But nothing was said by Utah officials when a 12-year-old American citizen of Indian descent was basically orphaned in Utah when his parents were forced to leave the country after his father's 16-year-long appeals for asylum were turned down by federal officials.

Huntsman had no authority over the fate of Ken and Sarita Sah, who were at the mercy of the federal immigration bureaucracy. But Utah's U.S. senators and congressional representatives could have intervened. And top state officials were mum on the deportation of the Green River hotel owners last summer.

Sah had come to the U.S. on a student visa in 1990 and applied for asylum because, as a Hindu, he faced danger in his home region of India, which is dominated by Muslims. His constant appeals were repeatedly rejected, and last summer he and his wife were ordered to leave the country or face arrest.

But their 12-year-old son, Kunal, who was born in the U.S. and is a citizen, stayed behind because he wanted to remain in school in Green River and represent Utah, for the second time, in the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

What's in a word? Richard Lainhart took a last-minute package filled with Christmas gifts to the U.S. Postal Service's self-service Salt Lake City Sunnyside branch to mail it just before Christmas. The next day, the postal carrier brought the package back to Lainhart's house as "undeliverable."

The carrier said the box couldn't be mailed because it contained the label "Wine Glasses."

In Utah, just the word "wine" made the contents contraband, even though they had nothing to do with wine.

UTA in the dark: Blake Hills rides the bus daily on UTA Route 60 from Bountiful, through Woods Cross and into Salt Lake City.

He recently e-mailed UTA to ask if the construction on 500 South in West Bountiful would cause a detour on that route. UTA e-mailed back that there would be no detours in December.

So on Dec. 18, he waited in sub-freezing temperatures for a bus that never came because 500 South was completely blocked off for commuter rail construction.

UTA gave no notice of the detour, after specifically stating there would be none. When Hills complained to UTA, he was told they were unaware of the roadblock, even though it was caused by a UTA construction project.

Cause and effect: Mike Paar of Sandy was driving the 40 mph limit on 700 East just north of 8600 South last week when he was tailgated by UTA paratransit vehicle number 03244, license plate 59902EX, which then whipped around him, darted in front of him, and began tailgating the next car in its way.

It made Paar wonder if the aim of the vehicle was to transport people in wheelchairs or create people in wheelchairs.

prolly@sltrib.com