Calling Bracken Lee! Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:02AM MDT I just received the forecast for Salt Lake County property tax valuation on my house. According to the notice, the market value of my house is 68 percent more than last year’s and the amount I’ll owe in taxes will be 50 percent above last year’s bill or more, depending on how much the county’s budget turns out to be. Holy cow! It’s the same house, my retirement income is the same, and my retirement savings are still down about a third of what they were before the crash. Oh, and let’s not forge... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Jobs and drugs Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:02AM MDT President Felipe Calderón of Mexico has pointed out that the illegal flow of drugs from Mexico to the United States wouldn’t exist if the demand for those drugs didn’t exist in the United States. The same is true of illegal immigration. If those illegal immigrants knew there were no jobs for them in the United States, they wouldn’t come here. Kermit Heid Salt Lake City Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The dog lobby Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:02AM MDT I have loved the nearby Tanner Park and Parley’s Historic Nature Park. My father went door to door seeking donations to create these two parks. Many community residents contributed immense time and resources. The Hansen family donated some land specifically for a “nature park.” It was dedicated as such in 1986 by then Utah Gov. Scott Matheson. Besides its 150-year historical significance, this area has been a place of natural beauty and quiet contemplation in the midst of busy city living. Beca... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Nuance and discretion Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:02AM MDT Many anti-illegal-immigrant advocates have a simplistic, one-size-fits-all solution to this complex issue: deport all 12 million of them, regardless of the financial or social cost. They ignore the concept of discretion in police work, prosecution and punishment, which is necessary because of limited resources and the need to prioritize enforcement. It’s why police suspend pursuit of a speeder to stop a killer. It’s why prosecutors plea bargain most cases. It’s why crimes have a range of punishm... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Invite God in Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:01AM MDT Even with all the gloom and despair we hear on a daily basis, I believe that we as true Americans will come out on top! Even though many feel that our country is rapidly descending into destruction, there is a way for our country to survive. It’s extreme. It’s aggressive. And it will offend many people. Here it is in plain English (and someone can translate into Spanish): Invite God back. Ask him for help. Recognize all that he has done for us. Get together and praise him. He would like to hear... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Targeted list Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:01AM MDT In “Not Nazis” (Forum, July 27), in an obvious comparison to the list of 1,300 names of supposed illegal immigrants living in Utah, Christian Rodier asks: “What if a group of civil servants had, using confidential government information, compiled and made public a list of gun law violators or of companies violating health and safety laws? Would the liberals have called them Nazis?” I suggest that Rodier consider that his hypothetical lists of the gun lawbreakers or health and safety violators wo... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Church and state Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:01AM MDT Beginning this year, Russia has an official government holiday to celebrate its conversion to Christianity in 988. And many minority groups, notably Muslims, are complaining that the action approved by President Dmitry Medvedev in June violates Russia’s secular constitution. In support of the decision, Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said: “Abandoning the historical significance of the baptism of Rus means discarding the supporting pillar of our entire civilization.” Reall... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Selective prosecution Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:01AM MDT I find it most disturbing that in “The law’s the law” (Forum, July 26) Rand Oertle is so adamant that people who break the law must be prosecuted. He laments that Utah “officials are … refusing to prosecute illegals in Utah who every day break our immigration laws.” Yet Oertle says nothing about the many families who have been living in Utah for years while breaking the state law against practicing polygamy. Why is it that so many people insist that “the law is the law,” yet they ignore their n... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON — It's been nearly two months since the Little Cottonwood Creek flood, but homeowners Taylor...

Immigrant incentives Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:01AM MDT Illegal immigrants broke the law when they came here. The government has failed for many years to enforce the law. Now, the illegal immigrants wish to be rewarded for their illegal conduct with jobs, education and better housing than they had in Mexico. The ruling Democratic Party wishes to be rewarded for its ineptitude in enforcing the law with millions of Hispanic votes. Nevertheless, the law should be enforced. If a system were set in place that made it impossible for illegal immigrants to... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Take care of yourself Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:01AM MDT I write this as a type 2 diabetic with ovarian cancer in the hope that I can help others avoid my fate. I spent 20 years of my adult life obese by medical standards. However, I wasn’t one of those people who can barely walk. I have always been a voracious exerciser; I simply ate too much. For years I have been mildly told by doctors that I needed to lose weight, but I didn’t really understand the severe health consequences. We live in a society where we want instant fixes. We don’t want to exper... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Dolphin atrocity Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:00AM MDT Brett Prettyman’s “Splash zone: Where the thrills leap out of the deep” (Tribune, July 18) was thoughtfully written, but it fails to address one key issue that must be considered before visiting SeaWorld San Diego. For six months each year, Japan rounds up entire schools of dolphins for slaughter (more than 20,000) — all in the name of “pest control.” Most captured dolphins are killed, packaged, purposefully mislabeled as “whale meat” and fed to school children, even though they often contain me... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

No GOP energy policy Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:00AM MDT The Democrats failed in their attempt to bring a comprehensive energy bill up for a vote in the U.S. Senate. News stories report that their failure was due to unified opposition by the Republican senators, aided by several centrist Democrats. What many reports failed to note is that the core of the Democrats’ energy bill, cap and trade, was a centerpiece of the John McCain/Sarah Palin energy policy during the past presidential campaign. In fact, cap and trade was originally a Republican idea, o... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Not amnesty Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:00AM MDT “Amnesty” means absolute immunity from punishment or penalty, or a general pardon. Except perhaps in Sarah Palin’s fictionary, forcing an illegal immigrant to pay a fine, learn English and move to the back of the citizenship line is not amnesty. John Pace Salt Lake City Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Bigoted against Latinos Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:00AM MDT Regarding the story “Hyrum City Council criticized for Spanish prayer” (Tribune, July 20), how many complaints would the City Council have fielded: • If a hearing-impaired individual chose to offer a prayer in American Sign Language (immediately translated into English)? Or would we call it “courageous”? • If an African refugee offered a prayer in Swahili (immediately translated into English)? Or would we call it “inspirational”? • If a Ute elder chose to offer a prayer in his ancestral language... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Complaining Latinos Updated Jul 31, 2010 12:00AM MDT According to new reports, most of Utah’s Latino population are worried and concerned about the list of illegals that was sent to the media. Personally, and I think I speak for most of the citizens of the great state of Utah, I am sick and tired of the Latinos complaining about our immigration laws. The Latinos are searching for sympathy or anything to complain about, except they never mention the rule of law. The only Latinos who should be worried are the ones who are here illegally. The other ... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Nordic skiing: Van, Frenette win U.S. titles in normal hill By Marlowe hereford The Salt Lake Tribune Updated Jul 30, 2010 11:57PM MDT Park City • When Peter Frenette landed a 100-meter jump in the trial round Friday morning, it started a trend he followed the remainder of the competition. The 18-year-old and youngest male on the 2010 U.S. Olympic team landed jumps of 100 and 100.5 meters in the competition rounds to win the men’s national title in normal hill at the 2011 U.S. Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined championships at Olympic Park. As the final skier off the hill in the final round, Frenette cut through a close battle fo... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

University of Phoenix helping kids’ club Updated Jul 30, 2010 11:55PM MDT donate • The University of Phoenix is sponsoring a school supply drive for the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Valley through Aug. 13. The wish list includes wide-ruled paper, wire-bound notebooks, rulers, glue sticks, tape, pencils, crayons, colored markers, pencil boxes, pencil sharpeners, scissors, calculators and highlighters. Supplies can be dropped off at the North Davis campus at 1366 Legend Hills Drive, Clearfield. Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Prep football: Expectations high as Bingham prepares for 2010 season By Bill Oram The Salt Lake Tribune Updated Jul 30, 2010 11:53PM MDT Last season, Bingham had a shot to shock and shake up all that is regarded as true in high school football. But, in the first high school football game at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas, the Miners lost 42-21 to eventual Texas 5A champion Trinity. No shock there. It was the best team in Texas. Historically, Texas football teams own a national spotlight that rarely reaches across the West into Utah. Despite the loss, Bingham regained its dominance and braggadocio, claiming Utah’s own 5A titl... Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake police are investigating a possible hostage situation at the All Star Travel Inn, 754 W....