Why?

The voucher foes feared that if word got out about plans to repeal the wishes of the legislative majority by appealing to the wishes of the public majority before the session ended, the Republican power brokers would push through a bill at the last minute to make the referendum process more difficult.

While there is a deadline during the legislative session on when new bills can be introduced, lawmakers get around that by introducing "box car" bills, which are numbered but have no language. The referendum advocates feared if word got out about their plans, legislative leaders would use a box car bill to thwart their efforts.

From the heart: Former Republican state legislator, Utah Public Service Commissioner and longtime advocate for public education David Irvine suffered a massive heart attack on Jan. 23 and remained in an induced coma at LDS Hospital for nearly four weeks.

He regained consciousness on Feb. 19, but remains in the hospital and is awaiting a heart transplant.

When he learned the voucher bill passed the Legislature during his coma, he requested a referendum ballot from Utahns for Public Education. He has been gathering signatures for the referendum to repeal the law from visitors, hospital personnel and fellow patients.

The learning curve: The U.S. Postal Service left cards last week asking customers to complete a quality-of-service survey, including the question: "Have you received any mail at your address that was intended for a different address?"

Jerry Parkstone of Salt Lake received the card addressed to him - and several others addressed to his neighbors.

Sounds of silence: Media chain ClearChannel has been accused of institutionally fusing its talk-radio format with its pro-George W. Bush agenda. And anyone wondering whether that affects its TV stations is accused of being a gossipy pooh-bah - the same type of person who believes Sean Hannity doesn't always tell the truth.

So it must have been a coincidence Tuesday when technical difficulties prevented Salt Lake City viewers from listening to Rory Kennedy, daughter of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and producer of the documentary "The Ghosts of Abu Graib."

She was a guest on ABC's "The View" - carried by ClearChannel station KTVX, Channel 4 - and was talking about the abuses at the prison in Iraq.

When she began speaking, the sound went off. It stayed off until she was done.

Carol Greely switched to different channels to see if it was her television, but the audio was fine on every station except Channel 4. She called the station for an explanation, but no one returned her call.

prolly@sltrib.com