Former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff’s fast, loose and totally creepy relationship with political contributors is nothing new. Nor does it take an investigative reporter to track it down—just Google it.
Despite story after story of questionable behavior with contributors, then-AG Shurtleff talked his way out of it. He and, apparently voters, just didn’t seem to care about the perception of conflict of interest or how deep the rot might go.
But now that federal agents are investigating his one-time bagman and now Utah Attorney General John Swallow, people, even his pal the governor, are starting to take notice. The stink can no longer be ignored.
Shurtleff launched an inept attempt at damage control this week, beginning by throwing Swallow (sorry, ol’ pal!) under the bus to select media. He failed to distract the Tribune, however, which appears to be augering deeper into the story.
But long ago, voters should have learned, from City Weekly, in particular, that Shurtleff had an unhealthy attachment to campaign contributors, to the point that at least one of his assistants futilely begged him to be careful.
City Weekly also reported on Shurtleff’s links to the payday loan and the call-center industries. The AG even took fun, free trips from them, according to the Deseret News.
Then there’s devout-Mormon Shurtleff’s strange relationship with the Church of Scientology. He talked the state into coughing up $50,000 for a questionable Scientology sponsored “detoxification” program for cops exposed to meth labs.
Finally, we offer this embarrassing video of Shurtleff cheerleading for a multi-level marketing group in return for contributions. It is not, of course, illegal—just deeply humiliating and offers a glimpse into the soul of the man.
THE CHIEFTAINS, KINGSBURY HALL, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m., $28.50-$54.50/$5 for U students
There are a lot of bands out there with claims to being “Irish,” from L.A. bar bands with one Irish member to collections of Boston punk rockers of Irish descent. But n0 one is more authentically Irish in sound and spirit than The Chieftains, those witty purveyors of classic folk tunes from the Emerald Isle. Originall formed in Dublin in 1962, The Chieftains are once again rolling across the U.S. on tour–this one a 50th anniversary tour sure to be another crowd-pleaser. To celebrate the occasion, they released a strong album last year, Voice of Ages, that was produced by T-Bone Burnett (O Brother Where Are Thou? and The Hunger Games soundtracks, among other rootsy gems) and included collaborations with young fans like The Decemberists and Bon Iver. I’m sure they’ll play a few of those tunes, but the real treats are old Irish traditionals given ribald life by these crafty musicians. The Utah-based pipe band Heathen Highlanders will be performing with the Chieftains.
VICTOR WOOTEN BAND, THE STATE ROOM, Monday, Feb. 11, 8 p.m., Sold Out
Simply put and without overstating things, Victor Wooten is one badass mofo. You might know him as part of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, but the multi-talented Wooten also lends his considerable skills to his own Victor Wooten Band, a project that allows him to showcase more than his incredible bass-playing skills–skills that made him a three-time “Bassist of the Year” recipient from Bass Player Magazine. His own band allows him to showcase his chops as a composer and arranger, as well as a none-too-shabby vocalist on occasion, and the live shows are astounding feats of musicianship from Wooten and cohorts. This gig is sold out, but it might be worth your while to show up at The State Room and hope for a release of some last-minute tickets. It’s the best way to spend a Monday night that we’ve had in SLC in a spell.
From the opening scene of How to Make a Rope Swing, playwright Shawn Fisher delves right into race as a topic worthy of a lyrical–and in this case hysterical–volley of dialogue as an elderly black handyman named Bo educates a young white janitor on the difference between Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby, a player who Bo contends was the true pioneer in breaking baseball’s color barrier. Robinson, Bo says, was simply the “right kind” of black player to be accepted by white America.
The scene is a winning prelude to what proves to be an intense and layered look at racism through the relationship between Bo and Delores Wright, an elderly former teacher who returns to the fictional South New Jersey town of Oakbranch with enough money to build a new school. Fisher’s story unfolds at a languid pace, slowly revealing the complex relationship between Bo and Delores that stretches back 50 years, to when Bo’s wife Marion transferred to Delores’ school as part of the school system’s desegregation.
Bo and Delores are reunited when she requests he be consulted on naming the new school, an unusual request of a handyman and one that immediately lets the audience know that the relationship between the two is far more than simply that of long-ago coworkers. It’s a testament to Fisher’s skills that the audience is constantly served new morsels of information right up to the play’s final scene that help illustrate the complex history of the town of Oakbranch, and the characters on stage. Fisher’s script won the Edgerton Foundation new American Plays Award, and it’s obvious why when I got to see a preview of the show.
I won’t ruin any of the surprises or subtle twists in the story that unfolds as Bo, Delores and Mick, the young janitor, find themselves snowed in at the old elementary school. Rather, I’ll suggest that if the intense and intelligent dive into small-town racial tensions isn’t enough to draw you in to How to Make a Rope Swing, the powerful performance by Glenn Turner as Bo is worth the price of admission on its own. He is a mesmerizing presence, and watching his inner turmoil come to the surface as he learns the truth about his wife’s relationship with Delores way back when is the driving force of the production.
In fact, while Jayne Luke (as Delores) and Lucas Bybee (as Mick) do fine work, there are times when they are simply too timid compared to Turner’s presence. He dominates the stage–something that is even more noticeable in the few scenes when he’s not on it.
Even so, How to Make a Rope Swing remains engaging throughout, both for its surprising story and playwright Fisher’s way with words. The play is a world premiere, and evolved out of Salt Lake Acting Company’s New Play Sounding Series.
How to Make a Rope Swing plays Wednesdays to Sundays through March 3. Visit Salt Lake Acting Company’s Website for showtimes and ticket information. (Photo by David Daniels)
More than 150 grassroots activists, many in masks, gathered Wednesday at the state Capitol to protest Gov. Gary Herbert’s inaction on Utah’s polluted air.A federal air quality monitoring agency this week found that the five cities with the worst air in the nation are all in Utah: Logan, Brigham City, Ogden, Provo and Salt Lake City.(Take a moment for some hometown pride: Woo-hoo! We swept the top five! It’s a bad-air pentafecta!)
The air has been so bad for so long that “Utah nice” seems to have corroded and some of the activists’ statements were nearly as ugly as the view of the valley from the Capitol steps.
Cherise Udell of Utah Moms for Clean Air blasted Herbert’s statements putting most of the blame on citizens though large industries produce about half the pollutants. Herbert maintains that reducing air pollution would hurt Utah’s economy, she says.
“What he means is that it’s bad for the economy of his donors.”(Ouch. See what I mean about endangered Utah nice?)
Udell argues that forcing industrial polluters, such as Rio Tinto, to take measures to reduce pollution will, in fact, help Utah’s economy.
“If Rio Tinto has to clean the air it will produce jobs,” she said. “They just don’t want to pay for it.”(Tourist note: Rio Tinto owns that big smoke stack and immense crater you see west of SLC International.)
Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake and suspected socialist fifth columnist, told the crowd that only overwhelming public pressure on the governor and the Legislature, which “worships at the altar of free enterprise,” will force action on air pollution.
KEN STRINGFELLOW, THE URBAN LOUNGE, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 9 p.m., $10
Ken Stringfellow might not be a familiar name to you, but chances are you’ve heard him play music. He was a touring and recording member of R.E.M. starting in 2001, a founding member of Seattle power-pop legends The Posies, and he toured with Alex Chilton’s reconstituted Big Star as well. A musical chameleon who can seemingly create an insistent hook just by rolling out of bed in the morning. A songwriter of remarkable skill, Stringfellow’s latest solo album is called Danzig in the Moonlight, and he calls it “a culmination of all I have learned and experienced in over 30 years of performing, producing, writing, and conceptualizing music. The album reflects my wide interests, from avant-garde 20th century composers to generation Pitchfork and many stops in between and beyond.” Getting the opportunity to see Stringfellow in a club atmosphere should be a real treat. Tolchok Trio opens the show.
Daniel Nailen 