By CATHY MCKITRICK, Salt Lake Tribune

SALT LAKE CITY - If all goes as planned, a northern Utah city could become the nation's first metropolitan area to get its own inflatable sky cop.

As the worst recession since the Great Depression appears to be ending, the Social Security Administration is grappling with a flood of disability applications due to aging baby-boomers and heavy job losses.

Pending claims are expected to jump 70 percent this year, said Dan Allsup, spokesman for Allsup Inc., which represents people applying for disability payments.

Utah's resolution supporting the transport of horses out of state for slaughter in Canada and Mexico is one of several efforts in the nation to reinstate the controversial practice.