The surge in criminal filings in Salt Lake County might seem suspicious -- especially when considering that District Attorney Lohra Miller repeatedly has pushed for more prosecutors and a bigger budget.

Daniel Medwed, a criminal-law professor at the University of Utah, questioned whether the Republican D.A. had skewed the stats by lowering screening standards and pursuing more cases.

But the second-year D.A. diffused those political explanations with in-house data showing that the office has prosecuted the same percentage of cases the past three years.

Miller's office also supplied this internal e-mail from a top staffer in the criminal division that appears to bolster the D.A.'s defense.

"I have had some cases come to my attention that cause me to wonder whether we are becoming a little too conservative on our approach to prosecutions," the staffer wrote to the prosecutors. "Please do not take this as an accusation. I do not mean to reprimand or to offend but I wanted to discuss with you some points that I hope will help you with your evaluation of your cases."

Even without an aggressive strategy, criminal filings have jumped 13 percent since July 2007.

-- Jeremiah Stettler

West Bountiful has run into money troubles.

A tax mishap came, and now the southern Davis County city owes the Holly Oil refinery about $646,000. Now city leaders want to slim their budget from last year's $4.2 million to $3.5 million.

To help the city cut costs and better manage its money, officials recently hired Craig Howe as a deputy city administrator/finance director.

As Howe scoured each line item for possible trims, one new addition jumped out: his $81,750 salary.

"I almost felt guilty when I saw my impact on the budget," he told the City Council.

Not enough to scrap his job, though.

-- Maria Villasenor

Sen. Orrin Hatch took to the Senate floor on Saturday ticked off at
what he calls an anti-oil extremists who have declared war on the
poor. His topic was a moratorium forbidding the government from
finalizing regulations on oil shale extraction – a ban Hatch says is
hurting poor Americans (even though the oil shale industry has
acknowledged commercial production is probably a decade away).
Hatch specifically targeted Rep. Mark Udall, a Colorado Dem who
pushed the moratorium, and then Hatch went after the ski resort town
of Aspen, which he said Udall represents.
"I guess there are not too many poor in Aspen," Hatch said on the
floor. "I love Aspen and the people there, but it's no secret that it
is home to plenty of wealthy elites and environmentalists. I have no
problem with Representative Udall choosing the elite anti-oil crowd
over the poor. But let's be honest about the choices we're making
around here."
Hatch went on, "Ironically, the local governments in Colorado's oil
shale areas support oil shale development. But it is the wealthy
environmentally minded citizens like the good people of the not so
nearby Aspen who are opposing it."
But, as the Aspen Daily News Online points out, Udall actually
doesn't represent Aspen. That's in another congressman's district.
Then again, the anti-oil extremists and liberal scions of the City
of Northglenn just doesn't really have the same ring, so maybe we
should give Hatch a pass.
— Thomas Burr

Rep. Steve Urquhart has a noteworthy posting on his blog about transparency in the Legislature.

He points to the institution's wonderful website -- and it really is terrific -- with a wealth of information. It contains everything from the full text of bills to audio of floor and committee speeches to voting records. All easily searchable.

Urquhart's point is that transparency makes for better government because it opens up the process to the governed. He leaves out any mention of the deliberation and decision-making that takes place out of public earshot or cyber-viewing. But still he raises a very legitimate link between transparency and good government.

I also give Urquhart credit for honesty. He quickly admits a large hole in the website that existed until relatively recently.

"When I entered the Legislature 8 years ago, information was hidden from voters," Urquhart said. "Though the Legislature had an advanced website, the decision was purposely made to not make legislators' votes readily accessible on the site. Why not? With straight faces, legislative leaders would say, because such information, taken out of context, could confuse voters."

I remember it well. And the arguments were even more ludicrous than he suggests. Some members claimed the release of such information on the Internet could be downright dangerous.

"Sometimes too much information can be as damaging as not enough information," then-House Majority Whip David Ure said in 2001.

The Legislature's top senator was right there with him.

"I can see all kinds of problems coming out of that," then-Senate President Al Mansell said.

Democrats pushed hard for the initiative though. And when Republicans saw that it was inevitable, they took it over as their own and made it happen.

Now it's hard to imagine that tracking a lawmaker's voting record would be any more difficult than a click of the mouse. And the good thing about technology -- it will never revert to the old way.

-- Dan Harrie

Was Sen. Orrin Hatch playing hopscotch last week, when he tripped on his shoestrings and arose with that wound on his head?

Is the bright red blotch evidence of a stumped senator suffering from writers block while thinking-up a new tune? Perhaps he was dancing and prancing before he plummeted to the ground?

Apparently, he was just walking.

Whatever he tripped on, Sen. Hatch was reported to be "recovering nicely" from a tumble last week that branded the 74-year-old senator with a nasty head wound.

The oval-shaped splotch that embellished the right third of his forehead hardly slowed Hatch, who wore it like a pro during his live interview with CNBC on Tuesday.

-- Lindsey Hough

When Sen. John McCain came to Utah in March, we reported that the presumptive presidential nominee had a private meeting with executives from EnergySolutions, the nuclear wastse and Utah Jazz arena folks.

What did they talk about? Was it about importing Italian waste? Was it about the future of the nuclear industry? What could it be?

Now it all makes sense. They were buying some advertising on the McCain campaign. Check out this image from McCain's campaign stop today in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Compare the words behind him to the corporate logo.

Clearly McCain is blazing new ground in the field of corporately endorsed campaigns, kind of like NASCAR.

Check local listings for Barack Obama's next appearance, sponsored by Winston Ultra Lights. Or the Levitra Straight Talk Express.

-- Robert Gehrke

Acting Assistant Labor Secretary Richard Stickler had just launched into his speech before a room of about 150 mining types, discussing the agency’s response to the Crandall Canyon mine collapse last year, when there was a distinct and growing din from the hallway.

Utah locals are familiar with the 140-decibel noise, recognizing it as Channel 2 reporter Rod Decker doing his live feed for the noon news.

Stickler, who ain't from these parts, was a little stunned, and stopped his speech until Decker was done.

"That gentleman speaks louder than I do," Stickler said.

That gentleman speaks louder than any of us do.

-- Robert Gehrke

Talk about getting off-message, the White House this weekend sent reporters (inadvertently, I'm assuming) a copy of a Reuters story detailing Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's 16-month timeline for withdrawing troops from Iraq.


In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.


"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."


It is the first time he has backed the withdrawal timetable put forward by Obama, who is visiting Afghanistan and [is] set to go to Iraq as part of a tour of Europe and the Middle East.


Later in the story:


The White House said on Friday President George W. Bush and Maliki had agreed that a security deal under negotiation should set a "time horizon" for meeting "aspirational goals" for reducing U.S. forces in Iraq.


Keep an eye out for the next White House releases: "10 ways McCain is just like us," and "Republicans are to blame for high gas prices, economic woes."


I suspect somewhere at 1600 Pennsylvania, someone is getting an earful.

-- Robert Gehrke

As far as political reversals go, this one was brilliant.

Utah's Hogle Zoo had counted its votes and felt confident Tuesday that the Salt Lake County Council would put a $65 million bond -- pegged for one of the largest renovations in park history -- on November's ballot.

The council's four Democrats hadn't wavered in their support. And GOP Councilman Marv Hendrickson, the key swing vote, told reporters three times that Hogle had his nod.

If only politics were that predictable.

One hour into Tuesday's Hogle Zoo debate, Democrats called an impromptu recess to resolve questions about whether the council should require the east-side animal park to raise private donations before receiving public funds.

When the backroom brokering ended and the council meeting resumed, Democrats thought they were running the show. Democratic Councilman Joe Hatch even confirmed the arrangement before the vote. Hendrickson nodded.

But Hendrickson had struck a secret deal with fellow Republicans that would pass, but possibly kill, the bond. Here's the play by play:

Hatch pitches his zoo-friendly proposal and sits back in his chair visibly victorious. Hendrickson, without a word of explanation, votes "no." Hatch's jaw drops.

Republicans counter with a motion to put Hogle Zoo's request on the ballot -- no flip-flop for Hendrickson there -- but say the animal park will have to come up with $20 million in private funds before tapping the public's pocketbook.

Hogle leaders grimace, file out of the meeting after the 5-4 vote and decline to comment when asked by reporters whether they still will pursue the bond.

It was political theater at its prime. And it continued as the council overwhelmingly approved Tracy Aviary's ballot initiative -- once considered a divided issue.

"It's amazing," Hatch remarked. "It's unanimous. But why am I so pissed?"

-- Jeremiah Stettler

Like parents meticulously picking out baby names, the West Valley City Council ploddingly pondered names for 11 light-rail and bus-rapid-transit stations in Utah's second largest city.

The Utah Transit Authority had asked the City Council only for its recommendations. (No names of individuals or businesses, please.)

But that didn't stop council members from debating dozens of suggestions. Should one stop be called Chesterfield Station? Or should the Redwood Road stop be a "crossing," "junction" or "connection?"

Ah, the wheels of government.

As the naming process dragged on -- 20 minutes had been allotted to the task and it had taken a half-hour to settle on half the names -- Mayor Dennis Nordfelt grew a tad perturbed.

"I named all nine of my children in less time than this," he said.

-- Maria Villasenor

Deseret News TV critic Scott D. Pierce is apparently making his move into politics coverage.

While at the Television Critics Association press tour in Hollywood, newly minted FOX News commentator Karl Rove spoke to the group. Pierce wrote this story focusing mainly on a critique of Mitt Romney's presidential bid.

But the most interesting part was in the story's "In other comments" section:

"Rove criticized presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) decision to stop wearing a flag lapel pin. . . ."

"I think it went one step too far to say that wearing a flag lapel pin was not true patriotism," Rove said. "For a lot of people, it is true patriotism. And that kind of judgmental comment, I thought was inappropriate. I don't suggest it's un-American, but it was questioning, inherently, the patriotism of people who said, 'You know what? I'm going to put a flag on my lapel or on my sleeve or on my uniform." '

He may have left the White House, but he's still fighting the good fight against the evil doers -- people who once wore flag lapel pins but have stopped and are now turning their judgmental questioning on the true patriots who do wear flags on their lapels and other places, including their sleeves.

-- Dan Harrie

Ethan Millard, of KSL's Nightside Project, had an interesting approach to debating ethics reform Monday.

Filling in for KSL morning drivetime talk show host Doug Wright, Millard called for a complete gift ban for Utah lawmakers. He argued the the ban should be absolute -- allowing state legislators to take no gift or trinket from lobbyists.

Then, in a neck-wrenching twist, he offered Real Salt Lake soccer tickets to any lawmaker who would come on the air to defend the current practice of accepting lobbyist gifts.

I didn't stay tuned long enough to hear whether there were any takers, but it certainly sounded like an offer they could refuse.

-- Dan Harrie

You've got to hand it to Mitt Romney for showing some class this week in his dealings with the news media -- or at least one dejected member of it.

Two days after she'd gotten her walking papers from the Deseret News, the paper's Washington, D.C., reporter, Suzanne Struglinski, got a call on her cell phone from Romney expressing sympathy and good will.

Struglinski was a victim of tanking newspaper advertising revenues, which caused the D-News to cut 34 staff positions and shutter its longtime D.C. bureau.

The courtesy call from the man who is rumored to be on Republican John McCain's short list of VEEP candidates left Struglinski "shocked, stunned and honored."

She had been part of the paper's extensive coverage of Romney's presidential bid, including campaign forays into New Hampshire and Florida.

Classy.

-- Thomas Burr

John Rendell, the Democrat running against Sen. Chris Buttars, has come up with an inspired idea for a fundraiser.

On July 30, Rendell's supporters will gather for a special presentation of Saturday's Voyeur, the long-running satire that this year mercilessly mocks Buttars.

A sample: At the start of Act Two, a defiant Buttars, wearing a dress and heels, stomps out on stage and informs the audience that he's bulletproof, that he survived his "black baby" comment during the session and they can't get rid of him.

During the tirade he repeatedly gives the audience the bird, and says they better get used to it.

Does it sound a bit like a recent meeting with Mapleton City officials?

Rendell will be hoping to get $75 or more for each ticket, but maybe a better idea would be to stage traveling performances around the district. Tough to beat that campaign.

Salt Lake Mayor Peter Corroon and then Salt Lake City mayoral candidate Jenny Wilson held a similar fundraiser at the Voyeur last year.

-- Robert Gehrke

A former top official in the Environmental Protection Agency accuses the Vice President of censoring congressional testimony about health hazards posed by global warming.

The testimony of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Julie Gerberding was, according to former EPA deputy associate administrator Jason K. Burnett, downsized to cut a statement that the "CDC considers climate change a serious public health concern."

The alleged clip job occurred long after former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt had left his position at the EPA. But the CDC at the time and currently is under Leavitt's purview in his role as secretary of Health and Human Services.

-- Dan Harrie

During an interview today on FOX Business Network, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. elaborated on his plan to convert state offices to a four-day work week.

There wasn't any news in the program. But there was an interesting remark -- not from the Guv but from program co-host David Asman.

According to the FOX Business Network transcript, Asman got into the topic this way:

"Now everybody who is skeptical of the four-day workweek. First of all, they think France. And they think, oh, we don't want to go where France has gone. . . . "

Because it wasn't part of the question Asman went on to ask, Huntsman ignored the France remark. (Would we expect less from a former diplomat?)

But just to humor the FOX folk, here's a suggestion for the Guv:

Change the name of the four-day workweek experiment from the overly cutesy "Working 4 Utah" -- which sounds an awful lot like a certain TV station's cutesy nickname -- to "Freedom Fridays."

It could be a big hit with the France-bashing "Freedom Fries" gang.

-- Dan Harrie

An op-ed in today's Des News punches the Utah Republican Party in the face, knees it in the stomach, shoves it to the ground and then kicks it in the ribs -- and all without ever uttering the party’s name.

The column Blame politicians for disillusionment of Utahns, is written by G. Don Gale, the former editorial voice of KSL.

Gale enumerates 10 things wrong with Utah politics -- all of them pointing back to the GOP, which he euphemistically refers to throughout the piece as "the dominant political party."

The litany of wrongs he cites range from closed primary elections to support for school vouchers to closed-door meetings in the Legislature.

And he concludes, "No wonder voters are disillusioned. No wonder they stay away from the polls."

Elsewhere in the Des News is this front-page article, headlined Utah has nation's worst voter turnout rate.

The report is based on a U.S. Census study of the 2006 election, which showed Utah dead last in voter participation -- with just 36.7 percent of voting age residents going to the polls.

BYU political scientist Kelly Patterson opines in the story that 2006 featured non-competitive races and that Utah has a lot of young people, an age group that typically has low voter turnout.

He makes no mention of Gale's "dominant party" explanation.

-- Dan Harrie

The NAACP sent out a statement in response to the Sen. Chris Buttars story published yesterday in the Trib (read it here) and today buried deep inside the Des News (read it here) calling Buttars' repetition of the "black baby" comment "deplorable."

"It appears Buttars feels impervious in his position as State Senator in light of his continued use of offensive statements."

The civil-rights group led by Jeanetta Williams also took a swipe at Buttars' public apology last winter at a Sunday service of the Calvary Baptist Church after shunning a meeting with NAACP board members.

"It appears the attempted cultural metamorphosis at Calvary Baptist Church was unsuccessful," the statement said, later adding, "Perhaps additional sessions at Calvary are needed."

"It is the position of the NAACP that we condemn such racist and inflammatory statements whenever and wherever they may appear."

There's a provocative post today by Bill Keshlear, spokesman for the Utah Democratic Party, commenting on today's stories reporting allegations and counter claims against and by Rep. Steve Mascaro and a former legislative intern.

Under the headline On Independence Day, the media find reasons not to be proud to be an American, Keshlear suggests that The Trib and Des News failed their patriotic duty to tell citizens what they need to know.


How did they do that? By publishing a "slimy little sex story" timed to distract folks from an upcoming ethics investigation of another state lawmaker, Rep. Mark Walker, who is accused of trying to bribe an election opponent to drop his candidacy.

"It's a titillating rumor of the 'she said' vs. 'he said' variety -- virtually impossible to substantiate but virtually guaranteed to damage the reputations of people whose only crime most likely was attempting to do the right thing when good judgment dictated otherwise," Keshlear says. See the stories here and here.

Keshlear, a former Trib designer, goes on to assert that "the story was manufactured by anonymous sources with obvious political motivations, bought by both statewide circulation newspapers, and sold to readers."

He doesn't come right out and say it, but Keshlear's implication is, we should have left the story alone. The patriotic, responsible thing would have been to take a pass.

I couldn't disagree more.

Those of us at the Trib involved in putting this story in the paper -- starting with veteran reporter Robert Gehrke -- took our roles very seriously. It's never an easy call when there are unproven allegations flying around -- especially ones involving sexual misbehavior that can permanently scar reputations.

So we took the steps responsible journalists should. We tried to talk to all the individuals involved, followed the paper trail of documents (which we link to from our online story), and attempted to fairly represent all sides and place them in context in the story we published.

I believe the story you can read in today's Trib and online at sltrib.com is well reported, fair and contextual.

Is the timing of the release of this information suspicious? Yes.

Did we point this out clearly to readers? Yes.

Most importantly, did we present a full, fair picture of the information available to us to enable readers to form their own educated view of the controversy. Yes, I believe we did.

That, in my mind, is a more responsible approach than deciding for our readers this was a story not fit to print.

-- Dan Harrie

Government bonuses -- and not just in Sandy.

Check out this story on Politico.com.

It seems that the top executives at the Food and Drug Administration are shipping much of millions of dollars in bonus money intended for field inspectors to -- you guessed it -- top executives.

One example, the FDA's chief of regulatory affairs took home $48,663 in bonuses last year. That's more than half the average salary of federal employees, according to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

You recall, of course, the so-called bonus-gate story earlier this year exposing Sandy's long-hidden bonus program in which top executives distributed tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses disproportionately to -- you guessed it -- top executives.

So who is the top boss over the FDA? Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, now secretary of Health and Human Services.

Wonder if he got the idea from Sandy or the other way around.

-- Dan Harrie

One of the rules journalists live by is dubbed "no cheering in the press box."

Besides making a racket, such boosterism creates the appearance of bias.

Two employees of KNRS-AM obviously didn't learn that lesson -- as they clearly demonstrated June 29 at America's Freedom Festival's Patriotic Service.

The women, who said they worked for the radio station that carries conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck's show, sat in the Marriott Center floor seats reserved for working reporters covering the event. However, they didn't have notebooks or any of the other common reporter tools. And they loudly cheered and clapped anytime they thought Beck, emcee for this year's Stadium of Fire, was making a good point. Listening to them, you'd swear they were watching a basketball game, not a patriotic program.

It's unlikely the women were reporters, since KNRS gets its news from Fox News, but there they were, Beck's little fan club, camped out on reporter's row.

-- Donald W. Meyers

An unlikelier pair you'd be hard pressed to find, but former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, now the secretary of Health and Human Services, has been spending quality time with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

Leavitt was bopping around Central America last week to shore up food-safety standards in exporting countries -- an issue that has gained urgency with the recent salmonella outbreak, the cause of which remains a mystery.

The former three-term Utah guv, who has carried President Bush's water for going on five years now, took a boat tour with Ortega and promised some U.S. aid.

Turns out they're old buddies. This is Leavitt's fourth visit and he attended Ortega's inauguration in 2007.

Read the full version below, from the Nica Times, of Managua, courtesy of former Tribune editor Brent Israelsen, now editor of the parent Tico Times in San Jose, Costa Rica.




U.S. Pledges to Help Protect Cocibolca
U.S. health secretary says
issue is related to food safety
By Blake Schmidt
Nica Times Staff

MANAGUA - After accompanying Pre-sident Daniel Ortega on a boat tour across Lake Cocibolca's contaminated waters, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt announced that U.S. experts will help Nicaragua protect its watershed as part of the trade giant's push to increase food-safety standards in agricultural exporting countries.
Leavitt visited Nicaragua and other countries in Central America last week as the United States reels from what may be the largest salmonella outbreak ever caused by tomatoes, with more than 750 people infected, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The outbreak, the origins of which are still unknown, is prompting one of the world's biggest food consumers to push for higher safety standards beyond its borders.
In their fourth meeting since Leavitt attended Ortega's inauguration in January 2007, the former Utah governor and the former revolutionary agreed to bring a team of U.S. environmental experts here in July to help design a strategy to protect the country's bountiful watershed. The project will focus on Lake Cocibolca, which is threatened by widespread contamination associated with ranching and urban settlements. The lake is considered Central America's future source of potable water for generations to come.
"It will have an impact on the quality of food that Americans eat when we buy it from Nicaragua, and will affect Nicaragua in a positive way," Leavitt told students last week at the National Autonomous University in Managua (UNAN). Cleaner streams translate to cleaner fruits and vegetables, which will in turn reduce water-borne illnesses that account for a high percentage of diseases, Leavitt explained.
The current U.S. policy that relies heavily on border inspections to weed out contaminated agricultural products is "inefficient," he said. Overburdened border and port checkpoints can only monitor a tiny portion of the food constantly flowing into the United States, and fruits and vegetables that spoil while stuck in border inspection delays amount to a major loss for business.
That's why the United States is instead "moving towards" a system that will allow U.S.-certified foreign producers to have their border inspections expedited.
That announcement came as good news to Ortega, who recently laid out his policy to stimulate Nicaragua's agricultural productivity (NT, June 20).
Leavitt, who as head of the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency pushed for clean-air standards and helped organize a regional movement to protect the Great Lakes, said U.S. support will focus on educating young Nicaraguans about environmental awareness, particularly those who live near Lake Cocibolca.
Saving the hemisphere's largest tropical lake won't come without "a change in the hearts and attitudes of people who live upstream" he told an auditorium full of university students, explaining that water-borne diseases begin with contamination of streams that flow into lakes.
Leavitt's stop in Nicaragua was part of a Central American tour to refocus the region's health emphasis from treatment to prevention. Leavitt and Ortega also agreed to send Nicaraguan health-care workers to the Regional Training Center that the United States is developing in Panama.
Leavitt's visit was a breath of fresh air for U.S.-Nicaraguan relations, which have grown tense in recent months. U.S. and other donor countries have been chastising the Ortega government for restricting democracy by disqualifying minority opposition parties from upcoming municipal elections.
Ortega has said outgoing U.S. Ambassador Paul Trivelli conducted a "disrespectful" and "meddlesome" policy during his three year post here (NT, June 27). Still, Ortega has managed to develop a close relationship with Leavitt over the past two years, and told reporters this week that the U.S. health secretary has "never put conditions" on his support for Nicaragua.
Part of that help came this week from another visit by the U.S. Navy medical ship Comfort. Staffed with U.S. doctors and nurses, the ship made a port call while Leavitt was in country. The stop was part of a regional tour to treat 85,000 patients and conduct up to 1,500 surgeries, according to a U.S. State Department statement.
Leavitt also announced U.S. dentists will join U.S. Southern Command military medical and humanitarian missions in coming months to provide preventive dental care to needy citizens in the region.
"I think we found a number of ways to work with the people of Nicaragua," Leavitt said.

-- Dan Harrie