This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 75-year-old concealed-weapon-permit holder was walking his dog recently when he dropped his loaded .22-caliber Beretta on the playground of Oakdale Elementary and didn't notice it was missing until he got home.
Fortunately, a teacher found the gun before a student did. She turned it into the office, where Principal Kierstin Draper called the police.
Cottonwood Heights Police Chief Robbie Russo said the gun owner had called police earlier to report he had lost his gun during his walk, so they easily connected the weapon at the nearby Sandy school to its owner.
Russo was so upset about the incident that he gave a report to the Cottonwood Heights City Council last week.
His department sent the case to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, which concluded no law was violated and declined to file charges.
Russo expressed frustration that the city cannot bar firearms being carried on school grounds because the pro-gun Utah Legislature has passed laws allowing weapon holders to pack there.
Russo said the gun may have been dropped on the playground as early as 6:30 a.m. on March 30. The teacher found the gun at about 8 a.m., before classes started.
"I'm glad a kid didn't find it first," Russo said. "We might have had an entirely different outcome."
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Voter suppression? • Eliza McIntosh is Ms. Wheelchair Utah and was a delegate at Saturday's state GOP convention.
McIntosh loved taking part in most of the convention business, but she was not allowed to vote on an important resolution because she cannot stand.
Delegates used electronic clickers to vote for candidates in the convention hall, but when it came time to decide resolutions, party Chairman James Evans called for voice votes.
On one resolution, though, the voice vote was too close to call, so Evans had the delegates stand to show which way they were voting.
An elderly gentleman sitting near the front said it was difficult for him to stand and asked to use the e-clickers instead. Evans insisted on a standing vote.
So that man couldn't vote, nor could McIntosh or several others in wheelchairs.
The resolution, which passed, was to nullify federal overreach. Would that include the Americans with Disabilities Act?
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Hatch is No. 4 • Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has the fourth-highest disapproval rating of the 100 U.S. senators judged by their own constituents, according to a poll conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Morning Consult, a media and survey technology company.
The firm conducted surveys in every state to determine the popularity of senators on their home turf. The most popular was Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., with an 80 percent approval rating. He was followed by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine (79 percent). John Hoeven, R-N.D. (74 percent), Angus King, I-Maine (74 percent), and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. (73 percent).
The least popular was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., with a 49 percent disapproval rating. Only McConnell and Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who was second-most disliked at 42 percent, had disapproval ratings higher than approval ratings.
The third-least popular was Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., 42 percent disapproval, followed by Hatch at 41 percent disapproval (with 49 percent approval), and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. (41 percent disapproval).
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, had a 48 percent approval rating and 29 percent disapproval rating.
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Quick draw • A prominent Utah Republican parked his car Wednesday morning in front of the Alta Club on South Temple. As he walked into the building for a meeting, he opened his Salt Lake City parking app, entered his parking stall and payment information, charging enough on his card to cover 90 minutes of parking.
It took him a minute to do that, but during that minute, a parking enforcer swooped in like the flying monkeys did to Toto and gave him a ticket, which he didn't discover until he returned to his car after the meeting.
The ticket had to have been written just seconds before he finished paying through his app.
Jesse Owens wasn't even that fast.