Weber State University Game Day Thread: WSU @ Stephen F. Austin - Updated

Can the Wildcats whip the Lumberjacks a second year in a row?

Our Weber State Wildcats football team is back on the road today as the home town team travels to Nacogdoches, Texas to take on the Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks in the final non-conference game of the season, the same team they played a year ago in a 50-40 victory at Stewart Stadium. The Wildcats are 0-3 on the season and coming off a 42-31 loss at Sacramento State last Saturday. The Lumberjacks, on the other hand, currently sport a 2-1 preseason record, fresh off last week's victory over mighty Texas A&M-Commerce (?). Kickoff's set for 5pm (MT), Wildcats fans, contrary to our messed-up embedded graphic.

Here's the pre-game sports media setup, folks:

• Weber State looks for balance against Stephen F. Austin - Standard-Examiner
• Weber State football: ‘Cats hope to avoid mistakes vs. SFA - SL Tribune
• Turnover margin crucial for Weber at Stephen F. Austin - KSL News
• Wildcats continue road trip at Stephen F. Austin - WSU website
• Home Stand Continues Against Weber State - SFA Website

Catch the game via these online sources:

• KLO 1430 AM/103.1 FM (audio)
• SFA All Access (video)

This go-round, our Wildcats come into tonight's game as 9-1/2 point underdogs, according to Sportsbet.Com, (for what that's worth.)

Last week our 'Cats got killed by turnovers (3 turnover fumbles). Thankfully (a little birdy told us) Coach Hill has invested this week in a few cans of that "stickum" (You know: like Oakland Raiders receiver Lester Hayes used to use).

Can the Wildcats beat the spread and whip the Lumberjacks a second year in a row?

We'll soon find out, No?.

Go Wildcats!

Final/Final: Lumberjacks roll over the Wildcats, 35-21. Dang.

Update 9/2014 10:00 PM:  The Standard's Brandon Garside is the first to provide the post-game story:

• 'Cats fall to Stephen F. Austin 35-20

Our Take? Just like '49's coach Jim Harbaugh, WSU Coach Hill doesn't give a fig about what happens in the pre-season. He's just playin' all his players and working out what they can do together in various combos, once the regular conference starts.When that happens, he'll be ready to go.

What say you about all this theory, O Gentle Weber County Wildcats fans?

Howbout you, Ferris?

WSU Homecoming Game Day Thread: Weber State U. Hosts Sacramento State - Updated

Lets all doll up in purple, get out to Stewart Stadium and "put some butts into some seats"

Big doings today on the Weber State campus, where our (1-3) Weber State Wildcats  will square off this evening versus Big Sky Conference opponent Sacramento State Hornets (1-3) for each team's first 2013 Big Sky Conference gridiron battle.  Notably, the "Wildcats hope to end a three-game losing streak that coincides with three difficult road games," and "[t}he angry Hornets are looking to create some buzz for themselves after losing a heartbreaker in overtime last week to Southern Utah."

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Stewart Stadium.  Hopefully, rabid WSU fans will show up in force, on a day which is shaping up for perfect football weather. Adding further excitement to tonight's gridiron tilt:  It's  WSU Homecoming Week, folks!

The Standard-Examiner has a couple pre-game stories, of course, just to set the mood:

• Tough schedule hasn't helped Wildcats' ratings
• Wildcats to start freshman vs. Hornets

And here's a little something from the Deseret News:

• Weber State football: Wildcats open up Big Sky play Saturday night against Sacramento State

Even KSL News is getting into the act:

• 5 things Weber State needs to do to beat Sacramento State

Here's the pregame viewpoint from the Sacramento Bee, the Hornets' home town newspaper, wherein we find this dismal historical stat: "Ogden, Utah, is a place where the Hornets are 0-8." :

• Sacramento State football notes: Hornets seek a road breakthrough

If the Vegas odds provide any real "guidance," it looks like this actually may prove to be a pretty competitive football contest, one worth watching, although for the fourth week running, our Wildcats remain "underdogs" (slightly, at least):

Click to enlarge image

  
Big Sky TV is back in action tonight with this live video feed, featuring Carl Arkey:

• America One Sports

You can catch the live streaming audio here, of course:

• KLO 1430 AM/103.1 FM

Our "Purple Posse" desperately need your support this week; so what say you? Lets all skip the live broadcasts, doll up in purple, get out to Stewart Stadium and "put some butts into some seats" for once, at least. No lame excuses, please.

See ya's at Stewart Stadium.

Update 9/29/13 7:18 p.m.:  Hornets lead 14-0 at the half, thanks to a multitude of dumb WSU penalties and turnovers.  "It coulda beeen worse," Carl Arkey remarks, when Sac State muffs an easy 39-yard field goal as the halftime clock runs out.

Update 9/29/13 8:45 p.m.:  Final score, Sac State 31, WSU 3. Sacramento State comes out on top @ Stewart Stadium for the first time EVER.  Looks like it'll be a l-o-o-o-n-g conference season, Wildcats fans.

Update 9/30/13 7:00 a.m.: The Standard's Roy Burton provides two scathing post-game stories, brimming with frustration:

• Homecoming horror: Wildcats buried by Sacramento State
• When you thought it couldn’t get worse ..

"Time for some big changes or the program might not survive," opines one disgruntled Wildcats fan.

Update 9/30/13 6:15 a.m.: More naval gazing  from the Standard's Roy Burton:

• Homecoming takeaway? Road only gets tougher for WSU football squad

Alternate Reality Department: Ogden School Board Renews Superintendent's Contract for Two Years

The knuckle-headed Ogden School Board crosses over into... The Twilight Zone

Alternate Reality Dept.

Some stories we read in the Standard-Examiner simply defy rational explanation. Try this one on for size, O Gentle Ones:

• Ogden School Board renews superintendent's contract for two years

Bob Becker "nails it," down in the S-E comments section:

So, the CEO of OSD got $50k in bonuses while laying off school librarians and over-crowding classrooms. This is the Lehman Brothers model of executive compensation. This school board would likely have voted the Captain of the Titanic a fat bonus as they scrambled aboard the lifeboats.

We're filing this one under the topic label "Alternate Reality Department," inasmuch as the knuckle-headed Ogden School Board has clearly crossed over into... The Twilight Zone.

As school board elections approach in November of 2014, the lumpencitizens of Ogden City certainly have their work cut out for themselves, no?

WSU Game Day Thread: Weber State at Utah State

Standing on the electronic sidelines, keeping our fingers crossed

Our Weber State Wildcats definitely have their hands full this evening, as they travel to Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium, where the Utah State Aggies will play host in the Aggies home-opener. Game kicks off at 6:00 p.m., Wildcats (and Aggies) fans. Yep, folks, our valiant Wildcats football squad take the field against an FBS powerhouse this evening, for the second week running.

The local print media have been all over this story this week, so here's the pregame lowdown from the Standard and the Trib: 

• Utah State football: Aggies won’t get caught looking ahead of Weber State
• Utah State depth could get chance to shine against Weber State Trib 9/12
• USU football: Aggies vow to take Weber State seriously - Trib 9/14
• Sears wants ’Cats to douse Keeton’s fire danger Standard 9/14

Needless to say, with USU quarterback Chuckie Keeton actively in the hunt for a Heisman Trophy, this story angle has also provoked plenty of extra pre-game hype

• Aggies generate Heisman buzz for QB Keeton - Standard 9/13
• Utah State football: Chuckie Keeton faces long odds in Heisman chase - Trib 9/12/13

And here's another interesting story angle, focused on several WSU Coaching "alums" who now fill the USU coaching ranks:

• Keeton’s mentor on Aggies a former Wildcat - Standard 9/11

Embedded below we provide the "Live Odds, Pointspread & Totals" via Yahoo! Sports

Click to enlarge image

39 point underdogs?  Ouch!

And for those videophiles among us with a cable or satellite subscription, here's the video feed.  (Select WSU v. USU in the right panel):

• ESPN Live Video Feed 

Failing that, you can also catch the live audio via the Cats' and Aggies' "flagship" radio stations of course:

• KLO 1430 AM/103.1 FM
• KVNU 601 AM

No, we're not expecting miracles, WSU fans; but we'll be standing on the electronic sidelines, keeping our fingers crossed. A respectable performance and no injuries; that's all we ask... although a miracle wouldn't be half-bad either.

Keeping our fingers crossed

PAX VOBISCUM, everyone (except for the Aggies Football Team)!

Update 9/14/13 5:28 p.m.:  Hot off the press from the Standard:

• WSU will sit QB Adamczyk; Chipoletti will start tonight vs. Aggies

Comments, anyone?

Update 9/14/13 9:10 p.m.:  Final score:  Utah State 70, Weber State 6.

Update 9/15/13 6:30 a.m.: The Standard provides the post-game story and stats:

• Wildcats wiped out at Utah State

Weber State Wildcats Game Day Thread: WSU Faces Off Against Utah at Noon - Updated

Although we suppose we could simply "write this game off," we'll be keeping our fingers crossed, bearing in mind that collegiate football upsets do happen.

Here we go, college football fans. Get ready for this afternoon's "big" intra-state "rivalry" game, where our home-town underdog Big Sky Conference Weber State Wildcats (1-0) valiantly square off against the Pac-12's Utah Utes (1-0)  in a classic mis-match(?) set for kickoff in Rice-Eccles Stadium at noon.

There's not much in the way of pre-game hype this week folks, but here's the pre-game skinny, wherein the Standard-Examiner's Roy Burton talks about dang near everything but the teams' comparative strengths :

• Cats-Utes may be special-teams duel
• Sears to coach against mentor on Ute sidelines

Here is the "live" morning "line" via Yahoo Sports, not the kind of stuff to "gladden" Wildcats fans' hearts:

Click to enlarge image

Ouch!

Although we suppose we could "write this this game off" as a typical (dare we say "grubby?") pre-conference schedule "business transaction," wherein Utah has merely scheduled a "win," and Weber State stands to "bank" a giant wad of that Pac-12 cash, we'll be keeping our fingers crossed, bearing in mind that collegiate football upsets do happen.

The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 network, lending WSU some hopefully respectable "national" exposure.

And here are the two "live" online audio feeds, for 'Cats and Utes fans who refuse to be "glued to the tube." The "home" team broadcast, with Carl Arkey, is now back at KLO radio (where it belongs) and please take note that KALL radio's ever-excellent pre-game "game kickoff" broadcast is even now in progress:

• KLO 1430 AM/103.1 FM
• KALL AM 700

The floor's open, O Rabid Wildcats fans, for your remarks and snarky comments before, during and after today's "big" intra-state gridiron clash.

Update 9/7/13 5:00 p.m.:  Final score, Utes 70, Wildcats 7.  The Standard has the story:

• Utes overwhelm young Wildcats 70-7

Update 9/8/13 6:30 a.m.:  More navel-gazing from the Standard's Jim Burton:

• Who's to blame for blowout? Everyone in purple

Update 9/9/13 5:30 a.m.:  Still more soul-searching from the Standard's Jim Burton:

• Wildcats realistic about loss, but still see some 'what-ifs'

Happy Birthday to All of Us: 8-Year WCF Anniversary Party

It's party time at Weber County Forum!

Strap on your party hats and crank up the music folks...

(56 in "Dog" Years)

We're happy to announce that Weber County Forum celebrates its Eighth Birthday today, O Gentle Ones. And upon reaching that mind-boggling milestone, we'd like to reach out to our entire WCF community to thank everyone for their support and contributions over the years.  Without your unflagging online participation since our initial post in 2005, we couldn't have become what we are today... the most robust community blog in the whole danged blogosphere!

During the course of our existence we've definitely made our mark.  We've spoken truth to power. We've knocked down harebrained schemes and budget-busting projects one after another.  We've covered local and state elections at a depth, pace and level of irreverence un-exceeded by anyone. We've deeply dissected issues and stories that even our own home-town newspaper tiptoed around, inexplicably ignored or wouldn't even touch with a ten-foot pole. Heck... we've even reunited lost dogs with their owners. And in the process we've also had plenty of fun, of course... and yet we've done so much more.  All-in-all, it's been a pretty great ride so far.

But we're certainly not yet done. As we now embark upon our ninth year of stirring the political pot,  there's still plenty of government corruption, bureaucratic malfeasance and plain old-fashioned incompetence left to be exposed and discussed. And yes; knowing more than a little bit about Utah politics, as we do, we also have a funny "sinking" feeling that there's much more to come.

So once again we'd like to offer our ever-humble thanks to each and every one of  you whose loyal support, readership and contributions of ALL kinds we've enjoyed over these past eight years. And as we look forward to the future, we'll thank you in advance for continuing to stick with us.

Time to break out the "bubbly," O Gentle Ones.

Happy birthday, every one of you.

Yes. It's party time at Weber County Forum!

Utah A. G. John Swallow-topical WCF Podcast Special: Maryann Martindale Interview

A Weber County Forum Tip O' The Hat to the folks at Utah Political Capitol, for making this audio material available online

"Honest" John Swallow

In connection of our ongoing WCF article series concerning the ethical and legal troubles of Utah Attorney General John Swallow, we'll put the spotlight on an item appearing yesterday on the Utah Political Capitol website, featuring, among other things, the audio track of a recent 15-munite interview with the Alliance for a Better Utah's Maryann Martindale, who is one of the two complainants in a legal battle against Attorney General John Swallow.

We believe that our readers with a little extra time on their hands will find this will find the full podcast to be most interesting, inasmuch as it broaches a broad array of topics which are always of interest to our Weber County Forum readers, if you know what we mean (and we think you do):

• UPC Show #21! Booze.. Swallow’s Scandal.. STD’s.. and Sutherland Institute

For those readers however who'd just like to cut to the chase, we've taken the liberty of editing it all down to a brief twelve minutes.  So for the listening pleasure of our ever-gentle WCF readers, here's UPC's complete Martindale interview segment, which clearly sets forth, wethinks, the facts, issues, rationale and motivation behind ALB's pending legal action:


Certainly welcome relief from yesterday's heart-rending story, innit?

A Weber County Forum Tip O' The Hat to the folks at Utah Political Capitol, for making this audio material available online.

Don't forget to throw in your own 2¢.

Deseret News: Sean Reyes Sues Attorney General Opponent John Swallow For Defamation

The latest development in the Utah GOP Attorney General bare-knuckle battle royal, which would turn practioners of the fine sport of American Professional Wresting green with envy

 In our relentless quest to assemble the most pertinent information concerning Tuesday's Utah Primary balloting, we'll highlight the most recent development in the GOP State Attorney General's race, where GOP AG candidates Sean Reyes and John Swallow are waging a bare-knuckle battle royal, which, with the latest campaign development,  would turn practioners of the fine sport of  American Professional Wresting green with envy. Earlier this week, candidate Reyes took candidate Swallow to task for what Reyes characterises "malicious attack ads," adding that "I was warned that if I ran against John Swallow, my family and I would be targets for brutal lies and attacks."  Here's the riveting audio clip:


  Reyes is right, of course.  As those of us who've followed candidate Swallow's political career already know, hard ball politics-wise, this campaign is not Mr. Swallow's "first rodeo." 

 Now however, according to the Deseret News, Reyes is turning the tables and cranking up the heat another notch himself:

• Sean Reyes sues attorney general opponent John Swallow for defamation

Predictably, as the D-News also reports, Swallow's lawyers, not to be outdone by Reyes's lawyers, are now working feverishly to draw up a lawsuit of their own.  Surprise of surprises.

Just about what you'd expect from a couple of Republican trial attorneys, we guess.

Take heart however, folks.  Rest assured, there actually will be a level-headed and fully grown-up Utah Attorney General candidate on the ballot in November:

• Andrew McCullough For Attorney General of Utah 

In the interim between now and Tuesday however,  we suggest you all pull up your popcorn and LA-Z-Boys folks, to sit back and enjoy all the fun.  It's definitely getting interestinger and interestinger, innit?

House Bill 218: Live Audio From This Morning's Senate Committee Session - UPDATED

Listen up , folks; and monitor the results of your handiwork, as Rep. Froerer's HB 218 bill appears as the first item on this morning's 8:00 a.m. Senate Government Operations and Political Subsdivisions Standing Committee agenda
UPDATE: Bad News... HB 218 stalls in committee by a tied 3-3 vote

For the benefit of those readers who'd like to listen in on this morning's Senate Government Operations Committee hearing, wherein Rep. Gage Froerer's H.B. 218 (Municipal Disincorporation Revisions) is item #1 on the committee calender, we're once again pleased to offer a live audio link. If all goes according to plan, the below audio link should automatically go "live" around 8:00 a.m.:

• realPlayer Audio (Pre-recorded)
• MP3 Audio (Pre-recorded)

(We've now replaced the "live" link with the above recorded copies, for those who'd like to listen in after the the hearing is completed.)

We'd also like to again thank our many readers who submitted their supportive emails to Rep. Froerer and SGOPS Committee members during the last few days. Thanks to your vigorous efforts, the a hefty volume of correspondence reached the desks of the six committee members.

Listen up , folks; and monitor the results of your handiwork!

Update 2/25/10 9:00 a.m.: Bad news, people. After considerable lengthy testimony and discussion, this bill has now stalled in committee. Senator Liljenquist's motion to hold the bill for further study failed, due a tied 3-3 vote. Senator Greiner's subsequent motion to pass the bill on to the full Senate then likewise failed by the same vote tally. According to Chairman Knudsen however, there will be one final opportunity to bring this bill back for further committee deliberation during the current legislative session, which means that we citizen-lobbyists have further work cut out for us.

The three Senate committee members who voted in opposition to moving this bill forward... Liljenquist, McAdams and Robles.

Looks like it's back to the drawing board, folks.

Gage Froerer's H.B. 218 Passes in the House By a Stunning 63-0 Vote

The next big battle (the biggest one yet) will be in the Senate, where the evil neoCON forces in the legislature have vowed to kill this bill in Senate Committee

Good news for the prospective "Powderville Town" residents today, as House Rep Gage Froerer's H.B. 218 passes in the House, by a unanimous 63-0 Vote!

So far, so good.

Check out the audio of today's House floor "debate" (such as it was):

• H.B. 218 House Floor Debate Audio (realPlayer audio)

Having passed the bill now in the House, the next big battle for Rep. Froerer (the biggest one yet) will be in the Senate, where the evil neoCON forces in the legislature have vowed to kill this bill in Senate Committee.

It's time to gird up our loins right now, gentle readers. We'll be calling for another vigorous citizen email onslaught very soon, just as soon as we find out which particular Senate Committee will be considering this bill.

As we did before, we'll also post and circulate a bulk Senate Committee email link, once this bill is assigned to a particular Senate Committee.

Gage has promised to keep us up to speed on this; and he makes it no secret that he'll need our further "steely-eyed" help.

House Bill 218: Live Audio From This Morning's Committee Session - UPDATED

Rep. Froerer's HB 218 bill returns to the House Government Operations Committee calender
UPDATE - H.B. 218 is successfully passed out of committee with a UNANIMOUS favorable recommendation!

Once again we provide an audio link to this morning's House Government Operations Committee hearing, wherein Rep. Gage Froerer's H.B. 218 (Municipal Disincorporation Revisions) has been re-set from Monday morning to item #3 on this morning's committee calender. If all goes according to plan, the below audio link should automatically go "live" around 8:30 a.m.:

• realPlayer Audio
• MP3 Audio

We'd also like to thank our many readers who submitted their supportive emails to Rep. Froerer and HGOC Committee members during the last few days. After a sluggish start, thanks to your vigorous efforts, the volume of correspondence finally picked up quite substantially.

Listen up , folks; and monitor the results of your handiwork!

We'll definitely be sitting on the edges of our seats.

Update 2/5/10 9:41 a.m. MT: After some very brief testimony and discussion of issues, and upon the motion of committee member House Legislative District 9 Representative Neil Hansen, the Committee UNANIMOUSLY passed H.B. 218 out of committee with a favorable recommendation!

Next stop: Full deliberation and debate on the House Floor.

Update 2/5/10 4:00 p.m. : The above"live" audio link has now been replaced with recorded audio from today's hearing, in realPlayer and mp3 formats. The HB 218 sequence begins @ approximately 50:41.

House Bill 218: Live Audio From This Morning's Committee Session

Today's committee discussion of Rep. Froerer's HB 218 bill is inexplicably taken off-calender by the bill's House sponsor

For those closely following the ongoing Powder Mountain brouhaha, and as a followup to our WCF article of 1/29/10, we're semi-pleased to offer a pre-recorded audio link to this morning's 8:30 a.m. House Government Operations Committee hearing, wherein Rep. Gage Froerer's H.B. 218 (Municipal Disincorporation Revisions) had been the third item on the committee's agenda:

• realPlayer Audio
• MP3 Audio

Listen Up , Folks! Listen to the part where HB 218's own sponsor takes his own bill off today's committee calender!

Update 2/1/10 8:48 a.m.: According to the audio, Rep. Froerer has requested that agenda item #3 be moved back on the calender. Unfortunately, It's now unclear whether he's taken the matter entirely off-calender for re-scheduling on another date, or simply moved it to the back of today's calender.

Update 2/1/10 11:00 a.m.: Having listened to the full audio podcast, we'll confirm that Rep. Froerer's H.B. 218 matter has been removed from today's committee calender on sponsor Gage Forerer's own motion, without an even on-the-record rescheduling to a later date. We'll update this article as soon as possible, once we've had an opportunity to speak with Rep. Froerer for an explanation of his reasoning and rationale concerning this.

We're also pleased to note that our friends at Ogden Valley Forum have now sounded off on this subject, with their own call to action, directed toward their own OVF reasdership.

House of Representatives Tightens GRAMA Restrictions

Here we go again with another citizen call to action

There's bad news for advocates of open government this morning, with this report in the Standard-Examiner, that Rep. Doug Aagard's House Bill 122, which will seriously tighten GRAMA request restrictions, has passed in the Utah House, and is now set to move on to the Senate. The article is short, so we'll incorporate it in full:

SALT LAKE CITY — The House has passed a measure that would make it harder to obtain certain documents through the Government Records and Management Access process.
Under current law, strategic government documents can be protected from public disclosure only if prepared for pending litigation.
House Bill 122, sponsored by Rep. Douglas Aagard, R-Kaysville, would also allow strategic documents to be protected if prepared in anticipation of litigation.
Also, court appeals to obtain information would have to demonstrate “clear and convincing evidence” that the public interest outweighs the interest favoring restriction of documents.
Aagard said that’s higher than the current standard.
The House passed the bill on a 43-27 vote Wednesday. It now goes to the Senate for further debate. [Emphasis added]

The Deseret News carries a brief heads-up on the topic this morning too.

So in addition to the objections to the bill's vague language, which we raised here on Weber County Forum last week, Rep. Aagard has now compounded the problem by incorporating new (amended) provisions, which would increase the burden of proof on appeal for GRAMA applicants initially denied production of documents and records on the basis of "anticipated of litigation." Whereas the current standard is "preponderance of evidence," this new bill would substitute the more burdensome standard of "clear and convincing evidence."

For those readers who'd like to bone up a little bit more on the subject, we provide a couple of helpful audio and video (RealPlayer) links below:

• House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee - Video - 2/9/09
• House Floor Debate - Audio - 2/18/09

For those readers who are willing to listen in, it will become immediately clear that none of the bill's proponents have even the slightest clue about what they're doing with this bill. In his ham-handed attempt to carve out special (and possibly reasonable) exceptions for law enforcement related records and documents, Representative Aagard has drafted sloppy and over-broad legislation which will, as a practical matter, make the obtaining of public documents and records even more expensive and difficult at best, and impossible at worst.

And for those readers willing to simply take our word that this bill needs to have a stake driven through its heart, Don't forget to contact your state senators RIGHT NOW.

Believe us. They love to hear from their concerned constituents.

Thoughtful reader comments are invited, as always.

Ogden Public Transit Redux: More Info Re Monday's WACOG Meeting

The public transit predicament approaches information overload

On the heels of Tuesday's Weber County Forum discussion, we've received additional information about Monday's WACOG meeting, during which Weber State University students asked the Weber Area Council of Governments to fund a study to determine whether a streetcar or bus rapid transit (BRT) should be the transit system linking downtown Ogden to WSU and McKay Dee Hospital. Boss Godfrey of course told the WACOG panel that he opposes the $200,000 city expenditure for a mass transit alternatives analysis because development of a streetcar system between downtown and Weber State University is "too expensive."

Mainly for the sake of continuity, we link yesterday's Scott Schwbke story on this same topic. Although this story adds little to the fact scenario already provided in Kristen Moulton's Tuesday article, there is one tantalizing nugget of new information, appearing midway through Ace Reporter Schwebke's writeup:

"There are some advanced streetcar-like technologies that could possibly be used between downtown and Weber State and McKay-Dee, Godfrey said."

Whereas Kristen's story had left us with the impression that Godfrey had been intentionally vague in his reference to "other [transit] methods," (leaving us to conclude he was still holding out for gondolas), Schebke's story adds an element we hadn't heard before: "advanced streetcar-like technologies."

Is it possible that he's referring to something like this?

Has Boss Godfrey suddenly beaten his obsession with gondolas, and opened his mind to rational and proven public transit alternatives? Only time will tell. We suppose we'll have to wait until the council work session on May 15, when all will be revealed -- we hope.

We're also pleased to provide two other useful reader resources this morning:

First, Gentle Reader Dan S. has graciously provided us an mp3 audio recording of Monday's WACOG session, in which our readers can hear the dulcet voice of Boss Godfrey, hemming and hawing at his very best.

Second, Dan has also forwarded a copy of a letter he sent to the Weber County Commission, containing an annotated transcript (with commentary) of Godfrey's portion the Monday WACOG proceeding.

Comments, anyone?

Monday Morning Pot-luck

Rolling out our new "Godfrey Dog & Pony Show" mp3 audio collection

We commented last week on the subject of Emerald City's recently compiled "wish list," wherein the city council reportedly enumerated a list of $43.2 million in capital improvements, to be prioritized over the next five years. Having reviewed the list at the time of publication of the above article, we queried whether the council may have "forgotten" about our dilapidated water and sewer systems -- systems which need $138 million in repairs to bring them up to snuff.

This morning's Standard-Examiner editorial follows up on the subject, with some new information from from Emerald City CAO John Patterson. Emerald City has planned for the expenditure of approximately "$7.2 million worth of rehabilitation between now and 2012," The Std-Ex reports. A mere "drop in the bucket," the Std-Ex calls it. Like the Std-Ex editors, we wonder whether the $7.2 million, over a five-year period, is nearly enough. It sounds like a band-aid solution to us.

And the Std-Ex letters section features yet another Boss Godfrey rah-rah letter from the Boss Godfrey Campaign Letter Mill this morning, in which declared Emerald City resident and apparent Godfrey-lemming Jean H. Mathews complains that "other people" are ill-informed. Judging from Ms. Matthews' letter, it would appear that there remains at least a rear-guard of a few people residing in our Brave New MattGodfreyWorld who still cling to the now-thoroughly discredited notion that it's Chris Peterson's own money (and not our Mt. Ogden Park equity) which Chris "plans" to "invest" in our town -- and that Boss Godfrey has the lumpencitizens' best interests at heart. Godfrey is "aggressive and single minded," Ms. Matthews readily concedes. "Aggressive and single minded" -- like a swarm of killer bees -- we ever so snarkily intone.

And last but not least, we're going to reprise a discussion we had earlier on these Weber County Forum pages, in which one of our gentle readers highlighted an April 16 question & answer session at Weber State U.

Whereas we'd earlier posted a written transcript of that entire proceeding, we're now going to one-up ourselves, with some new material furnished over the weekend by another gentle reader. In that connection we've uploaded a series of mp3 audio files to our archive storage site, which are helpfully indexed at this link. We have a full audio transcript, along with some carefully selected audio excerpts and text files. Be sure to check it out.

The written transcript was revealing; but you ain't heard nuttin' yet -- until you hear it all delivered in the Alternately Snarling & Sniveling Boss Godfrey Munchkin Voice. We encourage you all to download these files to your iPods and play them back everywhere you go. Amaze your Friends! Experience endless gleeful hours of knee-slapping auditory pleasure!

We've also added a link to these files in the sidebar, entitled "Godfrey Dog & Pony Show."

Have at it, gentle readers.

What's on your minds this Monday morning... or later in the day, as the case may be?