Christopher Smart

Locked & Loaded

Inmate deaths plague Salt Lake County jail.

• By Christopher Smart
Utah is one of 20 states that does not require jail inspections or independent oversight.
• Tags: Cover Story

Flying Dinosaur Days: Christopher Smart (Editor 1996-2002)

• By Christopher Smart
It’s all a fog now, but as I review the fossil record—with carbon-14 dating, of course—it appears that I started at City Weekly sometime in 1993 as a freelancer ...
• Tags: Cover Story, City Weekly, Private Eye Weekly

Politics of Wildlife: It’s Up For Grabs

• By Christopher Smart
Depending upon whom you listen to, it is either an effort to undermine the voting public’s rights or a great move to protect the tradition of Utah living. It is either a plan financed by national, rightwing firearms and hunting groups, or a maneuver...

Audit Says Police Chief Should Bury the Hatchet With Officers

• By Christopher Smart
A management audit of the Salt Lake City Police Department is apparently unable to square poor morale among police officers with findings that Chief Ruben Ortega’s department is making progress and is relatively well run. But the yet-to-become-public...

Breaking Free

The healing force for one prison inmate was the discovery of his art.

• By Christopher Smart
Locked up in a 6-by-8-foot cell at the Utah State Prison, Patricio Toledo was haunted by demons. Not knowing what else to do, he began to draw in an effort to grasp a lifeline—hoping to purge the ill feelings and free himself from his past and the...

Ruben Retaliates

• By Christopher Smart
In an unusual move, Salt Lake City Police Chief Ruben Ortega released protected personnel documents to news media in an apparent attempt to embarrass or retaliate against one of his police officers and president of the local police union. It was the...

Rocky, the Big Tipper

• By Christopher Smart
City Weekly’s old pal Rocky Anderson called the other day to wish us a happy Fourth of July, complete with fireworks. Wasn’t that special? The mayor likes to keep track of old friends around holiday time. He also mentioned that he wasn’t...

Torch Ethics

• By Christopher Smart
The standard has always been in the public arena to avoid even an appearance of conflict of interest. But it’s well known that our legislators don’t mind receiving gifts from the very people pushing agendas on Capitol Hill. They can take those...

We’re Cool, Not Dorky

• By Christopher Smart
The United Nations Security Council reportedly held an emergency session recently to discuss the brewing crisis in LaVerkin, Utah, where the organization has been outlawed. The Council debated pulling peacekeeping troops back to Rockville or possibly...

Martha and “The Girls of Enron”

• By Christopher Smart
Oooowwweeeeee. Is everybody just really pissed at the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling in San Francisco that forcing people (chiefly brainless kids) to recite the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional.President George W. Bush was...