Kicking the Can
We know what doesn't work—just about everything we've tried. That's the problem with homelessness, it's a complicated and hard nut to crack, even while everyone agrees it's not acceptable for the unhoused or the general population. So a recent report from the Pioneer Park Coalition was a welcome "something" in the search for a solution, or at least a serious dialogue. Neither Salt Lake City nor the Legislature has been able to address the problem in real time. Attempts to arrest away the criminal homeless or scatter them to the far corners have not been successful. Mayor Erin Mendenhall doesn't like the idea of "sanctioned camping," opting instead to allow unsanctioned camps to continue, according to the Deseret News. This is more than a financial problem, although money is necessary. There needs to be a will and an acceptance that the unhoused will have to go somewhere or they will be anywhere.

We Go Low
You can tell it's election season by all the attack ads on TV and in your mailbox. There's one that calls all Democratic leadership "corrupt politicians," and yet there's no acknowledgement of the former president's problems in this area. In Utah, it's all about Sen. Mike Lee and Evan McMullin, although both candidates also have fawning ads proclaiming how great they are. The current wisdom is that Lee will skate to another term because ... entrenched Republicans. But it may not be a guarantee because of all the icky ads from dark-money sources. "Positive ads work no better than attack ads. Republicans, Democrats and independents respond to ads similarly. Ads aired in battleground states aren't substantially more effective than those broadcast in non-swing states," concludes a study from Yale University. They maybe make a 0.007% difference in how you'll vote. But the one thing you can say is that all of these ads punch up name recognition, and that may make a difference.

Some Pigs
Chalk one up for the piglets—or at least their liberators. Two animal rights activists were acquitted on burglary and theft charges after they took two sick pigs from a Milford industrial pig farm. Who knew this was the biggest pig farm in the nation—and one owned by a subsidiary of a Chinese company? One of the defendants asked the jury to "acquit us as a matter of conscience. There's a big difference between stealing and rescue," according to Fox13 News. The jury was unanimous, and the law partner of one of the lawyers said on Facebook that she was "still amazed at the government resources expended on this case." Why? The pigs were worth less than $100 and yet the FBI sent in its agents anyway.