Publisher’s Note

Bring on the Olympics! And have a great weekend. By the way, watch for the Pignanelli/Webb column in Sunday’s Deseret News Opinion section. We argue about the State School Board selection process – whether it should be changed, and whether School Board elections should be partisan.

A Million Little Things Add Up to Win

Political campaigns can be discouraging because a lot of campaign work is boring and tedious. Myriad details must be taken care of, and it’s easy to question whether doing all these little things is really very important or will make a difference in the end.

Candidates and campaign workers want to be out doing big, glamorous things, like engaging in high-profile debates, filming television spots, holding high-level strategy meetings and visiting editorial boards. But those things won’t win an election unless they are supported by a solid foundation built through a lot of attention to detail, detail, detail—all the little, boring things that ultimately add up to success: developing lists, stuffing envelopes, printing and production, responding to calls, e-mails and letters, building a volunteer team, following up with donor prospects, recruiting and training grassroots workers, putting up lawn signs, building relationships, and so forth.

Political success usually results from a million little things coming together at the right time. A campaign is hour after excruciating hour of work and more work, with plenty of wondering if you’re making any headway, especially if your opponent is getting more headlines. But if you’re working smart, getting the fundamentals done right, then it will all culminate in a big win at the end.

Washington Watch

Matheson: Pull All Energy Levers
Rep. Jim Matheson introduced legislation last week that addresses the current energy crisis "by promoting domestic drilling, encouraging the development of alternative fuels and advancing nuclear power." Says Matheson: "Utah families recognize we face a complicated challenge and it will take a comprehensive approach to meet it. Rather than waste more time pointing fingers, I believe we have to pull all the levers available to us, starting with producing as much oil and natural gas as possible in this country" (see press release).

Today in Political History

Aug. 8, 1942:  Six convicted Nazi saboteurs who had landed in the United States are executed in Washington, D.C.

Aug. 8, 1945:  President Harry S. Truman signs the United Nations Charter.

Aug, 8, 1968:  Richard M. Nixon is nominated for president at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach and chooses Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew to be his running mate. (Source:  NY Times) 

Wise Words

“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual -- or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”

-- Samuel Adams  (Source:  Patriot Post) 

Utah Geography Spotlight

Utah Lake: Largest Freshwater Lake in West

Utah Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the United States west of the Mississippi River. Covering an area of approximately 150 square miles (96,000 acre) it occupies over one-fourth of the valley floor of Utah Valley and contains about 900,000 acre feet of water. It is a remnant of pre-historic Lake Bonneville which occupied nearly one-half of today's state of Utah between approximately 750,000 and 7250 B.C. The lake receives water from four major streams and numerous smaller perennial and intermittent streams, springs, and flowing wells. The major streams feeding the lake (from north to south) are the American Fork River, Provo River, Hobble Creek, and Spanish Fork River. One river, the Jordan, empties out of the lake, flowing north into the Great Salt Lake.  (Source:  Utah.edu) 

National Politics

Best Stories From . . .

-- RealClearPolitics: Columnist Victor Davis Hanson: "Barack Obama and John McCain are running neck and neck. Impossible? It would seem so. ... [E]veryone is puzzled why the Democratic candidate isn't at least 10 points ahead. It seems the more Americans get used to Barack Obama, the less they want him as president -- and the more Democrats will soon regret not nominating Hillary Clinton."

-- TIME: According to friends, Clinton "remains skeptical that Obama can win in the fall. That's a sentiment some other Democrats believe is not just a prediction but a wish, because it would prove her right about his weaknesses as a general-election candidate and possibly pave the way for her to run again in 2012."
 
-- McClatchy: "With two weeks to go before their national convention, a number of Democrats are saying that [former Sen. John] Edwards needs to publicly address National Enquirer stories that have alleged he had an affair with a campaign worker and fathered her baby. If Edwards fails to clear up the story in short order, he risks party officials deciding not to have him speak or, if they do, creating a distraction from a week focused on Barack Obama accepting the nomination."

-- The Hill: "House Republicans are gearing up to continue their revolt of Congress' adjournment for at least the next two weeks -- right up to the start of the Democratic Convention in Denver -- according to a memo sent Wednesday to GOP members from Minority Leader John Boehner."

SUWA: Protect Nine Mile Canyon
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and other green groups have filed a lawsuit to challenge "a recent spate of decisions issued by the Bureau of Land Management to fast-track natural gas drilling in Utah's remarkable Nine Mile Canyon region. BLM's decisions approved Bill Barrett Corporation's requests to drill 25 new natural gas wells without any analysis or consideration of the impacts that drilling and maintaining those wells will have to the area’s unique rock art and renowned collection of cultural sites. BLM approved these 25 new wells under a loophole in the Republican-controlled Congress's Energy Policy Act of 2005." Says SUWA's Stephen Bloch: "The Bill Barrett Corporation announced on Monday another record quarter of profits and has many other non-controversial areas that it could target for drilling, but it has chosen to focus on an area that is truly one of the West's ancient treasures. BLM is also complicit because the agency has chosen to ignore environmental safeguards, which could result in irreversible damage to the cultural artifacts of the Nine Mile Canyon region" (see press release).

Blog Watch

-- At Taking the Initiative, Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope says: "It's often forgotten that the founder of Salt Lake City, Brigham Young, was by today's standards a radical communitarian. The Beehive on the Utah license plate signifies cooperation, not rampant individualism. And Young also believed in protecting the environment and using land to enhance community. So the apparently startling shift towards offering better transportation planning and transportation options to residents of Salt Lake City is, in many ways, a return to the region's early Mormon roots. Nevertheless, it's been a brutal battle, driven by the Sierra Club, and all because the highway lobby had gotten its hands around planning in Salt Lake just as thoroughly as in other Western cities with less robust traditions of community. But by allying with fourth-generation Mormon farmers, bird watchers, waterfowl hunters, and responsible developers, the Sierra Club was able to roll up yet another in a series of victories for transit in the Beehive State. The Speaker of the Utah House, and the Utah Department of Transportation, agreed to replace plans for an eight-lane Mountain View freeway corridor with no transit with a four-lane, local-access road combined with a completed build-out of the city's TRAX/MAX light-rail/bus system. Any future highway expansions will automatically trigger transit investments to maintain the balance of the system. And the entire project has been moved off of environmentally sensitive wetlands."

Lighter Side

Favorite Headlines

(From James Taranto’s Best of the Web at OpinionJournal.com)

 --News You Can Use: "Dog Cloner Denies She Was Mormon Sex Kidnapper Joyce McKinney"--headline, Times (London), Aug. 7 

-- Better Hope The Theater's Dark: "Movie Gem From Down Under Is Sure to Charm Your Pants Off"--headline, Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), Aug. 7

-- Of Course, for Want of Prehensile Paws, There's Not Much a Lion Can Do With a Machete: "Woman Riding a Donkey Fights Off Lion With Machete"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 6

-- Breaking News From 2000 B.C.: "Morris: Obama Taxes Equal 'Mammoth Depression' "--headline, Newsmax.com, Aug. 5

-- Breaking News From 1864: "Georgia Reports 'Large-Scale Battles' in Rebel Region"--headline, Agence France-Presse, Aug. 7

Casual Friday

Utah Fishing Report

Have we moved past the hottest part of summer? We hope so. Cooler temperatures will bring better fishing and make recreational activities more enjoyable.

Lake Powell striper fishing is excellent on the upper lake, and the fast action is spreading down around the Bullfrog area. Wayne Gustaveson reports, "Things are 'looking up' for fishing all over the lake. Last week's report indicated dismal prospects for the main lake and those predictions were confirmed. Now the corner has been turned and fishing success will build each week until a grand peak is reached in late September." Lake Powell smallmouth, catfish and bluegill are relatively easy to catch all around the lake. Read Wayne's complete report.

Flaming Gorge is yielding big kokanee, and that action should stay good for the next few weeks. Nice kokanee are also being caught at Strawberry and Causey Reservoir. Strawberry and other reservoirs are fickle. Very good if you catch them in the right mood but difficult at other times. Fish in the early morning or go deep.

Utah streams are providing great action. Steve Schmidt reports, "Our fishing continues to be excellent due to great water conditions. Fish are in excellent shape. Hatches of PMD's, Stoneflies and Caddisflies are prolific as we move into August... Flows on all our waters are more normal for this time of year after continuing to be a little high through July. This month won't be tagged with the label: the dull drums of August. Fishing is very good and I don't see any reason why that should change throughout the month." Read his complete report. Read the complete fishing report on RedRockAdventure.com.

Outdoors Report

-- Outdoor retailers coming to Salt Lake in the Deseret News
-- Tribune reels in some fishing for beginners
-- Deseret News takes a wild rafting ride
-- Tribune’s Hike of the Week heads into the Uintas
-- Find out about upcoming events in the Deseret News’ Outdoor Notes
-- Check out the Tribune’s Outdoor Notebook  and Recreation Roundup for sports and recreation activities this week

-- For the latest wildlife news and information and the fishing report visit the DWR website

New Films

-- The Pineapple Express: Tribune review
-- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: Tribune review

Concerts

-- David Tolk, piano, Friday, 7:30 p.m., Brigham Young Historic Park, State Street and Second Avenue, free

-- “Highlights: Gilbert & Sullivan,” Utah Symphony & Opera, Friday, 7:30 p.m., Deer Valley Amphitheater, Deer Valley, $25-450
-- “Move-It” student showcase, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company workshop performance, Friday, 7:30 p.m., Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, free
-- Brigham Young University Senior dance showcase, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Room 166, Richards Building, BYU, Provo
-- Jon Schmidt, piano, Saturday, 8 p.m., Wolf Mountain Resort, 3567 Nordic Valley Way, Eden, $20 per carload
-- Saltaires Show Chorus, barbershop, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Temple Square Assembly Hall, free (no children under 8)
-- Salt Lake Choral Artists, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Libby Gardner Concert Hall, free
-- Organ Recitals, every Saturday, noon, and every Sunday, 2 p.m., Temple Square Assembly Hall

Theater

-- “Into the Woods” through August 8, Utah Festival Opera
-- “Manon Lescaut” through August 8 Utah Festival Opera
-- “1776” through August 9, Utah Festival Opera
-- “Aida” through August 9, Utah Festival Opera

-- “Around the World in 80 Days” through August 9, Heritage Theatre
-- “Prometheus Unbound” through August 9, BYU Experimental Theatre Club

-- “Twelfth Night, or What You Will” through August 9, Babcock Theatre

-- “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” through August 11, Empress Theatre

-- “Pride & Prejudice: A Musical” through August 16, SCERA Center
-- “Honk!” through August 23, St. George Musical Theater
-- “Indiana Bones: A Whip-Cracking Parody” through August 23, Desert Star Theatre
-- “Peter Pan” through August 23, Draper Historic Theatre
-- “Thoroughly Modern Millie” through August 29, Pickleville Playhouse
-- “Othello” through August 29, Utah Shakespearean Festival
-- “The Taming of the Shrew” through August 29, Utah Shakespearean Festival

-- “Chuck Wagon’s Wild West Showdown” through August 30, Pickleville Playhouse
-- “Cyrano de Bergerac” through August 30, Utah Shakespearean Festival
-- “Fiddler on the Roof” through August 30, Utah Shakespearean Festival
-- “The School for Wives” through August 30, Utah Shakespearean Festival
-- “The Two Gentleman of Verona” through August 30, Utah Shakespearean Festival

-- “The Hasty Heart” through September 13, Hale Center Theater Orem
-- “Lucky Stiff” through September 19, Terrace Plaza Playhouse
-- “Big: The Musical” through September 20, Hale Centre Theatre
-- “The Sound of Music” through October 15, Tuacahn Amphitheatre
-- “Les Miserables” through October 18, Tuacahn Amphitheatre

Museum Exhibits

-- Masterworks of Victorian Art From the Collection of John H. Schaeffer Exhibition through August 18 Brigham Young University Museum of Art

-- Monet to Picasso from the Cleveland Museum of Art Exhibition through September 21, Utah Museum of Fine Arts

Et Cetera

-- Balloon Festival, Friday and Saturday, Sandy
-- Bear Lake Raspberry Days, Friday and Saturday, Garden City
-- Friday Night Movies, Fridays through August, Pioneer Park
-- Utah Shakespearean Festival, through August 30, Cedar City
-- Downtown Farmers Market, Saturdays through October, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m., Pioneer Park