This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
LDS Church distribution centers have been a lifeblood for Mormons preparing programs and Sunday school lessons. They've also been a convenient place for members to buy temple garments and other essentials.
But, like typewriters and cassette tapes, they may soon be passé.
Hundreds of distribution-center employees were told in a conference call last week that because of the focus on the church's online store, the physical centers in the United States and Canada will close by February and as many as 60 employees could be laid off.
Some employees could be reassigned, but some church members are concerned they won't be able to get lesson plans, equipment and other technical merchandise used to operate wards and stakes as quickly as they have in the past.
The online store has been taking as long as two weeks to deliver orders, some members say.
In a prepared statement, the church said: "There are no employee layoffs in the church's distribution operations at church headquarters."
But that doesn't mean there won't be reductions in the outlying distribution stores, including the 16 in Utah.
"The church is evaluating the impact of the new online store, if any, on retail locations across the country," the statement added.
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Unrequited love • The Salt Lake Tribune's recent front-page photo of students at Orem's Utah Valley University was ironic to some Utah County Tribune subscribers because most of UVU's students wouldn't have seen the photo or the accompanying story about the school's booming enrollment.
Many of the students also would have missed The Tribune's coverage of U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Larry Echohawk's speech on campus.
The sad truth is that while The Tribune has seen the value of UVU in covering higher education in Utah, the affection is not reciprocated.
The Tribune is not one of the newspapers on the student-government-sponsored campus reading program. Newspapers provided on campus for students are the New York Times, USA Today, the Provo Daily Herald and the Deseret News, whose "resident expert" board, which determines which citizen contributors are worthy for the paper, includes UVU President Matt Holland.
With the Deseret News' new mission of focusing on LDS readers and their issues, and the fact that ads for the Institute of Religion are consistently played on the electronic billboard at the campus' rear entrance, along with concerts and athletic events, it seems a certain partnership with the church and state university has no room for a secular, independent newspaper such as The Trib.
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Speaking of Utah County • Eric and Farol Nelson of Richmond, Utah, and their daughter Annelise, a professional cellist in Savannah, Ga., were driving to Provo from Cache Valley last week to attend a relative's wedding reception. They were in suitable attire for a wedding reception: suit, dresses — Annelise was wearing a strapless black dress.
While on Interstate 15 near Lindon, they noticed a Utah County sheriff's SUV driving alongside them for a couple of miles. He then pulled behind them and turned on the blue-and-red lights.
When they stopped, the deputy asked Eric to step to the rear of the car. He asked if that was Eric's daughter in the back seat, saying that from his cruiser, "it looked like she was naked." He thought it might be a kidnapping situation.
He eventually sent them on their way without checking license and registration, leaving the family to wonder if strapless dresses are illegal in Utah County — or if the officer just didn't like the Obama bumper sticker on their Subaru.
Paul Rolly can be reached at prolly@sltrib.com.