Jerry Johnston, who handles letters to the editor, wrote back saying the newspaper runs few letters from out-of-state writers about local politics. He was busy, saw that it was from New York (where Lucas Anderson is attending college) and discarded it. Johnston apologized to the mayor, writing, "If I'd taken a few minutes to realize who had written it, I certainly would have put it on the pages."

Anderson asked that the letter run even belatedly. But Johnston says it did not, in part because it was then so much later than when the original critical letter ran — and in part because it was meant by his son as a surprise birthday present for Anderson.

"By then his birthday was past. And we're not Hallmark for birthday greetings, we're a newspaper," Johnston says.

Anderson blasted such moves in a letter to Evensen, writing, "Heaven forbid I should disagree — because you will no doubt have the last word as you devote huge amounts of ink misrepresenting in the most fundamental ways who I am — sometimes in the most vile, slanderous ways — to your readers."

Evensen says his editorial page sometimes praises Anderson when deserved, and criticizes him when warranted. He says he also allows Anderson to speak his mind on that page, even when Evensen strongly disagrees with him — such as when Anderson wrote a guest column saying the Morning News "is the greatest instrument of divisiveness in this community, constantly driving a wedge between members of the LDS Church and those who are not members."

Religion as a wedge?

Anderson's most serious attack on the Morning News is that it and its parent LDS Church use religion to divide the community and to attack the mayor.

News editors strongly disagree and say the mayor is the one who has utilized religious divisions for political gain — such as when he accused City Council members who voted against allowing Nordstrom to move of doing so because they are LDS.

One incident illustrating the contention arose when Anderson met with the Morning News editorial board.

Anderson's version is, "I rather flippantly said I'd like to get rid of smoking everywhere. . . . I didn't say I was going to be proposing a new policy to get rid of smoking everywhere in the city."

News Editor Hughes says, "Absolute lie." He adds that the mayor said his proposal for a total smoking ban was serious. "He was asked again in the meeting, and again by Brady (Snyder) after the meeting: Are you serious? He said yes."

Anderson traveled to India shortly afterward, but Hughes said Anderson's press aide continued to insist to the newspaper that the proposal was serious. So the newspaper did a story.