This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Eric Moutsos is fast becoming the "Where's Waldo?" of Utah news.
You remember Moutsos. He is the former Salt Lake City police officer who resigned from the department after he was placed on paid leave for refusing to ride his motorcycle in the gay Pride Parade.
I have written about him several times recently.
First, when the Sutherland Institute sent an email to its subscribers announcing that Moutsos had joined the conservative Salt Lake City think tank to do fundraising and community outreach. Sutherland has been one of the most outspoken groups against same-sex marriage.
I mentioned Moutsos again when I learned he had been the police officer who cited two gay men for trespassing after they showed affection for each other on the LDS Church-owned Main Street Plaza. Those charges later were dismissed.
Moutsos popped up again after I learned he played a role in the Evander Holyfield-Mitt Romney bout by providing the former heavyweight champ's cellphone number to Josh Romney, setting the stage for the fundraiser. Moutsos, it turns out, was a country singer on a record label headed by Holyfield.
Enter Moutsos again.
This time, the former cop, who refused to participate in a parade celebrating gay rights and who now works for an organization vigorously fighting same-sex marriage, did something unexpected:
He attended Sunday's wedding at the Gallivan Center of Derek Kitchen and Moudi Sbeity, plaintiffs in the historic lawsuit that, eventually, toppled Utah's ban on same-sex marriage.
Moutsos posted on his Facebook page pictures of himself and the happy couple taken during the wedding celebration. He explained that he and Kitchen had become friends while they followed Utah's landmark anti-discrimination bill at the Legislature and that Kitchen had invited him to the wedding.
While he still holds to his religious beliefs that marriage should be between a man and a woman, Moutsos described Kitchen and Sbeity as "two great individuals" and wished them well "on their journey together."
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Lassie come home? • Kevin and Tiffeny Pickett departed May 5 for a weeklong anniversary vacation to Mexico and left their beloved 14-month-old Llewellin setter, Kate, with a cousin for the week.
When the couple returned May 13 and called to pick up the dog, they were told by the distraught relative that Kate, although she was familiar with the cousin's family and the home, had dug a hole underneath the fence and took off.
The cousin had no way of reaching the Picketts while they were in Mexico, but they did call Salt Lake County animal control and were told the shelter had no dog matching Kate's description.
When the Picketts called animal control a week later, they were told Kate had been picked up May 5 and had been there for a week. When they went to pick up their dog, they learned it had been put up for adoption and had been taken by another family an hour before the Picketts arrived.
After much pleading by the Picketts, an animal-control officer called the adopters to see if they would give up the dog, since it had been a member of the Pickett family.
The adopting family, after thinking it over, said no.
The Picketts' 10- and 12-year-old daugthers were devastated, said Kevin, and cried for days.
Then, a funny thing happened. Animal control called Friday and told the Picketts that the adopting family had a change of heart and had brought Kate back. The Picketts immediately went to the shelter and now are reunited with their beloved Kate.
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News from the water police • Here are the reports from my readers about establishments watering their lawns daily despite the recent heavy rains: Centennial Park in Riverton, Wasatch Lawn cemetery in Riverton and Porcupine/Lifthouse, a restaurant and ski shop at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon.