Fit to Be Bagged
A new Salt Lake City policy for collecting waste has drawn ire from residents because of the end of the leaf-bag collection program. Instead, yard waste will be collected in brown waste cans. The problem, however, is that the brown waste cans are way too small to hold waste from many lawns in September. Since the changes took effect, city officials have received phone calls and e-mails expressing a “consistently high level of frustration,” according to a staff memo (PDF) to the city council. On Sept. 21, city council members considered tweaking the policy to possibly increase emptying the brown cans to twice a week, at a cost of $300,000. That price tag begs the question: Was the old system that broken?
Mark the Gamer
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has signed on as an opponent to a California law that restricts the sales of violent video games to children. In doing so, he goes against many fellow Republicans, including Gov. Gary Herbert, who wanted him to stay out of the lawsuit, which is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In defending his decision, he told The Salt Lake Tribune that he saw the issue as a “First Amendment right” and the only reason to oppose it was because of “political pressure ... and I just didn’t feel like that was the right reason.” That’s a nice sentiment in this case, although if the First Amendment reigned supreme, one can only wonder why Shurtleff is willing to go to the U.S. Supreme Court to support highway crosses on public land that memorialize Utah Highway Patrol troopers killed on duty.
Optimistic Euphemisms
To combat homosexual attraction, LDS Bishop Keith McMullin urged attendees at the recent Evergreen International Conference to avoid using terms such as “gay” and “lesbian,” according to the Tribune. Apparently, simply saying the words can lead a person down the road to “doubt and deceit,” as McMullin said. His warning turns these words—which many proudly use to describe their sexual orientation—into vulgarities. McMullin has the failed belief that simply suppressing the words will force LGBT people back into the closet, when in reality, McMullin is the one with his head in the sand.
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