A lot happened in Utah in 2019. There were joyous stories that inspired hope and optimism for the future, and there were a few that broke hearts and sparked efforts for change.
The Salt Lake Tribune was there to cover them all — with help from the readers who support our work. Here’s a look at the stories that you read, shared, commented on and emailed us about.
These are The Tribune’s most-read stories of 2019.
Latter-day Saints were greeted with sweeping changes in temple ceremonies this year, like more inclusive language, more gender equity and more lines for Mother Eve. Attendees described the revisions as “empowering for women” and “healing” for those wounded by the previous wording.
(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) Tilli Buchanan is seen in Judge Kara Pettit's Third District Courtroom with her attorney Randy Richards on Nov. 19, 2019. Buchanan is facing charges of lewdness involving a child after police say she took off her shirt while cleaning out the garage and her stepchildren saw her breasts.
What started off as an impromptu teaching moment for her young stepchildren has evolved into a constitutional argument for one Utah woman.
Tilli Buchanan and her husband were installing insulation inside their garage and had stripped off their clothes when the kids bounded down the stairs. Buchanan told them that they aren’t uncomfortable seeing their dad’s bare chest, so it shouldn’t be different for her. State officials didn’t agree and charged her with three counts of lewdness involving a child — a class A misdemeanor. If convicted, Buchanan could land in jail and stay on the sex offender registry for the next 10 years. Her lawyer plans to ask a judge to find that Utah’s lewdness statute is unconstitutional because it discriminates against women.
Shortly before Thanksgiving, a Utah substitute teacher asked a fifth grade class: “What are you thankful for this year?” One boy said “I’m thankful that I’m finally going to be adopted by my two dads,” causing the substitute to reportedly snap, “Why on earth would you be happy about that?”
For the next 10 minutes she lectured the 30 kids in the class about her own views, how “homosexuality is wrong” and “two men living together is a sin.” She looked at the boy, too, and told him: “That’s nothing to be thankful for.” Three girls asked her multiple times to stop, but the substitute continued. They then walked out of class and got the principal.
The substitute teacher was eventually fired according to Kelly Services, the staffing company that employed her.
(Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office via AP file) Ayoola A. Ajayi is accused of killing MacKenzie Lueck, a University of Utah college student.
4. Police arrest Ayoola Ajayi and seek aggravated murder charges in the death of MacKenzie Lueck and The body of Utah student MacKenzie Lueck has been found in Logan Canyon, police say
Nearly two weeks after she went missing, investigators announced that missing University of Utah student MacKenzie Lueck was murdered and that police had arrested the Salt Lake City man they have accused of killing and burning her body.
Ayoola Ajayi, 31, was booked into jail June 28 on suspicion of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, desecration of a body and obstruction of justice, said Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown. Days later, Lueck’s body was found in Logan Canyon.
(Rick Bowmer | AP file photo) The casket for Elizabeth "Lizzy" Shelley is carried following her funeral services in Logan on June 4, 2019. Alex Whipple pleaded guilty to killing his 5-year-old niece was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. The girl's relatives called him a "monster" during an emotional hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019.
5. ‘We believe she’s been harmed’: Police search for missing 5-year-old girl in Logan
Police officers and volunteers scoured Logan neighborhoods in search of a 5-year-old girl who was reported missing May 25. Family members told police they last saw Elizabeth “Lizzie” Shelley around 2 a.m. When they woke up at 10 a.m., she was gone. The girl’s 21-year-old uncle had disappeared as well, the family said.
A day after our story published, police booked the uncle for a probation violation. Weeks later, he pleaded guilty to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing his 5-year-old niece. In September, he was sentenced to life in prison.
6. LDS Church dumps its controversial LGBTQ policy, cites ‘continuing revelation’ from God
In November 2015, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints instituted a policy deeming same-sex married couples “apostates” and generally barring their children from baby blessings and baptisms. On April 4 this year, the Utah-based faith walked back all the hotly disputed elements. Church rituals for children now are OK, and LGBTQ couples are not labeled apostates. The shift comes after 41 months — by Mormon historical standards, an astonishingly rapid reversal.
The speed of the about-face, historian Matthew Bowman said, “reflects the turbulence that this policy and its implementation created among members, as well as among bishops and stake presidents."
Many readers expressed outrage — and some offered support — after an image of a Utah child dressed in tan pants and a brown shirt with a red arm band adorned with a black swastika went viral this year.
In a statement, the Davis County School District — which suspended the school teacher and principal with pay — apologized for the costume.
“[The district] does not tolerate speech, images or conduct that portray or promote hate in any form,” the statement read. “The district is taking the matter very seriously and is investigating every aspect of the situation.”
8. Whistleblower claims that LDS Church stockpiled $100 billion in charitable donations, dodged taxes
A whistleblower complaint to the IRS accused The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of building a $100 billion investment portfolio using donations intended for charitable purposes, potentially in violation of federal tax laws, according to a report published by The Washington Post.
The complaint was filed by David Nielsen, a former portfolio manager for the church’s nonprofit investment arm Ensign Peak Advisors, with the help of his brother Lars Nielsen, who spoke with and provided supporting documents to The Post.
Days after the report came out, the Utah-based church released three short videos assuring insiders and outsiders that it is carefully handling member offerings.
9. Missing boy with autism killed by driver in West Valley
Benjamin Heber, a 13-year-old boy who went missing in October, was struck by a vehicle and killed in West Valley City, according to the Draper City Police Department.
Draper police had sought the public’s help locating Heber, who had walked away from the Salt Lake County Juvenile Receiving Center. Draper police said the boy had been diagnosed with autism, depression and anxiety.
The driver of the vehicle was described as cooperative.
(Rick Bowmer | AP file photo) Brenda Mayes walks with her sons after a news conference Tuesday, May 7, 2019, in Salt Lake City. Mayes, sued Utah school administrators, alleging that a school bus driver trapped her older son's backpack in the door and drove away in a racially motivated event.
The family of a 14-year-old Utah boy sued his school district, its transportation director and a bus driver who they say intentionally shut the bus door on their seventh grader.
They say there had been at least three other reports that the driver, John Naisbitt, targeted multiracial students before this. And while Naisbitt was never disciplined in connection with those prior allegations, they added, he quietly retired after the newest complaint.
Mitt Romney and President Donald Trump have disagreed on a few things this year, but Tribune readers were particularly interested in what the Utah senator had to say about a border wall.
During the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, Trump remained steadfast in his demand for $5.7 billion to build a physical structure along the U.S.-Mexico border, even threatening to declare a national emergency. Romney took issue with that.
"I don’t want to see a declaration of national emergency,” Romney told MSNBC. “I think that’s an action that would be taken in the most extreme circumstances, and, hopefully, we don’t reach that.”
In the end, there was no emergency declaration and Trump did not get his wall money.
12. Ed Smart, father of Elizabeth Smart, comes out as gay
Ed Smart, the father of kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart, came out as gay in October, sending a letter using Facebook Messenger to family and friends that mentioned that he planned to separate from his wife and no longer feels comfortable in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Smart confirmed he sent it and posted it publicly a day later. Court records indicate that on July 5, Lois Smart filed for divorce from Ed Smart, 64.
(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) Legendary Jazz coach Jerry Sloan's illness is progressing, but the 76-year-old still gets joy from attending Jazz games as he recalls a few stories alongside his wife, Tammy, at their home in Riverton on Friday, April 27, 2018.
13. Monson: Pay a sweet silent tribute to Jerry Sloan, as the once-fierce lion’s eyes grow sleepy
NBA hall of famer Jerry Sloan is a hero to many Utahns. And at 77 years old, wrote Gordon Monson, “the once-fierce lion’s eyes are tired now.”
In a touching tribute, Monson reveals that Sloan — who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia — is dying, and that those words “hit with the force of a swinging tire iron.”
14. In historic shift, The Salt Lake Tribune gets IRS approval to become a nonprofit
The Salt Lake Tribune officially became a nonprofit this fall, an unprecedented transformation for a legacy U.S. daily newspaper. The Tribune hopes the transition in business model will bolster our financial prospects during a troubling time for journalism nationwide.
The move from a for-profit model was spurred by Tribune owner Paul Huntsman, who, in agreeing to turn Utah’s largest paper into a nonprofit, is giving up his sole ownership.
“The current business model for local newspapers is broken and beyond repair,” said Huntsman, who also serves as The Tribune’s publisher. “We needed to find a way to sustain this vital community institution well beyond my ownership, and nonprofit status will help us do that. This is truly excellent news for all Utah residents and for local news organizations across the country.”
(Chris Caldwell | Special to The Salt Lake Tribune) Marty Jessop in Washington City, Utah, on Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.
15. A Navy SEAL and his wife left a Utah polygamous sect. Their next mission: A good life.
While Marty Jessop trained to stay awake for days at a time, run in the sand, swim for long stretches in frigid water and pack everything from rubber rafts to comrades, memories of his time in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints kept him from quitting. He also thought about the woman he loved, and wondered if she’d wait for him to return from Navy SEAL training.
Jessop told The Tribune all about his history with the polygamous sect, what it felt like to leave it and how he’s working to create a good life for his family.
16. Why Utah liquor stores will dump cases of beer down the drain
In a uniquely Utah horror story, local liquor stores spent Halloween night dumping all beer that was 5% alcohol by volume or less.
The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said it had no choice but to “destroy” the unsold brews after Nov. 1, when a new law would take effect changing where beer with an alcohol level up to 5% ABV is sold.
17. BYU speaker comes out during commencement speech
A BYU valedictorian’s speech went viral across the country this year when he announced at the school’s commencement ceremony that he is “proud to be a gay son of God.”
The audience cheered and applauded Matt Easton, who said coming out to his entire college was “a phenomenal feeling, and it is a victory for me in and of itself.”
18. Tribune Editorial: Yes, we do have concentration camps
“Yes, we do have concentration camps,” The Tribune’s editorial board wrote in a widely shared and commented on editorial referring to migrant detention centers across the country.
“Our nation is operating concentration camps for refugee children. We need to stop denying that and decide if we are comfortable with that fact. And how we will explain it to our children.”
19. ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ hasn’t released its cast list yet, but here are some ideas
Bravo TV hasn’t announced who will be in the cast of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” its newest show in the channel’s franchise, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation. Showbiz Cheat Sheet claims to have a complete list of cast members, including Vida Tequila’s Lisa Barlow, Beauty Lab & Laser’s Heather Gay, The Fashion Fuse’s Angie Harrington, jewelery designer Meredith Marks, interior designer Sara McArthur-Pierce, Iris + Beau’s Whitney Rose and The Shah Squad’s Jen Shah.
20. A Utah woman’s blood drained from her heart into a garbage can, killing her, according to lawsuit
In a particularly gruesome story, we learned about a Vineyard woman who died after surgery because doctors reportedly left an open tube from her heart that drained her blood into a garbage can.
Doctors at St. Mark’s Hospital in Millcreek performed heart surgery on Donnamay Brockbank in July 2018 to remove a medical device that was causing an allergic reaction, according to a lawsuit. After the surgery, the tube and needle — or cannula — returning blood to Brockbank’s femur was removed. But blood was still leaving Brockbank’s body through the other cannula, which was left in her body, unclamped, the lawsuit states. None of the medical professionals in the room addressed the tube piping blood out of Brockbank and into the garbage can, the lawsuit states. Eventually doctors reopened Brockbank’s chest and tried to manually manipulate her heart, but they could not revive her.
