Extreme recycling: Seven cities in the Salt Lake Valley are working to turn dirty garbage into clean energy, contracting with a Michigan firm to tap rotting refuse at the Trans-Jordon Cities landfill. Trans-Jordan is a jointly-owned-and-operated subsidiary of the cities of Draper, Midvale, Murray, Riverton, Sandy, South Jordan and West Jordan, which are doing their part to solve the climate crisis and meet future energy needs. The garbage creates methane, which will be converted into enough clean, renewable electricity to power 3,500 to 4,000 homes.

Taxpayer bailout: When Provo was deciding whether to launch itself into the telecommunications business with iProvo, we warned the city against it, saying that it was unfair competition for private providers. Provo has since learned something of the risks that caused the dot.com bubble to burst. Last week the city plowed $1.2 million in taxpayer funds into iProvo to shore up its debt payments. So far the system has not attracted enough subscribers to break even. We hope that this is the last emergency infusion of taxpayer cash into the venture, but we won't be surprised one whit if it's not.