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Frost Made Me LOL

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Frost Made Me LOL
Bill Frost has outdone himself! The Ocho about Obama was hilarious ["Eight reasons President Obama is visiting Utah, according to local talk radio," April 2, City Weekly]. Rarely do I laugh out loud while reading anything. I also called an elderly friend, who loved it when I read it to her. Thank you!
Charlee Kone
South Salt Lake

LGBT Families Are Real
This legislative session, our entire state benefited from the creation and passage of historic legislation that protects all Utah citizens. It was successful because it was crafted with the intent to honor the dignity of each and every one of us.

After our positive interaction with the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are left disappointed by recent statements by church authorities such as Elder L. Tom Perry denigrating the validity of our families. As LGBT Utahns, our families are not counterfeit. They are real, they are beautiful, and they reflect the diversity and the greatness of our state.

We have made great progress, and we still have more work left to do. We can change laws, true, but the most difficult task ahead is to open hearts.

As we reach out to all Utahns, we will not waver in our commitment to equality in all things—not only in the workplace and housing, but also in family and marriage.
Troy Williams
Equality Utah executive director
Salt Lake City

The Silver Tsunami of Alzheimer's
As the executive director for the Utah chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, I am in a unique position to see how little our state understands about the devastating disease of Alzheimer's. Most people don't know that, at age 65, 1 in 9 people will have the disease; or, at age 85, that jumps to 1 in 3.

We hear so much about cancer research and the impact of that research, which is wonderful. I am thrilled every time I hear about a friend or loved one who has conquered cancer. But more people die each year from Alzheimer's disease than from breast and prostate cancer combined.

Increased cancer success rates can be directly attributed to wonderful research. In fact, the National Institute of Health (NIH) spends more than $5 billion annually in cancer research. This is compared to only about $500 million spent annually on Alzheimer's research.

I applaud the Utah Legislature for passing House Bill 175, which will bring Alzheimer's disease to the forefront and create a foundation for the state Alzheimer's plan to be implemented through the Utah Department of Health.

Unfortunately, requests to our federal congressional contingent for increased Alzheimer's research funding have fallen on deaf ears. I ask Sens. Hatch and Lee, as well as Reps. Bishop, Chaffetz, Stewart and Love, to vote in favor of increasing funding for Alzheimer's research to help us turn the tide of the Silver Tsunami that will ravish our society if a cure, or at least a way to slow the progress of this disease, is not discovered soon.
Ronnie Daniel
Salt Lake City