Utah's Top 10 News Stories
 
The Associated Press
KUTV Channel 2
 
SALT LAKE CITY Utah’s top headlines drew attention around the world in 2006, from the return of fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs to face criminal charges involving an arranged monogamous marriage and the surgical separation of the exuberant conjoined 4-year-old Herrin twins to the Salt Lake City visit of then-President Vicente Fox of Mexico.

Each year, The Associated Press and its Utah member news organizations vote on the state’s top 10 stories. In 2006, they were rated as follows:

1. Utah polygamy goes very public in a big way: From the arrest of a shorts-clad Warren Jeffs during a traffic stop just north of Las Vegas to the much-discussed debut of the HBO series "Big Love" and the summertime polygamist rally in downtown Salt Lake City, the practice of plural marriage attracted coast-to-coast attention in 2006.

2. (tie) Tens of thousands of immigrants and their supporters marched for immigration rights in downtown Salt Lake City in April. The huge turnout stunned even organizers. Many were seeking federal legislation that would help an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants settle in the U.S. legally.

And, 5-year-old Destiny Norton vanished from a Salt Lake City neighborhood in July. After an intensive eight-day search, her body was found in a plastic storage container in a neighbor’s cellar. In December, Craig Gregerson, 20, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and was immediately sentenced to life in prison without parole.

4. The U.S. Interior Department in September rejected a proposal to store spent nuclear fuel rods on the Goshute Indian reservation in Skull Valley. As part of the effort to block delivery by rail spur of any spent fuel to the reservation, Utah also got its first wilderness area in 22 years – the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area.

5. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October unveiled its plans for the City Creek downtown redevelopment, a five-year project that has already seen the demolition of the Inn at Temple Square. The $1 billion-plus project will cover three city blocks and be a mix of commercial, residential and retail space.

6. Four-year-old conjoined twins Kendra and Maliyah Herrin were separated at Primary Children’s Medical Center in August. The girls, who were fused at the mid-torso, were in surgery for 26 hours. Their pelvis was split and reconstructed; each girl kept one leg. Kendra kept their functioning kidney. Maliyah was put on dialysis and will need a transplant.

7. Mormon church president Gordon B. Hinckley underwent surgery in January to remove a cancerous portion of his large intestine. In April, he said he was suffering "residual health problems" related to the surgery. On Nov. 3, at 96 years, 133 days old, Hinckley became the oldest president in the 176-year history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

8. While gasoline prices soared in 2006, Utah for a time enjoyed lower-than-average rates at the pump. But when prices began to decline nationally, drivers here didn’t see prices go down much. The disparity was as much as 32 cents, prompting Gov. Jon Huntsman to order an investigation. The state blamed retailers for gouging at the pump, but gas station owners took exception to the report.

9. The Utah Legislature is called into special session in December to approve maps for a proposed fourth congressional district, a seat the state believes was wrongly allocated to North Carolina after the 2000 Census. But legislation for the additional seat, along with a voting member in the U.S. House for the District of Columbia, didn’t make it onto the calendar in the waning days of Congress.

10. (three-way tie) A Layton couple, Susan and John Ross, were charged in a 47-count indictment with the theft of $3.9 million in federal grant money from the Davis School District. They deny any wrongdoing.

In May, then-Mexican President Vicente Fox visited Utah, where he said that Mexico does not support undocumented migration and that his country must expand economic growth so it is not necessary for people to seek work and benefits across the border.

And, Utah gets active on climate change: Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson won international recognition for his work on making the city green and fighting global warming; Sundance had a climate summit for U.S. mayors; several Southern California cities notify the Intermountain Power Agency they will not renew contracts for power from coal-fired plants; and the governor convenes the Utah Climate Council to look for ways to reduce the state’s energy use.
 
KUTV.com
Originally published December 22, 2006
 
Back