This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

I recently wrote about the National Republican Committee demand that the Democratic Salt Lake County mayoral candidate remove the elephant logo from the Republicans for Ben McAdams page on Facebook because the GOP symbol is copyrighted.

The McAdams campaign removed the image, despite the fact the McAdams elephant was a different color than the GOP's venerable leviathan.

State Republican Chairman Thomas Wright told me the party would also request that the Utah Republican Party Unofficial Group either change its name or take down its Facebook page.

The issue is similar. The party can't have an unauthorized group using its copyrighted name, even if it calls itself "unofficial."

That was in August and no action has been taken. Wright, of course, is less enthusiastic about going after Republicans than a Democrat.

The unofficial group was started by GOP stalwart Aaron Browning after Wright put limitations on the comment board of the official Utah GOP page.

But now, on the unofficial page, folks are taking the party to task. The latest volley was thrown by Morgan County Chairman Lars Birkeman. He complained the state party wants county organizations to send it as much money as possible and he, for one, won't do it. He believes county money should go to local candidates.

State GOP Executive Director Ivan Dubois says Birkeman was never asked directly to hand over the money because he has not been to recent meetings. Birkeman says he learned of it from other party officers who attended meetings where the request was made.

Wright, blistering from the friendly fire, says he might be more motivated to do something about the unofficial Republican site.

Richard Burwash rides again • A weekly newspaper in the southeast Salt Lake Valley was duped into taking sides in the contentious Millcreek Township incorporation fight.

A recent insert in the The Millcreek Journal argued for incorporation, to be decided by voters Nov. 6, with no indication it was an advertisement or who paid for it.

After an angry letter from a Millcreek resident opposed to the incorporation, publisher Boyd Peterson quickly posted an apology online and promised the apology would appear in the paper's next edition.

Peterson explained the pro-incorporation group paid the Tooele Transcript Bulletin, which prints the Valley Journals, to print a newsletter for the residents. It then was offered as an insert in the Millcreek Journal and was not read by editors before publishing.

Peterson said in the apology that the incident has prompted the editors to review the policy of not reading inserts before publishing.

The Millcreek Journal assured readers in the apology it is not taking sides on incorporation.

A mandate is a mandate is a … • A Bountiful resident listened to the KUER broadcast of Sen. Orrin Hatch at the Hinckley Institute of Politics on Monday and heard Hatch forcefully condemn President Barack Obama's individual health insurance mandates.

He then went home and opened a letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency telling him he lives in a flood zone and is required to maintain flood insurance.

Hatch has only been in the Senate for 36 years, so he probably hasn't had an opportunity to push legislation to eliminate that individual mandate. But give him another term and he'll get right on it.