Sadly, the reader underestimated the stupidity of Utah drivers.
That sting was Sept. 29 and a West Valley City police spokesman said it netted 73 stops, resulting in 43 citations. In fact, all nine of West Valley City's stings during the summer-long program funded by a federal grant were conducted in school zones, resulting in 649 stops, 319 citations for crosswalk violations and one DUI.
In all, 19 police agencies participated in the crosswalk-awareness program, resulting in more than 1,500 citations. Salt Lake City had the most, with 725 citations issued to drivers who drove through a crosswalk after a decoy cop had stepped off the curb. The fine for that violation, by the way, is $82.
Just the facts, ma'am: A reader recently received an e-mail solicitation from former U.S. Rep. Jim Hansen on behalf of Environmentally Conscious Consumers of Oil Shale (ECCOS), asking her to click on an attachment that would allow her to send a personalized comment to the Bureau of Land Management supporting royalty arrangements for oil shale development.
One problem. She is a state employee and received this political solicitation from Hansen on her state e-mail.
Not rocket scientists: Vandals over the weekend scratched the word "Facist" on the window of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s campaign headquarters on 300 South in Salt Lake City.
It's not clear if they meant to call the governor a "fascist" or if they wrote "facist" in the belief he has a fetish for faces.
Above and beyond: Randy Curtis of Express Shuttle truly does go beyond expectations when it comes to customer service.
I wrote last week that he was looking for the right cord to power up a pocket computer left in one of his vans so he could get the owner's information and return the item. Then I wrote Friday that my readers came through for him and he found the grateful owner.
Now, Margaret Anderson of Cottonwood Heights tells me that she had misplaced her garage door opener and had no idea where she had left it until she got a call from Curtis. He found the opener in one of his vans, checked his records to see who had been in the van recently, and eventually found the Andersons, who confirmed they had lost an opener. Curtis then drove to their house to return the misplaced property.
More nice news: Readers also came through for Donna Frazier, the 81-year-old woman who lives in Salt Lake City's Central City area and was brokenhearted recently when the three-wheel bicycle she uses to get around was stolen by thieves who broke the chain lock with bolt cutters.
She since has received enough donations to purchase a new bike.
Also, the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective, a nonprofit group that provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to promote cycling as an effective form of transportation, offered to donate a used three-wheel bike to the woman.
prolly@sltrib.com
