Thrilla in Manila, so to speak (although Manila is in Daggett County).

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff had spotted a residency violation and would assert his authority to stamp out that sort of vice before it became an epidemic.

David Brickey, who had been appointed Summit County attorney in 2005 when the incumbent left the office to become a judge, was elected in his own right in 2006 and was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2007.

Ah, but alas, he was renting a condominium in Park City and owned a home in Salt Lake County. So the state stepped in.

Shurtleff's office filed a motion for a declaratory judgment to remove Brickey from office on the grounds he was not a legal resident of the county he is beholden to serve.

Brickey retained Salt Lake attorney Dan Berman and the fun began.

Motions, countermotions, the pile of documents grew to a foot deep, 2 feet deep, 3 feet deep.

An in-depth local television story chronicled the residency confusion. Shurtleff would get his man.

Then it all came to a head on Aug. 8. Second District Judge

Thomas Kay considered motions for summary judgment from both sides. He then declared from the bench that the attorney general's case was, well, no case. He dismissed the complaint.

The moral of the story: All that paper can be recycled.

Oh, those little conflicts: LaVarr Webb's Utah Policy Daily bills itself as "Today's political briefing: Key developments and analysis for Utah policymakers."

The Web site gathers all the relevant news and provides links to all the relevant information a Utah policymaker would want.

But there was one glaring omission. There was nothing about Utah Taxpayer Association Vice President Royce VanTassell's commentary published Aug. 12 in the Deseret Morning News that blasted Hogle Zoo's proposed $65 million bond.

You don't suppose the oversight has anything to do with the fact that Webb's firm, the Exoro Group, is contracted to run the campaign in favor of the bond if the County Council agrees to put it on the ballot, do you?

Blowin' in the wind: Wouldn't it be nice if the Alta Club, which caters to some of the most influential high rollers in Salt Lake County, could afford to fly in front of its building on South Temple an American flag that wasn't so dilapidated and faded it is hardly recognizable?

Crime and punishment: This sign was spotted near the cashier's desk at the Baja Cantina Restaurant in Park City: "Unattended children will be given an espresso and a puppy."

Competitive rates? A license renewal form mailed to pet owners by Holladay City seems to be saying that a lifetime license for spayed or neutered senior citizens costs only $15.

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