The winners and the losers

Winner: There may have been some controversy over whether the beer industry wrote his talking points, but Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was right this week when he testified to Congress in favor of a bill that would reaffirm the states' right to control alcohol sales. That right has come into question after a Supreme Court ruling that struck down liquor-related laws in New York and Michigan. Utah's liquor laws have evolved in recent years, but the state's leaders have long felt that Utah has a unique approach to regulating alcohol sales that both reflects local culture and reduces alcohol's potential toll on society. That kind of local control makes sense.

Loser: Poverty is on the rise in Utah, the Census Bureau reported this week. Actually, it's more accurate to say that more Utahns now are below income levels defined as being in poverty (for a family of four, this would be an income of less than $23,000 per year). Such measurements are by nature arbitrary, but this does show how the recession is taking its toll on the state, even as it shows the need for everyone else in the state to help out.

Winner: Hookah bars are no longer allowed in Utah County. If that sentence makes absolutely no sense to you, don't be alarmed. We're guessing most readers don't know hookah from the hokey-pokey. A hookah bar offers flavored tobacco that is smoked through a water-filled pipe called, you guessed it, a hookah. Utah County leaders feel this violates the indoor clean-air act. So do leaders in Davis County. So should everyone else with lungs. State lawmakers ought to make Utah a hookah-free zone.

Loser: Utah's prisons are busting at the seams. This week, the Department of Corrections said it will have to begin housing more inmates at county jails. Otherwise, if the prison population goes over capacity for 45 days in a row, bad guys (and gals) would have to be let back on the street. Prison construction never is easy during a time of economic hardship, but state lawmakers need to seriously consider the need for more prison space. The population is growing, and there are few other state obligations as directly necessary for public safety.

Winner: Utah has once again received an AAA bond rating from the nation's top three rating agencies — one of only eight states to do so. This honor means that when the state does borrow money, it costs you, the taxpayer, less in interest payments than it otherwise might. It also is a signal that the private investment community views Utah as an excellent credit risk, meaning the state is managed wisely and prudently. Holding onto such a rating during a big recession is difficult. Just ask California, whose very name now sends investors fleeing.

Loser: The Texas State Board of Education passed a resolution this week calling for textbooks to contain fewer references to Islam. Board members seemed to worry that Christianity might be getting short-shrift, thus turning children away from it in favor of Islam — something that seems unlikely in Texas. In truth, children need more, not less, instruction concerning what Islam really is about. The misinformed, anonymous Internet chatroom version seems to be carrying the day instead. One board member who voted against the resolution said it made the board look "cuckoo." Can't argue with that.