This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Travelers have been illegally buying alcohol at two Salt Lake City International Airport lounges for eight months.
Officials at the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control were not notified until mid-April that ownership of Gordon Biersch and Cat Cora's Kitchen had changed hands last August and DABC had not authorized a license transfer.
That is illegal under the Utah Transfer of License Act.
When regulators learned of the illegality, DABC spokeswoman Vickie Ashby said, it was too late to put the issue on the Utah liquor commission's April 26 agenda, so a special hearing took place the next day in which the licenses were forfeited, as required by law, then reissued in the same meeting.
"We didn't want the lounges at the airport to be dry for very long," she said, "and the next scheduled liquor commission meeting isn't until May 24."
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Speaking of liquor • Shoppers at the liquor store at 205 W. 400 South often face a dilemma.
The Salt Lake City store is busy and the parking lot is small. Plus, thanks to former Mayor Ralph Becker's penchant for bike lanes, there is precious little parking on 200 West in front of the store.
Making matters worse, there is a huge temptation just half a block away.
The McDonald's at 210 W. 500 South boasts a sizable parking lot. So folks not wanting to drive around the block feel the urge to park at the fast-food restaurant, walk a few yards, and buy their booze.
If they do — and the McDonald's lot has signs warning against it — the security firm hired to enforce the parking rules will be on the violator within seconds.
That happened to one reader who thought she might get away with parking there for five minutes. She got a boot on her car and had to pay $75 — cash only — to get it off.
If only she had bought a Big Mac to go with her merlot.
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Misplaced ashes • When Dave Pino received a call from Redwood Memorial Estates asking what the family wants done with his stepson's ashes, he flew out of his chair and unloaded on the mortuary staff, he confided on Facebook.
His stepson, Marc Curtis, was killed in a traffic accident in August 2014 — nearly two years ago.
The family had bought a headstone and a chamber to contain Marc's ashes. But it turns out the ashes were kept in a cemetery vault. Someone had forgotten to transfer them to their proper place. The staff discovered the error last month and contacted the family.
Ryan Curtis and Dale Curtis, Marc's nephew and brother, respectively, went to the site and the problem is now rectified.
Ryan Curtis said Marc is probably looking down from heaven and laughing at the incident.
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Can't account for everybody • I wrote last week that supporters of Rep. Fred Cox, R-West Valley City, had suggested state delegates vote for him when it looked like his opponent, Mike Winder, might eliminate him in the GOP convention, so the race could go to a primary.
The rub was that Winder had also qualified for the primary by collecting enough signatures on a petition, a pathway to the ballot that has been criticized by the Republican establishment. Cox did not go through the signature-gathering route.
It turns out Cox, who indeed was knocked out at the convention, knew nothing about the argument that delegates should make sure the contest got to a primary. And he personally had not criticized Winder for signature gathering, wanting to keep the race positive.
It apparently was one rogue supporter who took it upon himself to make the argument for a primary, without permission from the campaign.
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Help out anyway • I wrote Monday about two Ted Cruz delegates from the GOP convention — Larry Meyers and David Pyne — posting on a Republican Facebook page requests for donations to help them defray costs to attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. I said in the column that they couldn't afford the trip.
I heard from both that they can afford it and that they never said they couldn't.
So they can afford the trip. They just want contributions to help subsidize it.