Loser: Utah County says it's sorry for leaving the tiny town of Vineyard out of its decision to write off back taxes owed by the now-defunct Geneva Steel. That's nice, but it doesn't explain why the city, which gets 20 percent of the real and personal property taxes levied on Geneva, was left out.
In the end, the county did the right thing. Forgiving the tax debt will keep it out of a long dispute over whether the county overvalued the steel plant. Vineyard wasn't going to see any of the money, anyway. But the city should at least have known what was happening.
Winner: Now that the Pacific Islander Republican Assembly has been formed (a press conference announcing the group was held this week), Utah's Pacific Islander community has organizations in both major parties. As the state's minority population continues to grow in proportion to the rest of the population, political involvement is going to become increasingly valuable. Soon, we hope, the state Legislature will begin to more properly resemble the many colors that make up the people it serves.
Loser: Any time a jail loses a prisoner, that's a problem. This week, the Weber County Jail accidentally released a bank-robbery suspect after he told officials he was someone else who happened to be scheduled for release. By the time jail officials figured this out, 30 minutes had elapsed and the alleged bank robber was nowhere to be found. Here's a clue to keep in mind for the next time: Criminals sometimes lie.