The Don't Amend Alliance is planning to run four television and four radio ads in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 2 election to try to convince Utah voters of the "unfairness" of Amendment 3. "Our ads are emotional. They show the people this amendment really will affect," said Alliance director Scott McCoy. The political issues committee opposed to the proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage is planning a fund-raiser/screening of the commercials tonight at the Tower Theater, 900 S. 900 East in Salt Lake City, from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is $5. McCoy acknowledges funding will determine the Alliance's education campaign. "We'd like to be on for the last two weeks of the election," said Josh Ewing, the Alliance's media consultant. Ewing says the Alliance ads will be targeted at daytime and prime-time viewers. "It doesn't make sense to put ads on a frequency that doesn't cut through the clutter. We'd like to have enough ads that people can really see and hear the ads with some degree of frequency."

Too hot to handle

Utah's proposed marriage amendment is too controversial for even the scions of business, religion and government to deal with.

The Alliance for Unity - an 18-member coalition of community leaders including Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Apostle M. Russell Ballard and Salt Lake Tribune Publisher Dean Singleton, organized to defuse divisive community issues - declined to discuss the topic last month.

An e-mail acquired through a GRAMA (Government Records Access and Management Act) request about the mayor's political activities at work reveals Anderson asked other Alliance members to consider discussing Amendment 3 at a September meeting. But Alliance co-founder Jon Huntsman Sr. and director Alexander Morrison, an emeritus LDS general authority, rejected the idea "because the Don't Amend Campaign is 'highly political,' " Anderson's secretary related.

Anderson decided not to attend the meeting, which ultimately was canceled. But the mayor still questions why the group would not take on the polarizing issue.

"In my view, this is exactly the kind of issue we should be discussing and working toward a consensus," Anderson said. "Discrimination against gays and lesbians ought to be forthrightly discussed by the Alliance for Unity. We're supposed to be dealing with issues that divide us in our community."

Cannon to D.C.

Utah Republican Rep. Chris Cannon returned to Washington Tuesday evening after spending nearly three weeks at home with his daughter, who has cancer.

Cannon's chief of staff, Joe Hunter, said the congressman wanted to be present for "some key votes" during the tail end of the session, which is expected to wrap up this weekend.

"His plan is to stay there through the weekend unless something comes up," said Hunter.

Cannon has declined to talk publicly about his 25-year-old daughter Rachel and her battle with a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

Rachel Cannon was first diagnosed more than three years ago, but responded favorably to surgery and therapy. In early September, doctors told her that her tumor had returned and metastasized.

Family values

Democratic 1st Congressional District candidate Steve Thompson is using a nontraditional campaign ploy to grab the public's eye: self-help seminars focusing on the traditional family.

The Logan City Councilman has spent a small chunk of his campaign stash on Family Empowerment Seminars led by Steven Drozdeck, a Logan resident and former Merrill Lynch stockbroker who has written how-to books on keeping families intact and connected.

The seminars are free and open to the public. Thompson refrains from handing out campaign material or taking donations at the talks.

"It's just a good way for me to try to give to back the citizens in the 1st District. It's really fun and mind-expanding," said Thompson.

"The seminar shows how our perceptions sometimes control our actions, and how we can change by changing our perceptions."

Drozdeck leads seminar participants through both mental and physical exercises that he claims will help families "unlock an unknown strength."

For seminar dates and times visit: http://www.stevethompson forutah.com/

Information about Drozdeck can be found at http://www.drozdeck.com.