This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Patrons who visit Salt Lake City to shop or conduct other business are experiencing a dilemma that doesn't seem to occur in other cities around the valley: They get parking tickets even though they did nothing wrong.
I wrote earlier about tickets issued to folks who had paid for curb parking using the city's new solar-powered parking meters because the enforcer's electronic scanner wasn't working right.
Now, it's the case of the disappearing registration sticker.
The State Division of Motor Vehicles has acknowledged that the red dye used to color the stickers for the year 2012 can fade in some batches of stickers provided to the public.
Also, in those batches, the numeral designating the month the registration renewal is due tends to fade to the point it is unreadable.
When that happens in Salt Lake City, the parking enforcers issue a $30 ticket for improper registration.
So far, according to the DMV, there have been no complaints about tickets issued for fading stickers in any other jurisdiction.
Paula Peterson, of Salt Lake City Parking Enforcement, says that agency does not dismiss tickets. Complainants can go to the DMV and get new stickers, then take their case to the Salt Lake City Justice Court to determine whether they will be dismissed.
Or, they can shop in Sandy, Holladay, West Valley City, Taylorsville, Draper, Cottonwood Heights …
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No room at the inn • The only thing folks in Washington County dislike more than Democrats and the United Nations, it seems, is a gay Republican.
Fred Karger is an openly gay Republican running for president of the United States and recently was in Utah to meet with local Republicans and urge The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to ease up on its opposition to gay marriage.
He created some controversy and received criticism, including some from Democratic leaders, for remarks that Mormons saw as insulting.
When he was in southwestern Utah and met with Washington County Republican Chairman Willie Billings, he found Billings cordial, according to his accounts in the blogosphere, and gave the chairman a campaign Frisbee and T-shirt, which Billings took home.
This is what Karger received from Billings' wife, Nannette, as reported on the blogosphere:
"You are an idiot. You met with my husband Willie Billings today about you being on the Utah ballot. He brought your Frisbee and T-shirt home and it is now in the trash. I never want to hear from such a radical idiot again. You think you are a conservative? Conservative means you believe in the founding fathers and God. Do you know you can't procreate, right? Well thank goodness for that."
Nannette Billings hadn't returned a phone call seeking comment as of Thursday afternoon.
Karger probably will not be getting her vote in the June 26 primary.
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Relocation project? • Remember the feral cat bill sponsored by Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield.
He proposed open season on the homeless felines as a way to rid the community of unwanted pests, but backed off the bill after it became something of a national joke.
Well, folks in North Salt Lake, several miles south of Clearfield, think they have a solution.
That community is overrun with voles. The pesky little varmints are everywhere — especially on the Legacy Highway Trail, teeming with joggers and walkers.
They either startle runners by scampering across the trail, or they are dead and get stepped on quite a bit.
Residents have complained to the Utah Department of Transportation, which is responsible for maintaining the trail, and to North Salt Lake. Nothing has been done.
So, some propose, round up Oda's feral cats and, instead of killing them, relocate them to the Legacy Highway Trail and let nature take its course.
After the voles are gone, gun-happy legislators can resume talks about feline extermination.