A year of candidacies, conservation complications and car crashes brought stories of wins, losses, homicides and heroics to Wasatch County in 2024. This election year, county officials like Wasatch County Councilors Kendall Crittenden and Mark Nelson kept their seats while two county school board candidates faced disqualification for clerical issues. Also on the ballot this year: Midway saw its second open space bond pass with flying colors (77% in favor). But, Wasatch Back news saw more than election results. An ongoing lawsuit with a Church of Latter-day Saints temple project has caused a stir. The Utah Department of Transportation has yet to finish an Environmental Impact Statement that will determine the route for a bypass route around Heber City. The search for the suspect in a road rage homicide incident has come to an end, but the shooter’s court hearings have just begun. Six articles tell the story of Wasatch County’s 2024 best. Lights out for Save Wasatch Back Dark Skies lawsuitThe latest of dark moments for the Dark Skies group in February saw the organization dropping its lawsuit against Wasatch County, which altered dark skies codes at the recommendation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The change suited the needs of the Church of Latter-day Saints’ project to construct a new Heber Valley Temple. This photo was included in the church’s Sept. 25 letter to Wasatch County to show a rendition of the temple’s exterior lighting.The temple construction plans brought an onslaught of public opposition, and the Dark Skies lawsuit was an example of the community’s opinion on the project. The Church of Latter-day Saints temple project squeaked through with approval by use of a legislative development agreement — granting exceptions to certain county ordinances. Despite the end of the group’s 9-month-old lawsuit against the county, the council’s decision to approve the temple’s plans faces ongoing litigation. Trauma nurse’s heroics strikes twiceJune marked the second time in a year that Alice Speak, a Park City Hospital trauma nurse, found herself the first responder at two random medical emergencies. In December, 2023, Speak’s coffee run was interrupted by a medical emergency in Summit County, which left her performing CPR on a driver who was later taken to the hospital and saw a full recovery. In June, Speak took a trip to Wasatch County for a mountain bike ride. On her way home, she witnessed an accident near Hideout.Last December, Alice Speak performed life-saving CPR on a woman while she was out for a coffee. In June, she helped passengers out of a smoking car after a crash she at first thought surely had killed someone.After watching a truck collide with a sedan that sent it flying into a ditch, Speak rushed to the scene and came to the aid of the victims, all of whom fully recovered after a hospital visit. “It could have been so so much worse,” Speak said. “The car was just crumpled and smoking, and luckily it didn’t explode.” Speak said the driver and passenger were both in better condition than the driver she saved months before, and she thought both occupants had fortune on their side. Bigger, better? New Smith’s Marketplace opens in Heber CityThe 123,000-square-foot Smith’s Marketplace at the north end of Heber City opened in July. According to Heber City Manager Matt Brower, the new Smith’s would benefit the community through the increased sales and property tax base it would provide. Smith’s Marketplace was already one of the community’s top-five tax contributors, and Brower said at the time the new location was expected to bring in an additional $300,000 annually. UDOT faces conservation conundrum“I’d like to talk about why you haven’t heard from us in a while,” UDOT’s Senior Communications Manager Wyatt Woolley said at a Heber City Council meeting in October. Years in the making, UDOT’s bypass road saw further complications this year. In October, Woolley informed the council that the county’s decision to approve $2.3 million toward conservation easements in the North Fields had paused UDOT’s process. At the time, Craig Hancock, UDOT project manager, said that all five alternative routes released by UDOT in spring 2022 were still being considered, but he remained tight-lipped about the project’s timeline. Since the October meeting, UDOT has clarified their timeline, and officials say they hope to have a route decision by the end of spring 2026. Patrick Hayes shooter search begins and endsOn Sept. 25, Patrick Hayes, 61, almost made it home in Hideout after spending time with his son in Midvale. His body was later found with a gunshot wound in a Jordanelle State Park trailhead area in what officials believe was a road-rage incident that led to a homicide. “We are still looking for the vehicle of the suspect and those that are involved in this homicide,” Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby said at the time. “We need the public’s help in order to do that, and nobody wants that more than Pat Hayes’ family.”Erin Hayes, niece of Patrick Hayes, listens to Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby while a tear rolls down her cheek on Thursday, Oct. 10, near the scene of the crime. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordDec. 24, Greg Kyle DeBoer, 62, of Peoa, admitted to shooting Hayes “in self-defense” according to court documents. “Greg DeBoer admitted to shooting Patrick Hayes with his .45 caliber Kimber 1911 and admitted to burying the gun near his house sometime after the shooting,” the affidavit of probable cause stated. Hayes’ family said in a statement in November they do not believe the incident was self-defense. DeBoer’s next court hearing will take place on Jan. 22, and he is currently being held with a $20,000 bail set under the condition he not leave jail without an ankle monitor. Wasatch Back voters chooseThe culmination of a year’s-worth of candidates races saw an 81% voter turnout in Utah. On Nov. 5, Wasatch County voters who cast their ballots in-person weighed their choices. Wasatch County saw nearly 15,000 votes by Election Day. By 1 p.m. on Nov. 5, 1,069 ballots from in-person voters had been processed. With just one polling location open in Wasatch County, voters waited in the snow for more than an hour. Supporters of former President Donald J. Trump were concerned about the economy. Those voting for Vice President Kamala Harris were most worried about issues like women’s rights and rising housing prices. Democrat or Republican, Wasatch County voters agreed that the 2024 presidential race caused more division and anxiety than previous elections.The post Top 2024 Wasatch County headlines appeared first on Park Record.