It ain't WalMart. Target, that store of cool TV ads and a new location in the heart of Salt Lake City, decided to donate to a tax-cutting Minnesota politician – but wound up alienating its suburban-hip national customer base. Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer also wants to ban same-sex marriage.
Butt out, Shurtleff. Common Sense Media, a pro-family group, fears the entertainment industry will enlist Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to weigh in on a U.S. Supreme Court case involving a California law banning the sale of violent video games to kids. Says the organization's director: "We find this perplexing given . . . your bio on Twitter states 'I am focused on protecting children, families and the citizens of Utah.' It is hard to believe that someone making these statements would support the video game industry's anti-child safety position."
Shurtleff's office had no comment as it reviews the case.
Not exactly a news flash. Folks out West, familiar with hunting and sports shooting, don't look at guns with the same fear and loathing as people in the District of Columbia, says D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson of a bill that would gut the District's strict gun laws. Western lawmakers are ignorant of the District's real world of hold-ups and drive-by shootings."The national debate about guns just misses that [East and West] are very different cultures. It's like a psychology, a mind-set, as to how people as a group think about guns."
Send Jared in. Springdale, Utah, the gateway to Zion National Park, wants to protect its local charm by banning chain restaurants. What seems like a good idea has naturally honked off Subway, who will likely drag the town of 500 into court. Says a lawyer for a group of sandwich investors: "My clients looked into it and absolutely believed that ordinance was unconstitutional."
FBI throws a party. A Salt Lake City blogger writes of having his home raided by FBI and ATF agents seeking information and evidence against the Animal Liberation Front in connection with a series of arsons, including two in Utah. "Ten agents with the FBI and ATF corralled myself and my roommates into the living room, handed us a search warrant, and spent the next five hours removing belongings from our home."
