This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Salt Lake County Mayor's Office of Diversity Affairs escaped embarrassment by thwarting an event that surely would have called into question the office's sensitivity toward its own mission — diversity.
The office had planned a meet-the-candidates night featuring mayoral contenders Mark Crockett, the Republican, and Ben McAdams, the Democrat.
It was scheduled for Wednesday, which happens to be the sacred Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
When Diversity Affairs Director Rebecca Sanchez received word from members of the Jewish community about how offended they were, she apologized and quickly rescheduled for Oct. 18.
But the Jewish Community must be wondering about respect. One year, the Utah House of Representatives stayed in special session late into the night — on Yom Kippur, which forced the House's two Jewish members, both Democrats, to leave the session early without voting.
Wonder if that ever has happened on a Monday night?
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All in the family • Three days before a federal judge dismissed a libel lawsuit against West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder, the mayor hosted at his home a meet-the-candidates night for Republicans.
Among the candidates listed as special guests was 2nd Congressional District candidate Chris Stewart. The judge who on Monday dismissed the lawsuit against Winder was U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart — Chris Stewart's brother.
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Republican rifts? • Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, crossed party lines a bit recently when he wrote on his blog that he was endorsing Democratic Salt Lake County mayoral candidate Ben McAdams over Republican Mark Crockett.
Enough said.
But Urquhart wrote later he received an irate, harassing and "nutty" phone call from a man who chastised him for endorsing a Democrat.
He wrote down the number and sent a text asking who it was.
Turns out it was Crockett's campaign manager.
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Saving every penny • Guests at Gov. Gary Herbert's $1 million fundraising gala at the Grand America Hotel on Saturday night not only shelled out $500 per plate to listen to keynote speaker Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey, they also had to pay $3 for parking.
Typically, the campaign organizing a fundraiser at a hotel will pay for parking in advance. But when the guests arrived Saturday night, they were told the parking was not paid. So cars were backed up while each driver handed over the cash.
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Didn't get the memo • With dire weather reports of severe droughts and water shortages, east-bench neighbors of Salt Lake County-operated Canyon Rim Park at 3100 South and 2900 East were a little shocked that the sprinklers ran on Saturday from 9 a.m. to about 1 p.m.
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Hogging space • The Salt Lake County-operated Wheeler Historic Farm was a crowded place Saturday night, which created a severe parking problem.
But a large white pickup found a prime parking spot toward the front of the lot. In fact, it found four prime spots.
The driver situated the truck so it crossed the lines of four stalls, preventing anyone else from parking there; it stayed there all evening.
The truck had a Salt Lake County logo, a government license plate of 94201EX and a number on the bumper of 19351.