Cold Reception
One item on SLC Mayor Erin Mendenhall's resolution list is sticking it to the Legislature—if she can. With that, she joins a long line of Salt Lake City mayors who quixotically make statements about getting lawmakers out of our front yard. For now, it's about homelessness—you know, that sticky issue that only state legislators know how to solve, and yet haven't. It's not that Mendenhall knows how to solve the problem, but she sure doesn't think stacking up temporary shelters in the capital city is doing any good—especially when they become permanent without public input. Of course, with the cold weather, the need for overflow shelters is huge. The state's reaction was like, "Oh yeah, we need overflow shelters," a Salt Lake Tribune story indicated. Mendenhall says she was blindsided, which is the Legislature's way of getting things done in Salt Lake. A shelter ordinance is before the City Council now. The unsheltered, meanwhile, are camping out in tents.

Sober Reminders
It's been four years since our teetotalling Legislature passed its almost-zero-alcohol driving rules, and only now is someone looking at how that's going. Fox13 News decided to get the lowdown on the 0.05% DUI law, and wow, there were no surprises. "... Officers are making arrests based on impairment instead of focusing on a BAC," Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden said. The average arrest, he said, was at .16% blood alcohol level, a lot higher than the law. Drivers adjusted during the first year, but since then, it seems they pretty much drive like they always did. And the drunks keep getting arrested because they don't care what the legal limit is. Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, was all about sending the message not to drink and drive. The message is meaningless. The Highway Patrol knows what really works—consequences for the driver who's really drunk.

Chris Who?
Sometimes it's nice to see the wages of hypocrisy play out. Congressman Chris Stewart, R-Utah, is experiencing that now, although it's doubtful he'll learn anything. Boo-hoo, he was not chosen to replace Rep. Devin Nunes—widely mocked on Twitter by DevinNunesCow, among others—as the top Republican dog on the House Intelligence Committee. "I strongly believe that I am best qualified for the position of ranking member," Stewart said in a statement. He has long touted his military roots. He says he's always "studying the enemy," which apparently includes American Democrats and any commie-wannabe he sees. But Stewart's stalwart support of Donald "the former guy" Trump didn't get him very far, perhaps because he once—and wisely—called DJT "our Mussolini," the Deseret News reported. Still, Stewart was probably well suited to the Republican appointment, just not enough to win over House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, also known as a "head-spinning hypocrite." Apparently, not all D.C. hypocrites stick together.