The electronic information source has a detailed account of the Utah Legislature, describing its organization and its committees makeup, and with a biography for each member.
If you click on Becker's bio, this is what you get:
"Ralph Elihu Becker (January 29, 1907 - August 24, 1994) was an American Ambassador to Honduras from 1976-1977 under the Ford administration. He was a founding trustee of the National Center for the Performing Arts and served as its general counsel during the Eisenhower administration.
"He was born to a tailor from Lithuania and a mother from Minsk. He earned his law degree from St. John's University law school in 1928. He served in the Judge Advocate Corps in World War II, attached to the 30th Division. He landed in Normandy after D-Day and won a Bronze Star, along with medals from the Belgian, French, and Dutch governments.
"After his discharge, he went to Washington, D. C., and became the chairman for the Young Republican National Committee. In the 1960s, he joined an Arctic expedition that he had helped sponsor, and brought back a pair of polar bears as a gift for the National Zoo. From 1976-1977 he was rewarded for his lifetime of loyal service to the Republican Party with an appointment as ambassador to Honduras. On August 24, 1994, he died of congestive heart failure, and was buried soon afterward in Arlington National Cemetery."
Our Ralph Becker, while a formidable government servant in his own right, is kind of boring next to this guy.
Plus, our Ralph Becker is still alive.
Who's giving tickets? Midway between State and 200 East on 200 South is one of the more dangerous intersections in Salt Lake City, where Mayor Rocky Anderson has made available orange flags for the more adventurous pedestrians.
At 6:28 p.m. last Friday, a woman was in the crosswalk, armed with her trusty orange flag. The car in the curb lane stopped, but Salt Lake City Police car number 40365 blew right through with only a slight tap of his brakes, startling the woman and shocking onlookers.
The officer apparently wasn't responding to an emergency. He stopped at the next red light.
Meanwhile: Motorists going northbound on Bangerter Highway at 5:23 p.m. Monday were passed by a speeding Murray City Police Department squad car number 551, license 83433EX, who was not staying in his lane very well from 4700 South to 4100 South. He didn't seem to be on assignment.
He had two passengers in his car and was chatting away.
No child left behind? The Utah Taxpayers Association's latest newsletter features a column from its president, Howard Stephenson, who also happens to be a Republican state senator.
Stephenson wrote that economic illiteracy is a threat to liberty. But he misspelled "illiteracy."
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Paul Rolly welcomes
e-mail at prolly@sltrib.com.
