Rolly: Drinkers welcome at Republican town hall?
Congressman Chris Stewart won election to Utah's 2nd Congressional District last year after he eliminated a host of candidates at the Republican State Convention in 2012.
At that event, Stewart used numerous Mormon references in his speech to the delegates, including his mention of the Gadianton robbers, a group of bad guys in the Book of Mormon. He played on the same strong Mormon credentials that have influenced the books he has written.
But now, apparently, he is branching out for wider appeal.
Stewart, during the summer recess, is appearing at several town hall meetings around the state. One will be Wednesday at Dixie High School in St. George.
A promotion for that town hall meeting appeared on the Beer & Whiskey Brothers blog, which has the slogan: "Keep in good spirits and keep the good spirits in ya."
It's a national blog written by two brothers, one living in New Jersey, the other in Idaho, and it touts the joys of drinking good beer and whiskey.
I'm assuming that Stewart's town hall meeting Wednesday will be a BYOB.
Imagine my surprise!
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One-stop shopping? • Roger Bird found a circular path to renewing his driver license under Utah's new "Alice in Wonderland" rules for proving who you are to the proper authorities.
He went to the Driver License Division armed with his old license, his passport and his birth certificate.
That wasn't enough, of course. He could be an undocumented immigrant in disguise. He was told he also needed a Social Security card or a W-2 form bearing his Social Security number.
Since he is self-employed, he didn't have a W-2 or a copy of his Social Security card.
The good bureaucrats at the driver license office issued him a temporary paper license, good for six months, and told him to return when he could provide a Social Security card or a W-2.
So he went to the Social Security office, which accepted his temporary paper license as sufficient ID to get a new card, which he then took back to the driver license office and, voila, was good to go.
Would that be federal usurpation of state's rights?
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Wrong number • Margo Chapman, of Riverton, was planning a trip with her friends to The Gateway on Tuesday and decided they all should take TRAX.
Imagine her surprise when she called 1-800-BUS-INFO, the number she used to call to get route and travel information, and instead heard a woman's sexy voice say, "Welcome to America's hottest talk line! Ladies, hot guys are waiting to talk to you! Guys, excited ladies want to talk to you, for free! Ladies, press 1, guys, press 2!"
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More generous all the time • I wrote recently about UTA's bonus program for drivers, which is a little different than the bonus program for executives, in which they get $500 for 1 million accident-free miles, which takes about 15 years to achieve.
I noted that one driver told me that it used to be $1,000 for that million accident-free miles, but has been cut in half.
Well, UTA spokesman Remi Barron tells me it never was $1,000. It's always been $500 for the million miles.
In fact, he said, UTA has sweetened the pot. This year, the agency has added a $250 bonus for a half million accident-free miles, which only takes seven or eight years to achieve.
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Correction • I wrote in Wednesday's column about a government vehicle, license plate 93897EX and vehicle number 19137, going more than double the speed limit in a school zone last Friday about 9:30 a.m. on 7000 South between 1300 West and 1700 West.
I indicated it was a state vehicle. It wasn't. It was a Salt Lake County vehicle.
prolly@sltrib.com