How dare they exercise their First Amendment right to free speech? Don't they know this is Utah?
One meeting was called by Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, and included Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, and Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper.
Dayton, in an e-mail I obtained through a government open-records request, told the senators she wanted state Schools Superintendent Patti Harrington to bring the Office of Education's attorney, Carol Lear, to the meeting to explain "her perspective in trying to undermine the Legislature."
"Patti reminded me that what Carol does on her own time is her own business as a citizen," Dayton wrote.
What a radical concept.
Harrington and State School Board Chairman Kim Burningham were summoned to another meeting with House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy.
In an e-mail to fellow board members, Burningham reported that Curtis implied he would have fired Lear. He also said Curtis hinted that the referendum movement would hurt the state Office of Education's future relationship with the Legislature.
Meanwhile: Parents for Choice in Education (PCE) recently sent a letter to school principals threatening legal action if petitioners for the referendum showed up on school grounds.
But then the letter suggests that if the referendum petitioners do come to a public school, "we hereby request that we are notified 48 hours in advance of each instance so that we may make available individuals with opposing viewpoints - at the same time and at the same location."
Perhaps they could divide the confrontation into 10 rounds, with a bikini-clad woman in high heels holding up a sign designating each round. And each side could have a spokesperson who could get on a microphone and call the other out before each round.
Warning to Bees fans: Don't park in the Lowe's parking lot just west of Franklin Covey field. Heed the signs that say the lot is for shoppers only and violators will be towed.
About a dozen fans unhappily found that out Thursday night when their euphoria over the Bees' 4-3 ninth-inning win over Las Vegas dissipated upon realizing their cars were gone.
The price of progress: Residents living near the road construction to extend the TRAX line were told the crews would save trees along 400 West, only to watch as the trees were yanked out by their roots, broken up and tossed into trucks.
They also endured having 15 trucks outside their windows with jackhammers on a Sunday morning.
But the kicker came last week when they learned that after the dirt was replaced over the road, raising hopes of imminent repaving, the crews forgot to put in the big storm drains, so they had to dig it all up again.
prolly@sltrib.com
