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Podcast Watch
Jennifer Napier-Pearce’s InsideUtah.com podcast interviews Envirocare Senior VP Tim Barney on plans to expand Envirocare, and obtains analysis from citizen watchdog Claire Geddes and Salt Lake Chamber president Lane Beattie. Other features include Salt Lake City Councilwoman Jill Remington Love on covering domestic partners, and Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini on embracing the homeless.
Pres. Valentine: Rescue Guy
By Hayden Hill
Rappelling down high-angle, sheer cliff ravines may not be the extracurricular activity you might expect from one of Utah’s most powerful politicians, but that’s exactly what Senate Pres. John Valentine does for fun.
As a leader of Utah County Search and Rescue, Valentine has been volunteering this summer to help  the University of Utah record archaeological siteslocated on cliff faces on the Range Creek Ranch in eastern Utah. With ropes and carabineers in hand, he rappels down cliffs and sets up lowering systems so that archaeologists can get an otherwise impossible glimpse at the over 1000-year-old contents of storage granaries hanging on the sheer canyon walls.
Referring to it as his “avocation” (he isn’t paid for his rescue work, but saving people’s lives isn’t usually considered a “hobby,” either), Valentine has been  volunteering for Search and Rescue for the last 25 years. His wife Karen also became involved in Search and Rescue because of their German Shepherd Chickory and the obvious canine application in rescue work. Now, as one of Search and Rescue’s four lieutenants, Valentine not only directs a variety of aspects within Search and Rescue but continues to play a hands-on role in the missions. In June, Valentine worked with the Utah County Sheriff’s Swift Water Rescue Team along the Bear River, searching for 11-year-old Brennan Hawkins.
First introduced to the Range Creek project by Deseret Morning News reporter Jerry Spangler, Valentine’s interest was piqued when he learned the digs would require the high-level mountaineering skills his team possessed. Without using any fixed bolts or damage to the cliff rock, the team helps archaeologists reach the sites and collect information on the size and contents of the granaries, while collecting samples of maize, soil and wood for radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology studies (tree-ring dating and climate reconstruction).
Valentine recalls the excitement of the archaeologists when he presented a way to get down the cliffs. “They said that they hoped some day to be able to get to the sites. I told them that some day is here, and offered them our expertise. They were able to access six sites that up to that point they only dreamed of.” In addition to providing the archaeologists with a means of access, Valentine was also able to help on the legislative side by supporting funding to protect what he calls one of the “great jewels” of Utah.
And just in case juggling his full-time job as an attorney, being president of the Utah State Senate, and scaling up and down vertical rock isn’t enough, the more-than-meets-the-eye Valentine is also a CPA and a registered EMT. Oh, and the next time you see him you might want to ask him about his lead guitar days in a rock band, too.
Blog Watch
Wall Street Journal says a number of respected economists are now blogging. Check out:
www.econbrowser.com, www.macroblog.typepad.com, www.voxbaby.blogspot.com, www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type, www.bigpicture.typepad.com, www.stern.nyu.edu/globalmacro.
Washington Watch
Hatch: NARAL Should Apologize
Sen. Orrin Hatch has called out NARAL, a pro-abortion group, telling the group to apologize and withdraw its cable TV ad attacking Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. A Hatch press release says the ad deliberately distorts Roberts’ judicial record in suggesting Roberts condoned abortion clinic violence. “This ad…has only one goal: to associate John Roberts with violent extremists,” Hatch said. Hatch noted that even Walter Dellinger, who is pro-choice and a former Democratic solicitor general, called the ad ‘unfair.’
$500K Grant for Law Enforcement
Salt Lake City and County law enforcement agencies will receive $528,048 in federal funds for fighting crime, says an Orrin Hatch press release. The funds from the U.S. Department of Justice will be used by SLC on K-9 dogs, laptop computers, tasers, training, and other programs, while the county will purchase tasers, cameras, crime scene equipment, surveillance and monitoring devices, and other equipment.
DOJ Grant for Draper Police
The Draper City Police Department is receiving a $75,000 grant under the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services program.
Casual Friday
Urban Chicken Watch
I will admit to being sort of a farmer at heart. I partly grew up on a small farm and we had a cow (which I hated to milk), chickens, sometimes a pig or two, and a big garden. For the past 35 years, I’ve been an animal-free (except for a few household pets) urban/suburban dweller. But sometimes I wish I had a few farm animals to raise (and maybe eat).
Anyway, it was fun to read an article in Catalyst magazine about Salt Lake urbanites who happen to have a few chickens clucking around in their back yards, eating bugs. Unlike me, I don’t think any of the people highlighted in the article would ever eat their chickens, because they consider them pets. These urban chicken farmers should watch out. It’s probably perfectly illegal to keep chickens in most urban Utah back yards, so keep those chickens quiet. But, hey, what’s a little chicken civil disobedience as long as they keep the grasshoppers down?
One other thing I happen to know about chickens . . . they’re hard to herd. But if you want to be a Utah legislative leader, herding chickens is dang (to use a farm term) good practice.
James Taranto's Newspulper Headlines....
- Usually They're a Lot Older: "Scan Finds Mummy Between 4 and 6 Years Old" --Associated Press
- 100%, We're Guessing: "Fitness Level Predicts Likelihood of Death" --WebMD.com
- The Other 296,834,334 Have No Opinion: "48 Think Bush Is Honest, Poll Says" --Associated Press
- What Makes Him Think Any Other Race Will Take Him?: "Candidate Exits Race After Racist Writings" --Associated Press
- Guess We Can Quit Checking the Himalayas: "Giant Waves Found in the Earth's Oceans" --Associated Press
(Source: The Federalist Patriot)
Best of Late Night Humor
David Letterman.... "Top Signs Your Kid Is Spending Too Much Time On The Internet": Used to be called "Larry" -- now calls himself "Larry dot com"; Every conversation turns into a sales pitch for low-interest mortgage rates; You call it a cold -- he calls it being infected with spyware; Bought his prom date on eBay; Only thing on his iPod -- that dial-up modem connection sound; You have to move because he lost your house to an online casino; You catch him Googling himself.
Jay Leno.... President Bush is the fittest president in history. They said it's because he spends a lot of time exercising. See a lot of our previous presidents wasted that time reading. .... A lot of people are very critical of President Bush for taking the entire month of August off for his vacation. But his staff points out, there's nothing at the White House he can't do at the ranch because the ranch is fully equipped. It's got the treadmill, the weight room, the jogging path, the big screen TV, they get Nickelodeon. . . . |
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