40 Years of City Weekly—Volume 30: 2013 to 2014 

"On Friday, Dec. 20, while many of us were staring at the clock on our computers waiting to go home, a federal judge, seemingly out of nowhere, deemed Utah's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional," announced managing editor Rachel Piper on Dec. 24, 2013. "I was blindsided ... Even though I work in news, there was no thought in my mind that this was something that could happen so quickly."

Indeed, Judge Robert J. Selby's ruling jolted proponents and opponents of marriage equality alike. And while Selby's order would be stayed the following month amid appeal efforts from Gov. Herbert's administration, the Dec. 20 ruling lent additional joy to the holiday season for many people.

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"Hundreds of gay couples who had been waiting for this moment—for months, for years, for decades—were not so slow to react," Piper noted. "County clerk offices were crushed with people applying for licenses and getting married on the spot—and the response isn't letting up."

Such an outpouring of joy was a welcome tonic to the tumult of events that punctuated City Weekly's 30th year. Hate and anti-government groups were on the rise again—as noxious as the fumes from the Stericycle incinerator, neither of which were taken seriously by state leadership. Utah's GOP leaders were instead getting their hackles up over Count My Vote's proposed changes to the fringe-friendly caucus system and fighting efforts to raise penalties for cockfighting.

The paper had covered the government shutdown thanks to the grandstanding of Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz; Boy Scout leaders toppling a 170 million-year-old rock formation in Goblin Valley State Park; rancher Cliven Bundy initiating an armed standoff with law enforcement in Nevada, and then-San Juan Commissioner Phil Lyman illegally riding an ATV into Recapture Canyon to spurn its closure by the BLM.

"We live in an age of discourse with blinders on," lamented A&E editor Scott Renshaw on March 6. "We lock ourselves into a world in which we've decided that only those who agree with us about everything have anything to teach us."

Opportunities to learn and grow made an impression on some and were lost on others, as in the occasion of Mormon feminists organizing for female ordination, the cessation of downtown carriage rides after the death of Jerry the horse, and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams' efforts to unite the patchwork of unincorporated areas in the valley.

The city gained a new courthouse and bid farewell to the historic Farmers and Stock Growers Bank (125 S. Main) and the Flower Patch building (500 S. State), which had stood in lone defiance of Grand America developer Earl Holding for years. The Tribune was laying off many in a recessionary digital age, but alt-publications like SLUG, Utah Stories and City Weekly flourished.

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Our paper released many unique entries, like Betsy Ross' moving feature on the death of her son from painkillers, Stephen Dark's depiction of prostitutes seeking to leave the life, Carolyn Campbell's look at notorious sperm-swapper Tom Lippert and Stephen Speckman's profile of Utah volunteers in Haiti. Satirist D.P. Sorensen made his exit after 20 years, as did veteran writer/proofreader John Paul Brophy. Colby Frazier made his debut on our pages, and Katherine Pioli took charge of the recreation section.

Back at the county clerk offices, Piper informed readers that "an amazing, joyful scene" had taken place as a line of people wrapped around two floors to obtain marriage licenses. "Couples were wearing matching colors; many had children in tow ... Christmas carols were sung, and people had dropped off donuts and coffee for those waiting in line. After the [initial legal] stay was denied, a cheer erupted at the clerk's office, a wave of relief washing over the crowd." Moments like that make all else that we do worth it.

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Remembering Vol. 30: In the AG's Office
"John Swallow has centered his campaign on his defense of Utah's public lands and his efforts to defeat 'Obamacare.' But according to a tape-recorded conversation ... he has another plan he's been less vocal about—taking the agency that investigates consumer-protection complaints away from the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office and putting it under the control of the Attorney General's office."

So wrote Eric Peterson in May 2012, beginning this paper's coverage of Swallow that reached a head in our 30th year. Peterson was the first reporter in this valley to draw attention to Swallow's connections to special interests, particularly those making campaign donations. When a House Investigative Committee caught Swallow's trail following allegations that he facilitated a bribe of then-Nevada Sen. Harry Reid on behalf of businessman Jeremy Johnson, the scandal took on troubling proportions.

"According to House-contracted investigator James Mintz," Peterson wrote in December 2013, "Swallow's deceptions have been as recent as mid-December, when Swallow gave a City Weekly reporter [Dark] details of his relationship with Timothy and Jennifer Bell, who contributed to Swallow's campaign but later changed the record of their support from $15,000 to $1,000."

Texting Dark prior to the December hearing, Swallow claimed "I did not know Mr. Bell prior to the [fundraising] event. When I learned Mr. Bell was a plaintiff in a case that the state was involved in (on the same side, not on opposite sides), I discussed it with the Attorney General and he took final responsibility for the case."

Investigators showed Swallow had lied about his connection to the Bells, who had indeed thrown a fundraiser while simultaneously awaiting action on their behalf from then-AG Mark Shurtleff and Swallow as part of a lawsuit against Bank of America. Dark and Peterson reported that Swallow had numerous exchanges with the Bells beyond the one event. House investigator Mintz subsequently determined the actual cost of the fundraiser was neither $15,000 nor even $1,000, but more than $28,000, and that Swallow's campaign was trying to cover up such connections and donations.

"The conflict of Swallow's role in advocating for the Bells with Bank of America seems also to have been the cause of Shurtleff deciding to drop the state's case against the national bank," Peterson wrote. Shurtleff ceased the state's case against the bank after the Bells received a favorable outcome, leaving roughly 5,000 other Utah homeowners high and dry.

The episode illustrated that the air of "pay for play" hung heavily within the AG's office under both Shurtleff and Swallow. Further digging by investigators, our reporters and the Tribune's Robert Gehrke and Tom Harvey raised additional questions about Swallow's alleged use of dummy corporations, fabricated evidence handed to investigators, allegations of bribery and "lost" hard drives and emails. Swallow maintained his claims of innocence but ultimately resigned after less than a year in office. Both he and Shurtleff were arrested in 2014. Shurtleff's charges were dropped in 2016 and in 2017, Swallow was acquitted.

The scandal was but another embarrassing entry in Utah's sleazy doings, as illustrated by Sister Dottie S. Dixon—aka Charles Lynn Frost (1954-2021)—for our March 27 issue, to the tune of "My Favorite Things": "Swallow and Shurtleff / the Olympics bribing / Enid and Joe and their Waldholtz conniving / Sheldon Killpack and his driving so drunk / being bad Mormons can really suck. / Horny Kevin Garn and his hot-tub carousing / foot-in-mouth Buttars, his brain unarousing / Ethics and standards—oh not in this space / time quickly passes in this holier-than-thou place."

In the Itinerary
"One of the many ways the Internet is revolutionary is that you can easily get recommendations on hotels, dining, activities, entertainment and more," noted Kathleen Curry and Geoff Griffin in a May 2013 blog post. "Fifteen years ago meant relying on friends, family, a travel agent or tour guide to point you in the right direction."

The duo wedded the conveniences of the Internet with the personal touch of an earlier time in their travel writings for City Weekly. Curry, with a background in travel, and Griffin, an attorney-turned-writer who covered sports on our pages, were uniquely suited for such a niche. With their blogging under the "Travel Tramps" and A&E banners, they had been valued voices in the CW choir since the mid 2000s.

"We were already running a travel podcast and doing travel segments on X96 Radio from Hell," they recently recalled. "City Weekly gave us the excuse—OK, we'd have gone anyway—to explore regional glamping, Utah bed and breakfasts, Park City spa stays, recreational trips, weekend getaways, beach breaks, wherever you can fly nonstop out of SLC, and the 'Ultimate Geek Tour' in honor of Kerry Jackson at X96."

Now empty nesters, Curry and Griffin are still exploring the globe. They are busy working on such "lofty" goals, in Griffin's words, as "racking up credit card points, maintaining hotel and airline elite status, and continuing to spend their retirement savings (and children's inheritance) traveling the world."