Longtime UTA chief John Pingree dies at 80

John Pingree, who led the Utah Transit Authority for nearly 20 years, has died at the age of 80.According to his obituary, John Cannon Pingre died “peacefully at home … surrounded by family … after a 17-year fight with cancer.”When the Salt Lake native, a graduate of West High and the University of Utah, was named general manager of UTA in 1977, it was operating in just three counties — Salt Lake, Davis and Weber. By the time he was forced out in 1997, UTA had exp