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Show About Town Sex and booze are topics sure to snag the attention of any passerby in this state... or so crusading citizens would have us believe. The inordinate amount of publicity the dual vices have drawn in recent weeks, however, has transformed them into issues of political consequence as well as moral Utah Lobby Registration Ends in Confnsion registered more than 26 lobbyists; Great Salt Lake Minerals Of 160 organizations register- and Chemicals Corp registering lobbyists in Utah, half are ed 48; Commercial Securty BYM.M. Gaber business-oriente- d. Nearly 60 Bank registered 64. Our interpretation of the law was very generous, admits Gene Overfelt, presi dent of Commercial Security Bank of Salt Lake. Any contact a person who might a city official a legislator-ev- en v was registered. All are emor officers of the ployees bank. are Utah companies; about 20 are business organizations. Most of the registered business lobbyists are employees of companies or organizations who may occasionally discuss proposed legislation with ANY government official. Since the Utah lobby registration law is so confusing, many companies simply registered all their Overfelt emphasized the or administrators, engineers, bank does not employ any one sales people just to be safe. person as a fulltime lobbyist. As a result of the confusion. Once the bank officers deterSouthern California Edison mine a position on an issue, we ask our employees to contact their own district representatives, and let them know how the bank feels. Once in a while we might be asked--o- r requested-t- o a at committee Almost every employer in testify hearing. the U.S. is violating the Equal We did participate in a comEmployment Opportunity Act-an- d mittee considering the EFTS Utahs employers are no moratorium, Overfelt said. Overfelt, like most other exception. That was the statement companies registered, said he delivered by local attorney depends on a business organization to keep him informed David K. Robinson last week to the Utah chapter of Women about relevant proposed legislation. He also depends on in Communications, Inc. such a group to do most of the Employers dont comply necessary lobbying. Overfelt with the Act because they said that any coordinated dont need to,' Robinson told effort among banks is executthe group of women. Until ed through that organization. they can be monetarily punWayne Evans, principle of ished for violating the law, David W. Evans, Inc advertisthey will continue to do what- ing company, is an accomp ever they want. lished lobbyist. He currently He said at present there are represents, as a lobbyist. few rewards to the woman Southern California Edison who has enough courage to and Kaiser Industries. Registration of lobbyists according to Utah State law has pro challenge her employers duced confusion in the business community as to who must legally personnel policy. She takes What is lobbying? he asks. I unbelievable abuse from her think it means we care enough agister as lobbyists. Generous interpretations of the law have each employee who might have fellow workers, and she has no to answer questions,' he said, forced some employers to register occasion to speak to any official way to sue for damages, contmued on page 12 Robinson explained. Who has the money to sue? he asked. He said a lawsuit takes between 500 and 2,000 hours for the attorney. Whatever happened to the in the owners shop. We out of its State Street location additional take Depositions many businesses damaged by expect to relocate the store in the morning before the fire. It funds. fire when the Congress Hotel a couple of months, a Photo-Blu- e is temporarily located at 455 East 4th South. Owners are spokesperson stated, He mollified his question by burned in December? follow-uA p call to each but we dont know where looking for a permanent locaannouncing the formation of a business tion. formerly located at yet. newly formed Equal .Rights 2nd Food South and State James Natural revealed Health Legal Fund, led by Irene and Office Machines Service Steven Hales, owner of Fischer of the ERA Coalition. the following information: Peter Sapontzis, owner of will open this week at its new Hales Graphic Arts, said, The This group will be funding cases that can set precedents Peters Mink Shop, is still location. 135 East First South. fire has changed the nature of in the state, he explained. He looking for a new, location for Rays String Shop will open my business. He has changed its the doord February 1, at 215 the name of his firm to Hales shop. said they have limited their Reuels Art Fram, owned by East Third South. case priorities to sexual, mariSigns and Graphics, and has Photo-Bluhas been reopenAbbott & Fletcher, an changed from a retail to a tal, and parental ed in a limited status next door employment agency, moved wholesale firm. consideration. Pornography lovers and supporters of individual choice were victorious last week when City Attorney Ted Canon forgot to establish a case against a theatre operator charged with showing the controversial picture, Deep Throat. Mr. Canon spent so much energy in establishing of the obscenity and the movie, that he failed to prove the man had actually ill-me- rit shown it. -- "Employers, inViolation, -- Although their public utterances are to the contrary, city commissioners are known to disapprove of the push to prosecute poronography. With the Mormon Church, and therefore a goodly portion of the city, so solidly behind the effort, they have resigned themselves to the knowledge that they can do little about it. Publicly standing in favor of skin is Third District Court Judge Stuart Hansen, who believes the First Amendment should take precedent. And should the city prosecutors desire to involve the county prosecutors office in policing pornography succeed, Deputy County Attorney Gerald Kinghorn could find himself in the awkward position of being a turncoat: Kinghorn in the past defended the rights of porn operators to pedddle their wares. Surprisingly, controversy surrounding a proposal to overhaul the structure of the Utah State Liquor Control Commission quickly fizzled this session. Fact: a legislator admitted the Mormon Church spread the word they favored the legislation. Never before has a bill regarding the control of alcholic spirits encountered such clear sailing. From then on, the bill breezed right through the legislature. Fire Plays Musical Chairs with Businesses e, He opens his new shop at 610 East, South Temple this week. All Makes Typewriter has moved to a new permanent location at 741 South State. Dial Finance has temporarily relocated at 340 South Main. We are looking for a permanent spot, a spokesperson said, specifying shopping centers as a potential option. |