THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE – Heartened and inspired by people’s pluck, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, at the midway point in his first term, says Utah’s capital is on the federal government’s radar as “a place to watch, a model for progress, quality growth, and livability among American cities.”

But he isn’t satisfied. Becker vows to make “livability” the watchword of his next two years. His method will focus on four E’s: environment, efficiency, equality and engagement.

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THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE – Running away from nature lovers but into the hearts of soccer moms, the City Council ended a simmering debate over a $40 million sports complex along the Jordan River on Tuesday with a surprisingly unanimous nod.

Honoring the 2003 bond vote, it turns out, trumped lingering environmental questions.

Still, a mushrooming green group convinced soccer fields will ravage the wildlife and wildlands vows to appeal in 3rd District Court.

The vote concludes a six-year controversy that in recent weeks has ensnared Mayor Ralph Becker’s administration with allegations it is forsaking the largest, last undeveloped chunk of open space along the Jordan and his open-space credentials.

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THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE – Add Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker’s name to the list of people who wishes November’s attempted coup against Councilman Soren Simonsen had succeeded. As the clock ticked toward 11 p.m. Tuesday, after a crammed council chamber had cleared, an irritated Becker confronted Simonsen behind the dais, where the two men continued an animated exchange — with voices and fingers raised — for nearly half an hour.

The uncharacteristic feud, pitting a pair of professional planners, boiled over after Simonsen twice broadsided the Becker brain trust about how two proposals — downtown’s $125 million police headquarters and the west side’s $40 million sports complex — violate master plans.

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(The Salt Lake Tribune)

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE – 5th and 5th » Neighbors eager to welcome new residents.

The condominiums at 524 S. 500 East in Salt Lake City have nearly everything: two stories with high ceilings, washers and dryers and covered underground parking.

Only one thing is missing: residents.

That should change in the next few months, as the building finally has a buyer who will complete the project and begin leasing the 43 units within a few months.

The project, of a modern brick-and-stucco design, began more than two years ago, but the developer ran out of money when it was nearly complete, said Bob Parks of First Community Bank, the current owner. An undisclosed buyer is under contract for the purchase, with plans to finish the complex and begin leasing.

“It’s a good little project,” Parks said. “It just ran out of money.”

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