As we all look back on 2018, there were a few stories The Salt Lake Tribune reported on that, well, stand out. From fry sauce to viral bobcats — and everything in between — here are the most unique-to-Utah stories from the past year.
The one where the politicians found common ground — in fast food
Sen.-elect Mitt Romney admitted during his recent campaign that he does enjoy fry sauce — and that the hybrid condiment should be attributed to the Beehive State whenever possible.
“[Mayochup] is an outrage, a breach of copyright and good taste,” Romney said of Heinz' ketchup-and-mayonnaise blend. “It should be described as ‘Fry Sauce, invented in Utah,' for which we should receive a generous royalty.”
And in a rare moment of bipartisan synergy, Romney’s democratic opponent, Jenny Wilson, agreed.
“I love Utah fry sauce,” Wilson said. “I believe that all levels of the government — especially the federal government — should support it.”
But Wilson is also a fry sauce traditionalist, opposed to some variant and experimental recipes.
“We need regulation to prevent the addition of additives such as barbecue [sauce] or relish,” Wilson said.
The one with the expressive cattle
(Photo courtesy of Cayanna Davis) Utah rancher Mark Nelson spray painted his thoughts about tourism on his cow, seen grazing along State Road 12 this week near Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Like other residents of the scenic rural town of Boulder, Nelson is concerned with tourism’s rising influence on the community and surrounding landscape.
Utahns are known for being passionate about public lands, and 2018 saw its share of protests, but Boulder rancher Mark Nelson took his frustration out with something a little beefier than a paper sign.
Using two cows and some black paint, Nelson took his message to the streets.
He splashed “COWS NOT CONDOS,” on the left side of one and the right side of another before putting them out on State Road 12. One driver noticed the activist cattle, posted a photo to Twitter, and the rest is history.
The one where Snoop Dogg reads The Book of Mormon
Dang You to Heck, billed as a family-friendly, Utah-themed alternative to Cards Against Humanity and similar card games is the creation of Jerilyn Pool, of Provo, Utah, with an assist from her husband, Jeff, who were recently assembling themed collections at their home on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2018. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
You’ve played Apples to Apples, you’ve played Cards Against Humanity, but have you played Dang You to Heck — the Mormon, ultra-Utah alternative?
Like Cards Against Humanity, Dang You to Heck starts with a question or a fill-in-the-blank statement — examples: “What happens on a date at BYU?” or “Satan desires _____” — that players can answer with one of the cards in their hand. The funniest answer, as chosen by a designated judge (a position that changes every turn), is the winner of that round.
As for it being a kid-friendly game, the games creator, Jerilyn Pool, says “It depends on your kids.”
The one with the smelly travelers
(Richard Drew | The Associated Press) In this Aug. 8, 2017 photo, essential oil diffusers with the home decor aspect, from Airome, in Draper, Utah, are shown at the annual International Spa Association event, in New York. Wellness rather than beauty was the message this week as the spa industry gathered in New York for an annual event organized by the International Spa Association. While there were plenty of skin products and treatments on display, the bigger trend remains alleviating stress.
In a letter to the editor that reeks of Utah’s booming essential oil industry, one Millcreek woman implored readers to leave their lavender at home.
“When in confined places, do not pull out the smelliest items you have at hand,” she wrote. “The newest offender? Essential oils on a plane.”
The author claims to have spent the flight commiserating about the odorous trend — and that she hopes people will “please be considerate of others.”
The one with the sassy bobcat
(Utah Division of Wildlife Resources) A Utah bobcat now known as Mr. Murderbritches is rapidly gaining notoriety on social media as a video circulates of Murderbritches snarling and swiping at wildlife officers who try to free him from a cage near Kanarraville.
First he stole some chickens, then he stole our hearts.
The tale of Mr. Murderbritches, a rambunctious bobcat terrorizing residents and livestock in Kearns, was first made famous in a video posted by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in November but didn’t become a celebrity until the Center for Biological Diversity added their own subtitles to the clip.
“I GET YOU BOI,” Murderbritches is translated as saying as he swipes at an officer trying to release him back into the wild, who replies, “Don’t you get me!”
The one with the Mormon jokes
Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune People attend a protest rally against H.B. 281 that if passed make polygamy a felony in Utah again. Members of the plural marriage community are not happy and rallied against the bill in the Capitol rotunda during the 2016 legislative session in Salt Lake City, Monday, March 7, 2016.
This past year has been big for Latter-day Saints. They got a new president in Russell M. Nelson, entered the medical marijuana debate and got a serious name change — sort of.
Nelson told followers to stop using the word “Mormon” back in October, instructing them that using common nicknames such as “Mormon church,” “LDS Church” or the “Church of the Latter-day Saints” is a “major victory for Satan.”
While Latter-day Saints rushed to alter group names, website domains and choir titles, one group of people were happy to keep the term “Mormon:” Utah’s polygamists.
“I’m perfectly fine with being considered Mormon,” said Guy Timpson of Colorado City, Ariz., where multiple polygamous groups have been located. “It basically says I’m not Catholic and I’m not Protestant, and we’ve moved past all those and there’s a better way. It’s not a slight to our savior or anything like that.”
The one with the home-saving goats
In this Tuesday, July 3, 2018 photo, Greg Cover, owner of 4 Leaf Ranch out of Kamas, Utah, moves his herd of goats and sheep to a new targeted section of growth for a property owner in Bountiful, Utah. The targeted grazing provides weed control and helps reduce fire dangers.(Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
Utah homeowners have turned to a unique form of wildfire protection — and, spoiler alert, it involves cute animals.
Greg Cover brings his herd of 80 goats to houses across Utah, particularly those with lawns that drift into steep, wild areas with tall cheatgrass and thick whitetop weeds. Then his furry fleet chows through the dense vegetation to create a break meant to keep a wildfire from spreading to any nearby structures.
But why go for goats instead of breaking out the lawn mower?
“That’s a pain in the butt for man crews to do,” Cover said, tugging at his white and gray goatee. He points to one of his employees, appropriately named Long Ears. “These goats are the most efficient worker you’ll ever see.”
The one with the temple garments
(Photo courtesy Just For Laughs) David Cross will perform at Kingsbury Hall on Wednesday, Aug. 22.
Comedian David Cross faced a serious backlash when he promoted his University of Utah show with an image of his “Arrested Development” character, Tobias Fünke, in traditional Latter-day Saint temple garments.
To make matters a little more complicated, someone in charge of the university’s Twitter feed quickly replied to the post with a GIF that made light of Cross’ tweet. It then deleted the tweet and apologized.
Cross, however, doubled down. He responded by tweeting “Holy ‘moly’! My opening 10 minutes are going to be on fire!!! Read the replies for some underwear fun.”
He made another joke about the garments at his performance.
The one with the beer test
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mohammad Sharaf, a lab manager with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, demonstrates how to test beer to make sure that it does not exceed the state limit of 4 percent alcohol by volume, on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018.
Utah brewers have a new requirement if they want to keep selling their brews in the state’s grocery and convenience stores — alcohol testing for all new 3.2 beers they produce.
The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control says all new beers to be stocked on the shelves, first must be tested in a state laboratory to ensure the brews do not exceed the state limit of 4 percent alcohol by volume. That’s the same as 3.2 percent alcohol by weight.
Some are still protesting the decision and arguing it puts unfair pressure on smaller breweries.
“I am unfamiliar with any other beverage control entity requiring testing of a certain class of products,” Paul Gatza, director of the National Brewers Association, said. “This is something that would not fly in many states, as it puts an undue burden on the smallest breweries that have the least amount of sales.”
The one with the housing development on a toxic lake
Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Discolored water in Utah Lake, near the Lindon Marina. Crews took samples of a mile-long algal bloom at Utah Lake on Wednesday evening. They'll know today if it's toxic and if they'll need to enforce closures. Thursday, July 14, 2016.
Ted Parker, an IT consultant and Provo native, proposed this year to build a 500,000-person city in the middle of Utah Lake by 2060.
Sounds nice, right? A beachside house in the largest body of freshwater in the state. Maybe not, some say.
Utah Lake is also plagued by toxic algal blooms that have routinely spread across the surface each summer.
Parker acknowledges his proposal is a bit unusual, but experts say that done right, Parker could rehabilitate the long-polluted waterway. Done wrong, however, his plan could waste billions of dollars on a foundation that slowly sinks.
The one with the film festival. No, not the one you’re thinking of.
(photo courtesy Sons of Winter Productions) The Moosetaur, the mysterious beast at the heart of the horror-comedy "Moose: The Movie," which will screen at the Bicknell International Film Festival in Bicknell, Utah, on July 27.
Utah is certainly a hotspot for film — the state has hosted the Sundance Film Festival every year since its inception in 1978. But while Sundance might churn out poignant, award-winning hits, it’s a different film festival that caught readers’ attention this year.
The Bicknell International Film Festival began in the central Utah town in 1996 but went on hiatus after 2013. The “weirdest little film festival in America” celebrates bad B-movie, like this past year’s horror-comedy, “Moose: The Movie.”
