This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I have written before about certain attitudes in the Davis School District toward students who qualify for free or discounted school lunches.

Former School Board member Peter Cannon proposed free-lunch students get different colored tickets. He also wanted to give those pupils peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches instead of the regular hot meals.

Neither proposal passed.

Now the district's Nutrition Services office has changed its application process for free and reduced-price lunches.

All applications must be submitted online. Parents also must know their students' ID numbers and have Internet access and an email address.

A teacher at a Title I school says the students most likely to need discounted or free lunches frequently live in homes with no computers or with no Internet access. She says 20 percent of her students' parents don't have email addresses.

District spokesman Chris Williams says the push for online applications is a federal mandate. He said notices were sent last year to the homes of students who get free or discounted meals, detailing the online process and offering the option of filling out a paper application and presenting it at school.

He also said schools have employees on hand to help parents complete the application online.

But the teacher said her principal informed her that school administrators were told at a district meeting that all applications had to be online. She said many parents would not want to come to the school because of the embarrassment of applying for free or discounted lunches.

She fears some parents will give up and go without the assistance. So let them eat cake.'

He said, he said • I wrote in Wednesday's column about South Jordan City Councilman Chuck Newton's claim that one of his losing primary opponents, Andrew Petersen, attempted to bribe him to drop out of the race so that Petersen could get on the fall ballot.

Petersen did not respond to repeated attempts to reach him until after the column ran. When he finally did call, he said Newton made the whole thing up.

For his part, Newton stands by his statements and his letter to the City Council detailing the conversation he had with Petersen.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill has confirmed his office is investigating.

Kids will be kids • During their recent tour of southern Utah, legislators had the option of hiking in Arches or river rafting near Moab. Those who chose the water adventure got more than they bargained for.

Some lawmakers started throwing water from buckets into the other boats. An all-out water fight ensued. One legislative staffer — a Democrat, of course — was tossed into the river.

Most seemed to enjoy the watery war, but a few were not amused, especially since they were wearing watches and had their cellphones out.

Captive audience • While on buses during the tour, the legislators were treated to a video from the Utah Mining Association that talked about the virtues of oil, gas and coal exploration and the evils of President Barack Obama's clean-air initiatives.

One lawmaker complained that the Legislature spent $70,000 (the cost of the trip) to listen to lobbyist propaganda when they can do that for free at the Capitol.

Another video was presented by Sanpete County and made a one-sided argument about why disputed water rights with Carbon County should go Sanpete's way. Another lawmaker noted the video never explained that Sanpete wants the water for alfalfa while Carbon wants it for drinking water.

Twist and shout • The lawmakers also stopped at Dead Horse Point State Park and listened to a presentation from Grand County officials about their efforts to balance land use among conservation, recreation and energy development.

As they made the presentation, state Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, went into a frenzy, accusing the Grand County folks of stifling development and killing energy. He shouted and shouted.

When the officials insisted they had a balanced approach, he called them liars. His tantrum didn't stop until House Majority Leader Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, walked over, put his hands on Noel's shoulders and whispered in his ear.