The winners and the losers

Winner: Anne Smart-Pearce has been a regular contributor to these pages through the years. And as appreciative as we always are of people who write well-considered letters to our Readers' Forum, her decision to hold no malice for a young man who allegedly attacked and beat her nearly to death speaks far more eloquently than anything she ever wrote. Smart-Pearce, who is 86, has had a tough time recovering from the injuries she suffered on New Year's Day. But she told the Deseret News this week that she feels bad for her assailant "because now he's facing a prison term, and he seemed like a really nice young man. I don't feel anything against him." The suspect, Arthel Martin, a tenant in her home, now faces the possibility of a long prison sentence. But if he is to be rehabilitated, Smart-Pearce's forgiving nature has shone a light on the right path.

Loser: It's traumatic enough for a young sex-abuse victim to have to confront her assailant in court; it must be infinitely more terrifying to have that assailant jump into the courtroom gallery and try to assault her and her family. Incredibly, that's what happened this week in Bountiful's 2nd District Court. The 12-year-old victim and her family are OK. The attacker, 50-year-old Scott Kirby Patterson, who had been pronounced guilty just moments before, now faces the likelihood of further charges. Anything that keeps him off the streets a little longer is fine by us.

Loser: At least this one didn't happen in Utah. A 57-year-old anger management counselor in Virginia is in jail after he allegedly pulled a gun on two men he thought had parked in such a way as to block him from leaving. Turns out they were federal agents who were conducting a fugitive investigation nearby. Oops. We're guessing anger management class has been postponed for a while. Hope no one is too upset.

Winner: Some of the world's greatest inventions are the simplest. Heinz this week announced a new kind of fast-food ketchup device — one that can be used either to squirt the stuff on a burger or as a little bowl for dipping french fries. Now why didn't we think of that?