Tribune Forum Letter

By Brian Slade

Published: February 7, 2011 12:15AM

This past year I kept reading about the report that two-thirds of Utah third-graders don’t read at grade level, and how this benchmark is critical because through third grade, students learn to read. After that, they read to learn. If we fail them by the third grade, we’ve failed them for the rest of their lives.

The noise about this was so loud, tragic and embarrassing that I thought surely the 2011 Legislature would address this pivotal problem upon which turns so much else, from classroom cohesion to dropout rates to crime and a vibrant Utah workforce.

This is a problem that is solvable: by not (more…)

By Paul Rolly

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Feb 07 2011 04:16PM

Gay-rights activist Eric Ethington met with a group of BYU students at the J. Reuben Clark Law School on the Provo campus Thursday night to discuss efforts to get nondiscrimination ordinances passed in Provo.

When he left the meeting to drive back to Salt Lake City, he discovered the tires on his car had been slashed.

Ethington said his car bore Equal Rights Campaign and Equality Utah bumper stickers, making it obvious he was a gay-rights supporter. Word of his meeting also could have gotten around campus, he said, because the meeting with about 30 students had been planned after they expressed interest in pursuing the ordinance changes.

When he got to his car, he noticed the right front tire was completely flat. He changed the tire with a spare, then drove away. By the time he got on Interstate 15, the left front tire had gone flat. Upon inspection, he noticed both tires had been slashed.

He was towed to a tire shop in Lehi and picked up his car on Friday.

He filed a complaint with the BYU Police Department on Friday.

Maybe Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, can file a bill exempting vandals from prosecution if they are able to show religious conviction motivated their vandalism.

Interestingly, Apostle Dallin Oaks just gave a speech at Chapman University in which he declared that those with religion have a higher sense of morality–that religion is the source of moral understanding.

I guess, since we don’t know for sure, the tire slashing can be blamed on an atheist, or perhaps someone whose toe stuck up out of the water and he was not completely baptized. Without instant replay only God would know.

Tribune Forum Letter by Elaine Ball

First published Jan 29 2011 01:01AM

The front-page article “Without marriage, same-sex parents unable to adopt” (Tribune, Jan. 24) was both heartwarming and heart-wrenching.

I am a lesbian in a committed relationship of two-plus years. Like the family in the article, my partner and I hope to raise our children in Utah because here we have supportive and loving friends and extended family members.

I hope that people recognize that their doctrinal belief that two people of the same sex should not have the right to marry (more…)

Tribune Public Forum letter by Mike Coronella, Moab

Re “Utah not a colony of Washington, D.C., Herbert says ” (Tribune, Jan. 27):

Gov. Gary Herbert is crying (again) about our federal government. Does he have a clue what he’s talking about? Consider this from Article I of the Utah State Constitution: “The State of Utah is an inseparable part of the Federal Union and the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land.”

How is it that extreme Utah partisans believe such a radically different interpretation of our founding Constitution? Herbert seems (more…)

Transcript of Elder Dallin H. Oaks’ Speech Given at Chapman University School of Law

04 February 2011 — Salt Lake City

Transcript of Elder Dallin H. Oaks speech given at Chapman University School of Law on 4 February 2011.

Preserving Religious Freedom

I am here to speak of the state of religious freedom in the United States, why it seems to be diminishing, and what can be done about it.

Although I will refer briefly to some implications of the Proposition 8 controversy and its constitutional arguments, I am not here to participate in the debate on the desirability or effects of same-sex marriage. I am here to contend for religious freedom. I am here to describe fundamental principles that I hope will be meaningful for decades to come.

I believe you will find no unique Mormon doctrine in what I say. My sources are law and secular history. I will quote the words of Catholic, Evangelical Christian, and Jewish leaders, among others. I am convinced that on this issue what all believers have in common is far more important than their differences. We must unite to strengthen our freedom to teach and exercise what we have in common, as well as our very real differences in religious doctrine.

We haven’t had a chance to carefully and thoughtfully review this speech by Elder Oaks and we will reserve comment until then. This is the transcript as made available by The Deseret News.

I begin with a truth that is increasingly challenged: Religious teachings and religious organizations are valuable (more…)

By Kirsten Stewart

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published: February 4, 2011 08:08AM

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff handed legislative leaders two checks totaling $3.5 million on Thursday — money recouped through a legal settlement with prescription drug makers alleged to have overcharged Medicaid.

Congratulations for this diligent work. It takes time and effort to sort through all the requirements to build a case, which is way so many drug companies get away with it. Utah has collected an average of $9 million per year for the past five years.

However, once again there are no criminal charges for corporate executives. There is a different standard of justice for corporate executives and large companies. Attorney General Shurtleff thinks this ‘will teach them a lesson,’ but he knows and they know that the stockholders will pay the loss on the corporate gamble that they wouldn’t get caught. The corporate executives haven’t learned anything and won’t until their own hands get slapped.

Also, this is another example of the need for government. The corporately owned, anti-regulation legislatures at both the state and federal levels want to gut the staffs of all regulatory bodies and would prefer outright elimination of many.

Courtesy of Mylan Inc., Shering Corp. and Warrick Pharmaceutical Corp., the cash infusion comes as small, but welcome, relief to lawmakers who are looking to trim 7 percent from the state’s $11 billion budget. A good chunk of that spending, about $1.8 billion, is on Medicaid, with $155 million going for drugs.

But Shurtleff hopes it serves as a warning and “bitter pill” to drug (more…)

Justice courts rake in the money; critics say some courts just interested in collecting fines

By Lori Prichard and Kelly Just

KSL 5 News

Published: Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 10:18 p.m. MST

SALT LAKE CITY — It was a shocking experience for Dena Long-Christensen, sitting in a cell in the Salt Lake County Jail for nearly two weeks among people charged with serious crimes.

Her cellmate, for example, was spending time on charges of aggravated assault. Long-Christensen’s crime? Selling flower baskets from her home.

“Instead of being further in shock, it was like, there’s something wrong with our country,” said the West Jordan woman.

Congratulations to the Deseret News on a well researched effort to inform the public about a chronic sore in the system. We usually have to rely on The Tribune for journalistic efforts that take time and talent to research and write, and so a special kudo to the Deseret News. It looks like the effort to combine news reports with KSL-TV has worked in this instance as the credit for the story is by-lined by KSL reporters. Since we seldom watch KSL it was good to get this report in the newspaper. It was also interesting to note the name of one of the reporters, ironically named Just.

Long-Christensen, 44, was sent to jail by a justice of West Jordan’s Municipal Court after a dispute over whether she had the proper permits under zoning law to operate her small nursery business out of her home.

A four-month investigation by KSL-TV discovered Long-Christensen’s case is but one of several examples of questionable activities (more…)

By Lindsay Whitehurst

The Salt Lake Tribune

First published Jan 30 2011 04:23PM

A Canadian judge is now considering a landmark challenge to his country’s ban on polygamy as unconstitutional — a case being closely watched in Utah.

First, welcome to the Tribune Lindsay Whitehurst. This is the first story we’ve posted with her byline, and it is a big story. We will be following with keen interest.

Polygamy has been a legal question that has bothered Mormons since before statehood. For several generations many Mormons have been dismayed that they were forced to abandon polygamy by the government. To them, it was clearly an infringement of religious freedom and the argument isn’t without merit.

Testimony ended last week in the proceeding, sparked by the Canadian branch of a polygamous sect based in Utah. Since late November, British Columbia Chief Justice Robert Bauman has heard from nearly 20 witnesses — some of them Utahns — and taken many more affidavits and video testimonies about plural marriage.

The justice is expected to issue a ruling later this year on whether an anti-polygamy law dating to 1892 violates Canada’s guarantee of freedom of religion. The Utah Attorney General’s Office will be watching that ruling, said spokesman Paul Murphy.

“I think it will inform us,” he said. “Canada is tackling the same issues we have, in that we have this law but for the most part it hasn’t been enforced by any law enforcement agency.”

Utah’s bigamy law makes it a felony to marry or co-habitate with more than one husband or wife, though Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has focused on investigating crimes within polygamous groups rather than the practice itself.

Polygamists have also been observing the “historic” proceedings, said Marlyne Hammon, a member of the action committee for the polygamous community of Centennial Park, located just south of the Utah state line in Arizona.

“If Canada were to drop that law, it would send quite an important (more…)

Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

Published: January 24, 2011 06:20AM

“In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country. … I do not know who has told you that we have it.”

— Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking at Columbia University, September 2007

Legislators in Utah don’t quite have their heads in the same sand as the Iranian president when it comes to homosexuality. Most would admit that gays, lesbians and transgender Utahns do exist. But many Republican members of the Legislature ignore reality in another way: They don’t admit that LGBT Utahns are the victims of discrimination or that they deserve protection from those who would deny them their rights.

Like Ahmadinejad, these legislators, whether they admit it or not, are leaning on their religious convictions as justification for failing to extend government protections to these Utahns in the same way that ethnic and racial minorities, both genders, the elderly and religious groups are protected.

That kind of hurtful bias has got to end.

For the past two legislative sessions, Republicans have refused to seriously consider statewide laws banning discrimination in housing and employment. Fortunately, 10 city and county councils and several school boards have stepped up to do just that in the absence of a legislative conscience. A Salt Lake Tribune poll shows two-thirds of Utahns support a state-wide anti-discrimination law, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endorsed the law passed by the Salt Lake City Council in 2009.

Despite the fact that ten city and county councils have passed this ordinance already, (in many cases by unanimous votes of the councils) and despite the fact that 66% of all Utahns are in favor, and despite the blessing of the LDS Church, the fact remains that Utah’s legislature is not a microcosm of Utah’s cities and towns, or even (more…)

By Rosemary Winters

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published: January 24, 2011 01:01AM

The labor was surprisingly fast and calm for twins. Kelley Beeny watched in awe as her partner of a dozen years gave birth to two boys: Ben and Sam, weighing about 3 and 5 pounds respectively.

“It’s unbelievable how you can love these little things so much,” Beeny recalls. “Falling in love with somebody is totally different from falling in love with your children. … It changes who you are.”

Her partner, Kaye Christensen, adopted Beeny’s surname soon after the boys’ birth. The twins, who were conceived with the help of a sperm donor, also share the name.

“They’re the Beeny babies,” Kelley quips.

Three-and-a-half years later, Kelley stays at home with the twins in Tooele while Kaye, 40, commutes to work in Salt Lake City. Kelley, 48, is the family’s “domestic goddess,” folding laundry, fixing meals and tidying the house. She listens to Ben spout his knowledge of train mechanics and sing Thomas the Tank Engine songs. She admires Sam’s latest finger paintings.

Both boys call Kelley “Mommy.”

But to the state of Utah, she is not their legal parent.

“It’s infuriating,” Kelley says. “I love my children just as much as anybody else. It’s no different just because we’re gay.”

Utah is one of two states with statutes that block same-sex couples from adopting children. (The other is Mississippi.)

Salt Lake City Democrats Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck and Sen. Ross Romero hope to offer a remedy to families like the Beenys during the 2011 session of the Legislature, which begins Monday.

In 2000, Utah adopted a law that prohibits individuals who are living in unmarried, sexual relationships — whether gay or straight — from adopting or fostering children. Gay men and lesbians who live alone may adopt.

After pushing to change the policy in the previous three sessions without ever getting to a floor vote, Chavez-Houck has narrowed her scope to protecting families like the Beenys.

We wouldn’t have to be making these kinds of fairness proposals if we would just make same-sex marriage legal.

This is a worthy effort by legislators Chavez-Houck and Romero, but it will be seen as a ‘foot in the door’ or a ‘nose under the tent.’ The fairness of it is obvious, but that doesn’t matter to most of the Utah legislators. If fairness mattered same-sex marriage would be permitted.

Introducing the bill also helps (more…)

By Stephen Hunt

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published: January 11, 2011 11:10AM

(This article was accompanied by a photo captioned as follows: Mark W. Hofmann, left, and LDS Church leaders N. Eldon Tanner, Spencer W. Kimball, Marion G. Romney, Boyd K. Packer and Gordon B. Hinckley examine the Anthon transcript April 22, 1980. They were looking through a magnifying glass, not the Urim and Thummin.)

Mark Hofmann says a childhood delight in fooling others with card tricks and magic eventually led him to become a master forger and the killer of two people.

“As far back as I can remember I have liked to impress people through my deceptions,” Hofmann wrote in a January 1988 letter to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole. “Fooling people gave me a sense of power and superiority. I believe this is what led to my forging activities.”

Hofmann’s four-page handwritten letter — obtained Monday by The Salt Lake Tribune following a December ruling from the state Records Committee — gives new insight into the Salt Lake City man’s motive for killing two people with separate pipe bombs in October 1985. Rather than face exposure as a forger, Hofmann claims he preferred to commit murder and even attempted suicide with a third bomb.

Hofmann fabricated a number of early Mormon documents designed to embarrass The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and hoped the church would pay large sums to keep them private. His infamous Salamander Letter, purportedly written by an early church convert, described LDS founder Joseph Smith conversing with a spirit that first appeared as an amphibian.

Salt Lake County investigators believe Hofmann made $800,000 in cash and $200,000 in trade for his forgeries but by the fall of 1985 had incurred half-a-million dollars in debt. He was also under financial pressure to produce a collection of letters purportedly written by a 19th-century church apostle-turned-critic.

Hofmann needed months to forge the documents, but Steven Christensen, a Mormon bishop and document collector, threatened to expose him as a fraud unless he delivered the collection by Oct. 15.

The ultimatum led Hofmann to take what he called “drastic measures” to divert attention from himself.

“The most important thing in my mind was to keep from being exposed as a fraud in front of my friends and family,” Hofmann wrote. “When I say this was the most important thing I mean it literally. I felt I would rather take human life or even my own life rather than to be exposed.”

On Oct. 15, 1985, Hofmann delivered a nail-filled pipe bomb to Christensen’s office. Another bomb delivered to the home of Christensen’s former business associate, Gary Sheets, killed his wife, Kathleen Sheets. The next day, Hofmann, then 30, became a suspect when he was seriously injured by a third bomb that exploded in his car.

In January 1987, Hofmann pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder. Hofmann avoided the death penalty by agreeing to give interviews to prosecutors that dealt mostly with his forgery techniques and his knowledge of Mormon history.

At his parole hearing a year later, Hofmann expressed no remorse for his victims and said that “toying” with people’s religious beliefs was “experimentation … to see why they believe what they do.” Parole board members ordered him to spend the rest of his life in prison, without the possibility of parole. Hofmann, 56, remains housed at the Utah State Prison in Draper.

Hofmann’s 1988 letter to the parole board — which has not previously been made public — begins with the line, “These are some of my thoughts concerning my crimes and how I became what I am.”

He writes that deceiving people with card tricks evolved into creating forgeries after he began collecting coins at the age of 12.

“I figured out some crude ways to fool other collectors by altering coins to make them appear more desirable,” Hofmann wrote. “By the time I was 14, I had developed a forgery technique which I felt was undetectable. I exuded (sic) in impressing other collectors and dealers with my rare coins.”

“Money was not the object,” insisted Hofmann, who said he never sold a forgery until he was 24. By then, his interest had shifted from U.S. coins to Mormon money, which he created with the help of old ink recipes.

Hofmann wrote that a year later, at the age of 25, he “decided to forge for a living,” and that forgery became “almost my exclusive source of income from 1980 to October 1985.”

Under the heading “The homicides,” Hofmann begins by saying, “My motives and feelings which led to the murders are hard for even me to understand, much less explain.”

He writes that during what he called his “life of crime,” he had “learned to live with the inherent stress, guilt and fears through rationalization and hypnosis.”

But in October 1985, “it seemed like everything started to collapse around me,” Hofmann wrote. “I could not come up with the money to pay off investors to keep from being exposed as a fraud.”

Hofmann wrote that he bought components for the bombs a week or two before committing the murders.

“At the time I was not even sure who the victim(s) would be, only that drastic measures were called for,” he wrote. “My original intention was suicide with another killing or killings as a diversion.”

Hofmann wrote he employed “many forms of rationalization” to justify the impending killings.

“For example, for the first time in my life I took an interest in the obituaries,” he wrote. “I believe I was trying to convince myself of the worthlessness of life and of life’s unfairness. I told myself that my survival and that of my family was the most important thing.”

Hofmann also told himself that his intended victims might die that day in a car accident or from a heart attack, and he thought about “the Nazi Holocaust, the earthquake in Mexico and other disasters.”

The night before he killed Christensen and Sheets, Hofmann wrote that he went to his children’s bedrooms, kissed them while they slept and told himself “that my plot was for their best good.”

The same night, Hofmann said, he “chickened out” regarding his own suicide but decided who his victims would be and constructed two bombs.

“The Steve Christensen bomb was to take the pressure off of two fraud schemes I had involved him in,” Hofmann wrote. “The Gary Sheets bomb was a pure diversion. I spent the rest of the day driving around town in a daze.”

Watching the news that night, Hofmann learned he had been seen delivering the bomb to Christensen. The witness also noticed Hofmann’s distinctive letter jacket and helped police produce a sketch of the killer’s face.

Hofmann responded by taking his family to spend the night at his parents’ home. He told them it was for their safety since his business associate had been killed.

“But actually it was because I knew from the news reports that I had become a suspect and anticipated the police knocking on the door at any minute,” Hofmann wrote.

Early the next morning, Hofmann said, he drove to Logan and purchased parts for yet a third bomb — this one for himself.

“I had decided the night before after seeing the news that ‘the jig was up’ and that the only way to keep my family from the certain knowledge of my guilt (this time not only for fraud but murder) would be to kill myself,” he wrote.

Hofmann signed his letter to the parole board with his name, followed by his prison identification number, #18186.

shunt@sltrib.com

Why was the letter made public now?

Choosing not to appeal a December ruling by the State Records Committee, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole on Monday released a letter written 22 years ago by convicted bomber Mark Hofmann.

Hofmann submitted the letter to the board after his conviction with a notarized statement that he did not want the letter given to the news media. The Salt Lake Tribune asked the parole board for the letter, saying the letter is a public document regardless of Hofmann’s wishes.

The parole board objected, claiming that releasing the letter would violate Hofmann’s privacy and chill communication with the board in all of its cases. The board also claimed releasing the letter could pose a prison security risk, as Hofmann remains an inmate.

The State Records Committee read the letter in closed session and found “nothing that would jeopardize [a person’s] life, interfere with parole, and it’s not an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” said member Scott Daniels.

(Eric Johnson’s op-ed piece that appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune generated another op-ed piece by Professor Clark from the University of Utah. It appears elsewhere on this blog. They both appear under the Science/Religion category))

A Reason for the Season (referring to Christmas)

By Eric R. Johnson

Updated: January 6, 2011 12:55PM
(Eric R. Johnson lives in Sandy and has taught high school and college classes in English and journalism for 18 years.)

In a Dec. 29 column titled “What if I just can’t believe the ‘Christmas story’?,” Robert Hammer claims that he is “99.9 repetend percent convinced that [God] does not exist.” While I won’t take any particular side with the Mormons, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims or any other religious group that acknowledges a Supreme Being, just because it is impossible to empirically prove God’s existence does not mean faith in a Higher Being is a losing proposition.

As Norman Geisler and Frank Turek write in their aptly-titled I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist: “It’s virtually impossible to know everything about a particular topic, and it’s certainly impossible when that topic is an infinite God. So there has to come a point where you realize you have enough information to come to a conclusion, even if unanswered questions remain.”

I believe there are good reasons why God’s existence makes more sense than no God at all. For one, Hammer admits that he might be wrong, “but I strongly doubt that, too.” By not being so skeptical of his own skepticism, perhaps this mindset deceives him.

He also complains that if he’s wrong he will confidently question God in the end with, “O Lord, why hast thou forsaken me?” Yet how did the Almighty forsake him? Psalm 19 proclaims, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” “General revelation” makes God’s existence abundantly clear.

Imagine if someone made a claim that a particular ballpoint pen had no designer. Do the insides of the pen — including the spring, the reservoir, and the clicker — just magically appear in exact order to form a functional instrument?

Obviously, somebody designed each intricate piece. In the same way, the universe’s cosmological design screams for a Designer.

Another reason for the existence of God is time. Those who claim that time is infinite must consider the “Kalam Cosmological argument,” a complex tool constructed by Muslim philosophers in the Middle Ages. How, they asked, could we ever have arrived at “today” if time consists of an infinite past?

If the universe did begin 12 billion years ago from nothing, then how did “something” (the first cell) get created if “out of nothing, nothing comes”? And the idea that things progress rather than digress when left in their natural state defeats the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

I believe the very existence of moral values is one more dilemma for nontheists. After all, from where do morals come?

Do they emanate from Mother Nature (the conscience)? What right does something lesser than I have to bind me absolutely?

Some would argue that others can determine morals through governmental laws, but is society always right? I think not, especially in light of Nazi Germany, the slavery and “back-of-the-bus” South, and Kim Jong-il’s North Korea. Maybe I can determine morals. But what if my name is Jeffrey Dahmer or Brian David Mitchell? If moral relativism is correct, then who really has the right to tell these men that they were immoral? Only something above us — a Moral Lawgiver — can determine right from wrong.

Notice that I’m not arguing for a particular God or saying that all theists (representing any number of religions) necessarily know or practice what is moral. I’m merely stating that there must be some set of objective moral laws that exist.

Finally, while Hammer says he has tried but apparently never experienced the Almighty, I have. By itself, I agree that this is not a good reason for him or anyone else to become a believer. Yet this very fact, which is real to me, is just as strong as Hammer’s perspective that God doesn’t exist because he never experienced Him. One of us is wrong. The consequences could be immense.

Skeptics need to refrain from throwing the baby out with the bath water. You may not have had a good experience with your church, with others who called themselves theistic believers, or with major tragedies that have occurred in your life. Yet God’s existence doesn’t hinge on your knowledge or experience.

You do not “lack capacity for this kind of faith.” It’s atheism that requires so much more faith. Therefore, go where the evidence leads.

Eric R. Johnson lives in Sandy and has taught high school and college classes in English and journalism for 18 years.

Science and the empirical evidence against a divine being

By Gregory A. Clark

Published: January 8, 2011 01:01AM
(Gregory A. Clark is an associate professor in bioengineering at the University of Utah. He has been teaching and conducting empirical scientific research for over 30 years.)

It is curious but telling that theists who so stoutly proclaim evidence for the existence of an Almighty God then fail to provide any. Of course, this depends on the definition of the word “evidence,” as it does on the definition of “God.”

Eric R. Johnson (“A reason for the season,” Opinion, Dec. 31) and Brian David Mitchell are among those who claim that they have personally experienced the Almighty.

We initially failed to post the opinion piece by Eric Johnson, but since we are posting this eloquent response by Dr. Clark we felt we should also post the opinion piece by Eric Johnson.

Of course, Brian David Mitchell’s testimony of the existence of God is a matter of public record. For those who don’t make the connection he is the visionary who kidnapped a 14-year old girl and married her on instructions from ‘God.’

Their statements could be entered as “evidence” in a court of law. But such claims do not constitute “evidence” for God in the objective, scientific meaning of the word.

As soon as considerations move from God as a metaphor into real-world specifics, scientific evidence becomes directly relevant. In reality, compelling empirical evidence indicates that the interventionist God of “Mormons, Catholics, Protestants, [and] Jews” (among others) does not exist — at least if the Bible is the literal word of God, as one-third of Americans believe.

Scientifically, the Bible is wrong from the very first sentence, and goes downhill from there. The earth was not formed “in the beginning” of the universe; fruit trees did not grow on earth before the sun and stars; birds and sea mammals did not precede land insects and reptiles.

The empirical evidence indicates a fundamentally different order. Likewise, there is no physical evidence that Yahweh (or Zeus, or Thor) hurls lightning bolts from the sky, causes rain via divine intervention, or stops the sun (more…)

By JUDY FAHYS

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published: January 3, 2011 03:45PM

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that Gasco Energy, Inc., will pay a $350,000 penalty and institute new air-pollution controls at its Uinta Basin facilities for multiple violations of the Clean Air Act.

Gasco, the former operator of the Riverbend Compressor Station on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation near Vernal, will cut air pollution at its Uinta Basin operations by more than 550 tons per year, the EPA said.

The Denver-based company did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Meanwhile, EPA applauded the consent decree lodged by the U.S. Justice Department in Salt Lake City last week.

“Under this agreement, Gasco and its successors will make significant investments to reduce emissions from facilities throughout the Uinta Basin,” said Jim Martin, EPA’s regional administrator in Denver. “EPA will continue to work with partners, including oil and gas operators, to protect air quality resources for the benefit of those who live in the basin.”

Hooray! It looks like the EPA is back in business. It would be interesting to know how many fines and the amounts were imposed during the eight years of the anti-regulation Bush Administration as compared to the Obama Administration.

Another point of interest that is seldom followed up on in the news—-how many companies actually pay the fines and how many fines are significantly reduced and what was the relationship between fines and political (more…)

By D.P. Sorensen

Note from the author: When news of the pending City Weekly sale reached my desk, I realized this might be my last chance to write for the paper. Thus, this is my report on the City Weekly sale. For all I know, I’ve got it exactly right.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints yesterday revealed that it has acquired City Weekly, the popular alternative publication seen by many as a Mormonbashing, gay-loving and tattoo-promoting tabloid. President Thomas S. Monson told a stunned audience in the ornate lobby of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building that he was excited to bring City Weekly into the fold, and urged the faithful to hurry out and pick up the latest issue.

The beloved Prophet, known for his humorous stories about widows in distress, then launched into a heartwarming tale about an elect lady in his local ward who was an avid reader of City Weekly. Eventually, Brother Monson introduced John Saltas, the bon vivant from Bingham who started the tabloid on a shoestring and turned it into a media powerhouse, earning a fortune that has allowed him to spend months at a time cruising the Aegean Sea in a yacht that once belonged to Aristotle Onassis. (Standing to the side, nervously tapping one foot, was City Weekly publisher Jim Rizzi.)

Originally known as Private Eye, the publication began in 1984 as a promotional vehicle for local private drinking clubs. Mormon church officials are keeping mum about whether they plan to change the tabloid’s name (though there is a rumor it may be called the Mormon Expositor) or keep the City Weekly brand, which has proven to be a gold mine.

After an awkward bear hug, Prophet Monson and Mr. Saltas shook hands and smiled broadly for cameras, posing for what seemed like an eternity. Mr. Saltas at one point appeared to be wincing in pain, leading to speculation that he was having second thoughts about selling the paper he had nurtured so lovingly over the past 25 years. It was later learned, however, that Mr. Saltas was rushed to the emergency room to be treated for a broken hand, the result of the Prophet’s surprisingly vigorous application of the grip patriarchal.

Also present at the ceremony were several General Authorities, among them Elder Boyd K. Packer, heir apparent to the prophetic throne; Elder Dallin H. Oaks, the bullet-headed enforcer of doctrinal purity (he is often mistaken for the cowboy singing star Dallen Oats); Elder H. David Burton, the presiding bishop who gained fame for dangling former Mayor Sparky Anderson out of a window on the 23rd floor of the Church Office Building; and Elder Mark “Bud” Willes, recently named top banana of Deseret Management. A dead-ringer for his late uncle, the Prophet, Seer and Revelator Gordon B. Hinckley— who preceded Prophet, Seer, Revelator Monson—Elder Willes’ entrance elicited startled gasps from many in the crowd who could be forgiven for thinking the late prophet had risen from the dead.

Immediate response to the church’s purchase of City Weekly was mixed, with some expressing shock and others professing to have seen it coming for a long time. Among the latter was media icon Rod Decker, who observed, “Not a surprise. You got the church. You got a pain-in-the-ass paper. The church used to be dumb. Look what happened with the Nauvoo Expositor. Now they’re smart. No smashing of the press this time. Instead, gonna get a buy-out.”

Mr. Decker was apparently referring to the 1844 destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor’s printing press on the orders of Joseph Smith. The Prophet got wind that renegade apostle William Law was printing an expose of plural marriage and had his henchmen render the press inoperable. This led, of course, to the arrest and subsequent murder of the prophet by a Carthage mob.

Brigham Young was no doubt sorely tempted to smash the presses of the heretic Salt Lake Tribune, the organ of the apostate Godbeites, back in 1870, but ordered 23 of his wives to physically restrain him from destroying it, remembering the retaliation visited upon Brother Joseph. But had he acted to remove the newspaper, just as his hit man Orrin Porter Rockwell acted to remove pesky Mormon dissidents, the Church would have enjoyed a century, at least, of freedom from cheap shots and unrighteous criticism. Once a thorn in the side for the Church, the Tribune for a long time has been a faithful and adored family pet, curled up and snoozing in the ample lap of the Church.

City Mormon Times
So, what will the Church do with City Weekly? Extract its teeth? Let it slink away to a slow death in a dim and dusty corner? Put it down with a quick and humane blow to the cranium?

Since the spatulate thumbprints of Elder Mark “Bud” Willes are all over the church’s acquisition of our pesky paper, it seemed only fair to give him an opportunity to anatomize the purchase. The affable and avuncular dynamo invited the entire staff of City Weekly to his palatial penthouse apartment at the Eaglegate. After personally passing around a tray of microwaved taquitos, Elder Willes eased his substantial body into a La-Z-Boy recliner next to a huge picture window overlooking the Salt Lake Temple.

“I don’t like to stand on ceremony,” said the Elder Willes. “Please call me Brother Bud.”

“Hello, Brother Bud,” we all said in spontaneous unison.

“Well, let me tell you just a bit about myself. I’ve been called a hatchet man because of my fondness for cutting costs. They called me the Cereal Killer when I ran General Foods, and General Jack Ripper when I ran the Los Angeles Times into the ground. As I said, I’d like you to call me Brother Bud, but I don’t care what you call me, just as long as you don’t call me late for dinner.”

Following the explosion of laughter, Brother Bud resumed his exposition. “But let me reassure you about the church’s plan for your salvation. You have a great operation here. I’ve looked at your bottom line, and everyone in the presiding bishop’s office is happy that you will be putting money into our purse, as opposed to having our pockets picked by that money pit called the Mormon Times. Some of the boys in the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve are not as sanguine; in fact, Brother Packer and Brother Oats damned near blew a gasket when I said I wanted to buy you guys. To them, you are Satan’s spawn.

“But then I made a pitch about how you fit into our values-based growth strategy, especially our new mission statement at Celestial Media, you know, blah blah trusted voices blah blah light the fire within blah blah light and knowledge blah blah to knuckleheads around the world. Brother Packer made an impassioned speech about the need to be faith-promoting and uplifting. Know what I said? I said, Brother Packer, you want uplift? Get a good brassiere.”

Staffers at City Weekly began feeling a little better about the buy-out, but still had questions about what changes might be in the works.

“Well, the first big headline is that Brother John Saltas has just accepted a call to head up our mission in Greece. He will have his hands full supervising the construction of our new temple in the heart of Athens, which will begin just as soon as our crews finish demolishing the Parthenon. Brother Jim Rizzi has been called to serve as personal trainer for current Deseret Book CEO and new City Weekly etiquette editor, the vivacious—vroom, vroom!—Sister Sheri Dew.

“Finally, I’m pleased to announce that Brother D.P. Sorensen, who has served us well on the Strengthening Church Members Committee in the Ministry of Truth, will continue to write his faith-promoting Deep End column.”

Oh, Glory Days
Brother Bud leaned back in his La-Z-Boy, put his meaty hands behind his head, and gazed beneficently at the eager faces before him.

“As for the rest of you, well, you, like the dead people up there in the Celestial Kingdom holding cell, will have a chance to accept the Gospel and retain your positions. And please, please, help yourself to some more of those tasty taquitos. Paula, are you here? Yes, there she is. May I call you Sister Saltas? The Apostles wanted me to extend their appreciation for those yummy souvlaki things you’ve been sending over to the temple.”

Brother Bud hinted that Bill Frost’s popular Ocho feature would be expanded and renamed the Doce, and that the edgy Ask a Mexican column would become an even-edgier Ask a Lamanite. As for who would replace Brother Saltas’ Private Eye column, Brother Bud said he was confidant he would be able to persuade Prophet Monson to give up his breezy sports column in the Trib and favor City Weekly readers instead with occasional reminiscence of widows he has visited in their time of need.

“We’ve succeeded, I’m happy to say, in twisting the arm of Brother Josh Loftin to continue presenting his weekly Hits and Misses, though that feature will henceforth be known as Exaltations and Excommunications. And your food guy, Ted Scheffler, who I see has been hogging all the taquitos, has been prevailed upon to do a column that will be called 101 Ways to Cook Funeral Potatoes.”

Already in development, according to Brother Bud, was a new feature that would call on the vast resources of the genealogy department. Various names have been kicked around, the leading contender at the moment being, Who’s Your Great-Great-Granddaddy?

“Finally, brothers and sisters, I want to say a word about the City Weekly feature that is hands-down the favorite among the Brethren. Every Thursday before their weekly convocation in the sanctum sanctorum they pick up the latest copy and turn immediately to Nice Tats. If I have my way, we’ll be turning that into a two-page, full-color spread.”

The room erupted in joy, and staffers rushed to envelop and give love to Brother Bud. Editor Jerre Wroble, music editor Dan Nailen and Apostle-at-Large Bill Frost, in a rush of adrenaline, hoisted the City Weekly Savior high upon their shoulders and were able to carry him three or four steps before dropping him on to the plush carpet.

Breathing hard, but face aglow, Presiding Writer Stephen Dark, who has re-baptized as Stephen Light, waved a taquito high above his head. “God bless the Cereal Killer,” he said. “And God bless us, every one.”

D.P. Sorensen is a former satirist for City Weekly.

Medicaid review stirs up backlash

By Kirsten Stewart

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: January 1, 2011 12:18AM

A legislative probe that found evidence of waste and abuse in Medicaid may sharpen the resolve of lawmakers who have vowed to take a scalpel to the low-income health program’s budget.

But the chief problem uncovered by auditors — clinics overcharging for their services — isn’t limited to Utah. “Upcoding” is one of the most common types of health care fraud, but the amount of money that can be recovered from any single provider is small, says an attorney who helps states pursue fraud claims in court.

And it’s difficult to prove, which is why states tend to focus more on investigating fraud with potential for bigger payback, said Tim McCormack, a lawyer at Phillips & Cohen in San Francisco.

There needs to be full time government auditors watching this program like a hawk all year long. An occasional audit will not (more…)

(Published in the Salt Lake Tribune Public Forum on December 29, 2010 01:01AM) (Also appeared in the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Dec. 21, 2010)

Congratulations to Rep. Jim Matheson and the 111th Congress, which just voted to lower the standards of our military (80 percent favorable rating) to that of Congress (13 percent favorable). It’s no coincidence that most of the politicians voting never served in combat. Congress’ vote legitimized sodomy as normal and acceptable, elevating and celebrating it!

When at the crossroads, this “District of Criminals” (as some of us in the Pentagon called Congress) took the wrong fork. Working backward from preconceived conclusions, and unmoved by reason, evidence, timeless standards and history, they pandered for votes. Now the military is forced to reflect their shameful, upside-down, politically correct values.

Pentagon reports repeatedly voice concern that allowing gays to serve openly would lead to widespread and overt displays of effeminacy and disruptive, unhealthy conduct. As a combat officer with 30 years of experience, I know that commingling of out-of-the-closet gays and straights is a disaster in the making.

The only moral and practical solution to the impeached former President Bill Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is to reinstate the total ban on gays in the military.

This Congress is unwanted, unclean and a disaster! Have they no shame?

Retired Col. Gary R. Stephens

Layton

There is one thing to his credit. He signed his name. He thought ‘Retired Colonel’ would give him some credibility on the issue and a reason to express his strongly held view. What he didn’t say was that he is also a ‘ recently retired LDS Mission President.’

Since its very difficult to discern a grain of charity or kindness in his letter the church leaders are probably pleased that he used ‘Retired Colonel’ instead of ‘former mission president.’ His letter was certainly absent any portion of the Spirit of the Lord.

In fact, in all liklihood the brethern are squirming (more…)

By LESLEY MITCHELL

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published: December 9, 2010 09:38PM

Utah has offered online retailer Overstock.com an incentive worth as much as $1.1 million to expand its software-engineering department in Provo. That means 150 new workers would be added over the next 10 years.

The company immediately accepted the incentive offer, approved Thursday by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development board.

This $1.1M welfare gift to Overstock.com is a thing of beauty. All parties involved hate big government and especially government handouts. Welfare for the poor—absolutely not! Welfare for Corporate America—-well, that isn’t welfare.

The money is payable over 10 years as a tax credit and is contingent upon the addition of as many as 150 full-time workers earning an average of more than $51,000 annually.

As part of the expansion, Overstock.com said it will open (more…)

Hatch skips DREAM Act vote he calls “cynical exercise”

Published: Monday, Dec. 20, 2010 6:40 p.m. MST

SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Orrin Hatch said he skipped a vote on the failed DREAM Act over the weekend because it was a “cynical exercise in political charades” by the Senate’s Democratic leadership.

The act, intended to help undocumented youths earn citizenship by attending college or serving in the military, failed 55-41 on Saturday with the support of just three Republicans, including Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.

In today’s Senate where Republicans are filibustering everything, the 55 vote majority is not enough for the bill to pass the 60 vote requirement.

Bennett was one of three Republicans (more…)

Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

Published: December 19, 2010 11:40PM

Rule No. 1: Don’t start a land war in Asia. Rule No. 2: Don’t ever dare auditors to find something wrong.

Utah Department of Health brass violated Rule No. 2 when legislative auditors in 2009 found holes in the department’s ability to detect and stop fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid. Medicaid is a program funded by both the federal and state governments to provide health care to the poor.

Dr. David Sundwall, head of the Utah Health Department, told auditors in 2009 that doctors in Utah had higher ethical standards than those elsewhere and that he did not believe that Medicaid fraud was nearly the problem here that legislative auditors suspected it was.

Lo and behold, the auditors are back with another report. Guess what they found? (more…)