But, first, Salt Lake City's freshman mayor must undergo a tutorial as he strives to decipher Utah's, some say, loony liquor laws.
"It's like hieroglyphics. It is so bizarrely complicated," the mayor's chief of staff, David Everitt, said before Becker's first meeting last week to try to understand the city's role in regulating alcohol sales.
Driven by a campaign promise, Becker is interested in boosting the number of bars allowed per block downtown. And he wants to simplify the process that business owners go through to get a liquor license.
"It is such a frequent complaint from visitors and from residents that the dispersal of [drinking] establishments makes this an unattractive downtown," Becker said. "We want downtown to be a vibrant, active place."
Becker didn't commit to a time frame for proposing a revision to the city's zoning for bars and pubs. He is unsure how long it will take to wade through the murky depths of state and city code. But he knows the next stop on his liquor-law trek: the storied alcohol map that shows the number of watering holes allowed on each Salt Lake City street.
Said the first-year mayor: "We want to talk to the keeper of the map."
T-shirt design is da bomb:
Was that a bomb that exploded in Sugar House, leaving a crater in the historic commercial center's core?
Nope, bulldozers and backhoes razed the eclectic shopping district in December to make way for a seven-story, mixed-use project, leaving a 4.5-acre cavity.
But Sugar House Coffee, one of many small businesses displaced by the demolition, commemorates the change differently. Now at 1045 E. 2100 South, the coffee shop sells T-shirts with a mushroom cloud billowing behind Sugar House's stone monument.
Around the grim scene are the words: "This bit of progress brought to you by": along with a list of 2005 Salt Lake City Council members, "The Rocky Anderson," the city's Redevelopment Agency and Planning Department. A few years ago, city officials approved a zoning change that paved the way for the redevelopment project.
After a several-month stalemate with the city over building plans, developer Craig Mecham now has a green light to fill his crater with condos, offices and street-level shops.
But visitors to Sugar House Coffee still will be treated to views of the old Sugar House, with a custom mural that depicts the coffee joint's old home, the defunct Nu-Crisp Popcorn store and the still-bustling Millies Burgers.
Sign, sign everywhere a sign:
West Valley City Council members recently jousted over the point at which a storefront sign crosses the line from effective advertising into trashy blight.
The council hashed out a new ordinance requiring businesses to scale back on their painted, paper, banner, inflatable, neon and other signs.
Councilwoman Carolynn Burt worried that Utah's second-most populous city was excessively restricting free enterprise and that determining the word "professional" was too subjective.
But pointing out the eyesores wasn't so hard for others. Councilman Joel Coleman won't miss the Christmas decorations a few stores use.
"I know it's tradition," he said, "but it looks trashy."
Councilman Mike Winder was quick to defend holiday ornaments until an epiphany hit. His family business, Winder Dairy, uses a snowman. "Come to think of it," Winder said, "that looks junky, too."
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