Standard-Examiner: Gag Order Sought in Stewart Case

Putting the lid on any further public statements in this matter could be tantamoint to "shutting the barn door after the livestock have already escaped," don'tcha think?

More breaking news in re the 1/14/12 Ogden Shootings matter. As we mentioned in an earlier WCF article, "[a]fter over a month of watching the Weber County Prosecutors' Office spill out a steady stream of innuendo and other "evidence" which tends to taint the local jury pool and incriminate Defendant Stewart, "Get this"... County prosecutor Dee Smith suddenly moves for a "gag order."

In this context, the Standard-Examiner reports that Weber County prosecutors are still aggressively pressing this issue in Judge Hyde's Second District Court:

• Gag order sought in Stewart case

One savvy Standard-Examiner reader lodges this comment in the S-E comments section (caution folks, the language gets a mite "salty." Readers who object to common "street vernacular" are forewarned to avert their eyes from this point downward):

The water has already been tainted, pissed in, and had a dead cat stewing in it for quite some time.

Remember "terrorist", "bomb", "and every threat, press conference, and parading of alleged evidence/hearsay?

Lapsed has it correct. The fix is in. The prosecutor wants only THEIR public prejudicial statements to stand.

All-in all, we believe the above comment pretty much gets it right. Putting the lid on any further public statements in this matter could be tantamoint to "shutting the barn door after the livestock have already escaped," don'tcha think?

Don't get us wrong on this. We're not choosing sides; but we would like to see Stewart get a fair trial this matter, even in the wake of the torrent of highly prejudicial information which flowed out of the Weber County Attorney's Office in the initial weeks following this tragic incident.

As we've consistently opined from the earliest days of this story, "our view here at Weber County Forum? If the Weber County Attorney is intent to release information regarding this case, they should release ALL of it, or alternatively, nothing at all." Unfortunately at this late juncture, it seems to us that we're now well past the point of no return, and it's a wee bit late in the game to apply the latter of those two earlier-available alternatives.

It'll definitely be interesting to see how Stewart's defense team formally responds to this, now that the damage has already been done.

That's it for now.

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

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Marriott Up for Auction

Notwithstanding the still pending sheriff's sale, the hotel will reportedly continue to be a Marriott and will operate as usual under a franchise license agreement

As a followup to Tuesday's Weber County Forum story, The Standard-Examiner carries this informative morning story, which fattens out the facts and seems to spell good news for Ogden City's downtown business district:

• Ogden Marriott up for auction

The good news? "There will be no changes locally" "No one will know the difference," according to Ogden/Weber Convention & Visitors Bureau President Sara Toliver.

The bad news? Nobody seems willing to divulge what sparked this legal action in the first place. Was it just another typical internecine squabble between the various co-partners in this hotel venture, as Ms. Toliver seems to suggest, or does the still-pending Sheriff's levy signal revenue problems within our downtown hotel community, due to overbuilding in the Ogden hotel market?

So many questions... so few answers.

We'll continue to monitor this very interesting story, folks.

Standard-Examiner: Weber County Prosecutors Office Puts in "The Fix"

Civil libertarians should be appalled about how this case still "develops"

Disheartening writeups for Utah civil libertarians in the Standard-Examiner and Salt Lake Tribune this morning, in re this still fast-developing 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings Story. It all gets wackier by the minute, fer shure:

• Stewart's lawyer fights to stay on case as judge appoints two replacement defenders
• Ogden shootout suspect appears in court as injured cop watches

And if we consolidate all the important facts from these two stories, what do we wind up with? Here are the most important points, so far:

1) Despite the protests of Defense Lawyer Randy Richards, and notwithstanding his heretofore zealous representation of Defendant Stewart, the County Prosecutor's Office nevertheless somehow convinced this apple-faced 2nd District Judge Noel Hyde, that it would be better to appoint a couple of no-name public defenders, rather than the lawyer of the defendant's choice.

2) Judge Hyde has apparently ignored defendant's demands for timely pretrial discovery. The Standard reports that Defense Council again raised this issue YESTERDAY. A justice-oriented Judge would have made an order to immediately release all evidence to the defense, SUA SPONTE. But yet Judge Hyde Didn't do that!

3) After over a month of watching the Weber County Prosecutors' Office spill out a steady stream of innuendo and other "evidence" which tends to taint the local jury pool and incriminate Defendant Stewart, "Get this"... County prosecutor Dee Smith suddenly moves for a "gag order."

Civil libertarians should be appalled about how this case still "develops".

Civil liberties "skeptics" should register no surprise in saying "The Prosecutorial 'Fix' is in."

Ogden Marriot Hotel On the Auction Block?

We're not going to let ourselves get overly worked up; but we will be keeping a close eye on this situation

Wanna buy a classy downtown Ogden hotel for cheap? We received this interesting email query late last evening, from another sharp-eyed WCF reader. It was broadly interesting enough that we'll share it with our general WCF readership:

Marriot Hotel is on the Auction Block
Did you see the notice in the paper this morning (Monday)? It was different than most notices and I've never seen one that was that big. There was no mention of a debt amount, and a lot of legalese. The thought that the fieldhouse is not dead and about to resurface came to mind. I thought that maybe you could look it over and make some sense of it since you understand legalese.

Yes. This is very interesting, indeed. We searched the S-E digital edition, and did find the notice, although it was a mite too small and faint to make out. We did also find it on the utahlegals.com website however, where it was available in a more readable form:

• NOTICE OF SHERIFF"S SALE

The property in question? "[A]ll that parcel of land situated in Ogden, Weber County, Utah described as follows to-wit: PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: REAL PROPERTY Legal description of real property known as the Ogden Marriot, 247 24th Street, Ogden, Utah."

The legal situation? What's happening here folks that a Florida-situated entity, namely BACM 2006-5 24TH STREET LODGING, LLC seems to have perfected a civil judgment against the legal owners of this property, attached the hotel property under a writ of execution and scheduled a sheriff's sale, such sale to occur (barring an interim settlement of the matter), on the Second Judicial District Courts Building front steps on the "23 rd February, 2012, at 2:00 pm o 'clock."

We're not going to let ourselves get overly worked up over this at this point, inasmuch as situations like this usually get resolved short of an actual Sheriff's auction. Nor will we speculate whether this situation may be the result of an overbuilt and stressed out local hotel market. We will be keeping a close eye on this nevertheless, in which connection we offer additional thanks to yet another sharp-eyed and alert WCF reader for providing the timely heads up.

So who wants to throw in their own 2¢?

1/4/12 Ogden Shootings Story Update: Defense Attorney Seeks Funds for Stewart Investigator

Stewart's lawyer: "No more jailhouse interviews"

More significant developments in the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings matter, via a morning Standard-Examiner story which we link below. Here's the gist:

1) "The defense is asking Weber County to pay $10,000 for an investigator for Matthew David Stewart."

In terms of the price of expert witnesses and investigative resources in this factually complicated case, this first $10k's just the tip of the iceberg, folks.

2) "Stewart's lawyer also plans to tell his client not to do any more jailhouse interviews."

In our last WCF article on this subject we a couple of unanswered queries: "Whether speaking to the press at this still relatively stage of the proceedings is a good idea is anybody's guess." "Whether this interview occurred in the presence and under the supervision of Mr. Stewart's defense lawyer, Mr. Richards, Mr. Carlisle's article doesn't say."

On the basis of the morning response of defense attorney Randy Richards, it appears that the answer is a resounding "No."

Whether the unfortunate Trib interview resulted from a failure of "attorney-client communication" or a breakdown in "client control," it's definitely a problem which the defense team must fix. The old axiom "loose lips sink ships" was never more true than in a capital murder case, folks.

Read this morning's new Scott Schwebke writeup here:

• Defense attorney seeks funds for Stewart investigator

3) In an additional online Associated Press story, the Standard reports that Stewart's case is "set for a scheduling conference in Ogden’s 2nd District Court" this morning:

• Hearing scheduled for Stewart

Notably, this latter article reports that Stewart has yet to enter a plea, in which connection we'll predict that no plea will be entered in this matter at all, until Stewart's defense team has retained and conferred with "psychological experts," a few experts on "ballistics," and many other "experts" from other forensic fields, of course.

That's it for now folks.

"SuperDuperBowl" Sunday Thread - UPDATED

LOL. Your Blogmeister read somewhere that there's a BIG football game coming up today. It's the SuperDuperBowl, as worshippers of Big-Time Teevee Sports might explain it.

For the convenience of our WCF readers who might wanna get in on the action with an American Sports Classic which draws in gazillions of viewers who might not be otherwise interested in American Pro Football, here are a few clues about where you can view, or even belatedly learn about this AMERICAN culturally pivotal 2012 Pro Football Classic game:

• About the 2012 Superbowl

It's "on" on NBC @ 4 pm Mountain Time, according to this morning's Standard-Examiner TV listing, by the way:

• On the Air

Rumor also has it that it's also available online:

• Watch the Super Bowl Live!

So whadda think, folks? Just for fun we've set up a reader poll:

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

And for those gamblers amongst us... here are the latest odds from one of our favorite "punter" websites:

• National Sports Advisors

So what about it O Gentle WCF Readers? Is there anyone amongst us who still remains even slightly "un-jazzed up," regarding this afternoon's upcoming Superbowl XLVI?

Update 2/6/12 7:32 a.m.: Giants, 21-17:

• Giants best Patriots in Super Bowl rematch

Update 2/6/12 12:00 p.m.: Hay! Tribune writer Glenn Gamboa was highly critical this morning of Madonna's 12-minute half-time show:

• Halftime show review: Madonna failed to ignite Super Bowl sparks

Here's the full half-time video, for those WCF readers who may have missed it:

• Madonna - Half Time Show (Super Bowl 2012) HD 720p

So whaddaya think O Gentle Ones?

Not half-bad for a 53-year old, we'll say.

So... was the Madonna halftime show totally lame, as Trib editorial writer Gamboa sez? Or is it that it's this SLC based, self-appointed Gamboa "hipster" who doesn't quite get it?'

1/4/12 Ogden Shootings Story Update: Defendant Matthew Stewart Speaks to the Tribune

Added Bonus: A quite "chewy" Bob Sawatzki Op-ed piece

There's significant breaking news in the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings story this morning, as enterprising Salt Lake Tribune reporter Nate Carlisle reveals the results of a Friday Weber County Jail interview, wherein suspect Matthew Stewart "spoke with a Tribune reporter Friday during one of his two weekly 25-minute visits he’s allowed via a video teleconference system at the jail." The lead paragraphs reveal a fact-set consistent with a theory of self defense in this case:

Ogden • The man accused of killing a police officer and wounding five others said he thought people were breaking into his home to "rob and kill me."

Matthew David Stewart, 37, said he never heard officers identify themselves or announce they were at his home to serve a search warrant. Stewart, in an interview Friday at the Weber County Jail, said his alarm clock woke him, then he heard a crash that sounded like glass breaking.

"Some parts I remember vividly," Stewart said of the Jan. 4 shootout. "Other parts it was like I was running on instinct.

"When you’re convinced that you are getting robbed and most likely killed by a group of armed men, your instincts kick in."

Read the rest of this interesting Trib story here:

• Ogden cop-shooting suspect says he feared for his life

Whether speaking to the press at this still relatively stage of the proceedings is a good idea is anybody's guess. Whether this interview occurred in the presence and under the supervision of Mr. Stewart's defense lawyer, Mr. Richards, Mr. Carlisle's article doesn't say. Nevertheless, we'll venture to opine that the release of this information is probably a positive from a defense point of view, inasmuch as in the midst of the heretofore circus sideshow atmosphere of this case, it demonstrates that there is another possible side to this tragic story, founded upon a perfectly plausible fact set, which could logically appeal to a rational, unbiased jury during the ultimate trial of this matter.

As an added bonus we'll provide a front page link, incorporating a thoughtful and topically related Salt Lake City Weekly opinion piece, lodged in one of our lower comments sections by its author, Gentle Reader Bob Sawatzki, yesterday afternoon:

• Guns & Drugs Don't Mix

It's quite a "chewy" piece, wethinks, and we thank Mr. Sawatzki for bringing it to our attention.

That's it for now folks.

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

Rolly: The Two Faces of Judge Dee Benson

Glad that mandatory sentencing laws are on the books

By: RTCBLC

Following up on previous discussion here regarding Judge Benson's sentencing of the Brigham drug doctor, read Rolly's column today on the many flip/flops of Judge Benson. Here's the link:

• Rolly: The two faces of Judge Dee Benson

I've had mixed feeling on mandatory sentencing laws but given this judge's history I'm glad they are on the books.

Who'll be the first to chime in with their own 2¢?

Godfrey and Reid Cash in With a Brand-new Business

Godfrey and Reid line up to "make hay"

Hey folks! Do you reside in a Utah community with a slightly embarrassing downtown retail area? Are you a small-town city official who's concerned that,"you know what we mean," that your town features some things definitely VERY embarrassing vistas, like a boring Main Street "style retail area" like this?

• Prairie Town

Thanks to a solid tip from yet another sharp-eyed and alert WCF reader, we're now in possession of some truly dynamite-like info about which we're just "champin' at the bit" to reveal...

Okay, here it is. Here's a link to Matthew Godfrey's new Miracle Business Consultation Website, wherein Ogden's little Ogden City Mayoral "shite" tries to cash in on his "lessons learned," whilst having screwed over the citizens of Ogden City for twelve friggin' years:

• Godfrey's American Municipal Consultants

And here's the added bonus if you sign up for Godfrey's "miracle" consultation site:

As night ineluctably follows the day, it seems Godfrey's old pal and mentor, the well-connected and politically powerful Senator Stuart Reid, is officially on Godfrey's payroll, according to Godfrey's website, apparently meaning that Godfrey's saying that "you can get anything you want," including a bought-and-paid-for Utah State Senator like Reid, at Matthew Godfrey's new "political consulting company."

Ogden Shootings Story Update: Stewart Jailed Without Bond; Dispatch Tapes Released

Fascinating to observe how really quickly a GRAMA request can be submitted and filled, ainnit O Gentle Ones, when the government doesn't mendaciously drag its feet?

Three more significant developments in the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings story:

1) "Matthew David Stewart, who was wounded in a Jan. 4 shootout that killed an Ogden police officer and wounded five other officers, was released Monday from the hospital and booked into Weber County Jail":

• Stewart released from hospital; booked into jail

Stewart is being held without bond, pursuant to Utah Code of Criminal Procedure § 77-20-1.

The story also reports the defendant is likely to be arraigned today.

2) This story continues to develop along the lines of a circus sideshow, as the Standard unveils the 1/4/12 dispatch tapes obtained from the Weber County Attorney's Office through a Standard-Examiner state Government Records Access and Management Act request. Ace reporter Schwebke provides the story:

• Dispatch tapes reveal response to police shootings

In an odd S-E "companion story, Interim Police Chief Wayne Tarwater attempts to justify the release of these dispatch tapes, saying that "he believes the release of police tapes from the Jan. 4 shooting is a good thing":

• Tarwater says release of tapes will benefit public

Whether the release of this rather inflammatory audio information serves the greater public interest of ensuring a fair trial in this matter is an entirely different question, wethinks, a question which will no doubt be soon answered upon the filing by defense council of what we'll expect to be a near certainty in this case, a change of venue motion.

Fascinating to observe how really quickly a GRAMA request can be submitted and filled, ainnit O Gentle Ones, when the government doesn't mendaciously drag its feet?

Update 2/1/12 9:21 a.m.: The Standard now reports that the defendant, Stewart, was arraigned this morning, although the story does not report whether he entered any plea:

• Stewart makes first court appearance

Mr. Gurrister also reports that "Defense attorney Randy Richards told the court he was having trouble getting information he sought as part of his discovery motions," which strikes us as odd, inasmuch as the prosecution seems to still be having no trouble at publicly releasing information which is favorable to the prosecution.

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Seeking Opinions on Water Charges

It's great to actually have a sitting mayor and council who actually want to know what you think, ainnit, O Gentle Ones?

Commendable reporting this morning from the Standard's new Ogden Political Beat reporter Mitch Shaw, regarding an item on the agenda at one of the council's several 1/31/12 meetings.

Specifically, Mr. Shaw reports on one element of the Council's ongoing water rate study, which was again discussed at last night's Council work session:

• Ogden seeking opinions on water charges

Mr. Shaw's story puts the focus on a Council-sponsored Web-based survey designed to gather input from the public:

OGDEN -- The city is in the midst of a comprehensive study on how much it will charge residents for water, and officials want to hear from the public.

The Ogden City Council is in month two of a four-month study that will determine water, storm sewer and sanitary sewer rates for the next five to 10 years.

The city has released a six-question, Web-based survey designed to gather input from the public.

If you haven't yet taken the time to add your own input on this survey, here's the specific link (something which Mr. Shaw's otherwise good story fails to provide):

• Online Water and Sewer Utility Rates Survey

Have at it, Ogden City Lumpencitizens.

It's great to actually have a sitting mayor and council who actually want to know what you think, ainnit, O Gentle Ones?

Update 2/1/12 11:38 a.m.: We just received an email missive from our most-esteemed regular WCF contributor Dan Schroeder, who offers this:

I see that you have a story up about water rates. Perhaps you'd like to upload the attached report and add a link to it. I shared the report with the city council yesterday, in advance of their meeting.

Voila! Dan's request is our command, AFAWC. Here's Dan's timely new contribution, folks:

• Water and Sewer Rates Comparison

Lots think about, WCF readers, don'tcha think?

Another Perspective on the Possiblity of a Hill Air Force Base Closure

Would it be a good idea for our sole Utah Democratic Party House Representative Jim Matheson to waltz over to the Senate Office Building, slap Mike Lee upside the head, and then politely ask him to "cool his jets"?

In the midst of another slow Northern Utah news day, we'll direct our readers' attention to a couple of back burner news items which appeared in the Standard-Examiner and the Salt Lake Tribune, a couple of days back. Although these stories didn't seem to be intentionally juxtaposed by the S-E and Trib editors, we can't help but believe that they may be interrelated, nevertheless.

Here's the lede from the S-E story, which appeared on the print edition front page on Sunday morning, and provides the gist:

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Even without knowing the specifics of the upcoming military budget cuts and the recommendation of new rounds of Base Realignment and Closures, there is a lot of concern that the changes could affect Hill Air Force Base.
“It’s too early to know any of the details that they are thinking, but everyone should be worried,” said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced plans to cut military spending as the military recovers from a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Part of that plan is to close military bases in 2013 and 2015 [emphasis added].

Read the full S-E story here:

• Proposed defense cuts bring worries to HAFB

With a Democratic Party President occupying the oval office and base cuts on the drawing board, the fact that Republican folks like Rob Bishop and Jim Hansen might be a mite nervous makes perfect sense, of course.

And here's the lede from the 1/28/12 SLTrib story:

President Barack Obama used his weekly address Saturday to rip Congress for blocking his nominees, focusing his ire on Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

Earlier in the week, Lee vowed to oppose all of the president’s picks for open judicial and federal positions to protest the way Obama skirted the Senate to fill key jobs at the National Labor Relations Board and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"One senator gumming up the whole works for the entire country is certainly not what our founding fathers envisioned," Obama said, not specifically identifying Lee but leaving no doubt which senator he meant to single out.

In his address, the president cited a comment Lee’s spokesman, Brian Phillips, gave to Fox News, saying the plan was to "delay and slow the process in order to get the president’s attention."

And here's the link to that (possibly interrelated) story:

• Obama takes aim at Sen. Mike Lee in nominee fight

Although Obama doesn't name him by name, it's pretty clear that Utah Senator Mike Lee is clearly on Obama's "obstructionist" radar screen, and that he's most certainly "captured" President Obama's individed "attention." (Hopefully at this point our readers are getting the drift when we suggest that these to stories may be interconnected.)

For those who might be interested in reading a robust study on the probably devastating Utah economic effect of a Hill Air Force Base closure, here's a good scholarly study produced by a research team from University of Utah David Eccles School of Business in 2004, when the possiblity of a 2005 HAFB closure was last on the U.S. Executive Department table. It's sobering, to say the least:

• Economic, Demographic and Fiscal Impacts of Closing Hill Air Force Base: A Statewide and Regional Analysis

And remember, folks, these numbers are calculated in un-inflated 2001 dollars.

As for devastating projected local impacts, the study furnishes a VERY long list, so we'll just pick out one of them, for starters:

Short-Term Impacts
In 2009, the impact of closing Hill AFB will be a loss of 47,400 jobs, an annual decline of $2.35 billion in earnings and $2.29 billion in personal income. Hill’s closure shrinks the state’s economy by $3.58 billion (a decline of 2.6% from the projected baseline). The annual loss of state tax revenue will be $192.4 million.

Hopefully everyone, Utah lefties, centrists and righties alike, will take the time to read the above-linked analysis.

The proposed 2005 HAFB closure was removed from the table during the presidential term of GOP President G.W. Bush of course, to the great glee of out mainly GOP Utah federal legislative delegation.

Can we see by a show of hands how many of our gentle readers believe Senator Lee is playing with fire? Is there anyone who believes that our Democratic Party President Obama will cut our Utah federal legislative delegation the same degree of leeway in re: HAFB as did GOP President Bush in 2005? Would it be a good idea for our sole Utah Democratic Party House Representative Jim Matheson to waltz over to the Senate Office Building, slap Mike Lee upside the head, and then politely ask him to "cool his jets"? (Maybe Matheson could even ask that a more than slightly "nervous" House Representative Rob Bishop might accompany him.)

What say you on this topic, O Gentle Ones?

Salt Lake Tribune Editor's Column: GRAMA Watch Will Keep an Eye on Government’s Openness

Hoping that so long as we're able to keep a good close watch on our Utah legislature, we won't have another suffer another Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) "battle royal" again this year

As a followup to the Salt Lake Tribune's 1/21/12 story, wherein Trib reporter Heather May reported that a print media legislative watchdog group known as the Utah Media Coalition will launch a new public information project called "GRAMA Watch," which "will rank relevant action that encourages or protects Utah’s open government" with a color-coded rating system, the Trib carries a new editorial piece this morning which fattens out the details of this encouraging project:

• Editor’s column: GRAMA WATCH will keep an eye on government’s openness

Among other things, this morning's Nancy Conway "editor's column" provides a link to the Salt Lake Tribune’s public data website, www.utahsright.com/grama, which is already shaping up to become a highly robust information source to "inform legislators and the public at the front end of the process of creating legislation — how a proposed bill will affect the people’s right to access government information."

We'll add that we're delighted to see the Utah Media Coalition vigorously following up on this great idea.

And for the convenience of the political wonks of Weber County Forum, please take note that we've also added a link to the above website in our right sidebar, under the module title, "2012 Utah GRAMA Watch," for our readers' quick reference, as we dive into the 2012 Utah Legislative Session, in the hope that so long as we're able to keep a good close watch on our Utah legislature, we won't have another suffer another GRAMA "battle royal" again this year.

New York Times: Lunar Colonies, Lunacy and Losses

Is the Republican Party's 2012 presidential election "goose" already "cooked?"

Savvy Charles M. Blow Op-Ed piece in this morning's New York Times, from which we incorporate this closing paragraph, which pretty much sums up Mr. Blow's editorial proposition:

The truth is that the Republican Party has no good choice at this point. It only has bad choices and worse choices. And the American public is beginning to recognize that. As the Republican courtiers of incompetence beat up each other, knock down each other and reveal each other’s flaws, a number of recent surveys have found that President Obama’s poll numbers on a number of metrics have begun to trend upward.

Read Mr. Blow's full-blown Op-ed commentary here:

• Lunar Colonies, Lunacy and Losses

So what about it, O Gentle Ones?

Is the Republican Party's 2012 presidential election "goose" already "cooked," even at this relatively early point in the 2012 election season?

Saturday Morning Weber County Forum News Roundup

Several items in the Northern Utah print media news item morning queue, just to keep the local political news discussion going here at Weber County Forum

1) As a followup to last week's Ogden Redevelopment Agency Board Work Session, wherein the RDA Board discussed "a proposed purchase contract and development agreement for The Four Foods Group, LLC, in connection with the opening of a new Kneaders Bakery And Café at 1951 Washington Blvd.," The Standard reports on the outcome of this week's RDA Board seession, wherein the Ogden RDA applied the finishing touches, and "approved a property sale and development agreement with The Four Foods Group LLC, which will bring a Kneaders Bakery & Café to Ogden as part of the river project":

• Kneaders Bakery coming to Ogden

We'll chalk this up as a feather in the cap of new Ogden mayor Mike Caldwell, and as additional circumstantial proof that Ogden voters who wisely rejected mayoral candidate Brandon Stephenson's 2011 mayoral bid, didn't need an Godfreyite Ogden City Council retread to maintain the Ogden River Project's "momentum" after all.

2) Fine editorial from the Standard, duly noting that the commencement of "another legislative session in Utah brings another needed call for better ethics."

"Utah legislators have made tiny, baby steps toward ethics reform within the past couple of years, but they still fall short," the editorial board aptly observes.

• OUR VIEW: Strange 'ethics' for Utah pols

The Standard editorial reels off a short list of Utah Legislators' documented ethical misdeeds, including Rep. Jack Draxler's spending of "$500 of campaign cash for a condominium in Salt Lake City," and former Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis's slimy diversion of "more than $31,000 of his leftover campaign cash to other legislators."

While we're pretty much in agreement with the overall message of this morning's editorial, we will make one slight exception: We do believe that it's probably perfectly ethical for a political candidate who's loaned personal dough to his own campaign to reimburse himself from his campaign fund, once later donations have rolled in, so long as his disclosure forms properly disclose that that such personal monies are clearly designated as "loans" at the outset, and additionally, so long as these reimbursements don't include "accrued interest."

We'll also opine that we probably won't have to endure editorials similar the one linked above, once the UEG Citizens Ethics Reform Initiative is placed on the November 2012 ballot. We have a high degree of confidence that Utah Lumpencitizens possess the common sense and ethical integrity to set Utah campaign ethics rules aright, even though their elected representatives often don't exhibit these noble character traits themselves.

3) The Salt Lake Tribune this morning reveals that the Richard Burwash lookalike, West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder, the serial Utah civil defendant who's running under the GOP banner this year for the Office of Salt Lake City Mayor, continues to play the role of the "political loose cannon," as his county-wide mayoral campaign now sparks an internecine battle within the Salt Lake County Republican Party:

• Winder’s candidacy sparks GOP dispute

Weirdly, Winder is now attacking Salt Lake Republican Party Chair Julie Dole, who had the temerity to write Winder a letter (at Winder's original request) proposing that he keep out of the SL County Mayoral race, so that the reeking stench of his "dirty political laundry" wouldn't taint all the other 2012 GOP races. Winder contends that in doing her (unpaid volunteer) job, and trying to protect the best interests of other Utah GOP candidates, and the Salt Lake County GOP as a whole, she's "violating a party bylaw requiring officers to be neutral until delegates select candidates for office."

We'll continue to keep our eye on this story, O Gentle Ones.

Weird, innit, that a nice-looking young feller like Winder, who appears to be so danged clean-cut and acceptable (by Utah standards) could actually harbor such a warped "me, me, me" mentality and turn out to be such a self-centered and self-delusional "political dork?"

Go figure...

The Daily Show Indecision 2012 - 2012: A Space Oddity

"Daily Show" Mocks Newt Gingrich's Moon Idea

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Too funny closing comment via Jon Stewart, alluding to some of Gingrich's morally troubling personal propensities:

I see what's going on here... Newt Gingrich did that global warming ad with Nancy Peolosi, realized that the earth is very sick, and now he wants to leave it for a younger planet...

Are American Republicans crazy enough to nominate the wacked-out Newt "Mr. Moonbase" Gingrich to run for the presidency under the GOP banner in 2012?

And yes. Some politically savvy and more "down to earth" folks are getting a pretty big kick outta this politically possible outcome, right?


So what say our ever-savvy Weber County Forum readers about all this?

Mike Winder Campaign Hits a Serious Speedbump

Completely "nutty" Boss Godfrey Mo-moClone Mike Winder "steps in it," yet again

Oops. Looks like that narcissist West Valley City Mayor guy, and Salt Lake County Mayoral candidate, Mike Winder, has hit a slight speed-bump in his campaign quest to become the new "visionary, "Matthew Godfrey"-style Mormon Mayor (our characterization ) of Salt Lake County, upon the departure of Mayor Corroon.

Read all about the new lawsuit that was filed yesterday, naming the loser of the now discredited winner of the Richard Burwash lookalike contest, and reporting how this Winder idiot is now named as defendant in a brand new lawsuit, wherein plaintiff Hogan, who charges that Mike Winder/Richard Burwash (allegedly slammed hard in at least one of his jagged local print and/or online media stories), seeks $113,220 in lost wages and benefits and an unspecified amount in punitive and other damages with a blistering lawsuit (by Utah Standards at least) charging defamation (and libel):

• Ex-UTOPIA exec sues Winder, Deseret Digital Media over Burwash story

Whew! And the beat goes on. [sigh]

State of the State Speech: Is it Necessary? - Updated

Danged good question, wethinks

On the heels of yesterday's State of the State Address, in connection with which the Standard-Examiner reported this morning that Utah Gov. Gary Herbert vowed to continue defending the state against an "overreaching, out-of-control and out-of-touch" federal government, (among other things), ABC4 News asks the question "pregnant question" which we're quite sure many of our politically-wonkish reader have been wanting to ask:

• State of the State speech: Is it necessary?

Danged good question, wethinks.

So what about it Gentle WCF Readers? Can we see by a show of hands how many of you were glued to your chairs in rapt attention in front of your big screens last night, eagerly soaking up Governor Herbert's every anti-federalist utterance?

On the other hand, how many of you were entirely unaware of the fact that Governor Herbert had even delivered this annual "Things are Great in Utah Under My Administration" 2012 pre-gubernatorial election rant, until you read about it on the front page of the Standard-Examiner this morning?

Let's re-phrase the question: Does anybody really give a hoot about Governor Herbert's opinion regarding the State of the State?

Just axin'...

Update 1/27/12 9:00 a.m.: The Salt Lake Tribune points out the hypocrisy of Governor Herbert's SoS anti-federalism rant. Whilst Herbert decrys “the regulatory colossus created by an overreaching, out-of-control and out-of-touch federal government," meanwhile, back at the "reality ranch," the Trib's Robert Gehrke aptly reports that "since Herbert took office, federal funding in Utah has grown by more than $1 billion":

• Herbert bemoans feds even as federal money pours into Utah

Standard-Examiner: Judge Keeps Lid on Warrants

Sodden question: Will the defendant Stewart get even an adequate legal defense in this matter, let alone a "first class" defense?

There's more interesting news in the 1/4/12 Ogden City Shootings matter, with a couple of new items appearing in the Standard-Examiner since our last WCF update.

Here are the key paragraphs from an online story of yesterday afternoon, which reveals that the veil of secrecy continues concerning this case:

OGDEN -- Prosecutors have sealed at least three warrants tied to the Matthew Stewart shooting case.

Search warrants are, by law, sealed for 20 days, then become public unless prosecutors convince a judge to extend the seal without date, said Nancy Volmer, state courts spokeswoman.

The Weber County Attorney's Office was successful in having some of the warrants sealed even before the 20 days had expired, Volmer said, two last week and one Tuesday.

The Standard also carries an expanded version of this story in its morning print edition, which reveals some even more interesting details to this story:

• Judge keeps lid on warrants

This latter story is particularly interesting for two reasons, we believe:

1) It reports a total of four warrants have so far been issued (and sealed), including "a fourth search warrant" issued by 2nd District Judge Scott Hadley on Monday last. Mr. Gurrister's story also provides information on the earlier three:

• Warrant issued Jan. 4 by Judge Ernie Jones, sealed Jan. 6 by Judge Mark DeCaria.
• Warrant issued Jan. 5 by Hadley, sealed Jan. 6 by DeCaria.
• Warrant issued Jan. 5 by DeCaria, sealed Friday by DeCaria.

In at least two of these instances these warrants were sealed by the same judge who issued them in the first place, which looks like incautious judicial procedure to us, in an important case like this.

Moreover it seems that an extraordinary amount of effort is still being expended by the court and prosecutors in a curious effort to conceal the identity of the prosecution's confidential informant, whose true identity seems to have been already publicly revealed, thus raising the pregnant question, what else are these political hacks trying to hide?

Hopefully, in this context, the Utah print media will dig in their heels, take the sealing of these records up on appeal, and help shine a little light on the evidence which triggered the issuance of these warrants in the first place.

2) And Mr. Gurrister's expanded story reveals this interesting tidbit:

The Rule 8 fund maintained by the state through premiums paid by various participating counties provides a $100,000 lump sum for capital homicide defenses, Richards said.

Davis and Box Elder counties subscribe to the fund, but Weber does not, he said, meaning he will have to negotiate with Weber officials for funds to supplement his client’s defense.

Up until now, we'd assumed that public's expense for fees and costs for Mr. Stewart's public defender defense would be capped at the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 8's $100,000 per case; but with this morning's Tim Gurrister revelation on that angle, it looks like all bets are off on the question of how much taxpayer dough it will ultimately take to properly defend this case.

It's a highly complicated case however, which will pretty quickly gobble up massive defense costs for investigators, expert witnesses and pretrial discovery, not to mention the thousands of billable hours which will inexorably accrue for attorney's fees. So at this early point folks, regarding the prospective price of Matthew Stewart's defense, we'll go out on a limb and predict that "the sky's the limit," folks.

In this connection, Don't forget the SE story we cited in our earlier WCF writeup, quoting Bernie the Attorney Allen, who said that a first class criminal defense will cost, as a rule of thumb, "close to a million dollars for each case."

Here's the big question we think: Will the defendant Stewart get even an adequate legal defense in this matter, let alone a "first class" defense?

Update 1/25/12 10:00 a.m.: The Standard has just now uploaded Mr. Gurrister's updated morning story to its website:

• Judge keeps lid on Stewart search warrants

Salt Lake Tribune: Ogden Shootout Suspect Claims He Cannot Afford An Attorney

Just as we predicted on 1/20/12, the taxpayers will be footing the full bill for the upcoming trial in this matter

The Salt Lake Tribune reports this morning about another significant development in the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings Case. Just as we predicted on 1/20/12, the taxpayers will be footing the full bill for the upcoming trial in this matter. Here's the lede from this morning's Sheena McFarland story:

Matthew David Stewart — charged with capital murder and multiple counts of attempted murder in connection with a deadly shootout with Ogden police — has filed court documents indicating he cannot afford to hire an attorney.

Stewart, 37, indicates in an affidavit of indigency filed Monday in Ogden’s 2nd District Court that he has no assets other than his home.

Stewart adds that the home "has no equity," and that he expects to "lose [the home] because I am unable to pay the mortgage," according to the affidavit.

He says he has "some limited resources" to temporarily pay for an attorney, but he cannot afford to pay for expert witnesses or for any necessary investigation.

Read the full story here:

• Ogden shootout suspect claims he cannot afford an attorney

In apparent anticipation of Stewart's application for indigent defense, Ogden City based Weber County public defender Randy Richards has also already initiated pre-trial discovery in this matter, according to this story in Sunday's Standard-Examiner:

• Attorney building defense for Stewart

No word yet as to who will serve as Mr. Richards's appointed defense co-counsel.