The members meet in an old car-parts store in a strip mall where the buildings on both sides are empty and the pipes have been frozen the past two winters, forcing worshippers to relieve themselves in the parking lot, or drive a mile to the nearest gas station, or (shudder) go to the bar across the street.

Remember, Mormons meet for three hours straight on Sundays, but because of the plumbing situation, the Dunseith ward has been canceling Sunday School and Primary "because we can't expect kids to hold it for two hours," said one ward member.

LDS Branch President Robert Scholes says the situation "has been a mess." The toilets back up, and sometimes the ward clerk has to spend his worship time mopping up the mess, then driving to the gas station to wash his hands. (The bar is not an option.)

The city suggested keeping a faucet on to unfreeze the pipes. That resulted in six inches of water in the bathroom areas.

Scholes says the branch is working with the church's physical facilities department in Salt Lake City to see if anything can be done. But the church doesn't own the building.

One worshipper worries that when Dunseith hosts a stake conference, the stake president from Bismarck will be forced to relieve himself in the parking lot during services and end up getting busted by the town's lone, bored cop.

Perhaps it's the lottery? For some reason, Idaho officials seem to be better at math than Utah officials.

At least that's the conclusion of Steve Warren of West Valley City.

He recently wrote to Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter to compliment him for Idaho's ability to get their mileage signs right. He noted that last year he wrote to the Utah Department of Transportation and Gov. Jon Huntsman to let them know Utah's signs designating the distance to Pocatello, Idaho, were wrong.

He has heard nothing back, and the problem has not been fixed.

Warren personally logged the miles on his odometer while driving to Pocatello and comparing them to the mileage sings posted on I-15 in Utah.

The result: Sign said 104, actual 100; sign said 89, actual 84; sign said 85, actual 80; sign said 79, actual 73; and sign said 68, actual 66.

Once he got to Idaho, the signs were accurate 10 out of 10 times.

United they ride? Utah Democratic elected officials, like any species on the verge of extinction, might instinctively know they need to help each other along for the survival of the whole.

So when Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon was driving from his home in the Avenues to his office at the Government Center and noticed Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker walking to his office at the City-County Building, he offered him a lift - and Becker, although an avid walker and jogger, accepted.

prolly@sltrib.com