"Welcome to North Salt Lake. Please ignore the ugly gravel pit on your right." OK, there was never such a sign at the south entrance to North Salt Lake on U.S. 89. But the fact is, the yawning eyesore has tarnished the first impression of many visitors to a city that is much nicer than it presents itself at its border with Salt Lake City. So kudos are in order for the City Council for approving an agreement with Compass Development Group for a mixed-use development on 94 acres of hillside scarred by the abandoned gravel operation. The planned Eaglewood Village will be a walkable community of 570 residences and nearly 500,000 square feet of retail and office space. Just seven minutes from downtown Salt Lake City, the attractive village will fill up fast. And North Salt Lake residents won't feel an urge to tell visitors to enter their city from the north.

One of the sad realities of the massacre at Virginia Tech is that the perpetrator had slipped through the cracks in law enforcement, the courts, mental health care and academic and social networks, despite ample evidence that he was deeply disturbed and probably a danger to others. That is, of course, severe hindsight. But compare the Virginia case to what happened in Utah County when a student at Utah Valley State College, a refugee from war-torn Ethiopia, began exhibiting bizarre, threatening behavior and acquiring assault rifles. Provo Police Officer David Moore found one such weapon in a routine traffic stop in March, but his investigation was anything but routine. And even after resulting charges were dismissed or reduced, Moore and an Orem detective quickly followed up when roommates of Kidus Yohannes properly reported that he was making threatening statements toward police. Yohannes, who was arrested and jailed, wasn't allowed to slip through the cracks, thanks to law enforcement, his concerned mother and his roommates. Now, whatever happens, he will get some help.