Rolly: Ohio Buckeyes learn something about Utah's Beehives

Marty and Wendy Nuetzel took their children to LDS Temple Square in Salt Lake City many years ago during a trip to the Western states.

Starting in 1995, their youngest son attended Utah State University for his bachelor's degree and the University of Utah for his master's.

So when they moved to the Beehive State recently from Ohio, they figured they already knew most of Utah's cultural aspects and even noticed similarities to their native Buckeye State, which also has state liquor stores.

But their comfort level was shaken a bit when they went to the driver license office in West Valley City to get Utah licenses.

On the first trip, they brought in correspondence with their address on it for proof of residency, a requirement they noted when going online to see what they needed.

But Wendy was told she had to have correspondence with only her name on it. Plus, she needed proof of marriage, even though she had a valid Ohio driver license with her married name on it.

Marty needed no such proof of marriage.

On the second trip, they brought residency documents bearing only Wendy's name and their marriage certificate, which was embossed and sealed by their pastor.

That wasn't enough.

What was needed was the "official" county marriage certificate, which they had never had.

So they sent away to Ohio, with the necessary fees, for the forms proving their marriage was recognized by the government.

On their third trip, they got all the approvals and moved on to the written exam.

Both passed, although Marty missed a few questions, including the one that asked the name of the insurance needed by someone with a DUI conviction. He's still not sure what that has to do with driver safety, since he is not supposed to drink and drive.

Wendy missed only one: "What direction do the milepost numbers on the interstate highways run?" She guessed (wrongly) east to west, since that was how Ohio's roads were built.

Oh well, they passed.

Parents tracked while at track • The football field across from East High has a drive-through semicircle next to it so school buses can pull in and drop off visiting teams. The area has signs saying it is a bus zone.

But it is just for school buses, and it is not generally used in the summer.

On July 1, however, when about a dozen parents parked in that unused zone to watch their kids participate in a youth track competition among the city's various community centers, they all got $70 tickets for parking in a bus zone.

It seems like any kind of large youth sports gathering will attract Salt Lake City parking enforcers like a spider crawling toward a fly caught in its web.

prolly@sltrib.com —