Volunteers of America, a nonprofit agency serving homeless individuals and families with substance-abuse issues, recently purchased a 5-foot-by-10-foot flatbed trailer to help move clients into housing and to gather donations for the Homeless Outreach Program and the Homeless Youth Drop-In Center.
The trailer was secured to a section of railing in the 4th Street Clinic parking lot when Scrooge came along, cut the lock and stole the trailer, even though it was in a gated parking lot.
So far, the police have been unable to find it.
The trailer cost $1,000, which is the exact amount of the deductible on the insurance policy.
Somebody's in trouble: Utah Business magazine's online readers were offered a list of stories to peruse Wednesday, with a synopsis of each story and a "read more" link to click if one wanted the whole story.
Description of one of the stories: "Historical Novel Exposes Atrocities Surrounding 1857 Utah Massacre." But clicking on "read more" produced the message: "This story has been removed."
No lunch breaks? Tuesday, during Tracy Aviary's afternoon "free flight" bird program playing to a packed amphitheater, Harry, one of the aviary's Harris hawks, didn't follow the script.
Deana Waltz, the avian education manager, had just explained to the audience that these hawks eat plenty of rodents and then told them to watch as this magnificent bird was about to fly over their heads.
Instead of flying over their heads, though, Harry flew from his perch to the ground at the back of the amphitheater, stayed there for a few seconds, and then flew to the tree where he was supposed to go.
It turns out that Harry spotted a mouse during the introductory remarks and, hey, when opportunity knocks . . .
Is there a message here? The Real Salt Lake float broke down at 200 East and South Temple Tuesday morning, just one block into the Days of '47 Parade, and had to be towed through the rest of the route by the parade committee's "float doctor."
Funny. Last year, it was Larry Miller's Utah Jazz float that broke down and required towing through the parade by the float doctor, using a towing vehicle, by the way, supplied by Ken Garff.
Who's minding the store? An electronic flashing sign that sits on the State Street median between North Temple and South Temple, facing north, flashes contact information for people wanting to find out what is happening in downtown Salt Lake City.
One problem: The information is unreadable because the screen is covered with graffiti, and has been for weeks.
Did anyone tell Jefferson? Customers of XMission received an e-mail announcement earlier this week letting them know that the Internet service provider would be closed July 24 "for Independence Day."
prolly@sltrib.com
