Deseret News: Judge Rules State School Board Selection Process Unconstitutional

Judge Waddoups definitely has his work cut out for him as he tackles fixing the Utah State School Board nomination system... on an exceedingly short timeline

Uh-oh. There's blockbuster 2014 General Election news this morning, folks, as Deseret News reporter Benjamin Wood informs his readers that a federal judge has thrown a wrench into the gears of the pending State School Board elections. Specifically "[o]n Friday, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups ruled that the state's selection of school board candidates — a multi-tiered process that includes vetting by a committee and final selection by the governor — violates constitutional guarantees of free speech," according to the story linked below:

• Judge rules State School Board selection process is unconstitutional

"Waddoups did not order remedies related to the case, which was brought against the governor, lieutenant governor and members of the governor's nomination committee by former candidates for State School Board. An additional hearing was set for Thursday, during which Waddoups is expected to receive additional testimony and recommendations from the involved parties and issue a final order," Mr. Wood further reports

With a mere 57 days remaining until the 2014 Utah General Election, don't consider our current Weber County ballot roster to be indelibly etched in granite:

State School Board District #1 - 4 year term

Declaration of Candidacy	Website/Contact Info	Campaign Finance Disclosures
David L. Clark	None Found	David L. Clark 2014
Terryl Warner	State School Board Member Bio	Terryl Warner 2014

State School Board District #2 - 4 year term

Declaration of Candidacy	Website/Contact Info	Campaign Finance Disclosures
Willard Z. Maughan	None Found	Willard Z. Maughan 2014
Spencer F. Stokes	None Found	Spencer F. Stokes 2014

Judge Waddoups definitely has his work cut out for him as he tackles fixing the wacky Utah State School Board nomination system, wherein "Utah [now] runs their [State School Board} elections the same way as Iran, with the mullahs approving which candidates can appear on the ballot."

Hopefully, he'll come up with something suitably Solomonesque, as time's running exceedingly short.

Update 9/12/14 9:00 a.m.: The Trib reports this morning that Judge Waddoups has issued a ruling in re the State School Board candidate selection matter.  Happily, Weber County Election ballots won't be effected:

• Judge: Add two rejected school board candidates to ballots

Weber State Home Opener: Weber State University Hosts North Dakota State - Updated

As for us, folks, we smell an upset coming up... Go Wildcats!

There will be "big doin's" at Weber State University's Stewart Stadium this evening, as the "first season of the Jay Hill era at WSU begins." Specifically, our Weber State University Wildcats host Missouri Valley Football Conference  heavyweight North Dakota State Bison for a planned 6 p.m. kickoff tonight, for the first home game of the 2014 Wildcats season.

The Bison arrive with one non-conference victory tucked under their belt, with last week's defeat of perennial Big 12 conference also-ran Iowa State,  while the 'Cats are looking for their first season win, after last week's not-so-embarrasing beatdown at the hands of USA Today poll #16 rated Arizona State, of the PAC-12 Conference.

There's lots of pregame hype, as the the Standard and the Trib "go ape" over the prospects of today;s Stewart Stadium home opener:

• Weber State football: ‘Cats hope to snap Bison’s 25-game win streak - SL Tribune
• Weber prepares for No. 1 North Dakota State -Standard-Examiner
• Weber recruit: BYU Football coach 'didn’t want me anymore' - Standard-Examiner

Even KSL News is getting in on the act:

• Keys for beating North Dakota State are based on fundamentals - KSL News

As an added bonus, here's one most-excellent pre-game writeup from the WSU website:

• Wildcats host nation's top team, NDSU Saturday

And here's the pregame story from the NDSU local North Dakota perspective:

• NDSU heads to Weber State in search of their 26th straight victory

Yep.Despite our otherwise high hopes, here are the betting odds, Wildcats fans, via Sportsbet.Com, as our Wildcats enter the game as 34-point underdogs (Ouch):

Click to enlarge image

"Cats fans who can't make it to the stadium can catch the game via the usual online source, of course:

• KLO 1430 AM/103.1 FM

For cable subscribers, the game will be live broadcast on Altitude Sports.

As for us, folks, we smell an upset coming up.

Go Wildcats!

Update 9/6.14 10:00 P.M: NDSU whips WSU by a paltry 24-7 score:

• Wildcats give the No. 1 Bison a run for their money
• N Dakota St beats Weber St 24-7
• Hill, Wildcats judged by small improvements
• College football: North Dakota beats Weber State for 26th straight win

Don't let the cat get your tongues...

Standard-Examiner: UTA Says Weber Transit Service Would Have Many Riders

We'll be keeping our eyes peeled, and fingers crossed, of course, as the UTA plods forward within the bureaucratic constraints of  this this ridiculously tedious Ogden Transit Study process

There's encouraging news for Ogden City streetcar fanciers this morning, as the Standard-Examiner's Mitch Shaw reports on the results of Tuesday's Ogden City Council Joint Work Session, wherein the Council received a a Transit Study update from Utah Transit Authority officials. Here's Mr. Shaw's lede:

OGDEN — If a public transit service between downtown Ogden, Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital ever becomes a reality, the Utah Transit Authority says it won’t be hurting for riders.
UTA officials met with the Ogden City Council Tuesday night to discuss progress on a nearly $900,000 transit study that is measuring the merits of a new transit system that would connect downtown Ogden to the campuses of WSU and McKay-Dee.

Here's the full story, folks:

• UTA says Weber transit service would have many riders

And here's the "kicker":

Jim McNulty, a strategic planner with UTA, told council members that by the year 2040, ridership numbers on the system could ultimately reach 8,000 per day. Ridership estimates for when the service initially begins aren’t available yet.
“We’re finding that we would have the ridership there when we open it up,” McNulty said. “We’ll have more precise information (on early ridership numbers) in about a month, but it’s looking good so far.”
McNulty said UTA’s new Sugar House streetcar system, which opened in December, is seeing about 1,000 riders each day.
“So obviously, seven to eight thousand (daily riders on the Ogden line) is a great number,” he said.

“We keep hearing streetcar, streetcar, streetcar.” “Weber State has indicated that that’s what they want, and we’ve heard that from (the public) as well,” Mr. McNulty adds.

We'll therefore be keeping our eyes peeled, and fingers crossed, of course, as the UTA plods forward within the bureaucratic constraints of  this ridiculously tedious Ogden Transit Study process.

Buzzfeed: How Conservative, Tough-On-Crime Utah Reined In Police Militarization

We'll be sitting on the edge of our seat, waiting to find out how the ACLU and Libertas civil liberties coalition will roll up their sleeves for the 2015 Utah legislative session.

A Marriage Made in Heaven?

In the interest of  kicking off another Monday discussion, we'll highlight an uplifting story from Evan McMorris-Santoronternet of the internet news media company, Buzzfeed.  Here's the lede:

WASHINGTON — Here’s how you convince a legislature full of law-and-order Republicans to back efforts to rein in militarized police tactics:

Take a law passed by the Democratic legislature of Maryland, get the local chapter of the ACLU (and a group of libertarians) to rework it slightly, put it on the floor, watch it pass basically unanimously.

That was the unlikely recipe used — successfully — by activists in Utah [in 2014].

Inasmuch as the article's a mite fuzzy about exactly what the aforementioned ACLU and Libertarian "players" (namely the ACLU Utah Chapter and the Libertas Institute of Utah) accomplished through their joint collaboration during the 2014 Utah legislative session, we'll incorporate a brief and helpful summary, via the Salt Lake Tribune:

• Op-ed: Utah legislators stood up for Fourth Amendment

Moving back to the Buzzfeed story, Mr.McMorris-Santoronternet provides more tantalizing information, concerning ACLU Utah's and Libertas' plans for the 2015 legislative session, as they pick up where they successfully left off in March of this year:

And after the startling images of police deployments in Ferguson, Missouri, the same group of Utah activists is pretty confident it’ll be able to achieve even greater success in the next legislative session. This time, the activists are setting out to make Utah one of the first states to voluntarily limit the way its local police forces can accept and use surplus military equipment distributed by the Department of Defense. 

“It’s definitely another catalytic event,” said Connor Boyack, president of Libertas, the libertarian group that lead the effort with the Utah ACLU. “Some lawmakers who have been shocked at the images coming out of Ferguson … [and] have expressed skepticism that those scenes could ever be on the streets of Utah are nevertheless interested in looking at this because of the images coming out of Ferguson.”

“It just feels very timely for us,” agreed Marina Lowe, legislative and policy counsel for the ACLU in Utah. “Having a real national incident helped make this very real for everyone.”

Here'as the full Buzzfeed story, for those who'd like to read up:

• How Conservative, Tough-On-Crime Utah Reined In Police Militarization

Our take?  We'll be sitting on the edge of our seat, waiting to find out how the ACLU and Libertas civil liberties coalition, (a marriage made in heaven,we think) will roll up their their sleeves for the 2015 Utah legislative session.

So what say our Gentle Readers about all this, eh?

Huffington Post: The Bloody Origin Of Labor Day

Sadly, too many Americans will be grilling hot dogs on Labor Day rather than honoring the history of the holiday

"Most people know Labor Day as an extra day off of work. Fewer know the holiday comes from a time when the government was "offing" workers." Here's the background story, peeps, via the Huffington Post:

• The Bloody Origin Of Labor Day

Sadly, too many many Americans will be grilling hot dogs, rather than honoring the history of this important American holiday

Added bonus: A few classic ditties to put you in the proper Labor Day mood:

• Top Ten Labor Day Songs

As you "safely and sanely" celebrate today's national holiday, folks, we hope you'll heed this reminder and devote at least a little time to reflect on the "working man," on "labor," and on the important historical contributions of the too-often-maligned "American labor movement."

Weber County Forum Saturday Morning Backburner Cleanup

We'll rely upon our WCF readership this morning to wax on about the meaning of all this

Due to the dismal dearth of nutritious local red meat political news popping up on the web this morning, we've dredged up a couple of interesting items from the Weber County Forum back burner, both of which are worthy of our readers' attention, wethink:

1) The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Tuesday that "[t]he board of the Sutherland Institute, the state’s most prominent conservative 'think tank,' has asked its longtime president, Paul Mero, to resign after long-simmering disputes apparently reached a head":

• Board ousts Paul Mero as Sutherland Institute president

"Stanford Swim, chairman of the board of the Sutherland Institute, will serve as acting CEO until a new president is chosen."

Mero's apparent defect:  Not quite wacky enough to suit the "extremists" of  the Sutherland Institute?

2) Following up on our 7/28/14 story, wherein we reported that Rocky Mountain Power was in the process of sticking thrifty Utah solar panel users with a $5/month "sun tax," we were delighted to learn yesterday from the Trib that  this lame-brained proposal has been at least temporarily deep-sixed.

"Utahns with rooftop solar panels won’t face a new fee from Rocky Mountain Power after the Utah Public Service Commission ruled Friday that the utility company failed to prove such a charge is "just and reasonable," the Trib's Matt Canham And Brian Maffly report:

• Utah commission rejects proposed fee for solar homes

Although "... this contentious debate pitting the state’s largest electric company against environmental groups isn’t going away, [inasmuch as] [t]he Commission is open to revisiting the issue as long as Rocky Mountain Power can provide some hard data proving these customers should be treated differently than others who just use less energy than the average family,[r]enewable energy advocates are [nevertheless] hailing the ruling as a major victory," and quite rightly wethink.

For the moment, at least, we'll also hail it as a victory for good old-fashioned common sense.

Have at it, O Gentle Ones.  We'll rely upon our WCF readership this morning to wax on about the meaning of all this.

Salt Lake Tribune: Audit Blasts UTA, Says It Gave Millions in Sweetheart Deals - Updated

Another reason we need this newspaper in our lives. Every day

Via Holly Mullen:

When clean air efforts and mass transit become a social class issue: Balancing UTA big salaries and profits (and sneakily) on the backs of the poor and working class--who have had bus routes continually cut and fares steadily raised.

• Audit blasts UTA, says it gave millions in sweetheart deals

Thanks to Lee Davidson, and The Salt Lake Tribune. Another reason we need this newspaper in our lives. Every day.

Update 8/28/14 7:10 a.m.:  Utah official are reeling from yesterday's state audit reporting:

• UTA attacked, defended after tough audit
• UTA chairman says there is 'much work to do' in wake of blistering legislative audit

The Trib reports that Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross is letting UTA management have it with both barrels:

[Weiler] tweeted online Wednesday, "I have two questions about the UTA audit: Who’s getting fired and who’s going to jail?"
He said in an interview that was not just a light-hearted tweet. "After all is said and done, we still have $1.7 million in taxpayer funds" not repaid from the questionable $10 million deal, and continued controversy over high pay and bonuses. "I don’t know how you turn a blind eye to that."

"You know, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that nobody ... and I mean NOBODY ... at UTA understands or comprehends the term Conflict of Interest," remarks one Trib reader.

UTA watchdog Chris Stout, of the Utah Transit Riders Union (UTRU) minces no words, and issues a call for strong citizen action:

One of the issues I raised at the meeting -- which was overlooked because of the sensational $10 million paid for a garage never built, $2.9 billion in unfunded maintenance costs, the debt to build the rail system and the decimation of the bus system in order to fund the rail service was the fact that customer satisfaction is essentially non-existent. The performance audit recommended that UTA begin "routine and consistent" customer satisfaction surveys that are taken to the highest level of UTA (the Board of Trustees). Myself or other members of UTRU will be attending these board meetings to personally deliver messages of customer satisfaction -- or in most cases, customer dissatisfaction. I encourage you to visit our website to get on our email list and/or visit and like our Facebook page.  Our next membership meeting will be in September and all are encouraged to attend.

Update 8/29/14 9:00 a.m.:  There's more politica blowback concerning this story, as Governor Herbert thinks UTA has already fixed most of the problems highlighted by a legislative audit raising questions about the organization's business practices; but Senator Todd Weiler will ask the State Attorney General's office to initiate a criminal investigation.

• Gov. Gary Herbert says UTA has fixed most problems in audit
• State senator seeks criminal investigation in wake of audit of UTA (Video)

“I’m representing my constituents, and they’re angry and they want heads to roll,” Weiler said.

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

2014 Weber County General Election Candidate Roster

Check our election sidebar module for periodic updates

Greetings, O Weber County Forum Readers. As Labor day approaches on September 1, the drop-dead date for serious 2014 General election campaigning, we're delighted to offer the latest feature to our right sidebar 2014 Election Module at least a week early.  So far we've invested +/-13 hours in googling and coding toward this project.  So we hereby cheerfully invite you to check it out::

• 2014 Weber County General Election Candidate Roster

This page remains still under construction folks, inasmuch as it still presently lacks the Local School Board and Weber County Elected Officials'  Campaign Finance Disclosure numbers, which we'll fill in around Tuesday, October 28th, when the these first financial reports come due.  As for the Federal Election Commission numbers for the First Congressional District... trust us...they'll be coming up soon.

Click the link above, for the very best (and most complete) 2014 Weber County Candidate roster in the meantime.

If you're a Weber County candidate, or a supporter of a good Weber County political candidate, by the way, we hereby invite you to send your candidate links here:

• Weber County Forum Email

If you snooze, you lose, BTW.

And yes, Weber County Forum readers, we've also planted this phenomenal web feature in our right sidebar 2014 Election Module, of course.  You know... for future reference.

Sunday Funnies: Weber County's Form of Government at Issue - Updated

Time to lift up the bonnet, and look under the hood?

Interesting story in this morning's Standard-Examiner. Here's Cathy McKitrick's  tantalizing lede:

OGDEN — Has Weber County outgrown its three-member commission form of government?
That question will be explored in a Sept. 3 forum hosted by the Weber County League of Women Voters and Weber State University’s Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics and Public Service.

Read Ms. McKitrick's full story, peeps, wherein she does a aboslutely marvellous job of rounding up and sharing many of the predictably contradictory and sundry viewpoints:

• Weber County's form of government at issue

Here are the Time/Space coordinates, folks:

Public Forum: A Study of Weber County Government
When: Wed, September 3, 7pm – 8pm
Where: Shepherd Union Building, Ballroom A (map)
Description: Should we change the form of Weber County Government? Co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

During recent months it's become painfully apparent to many of us that our antiquated three-member commission form of government has been plagued with more than a mite of serious dysfunction.

We hope you'll all mark your calenders and be in attendance at the September 3 public forum, folks, as the best political minds in Weber County gather up, roll up their sleeves and take a gander under the Weber County Commission political "hood.".

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat goes out to yeoman reporter Cathy McKitrick for the early heads-up.

Update 9/4/14 10:00 p.m.:  The Standard's Cathy McKitrick provides the post-event story:

• Weber County debates its form of government

Standard-Examiner: Our View: Utah, Get Medicaid Expansion!

This folks, is an editorial board firing on all cylinders

Utah is losing out on the benefits of Medicaid expansion. Our state leaders are denying tens of thousands of our residents the opportunity to have affordable health care.
It’s time for Utah to get on board with Medicaid expansion. While we have no objection to Governor Gary Herbert’s efforts to receive expansion via an alternative Medicaid expansion plan, if details can’t be worked out with the feds soon, Utah should just accept the expansion as defined by the Affordable Care Act.

Standard-Examiner Editorial
Our View: Utah, get Medicaid expansion!
August 19, 2014

In all, the 24 states that have rejected -- so far -- Medicaid expansion will lose $423.6 billion in federal funds through 2022, according to the Urban Institute. That’s not a smart move, and Utah should not be in such undistinguished company.

Standard-Examiner Editorial
Our View: Utah, get Medicaid expansion!
August 19, 2014

Humdinger of an editorial in this morning'a Standard-Examiner hard-copy edition. The SE editorial board gets it exactly right, in our never humble opinion:

• Our View: Utah, get Medicaid expansion!

"To reject funds that were intended to make the Affordable Care Act a means for millions to finally have health insurance is deeply insulting to those persons denied health care because of the stubborn foolishness of 24 states, including Utah. Get Medicaid expansion, Utah, sooner rather than later" the SE adds.

This folks, is an editorial board firing on all cylinders.

So what say our Gentle Readers about all this?

Salt Lake Tribune: UTA Pay High? Real Numbers Are Higher Yet

Utah: the best managed state?

Hold onto your hats, folks. IT'S OFFICIAL! Thanks to the re-juggling of Utah Transit Authority reported data, we learn from the Salt Lake Tribune that the heads of the UTA are now making DOUBLE the salary of the heads of both New York's and Boston's public transportation systems. And that's merely the tip of the iceberg.

Read the "good" news here:

• UTA pay high? Real numbers are higher yet

Sodden Queries:

• Utah Transit Authority: Transit System of the Year?
• Utah: the best managed state?

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to Utah political watchdog eric Etherington for the mind-bending heads-up.

Comments anyone?

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Council Approves (Loosened) Food Truck Restrictions

Yep, folks, the Council has adopted a cautious "wait and see" approach -- They'll be hunkering down to find out whether any aggrieved Food Truck vendor eventually files a lawsuit.

The Standard-Examiner reported Thursday on an interesting development on the Ogden City Council regulatory front.  Here's the lede:

OGDEN — The Ogden City Council will take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to deciding whether to loosen restrictions on the newly allowed mobile food trucks in downtown Ogden.
On Tuesday, the council voted to approve an ordinance that allows mobile food trucks to operate in commercial areas throughout Ogden, and most notably, the Central Business District, which is considered the area between 20th and 27th streets between Adams Avenue and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
Prior to the ordinance being passed, food trucks were allowed only in manufacturing zones.

Here's the full Mitch Shaw story:

• Ogden council approves food truck restrictions

And here's the agenda item from Tuesday's Special City Council Meeting calender:

6. Reports from the Planning Commission:
b. Mobile Food Trucks. Proposed Ordinance 2014-34 amending Section 15-2 of the Ogden City Code to define and provide uniform standards for mobile food trucks, and to allow mobile food trucks to operate in certain zones. (Accept public input; adopt/not adopt ordinance)

We've also linked the full council packet, for those who require the full nitty-gritty (scroll to page 32):

• 08/12/14 Council Packet

Mr. Shaw refers to the Council's Tuesday action as one characterized as a "wait-and-see approach," which is probably entirely accurate, in view of a line of recent federal court decisions which seem to lean toward a fast-developing rule of  federal constitutional law providing that "the economic protection of a discrete interest group [existing 'brick and mortar' restauraunts in this instance] does not constitute a legitimate state interest under 'rational basis' [federal constitutional] review":

• Boston Law Review: The Fifth Circuit Lays Economic Protectionism to Rest in St. Joseph Abbey

As an added bonus, we'll link a couple of robust Institute for Justice informational pamphlets, providing a broad overview and guidance, concerning the direction which U.S. Food Truck and Street Vendor Regulation seems to be moving, within the current multi-jurisdictional American landscape:

• Food Truck Freedom - How to Build Better Food -Truck Laws in Your City
• Streets of Dreams - How Cities Can Create Economic Opportunity by By Knocking Down Protectionist Barriers to Street Vending

Yep, folks, the Council has adopted a cautious "wait and see" approach, alright.  They'll no doubt  be hunkering down to find out whether any aggrieved Food Truck vendor eventually files a lawsuit, we suspect.

We'll also point out that our sympathies lie with our existing "brick and mortar" Ogden restaurateur entrepreneurs, who are the real investors in our community.

So what say out Gentle Readers about all this?

Utah Legislative Update: Will Sen. John Valentine's "Batty Brainchild," the Notorious Zion's Curtain, Be an Early Casualty of the 2015 Utah Legislature?

So what about it, Gentle Readers? Will it soon be "curtains" for Utah's hilarious and embarrassing "Zion's Curtain"?

As a followup to Friday's WCF story, reporting on Senator John Valentine's announced retirement from the state legislature, we asked the compound questions:

So what do you think, folks? Will Valentine's "batty brainchild," the notorious Zion's Curtain, be an early casualty of the 2015 Utah Legislature? Or does the 800 lb Gorilla already have another legislative lackey lined up to fill Valentine's shoes?

Seems we're not the only online source asking these questions.  Here's yesterday's strong Standard-Examiner editorial, wherein the editorial board recognises the opportunity, and urges the state legislature to seize the moment:

Our hope is that with Valentine’s leaving, the Zion curtain will be opened and Utah’s liquor laws will be appropriately liberalized. It makes no sense to target law-abiding persons who wish to enjoy a drink in Utah with overly moralistic restrictions that make them appear to be unsavory folks. We urge legislators to tear down the curtain and make liquor laws here reflect the rest of the nation.

Read up, folks:

• Our View: Will no Valentine open curtain?

And here's a little something from the Deseret News, wherein DNews reporter Dennis Romboy presents a fairly decent thumbnail overview of the possibilities in a 2015 post-John Valentine Utah legislature:

• Looking ahead: What will legislator Valentine's departure mean for alcohol laws?

According to the above DNews story, Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber City offers a proposal which appears promising, we think, something which ought to appease competing legislative interests:

[Powell] intends to re-introduce a bill in 2015 that gives restaurants the option to keep the partition or post a sign that reads: "This establishment dispenses and serves alcoholic products in public view."

So what about it, Gentle Readers?

Will it soon be "curtains" for Utah's hilarious and embarrassing "Zion's Curtain"?

Salt Lake Tribune: Host of Swallow Fundraiser Jailed, Awaits Possible Federal Charges

"They're gonna have to build extra cells onto the not yet built new prison by the time all this is done."

There's more "collateral damage" surrounding the John Swallow scandal, according to this morning's Robert Gehrke story, as federal authorities widen the prosecutorial net:

A businessman with a checkered past and ties to former Attorney General John Swallow is in custody in the Salt Lake County Jail along with his two brothers, awaiting transfer to U.S. marshals, potentially to face unknown federal charges.
Robert Montgomery, owner of Emmediate Credit Solutions, was arrested Friday morning, along with brothers Michael Chase Montgomery and J.D. Montgomery.
Jail records do not reflect what charges the Montgomery brothers face. Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Utah, said she could not provide any information about the case. A message left with the U.S. Marshals Service was not returned Friday [...]
In April 2012, Montgomery and then-Attorney General Mark Shurtleff co-hosted a fundraiser for Swallow, Shurtleff’s chief deputy who was running for attorney general, at Mimi’s Cafe in Murray. Attendees included a number of members of the online-business opportunities, or BizOps, industry.

Read up, folks:

• Host of Swallow fundraiser jailed, awaits possible federal charges

As one Trib reader wryly comments, "They're gonna have to build extra cells onto the not yet built new prison by the time all this is done."

Comments, anyone?

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah’s ‘Mr. Liquor’ Leaving Legislature to Head Tax Commission -Updated

Sodden Question: Does the 800 lb Gorilla already have another legislative lackey lined up to fill Valentine's shoes?

Tantalizing story in this morning's Salt Lake Trib, which we'll file under our ongoing topic heading, Utah Liquor Law. Here's the lede, folks:

Sen. John Valentine, a fixture in the Utah Legislature since 1988 and the major force behind Utah’s liquor laws for the past decade, will leave the Senate to head the Utah Tax Commission.
The Utah County tax attorney, who is the second-longest-serving active lawmaker and was president of the Senate for four years, technically still must be confirmed by the Senate, but approval by his colleagues is almost certain.

We'll link the full story, for those who'd like to read up:

• Utah’s ‘Mr. Liquor’ leaving Legislature to head Tax Commission

Does Mr. Valentine's legislative departure signal an opportunity for "normalization" of Utah liquor policy? Mr. Valentine himself hints that changes may be potentially on the table:

"I’m sure there will be a lot of people celebrating that Mr. Liquor is leaving the Legislature," Valentine joked. "I’ll still be interested as a citizen to see what we do, because I think those policy balances are really important. I think the balance between the hospitality we show people who want to drink alcohol versus the social cost, I think we have to keep that balance."

This is of course a development is one which we'll be watching like a hawk.

So what do you think, folks?  Will Valentine's "batty brainchild,"  the notorious Zion's Curtain, be an early casualty of the 2015 Utah Legislature? Or does the 800 lb Gorilla already have another legislative lackey lined up to fill Valentine's shoes?

Update 8/5/14 9:00 a.m.:  Utah Political Hub provides a fairly decent list of those political hopefuls who are already jockeying to fill Sen. John Valentine's soon-to-be-vacated Utah Senate slot:

• Buzz: Who will replace Senator John Valentine?

No Cookies For The Poor; Gold And Marble For The Faithful?

Many religions lose that emphasis which is a basic tenet of the book they claim to be the foundation of their faith(s)

By: Ray

With all the hoopla in the media regarding the reopening of the Ogden LDS temple, I find a story in today’s Standard Examiner particularly incongruous. In the hard-copy edition article entitled, “Ogden temple tour tent will break with tradition” a spokeswomen states, “No cookies will be served in the hospitality tent, as they have been in past temple open houses,” and “The money will be better spent for wells in Africa or wheelchairs for Russia.”

• No cookies in tent for Ogden temple open house

While I can’t argue with that statement, I can wonder if the same logic wouldn’t fit for the tens of millions of dollars spent on over the top remodeling of a house of worship vs. spending it on the poor, downtrodden, or sick. It seems as if many religions lose that emphasis which is a basic tenet of the book they claim to be the foundation of their faith(s).

Salt Lake Tribune: Is A Fee For Solar Energy Users A 'SunTax' Or Fair Play? - Updated

Our take? Executives of America's multi-billion dollar electrical utilities will soon be making major changes to their business plans

There's a fascinating story in yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune, reporting on a technological battle which is likely to be brewing before the Utah Public Utility Commission this year.  Here's the tantalizing lede:

Angled to the southeast, Stan Holmes’ home above the state Capitol has a great view of City Creek Canyon but a less optimal position for solar panels — they generate most of their electricity in the morning, not during afternoon surges in demand.
But his new 378-kilowatt system still produces more power than his family can use much of the year, and sends the surplus into the grid to power the neighbors’ lights, kitchens and air conditioners.
The photovoltaic array greatly reduces their utility bills, but "that’s not what drove us," said Holmes, a retired high school history teacher. "The idea was to do everything we could to reduce our carbon footprint."
The Holmes family is among 2,700 Rocky Mountain Power customers who "net meter" — earning credit for the excess power they produce — and this number is growing rapidly as the cost of solar installations drops. Now the utility wants to charge such customers $4.65 a month to help cover the grid’s fixed costs, those associated with transmission and distribution of electricity through a vast network of wires, transformers and substations.

Check out the full Brian Maffly story here, which frames the looming debate, as individual Utah solar panel advocates square off against the Rocky Mountain Power behemoth:

• Is a fee for solar energy users a 'sun tax' or fair play? 

By way of background, we'll link this timely Business Insider story, which doesn't paint a rosy picture for existing,(mainly tradtional)  fossil fuels-based electrical power industry:

• Barclays Has The Best Explanation Yet Of How Solar Will Destroy America's Electric Utilities

Our take? Executives of America's multi-billion dollar electrical utilities will soon be making major changes to their business model, particularly in view of the rapidly declining costs of rooftop solar arrays.

For our own part, we can see Rocky Mountain Power's point. Why shouldn't individual home owners such as Mr Holmes, folks who are selling home-produced electical power to RMP, make at least a "token" ($60/year annual) contribution to the upkeep of RMP's existing electrical grid infrastructure upkeep?.  On the other side of the coin, why should our PUC place any economic disincentaive at all to the broad adoption of solar power generation technology, a technology which is (in our never humble opinion) the "wave of the future."

In that connection we'll also link this handy online petition, for those Gentle Readers who are (unlike your blogmeister), Not Sitting On the Fence:

• CHAIRMAN ALLEN: NO TAX ON ROOFTOP SOLAR IN UTAH

Added bonus: A tantalizing new broad alternative to mere rooftop solar panels.  This is a new technology which is "coming up":



Nope, WCF lumpencitizens, the solar electricity revolution isn't limited to rooftop solar panels.

Update 7/30/14 8:00 a.m.:  The Trib carries this robust Brian Maffly morning story, reporting on the action at yesterday's PUC hearing, where "[a]bout 200 residents [gathered] outside the Salt Lake City headquarters of the Utah Public Service Commission before pouring into the Heber Wells building to address the three-member panel that regulates utilities," in protest of RMC's proposed "sun tax":.

• Commission hears debate over solar power fee

Well? Comments anyone? Ferris?

Standard-Examiner: Lessons Gained From Stewart Shooting Review

Ultimately, the buck stops with Weber County voters

As a followup to our Thursday, July 17 writeup, wherein we shined the spotlight on the recently released " Ogden Police Department internal shooting review report summary," The Standard's Ben Lockhart jumps aboard the bandwagon with this robust Sunday morning story, again putting the disastrous 1/4/12 blunders of local police agencies into sharp focus :

• Lessons gained from Stewart shooting review

However belatedly, it's entirely fitting that this story would be splashed all over the SE front page this morning, we believe. Ultimately, the buck stops with Weber County voters, dunnit?

A Weber County Tip O' The Hat to Ben Lockhart, for providing this thoroughly well-researched report.

Sodden Question: Despite the headline, did anybody in authority truly learn any real lessons from this fiasco?

Pioneer Day 2014 Songfest Special

The anthem of the Mormon pioneers, in the spirit of Pioneer Day

In the spirit of Pioneer Day, we'll embed this visually dramatized version of "Come, Come, Ye Saints" (originally "All is Well"), sometimes considered to be the anthem of the Mormon pioneers.



This hymn was written by William Clayton on April 15, 1846, as his Mormon pioneer caravan rested at Locust Creek, Iowa, over 100 miles west of its origin city of Nauvoo, Illinois.

This song has special meaning for your blogmeister and his family, folks, inasmuch as just prior to writing the lyrics, Clayton had received word that his wife, Diantha Farr Clayton, the sister of your blogmeister's great-great grandfather, Lorin Farr, had given birth to a healthy boy in Nauvoo, about which event Clayton stated in his journal that he "...composed a new song—'All is well.' I feel to thank my heavenly father for my boy and pray that he will spare and preserve his life and that of his mother and so order it so that we may soon meet again."

As an added bonus, we'll reprise another version of this stirring and uplifting hymn, performed by Texas gee-tar virtuoso Mark Patrick Abernathy. This version's our personal favorite; and frankly, we can't get enough of it:



Here are the lyrics, for those musically-inclined readers who might be compelled to sing (or strum ) along.

(And yes, long-time WCF readers with functioning memories, this is something of a re-run).

So which rendition do you prefer, O Gentle Ones?

You be the judge.

And have a safe and sane holiday, folks, whether you're celebrating this day as traditional Pioneer Day, or the more recently trendy Pie N' Beer Day.

Standard-Examiner Editorial: Our View: Put Limits On [Utah] Campaign Cash

Howbout you? ...are you "on the bus" with this, WCF Peeps?

Top-notch editorial in Sunday's edition of our WCF home town newspaper, (the Standard-Examiner.)

Here's the lede, WCF political wonks:

Honestly, is there any argument left against Utah setting limits on campaign donations?
Or, are we once again going to deal with the same pusillanimous arguments by our pols that Utah does not need campaign cash limits, that the idea that big dollars would influence our vote is insulting, and that everything is properly disclosed, ad nauseam, and so on?
After the several-years spectacle of the attorney general’s office being receptive to those with the biggest cash pockets, such enabling rhetoric is enough to make one clutch an air sick bag.

And here's the full editorial for your perusal:

• Our View: Put limits on campaign cash

More summary argument from the Standard-Examiner:

Utah is one of only four states that basically have no limits on money that can be stuffed in pols’ pockets for use in campaigns. Also, in the matter of disclosure, Utah falls behind most of the other states. This is a dysfunction that should have been corrected a long time ago. But it wasn’t. Pols, enjoying the access and cash of deep-pocket donors, have instead passed mostly meaningless “baby-step” reforms.
The embarrassing and sickening saga of Shurtleff and Swallow must change the mind set and break down the objections. It’s time to limit campaign cash.

Weber County Forum will be seriously (perhaps feverishly) on this bandwagon during the 2015 Legislative session, concerning the campaign finance reforms which the SE Editorial Board proposes.

Howbout you?

Are you "on the bus" with this, WCF Peeps?

Exhibit "A" for Utah Campaign Finance Reform:

Swallow/Shurtleff Booking Photos

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

Salt Lake Tribune: Police Detail What Went Wrong in Fatal Shootout With Matthew David Stewart - Updated

Internal review says officers made mistakes before and during the fatal drug raid on Matthew David Stewart’s home.

As a followup our earlier reporting on the January 4, 2012 Matthew Stewart matter, we'll direct our readers' attention to this morning's Salt Lake Tribune story, focusing on "[a] summary of the Ogden Police Department’s internal shooting review report, released this week as part of a Salt Lake Tribune open-records request, showing that many policy violations..."  contributed to the carnage which occurred on that fateful night in 2012.

Notably, The Trib has expended substantial effort in prying this information loose. "The Tribune requested internal police reviews in May 2013, shortly after Matthew David Stewart, who was charged with shooting the officers, committed suicide at the Weber County jail and his criminal case was closed. The police department denied the request, citing privacy issues.
The Tribune appealed the decision to Ogden’s records review board — which also denied the request.
In February of this year, The Tribune filed a lawsuit in 2nd District Court seeking the report.
The release of the report — actually an eight-page summary of the internal reviews— was the result of out-of-court negotiations between the two parties after the lawsuit was filed," according to this story's sidebar note.

Read up, folks.  This story of massive across-the board police incompetence is a real doozy -- a major screwup which ultimately cost two human lives:

• Police detail what went wrong in fatal shootout with Matthew David Stewart

Here's the scathing full summary, for those readers who'd like to go to the direct source material:

• Ogden Shooting Review Summary

We'd label it a "comedy of errors," folks, but frankly, this story ain't the least bit funny.

Among "the policy changes [that] have helped remedy issues of conflicting policies between police agencies that serve on the strike force, and also helped make officers safer."  And in that connection, and the wake of this horribly botched police raid, we'll make note of this:

It [has now become] a requirement that all officers must wear "full entry gear" when entering a home during search warrant service, and that supervisors must do a gear check before entry.

Seems that the "macho" cops of Ogden haven't even learned even the first lesson from this fiasco, No?

Which lesson ought to be.... you don't place human lives in danger to bust a so-called "low-level marijuana guy"  in the first place.

Bonus Question: Isn't it about time for the Utah legislature to weigh in on this? Seems major Utah legislation limiting these door-busting home invasions to situations where human life is already at risk would be good start.

Update 7/18/14 8:00 a.m.: Police reform advocate Radley Balko is now all over this story; and he's pulling no punches at all:

• Internal documents show that Utah police did little investigation before fatal drug raid

"One might suggest that the fact that Stewart was a “low-level marijuana guy” would be a good reason to leave the battering ram at the police station. Had they done a little more investigating, they might have learned that Stewart worked at Walmart. Perhaps they could have sent a couple uniformed cops to arrest him at his job. Better yet, a little more investigation might have revealed the fact that Stewart wasn’t selling or distributing his pot to anyone — that it was for his own personal use — and concluded that it would be best to just leave him alone. God forbid. [Sadly,] [t]hat isn’t how [Ogden Police Chief] Ashment sees it."

Breaking: Swallow, Shurtleff Taken Into Custody - Updated

Needless to say, we'll update this page as the story develops

Via KSL News. This, folks is the news that all WCF political wonks have been ever-so-eagerly awaiting:

SALT LAKE CITY — Former Attorneys General John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff were arrested and taken into custody Tuesday, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill confirmed.

The FBI planned a 9 a.m. news conference in regards to the state arrest warrants issued Tuesday morning. The arrests come after search warrants were served at both men's homes in June.

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Here's the story link, folks:

• Swallow, Shurtleff taken into custody

Needless to say, we'll update this page as the story develops.

Update 7/15/14 9:42 a.m.:  The Tribune carries a very robust post- news conference story on this topic, which, among other things, details the nature of the multiple felony and misdemeanor charges so far lodged against Shurtleff and Swallow. The Trib's Robert Gehrke is doing a yeoman's job keeping this story regularly updated, btw:

• Former Utah Attorneys General John Swallow, Mark Shurtleff arrested, face 23 charges - Updated

Update 7/16/14 8:30 a.m.:  This story is grabbing national attention, of course. Here's yesterday's New York Times writeup, for example:

• Two Former Attorneys General in Utah Are Charged With Corruption

Via Utah Policy, here's the aftermath:

• Shurtleff holds a news conference accusing Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill of conducting a political witch hunt [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
• Here's video of Shurtleff's arrest [KUTV].
• Utah political leaders react to the arrests [Tribune, Daily Herald].
• There may be more arrests tied to the Swallow/Shurtleff scandal [Tribune].
• The Department of Justice is getting a black eye for ending their probe into Swallow and Shurtleff [Tribune].
• Where does the Swallow/Shurtleff scandal rank among Utah's history of political wrongdoing? [Tribune]

Update 7/16/14 9:44 a.m.: With considerable delight, we'll highlight this poignant Paul Rolly piece, dripping with Utah politico-cultural irony:

• Rolly: As ex-AG is booked, his Dem foe rises to Mormon temple leader

Update 7/17/14 10:00 a.m.:  Added bonus... This morning's Bagley cartoon:

Salt Lake Tribune: Texts Reveal Raw Tensions Between Shurtleff, Former Aide

Torgeson: "pissed about the damn stupid things John [Swallow] did"

Thanks to yesterday's story from intrepid Salt Lake Tribune journalist Robert Gherke, check out these amazing internal email messages, recently revealed, concerning our Utah Attorney General's Office, which was obviously in the proceess of "melting down" even during the years of the Mark Shurltleff Utah Attorney General Administration, long prior to the even more didastrous John Swallow administration, a situation which  one savvy social media correspondent descibes thusly:

"It's so special when power-mad Utah politicos/alleged criminals text back and forth like snippy lovers. Dontcha think?"

Here's Mr. Gehrke's lede:

This story and accompanying graphics contain unedited text messages with sometimes-offensive language.
In a frank, pointed exchange last year, Mark Shurtleff’s former top deputy scolded his ex-boss in a series of heated text messages for his "stupid" actions that cast the entire Utah attorney general’s office in a bad light.
"I have spent the last 4 months listening to people shred our offices and [sic] integrity. It has been hell," Kirk Torgensen, Shurtleff’s former top deputy, wrote to the former attorney general in April 2013 as the scandal engulfed the office. "I am pissed about that and the damn stupid things John [Swallow] did. … Shit John made 24 grand on the side and hardly came to work for an entire year."

The sporadic and spirited text exchanges span eight months, during which time Torgensen rails against his former boss for exercising poor judgment and Shurtleff acknowledges making serious mistakes in not taking Torgensen’s advice.

Read the full Trib story here:

• Texts reveal raw tensions between Shurtleff, former aide

Good catch, Mr,. Gehrke, we say. Enightening, to say the least.

Read up, folks.

Kearns-Tribune, Deseret News Ask Judge to Toss Antitrust Lawsuit

Our take?  This patently frivolous lawsuit will be "dumped" before the end of the month

Following up on our earlier story on this topic, we learn this morning from The Standard-Examiner, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News that "[t]he Deseret News’ top managers and The Salt Lake Tribune’s corporate owners are asking a federal judge to reject claims that a new business arrangement between Utah’s two largest newspapers violates the law and should be undone. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups has scheduled a July 21 hearing on the lawsuit, filed last month by a nonprofit group called Citizens for Two Voices (also known as the Utah Newspaper Project)":

• Newspapers ask to dismiss lawsuit over agreement
• Deseret News, Tribune bosses urge judge to toss lawsuit
• Kearns-Tribune, Deseret News ask judge to toss antitrust lawsuit

The appellant newspaper owners "argue that the Utah Newspaper Project lacks proper legal standing to pursue the case, primarily because its members haven’t shown how they are injured by the JOA changes, beyond "hypothetical" and "conjectural" allegations of how they or others in Utah might suffer from losing The Tribune’s editorial voice if the paper shut down," according the the above-linked Trib story, among other things.

"Claims that the new JOA is ultimately intended to put The Tribune out of business are baseless, [appellants] have [affimatively] contended, saying there are no plans to shut down the paper — 'not this week, this month, this year, or ever'"

Our take? This patently frivolous (but well-meaning) lawsuit will be "dumped" before the end of the month.

Comments, anyone?

Official Results for the 2014 Midterm Primary Election

Snoose, You Lose

Via Ricky Hatch's Weber County Election Office:

"Official Results for the 2014 Midterm Primary Election were approved by Weber County Commissioners. See them here":

• GEMS ELECTION SUMMARY REPORT

Election turnout: 6.27%

Gulp!

Looking at the bright side, we guess, those 5,980 voters who did get off their ass and cast their primary ballots in Weber County got lotsa bang for the buck, no?

Church Now Saying 700,000 Will Come for Ogden Temple Opening - Sensible Old Bus Routes Suddenly Restored?

A permanent change, or just merely a temporarary fix?

By: Blackrulon

I notice that during the Ogden LDS temple open house UTA has made the decision to resume bus service on lower 25th street.

• Church now saying 700,000 will come for Ogden Temple opening

Will this be a permanent change to the UTA route or just merely a temporary change during the open house schedule? It is interesting to wonder why all of the problems city leaders, 25th business owners and UTA executives noted when they cancelled the prior UTA bus service on that route are no longer valid.

Comments, anyone?

Ogden 4th Of July "Celebration" -- The Aftermath

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. -- Albert Einstein

Via a couple of our social media friends, following last night's insane Ogden fireworks frenzy:

"Isn't one central celebration enough? Does the whole town have to sound like a War Zone for hours on end? Share if you think we should do something about this. Our pets and wild animals deserve more from us—they are terrified!":



Sodden Question: "Is this really necessary, Ogden, Utah?"

Having trouble breathing this morning, Ogden City Lumpencitizens? Here's why:

Click to Enlarge Image

"Weber County particulate levels over the last 5 days. 55 is "unhealthy", 155 is "very unhealthy", and 250 is "hazardous". However, those ratings are officially based on the 24-hour average (the blue curve), which is now just above 100 (and will remain there until tonight). Live data is here":

• Weber County—Trend Charts

Take note of the troubling airborne particulates spike, which not-so-curiously coincides with last night's nerve-jangling Ogden public pyrotechnics overdose.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. -- Albert Einstein

4th of July Special 2014 - Happy Birthday, America

Let's keep our eye on the ball, people:

• House Budget Committee Kills Immigration Reform Amendment

Have a safe and sane holiday, folks.

City Council Notes: Ogden City Proposes the Construction of Another Parking Garage - Updated

This folks, is a project which must be closely watched

Amidst this weeks excessively slo-o-o-w local news, we've received a "hot" tip from a gentle reader concerning an Ogden City Council agenda item which, until today has been a mite "below the radar." Specifically, at tonight's Ogden City Redevelopment Agency meeting, "[t]he RDA Board will consider a Resolution authorizing the Executive Director to execute a Real Estate Purchase Contract with H&P Investments for purchase of three parcels of property located between Kiesel and Grant and 24th and 25th Streets for $1.1 million. The City hopes to construct a parking structure on the property."

Here's the RDA agenda item:

4. Reports from Administration:
a. Property Acquisition – 2423 Kiesel Avenue. Proposed Resolution 2014-11 approving the terms and conditions of a real estate purchase contract for property located at approximately 2423 Kiesel Avenue.
(Adopt/not adopt resolution – roll call vote)
b. Land Transfer and Development Agreement – 2250 Kiesel Avenue. Proposed Resolution 2014-12 approving the terms and conditions of a land transfer and development agreement for property located at approximately 2250 Kiesel Avenue. (Adopt/not adopt resolution – roll call vote)

And here's this evening's full council packet, for those who'd like to read up:

• 07/01 City Council-RDA Special Session

Curiously, this proposed  project is situated within one block of another parking structure which Ogden City blithely "gave away" to Marketstar Corporation in late 2008:

• Ogden Gives Away Parking Garage

Similarly, the City built a parking garage on Lincoln Avenue between 20th and 21st, and then promptly gave it  away to the American Can owners:

• The Junction: What Next?

Sodden questions: 

1. Is there another private company standing in the wings to benefit from a similar demonstration of Ogden City largesse? 
2. With Ogden City's new public transit plan nearing fruition, does it make sense at this juncture for Ogden City to be committing millions of dollars toward building yet another automobile-centric parking structure?
3. What's the projected cost of the final buildout?  

So many questions... so few answers.

This Ogden City Lumpencitizens, is a project which must be closely watched.

Update 7/2/14 8:15 a.m.:  The Standard's Mitch Shaw provides this post-meeting story, which reports that the RDA Board  approved the purchase of the three subject parcels last night, and that the bulk of the purchase price will be borne by the taxpayers of Weber County:

• Ogden, Weber County teaming up to buy land for parking garage

The projected cost of the final buildout? This "minor" story detail still remains a mystery.