Southwest Suburbs Stripped of City Weekly

[Suburban Scrub] City Weekly circulation manager Larry Carter is on a fact-finding mission today, trying to determine who would have stripped more than 20 of our distribution stands of this week's issue in long stretches of West Valley City, Kearns and Taylorsville.

Could it have been, oh I dunno, maybe someone incensed over Stephen Dark's cover story, Taylorsville 911!? Just because Dark delved into a case that started with the theft of a Boston terrier, then drew Taylorsville police ire because one of the players in the drama is a fellow cop (on the Midvale force) and is now headed to U.S. District Court alleging civil rights violations--well, is that any reason to go (again, allegedly) stealing more than 1,000 copies of City Weekly?

Maybe it's the cover photo illustration that bugs the alleged thief or thieves the most. Just sayin.'

Circulation manager Carter says the entire inventory of newspapers disappeared overnight from boxes from 1300 West to 4000 West along the busy artery of 3500 South. Boxes in key locations in Kearns and along 5400 South in the heart of the Taylorsville business district have been emptied, as well.

Drivers filled the boxes in question late yesterday afternoon. As proud as we are of our newspaper, the idea that every copy would get picked up overnight is a bit of a stretch.

A person is legally allowed one free copy of City Weekly. A sticker stating such is affixed to all of our racks for public view.

Carter plans to spend the afternoon visiting grocery stores along the routes in question, saying "it would take someone with a lot of nerve to walk into Harmon's or Albertson's, scoop up a whole stack of papers and walk away."

And of course, there's always the possibility that some business along the route(s) caught the action on video. Don't people realize that nothing escapes a video camera anymore? Not even alleged newspaper theft. (Holly Mullen)