Weber County Forum

The Daily Show Indecision 2012 - 2012: A Space Oddity

2012-01-27T15:11:00.015-07:00

"Daily Show" Mocks Newt Gingrich's Moon Idea

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Too funny closing comment via Jon Stewart, alluding to some of Gingrich's morally troubling personal propensities:

I see what's going on here... Newt Gingrich did that global warming ad with Nancy Peolosi, realized that the earth is very sick, and now he wants to leave it for a younger planet...

Are American Republicans crazy enough to nominate the wacked-out Newt "Mr. Moonbase" Gingrich to run for the presidency under the GOP banner in 2012?

And yes. Some politically savvy and more "down to earth" folks are getting a pretty big kick outta this politically possible outcome, right?

So what say our ever-savvy Weber County Forum readers about all this?

Mike Winder Campaign Hits a Serious Speedbump

2012-01-27T12:11:00.008-07:00

Completely "nutty" Boss Godfrey Mormon Clone Mike Winder "steps in it," yet again

Oops. Looks like that narcissist West Valley City Mayor guy, and Salt Lake County Mayoral candidate, Mike Winder, has hit a slight speed-bump in his campaign quest to become the new "visionary, "Matthew Godfrey"-style Mormon Mayor (our characterization ) of Salt Lake County, upon the departure of Mayor Corroon.

Read all about the new lawsuit that was filed yesterday, naming the loser of the now discredited winner of the Richard Burwash lookalike contest, and reporting how this Winder idiot is now named as defendant in a brand new lawsuit, wherein plaintiff Hogan, who charges that Mike Winder/Richard Burwash (allegedly slammed hard in at least one of his jagged local print and/or online media stories), seeks $113,220 in lost wages and benefits and an unspecified amount in punitive and other damages with a blistering lawsuit (by Utah Standards at least) charging defamation (and libel):

Ex-UTOPIA exec sues Winder, Deseret Digital Media over Burwash story

Whew! And the beat goes on. [sigh]

State of the State Speech: Is it Necessary? - Updated

2012-01-26T07:51:00.012-07:00

Danged good question, wethinks

On the heels of yesterday's State of the State Address, in connection with which the Standard-Examiner reported this morning that Utah Gov. Gary Herbert vowed to continue defending the state against an "overreaching, out-of-control and out-of-touch" federal government, (among other things), ABC4 News asks the question "pregnant question" which we're quite sure many of our politically-wonkish reader have been wanting to ask:

State of the State speech: Is it necessary?

Danged good question, wethinks.

So what about it Gentle WCF Readers? Can we see by a show of hands how many of you were glued to your chairs in rapt attention in front of your big screens last night, eagerly soaking up Governor Herbert's every anti-federalist utterance?

On the other hand, how many of you were entirely unaware of the fact that Governor Herbert had even delivered this annual "Things are Great in Utah Under My Administration" 2012 pre-gubernatorial election rant, until you read about it on the front page of the Standard-Examiner this morning?

Let's re-phrase the question: Does anybody really give a hoot about Governor Herbert's opinion regarding the State of the State?

Just axin'...

Update 1/27/12 9:00 a.m.: The Salt Lake Tribune points out the hypocrisy of Governor Herbert's SoS anti-federalism rant. Whilst Herbert decrys “the regulatory colossus created by an overreaching, out-of-control and out-of-touch federal government," meanwhile, back at the "reality ranch," the Trib's Robert Gehrke aptly reports that "since Herbert took office, federal funding in Utah has grown by more than $1 billion":

Herbert bemoans feds even as federal money pours into Utah

Standard-Examiner: Judge Keeps Lid on Warrants

2012-01-25T07:42:00.021-07:00

Sodden question: Will the defendant Stewart get even an adequate legal defense in this matter, let alone a "first class" defense?

There's more interesting news in the 1/4/12 Ogden City Shootings matter, with a couple of new items appearing in the Standard-Examiner since our last WCF update.

Here are the key paragraphs from an online story of yesterday afternoon, which reveals that the veil of secrecy continues concerning this case:

OGDEN -- Prosecutors have sealed at least three warrants tied to the Matthew Stewart shooting case.

Search warrants are, by law, sealed for 20 days, then become public unless prosecutors convince a judge to extend the seal without date, said Nancy Volmer, state courts spokeswoman.
The Weber County Attorney's Office was successful in having some of the warrants sealed even before the 20 days had expired, Volmer said, two last week and one Tuesday.

The Standard also carries an expanded version of this story in its morning print edition, which reveals some even more interesting details to this story:

Judge keeps lid on warrants

This latter story is particularly interesting for two reasons, we believe:

1) It reports a total of four warrants have so far been issued (and sealed), including "a fourth search warrant" issued by 2nd District Judge Scott Hadley on Monday last. Mr. Gurrister's story also provides information on the earlier three:

Warrant issued Jan. 4 by Judge Ernie Jones, sealed Jan. 6 by Judge Mark DeCaria.
Warrant issued Jan. 5 by Hadley, sealed Jan. 6 by DeCaria.
Warrant issued Jan. 5 by DeCaria, sealed Friday by DeCaria.

In at least two of these instances these warrants were sealed by the same judge who issued them in the first place, which looks like incautious judicial procedure to us, in an important case like this.

Moreover it seems that an extraordinary amount of effort is still being expended by the court and prosecutors in a curious effort to conceal the identity of the prosecution's confidential informant, whose true identity seems to have been already publicly revealed, thus raising the pregnant question, what else are these political hacks trying to hide?

Hopefully, in this context, the Utah print media will dig in their heels, take the sealing of these records up on appeal, and help shine a little light on the evidence which triggered the issuance of these warrants in the first place.

2) And Mr. Gurrister's expanded story reveals this interesting tidbit:

The Rule 8 fund maintained by the state through premiums paid by various participating counties provides a $100,000 lump sum for capital homicide defenses, Richards said.

Davis and Box Elder counties subscribe to the fund, but Weber does not, he said, meaning he will have to negotiate with Weber officials for funds to supplement his client’s defense.

Up until now, we'd assumed that public's expense for fees and costs for Mr. Stewart's public defender defense would be capped at the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 8's $100,000 per case; but with this morning's Tim Gurrister revelation on that angle, it looks like all bets are off on the question of how much taxpayer dough it will ultimately take to properly defend this case.

It's a highly complicated case however, which will pretty quickly gobble up massive defense costs for investigators, expert witnesses and pretrial discovery, not to mention the thousands of billable hours which will inexorably accrue for attorney's fees. So at this early point folks, regarding the prospective price of Matthew Stewart's defense, we'll go out on a limb and predict that "the sky's the limit," folks.

In this connection, Don't forget the SE story we cited in our earlier WCF writeup, quoting Bernie the Attorney Allen, who said that a first class criminal defense will cost, as a rule of thumb, "close to a million dollars for each case."

Here's the big question we think: Will the defendant Stewart get even an adequate legal defense in this matter, let alone a "first class" defense?

Update 1/25/12 10:00 a.m.: The Standard has just now uploaded Mr. Gurrister's updated morning story to its website:

Judge keeps lid on Stewart search warrants

Salt Lake Tribune: Ogden Shootout Suspect Claims He Cannot Afford An Attorney

2012-01-24T08:07:00.005-07:00

Just as we predicted on 1/20/12, the taxpayers will be footing the full bill for the upcoming trial in this matter

The Salt Lake Tribune reports this morning about another significant development in the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings Case. Just as we predicted on 1/20/12, the taxpayers will be footing the full bill for the upcoming trial in this matter. Here's the lede from this morning's Sheena McFarland story:

Matthew David Stewart — charged with capital murder and multiple counts of attempted murder in connection with a deadly shootout with Ogden police — has filed court documents indicating he cannot afford to hire an attorney.

Stewart, 37, indicates in an affidavit of indigency filed Monday in Ogden’s 2nd District Court that he has no assets other than his home.

Stewart adds that the home "has no equity," and that he expects to "lose [the home] because I am unable to pay the mortgage," according to the affidavit.

He says he has "some limited resources" to temporarily pay for an attorney, but he cannot afford to pay for expert witnesses or for any necessary investigation.

Read the full story here:

Ogden shootout suspect claims he cannot afford an attorney

In apparent anticipation of Stewart's application for indigent defense, Ogden City based Weber County public defender Randy Richards has also already initiated pre-trial discovery in this matter, according to this story in Sunday's Standard-Examiner:

Attorney building defense for Stewart

No word yet as to who will serve as Mr. Richards's appointed defense co-counsel.

Surprize of Surprizes: Utah Politicians Find Major Loophole in Ethics Law

2012-01-23T14:58:00.023-07:00

One more reason for Utah lumpencitizens to insist on forcing Lt. Governor Bell to place the UEG Citizens Ethics Initiative on our 2012 Utah Ballots

Sorry to be so late with what was originally intended to be "this morning's" WCF post; but sadly we experienced a technical WCF "hardware 'won't talk to software' problem" on and about WCF which we couldn't quickly "fix," without first going out for a good long lunch, takin' a long breather and then thinkin' a little more about how these pesky problems could be more easily fixed upfront, if Microsoft magnate Bill Gates would merely deign to regularly talk to people like Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt

However belatedly however, O Gentle WCF Readers, we are nevertheless back into "Here's the all-time Best O' the 1/23/12 Day Red Meat News Story of the Day" from today's Northern Utah Print Media news-cycle, posted to WCF despite the tech-glitches which we rather painfully experienced earlier today:

It's definitely a very good one down below from the Salt Lake Tribune which we highlight now, tipped to us from yet another sharp-eyed and alert WCF Reader who quite sagely prefaced his heads-up missive with "This is a must-see article in the Trib":

Here's the most excellent SLTrib story upon which our reader tipped us, wherein it becomes obvious, that despite all legislative the hoopla, that there's no manner in which Utah legislators might seemingly stand restricted under current Utah Law, from expending campaign contributions money. The truth is that Utah legislators can spend their campaign contributions money on ANY DANGED PERSONAL EXPENSES for which they dang well please:

Gym fees? Utah politicians find loophole in ethics law

Let's put this one in political context, folks. During last year's 2010 Utah Legislative legislative session, the Utah GOP majority made a big deal about passing a law which was purportedly designed to "ban" state officials and candidates from spending campaign donations for personal use. This is the proof in the pudding... how it finally worked out folks, with loopholes in this legislative ethics-remedial bill (so-called) that crooked Utah legislators, in their ultimate wisdom, designed to be wide enough through which to fly a Boeing 747 straight through.

And here's the so-called "personal use banning" 2010-enacted Utah statutory rule, which somehow still permits Utah legislators to spend almost-unlimited campaign donation money on personal expenses:

20A-11-104. Personal use expenditure -- Authorized and prohibited uses of campaign funds -- Enforcement -- Penalties.

One more reason for Utah lumpencitizens to insist on forcing Lt. Governor Bell to place the UEG Citizens Ethics Reform Initiative on our 2012 Utah Ballots, don'tha all think?

We'll stand by for your ever-savvy comments, folks.

Salt Lake Tribune: After Protest, Congress Puts Off Movie Piracy Bill

2012-01-22T08:00:00.010-07:00

A true "man bites dog story," if ever there ever was one

In response to last Thursday's WCF article, wherein we put the arm on our readers to sign the online petition urging congress to "deep-six" the pending SOPA and PIPA bills, we get the good news this morning from the Salt Lake Tribune:

After protest, Congress puts off movie piracy bill

Yesiree, folks. The People spoke up... and our congress-critters listened.

It's a true "man bites dog story," if ever there ever was one.

Salt Lake Tribune: 2012 Utah Legislative Preview

2012-01-22T07:05:00.006-07:00

Added bonus: The latest news from our friends at Utahns for Ethical Government

The Utah Legislature convenes for its regular 2012 session tomorrow morning; and we know all Weber County Forum political wonks are sitting on the edge of their seats, awaiting this year's wacky Capitol Hill hijinks. In that connection, The Salt Lake Tribune is running an informative 2012 legislative preview article series this morning, which we'll reel off in no particular order:

As an added bonus, here's the latest update from our friends at Utahns for Ethical Government, who are gearing up to seek a court order from Utah's 3rd District Court to force a very recalcitrant Lt. Governor Bell to place its UEG Citizens Ethics Reform Initiative on the upcoming 2012 Utah General Election Ballot, (among other things):

UEG Saturday, January 21, 2012 Update

That's it on the Utah legislative front for now, folks.

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

Dave Greiling Morning "Behind the Headlines" Column: Our Intent Was Neither to Glamorize Stewart Nor Disrespect Cfficers

2012-01-21T08:00:00.024-07:00

We're not a licensed psychologist, but here's what we think nevertheless

There's an eye-opening column in this morning's Standard-Examiner hard-copy edition, wherein Dave Greiling discusses, in his "Behind the Headlines" column, some rather harsh reader reactions to last Saturday's front page photo spread. Here's the lede:

Last Saturday's front-page presentation was not received well by some readers.
Specifically, a large photo montage of accused shooter Matthew David Stewart resulted in unfavorable online comments, phone calls and letters to the editor.

You can read Mr. Greiling's full morning column here:

Our intent was neither to glamorize Stewart nor disrespect officers

Sadly, Mr. Greiling's column adopts an apologetic tone. "First, no media outlet sets out to intentionally alienate its readers, its customers, if you will." "I'm sorry that the photo and its display caused that type of reaction. It's also obvious that, in this case, we fell short of doing an effective job of telling that particular story," Mr Greiling says.

We caught that front page montage ourselves when we retrieved our S-E print edition from our front porch last Saturday, we frankly appreciated the human interest angle that that this "ticklish" photo image piece conveyed. Yes, we'll give our hearty "thumbs up" to the journalistic judgment of "the editor who designed the page," and who was "struck by the contrast between Stewart's appearance in the photo and the acts he is accused of committing."

Absolutely no apologies are required from the Standard for running this photo image piece, in our view. This photo display does very clearly and powerfully convey the truth of the matter, which is that the kid in the photos isn't necessarily some kind of non-human demon from hell, but "could be my little brother or the kid we went to school with." "It really is a shocking contrast. I think it showed he's a normal kid with a normal background," Mr. Greiling adds. Yes folks. Shockingly, the suspected "perp" in the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings story "could be the kid who lives next door." Imagine that.

Hopefully folks, this little kerfluffle won't compel the S-E editors to soft pedal the "human interest" angle, either with respect to this story, or any other emotion-charged news item which might pop up in the future.

Happily though, despite the otherwise apologetic and conciliatory tone, the S-E editors appear to be stickin' to their guns in re this:

The photo montage helped tell the story of Matthew Stewart, in the editors' opinion.

What the S-E editors are experiencing here is likely a particularly accute reader response resulting from a psychological phenomenon known as "cognitive dissonance", we think. When presented with two highly contrasting, but practically plausible "realities," some less sophisticated S-E readers, who've been carefully cultivating a lynch-mob mentality over the course of the past few weeks, couldn't handle the informational dissonance and simply slipped into "melt down mode," we'll propose.

We're not a licensed psychologist, of course, but that's what we think.

So what say our Gentle Readers about all this?

1/4/12 Ogden Shootings Story: Three More Items From the Standard-Examiner

2012-01-20T10:13:00.033-07:00

We'll once again focus the WCF spotlight on three new items concerning the fast-developing 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings story which have been uploaded to the Standard-Examiner website and/or have been published in the print edition since our last update. As to the first two of these, a Scott Schwebke story, and a reader-submitted Letter to the Editor, we'll simply continue to play the reduced role of a story aggregator, and furnish the links, without offering any further editorial commentary of our own:

With regard to story #3, we'll expand our discussion, as this new story does offer the invitation for consideration of some background issues which truly open up a can of worms, wethinks, concerning the early treatment of this matter by the Weber County Attorney's Office as a "Capital Murder," "Death Penalty" prosecution.

As a followup to a story which first appeared several days ago on the S-E website, we'll refer our readers to an updated (1/20/12) story, which sets forth the burden that this latest homicide case places on our already heavily overloaded County Prosecutor's Office. The concise lead paragraph provides the gist:

OGDEN -- Handling three major cases at the same time is having an impact on the Weber County Attorney's Office. "We're maxed out," Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said of the drain of three major investigations under way simultaneously.

Read the full story here:

Weber County Attorney's Office feeling weight of 3 major cases

With three major cases now pending, Dee Smith's already overworked public law office is seriously feeling the heat; but that's only half of the problem, wethinks; and here's the other half of whole troublesome ball of wax, as we see it:

Notably, on the S-E site a couple of days ago a S-E reader identifying himself as Colorado Deputy State Public Defender Bill Schurman posted a comment which we believe to be well worthy of some discussion:

Going for the death of Mr. Stewart will surely weigh down your Office like you have never seen, Mr. prosecutor. It will be more than the self-serving arrest warrant affidavit. As an attorney in Colorado involved in death cases you'll rue the day that you announced death. If you are a little busy now just wait.

While we don't know whether this S-E commenter guy was an imposter or not, we do believe the guy "nails it." The difficulties are compound in death penalty cases too, folks. Here are a couple of web-based resources you can all check out, just to give you "the drift."

First, and "for starters," the whole approach to defense counsel representation is much more complicated in death penalty cases, than in garden variety felony cases. Specifically, Utah death penalty defense lawyers must fulfill the quite rigorous requirements of Utah law, the details of which are statutorily set forth in the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure:

Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 8. Appointment of counsel

We're making the assumption that Defendant Matthew Stewart will be entitled to the services of the Public Defender's Office, by the way. We'll have more on that assumption further down this article.

Remember, people. Death penalty-qualified defense lawyers don't grow on trees, due to the aforementioned stringent experiential qualification requirements for death penalty defense counsel.

And here's another good link, an eye-opening S-E article dated June 6, 2010, going into some of the other issues concerning the most recent difficulties of defending death penalty cases in Weber County, and also containing some very good nuts-and-bolts insight on this subject from our old pal, Ogden-based Public Defender, Bernie Allen, now that the tightwad genii in Weber County government have all but dismantled the Weber County Public Defender's Office:

Weber to pull nearly $250,000 from county budget in '10 to cover death penalty cases.

Among other things, Ace Attorney Bernie mentions that a first class criminal defense will cost, as a rule of thumb, "close to a million dollars for each case," whereas the cheapskates in Weber County government have reduced appointed defense council compensation to... get this:

The rule of thumb for a minimum paid to public defenders in a capital case is [now] a flat rate of $100,000 per case, Allen said, which can equate to $28 an hour given the time commitment needed for an appropriate defense.

And laughably, according to Attorney Bernie, Weber County is pretty much a deadbeat, even in actually paying up these drastically reduced legal fees.

Factor in the required two (count 'em 2) death penalty qualified Capital Murder defense lawyers who'll have to "split" this pittance, and that works out to $50K apiece, not counting the dough they'll have to shell out hiring investigators, conducting pre-trial discovery, and every other expensive detail which goes into defending a Capital Case.

Think about it folks. Why would a competent Utah felony defense attorney even think about getting involved in a major capital murder case which will yield little more than $50 grand in fees, before expenses, when the average felony case will yield just about the same amount, with a lot less overhead, after a mere half-dozen or so court appearances? Nobody in their right mind, that's who.

And what's going to happen when Mr. Stewart possibly gets convicted because Weber County officials only authorized and approved funding for a "cheap-ass, cut-rate, low budget defense?"

The next thing that will happen, assuming that Stewart might get convicted in this twisted scenario is that an upper appellate court will likely go along with what Attorney Bernie suggests in the above S-E story:

"Conviction over-ruled and set aside: 'due to 'ineffective counsel.'"

Here's an informative article on the topic:

Indigent Defense in Utah: Constitutionally Adequate?

Moreover, even though prosecution and defense counsel sit at tables on opposite sides of the courtroom, the taxpayers will be footing the full bill for the whole upcoming dog and pony show; and the Weber County taxpayers are the ones who'll finally get seriously nicked once again, once the smoke clears on this unfortunate situation, after the politically ambitious County Attorney Dee Smith takes his deep "post performance bow," of course.

Food for thought, People.

Standard-Examiner: Weber Sheriff (Allegedly) Violated Hatch Act

2012-01-20T08:03:00.007-07:00

Keeping our fingers crossed that the Standard will be more cautious with its future headline draftsmanship

Interesting story plastered atop the front page of this morning's Standard-Examiner hard-copy edition, bearing the bold-faced headline "Weber sheriff violated act." Unlike the Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner situation however, Sheriff Terry Thompson's case will apparently have will no negative consequences, as is briefly set forth in this morning story's lead paragraph:

OGDEN -- The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has determined that Terry Thompson violated the Hatch Act in his successful 2010 bid for Weber County Sheriff, but the office won't take action against him.

Read Mr. Schwebke's full Standard-Examiner writeup here:

Weber sheriff violated Hatch Act

Here's one point we'll make with regard to this story.

We're troubled by the nature of the headline itself. Although the Office of Special Counsel has been involved in this matter since at least as early as May of last year, that federal agency, which is charged with the civil prosecution of Hatch Act violations, appears to have taken no formal action in this matter, aside from the issuance of the "warning letter" which is mentioned in this morning's Scott Schwebke story. Since this matter has never been formally adjudicated, the headline states as fact something which ought to have been characterized as a mere allegation. The opinion of the Office of Special Council that Sheriff Thompson violated the Hatch Act is no more than that office's legal opinion, an opinion which carries no more weight than Sheriff Thompson's own opinion that he did not violate the Act. So in our view, it's disappointing that the copy editor who drafted the headline wasn't more careful with that most important distinction.

Although we're delighted to learn that the Office of Special Counsel has exercised sound prosecutorial discretion and declined to take any further action in re this matter, we're nevertheless keeping our fingers crossed that the Standard will be more cautious in its technical draftsmanship and take steps to avoid in the future the kind of factually inaccurate, and reputationally damaging headlines such as the one appearing above this morning's story.

Referring back to our original assumption that Defendant Stewert will at some point be represented on the taxpayers' dime by Weber County Public Defenders? Yes. News reports indicate Stewart has a small equity in his residential property which he purchsed in the nineties. No, that small equity will not for long support a vigorous defense in this complex case, which involves multiple purported victims, and will require massive investigative effort and discovery. Whatever property equity Stewart may have to contribute to his own defense will be rapidly, blown, quickly.

Like it or not, Gentle Weber County taxpayers, ultimately, even though prosecution and defense counsel will sit at tables on opposite sides of the courtroom as this matter progresses, the massive expense of this whole trial will be borne by the folks who'll ultimately pick up the tab for this legal extravaganza... the taxpayers of Weber County, that's who.

Thursday Afternoon Weber County Forum News Roundup

2012-01-19T13:09:00.032-07:00

Today's very most "weird" and "twisted" latest developments in re Utah politics

In the continuing interest in giving our Weber County Forum readers "Meaty Things" to "chew on," and to rave about the "weirdest" and latest developments in re our sorely "twisted" Utah politics, here a few items we latched upon this morning whilst Googling:

1) Lyin' POS Mike Winder Announces a Run for the Salt Lake County Mayoral Seat.

This is definely too good. This moron, the Mike Winder Guy, who completely made an ass out of himself by hoodwinking the Deseret News over the course of several months under the psuedo "handle" Richard Burwash, now unabashedly announces his candidacy, under the GOP banner, for the Salt Lake County Mayoral Office:

Winder running for Salt Lake County mayor; GOP boss not thrilled (video)

Sodden query: Does Mike Winder have an even bigger "set" than Boss Godfrey? Were Mike Winder and Boss Godfrey somehow products of the same defective "uterus," who were somehow weirdly separated at birth?"

2) Ousted Utah House Member Craig Frank "Comes Back":

Here's the truly strange story from the SL-Trib:

Craig Frank to return to House seat he was ousted from a year ago

Meet the new boss... same as the old boss...

Lets all sing along, folks!

3) Ogden Train Car Cafe under new ownership.

In an earlier WCF story we mentioned a missive we'd received from yet another sharp-eyed WCF reader who offered this:

MAYORAL FAVORS: Yesterday I heard a bunch of pissed off people talking about Kym and Pete taking over the welcome wagon. A gal that was running it was wondering why rent is half of what she'd been paying, and why do they get the equipment etc., for "free"?

We've done a little "light sleuthing" on this story by the way. We called the Choo-Choo Cafe on the phone a couple of days ago, and talked to a young feller who informed us that the cafe was still operating, although "under new ownership."

"Pete" (Buttschard) is the new "owner," the young feller said.

We still don't know the terms of the new deal, but we're now considering putting in a GRAMA request.

We also talked to a couple of Ogden City Council people about this, each of whom not-so-subtly indicated (to our great disappointment) that they "didn't want to make waves," so early into the Mike Caldwell mayoral administration.

So has the Caldwell Administration already violated the provisions of Ogden City Code Section section 4-2A-5", which says:

4-2A-5: COMPETITIVE BIDDING:
All purchases of and contracts for obtaining supplies or contractual services shall be made on a competitive basis to the maximum practicable extent. However, when not in conflict with state law, the purchasing agent may waive this competitive bidding requirement when:
1. The cost of the supplies or services is negligible in relation to the costs of purchase by bid;
2. The supplies or services are available from a single source or bidding procedures are otherwise deemed unlikely to produce a competitive bid; or
3. Circumstances indicate that bidding on the supplies or services will not be in the best interest of the city.

If so, will the Ogden City Council, weary of dealing with 12 years of Godfrey shenanigans, turn a blind eye to this possible problem?

We''ll be following up on this and we will definitely get to the meat of it, folks.

We don't want to see the new mayoral administration fall into any Godfrey-style "bad habits," if you know what we mean (and we think you do.)

And no, gentle readers. At this stage of the game at least, we're not charging the administration with doing anything wrong. Not yet, anyway.

Petition: PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks the Internet

2012-01-19T04:36:00.009-07:00

Congress needs to hear from you, or these bills pass

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo

The video above discusses the Senate version of the House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). In the Senate the bill is called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). SOPA has gotten more attention than PIPA because it was moving faster in the legislative process. But PIPA is just as dangerous, and now it is moving faster.

PIPA would give the government new powers to block Americans' access websites that corporations don't like. The bill lets corporations and the US government censor entire websites and cut sites off from advertising, payments and donations.

This legislation will stifle free speech and innovation, and even threaten popular web services like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

The bill is scheduled for a test vote in the Senate on Jan. 24th: We need to act now to let our lawmakers know just how terrible it is. Will you fill out the form above to ask your lawmakers to oppose the legislation and support a filibuster?

Click the link below to sign the electronic petition:

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks the Internet

The good news is that in the face of massive Internet protest yesterday, key Senate and House backers of the SOPA and PIPA web censorship bills – including Senators Marco Rubio, Roy Blunt, John Cornyn, Orrin Hatch, John Boozman and Jim DeMint, and Representatives Ben Quayle and Lee Terry – have dropped their support.

The bad news is that But SOPA’s key sponsor – Lamar Smith – is sticking with the flawed bill. In fact, the Senate is set to vote on PIPA on January 24, 2012, and the House Judiciary Committee continues its markup of SOPA in February:

Update on SOPA and PIPA

Do not dawdle on this folks... Sign the petition Today!

Weber County Forum Wednesday Morning News Roundup

2012-01-18T09:16:00.015-07:00

Several interesting Bits and Pieces stumbled upon by your blogmeister whilst Googling

In the interest of keeping the discussion going, even on another slow news day, here are a few interesting Bits and Pieces stumbled upon by your blogmeister whilst Googling:

1) For those Ogden residents who've been looking forward to repeating the good times in Ogden City's annual Winterfest celebration this year, the Standard-Examiner delivers some very bad news this morning:

Lack of snow means no Winterfest in Ogden

In this age of global climate change, perhaps the city fathers will be scheduling a beach-themed winter carnival some time very soon.

2) For those readers who are eagerly following the Standard's Alan Hall guest commentary series, here's Mr. Hall's latest, reporting on the outcome of last week's Ogden business leadership pow-wow, wherein "20 community leaders met for the first time to discuss the greater Ogden-area economy":

Leaders meet to create five-year business plan for area economy

Can we see by a show of hands, O Gentle Readers, how many of you are surprised that our Ogden City Big Government Interventionist "Leadership" is adopting a"central planning" tactic borrowed straight from Joe Stalin's old Soviet Union?

3) Excellent Letter to the Editor which just popped up on the S-E website, decrying the recent bone-headed U.S. Supreme Court decision (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) which ruled, in essence, "that corporations and unions were legally people and could spend unlimited funds on election advertisements."

Ruling 'corporations are people' needs change

The author, liberty-loving Salt Lake City resident Cameron Morgan, makes a pitch for those lumpencitizens who'd like to see this bone-headed SCOTUS decision overturned to "join "Move to Amend" in pushing for a Constitutional amendment that spells out, in no uncertain terms, that corporations are not people and that they can and should be regulated." Unfortunately, Mr. Morgan fails to supply the necessary "action link," which omission we now cure, for our WCF readers' convenience:

Move to Amend - End Corporate Rule. Legalize Democracy

If you'd like to weigh in on this issue, be sure to click the "petition" link, either in the MTA website header, or via the "Sign the Petition" button.

That's it for now, WCF readers.

The floor's open for anybody who'd like to comment, or even blow off a little pent-up steam.

Salt Lake Tribune: Suspect in Ogden Shootout Kept Marijuana in His Freezer, Informant Said

2012-01-18T08:35:00.009-07:00

Not much of a stretch to speculate that the ex-girlfriend may be the confidential informant who got the ball rolling on the this whole tragic affair

More breaking news in the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings matter, as the Salt Lake Tribune reveals new information obtained via a recently-completed GRAMA request. Here's the lede:

The investigation into Matthew David Stewart, who is charged with murdering an Ogden police officer and shooting five others, began in September when someone told police she had seen marijuana growing in his basement, according to documents released Tuesday.

The Salt Lake Tribune, through a request under the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act, obtained Ogden police reports about Stewart written prior to the Jan. 4 shootout at his home. The Ogden Police Department redacted Stewart’s name and that of the tipster, but the address and other descriptions in the reports match Stewart.

The tip about the marijuana grow is described in one paragraph written by an Ogden patrol officer on Sept. 15.

The tipster "stated that she has personally seen a hydroponics grow in [Stewart’s] basement," the report says. "She stated that it produces approximately 12-15 marijuana plants. [Redacted] then keeps the the [sic] marijuana in a freezer. He also sells some."

Read the full story here:

Suspect in Ogden shootout kept marijuana in his freezer, informant said

Further down the story, citing information in one of several GRAMA'd police reports, SLTrib reporter Chris Carlisle makes reference to an ex-girlfiend who contacted Ogden police on September 10 to report her concern that the suspect, Stewart, may have attempted to break into her apartment. Although the Trib editors carefully issue the disclaimer that "[i]t’s not clear from the documents whether the complainant in the door episode is the same woman who told police about the marijuana grow," it's still not much of a stretch to speculate that the ex-girlfriend, a co-worker with Stewart at Wal-mart, may be the confidential informant who got the ball rolling on the this whole tragic affair.

The possible moral to this chapter of this story?

Howbout "Be extra nice to your ex."

1/17/12 Ogden City Council/RDA Agenda Heads-Up

2012-01-17T08:13:00.033-07:00

Several interesting items which ought to be of particular interest to our Weber County Forum readers

Here's a quick heads up concerning tonight's Ogden City Council/RDA action, wherein the various agendas contain at least a few items which ought to be of particular interest to our Weber County Forum readers:

1) Joint Study Session (5:30 p.m.). Of particular interest to our WCF readers may be one item on the agenda, the proposed vacation of a public easement/right of way along a portion of Buchanan Avenue between 28th and 29th Street. What's interesting about this otherwise seemingly routine agenda item is that although the planning commission has already reviewed and recommended Council approval with its own 5-2 vote, a very familiar face on the Ogden political scene, Chris Peterson, formally opposed this measure when it was before the planning commission, so its possible that Peterson and/or his representatives may appear at tonight's meeting, to renew his opposition during tonight's Council discussion:

01/17 Ogden City Council Joint Study Session

Peterson's objection centers on the fact that abandonment of the public easement would reduce public parking opportunity near the 29th street trailhead; and as one gentle reader remarked in a private conversation on this topic a few days ago, "Of course he's already using the parking area for his commercial via ferrata business, but in addition one has to wonder about the newly fenced adjacent property and the new switchbacking clearcuts he's made up the northwest face of Malan's Peak."

2) Redevelopment Agency Special Meeting. During this meeting, which begins "immediately following the Council meeting that begins at 6:00 p.m.," the Ogden RDA Board will consideration the adoption of an "amended budget for the Ogden River Redevelopment Project Area as approved by the Taxing Entity Committee on November 10, 2011.":

01/17 City Council-RDA Special Session

We've already discussed this item on Weber County Forum, of course. As our regular readers will recall, this is the proposal Boss Godfrey sneaked past the Ogden RDA Taxing Entity Committee "in the dead of night," and which will extend the Ogden River Project Redevelopment Area tax increment period "through Tax Year 2027 (an Additional Eight (8) Years)" This amendment to the Ogden River Project Area tax increment amortization schedule, once approved, will reduce Ogden RDA taxing entity revenue, (including that of the cash-strapped Ogden School System) to a mere 28% of the tax money to which they would otherwise be entitled in the absence of this amendment, of course.

Although it's all signed, sealed and delivered, folks, we thought you'd want to know that tonight's the night it gets rubber-stamped.

Here's a quick side note to the above item, by the way, which our readers ought to consider in light of the Ogden School District's action in cavalierly giving up 72% of its River Project Area tax revenue until the year 2027. "Five schools in the Ogden School District are using approximately $7 million in federal grants to help bring them up to a higher level and keep them out of danger of being shut down because of poor performance," according to the S-E story below:

Hoping to avoid closure, Ogden schools use federal grants

We're having some difficulty understanding the Ogden School Board's "thinkin'" in these tight financial times, we'll confess. Howbout you?

3) Redevelopment Agency Board Work Session: During this special meeting, which also begins "immediately following the City Council and Redevelopment Agency meetings that begins at 6:00 p.m.", the RDA Board will discuss a proposed purchase contract and development agreement for The Four Foods Group, LLC, in connection with the opening of a new Kneaders Bakery And Café at 1951 Washington Blvd.:

01/17 City Council-RDA Work Session

We'll volunteer that this has to be interpreted, at first glance, as very good news for the otherwise moribund River Project Development area, even at this early stage in this new proposed project, although we'll also welcome our Gentle Readers' own possibly contrarian takes on this subject.

That's it for now. We'll leave the lights on of course, for anyone who'd like to comment before, during or after tonight's meetings.

Update 1/18/12 6:42 a.m.: The Standard reports this morning that just as we predicted, "[t]he Ogden Redevelopment Agency board adopted a resolution Tuesday night that will extend the Ogden River Project tax increment collection period by eight years":

Ogden stretches River Project tax deal

Hopefully in the days to come, we'll hear no further whining from the Ogden City School District about cash shortfalls.

1/4/12 Ogden Shootouts story Update: Two more Items from the Standard-Examiner

2012-01-17T07:41:00.006-07:00

The first item in the Standard's entire Shooting Story Series which actually won't taint a prospective jury pool; and here isthe first public report of the the nature and extent of the suspect's "non-life threatening" injuries

The Standard-Examiner website carries two more items expanding on the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootouts story, the first of which consists of a slice-of-life photo gallery which depicts the suspect Matthew Stewart, in some pretty average, normal real-life poses. The second for the first time reveals the nature and extent of Stewart's "non-life threatening" injuries, "wound[s] in the foot, stomach, arm and buttocks":

Our initial reaction to the photo gallery? It's the first item in the Standard's entire Shooting Story Series which actually won't taint a prospective local jury pool.

Martin Luther King Day Special

2012-01-16T10:43:00.013-07:00

Martin Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech - August 28, 1963

Learn a little more about that Great American Civil Rights Icon, Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we celebrate today in his honor.

Just a reminder of what today's federal holiday is all about, folks, for those who may be even slightly unclear about why they're getting "the day off."

Update 1/17/12 7:00 a.m.: The Standard website carries two stories this morning centered on yesterday's Martin Luther King Day celebration at Ogden's Marshall White Center:

Ogden’s Crime Rate Has Decreased, But Hype Is Misleading

2012-01-15T07:58:00.003-07:00

A new analysis of 25 years of crime statistics

By Dan Schroeder

Ogden’s crime statistics have been in the news again lately, mentioned in connection with the departures of Mayor Godfrey and Chief Greiner.

When Greiner was dismissed, the city issued a press release giving him credit for reducing Ogden’s crime rate by 33% between 1999 and 2009, “almost 50% more than the national average for the same period.” The Standard-Examiner had already printed the 33% statistic on November 27 in a list of Godfrey’s accomplishments, and printed it again on December 29 in an article about Greiner. The Salt Lake Tribune similarly reported that there was a 33% drop in Ogden’s crime rate between 1997 and 2009.

It’s been more than three years since this blog took a thorough look at Ogden’s crime statistics, so an update is in order. How has Ogden’s crime rate changed during the tenure of Godfrey and Greiner, and over the longer term? Is the 33% statistic correct?

These questions might seem relevant only to historians who want to assess the Godfrey-Greiner legacy. But the answers could also be of interest to potential clients of Godfrey’s new consulting firm, who have a legitimate interest in knowing his actual crime-fighting record. It’s also important that we not hold the new mayor, and the new police chief, to an unrealistic standard.

Fortunately, there’s quite a bit more data available now than there was three years ago. Of course, we now have data for three additional years: 2008, 2009, and 2010. (Data for 2011 won’t be available for several more months.) In addition, the FBI recently put some older data on its web site, available through its new UCR Data Tool. Finally, with the 2010 Census behind us, we now have a more reliable figure for Ogden’s population (which comes into calculating the crime rate, e.g., the number of crimes per 1000 residents).

Before getting into the numbers, I should explain that when we read about crime statistics in the U.S., those statistics almost always come from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program, which dates back to 1929. The advantage of the UCR system is that it is well defined and widely used. But unfortunately, it counts only certain types of crimes: so-called “violent crimes” (murder, nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault), and “property crimes” (burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft). The UCR statistics omit all other crimes including simple assault, fraud, drug crimes, traffic crimes, and so on. (Arson is sometimes included as a property crime in UCR statistics, but is not included in the data used for this article. This omission has very little effect on the overall numbers and trends.)

The UCR data can also be inaccurate or misleading in other ways. Local law enforcement agencies gather and report the data, and these agencies may not always interpret the FBI guidelines consistently. Some agencies might even misreport the data for political reasons. Even if the agencies’ reporting practices are perfect, they cannot report crimes that citizens never report to the police. And of course, the data tell us nothing about the causes of crime and of crime trends, which are extremely complex.

With these limitations in mind, here is a graph of Ogden’s UCR crime rate that goes back to the earliest available online data (1985). The rates for Utah and for the entire U.S. are shown for comparison.

The most striking feature of the graph is Ogden’s steadily decreasing crime rate over the entire time period shown. The occasional increases in the crime rate appear to be mere short-term fluctuations, superimposed on the strong decreasing trend. The Utah and U.S. crime rates have also been decreasing steadily, though only since about 1995 and 1991, respectively.

But the decrease has not been as steep as Mayor Godfrey and the newspapers have implied. If we average over the short-term fluctuations, the decrease from 1999 to 2009 was only about 24%, not 33%. Similarly, the decrease from 1999 to 2006 was only 17%, not 23% as Godfrey claimed during his 2007 reelection campaign. You can, of course, obtain either higher or lower numbers by cherry-picking the starting and ending dates to take advantage of short-term fluctuations. Perhaps coincidentally, if you look at the long-term trend since Greiner became police chief in 1995, the decrease is almost exactly 33%.

Furthermore, the decrease since 1995 has been entirely consistent with state and national trends. For example, between 1999 and 2009 the Utah and U.S. crime rates decreased by 30% and 19%, respectively, compared to 24% for Ogden (according to the long-term trend). While the Ogden Police Department obviously deserves a great deal of credit for working hard to keep crime rates down, there is no evidence that Ogden is anomalous in any way or that the mayor and police chief have somehow worked miracles. The only possibly significant discrepancy between Ogden’s crime rate and the state and national trends was actually in the late 1980s, when Ogden’s crime rate decreased while the Utah and U.S. crime rates were increasing.

The graph above also shows that Ogden’s crime rate has remained significantly higher than the state and national rates. But this difference is entirely expected, because crime rates are almost always higher in cities than in suburbs or rural areas. There are far more opportunities to commit crimes in cities, where many suburban residents regularly go for work, shopping, and entertainment.

The vast majority of UCR crimes are thefts of various types. Here is a breakdown of Ogden’s UCR crimes:

To a first approximation, the UCR “crime” rate is really just the larceny rate—with significant additional contributions from burglary and motor vehicle theft.

To get beyond this focus on theft, analysts often quote just the “violent” crime rate. This statistic is dominated by aggravated assaults and robberies, with a smaller contribution from forcible rapes and a still smaller contribution from murders and nonnegligent manslaughters. Here is a graph of Ogden’s violent crime data since 1985, again showing the Utah and U.S. data for comparison:

The most striking aspect of the Ogden data is its increasing volatility in recent years, with large upward and downward fluctuations. Any long-term trend is hard to discern: One could argue either that the overall trend has been flat throughout this time period, or that there was a gradual upward trend for the first decade followed by an even more gradual downward trend since the mid-1990s. The state-wide data do show a gentle rising and falling pattern of this type, while the national violent crime rate has risen and fallen rather dramatically (with a somewhat earlier peak).

While Ogden’s violent crime rate was below the national average through 1997, it has been above the national average most years since 1998. But this is because the national average has fallen—not because Ogden’s violent crime rate has risen.

In any case, we again find no evidence of any miraculous decrease in Ogden’s crime rate. The sharp decline in violent crime since 2007 has mostly just canceled out a sharp increase during the preceding three years.

There is one more law enforcement statistic that Ogden residents have occasionally heard over the years: the number of new police officers recently hired. For example, in 2007 Mayor Godfrey claimed that Ogden had hired 18 new police offers during his first two terms, and promised to soon hire six more. But data from the FBI web site (which ultimately come from the Ogden Police Department) do not support these numbers. Instead, the size of Ogden’s police force has grown at the same average rate as the total population, rising from 120 in 1999 to 131 in 2010, with a peak of 135 in 2008.

Finally, a technical note on population: Different agencies have used different estimates of Ogden’s population in non-Census years, and some of these estimates have shown unrealistic year-to-year fluctuations. Instead of using these contemporaneous estimates, I have retroactively estimated the annual population changes by making linear interpolations between Census years. As a result, I have eliminated a few spurious fluctuations in apparent crime rate statistics that were caused by fluctuating population estimates. The following graph compares the population estimates used here to the more erratic population estimates that are found on the FBI UCR web site:

For those who would like to see all the numbers that went into the graphs in this article, you can download the full spreadsheet here. Meanwhile, comments are invited from one and all.

1/4/12 Ogden Shootings Update: A Couple of New Editorial Pieces

2012-01-15T07:00:00.001-07:00

Editorial utterings on the "citizens right to know," and "a strong pitch for dialing down demands upon law enforcement officers"

Here are a couple more items in our WCF 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings series:

First, this morning's Standard-Examiner main editorial, wherein the editorial board urges, among other things, that law enforcement authorities ratchet up the flow of public information, arguing that "[i]t is extremely important, as well as the public's right, to know exactly what occurred at the raid, what the injuries are, and what is gathered at a reported "massive" crime scene":

OUR VIEW: Mourning our loss

Of course we already opined on this issue on 1/9/12:

Our view here at Weber County Forum? If the Weber County Attorney is intent to release information regarding this case, they should release ALL of it, or alternatively, nothing at all. Additionally we hope that local law enforcement investigators and County Attorney Smith will now expand their investigations to identify and punish those "sources close to the investigation" who seem hell-bent to "try this case in the public press."

The prospect of fully disseminating the evidence in re this investigation is of course is a double-edged sword. The more evidence that's released of course, the greater the risk of contaminating the local jury pool. Considering the volume of speculative (and mostly incriminating) information that's already been floating around, we're already having our doubts whether the suspect, Mr. Stewart, will ever be able to get a fair trial anywhere in or around Ogden, given the truly circus-like atmosphere which has developed in the 11 days since this tragic incident occurred. On the other hand, a full release of information would inevitably produce exculpatory evidence, as it already has actually has, now that the we're learning that the suspect was not armed with an AK-47, and that in truth, no "bomb" was discovered on Stewart's premises, contrary to earlier rumors and "reports."

Whatever the Weber County District Attorney does, however he should 1) clamp down on the "leaks" which suspiciously appear to be coming from investigation insiders, and 2) fully consult with Mr. Stewart's defense counsel, Mr. Richards, to reduce the possibility that any further public release of information won't result in a change of venue motion, which would surely operate to the detriment and considerable increased expense of prosecutors and defense counsel alike.

Yes, the public does have "a right to know." That collective right however does not... and should not override the defendant's right to a fair trial in this matter.

Second, we'll direct our readers' attention to a thoughtful op-ed piece appearing this morning on the Salt Lake Tribune website:

Pyle: America is hooked on a deadly anti-drug drug

Here's the concluding paragraph of Mr. Pyle's column, wherein he make a strong pitch for dialing down the demands upon "[law enforcement] officers who carry out the battlefield tactics of the drug war":

When we demand that our government cease its futile efforts to put an end to drug abuse in this violent manner, it must not be because we don’t honor men like Jared Francom. It must be because we do.

Regardless of how the facts ultimately shake out, we do believe that law enforcement authorities and legislators need to re-examine tactics and laws which amount to "sledge-hammer solutions to fly-swatter problems."

Nobody's life should ever be put at risk for a "pot bust," in our view.

That's our take; and we're stickin' with it.

And what about you?

Saturday Morning Ogden City News Roundup

2012-01-14T08:38:00.018-07:00

Everything our Gentle Readers ever needed to know about "Crime Blimps," "Back Door Godfrey Deals" and "Unruly Concert Audiences"

Several non Ogden Shooting Story items for our readers' attention, as we meander back to our main blog mission this morning, i.e., discussing "regular," nonviolent Ogden City news:

1) With reference to a couple of earlier Standard-Examiner-published pieces, i.e., "OUR VIEW: Deflated blimp," and "Crime center, blimp will provide safer community"; and acting on the tip from yet another sharp-eyed and alert Weber County Forum reader, we'll shine the WCF spotlight on yet another letter to the editor which just popped up on the Standard's online site, wherein Ogden resident David Willis puts on the full court press for the restoration of the now abandoned "'Quiet Earp' Blimp Project", and hammers the Standard-Examiner (and Ogden City Hall) rather unmercifully. Here are a few short snippets, for your reading pleasure:

What I find "curious" is that the cabal that makes up the editorial board and Caldwell are not well read enough to understand what is happening in this area of police work, they seem to have no knowledge on these matters yet comment and make policy, making Ogden less safe. The secret editorial board writes position pieces having zero research, zero knowledge of the repercussions, zero accountability and zero intellectual curiosity.

I refer you to my letter published Aug. 7, 2011, "Crime center, blimp will provide safer community." As I wrote then and as I write now, the newspaper is destructive and dangerous to the future of Ogden. Furthermore, the paper is a disgrace for again advocating and trying to justify reducing the tools available to the police, especially in light of recent events.

The Standard-Examiner has been and perhaps city hall will become, a place where logic is an enemy and truth is a menace.

Check out the full David Willis rant:

Paper's view 'disgraceful' regarding blimp idea

We don't know what to make of all this. So what about it WCF readers? Are folks like Mr. Willis unappreciated visionaries, or merely leftover Boss Godfrey era crackpots?

2) In the wake of our 1/2/12 WCF article, and Dan Schroeder's most excellent 1/3/12 S-E guest op-ed piece, we'll direct our readers' attention to this wisdom-laden Jim Bishop Letter to the Editor, which which makes a couple of strong recommendations to our new mayor, Mike Caldwell:

I recommend that the new mayor do two things: Return the $3,000 from Mr. Lesham and keep the back door to his office closed to the former mayor. Make him come in the front door like any other citizen.

Read Mr. Bishop's full letter here, which is a pretty good read in our view:

Ogden should make no back-door deals with Godfrey

Jim Bishop's a man who knows what he's talkin' about, don'tcha think?

3) Last but not least, here's another set of interesting WCF reader-submitted links, received via email a couple of days ago, prefaced by this brief introductory text:

I thought you should be aware of this story, because of the recent discussion at WCF about the disturbance at WSU's performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Alan Gilbert of the New York Philharmonic halted a performance last night after a cell phone went off. I think Dr. Palumbo is in good company.

Here are the links, for which we thank our un-named reader benefactor:

We'll also add that we fully concur with our unnamed gentle reader/tipster. The unfairly maligned Dr. Palumbo is indeed in the very best of company; and for the record, we'll go further and opine that the considerable heat that this no-nonsense "volunteer" conductor, Dr. Palumbo, took over this unfortunate incident were both mean-spirited and entirely undeserved.

Those are our takes... and we're stickin' with 'em.

We'd be curious to know, however, what our ever-savvy WCF readers think about all this.

1/4/12 Ogden Shootings Update: Affidavit: Shooter Said He'd 'Go Out in a Blaze of Glory'

2012-01-14T07:03:00.011-07:00

We'll continue to play the role of a news story aggregator and keep rounding up these stories and planting them on WCF's front page, however, so our readers won't have to hunt them down themselves

As a followup to yesterday's news, the Standard carries in its hard-copy edition front page an expanded story this morning, together with two interesting companion pieces which add background to the facts which continue to develop in the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings case:

Although the latter story refers to a letter to the editor to the editor submitted to the Standard by "a small group of female Weber County Jail inmates" who offer "special praise for Jared Francom," weirdly enough the letter doesn't seem to be yet available for viewing on the S-E site.

And here's another interesting and timely background piece from the Salt Lake Tribune, wherein regular Trib contributor Joseph Campbell reveals that "board members of the Utah Headliners Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists sent a letter to Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine Durham asking court administrators to review rules governing access to search warrants."

Campbell: Search-warrant secrecy limits public oversight

"Journalists say warrant rules are too vague, leading judges to seal records for trivial reasons. The rules also make warrants nearly impossible to unseal," according to Nate Carlisle, Tribune crime reporter and SPJ board member.

We'll continue to play the role of a news story aggregator and keep rounding up these stories and planting them on WCF's front page, however, so our readers won't have to hunt them down themselves.

Update 1/14/12 8:15 a.m.: One sharp-eyed and alert regular WCF Reader who goes by the handle Howee took the trouble to send us a short email this morning, which includes a link to a KSL story and video on this topic:

Matthew Stewart being charged with capital murder

Howee remarks that he "Can’t wait to hear both sides of the story," to which we'll offer our retort, "We couldn't be in more agreement."

Breaking: Matthew Stewart Charged With Aggravated Murder

2012-01-13T18:06:00.020-07:00

So much for the rumors however that Stewart had been armed with a dreaded AK-47

Breaking news in the 1/4/12 Ogden Shooting story.

Here's the lede from the Standard-Examiner's 5:30 p.m. story:

OGDEN -- The Weber County Attorney's Office has charged Matthew David Stewart with aggravated murder and eight other felonies in connection with the shooting last week that killed Ogden Police Officer Jared Francom and wounded five other officers.

Read the full S-E story here:

Stewart charged with aggravated murder

There's more from the Salt Lake Tribune's Nate Carlisle:

Charges filed in Ogden police shootings

The gist of it? Weber County Attorney Dee Smith reportedly alleges, among other things, that the suspect, Matthew David Stewart, " fired on police "from a concealed position at close range with a Beretta 9mm semi-automatic pistol, and that, according to the affidavit supporting the arrest warrant that Stewart's actions were premeditated, as set forth in this hearsay paragraph:

17. Since the shooting of January 4, 2012 officers investigating this case have learned that the defendant had previously made statements to an acquaintance during the summer of 2011 that if police attempted to stop the maijuana [sic] cultivation he would "go out in a blaze of glory and shoot to kill."

We'll continue to update this story as the situation develops.

So much for the rumors however that Stewart had been armed with a dreaded AK-47, with a thirty-round magazine, however.

Ogden Shootings Story Update: Three New Items From The Standard-Examiner

2012-01-13T06:07:00.014-07:00

Congrats to the Standard, as it continues to keep on top of this fast-developing story

Three more new 1/4/12 Ogden Shootings related items appear this morning's Standard-Examiner online edition, the first two of which are also carried on the front page of this morning's hard-copy edition:

1) Encouraging news from Weber County Sheriff Terry Thompson:

Strike force analyzes shootings for lessons in tactics, training

Many lumpencitizens have been wondering on public message boards, and various other places all over the nation, how a simple pot bust could have resulted in anyone's death; so it's reassuring to learn that Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force policies and tactics will soon be subject to an intelligent re-examination. Rather than to adopt new procedures which might escalate the level of violence in future police/suspect encounters. we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that the Strike Force Board of Directors will "learn from" this tragic experience, and formulate new practices which are in greater conformity with an ethos placing a high value on the protection of human life.

2) Disheartening news for all concerned in re this tragic incident:

Rounkles condition downgraded to serious

Out thoughts and prayers go out to OPD Officer Rounkles this morning. We're already hearing about the prospective filing of one aggravated murder charge in connection with this incident, which is one death penalty case too many, in our view.

3) As the story develops, the Standard offers this letter to the editor from one disgruntled reader, who hyperbolically complains that "[t]he state's propaganda machine that bestows police the 'hero' title is no different that the North Korean propaganda machine that called Kim Jong-il the supreme leader, and the funerals were similar":

Cop's funeral like that of Kim Jong-il

We're sure that S-E Editor Doug Gibson was well aware that the publication of this letter would stir up a hornet's nest, which is exactly what's happening in the S-E lower comments section, of course.

Congrats to the Standard, as it continues to keep on top of this fast-developing story, particularly with regard to our beloved home town newspaper's obvious commitment toward publishing material expressing even politically unpopular points of view.

That's it for now.

The floor's open for your comments, folks.

Thursday Morning Ogden City News Roundup

2012-01-12T09:05:00.019-07:00

A few recent news items, thrown out in the hope of getting a new discussion going this morning

Although we've been somewhat sidelined here at Weber County Forum by this week's tragic 1/4/11 Ogden Shootings story, we suppose it's time to get back into the regular "red meat news" swing of things, and resume our role as community watchdog for all things political, in and around Weber County. So here are a few recent news items, which we'll throw out in the hope of getting a new discussion going this morning:

1) Interesting article on the Standard-Examiner's business page this morning, reporting, that as a followup to Tuesday's RDA session, wherein the the Ogden City Council approved a parking lease agreement between the city and the successor developer of the Earnshaw Building Condo Project, we now learn that the subject parking lot will be turned over to the new developer, Steve Hopkins... get this... rent free.

We are not making this up, folks. Here's the key paragraph from this morning's S-E story:

While the city won’t be getting rent from the deal, Richard McConkie, the city’s community and economic development director, said the city figures that the property tax revenue generated by a completed building would increase the tax increment available to the city by as much as $200,000 annually through 2026.

Read the full S-E story here:

Ogden leases garage space to condo

Well, at least the beleaguered Ogden City taxpayers will be getting something out of this "sweetheart" developer deal, right? It's a lot better for the taxpayers than Ogden's last couple of parking lot giveaway deals, no?

Seems that around Ogden City, the more things change, the more they remain the same, dunnit?

2) Here's something we received by email yesterday from another alert WCF reader:

MAYORAL FAVORS: Yesterday I heard a bunch of pissed off people talking about Kym and Pete taking over the welcome wagon. A gal that was running it was wondering why rent is half of what she'd been paying, and why do they get the equipment etc., for "free"?

The reference to the "welcome wagon" refers to last week's Wasatch Rambler column of course, wherein Charlie Trentelman reported that "Pete Buttschardt, owner of Rooster’s and Union Grill, is making extremely positive noises about taking [the Tourist Welcome Center's Choo-Choo's Cafe] over."

While Mr. and Mrs. Buttschard did make a small ($150) donation to Mike Caldwell's 2011 mayoral campaign, we're not ready yet to suggest that Mayor Caldwell would on that basis alone give them preferential treatment; although we'll nevertheless be keeping a close eye on this situation, of course, and would welcome any further detailed "insider" information that any of our Gentle Readers may be able to provide, regarding The Caldwell Administration's efforts to to enter into contract with a new cafe operator.

3) Here's the latest S-E Op-ed contribution from Alan Hall, wherein Ogden's own "Captain of Industry" discusses "how to grow our local economy" and "add more people to the area workforce":

Careful and thoughtful cost cutting needed in down economy

After several earlier columns which were outright "snoozers," it's nice to see Mr. Hall finally launching into a topic where he has actual real-world expertise, we suppose.

4) And here's a thoughtful commentary from Weber County Democrat Steve Olson, who comments on the politically ridiculous Jon Greiner situation and also makes a strong and well-reasoned pitch to his "Republican friends" regarding the "need to respect the nation's conflict of interest laws, even if they disagree with them":

Greiner forged ahead because he disagreed with law

As a lifelong registered Republican (full disclosure here) we'll give Mr. Olson a definite thumbs up on this one. And what say my fellow liberty loving fellow Republicans about this?

That's it for now, O Gentle Ones. We do have a couple of additional items remaining on the WCF back burner, but we'll save them for later this week.

Have at it, WCF readers. The world-wide webosphere is sitting on the edge of its seat, waiting to hear what you think.