Las Vegas • A week after the NBA effectively wrapped up its league business with the conclusion of the summer league here, many of its best American players have returned to the desert to begin preparations for a busy upcoming two years for Team USA.

As the group readies to return to action in the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, starting with practices at UNLV on Thursday and Friday, here are some of the questions that will potentially be answered this week:

1. Gregg Popovich’s Team USA blueprint

For the past 12 years, the program has been centered on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who took over before the 2006 world championships in Japan and led Team USA to gold medals in each of the past three Olympic Games, as well as the past two world championships.

Now, though, the task of leading the program will fall to Popovich — though it’s hard to imagine one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport struggling to take the reins. Popovich will probably still have some different opinions on how to build his roster and how the team should play. This week will be the first chance to shed some light on that.

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2. The fallout from the Kawhi Leonard trade

Leonard won’t be participating in practices, which means he’ll avoid having to talk about this summer’s megadeal. Popovich and DeMar DeRozan have both talked about it, but that doesn’t mean they won’t have to again this week. But it will perhaps be most interesting to hear what Kyle Lowry has to say about Raptors general anager Masai Ujiri’s comments that Toronto had plateaued with a foundation of Lowry and DeRozan. It’s one thing for DeRozan to be annoyed by that. Given Lowry is still a Raptor, his take on the situation will be of greater significance moving forward in Toronto.

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3. Players discussing contract decisions

There have been plenty of noteworthy decisions made by players this summer — and many of them will be here this week. There was Paul George choosing to take a four-year deal to stay in Oklahoma City. There was Jimmy Butler choosing not to extend his contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves — which, financially, was the most logical decision to make. There are the rumored extension negotiations by Klay Thompson and Draymond Green with the Golden State Warriors that could determine how long the league’s preeminent superteam will remain together.

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4. Point guards with murky futures

This is a golden age for point guard play. Many of those guards will be around this week — though it’s not clear where some of them see their futures headed. There have been rumblings of Damian Lillard being frustrated in Portland. Meanwhile, both Kemba Walker and Kyrie Irving can be free agents next summer, and there is the possibility both will leave their current teams (the Charlotte Hornets and Boston Celtics, respectively) when they get the chance. Isaiah Thomas, meanwhile, had to take a one-year deal for the minimum with the Denver Nuggets as he recovers from hip surgery.

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5. What’s next for Anthony Davis?

“The Brow” has blossomed into exactly the kind of player he was expected to be when he was made the first overall pick in 2012 and was a member of that summer’s Olympic team. But after a tumultuous offseason in New Orleans that saw the Pelicans lose Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins in free agency and replace them with Elfrid Payton and Julius Randle, how does he feel about things in New Orleans? Whether Davis is willing to take the supermax next summer is perhaps the biggest question looming over the NBA, with a whole host of teams hoping he won’t. This will be the first chance Davis has had to address everything that’s happened and what it might mean for his future. There will be a lot of teams waiting to hear what he has to say.

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6. The new-look Houston Rockets

We have heard a lot from the Warriors about the state of their team after adding Cousins in free agency. But we haven’t heard a lot from the Rockets. Between the re-signing of Chris Paul, the losses of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute, the impending addition of Carmelo Anthony (once he clears waivers Friday, now that the trade sending him to the Atlanta Hawks is official) and the lingering status of restricted free agent Clint Capela, there is a lot to discuss. With Paul and James Harden both here this week, they’ll have a chance to give their opinions on all of it.

He calls police usually two or three times a day. He chases off at least four people passed out on his lawn each morning. He finds about six needles left behind in the cracks of the sidewalk as he closes his front gate at night.

These grim numbers are how Dru Steadman measures crime in his neighborhood on the west side of Salt Lake City. And, by his count, it’s getting a lot worse.

“I want my grandkids to come here and not be afraid. Right now they are,” Steadman said. “What I’d like to see is it cleared up.”

The resident and business owner attended the Wednesday unveiling of what he hopes might be the solution: a defunct fast food restaurant being converted into a pop-up patrol station.

Salt Lake City police announced the new North Temple hub — a temporary post at 837 West inside a former Arctic Circle — as its latest effort to control the spread of drugs and homelessness that has troubled Utah’s capital for years. It is opening, in part, because efforts last year that focused on the Rio Grande District a few blocks east have pushed some of those problems here.

“A lot of the crime over there moved,” said Police Chief Mike Brown.

But this area, too, has in the past decade become its own hot spot of drug deals, prostitution and shootings. And now a fleet of six bike officers will be stationed in the epicenter to address it.

The building’s drive-up window is closed, and the milkshake machine is gone. Police decals decorate the doors, which still have white papers taped to them, saying the restaurant has shut down. Inside, though, the colorful plastic booths and tables remain for officers to conduct interviews or hold briefings.

In its first 16 days — the west side operation started quietly July 9 — police made 47 felony arrests and put another 107 individuals in jail, Brown said. “This really puts us on ground zero.”

Steadman opened his school lunch business, Legacy Sales and Marketing, in the neighborhood in 1998; he lives in the upstairs loft. The initial results from the police substation give him hope that things will change.

He and other business owners want to see the area revitalize.

“This place has a lot of potential,” said Lucy Cardenas, who owns Red Iguana.

Cardenas’ parents opened the restaurant at 736 W. North Temple in 1985 after spending every weekend coming to the west side of town with their kids to eat, bowl and see movies. It was vibrant then, Cardenas said, and safe.

Now when she comes to work, she sees people passed out in front of her shop, some in distress, some under the influence.

The hotel across the street has become a den for drug dealers and prostitution. Trash litters the road. Fights often start in parking lots like the one she was standing in.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this,” Cardenas said, throwing up her hands.

While Cardenas has felt pretty hopeless, Steadman has made it a point to call police whenever something comes up, so there’s a record of the problem. Geoffrey Clapp and his husband started a neighborhood watch to deal with the disruptions. Nigel Swaby has lobbied for this new station.

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Swaby, chairman of the River District Chamber, which supports businesses in the area, believes this North Temple neighborhood is losing residents and companies because of the crime. This renewed effort by police, he hopes, will change the trend.

“We feel this is a turning point for this neighborhood,” he said.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is spending $10 a month to lease the Arctic Circle building from the “generous” property owner who wants to stay anonymous, said Brown. Crime in the district is down, he added, but calls from this neighborhood are up.

Brown stood next to Mayor Jackie Biskupski at the event Wednesday with both talking to residents and listening to concerns for more than an hour. Three siblings, ages 16, 18 and 19, told the leaders they don’t feel safe being outside in their neighborhood.

“There are gangs and shootings,” said John Latapu, the youngest.

Anna Giron, 70, told them about the transient woman who broke into her home two months ago. “We had to chase her out,” she said.

“I see people sleeping everywhere in the neighborhood. It makes you scared.”

Giron has lived here most of her life. She wants to see this area of Salt Lake City recover and return to what it was when she moved in. “I love the west side very much. ... Maybe this will help.”

Nashville, Tenn. • The only question about Tom Brady as quarterback in New England is when Father Time finally wins before the five-time Super Bowl champ decides he’s done with the NFL.

Same for Drew Brees in New Orleans or Philip Rivers with the Chargers.

Aaron Rodgers is expected back at his usual level returning from injury for Green Bay, and Deshaun Watson tantalized before his own injury cut short a very promising rookie season. Even though it’s been a while since Andrew Luck threw a pass in an NFL game, his resume gives him plenty of cushion as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

Not every quarterback has the same grip on a starting job as Brady, Brees or Rodgers, and a poor game or sloppy start can lead to a spot on the bench. Add a promising rookie into the mix, the leash can be even shorter.

Here’s a look at some quarterbacks who need to play well to remain starters as training camps open around the league:

Jameis Winston, Buccaneers

Yes, Marcus Mariota must prove he can play all 16 games in a season, but the Tennessee Titans already have picked up Mariota’s fifth-year option for 2019. Same for Tampa Bay for Jameis Winston, the quarterback taken a spot ahead of Mariota in 2015. Both are due $20.9 million in 2019 at what could be a bargain the way the market is booming for quarterbacks.

On the other hand, Winston will miss the first three games this season with the quarterback suspended for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy after a league investigation of an accusation that the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner groped a female Uber driver during a ride in Arizona in March 2016. That’s not a great combination when Bucs coach Dirk Koetter’s job security already is at risk after a 5-11 record last season. Tampa Bay brought back veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, who started three games in Winston’s place last season, for an experienced backup.

Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers

Jimmy G could do no wrong for the 49ers last season, winning five straight games after finally moving into the starting lineup. San Francisco wasted little time signing the young quarterback to a five-year contract worth $137.5 million at an average of $27.5 million per season. The 49ers also re-signed receiver Marquise Goodwin to keep a top target around.

As good as Garoppolo looked, there’s now plenty of game tape of him running coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense. Defensive coordinators, especially those in the NFC West, have had all offseason to figure out how to slow down Garoppolo.

Tyrod Taylor, Browns

Helping the Bills stop a seemingly endless playoff drought wasn’t enough to keep Taylor on the job in Buffalo. The Cleveland Browns traded for Taylor on the eve of free agency, and that’s normally a sure sign a team is heavily invested in a player. Then the Browns went quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, selecting Baker Mayfield. Keeping Mayfield on the bench depends mostly on how long Taylor plays well.

Joe Flacco, Ravens

The 10-year veteran has missed a mere six games since being drafted by Baltimore in 2008, all in 2015, and led the Ravens to a Super Bowl in 2012. But the Ravens last reached the playoffs in 2014, and general manager Ozzie Newsome made sure to give himself options in his final year in charge. Not Robert Griffin III, who last started a game in 2016 with Cleveland.

Newsome traded to get the final pick of the first round in April to select Lamar Jackson. Yes, the Ravens insist they want to develop Jackson and be patient. If Flacco struggles, Jackson, who threw 57 touchdown passes over the past two seasons in college at Louisville and won a Heisman Trophy, could start looking really good much sooner.

Case Keenum, Broncos

Coming off the bench and leading Minnesota to the NFC championship game is one thing. Playing quarterback under the watchful eye of Hall of Famer John Elway in Denver is quite a different challenge. Keenum comes in as the starter after the best season of his career. He’ll need to pick up where he left off to stop the Broncos’ quarterback carousel, with backup Paxton Lynch, the 26th pick overall in 2016, sitting on the bench and, thus far, showing little when he has played.

Patrick Mahomes II, Chiefs

With Alex Smith traded to Washington, all the pressure now is on Mahomes in Kansas City after he was the target of all those longing looks to the bench by fans during his rookie season. He looked good winning his first NFL start in last year’s regular-season finale. That won’t help with expectations remaining high for the Chiefs, who won the AFC West before blowing a wild-card game to the Titans at Arrowhead Stadium in the playoffs.

Since the early days of Susan Powell’s disappearance in 2009, a group of supporters has followed the twists, the turns, the tragedies and the theories of the baffling case.

At first, these folks simply followed news coverage and shared it online. Then they organized and consolidated into a Facebook group. The past few years, most of the posts have been about female bodies police in Utah and the surrounding states have found and not immediately identified. So far, none has been Powell.

The posters also have shared ideas on how to make a break in Powell’s case and offered support for her family. Since Monday night, they have been discussing a man almost as synonymous with case as the missing woman and her deceased suspect husband.

Steve Powell, Susan’s father-in-law, died. When he did, followers placed his death in the context of helping to solve — or not — his daughter-in-law’s disappearance.

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“After hearing the news this morning that Steven Powell died,” Clearfield resident Jackie Charlene Harmon wrote on Facebook, “I have mixed feelings as well. Now we will never know what really happened to Susan because I feel like he had all of the answers but at the same time he would have never talked.”

Steve Powell’s death Monday in Tacoma, Wash., from a heart attack at age 68 has ignited new rounds of grief and frustration for those wanting to find Susan Powell. Those emotions are counterintuitive, in a sense.

To the internet’s cybersleuths, Steve Powell’s infatuation with his daughter-in-law — he acknowledged on multiple occasions to having been in love with her — made him a suspect in Susan Powell’s disappearance. And court records from his divorce in the 1990s show the dysfunction he passed on to some of his own children, including his son and Susan’s husband, Josh.

Though there were no signs Steve Powell would ever change his contention that Susan ran away, he was still viewed by Susan Powell’s father and her other supporters as being the last, best person who could solve the case. Josh Powell lived with his father in Puyallup, Wash., from shortly after his wife’s disappearance in December 2009 until Steve Powell’s arrest on suspicion of voyeurism and manufacturing child pornography in September 2011.

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Kiirsi Hellewell, a Susan Powell friend who has helped with efforts to find her online and off, doubted Steve Powell would begin to cooperate. Instead, she thought he might say something, do something or go somewhere that would turn into a clue for investigators.

“I just always had the hope that maybe he would slip up,” Hellewell said in an interview Wednesday.

Hellewell acknowledged feeling less confident about solving her friend’s disappearance without Steve Powell. If her optimism had been at a 10 as recently as Sunday, it’s plummeted to a 4 or 5, she said.

Some posters on the Facebook group shared the sentiment.

“Wish her family could find her remains and have closure,” wrote Taylorsville resident Amber Krauss. "My heart breaks for them, first their daughter, then their grandkids.”

On Feb. 5, 2012, Josh Powell hit his sons, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, with an ax. Then he poured gasoline and ignited his rental house in Graham, Wash. All three died.

Even police who investigated the Powells through the years seemed to believe that Steve Powell knew something.

“We believe a lot of secrets died with him,” Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer told the Tacoma News Tribune on Tuesday.

There are two survivors of the household Steve and Josh Powell kept in Puyallup, Wash. Steve’s son John and his daughter Alina Powell also lived with him there. And there are still efforts underway to find Susan Powell.

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Hellewell said a private investigator continues to assist Susan’s parents and other supporters. They work to “think like Josh” and try to figure out where he took his wife and disposed of her, she said. She also hopes someone finds a clue — somebody remembers something one of the Powells said or did, an internet surfer finds something relevant someone wrote on a message board, or a hiker stumbles on something in Utah’s West Desert. That’s where Josh Powell said he went camping with his sons and that he left his wife at home on the day she was last seen.

When asked how she keeps what optimism she still has, Hellewell recalled how days after Susan Powell’s disappearance, she asked her Mormon stake president, who oversees a number of regional LDS congregations, for a priesthood blessing. The blessing called for Susan Powell to be found and said that Hellewell needed patience.

“I still hold onto that hope and don’t give up,” Hellewell said. “I guess I would tell everybody, ‘Don’t give up, and we will never give up.’”

According to a series of emails that the Trump administration has now attempted to retract, national monuments are just large piles of junk that need to be Kondo-Ed out of the national landscape as soon as possible. Why protect these places, when they are full of oil and minerals that could be harvested to good effect? Tear them down. Cannibalize them for parts.

After all, what is nature, but a place where no matter where you sit you will become unpleasantly hot or damp or cold or dry or somehow, all four at once? It is a place where bears threaten you, pigeons have no regard for you and sundry insects feast upon your flesh. It is best seen from the safety of the default image that accompanies your Mac or PC. Once you start to see things in these terms, it is easy to make a case against most of the monuments. I've made a start below.

Bears Ears: I hate to point this out, but these are not really bears' ears. These are large pieces of rock. It is this kind of laxity with language that makes the Grand Tetons so disappointing.

Castle Clinton: The Clintons have a castle and they expect the taxpayers to fund it? Nope.

Castle Mountains: Again, the American people do not need to protect all of these castles, especially now that Scott Pruitt is not there to demand to stay in them for long periods of time at taxpayer expense.

Cedar Breaks: It says in the name that this cedar is faulty, and the last thing we need is further liability. This wood can be used to make something patriotic like small toothpicks with flags on them that can be planted in the tops of hamburgers.

Chimney Rock: We have evolved a great deal since the days of getting really excited that a rock was shaped like something that was not a rock, which seems to be the premise behind many of these monuments. Now we can make actual chimneys ourselves, from brick and other materials. Ditch.

Craters of the Moon: (a) Again, this is not on the moon! (b) The other argument for keeping this was if we ever again had to fake a moon landing. But now a moon landing is not the problem; it is a Mars landing we have got to think about.

Devils Postpile: The Postal Service is already under enough stress without having to deliver mail to Satan.

Devils Tower: I understand what happened. At some point, we had good intentions, and then we found ourselves protecting not one but two landmarks sacred to Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies. But enough is, as they say, enough. Let him protect it himself like he did in Paradise Lost.

Dinosaur: “Dinosaur National Monument” sounds like a deservedly unsuccessful store-brand knockoff of “Jurassic Park,” and if it is anything like “Jurassic Park” we should not be protecting it.

Fort McHenry: This is the fort with the flag that inspired our unsingable anthem, and we should take it apart brick by brick until nothing remains.

Fort Ord: Is this the same Ord for whom the Chicago airport is named?

Fort Pulaski: Why do we have an entire fort named for the second-best doctor on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”?

Fort Sumter: Why would the Trump administration waste resources to preserve a fort where Union troops held out against a secessionist barrage when this could be torn down and used to refurbish a Confederate statue?

Giant Sequoia: This big tree is an enormous waste of space and is only of use to birds and fans of the movie “Avatar”; this could be cut into many small flagpoles or a giant viewing-stand for a military parade.

Grand Canyon: (Okay, technically a “park,” but still ... ) Putting “grand” in the name seems to be begging the question. Furthermore, there is nothing impressive about an enormous void space full of lizards and reddish rocks, or more people would find Donald Trump’s mind impressive.

Grand Staircase: What are we, a glamorous socialite in the 1930s hosting some sort of ball needing to make an entrance? Get rid of this.

Hovenweep: With a name like “Hovenweep,” this is surely just a “Game of Thrones” set and you won’t convince me it’s not.

Ironwood Forest: Same.

Jewel Cave: If we have a cave full of jewels, we should harvest them and use them to pay for the renovations of impoverished Trump officials. If it is a cave for the pop star of the same name, she can get a cave in the private sector like everyone else.

John Day Fossil Beds: We don’t need a fossil bed; we have regular beds! Fossils should be removed from beds and placed in the Senate, as is only standard.

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks: Tents are not made out of rocks. This is another of those Rock That Looks Like Something Else scenarios. Ditch.

Katahdin Woods and Waters: This “woods and waters” seems awfully broad. Waters are capable of defeating human beings with ease in the cosmic game of rock, paper, scissors that is human survival. They need no protection from us; meanwhile, we can definitely take down trees and we should give them no quarter.

Lava Beds: Why do we have all these beds made out of lava and fossils when beds ought to be made from Tempur-Pedic Foam or the My Pillow Substance of Unidentified Provenance? Here is what happens if you lie down in a lava bed: First you die, and then you become rock. This ought to be discouraged.

Marianas Trench Marine: I would suggest we cannibalize this for parts but who knows what great beast (its hour come round at last) does not lurk beneath the ocean waiting for just such an attempt.

Misty Fjords: Keep these! They sound Norwegian.

Mount St. Helens: This is an actual volcano. We do not need to protect the volcano from us. We need to protect ourselves from it. Everything about this is backward.

Natural Bridges: Nature should not build bridges. Infrastructure Week should build bridges.

Petroglyph: We have computer graphics now! We do not need to hang onto this. We are not the fridge of a proud parent.

Poverty Point: This administration is doing too much to preserve poverty as it is.

Prehistoric Trackways: If they had been used in the past thousands of years, they would be called “Trackways” so I think we are safe to get rid of them.

President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home: We all remember that President Lincoln did something that was important to do, and especially at that time. We do not need to cordon off this space for remembering.

Rainbow Bridge: Pride month is over!

Statue of Liberty: Ditch this! It keeps encouraging people to come to America.

Sunset Crater Volcano: Another volcano! Stop protecting them! They wouldn’t protect you! They would cover you in ash and let your descendants know that your last act was to cower in a brothel.

Vermilion Cliffs: We should just call these the Red Cliffs! The name Vermilion Cliffs gives them undue airs. This rock should be converted into a tasteful lobby furnishing or a statue of a tanned leader.

White Sands: They are white; leave them.

Yucca House: Keep because when you say it, it sounds like you’re saying, “YUCK! A HOUSE!”

Washington Monument: Ditch. This is not the best use of the limestone. It should be made into an even bigger obelisk to honor the current president of the United States.

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Alexandra Petri, a Washington Post columnist, writes the ComPost blog, offering a lighter take on the news and opinions of the day. She is the author of “A Field Guide to Awkward Silences.” Twitter, @petridishes.

Once again, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) makes astonishing statements. He calls our public lands elitist and exclusionary, akin to royal forests of European kings. Preserved for the enjoyment of the very few.

Really, Mr. Lee? I was camping last weekend on these lands. I saw no elitists. How would I know if someone were "upper crust," as you described? If they had a nicer backpack, it could have come from a yard sale. At the end of the day, these "elites" and I are all dusty, packing out our own poop and peeing in a vault toilet if we are lucky.

He continues, "Our long term goal must be the transfer of federal lands to the states. It will take years and the fight will be brutal." Lee calls it returning these lands to the state. They never belonged to the state. If there is any giving back to be done, it is to the Native Peoples. While you are at it, give them fair representation in their voting districts, too.

Tourism and income derived from public lands are well-documented. The pure enjoyment and soul-filling experience cannot be quantified. How can one call himself conservative, but conservation is not in his vocabulary? Expecting a brutal fight, Mike? Our numbers are many, our armor is strong and our shields are ready.

Take a hike, Mr. Lee. Really, have you ever tried it? It may fill your soul and clear your vision.

Becky Yih, Park City

I am a disabled war veteran visiting from out of state who relies on his prosthetic walking cane. It was carried off by a fellow restaurant customer in Murray on Thursday, July 19.

The culprit was caught on video. If he will return it to the restaurant, there will be no questions asked. Meanwhile, a disabled war veteran needs this prosthetic device.

You know who you are, and so do we. Thank you for doing the right thing.

J.B. Turner, Cottonwood Heights

For all the talk of wanting to be a “partner” on the inland port, the original “deal” the Legislature came up with was about as raw as anyone can imagine.

The Legislature took control of a vast portion of northwest Salt Lake City, turned it over to an appointed board, let the board keep all of the tax money and left the city to provide services.

It’s a little like a mugger wanting to “partner” with you about the use of your wallet.

It was also, as Don Corleone would say, an offer the city couldn’t refuse. The Legislature had the power to do pretty much anything it wanted — so it did.

Within that limited context, the refinements to the inland port law that were hammered out by the City Council, the governor and House Speaker Greg Hughes were actually significant improvements.

Sensitive areas (which probably wouldn’t have been developable anyway) were carved out of the boundaries of the port. Ten percent of the tax revenue generated in the port is earmarked to affordable housing projects. There are some additional environmental protections, albeit squishy ones, that weren’t in the original law. The new law makes clear the city will get paid for services, such as police protection, it provides.

By pretty much any standard, the bill that was passed in the special session was a better bill than the mayor was able to negotiate with the Senate during the session (before House Republicans steamrolled both of them) and was far better than what was in law.

“To leave [the previous] law in place would have been an untenable situation for the city and would have harmed generations of city residents,” said City Council Chairwoman Erin Mendenhall. “The new law is not perfect, and will be improved over time, a process which I very much look forward to.”

This improvement took place without the mayor.

Biskupski was AWOL throughout the negotiations on the port intended to move huge quantities of goods through the air, by rail or by truck. She has not spoken to the governor about the port since their negotiations imploded in a heated phone call back in May. Whether she was not invited to the talks with the City Council or she chose not to attend, her strategy appears to have been to dig in and fight.

She went so far as forbidding Salt Lake City staff from cooperating or assisting the council during the negotiations.

This bunker mentality is one we have seen from Biskupski over and over on big issues since she became mayor — from the site selection for the homeless shelters to Operation Rio Grande.

Salt Lake City Councilman Charlie Luke nails it: “This is an established pattern,” Luke told me. “When things get difficult, she tends to dig her heels in. And while advocating for specific positions is critical, not being willing to do the work, to talk to folks, to negotiate on behalf of the residents of Salt Lake City is abdicating responsibility.

“With that abdication, that’s when the council stepped in … [the port] was moving forward, with or without us. And simply complaining about that did nothing to correct any of the issues that were critical to Salt Lake City.”

The mayor’s strategy may not just be bad for the city — it may be her political undoing.

There is a long list of people considering challenging the mayor in next year’s municipal election: former Salt Lake City Council Chairman Stan Penfold, prominent business consultant David Ibarra, David Garbett from the Pioneer Park Coalition, state Sen. Luz Escamilla, former Salt Lake City Councilman Luke Garrott, current Salt Lake Council Chairwoman Erin Mendenhall and state Sen. Jim Dabakis.

They’re prominent people who could attract considerable money and there is a clear line of thinking among several of them that the mayor has failed to lead on the important issues. Polling conducted by one of the potential challengers (not Dabakis, who released his own poll back in March that showed Biskupski was vulnerable) finds Biskupski’s core of supporters is shockingly small.

That was before the inland port fiasco and the council’s action that showed the mayor to be an outsider looking in.

Maybe the mayor’s tough, no-compromise, never surrender approach will resonate with voters and she’ll be Salt Lake City’s Winston Churchill — We shall fight them on the port, we shall fight them on the shelters, we shall fight them on the Hill.

It seems unlikely.

What seems more likely is that refusing to engage will continue to leave a leadership vacuum in City Hall that, to the extent they can, the council, the county or even the Legislature will step in to fill. That’s bad for the city and it’s bad politically for the mayor.

But it’s what, by now, we have come to expect.

Thank you, editorial staff of The Salt Lake Tribune, for publishing the superb op-ed “We can almost hear the fabric of our democracy shredding,” written by the founders of Mormon Women for Ethical Government. It is one of the most articulate, nonpartisan, strong statements on the shameful behavior of President Donald Trump that I have read.

They bluntly ask the members of Congress: “Which is more important to you — your party or your country? The rescue of our country — and its international as well as domestic reputation — is at stake.” The authors even list nine ways in which Congress can DO something, rather than just appearing before a camera or going on Twitter saying they do not approve of the president’s words or actions.

I agree with the authors that the legislative branch of our federal government has a moral and legal responsibility to speak out at this time to communicate the truth.

Is anyone listening in Washington?

Judging from the courageous words in this article, it seems we could use more women in Congress to make good things happen!

Lolita Hagio, St. George

When all of our Utah senators and Congress voted to pass the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” tax overhaul this year, prompting Sen. Orrin Hatch to exclaim that President Donald Trump is “one heckuva leader” and possibly the “best president, maybe ever,” they must have been joking when telling Utah constituents what a great deal this was going to be for all of us.

Now our own Utah Legislature has passed a $30 million tax cut to “offset” the impact of this great tax reform on Utah families.

Please people, think hard when you vote for who will represent you in Washington!

Holly Rio, Draper

Many Republicans take it as an article of faith that Mitt Romney was badly mistreated by Democrats and the mainstream media during the 2012 presidential campaign.

Republicans blamed mistreatment of Romney for ushering in the Trump tide, but Romney proved prescient about Russia, which he memorably called America's "number one geopolitical foe."

Most recently, conservative commentator S.E. Cupp tweeted, "When you think about that, I hope it's crystallized that Democrats tried to demonize a good man with awful invective that wasn't true. Those controversies were propped up by the media. And that was a disgraceful failure of the press, which has contributed to a huge distrust."

But Romney was treated no worse than countless presidential candidates in both parties over the last half-century. Rather than damning evidence that Democrats and the media (rather than Republicans) paved the way for Trump, Romney’s experience is an indictment of a longstanding — and damaging — obsession with gaffes and scandals that dominates our politics.

American politics has always been brutish. But changes in the media over the last half-century, along with an intense focus on every word candidates say and every mistake they make has resulted in saturation coverage of peccadillos and blunders rather than policies. This may be a good business model for the media, and effective politically, but it has undermined attempts by both parties to overcome polarization and govern.

Campaign hardball is nothing new, but between the death of the 19th-century partisan press and the mid-1960s, journalists maintained a coziness with elected officials and kept their personal secrets off the record. Journalists guarded the truth about Franklin Roosevelt's paralysis and declined to question his fitness for office, even as his health slipped in his third term, while John F. Kennedy, revered by many in the press corps, never saw his sexual liaisons splashed across the front page.

The Vietnam War began to change this posture. As officials maintained that the war was going well, even as video from the battlefield made clear it was not, a credibility gap emerged and led to newfound scrutiny of public officials - something partisans took advantage of.

The exposés of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate gave rise to a new era of investigative journalism. The press became more adversarial, looking to pounce on any perceived misdeed or character flaw as journalists sought to become the next Woodward and Bernstein and expose the next Watergate.

But not all gotcha moments revealed the sort of corruption and lies that those famous investigations revealed. In 1972, Democratic frontrunner Ed Muskie braved a snowstorm to fire back against charges leveled against him and his wife by Manchester Union Leader publisher William Loeb. But when Muskie's voice broke during the press conference, some national reporters interpreted moisture on his face as tears - not melted snow, as campaign aides later insisted - and wrote that he had wept. This called into question Muskie's emotional stability and dealt a critical blow to his presidential hopes. A moment that had little to do with Muskie's capability or stances resulted in critical coverage that drove away voters.

Two other changes in the 1970s and early 1980s exacerbated the tendency to put candidates under the microscope. As conservatives pressed the media for fairer coverage, the press settled into a both-sides approach to fairness, demonstrating their objectivity by including a voice from the left and a voice from the right in most stories. While this sounds fair, it allowed spin artists to push claims regardless of their veracity, knowing they would be included for balance.

Technological changes furthered this trend. The 1980 launch of CNN spawned a 24-7 news cycle, creating a programming need for saturation coverage of any gaffe or perceived scandal.

These shifts all meant candidates had to withstand ever-greater scrutiny over ever-smaller flaws.

Politicians aimed to manipulate these new media dynamics, offering spin targeted to meet the media's needs, while also "working the refs" and building extensive dirt-digging operations designed to offer up unflattering tidbits on the opposition.

These changes made it that much easier for politicians to take their adversaries down through innuendo and overblown charges. In 1988, it was Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis who unraveled after a string of such moments. His opponent, Vice President George H.W. Bush, participated in the onslaught, questioning Dukakis' patriotism because he vetoed a bill requiring teachers to lead students in the Pledge of Allegiance. Bush's allegation ignored the fact that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court advised Dukakis that the bill was unconstitutional. But facts didn't matter. The charges stuck.

In response to these claims that he was unpatriotic and weak on defense, Dukakis' team staged a poorly conceived photo op in which a helmeted Dukakis rode around in a tank. The media aired the cartoonish image repeatedly, and it quickly became the butt of jokes and the focus of Republican attacks.

Not that the press needed the other party's help. Journalists often took candidates down on their own by wildly distorting the magnitude of a sin (like, say, a private email server).

In 2000, the media relentlessly scrutinized Vice President Al Gore's word choice, fueling a narrative that he struggled with the truth, even though most of his misstatements were mild exaggerations or failures of memory. Commentators and reporters also adopted Republican spin that the real story of the first presidential debate was Gore's affect - his sighs and exaggerated reactions to Bush's statements - rather than the debate's substance. As a result, poll respondents who didn't watch the debate saw their perception of Gore's performance slip over the subsequent week, whereas those who watched continued to believe that he had won.

Even more egregiously, in 2004, Democratic nominee John Kerry, a distinguished veteran, was slimed by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — a group with deep Republican ties that assailed his military service with claims that were largely debunked. In the first month after the first Swift Boat Vets ads appeared, the press devoted intense attention to the claims without adequately interrogating them.

Countless other candidates in both parties, including Romney's father, George, George H.W. Bush and Howard Dean, similarly saw campaigns collapse thanks to gross distortions or unyielding coverage of verbal miscues or over-interpreted gestures.

And so, the harsh treatment of Romney and the emphasis on missteps like his infamous binders full of women gaffe was not the exception but the rule in American politics. It exposed the usual political tactics and media coverage that have marked our campaigns for decades.

His champions today are correct that Romney is a good, decent person - far less objectionable than President Trump. Donald But they are incorrect that his treatment was an unusually fierce partisan slime job or the product of biased media.

Instead, his experience reflected a broken political process that forces candidates to withstand two years of relentless scrutiny from partisans. The media, in turn, magnifies even the smallest missteps with wall-to-wall coverage, including point-counterpoint segments that amplify partisan claims and serve as a substitute for analysis or rigorous fact-checking.

This coverage, in turn, strikes the aggrieved candidates' supporters as unfair, building mistrust toward the media that impedes journalists' ability to hold candidates accountable for actual crimes and corruption. The relentless scandal-mongering also anesthetizes the electorate to real flaws that expose a lack of fitness for office.

Instead of trying to shame Democrats and the media, Republicans lamenting Romney's treatment ought to focus on reorienting our politics and media coverage to focus on issues and qualifications, instead of dissecting and nitpicking each sentence and facial expression. The result might be smaller ratings, but would be a far healthier democracy.

Brian Rosenwald is a senior fellow at the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the co-editors of Made by History. He is working on a book on the rise of talk radio and its political and policy impact between 1988 and 2016.

Buildings and construction and development, oh my!

In a recent op-ed, Vaughn Cox, a Granite City Council member, seems to think that the recent Central Wasatch National Conservation and Recreation Area Act would allow the ski resorts to expand their development and boundaries up to 25, 50 or 100 percent by exchanging private lands. While the resorts will have some developmental rights at their bases, the bill will not allow development beyond small areas.

In reality, the legislation freezes ski resort boundaries in U.S. Forest Service lands to limit future expansion. If Cox wants to make egregious claims such as those, I urge everyone who has read his op-ed to review the responses of the Central Wasatch Commission here to get the real facts: https://utah.gov/pmn/files/412541.pdf.

The CWNCRA bill would help guide the canyons development, focusing on the environment, public lands and recreation. Without this bill, the resorts would have free rein to develop lands and expand their already-large boundaries in our precious canyons.

Ilan Hammond, Salt Lake City

If the whole concept of private property means anything, it should mean the ability to decide, without government interference, that you don’t want anyone toting firearms into your building.

Because it’s unsafe. Because it’s bad for business. Or just because you think guns are icky. It doesn’t matter. Your building, your rules.

Which is why it was troubling to hear that no laws were broken when someone apparently left a loaded handgun in a restroom at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper. Loaded with a bullet in the chamber and the safety off. In a restroom right off the children’s play area.

Grant, for the sake of argument and common sense, that the owner of said weapon didn’t mean to leave her gun in the bathroom. It was just one of those things that happens when a stressed parent in charge of energetic children is in such a hurry that she leaves something behind. Like a cellphone. Or a wallet. Or something that we are damned lucky didn’t kill the next child to walk into that restroom.

Worry about just such an eventuality is the reason why there is a sign near the door of the aquarium — and many other buildings that are open to the public throughout Utah — banning firearms on the premises. The one that, in this case, said, quite clearly, “Notice: Weapons of any kind prohibited.” With, in case the words we not clear enough, one of those universal icons that shows a circle and slash over a picture of a pistol and a knife.

The policy is based on the common sense understanding that the presence of firearms in any location exponentially increases the chance of an accidental death, the loss or theft of a weapon or, more spectacularly but less likely, a difference of opinion that escalates from words to bullets before cooler heads have a chance to prevail.

It would be interesting — if a violation of privacy — to hear the woman’s explanation to her children as to why the sign and the rule banning weapons did not apply to her. And her rationalization as to why her children should obey any signs or rules or laws after being exposed to her example.

Part of that explanation might be the sad fact that, for people who carry the absurdly easy-to-get Utah concealed carry permit, such posted firearms bans are, in keeping with the Pirate Code, more of a guideline. That there is no risk that a person violating the property-owner’s posted rule might cause a revocation, or even just a temporary suspension, of the permit.

It should.

The argument that all our gun-toters need to have their guns with them everywhere they go, to protect themselves and others from the next mass shooting, is overruled in this case by the clear fact that far too many of the people who carry guns aren’t James Bond. They are Frazzled Mom. Or Distracted Dad. A danger to themselves and others.

Let's say this up front. Writer-director James Gunn wrote some appalling things on Twitter years ago.

His jokes about rape and sex with children not only cross the decency line, they continue to run for another couple of miles at full speed.

It’s not hard to understand why Disney — with its vast, rich empire resting on a foundation of wholesomeness and family friendliness — cut him loose late last week, despite his monumental success at the helm of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. (The first two grossed $1.6 billion; the third was due to start production this fall.)

The casual observer might be inclined to say good riddance to a guy who could respond to the hashtag #unromanticmovies with the suggestion: "Three Men and a Baby They Had Sex With" or come up with this tweet: "The best thing about being raped is when you're done being raped and it's like 'whew this feels great, not being raped!' "

I can't defend those writings and don't want to.

Neither can Gunn, 51, who for years has regretted them and reasonably makes the case that he's grown into a person who recognizes how atrocious they were, even if part of a comedic tradition that relies on shock and provocation.

"My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative," Gunn said in a statement last week about tweets mostly from 2008 to 2011.

“I have regretted them for many years since — not just because they were stupid, not at all funny, wildly insensitive, and certainly not provocative like I had hoped, but also because they don’t reflect the person I am today or have been for some time.”

But Disney executives should have known what they were getting with Gunn, who was a different kind of filmmaker a decade ago, directing the comedy-horror picture "Slither"and a web-series spoof called "James Gunn's PG Porn."

What caused the firing had very little to do with Gunn’s background and everything to do with the way the far-right dirt-diggers — “cyber nazis,” as they’re known — are able to use the internet with the express purpose of ruining people’s lives.

Everything about it shouts "bad faith."

“All of the outrage is completely feigned to weaponize outrage,” said Andrew Todd, who writes about gaming and film for the website BirthMoviesDeath.com.

He told me that he sees a clear link between Gunn's firing and the 2014 controversy known as Gamergate in which online mobs viciously attacked female video game designers.

It is, he said, a clearly established pattern that has its own playbooks involving digging up old material, taking it out of context, contacting the victim's employer and often using right-wing media and politicians to reach the end goal: career destruction.

In the case of Gunn, for example, Breitbart News and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, were along for the ride, with Cruz featured in a "news" headline calling for the director's criminal prosecution. And at the center of things was the detestable Mike Cernovich, whose photo should flash every time the words "far-right troll" are used.

Let's recall that some members of this crowd were behind the infamous Pizzagate episode, which resulted in a Washington, D.C., restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, being targeted by a gunman looking for the location of Hillary Clinton's supposed child-sex ring.

Much of the news media and most of polite society have little understanding of how these bad-faith attacks work. What is dug up is too often taken at face value, without crucial context about how tweets and other forms of expression are being turned into bludgeons in a cynical war against liberal values and individuals.

The question arises, then: What should Disney have done, given the outrage that was being fanned into a raging fire?

Plenty. Disney could have decided to back its creative talent, even censure him in some way, and explain just what was happening.

Corporate honchos could have said how reprehensible they found the tweets to be and made the point that artistic people experiment and grow in their development.

Onlookers are quick to compare this case to that of Roseanne Barr being fired for her racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett. It’s a flawed comparison: That wasn’t a decade old but from the present moment, showing that Barr — far from evolving — was the same racist she always was.

And some are quick to compare the Gunn situation to the firings and demotions of the #MeToo movement. Again: The comparison doesn't hold up well.

Gunn made disgusting jokes on the internet. He didn't harass people or use his power to demand sexual favors.

In short, you can't defend James Gunn's tweets, and it's hard to defend him.

But in an era of escalating bad-faith attacks, it's much worse to reward the mob with a scalp.

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Margaret Sullivan is The Washington Post’s media columnist. Previously, she was the New York Times public editor, and the chief editor of the Buffalo News, her hometown paper.

President Donald Trump is willing, under duress, to briefly and begrudgingly admit that Russian “meddling” took place in 2016 before reverting to calling it a “big hoax.” But he always maintains that the plot against America had no impact; he describes it as a “Democrat excuse for losing the ’16 Election.” Faithfully echoing the president, other Republicans, such as House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., say it’s “clear” that the Russian interference “didn’t have a material effect on our elections.” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders even claims that the U.S. intelligence community reached that conclusion.

Not quite. Here is the intelligence community's assessment, partially declassified in January 2017: "We did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election. The US Intelligence Community is charged with monitoring and assessing the intentions, capabilities, and actions of foreign actors; it does not analyze US political processes or US public opinion." When then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo claimed last fall that "the intelligence community's assessment is that the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election," his own agency rebuked him.

While the intelligence agencies are silent on the impact of Russia’s attack, outside experts who have examined the Kremlin campaign — which included stealing and sharing Democratic Party emails, spreading propaganda online and hacking state voter rolls — have concluded that it did affect an extremely close election decided by fewer than 80,000 votes in three states. Clint Watts, a former FBI agent, writes in his recent book, “Messing with the Enemy,” that “Russia absolutely influenced the U.S. presidential election,” especially in Michigan and Wisconsin, where Trump’s winning margin was less than 1 percent in each state.

We still don't know the full extent of the Russian interference, but we know its propaganda reached 126 million people via Facebook alone. A BuzzFeed analysis found that fake news stories on Facebook generated more social engagement in the last three months of the campaign than did legitimate articles: The "20 top-performing false election stories from hoax sites and hyperpartisan blogs generated 8,711,000 shares, reactions, and comments on Facebook." Almost all of this "fake news" was either started or spread by Russian bots, including claims that the pope had endorsed Trump and that Hillary Clinton had sold weapons to the Islamic State.

Elsewhere on social media, tens of thousands of Russian bots spread pro-Trump messages on Twitter, which has already notified about 1.4 million users that they interacted with Russian accounts. The Russian disinformation, propagating hashtags such as #Hillary4Prison and #MAGA, reflected what the Trump campaign was saying. The Russian bots even claimed after every presidential debate that Trump had won, whereas objective viewers gave each one to Clinton.

Russia also hacked voting systems in at least 39 states, and while there is no evidence that vote tallies were changed, Russians may have used the stolen data to target their social media or shared the results with the Trump campaign. The Senate Intelligence Committee found that "in a small number of states" the Russians may have been able to "alter or delete voter registration data," potentially disenfranchising Clinton voters.

And then there was the crucial impact of the Russian hacks of Democratic documents disseminated primarily by WikiLeaks. The first tranche of stolen documents — more than 19,000 emails and 8,000 attachments — was strategically released on July 22, 2016, three days before the Democratic convention. The resulting news coverage disrupted the Clinton campaign’s plans by creating the impression that the Democratic National Committee was biased against Bernie Sanders and forcing DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign.

The second tranche of stolen documents was released on Oct. 7, just 29 minutes after The Washington Post reported on the “Access Hollywood” videotape in which Trump is heard boasting about grabbing women by the genitals. These emails, stolen from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, distracted voter attention by revealing the transcripts of lucrative speeches Clinton had given to Goldman Sachs, a populist boogeyman.

A third release of stolen emails, on Oct. 11, revealed that Democratic operative Donna Brazile, while working at CNN, had provided debate questions to Clinton during the primaries and that senior Democratic operatives, who were themselves Catholics, had exchanged emails disparaging Republicans who cherry-picked their faith for political gain. This fueled Trump’s narrative that the election was “rigged” and that the “Clinton team” was, as he said, “viciously attacking Catholics and Evangelicals.” The latter charge, unfair as it was, proved especially important in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — swing states with lots of Catholic voters.

Little wonder that Trump said "I love WikiLeaks" and mentioned its revelations 164 times in the last month of the campaign. "This WikiLeaks stuff is unbelievable," Trump said on Oct. 12. Eight days later, he marveled, "Boy, that WikiLeaks has done a job on her, hasn't it?"

Now, by contrast, Trump and his apologists pretend that the Russian intervention — including the WikiLeaks revelations — was no big deal. That beggars belief. Even if the Russians had failed, they still attacked our democracy. Yet they didn’t fail: Trump won. Russian disinformation wasn’t the only factor in the outcome and was probably less important in the end than FBI Director James B. Comey’s announcement 11 days before the election that he was reopening the Clinton email investigation. But Watts concludes: “Without the Russian influence effort, I believe Trump would not have even been within striking distance of Clinton on Election Day.” That is the inconvenient truth the Putin Republicans won’t admit.

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Max Boot, a Washington Post columnist, is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a global affairs analyst for CNN. He is the author of the forthcoming “The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right."

Like so many of my colleagues, I have covered this nation's wars for decades, working side by side with our soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen. I have shared foxholes and flight decks with these brave Americans, and I have felt our mutual respect for the responsibility that each of us holds in our chosen professions. It has been an honor covering them and the families who support them. I am proud that I can tell their stories.

It is the job of the press to rigorously cover the military and to ask hard questions. But I could never have told those stories if the military did not open its doors to me.

I think of the combat mission I witnessed from the back seat of an F-15 that gave me a firsthand look at the care our aircrews take when conducting those missions. I think back to the summer of 2004 in Iraq, when I heard about a battle in which eight of our soldiers were killed in just a few hours, most trying to rescue a platoon that had been ambushed. If the Army hadn't helped me tell that story, if those soldiers and their families hadn't trusted me with some of the most painful memories they will ever have, the heroics of that battle would never have come to light. There would have been no ABC News stories, no book, no National Geographic series on the battle.

I am proud to have gained the hard-won respect of so many of those I have met over the years. But as I listen to the vitriol aimed at the press by our president, I worry that those days of mutual respect will disappear for the next generation of reporters.

We in the press are all sadly getting used to listening to some Americans booing, threatening and belittling the media at the behest of President Donald Trump. But Trump's rally before hundreds of veterans at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention Tuesday in Kansas City, Missouri, was especially disturbing.

"Don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news," Trump said, pointing to members of the press there to cover the event.

Have those veterans who booed and taunted the media in response to Trump's cue forgotten that some members of the press corps are combat veterans? Have they forgotten that there are members of the press who continue to cover the military after suffering life-altering injuries while at the side of our courageous service members? Have they forgotten that since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, hundreds of journalists have given their lives for their work, many times while reporting from U.S. war zones?

And when the president boasts that he will fix the Department of Veterans Affairs, have his supporters forgotten the attention that the press has drawn to those very issues? Do they remember that in 2008, an investigation by The Washington Post's Dana Priest, Anne Hull and photographer Michel du Cille was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service for "exposing mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Army Hospital, evoking a national outcry and producing reforms by federal officials"?

The president may sometimes acknowledge that there are some reporters who do good work. But that is drowned out by his endless, fiery attacks on "fake news." It hits all of us in the press corps, no matter what we cover and how we cover it.

Over time it will take its toll. That will be a shame, and not only for our democracy. If Trump's rallying cry continues to resonate, it will be a terrible loss for the very veterans he claims he wants to help.

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Martha Raddatz, a former resident of Salt Lake City, is chief global affairs correspondent for ABC News, co-anchor of ABC’s “This Week” and author of “The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family.”

We need to start a conversation about our current property taxes. I just received my notices about the proposed property taxes in Salt Lake County for this year. All I can say is "Really!!??"

I keep copies of my taxes and I looked back on the past 10 years for my son's property in Salt Lake County and my property in West Valley City. I am appalled at what I saw. On both properties, my taxes have increased by $600 in the past 10 years. I cannot see any improvement in services, meaning roads, garbage, police coverage or — and this is a big one — Granite School District. I know that there are those people out there who can say $60 a year isn’t a big deal; many of us can't say that.

I am on a fixed income, so this really is unacceptable. I have to live with it, but if there is anyone out there who can show me improvement in our services, I would greatly appreciate it.

Barbara Person, West Valley City

Midvale’s Bohemian Brewery, famous for European-style lagers and bratwurst, has new owners — three businessmen who, in recent years, have saved other homegrown eateries and historic buildings in Utah.

Bohemian now is the fifth eatery for partners Matt Bourgeois, Byron Lovell and Brian O’Meara, who also own and operate Porcupine Pub and Grille in Salt Lake City and Cottonwood Heights, The Dodo in Sugar House and the Rio Grande Cafe in downtown Salt Lake City.

All the restaurants are operated under the Canyon Culinary Inc. umbrella.

Bohemian is one of 10 Utah breweries participating in the second annual Food Truck and Brewery Battle on Aug. 4. The all-ages event runs from 4 to 10 p.m. at The Gateway, 100 S. Rio Grande St., Salt Lake City. (See details below.)

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Owning a brewery is something the Culinary Canyon partners have wanted since opening the first Porcupine Pub at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon in 1998, said Bourgeois. Back then, the restaurateurs were starting out and couldn’t afford to buy brewing equipment, he said. “Brewing has always been on our mind."

Now they get to do it at one of Utah’s pioneering breweries.

Joe and Helen Petras originally opened Bohemian Brewery in 2001, hoping to introduce Utah diners to the food and beer of their native Czechoslovakia. But they didn’t serve just any beer.

Joe Petras — who died in 2012 of a heart attack — was interested in making lagers, which are more difficult and require more time to produce than ales.

Ales are brewed using a warm fermentation method, making them ready to drink in about a week. Lagers — the German word for stored — are aged at lower temperatures, requiring anywhere from six weeks to six months before they are drinkable.

Bohemian also was among the first U.S. brewers to package microbrewed beer in aluminum cans, which experts say is better for the beer and the environment.

Under the new ownership, Bohemian’s three signature beers — a crisp, full-bodied Czech pilsner, an amber-colored Viennese lager and the dark Cherny Bock Schwarzbier — will remain the same, said Bourgeois. “We are staying true to the Bohemian style that Joe set up."

New brews will be added. One of the first will be a Mexican-stye lager for the Rio Grande Cafe, said Bourgeois.

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Bohemian staffers at the brewery and the restaurant have remained the same since the purchase about three months ago. So has the menu that includes bratwurst, pierogies and goulash. The only tweaks have been some upgrades in the kitchen.

“Joe and Helen ran a successful business, so we don’t feel like we have to change or fix things,” he said. “We are just carrying on what they started.”

Customers will see upgrades in the future.

In addition to buying the beer production facility and the restaurant, the partners purchased land to the east of the main property, 94 E. 7200 South, where they eventually hope to expand the brewery, the retail store and the tasting room.

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Buying historic buildings and businesses that are iconic in Utah’s dining history seems to be a trend for the Canyon Culinary group.

In May 2014, it purchased the former Market Street Broiler building near the University of Utah from Gastronomy Inc. Once an old firehouse, the building was renovated and turned into the company’s second Porcupine Pub.

Then, in 2017, the partners purchased the 36-year-old Rio Grande Cafe, inside Salt Lake City’s historic Rio Grande Depot. The restaurant’s original owner was retirement age and had grown tired of the crime and security issues that the homeless population brought to the downtown area. Since then, Operation Rio Grande was implemented and the environment has improved.

Ironically, those purchases along with Bohemian Brewery were never in the original business plan, Bourgeois explained. As opportunities have arisen, the partners have jumped at them.

“These are great concepts that we love and frequent,” he said. “For us, it’s just fun to take them and care for them and grow them back out.”

Utah chef and culinary instructor Todd Leonard tried seven years ago to capture the national Chef of the Year title, competing against three other regional chefs in a fast-paced, timed competition.

While he came up short in 2011, the national honor still remained a career goal, he said. “So I’m super crazy and thought I’d give it one more try.”

This time, he came out on top. The 41-year-old emerged as the 2018 winner of the prestigious cooking competition, held during the American Culinary Federation’s convention in New Orleans.

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Leonard and his three competitors — who all had won regional competitions to qualify — had 60 minutes to create a four-course menu using oysters, pork cheeks and Louisiana redfish — a classic fish for blackening.

During the competition, Leonard got help from two apprentices, AnnaLis Nielsen and Lydia Harris, both culinary arts students at Utah Valley University, where Leonard is the director of the Culinary Arts Institute.

Before the competition, Leonard said, he and his team “practiced 15 or 16 times.”

“It’s super fun, and it’s super cool to be recognized,” said Leonard, who also is the founding chef for Blue Lemon restaurants, “but, at the end of the day, I am still just a chef, and I just want to make awesome food for people.”

Leonard’s win is the first time since 1997 that a chef from the Western region has won the Chef of the Year award, ACF records show.

But Utah has been well-represented in other ACF national competitions. Two of Leonard’s UVU students won the national Student Chef of the Year title — Michelle Stephenson in 2016 and Madeline Black in 2017.

And, in 2012, Utah pastry chef Adalberto Diaz Labrada won the ACF’s National Pastry Chef of the Year. The award eventually helped Diaz launch his Salt Lake City bakery, Fillings & Emulsions.

Leonard’s award comes at a busy time professionally. He just launched 15 new menu items at Blue Lemon, which was named among the Top 40 Fast Casuals to Watch by QSR Magazine in February 2017.

“We are incredibly proud of Chef Todd and his accomplishments today,” Blue Lemon President and CEO Aaron Day said in a news release. “Not only has he demonstrated his mastery of cooking, he shares a passion for amazing food that nourishes and delights in unexpected ways.”

President Trump considers a new chief of staff. Bishop, Dems introduce bill to maintain national parks. Utah communities push for new nuclear reactor.

Happy Thursday. President Donald Trump loves to crowdsource staffing advice from outside advisers and current or former White House aides, and lately he’s been asking: “What do we think about Mick?” That’d be “Mick” as in Mick Mulvaney, a former congressman and now head of the Office of Management and Budget. While White House chief of staff John Kelly remains on the job but for how long, no one knows. [Politico]

Topping the news: Rep. Rob Bishop, who serves as chairman of House National Resources, introduced a bipartisan bill to allocate $5.2 billion over five years to go towards a $12 billion maintenance backlog at national parks and wildlife refuges. [Trib] [DNews]

-> A bill passed during last week’s special legislative session could be used to divert millions for maintaining remote roads in rural parts of the state, but environmentalists fear it will negatively impact public lands. [Trib]

-> Idaho may the country’s first small nuclear modular reactor, and 23 Utah municipalities have signed sales contracts for the project. [Trib] [Fox13]

Tweets of the day: From @emilynussbaum: “I hope some of the recordings are just Michael Cohen quietly singing ‘All That Jazz’ to himself.”

From @petridishes: “saw a garbage truck with “taxation without representation is tyranny,” “winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing,” and “tikkun olam” on it on the way to work this morning and was like “this garbage truck has a lot of opinions” and now i have a new motto!”

Happy Birthday: To Ron Fox, president of The Fox Group, and his daughter, Kari Fox Hardy.

Trib Talk: Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, and former Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore join Tribune reporter Benjamin Wood to discuss the pros and cons of fireworks, and whether the state Legislature or individual city governments are best positioned to regulate pyrotechnic displays. [Trib]

In other news: The Utah Supreme Court rejected a Utah Transit Authority lawsuit aimed at blocking supervisors at the company from unionizing. [Trib]

-> The federal government provided 25.7 percent of state revenue in Utah in 2016, much lower than the 32.6 percent average, primarily due to the Legislature’s failure to expand Medicaid. [Trib]

-> The Salt Lake City Police Department set up a pop-up station inside a former Arctic Circle in West Salt Lake in an effort to control the spread of drugs and homelessness in the area. [Trib]

-> Workers at a library in Hurricane were told to remove LGBTQ-themed displays after they drew complaints from visitors. [APviaTrib]

-> A woman left a loaded gun inside the bathroom in a children’s area at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium. This is why she likely won’t be charged or lose her state-issued concealed carry permit. [Trib]

-> Provo Airport will receive a $2.5 million boost in funds from the federal government and is expected to add 700 to 800 jobs. [Trib]

-> Pat Bagley offers his take on the Department of Interior’s review of public lands that led to the reduction of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. [Trib]

Nationally: The United States and the European Union are working towards easing a potential trade war by negotiating lowering current tariffs and agreeing to hold off on placing further trade barriers. [NYTimes] [WaPost]

-> House Republicans introduced a resolution calling for the impeachment of Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who is overseeing the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. [NYTimes] [WaPost]

-> Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at a Senate hearing and said the Trump administration will put pressure on Russia to leave Crimea and not interfere with American elections. [Politico] [NYTimes] [CNN]

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-- Thomas Burr and Connor Richards

Twitter.com/thomaswburr and Twitter.com/crichards1995