Future tense: It's decision time for residents of Salt Lake County's townships. Do you want to form your own city? Be annexed by another? Remain unincorporated but withdraw from the township? Or maintain the status quo? Inquiring minds want to know, and they've mailed you a survey that should arrive this week. Elected officials will use the results to develop a plan that could make your dreams come true, so take the time to respond to the survey and help determine your future. For more information, you can read a study that outlines your options at www.saltlakecountysurvey.org.

Blown fuse: The order from the Taiwanese military in the fall of 2006 called for four helicopter batteries. The civilian warehouse contractor at Hill Air Force Base shipped ballistic missile fuses instead. Oops! And to make matters worse, it took until this year for the U.S. to realize the full extent of the mistake, and request the fuses back. Profuse apologies were issued to an angry China, which already takes a dim view of U.S. military aid to its breakaway province. And answers are owed to the American people, starting with this question: Is privatization of U.S. military functions really a good idea?

Virtual tour: Curious about what City Creek Center, the two-block remake of downtown Salt Lake City, will look like? You can glimpse a virtual tour of the project at www.downtownrising.com. Click on the graphic that says Featured Development: City Creek Center in the middle of the page. There you can get a virtual walking tour, combined with aerial views, of the massive redevelopment of the two blocks that used to house the ZCMI Center and Crossroads Plaza, both now demolished. True, it's only a computer simulation, but it gives a feeling for the open, multilevel design, the water features and the Main Street sky bridge that the developer, the LDS Church, has described. We give it a virtual thumb up.