The winners and the losers

• Winner: The area around 900 South and 200 West in Salt Lake City has been in an awkward stage ever since TRAX came online. Home to many assistance programs that serve people who need mass transit, it gets bypassed by trains on their way to the 1300 South station. But now the Utah Transit Authority has announced construction of a new stop at 900 South.

It will add a bit to the evening TRAX commute to Sandy (30 seconds or so, by official estimates), but this is a move geared toward serving people who most need a way to get around.

• Loser: Some people are of the opinion that the block Y that marks the mountain beside Brigham Young University in Provo is a violation of the separation of church and state. BYU is a religious school, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which also owns this newspaper. The mountainside is public land, administered by the Forest Service. According to some Internet chatter, the Y is a large advertisement for a specific religion on public property.

All of which means some people have too much time on their hands. BYU has to renew its Y permit in 2008. That will mark 50 years since the first permit was granted and 102 years since students first put the letter there. Funny how such a crisis hasn't toppled the republic in all that time.

• Winner: Utah's Sen. Bob Bennett should be commended for championing a $66 million appropriation to help flood-damaged areas in Southern Utah. His subcommittee approved the money this week, which is only one step in the process of getting it here.

Heavy rain and floods destroyed houses, bridges and roads in much of the state last January. The money would go a long way toward cleaning things up and making sure future rains don't have as large an impact.