps some Council members feeling uneasy about the administration’s ability to make ethical decisions. We do have two new directors so we can hope that they aren’t tainted.

Ogden has a jewel in the historical designation of 25th Street! Besides being unique, it also receives federal funds for the maintenance and preservation of the buildings. Those funds can easily be lost if Ogden were to lose the historical designation. That designation needs to be diligently guarded, no matter what the 25th Street Business Association and the SE editorial board say.

We are well aware that anyone who does not go along with the Mayor and the SE are called “naysayers.” It’s easy and childish to use name calling to intimidate others and it should be considered with a grain of salt and consideration given to the author/s and their point of view. Especially when they don’t have the facts or know of which they speak.

Standard-Examiner: Murals to Make Ogden Sparkle

It is not very often that I agree with Da Mayor on anything, but...

By Ozboy

There is an interesting piece on the Standard site about the city commissioning several public arts mural projects.

See it here:

• Murals to make Ogden sparkle

It is not very often that I agree with Da Mayor on anything, but I do on his quote in the article:

"Art is important in downtown," he said. "It brings life (to the area) and makes people feel they are in a special place."

Utahns For Ethical Government Survey Responses

Find out how the candidates in YOUR Senate and House districts responded

Interesting data this morning from the Utahns For Ethical Government website.

UEG has posted the responses of the 191 Utah State Senate and House candidates to its just completed September, 2010 Ethics Initiative Survey. Of the 191 candidates, 69 responded, for a 36% return. Of interest is the fact that only twenty-nine percent of the respondents were incumbents while seventy-one percent were challengers.

Responses to the survey questions are tabulated in numerical order by Utah Senate Districts, followed by Utah House Districts. Find out how the candidates in YOUR Senate and House districts responded. The responses were collected between September 7th and 28th. To see the complete results, click on this link:

• Legislative Ethics Survey Results

We urge Weber County Forum readers who consider legislative ethics reform to be a top 2010 General Election campaign issue to carefully review these data as you prepare to cast your November 2, 2010 votes.

For the convenience of WCF readers, we've also added this link to our right sidebar 2010 General Election Module.

Who will be the first to comment about this most illuminating survey data?

Salt Lake Tribune: "The Fruits Of Single Party Government In Utah"

The SLTrib again makes yet another strong case for ethics reform in Utah this morning

By Ray

NEW/OLD Topic: Excellent article by Karl Snow/David Irvine on SLTrib Opinion Page today:

• The fruits of single-party government in Utah

Coupled with this letter in the SLTrib Public Forum the SLTrib again makes yet another strong case for ethics reform in Utah this morning:

• Deaf legislators

Dan Schroeder October 8 2010 Transit Comments

We're sure all WCF readers will join us thanking Dan Schroeader for his tireless effort in helping Utah transportation officials get their acts together

To get the conversation rolling this morning, we're pleased to highlight the following document, which was submitted to us yesterday evening. WCF regular contributor Dan Schroeder transmitted this critique to UTA officials earlier in the afternoon, concerning the Ogden/WSU Transit Corridor Project Alternatives Analysis, with a request ask that this document be incorporated into the permanent project record and be considered by all participants as the final report for the Alternatives Analysis is prepared. Within this document Dan pokes giant holes in the UTA's transit study methodology and makes six major points, which we'll present in brief bullet point form:

1. The comment deadline should be extended.
2. The decision-making process has been inappropriate.
3. Most 603 riders would not be served by the 36th Street Alignment.
4. Congestion on 36th Street may preclude mixed-flow operation.
5. The counting of “potential takings” appears to be biased.
6. The Economic Development Opportunities Analysis is useless.
7. Riders and neighborhoods have been forgotten.

Dan's definitely done his homework here; and this is yet another typical yeoman's effort on Dan's part. Read Dan's full Transit Comments here:

• Dan Schroeder October 8 2010 Transit Comments

We're sure all WCF readers will join us in thanking Dan Schroeder for his tireless effort in helping Utah transportation officials get their acts together.

Reader comments are invited, as always.

An Old Utah Political Tradition, The Filing of Spurious Pre-election Lawsuits

Ahhhh... Utah General Election politics... always so civil and genteel

With a mere 25 days remaining before the November 2 Utah General Election, Utah political operatives engaged this week in an old Utah political tradition, the filing of spurious pre-election lawsuits:

• Democrats take campaign finance fight to Utah Supreme Court

Interesting background data from the Tribune sidebar, demonstrating that the failure to file financial financial disclosures isn't an exclusively Republican county party problem:

71 » Percentage of major county political parties that didn’t file financial disclosures due Aug. 31.
29 » Percentage of parties that did file.
22 » County Democratic parties (out of 29) that missed the filing deadline.
19 » County Republican parties (out of 29) that didn’t disclose their finances.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune research

And in the midst of a spirited Utah gubernatorial campaign wherein Democratic Party challenger Peter Corroon has pretty much kept Republican Governer Gary Herbert on his heels regarding "questionable campaign donations," one opportinistic veteran Salt Lake County GOP party hack indulges in a little self-indulging political payback:

• Former GOP leader sues Corroon alleging he violated county campaign laws

In Ius Voco Spurius, as the old saying goes amongst experienced litigators...

Ahhhh... Utah General Election politics... always so civil and genteel.

Update 10/12/10 8:00 a.m.: Paul Rolley has more on James Evans's pattern of filing frivolous lawsuits:

• Paul Rolly: More campaign frivolity from James Evans

Standard-Examiner: Newell Moves 415 Jobs to Ogden Industrial Park

Boss Godfrey's right.... This is BIG

"In this economy, this is big," [Mayor] Godfrey said of the firm's expansion. "It will get a lot of families back to work and put bread on the table."

Standard-Examiner
Newell moves 415 jobs to Ogden Industrial Park
October 8, 2010

As reported by Ozboy in last night's comments, The Standard-Examiner informs its general readership this morning that "Newell Window Furnishings Inc. will be moving 415 jobs, mostly from Salt Lake City, into an expanded manufacturing facility in Ogden":

• Newell moves 415 jobs to Ogden Industrial Park

Boss Godfrey's right. This is BIG.

Even a blind squirrel like Godfrey finds an acorn every now and then.

Standard-Examiner: UTA Consultant Stands By Her Ogden Transit Study

Among other things, Mr. Schwebke has allowed Wikstrom and UTA to lead him astray with all this discussion about sales tax

By Dan Schroeader

Here's Schwebke's lousy article on how UTA still hasn't released the details of the Wikstrom economic impacts study:

• Consultant stands by her Ogden transit study

And for the archival record, here's the comment that I posted under Schwebke's article:

What a confusing article. Anyone who wants to understand this had better read the article in the Trib:

• Where’s data for Ogden streetcar analysis? asks green critic

And here’s a link to my original letter, sent on September 20:

• Dan Schroeder 9/20/10 Letter

Mr. Schwebke has allowed Wikstrom and UTA to lead him astray with all this discussion about sales tax. I carefully explained to him on the phone that I never requested that part of the data--I’m asking only to see the details of the property value calculations. The sales tax data is indeed confidential but guess what? Wikstrom’s study showed no significant difference (only 15%) in increased sales tax revenue along the different alignments. That’s well within the margin of uncertainty. And even that, as far as I can tell, is really a projection of what will happen without a new transit project rather than with one.

I also explained to Mr. Schwebke that UTA has been promising to get me Wikstrom’s raw data since August 17, and that they didn’t even offer the “sales tax data is confidential” excuse until September 28. It still isn’t clear whether they will allow the public to see any of the details of Wikstrom’s calculations. At the very least, they’ve stalled so long that it’s now impossible for the public to scrutinize the calculations before the Alternatives Analysis report is written.

Finally, Mr. Schwebke fails to mention that on September 30, Wikstrom ordered me to remove my 9/20 letter from Weber County Forum or I would be hearing from her attorney. This incident seems indicative of her attitude toward public involvement in deciding how to spend taxpayer dollars. [link added - Ed.].

Ed. note: Special thanks to Dan Schroeder for offering his own commentary regarding this morning's Scott Schwebke story.

Another WCF Contributor Takes The Salt Lake Tribune to the Woodshed

Cutting to the chase, we'll highlight an item in the SLTrib letters section from an old WCF friend of ours

In the midst of a fairly competitive Utah Governor's race, here are a few points Utah voters ought to consider, from The Salt Lake Tribune, wherein Utah's premier free speech newspaper endorsed the wrong candidate for the Governor's office:

• Gary Herbert

It's probably OK. The so-called liberal Salt Lake Tribune endorsed Dubya twice; and look at how that all worked out.

Cutting to the chase, we find this in the SLTrib letters section from an old WCF friend of ours:

• Disgusted with Trib

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle Ones...