This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
It took awhile, but Sean Reyes finally made amends with Salt Lake Rotarians, who felt snubbed in August when the Republican attorney general declined to appear with his Democratic rival at the club's regular luncheon.
Back then, Rotarian Floyd Hatch told the group it marked the first time in his memory that a major candidate had declined to participate in a debate before the club.
Reyes, whose aides told the group their boss had a prior commitment, appeared instead in a short video.
There definitely were some hurt feelings.
A different attitude prevailed Tuesday as Reyes went before the Rotarians live and in person.
Reyes shared the podium with a wealthy Utah businessman, who is a Rotarian, to talk about a child sex-slave sting in Colombia in October that was organized by the Utah-based group Operation Underground Railroad, led by former CIA agent Tim Ballard.
The raid was put together with help from Colombian military and law enforcement agencies. The Utah businessman pretended to be a rich American willing to invest $1 million in the Colombian sex-slave operation. Reyes posed as his bodyguard and interpreter.
Once the two persuaded the suspects to commit themselves to a deal — and 54 teenage and preteen girls were brought in for a sex party on a Colombian island — the military and law enforcement agents swooped in and arrested the sex traders, freeing all of the girls.
Utahn Ed Smart — father of Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped and famously recovered more than a decade ago — also spoke to the Rotarians about efforts to help sex-trafficking victims rebuild their lives.
The Rotarians, who last August were peeved at Reyes for skipping their debate, sat mesmerized as Reyes and the others gave sobering accounts of the international sex trade and efforts to bring the traffickers to justice and reunite victims with their families.
Operation Underground Railroad has generated plenty of headlines of late and is the subject of a recently released documentary, "The Abolitionists."
—
Whooping cough in Juab County • With the controversy over immunizations storming in the wake of the recent measles outbreak, the frightening and highly contagious disease of whooping cough has emerged in the Juab School District, and officials are urging parents to get their children vaccinated.
Two confirmed cases of whopping cough have been reported at Mona Elementary, just south of the Utah County line, and Juab Superintendent Rick Robins says dozens of children exposed to the disease have been sent home, as well as two faculty members and 10 staffers.
"It's very fluid right now," Robins said. "There may be more asked to stay home as we learn more."
Area sources say the two children with pertussis live in a part of the county that is home to a large polygamous community, which, like many anti-government groups, opposes immunizations.
Robins said he could not speak to those reports, but he is urging community members to get their immunizations up to date.