As public interest in cold cases continues to rise, Utah investigators fight against time in their search for answers among fading memories and decaying evidence. Families continue to hold out hope, but fear their case may never see closure.
By STAR NEIL Contributor
Darcie Housley has been searching for answers since the death of her son, Brian Housley, who was killed in a drive-by-shooting in Ogden in 2017. The grieving mother says she has been living with the fear that she will die before she sees her son’s case solved.
“That’s my biggest fear,” Darcie Housley said. “That I’m going to be dead and gone before they ever solve this.”
Brian was shot from an unidentified vehicle in the middle of the night on Nov. 27, 2017, as he was working on his neighbor’s car. While investigators have determined that Brian was not the intended target, the lack of witnesses and inconclusive ballistic evidence have made the case difficult to solve.
‘An ongoing nightmare’
Darcie Housley has since taken an active role in the investigation of her son’s death. She has worked with multiple investigators, but has been continuously frustrated by the lack of communication. She said that she received one phone call during the investigation, but all other communication was initiated by her.
“I didn’t think I was being obnoxious,” Housley said. “I’d maybe send an email about every six to eight weeks, and I’d wait and wait for weeks before I’d hear anything.”
Housley has since created a facebook page dedicated to seeking justice for her son and continues to educate herself on the justice system, cold cases and what can be done to help move her son’s case forward.
“It’s just turned into a cold case, that’s been an ongoing nightmare,”
Housley said.
Cold cases present unique challenges to investigators; the first being when to consider a case cold, as there is currently no nationally recognized definition for what constitutes a cold case.
In Texas, any homicide or missing persons case in which all leads have been exhausted is considered a cold case, regardless of how much time has passed.
California, on the other hand, has many different cold case units across the state, each with their own definitions and guidelines.
Utah has no specific definition for cold cases; but there is a state bill requiring any unsolved homicide or missing persons case to be added to the state-wide cold case database once the case reaches three years since the incident.
While a cold case is often thought of as being an older case, such as
the Black Dahlia case of 1947, many cases on the database are much more recent than that. About 58 of the cases on the database are from the last 10 years.
Though these cases may not be as old, they still present investigators with similar challenges, hence the need for a better definition of what constitutes a cold case. This is especially prominent as cold cases skyrocket in public interest, which is putting a lot of pressure on police agencies to learn the best ways to investigate these cases.
Detective Ben Pender has been working the Unified Police Department’s cold cases for nine years and is very familiar with the challenges pertaining to cold cases.
Pender said his most common challenge is “running into people that we can’t talk to because they passed away, or for some reason we can’t find them.”
tially will conduct their own investigation, whether they realize that or not.”
Cawley said this can damage the reputation and relationships between journalists, families and the public because it becomes harder to differentiate between well researched facts or theories.
“They don’t come to it with a background in journalistic ethics and they misstate facts or they latch on to sensational details,” Cawley said.
The good news is that public attention is also moving cold cases forward. It has led to more resources for investigators, such as the Cold Case Review Board, which was founded in 2020 and consists of 30 members across many departments, including forensic experts and experienced investigators.
The board meets monthly to review a case brought forth by a Utah Police Agency and works together to consider all the aspects of the case before making recommendations for the agency’s investigation.
“We want it to always stay in the forefront of their minds that there is an individual who has been murdered and that we are pursuing justice for that family and for that individual.”
- Rick Childress
He added that many cases may have evidence that was either lost to degradation over time, or possibly never collected at all.
“I don’t think in these early ‘80s [and] ‘70s cases, no one was really thinking about DNA,” Pender said.
Dave Cawley, investigative journalist for KSL and host of COLD, a cold case investigation podcast, says that there’s always a risk of evidence being lost to time with older cases.
“If records aren’t meticulously kept, the longer it goes, the more likely that facts, details [and] evidence will be lost,“ Cawley said. Cawley also pointed out potential downsides of the public interest in cold cases.
“We live in a time where there are a lot of people doing what I would call open source investigation,” Cawley said. “They essen-
It’s also important to recognize that while cold cases garner a lot of public attention, they rarely end in a conviction. According to a 2012 survey of police departments across the country, only about 1 in 100 cold cases ends in a conviction; however, the researchers stated that number is highly unreliable, as it is based on estimates of a relatively small pool of responding agencies.
While there isn’t any current database kept pertaining to resolved cold cases in Utah, Pender said his department has solved 10 homicides and three missing persons cases, and is currently working on another 34 unsolved homicides and 14 missing persons cold cases.
Kathy Mackay, a cold case crime analyst for the Utah Statewide Information & Analyst Center, is one of the key organizers of the board and the cold case database.
“I can honestly say that a lot of Utah cases are being actively worked,” Mackay said. “The rewarding part is when a case is closed and you get to go sit in the room with the family when they are told that their case is closed…It is the most amazing thing.”
Currently, the Utah Cold Case Database contains 428 cases, of which about 58% are unresolved homicides, and another 29% are missing persons.
So far, the cold case review board has reviewed 33 cases, according to Mackay. One case was later resolved in the identification of Robert Holman Trent, whose remains were found 66 years ago in Millard County. The case was resolved when DNA from the remains were found to be a match against Trent’s daughter, who is now 90 years old.
In addition to the cold case review board, the state offers
Story continues on pg. 4
multiple grants to assist agencies with the costs associated with forensic testing through the state crime lab.
“There’s so many good stories going on right now and active cases that are being solved because of grant funding that we have available, and also because the agencies are moving forward, ” Mackay said.
The investigators working on the Brian Housley case have presented it to the cold case review board, according to Mackay. She said that it was a hard case, and so far nothing has come from any forensic or ballistics testing the agency has tried.
“We’re trying to get as many cases presented because of the families,” Mackay said. “I followed Darcie Housley on Facebook and I wanted to get her son’s case there.”
Rick Childress, the cold case investigative coordinator for the Ogden City Police Department, said that he has witnessed the expertise and resources from the cold case review board first hand.
“It’s a great resource,” said Childress. “I was really surprised at the quality and the quantity of the input that was coming from investigators, from the state lab [and] from prosecutors.”
Childress said he has presented five or six different cases, and that it has been a simple process to request a case to be reviewed. He added that creating a thorough presentation and having a good understanding of the case is key to getting the most out of the experience.
“The amount of information that comes out of those presentations is really amazing,” Childress said. “It’s great input that I think every department should be using.”
While the review board is a great resource for generating ideas to help progress a case, how the agency uses that information is up to them, Childress said.
‘The colder these cases get’
Utah offers these resources to support cold case investigations; however, the actual process behind who investigates cold cases and
how much time is dedicated to them varies from agency to agency.
Housley strongly believes that Ogden needs a dedicated cold case unit. She said she’s sent letters to local politicians expressing a need for the unit to help solve cases like her son’s, which she feels has been left on the back burner.
According to Housley, the only response she received was from the Ogden City mayor’s office, which said that the Ogden Police Department has all the resources they need.
“The colder these cases get, they’re just going to get left to be unsolved,” Housley said. “They only look at it if they have time and if they get some pressure.”
Childress said the Ogden Police Department gives investigators the option to voluntarily investigate their agency’s cold cases. He said they have 22 investigators total between the major crime and special victims units.
“We hope that we’re being efficient by allowing more investigators to work them,” Childress said.
Childress added that in 2010, he worked as a full-time investigator dedicated to cold cases for about three years, but at the time there weren’t enough cases to justify a full-time investigator.
Childress said he believes Ogden now has enough cold cases to occupy a full-time investigator role, but the challenge is the current workload on investigators. He said in order to move an investigator over to cold cases, they would have to find a replacement for them in their unit, and then pull another officer from elsewhere.
The Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake, on the other hand, has dedicated Pender full time to investigating their agency’s cold cases, and he does so with the assistance of one part time civilian.
According to the Utah cold case database, of the 305 cases with an agency listed, the Ogden Police Department currently has 16 open cold cases, and The Unified Police Department has 48.
‘It begins with a commitment’
The public interest in cold cases helps investigators in other ways as
Map of Utah showing Utah police agencies. Size shows count of Cold Case Database. Data was scraped my Morgan Keller from the Utah department of public safety cold case website. URL: https://bci.utah.gov/coldcases/
well.
Kalra Beler, homicide cold case investigator with the Riverside Police Department in California, said they use the popularity of cold cases to their advantage.
“People are very supportive and very interested in cold cases,” Beler said. “I’m getting ready to do a press release. It should come out in the next week on an unresolved one, looking for assistance. So it will probably gain some media’s attention and some community attention.”
Beler said her department, which oversees the famous unsolved death of Cheri Jo Bates, communicates consistently with journalists to publish case details in hopes of attaining new information from the public.
Childress shared a similar sentiment, stating that his department values public input. He said in
addition to setting up a cold case booth at local events, his department also uses social media to share photos in remembrance of cold case victims on the anniversary of their death or disappearance.
“We’re putting this out for the community because we haven’t forgotten and we don’t want the community to forget,” Childress said. “We want it to always stay in the forefront of their minds that there is an individual who has been murdered and that we are pursuing justice for that family and for that individual.”
Detective Pender said the most important factor that has helped his department succeed at solving cold cases has been a commitment from everyone involved to making cold cases a priority.
“I think it begins with a commitment from the cities, the police chiefs, [and] the sheriffs,” Pender said.
He added that he understands the challenges police departments face on a daily basis, especially when it comes to staffing. However, cold cases aren’t solved by simply working on them as they have time. He urged that they have to be a priority.
“Is a current [case] more important than one that happened five or 10 years ago? I don’t think so. I think they’re all important,” Pender said. “We want to try to resolve these for everybody. I think the ones that are even older deserve the same attention as the ones that have just happened.”
As for Housley, she remains hopeful for the future. She said she is working closely with the two detectives currently assigned to her son’s case, and will never give up in her search for answers.
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By JER BATES Contributor
It’s 4 p.m. on a sunny spring Wednesday at the North Temple FrontRunner station in downtown Salt Lake City. The platform quickly begins to fill with passengers waiting for the next commuter train headed north, toward Ogden, or south, toward Provo. Above the drum of footsteps and babble of speech, the sound of a synthetic beep rings out repeatedly as many of the passengers swipe a transit pass over an electronic sensor. It’s a clear indication that these passengers have paid to ride the train, but many of these passengers suspect that several people are taking advan tage of the system.
“It is unethical and a form of stealing. How ever I imagine it happens a lot because of how easy it is to do,” Jonathan A., who asked to be identified by his first name and last ini tial, said. He is a working professional who uses the system two or three times per week. “I’m not aware of what they do to enforce payment.”
Zach Myler relies on FrontRunner for his daily commute to work. He has noticed the lack of fare enforcement.
“I’ve never seen anyone asked if they have a ticket or pass on FrontRunner,” Myler said.
Utah Transit Authority operates FrontRunner, and on the surface, their data appears to support the suspicion that many passengers are not paying to ride the train. In 2018 there were a little over 5.08 million FrontRunner passengers. If every passenger had paid the full fare, $2.50, it would have gen erated approximately $12.7 million in revenue.
The actual fare revenue in 2018 was $7.375 million. This equates to about 58% of passengers paying full fare. But not everyone is required to pay the full fare to ride FrontRunner. Actively enrolled university students in Utah qualify for free or discounted UTA passes, including the UTA Edpass, which allows Weber State University students to ride most transportation services for free.
In an informal survey, 70% of respondents indicated they qualify for a free or reduced pass from UTA. When the 2018 numbers were crunched again, now factoring in 70% of passengers paying a reduced fare of $1.25 and only 30% paying full fare, the estimated revenue would have been about $7.9 million. And the numbers are similar over a fiveyear span from 2018 to 2022. This indicates that around 90% of passengers are paying at least something to ride the FrontRunner. But that’s where the good financial news reaches the end of the line.
In the same five-year span, UTA records
the cost to operate the service.
“It’s hard to justify more enforcement when I think UTA estimates 90% already pay without enforcement,” Nick V., another commuter who asked to keep his last name private said. “Cost of enforcement might exceed the additional revenue captured.”
With taxpayers already covering about 90% of the cost to operate FrontRunner, UTA has explored the possibility of abandoning the attempt to enforce payment and eliminate fares altogether.
“It’s been discussed at various levels at UTA,” Carl Arky, a UTA
ticket sales, but FrontRunner usage could swell as a result.
“UTA has had many zero fare days in the past for all modes of transit in the system,” Arky said. “Everyone rode for free for 10 days during the NBA All-Star extravaganza last year. Ridership has typically gone up significantly on days or weeks the public has been offered zero fares.”
However, some people think the price of a ticket isn’t the only deterrent.
“Inconvenience or not enough schedule flexibility,” Barrett B., who requested that his last initial only be used, said. “They don’t understand how it works and are afraid or overwhelmed by it. I have been riding on and off over the years since 2012. The WiFi was awful back then. UTA has made a lot of improvements, but I think they should do more to clearly communicate how simple and conve-
annual operating costs. Tax funding makes up the difference. Even if UTA collected a full fare from every FrontRunner passenger, the revenue would still only cover a fraction of
PHOTOBY:JERBATES
Simplicity and convenience got Arky accustomed to using FrontRunner before he joined
“I used to take the train from Salt Lake to Ogden regularly while working with Weber State athletics,” Arky said. “Get off at Union Station, get on a bus, right up to campus.”
But he concedes that, while the system might work great for many people, it will never be a perfect fit for everyone.
EDITEDBY:ALYSSANELSON
“This winter, I took the train to get up to Snowbasin. On the way back we just missed the train. I was talking to a couple of tourists. They decided 30 minutes was too long so they called an Uber. I waited for the next train,” Arky said.
Still, Natalie Thompson, who uses FrontRunner occasionally to avoid traffic, is optimistic that removing the need to purchase a ticket would be sufficient to cause usage to
“I only ride [FrontRunner] occasionally and I purchase a pass when I ride. I think ridership would increase significantly if fares were eliminated,” Thompson said.
a zero fare system,” Arky said.
In other words, the government would likely have to commit additional tax funding to replace the revenue lost from eliminating
If UTA could secure the additional funding to eliminate fares, the people riding FrontRunner for no charge wouldn’t be the only stakeholders who benefit. Greater ridership
A passenger scanning a ticket to get on the train platform.
and use of public transportation would be the most obvious outcome, but that would be followed by a list of additional advantages.
“Fewer cars on the highways, fewer emissions, cleaner air,” Arky said. “Less wear and tear on our roadways. Potential transportation cost savings for individuals and families. Less congestion on secondary roads.”
He added that the possible consideration of eliminating fares would not be exclusive to commuter rail.
“If this ever were to happen it would, in all likelihood, be enacted system wide and not just on FrontRunner,” Arky said.
Eliminating the need to hear that electronic beep from scanning a pass sounds great to Regan Belko.
“I ride FrontRunner once a week. I’m in school full time and I work part-time. Providing this option for people with no alternative and reducing emissions is something I support,” Belko said.
UTA welcomes patron feedback at their website.
By MCKENNA GOUGH Contributor
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, parents and educators are growing more and more concerned with the increasing behavioral problems in teens seen throughout Utah.
Incident rates in Utah’s high schools have seen an upward trend the past five years.
The Utah State Board of Education’s 2023 School Disciplinary and Law Enforcement Action Report shows there were almost 55,000 incidents reported in the 2018 school year. By the 2023 school year, that number had almost doubled with over 105,000 incidents reported.
The number of schools reporting these incidents has also increased. 89% of schools throughout Utah had reported at least one incident in 2018 but five years later, in 2023, that number jumped to 96.20% of Utah schools reporting an incident. This spike in incidents seen throughout the state is hitting a lot closer to home in Ogden as Ogden School District has seen a similar rise in behavioral incidents as well. Ogden
School District has five different levels in determining the seriousness of the incident. Level one is less serious offenses, such as swearing or disruptive behavior, while level five is for the more serious offenses like sexual crimes or assault.
Ogden School District’s Office Discipline
Referral Data shows that there was a significant rise in level one offenses, while incidents in levels two, three, four and five stayed the same over the years. There were 1,926 level one incidents while, as of February, Ogden School District had reported 2,004 incidents for the 2023-24 school year, though the school year is not yet complete.
One of the reasons for a shift in teenagers’ behaviors is the use of social media, according to Utah Protecting Minors Online. Excessive use of social media has been shown to affect attention spans and feelings of exclusion in kids according to the American Psychological Association (APA). Increased feelings of anxiety, depression and poor self-esteem have also been linked to social media. This in turn causes adolescents to act out and exhibit behavioral issues.
Ogden High School Principal, Shauna Haney, says that social media makes it hard
for adolescents to get the social skills that they need to develop meaningful relationships.
“When they’re on social media, they are not practicing their communication skills,” Haney said.
Haney believes another reason for the increase in poor behaviors could be the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic threw everyone out of their daily routines and forced them to find a new normal. This was no different for teens. At the time of the pandemic, most current high schoolers were just entering into their teenage years when the world shut down.
A San Francisco study supported by the National Institute of Mental Health showed that teenagers’ brains after the pandemic showed abnormal aging. During this study researchers took MRI scans of teens aged 13 to 17.
Originally their plan was to show the developmental process of the brain throughout the teenage years. However, when their research resumed after 10 months of the pandemic, researchers realized they could compare teens’ brains from before the lockdown to their brains after the pandemic started.
What this research showed was that on av-
erage the teens’ brains that experienced the pandemic aged about three years in just a 10 month span. These changes to the brain are similar to the changes that occur in teens who experience neglect, family dysfunction and violence.
Nicole Lovell, director of student advocacy services of Ogden School District says that anytime there are changes in the community, students’ behaviors seem to shift also.
Mental health is also a big concern when it comes to teenagers. Haney said that over the years she has noticed students becoming more anxious and less enthusiastic and goal oriented when it comes to their education.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), feelings of depression have increased by about 40% in adolescents in the last 10 years.
But it’s not just trouble in the classroom. Teens are finding themselves in trouble with the law as well. The Utah Division of Juvenile Justice Services (JJS) has found that about 26% of Utah’s youth will have some type of run in with the juvenile justice system by age 18 and 1 in 18 juveniles will have spent time locked up by the age 18.
“Most of what we see really are the stupid
things [kids] get themselves involved with. Alcohol, weed, criminal mischief, trespass; generally the kinds of things that kids do,” Judge Rick T. Westmoreland, a juvenile judge with the Second District Juvenile Court said. He also states that Ogden is facing a big increase in firearm offenses because of the spike in gang involvement.
“Word on the street is that the Nortenos gang is making its move back into Ogden and a lot of kids are getting wrapped up in it,” Westmoreland said.
Juvenile involvement in gangs has been a concern for local police. Sgt. Dallon Webb of the Ogden Metro Gang Task Force says that they have begun to see an increase in teen gang members.
“Around September of ’23, we began to see a steep increase in juvenile ‘pop-up gangs,’” Webbs said. “It is usually a group of friends that will claim a gang, with the gang name of whatever street they live on.”
Webbs explained that adolescents usually join gangs for friendship and camaraderie. He says that a lot of kids who choose gang life come from broken homes with parents who aren’t around.
Luckily most kids who are referred to the ju-
venile courts don’t have to stand in front of a judge or go through the long judicial process. Westmoreland says that about five years ago, Utah legislature changed the way delinquency is dealt with. Now most convicted juveniles enter into an agreement with the probation department and complete the terms of agreement.
Westmoreland says that for the most part once teens get in trouble with the law, they don’t repeat again.
“I think it’s the beauty of our system. If we can make an impact when they’re young, we hope they won’t come back or continue on into adulthood,” Westmoreland said.
However, this does not mean that juveniles are out of the woods once they enter into a plea deal. Those that are placed in juvenile detention have about a 1 in 4 chance of receiving a new felony charge within one year of release according to the Justice Center.
While in the juvenile system, the Division of Juvenile Justice and Youth Services states that 10.9% of youths that exit the juvenile justice system have contact with the adult system within five years. And 19% of juveniles will have contact within 10 years post-exit.
Ways to Help Teens
There are ways to help teenagers who are struggling with behavior problems. Kids who are involved in extracurricular activities outside of school are less likely to cause problems at home or in class says Mountain Heights Academy. These activities such as clubs, sports or even a job can help teens make new friends and develop social skills. They can also help to instill a sense of responsibility and work ethic in kids keeping them out of trouble.
Having adults in teenagers’ lives that kids can rely on for support is valuable in helping them with behavioral problems. Haney says it is important for parents and teachers to reach out to kids and build strong relationships with them.
Strong support systems also help students to thrive. Whether that be parents, family members, coaches or educators, having people to lean on help teenagers from feeling isolated and in turn keep them from acting out.
“A support system of any kind encourages the students to make positive choices,” says Haney
PHOTOS AND STORY BY MEGAN SWANN Contributor
The 12,700 acres of pristine slopes on the east side of the Wasatch Mountains sit right in Morgan County’s backyard, but most residents will never get to see them, not unless they have $500,000 to spend for membership at Peterson, Utah’s new luxury ski resort: Wasatch Peaks Ranch.
From being nestled in the mountains in such a way that it’s hidden from below, to having a website sparse with any kind of information, it is obvious that this developing ski resort is private – and would like to stay that way.
The resort makes it very clear that it would like to remain mysterious. The website does not list any contact information. The majority of the results for “Wasatch Peaks Ranch” on a web search are links to other news sources writing about it, but any information directly from the resort requires a much deeper search.
The only sentence on the homepage of their website reads: “Wasatch Peaks Ranch is a private community and club in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains where members can enjoy year-round outdoor activities that start with skiing and golf and continue as far as your imagination can take you.”
However, with such an expensive and exclusive membership, many Morgan County residents won’t be getting to imagine any-
thing about this luxury resort next door.
The resort is planning on having ski runs and lodges, but to stay open all year, they will also have trails and a golf course created by Tom Fazio, a famous golf course architect whose work includes the Glenwild course in Park City.
A representative from Wasatch Peaks Ranch could not be reached for comment.
An uphill battle
Five years into its development, the resort has already been wracked with controversy in local news, mainly because of a legal battle between the county, the resort and six residents – Whitney Croft, David Pike, Robert Bohman, Brandon Peterson, Shelley Paige and Cindy Carter – who feel that the citizens should have more of a say in the matter.
Croft, Pike, Bohman, Peterson and Paige sponsored a referendum, which allows citizens to put proposals, laws and political issues on the ballot. These sponsors, with help from Carter, filed an application for this referendum, which centers around a zoning change requested by Wasatch Peaks.
In an effort to make their voice heard, this group of six endured many intimidation tactics from Wasatch Peaks Ranch, including a lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages from the resort.
Before filing a lawsuit against these residents, Managing Director Ed Schultz threatened two of the sponsors’ relatives that this
action would lead to a lawsuit.
Carter explained that they decided to continue despite this threat and about a week and a half later, they were sued for $5 million, which Wasatch Peaks Ranch upped to $10 million further into the case.
“So from our view, that was purely in an effort to try and intimidate them out of pursuing the referendum. We were ultimately able to get that lawsuit dismissed,” attorney Dana Farmer, who represented the six residents in this lawsuit, said.
The resort also filed a lawsuit against the county in an attempt to force a denial of the referendum application.
“We fought this thing for four years,” Pike said. “Sleepless nights and stress and meetings. It’s horrible.”
County council faces criticism
Wasatch Peaks Ranch acquired this land in 2019 from Mirr Ranch Group, a ranch real estate group. At that time, most of the land was zoned as an F-1 Forestry zone, meaning that developers could build one house for every 160 acres. In order for the developers to create what they had in mind, they needed to submit a Special District Application to Morgan County.
Carter said the county council created a committee of three council members and three planning commission members with the purpose of deciding if it was feasible to make this zoning change. According to Carter,
Wasatch Peaks Ranch took this committee up to the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana, which is a luxury resort that Wasatch Peaks Ranch hopes to emulate.
The County Commission held several meetings regarding this zone change in October 2019, and meeting minutes show that on Oct. 30, 2019, the zoning change was approved 6–1.
This caused some criticism across the county, with concerns ranging from the unaffordability of the resort for locals to the need to preserve the land. This led to the start of the referendum application.
“I wasn’t necessarily opposed to Wasatch Peaks itself. My big problem was the way the county went about it,” Carter said.
The sponsors got over 1,000 signatures in a letter addressed to the council members. Each of these signatures showed a member in the community who was upset by these decisions.
“I met with one of the county council members personally and showed him the letter and he wouldn’t read it,” Carter said.
Pike, a referendum sponsor, feels suspicious of the council’s motives because one of the members is a real estate attorney. Pike also felt that the council meetings where the community could go to voice their concerns weren’t advertised enough.
“A lot of people didn’t know what was going on in the county. You got a lot of older people in Morgan County. They’re not computer sav-
vy. They don’t get the newspaper. They hear about it after it’s over,” Pike said. “I just don’t think the county was informed that well.”
Referendum application process begins
Carter said at that time, a member from the community got a call from someone involved in the state Legislature saying that they could file for a referendum.
Croft, Pike, Bohman, Peterson and Paige all had seven days to file an application for a referendum, which they did on the last day on Nov. 6, 2019.
To file the application, the sponsors had to attach the ordinance and turn it in to the county clerk’s office. They could not get a copy of the ordinance, so instead they attached the meeting agenda and submitted it.
Farmer was not involved at this time, however, he said that he did know from previous court documents that on that day, Schultz, the resort’s managing director, appeared at the clerk’s office at the same time with one of his attorneys.
In court, Schultz stated that he and his attorney’s appearance there was completely coincidental. He explained that they were only there to record the development agreement.
However, Carter said that once the sponsors had delivered the application, Schultz told the county clerk to write that the application was late. It needed to be in by 5 p.m. and Schultz argued that it was 5:04 p.m. However, court documents show that this was later
dismissed because there was no timestamp or clock available to determine exactly what time it was.
Farmer said that Judge Noel Hyde dismissed the application, not for the reasons that the resort stated it should be dismissed, but for not having the ordinance attached.
Back and forth in court
A few rounds of appeals followed, firstly for the application to be considered, and then once again when Judge Hyde said that it was out of his jurisdiction and needed to be appealed to the Utah Supreme Court.
The lawsuits followed shortly thereafter.
“I can only tell you that it’s life changing when you get sued for that kind of money,” Carter said. “My husband and I own our own business. At the time we had, I don’t know, 15-20 employees. And we got served those papers, and I sat down on the floor by my front door and just covered my head and was like ‘What have I done?’”
This is how Farmer got involved, as Carter was a client at his law firm.
The Utah Supreme Court referred the case back to Judge Hyde, and from this case came the agreement that a referendum could be held. Wasatch Peaks Ranch was issued a temporary restraining order in which they could not develop any further.
Morgan County School District tours the resort
Around this time, another issue came up
when a Morgan School District employee, who also worked for Wasatch Peaks Ranch, set up tours to the resort for school district employees. These tours occurred in November 2023, while the resort was still under the temporary restraining order.
Court documents show that during these tours, employees were given a presentation about how the taxes paid by the resort would benefit schools.
During these tours, school district employees were given free drinks, meals and a take-home gift of lip balm, sunscreen, towels, flossers and Tylenol, court documents show.
Slides from this presentation were used as exhibits in court.
“The Wasatch Peaks Ranch will pay over $2 million in taxes to Morgan County in November of 2023,” one of these slides stated. “Based on historic trends, approximately twothirds of these funds will go to the school district and one-third will go to the county and related entities.”
The aftermath
If a referendum did happen, it could have occurred as early as this November or as late as 2026, Farmer said. However, that did not happen.
“As soon as Wasatch Peaks Ranch realized that they had to comply with the law, that they had to follow the constitution, and that the court was going to hold them to that, then they became reasonable, and so they
approached us to have a discussion about it,” Farmer said.
In these agreements, Wasatch Peaks Ranch agreed to put 2,300 acres of their land on the southern end into a conservation easement. They also agreed to not build any ski lifts or runs south of Dalton Creek.
Farmer said they will also be connecting trails across their property so people can access Forest Service land at the peaks of the mountain range.
“People also wanted to be able to have access to the national forest and public ground that’s on top of the peaks, because the Forest Service owns almost everything along the peaks from the mouth of Weber Canyon down to Farmington Canyon, and people have been able to get up there historically,” Farmer said. However, the public will not be able to ski at the resort. Farmer said that Wasatch Peaks Ranch bought the property from the same family who owns Snowbasin, and there was a condition that the land could not be turned into a public ski area so as to not compete with the previous owners.
A final condition is that Wasatch Peaks Ranch will put $4 million into a fund for public projects in the county, and three of the referendum sponsors will be on the board that decides what to do with that money.
Mountain Green Middle School, a school that WPR taxes could benefit Story continued from pg. 13
“One hundred percent satisfaction to me would have been for the people to be able to vote on this,” Carter said. “I wish it could have gone to a vote, but this group of five and myself are intelligent enough to know what we had in front of us.”
At this point in time, the six residents had racked up over $500,000 in attorneys fees already and knew that the legal battle would only continue for years to come.
“Not everybody in this group probably agrees with me, but I think that trying to be reasonable, and again, looking at what we had in front of us, I think it was the best resolution for Wasatch Peaks, for ourselves and for the county,” Carter said.
Pike, who was invited up to WPR but refused to go, said he’ll never be satisfied with the way things worked out. He wishes he could keep going financially with the referendum.
“I understand they want to be private. But what’s involved in that privacy?” Pike said. “Nobody knows what’s going on. You come in here, you want to be good neighbors, good citizens, and then you fight us.”
A potential future for Morgan County
As Wasatch Peaks Ranch continues to grow into the luxury resort it wants to become, the remaining question is how the resort will affect Morgan County and its residents.
During the Morgan School District presentations, WPR asserted that property values would not be raised. However, property values rising tends to be a trend among ski towns.
“The concern is that the same thing would happen here in Morgan County because
that’s essentially what happened to Park City, which is that you have a lot of money that comes in and pretty soon property values go up and it becomes too expensive to live there,” Farmer said.
While WPR can legally build up to 750 units, Farmer said that they have plans to keep it under 500 units, and some of these will be condos instead of single-family housing.
“Their thinking is that because they are private and only their members are going to be able to ski there, then Morgan County doesn’t turn into Park City or Vail or Aspen or suffer those same consequences because there’s no public skiing,” Farmer said.
An argument the resort also makes is that it will create more jobs for the county. In the presentation slides, Wasatch Peaks Ranch wrote that they had 39 employees who reside in Morgan County.
This sentiment is echoed by Jeanne Fry, a 72-year-old resident who has lived in Morgan County her whole life. She likes that they are bringing in jobs for the community.
“I think it’s a great thing for the community. I can’t see that it’s going to negatively affect the community in any way,” Fry said. ”It’s going to bring in a tax base that we need.”
As for whether or not this resort could turn Peterson and the surrounding area into the next Park City or Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Fry is all for it.
“I know I may be the minority in this. I love Jackson Hole. I love Park City. And so I would prefer to see Morgan become something like that than just a massive growth and houses and suburbs,” Fry said.
Farmer mentioned that when he initially heard about the resort before he was involved, he didn’t like that it was going up
there but he also respected that they could do whatever they wanted with their land.
“That being said, I like to live in a place where I have good neighbors, and suing six people to intimidate them out of their constitutional right to conduct a referendum is absolutely wrong, in my opinion,” Farmer said.
Environmental impacts
One concern given by some of the residents is the environmental impact that the resort will cause. Wasatch Peaks Ranch is connected to Weber Basin Water Conservancy District for their water. They are allotted 2,500 acre-feet of water, the same as the previous landowner’s agreement with the water district. Over half of this water will go towards the golf course and snowmaking.
The resort has to report its water usage to the Utah Division of Water Rights. The data shows they are currently pulling water from two wells, one for irrigation and one for industrial use. They also have some culinary usage.
In 2022, they reported that they used 7.52 acre-feet of water, 75% of which went to snowmaking and the rest going towards dust control, system testing and flushing.
In 2023, the reported water usage jumped to 184.28 acre feet. The reasons they listed were snowmaking, construction and dust control.
These totals are significantly smaller than the allotted amount of water used, however the resort is not in full operation yet. Reports for this water usage come out every year, so more information on their water intake will be available once construction finishes.
Sediment has been noticed in Peterson Creek, which runs through the resort. Con-
struction projects that are going to disturb more than one acre of ground need to implement a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. This was also concerning to some of the residents who supported the referendum.
“I know based on comments that have been made to me and personal observations of Peterson Creek, that at least initially, WPR either didn’t have a SWPPP or they weren’t following their SWPPP,” Farmer said.
Pike has also observed the water turning brown below Peterson Creek, but above the resort, the water is clear.
Mud and sediment in these creeks and rivers could potentially affect trout spawning if the water temperature rises too much.
Carter is concerned about chemicals from the snowmaking to get in the streams as well.
Farmer said Wasatch Peaks has also hooked into Mountain Green Sewer Improvement District. Despite some of the resort’s claims that it will be self-sufficient, Farmer says he has not seen that yet.
“WPR has said from the word ‘go’ that they are not going to be a burden on the taxpayers of the county. That they’ll have their own sewer, their own water, their own ambulance and all that sort of stuff up there, but they don’t,” Pike said.
The project still has a ways to go before it is completed, however it is likely that the public won’t hear about it. Schultz and other representatives from Wasatch Peaks gave interviews to local news sources when the legal battle was active. Now that it’s settled, the resort will once again close its gates and disappear from the public eye, leaving only a winding road and a ski lift visible to the public.
By MADELINE THORPE
Contributor
The theater department at Weber State University recently read a play by Rachel Bublitz, a professional playwright, called “Red Days.” The play follows the daily challenges a young athlete faces while trying to train on the track team, set in the future where red days, in which the air quality is deemed to be unhealthy, have become far more frequent.
Bublitz was inspired to write this play after moving to Utah from the Bay Area. Bublitz saw how many young kids and athletes struggled with asthma and how little the athletic departments do to protect them. “Our coaches do have the team practice outside on high pollution days,” Noah
Larkin, a Westminster soccer player, said.
“There are no current protocols in place that are followed in order to protect athletes on high pollution days. Out of roughly 28 teammates, I would estimate that at least 12 have asthma or breathing deficiencies.”
Bublitz’s daughter was one of many young athletes who moved to Utah with healthy lungs and no breathing issues, who soon developed asthma and a daily need for an inhaler.
“So many more kids have inhalers here than they do in California,” Bublitz said. “Coaches message the parents about air quality, but they would still have their athletes practice outside. Currently, coaches will only bring athletes inside on snow days.”
Even athletes are now becoming concerned.
“Other weather concerns like lightning and snow are always monitored and training is adjusted for those conditions, but nothing for bad air quality,” Larkin said. “I understand it is frustrating for coaches and staff to make changes due to inclement weather, but the health of athletes on the team should come first.”
Bublitz hopes her play will bring awareness to the consequences athletes have to face due to high-intensity training outside when air pollution is high.
It is estimated that 30% of high school and college athletes suffer from asthma in Utah. Utah has a higher adult asthma prevalence
rate of 10.8% compared to the national average of 9.3%.
According to Shauna Abbenhaus, a department air monitoring scientist with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, the Wasatch Front has seen an increase in red days over the last five years.
“Inversions are determined by the meteorological conditions,” Abbenhaus said.
This happens when warmer air at a higher altitude traps colder air below it. Inversions produce smog and trap pollutants produced by vehicles, fires and industry. This is why winter has a higher number of red days than spring and fall.
However, inversion or no inversion, the sun causes pollutants in the air to convert
into dangerous gasses. This reduces the air quality around us, which means summer is also a popular season for red days. For athletes who train vigorously in the winter and summer months, it can be detrimental to their health and athletic goals.
“One of the biggest contributors to the pollution in the air is small engines: lawn mowers, leaf blowers and heating pumps,” Eric Michaels, an environmental health supervisor for the Salt Lake City air quality department, said. “The state has identified those as an area we can really hone in on. If we can reduce those, we can reduce the pollution quite a bit.”
The Division of Air Quality passed the Beehive Emission Reduction Plan in 2022 in or-
der for greenhouse gas planning initiatives and implementation.
“This plan is an incentive plan to switch all small engines to electric engines,” Michaels said.
Although there are actions in place to reduce the pollution in the air, it is not something that will happen overnight. Every day, athletes must face the consequences of training and competing in dire breathing conditions.
Soccer, lacrosse, track and field, cross country, football and baseball are all sports that practice and train outside daily in the peak seasons of red days.
“Training outside on high pollution days could have acute impacts such as loss of
breath or exacerbation of respiratory inflammatory response,” Kianan Whitestone, a former soccer player at East Carolina University and current physician assistant, said. “This could lead to future chronic respiratory issues if exposed for years at a time in high pollution areas.”
Carrie Ferdin, a cross country coach at Layton High School, sympathized with her athletes, explaining it has been hard for some of the top athletes to train at the level they would like to. The coaches must adapt workouts, cut them short or take them inside when the air quality is bad.
“Layton High offers no guidelines for high pollution days. I have had to do all my own research to try and figure out what is best to
do for my athletes,” Ferdin said. “As a coach of endurance athletes, I feel like they are particularly vulnerable to pollution. Layton High doesn’t advocate at all for these athletes. I look for treadmills that they can use indoors when the air quality is bad.”
The Student-Athlete Well-being section of the 2023-2024 NCAA Division Manual states, “Each member institution shall facilitate an environment that reinforces physical and mental health within athletics by ensuring access to appropriate resources and open engagement with respect to physical and mental health.”
It has become clear that the Athletic Departments of Utah high schools and colleges do not have any policies or regulations established regarding the well-being of their athletes who suffer from asthma on red days.
“The organization as a whole does not have any protocols set in place for high pollution days,” Elizabeth Katoa, a track and field coach at Layton High School, said. “However, as coaches, we will send athletes with severe asthma to bike inside. We encourage the use of their inhalers and ask them to communicate how they are feeling. We make sure to watch them closely as they workout and modify as needed.”
Ferdin and Katoa have both reported that more and more of their athletes develop
asthma each year. Along with the rise of asthma, the number of red days appear to be rising as well.
Athletes who struggle with asthma are expected to keep up with the rest of the team, even when air conditions are bad. Ferdin and Katoa both make a personal effort to advocate for their athletes, but the health and well-being of the athletes during red days is something that is often overlooked.
Athletes along the Wasatch Front who dream of achieving athletic accomplishments while facing the challenges of training in poor air conditions have grown used to the reality they are faced with.
“I have asthma and I’m okay as long as I have my inhaler. I’ve never known anything else,” Branson Wood, a lacrosse player at
Utah Valley University, said. “We have access to indoor facilities. I would love for our team to intentionally move indoors on high pollution days. I think coaching needs to become more mindful of everyday health, as well as full season health.”
Haley Mertz, a local travel nurse, said that athletes who must train and perform at competitive levels throughout the season can face detrimental consequences to their health.
“Poor air quality can decrease lung function so people with asthma, or COPD, emphysema and more could have exacerbations,” Mertz said. “Therefore, it would affect training and the athlete’s performance. They will not be able to perform at the level they otherwise would be able to without the
poor air quality, and it can cause long-term damage.”
Wood would like to see more health care and medically trained coaches in sports in the future.
“I feel like training on high pollution days is not thought about and I would like more consideration to be taken,” Wood said.
Elementary schools in Salt Lake County do not allow their students to attend recess outside on red days. They are also meant to keep students with asthma inside during recess on orange days.
The parents, coaches and athletes would like to see similar policies in place in the athletic departments of Utah high schools and colleges.
By LEXIE ANDREW Section Editor
Weber State University’s Cheer and Dance teams competed at the National Cheer and Dance Association Collegiate Nationals (NCA/ NDA) in Daytona, Florida, on April 11-13. It was a successful weekend for the Wildcats and they are coming back to Ogden with three Grand Champion titles, four National Champion titles and more.
Weber State Dance Team started the weekend off strong with their emotionally charged jazz routine competing in Jazz Division l. After performing in finals, the dance team was WSU’s first National Champions and Grand Champions of the weekend, having the highest score out of all the jazz divisions with a 98.34.
Weber State fans were packed into the spectator area to watch the dance team compete their electric hip hop routine. They won Hip Hop Division l and became National Champions.
Weber State Cheer had a delayed start to the weekend due to severe thunderstorms in the area, making it unsafe to compete in the Bandshell, an outdoor venue. This didn’t stop them from competing three solid routines.
Advanced Large Coed showed what it meant to be a Wildcat. Fans and spectators were packed into the Bandshell to watch this team perform, and they didn’t disappoint. They performed two flawless routines.
Advanced Large Coed won in the Advanced
Large Coed Division IA becoming National Champions with a score of 98.52 and went into the Grand Champion round.
The final routine performed was without error. Advanced Large Coed is now back to back Grand Champions of Large Coed and scored the highest score of the entire competition with a 99.23.
Advanced Small Coed performed two solid, tight and energetic routines. With a score of 95.71 they became the National Champions in the Advanced Small Coed Division l and moved on to the Grand Champion rounds where they competed one more time.
Advanced Small Coed left it all on the floor and became the Grand Champions of the en-
tire Small Coed division with a score of 95.96
Weber State Cheer also had partner and group stunts competing at NCA. Hailey Smith and Josh Hill won 1st with a 97.15. Their stunt was solid and effortless.
Katherine Abela and Oliver Silva came in 2nd place with a score of 96.13, and Paige Moffet and Taylor Demler came in 5th place with a score of 93.1.
The dance team is soon headed to compete their hip hop routine in the International Cheer Union Worlds representing Team USA.
San Jose Sharks’ Jack Studnicka (16) controls the puck against the Arizona Coyotes in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, on Dec. 21, 2023.
By COLLYN COWLES Section EditorIn a monumental shift for the NHL, the Arizona Coyotes bid farewell to the Valley of the Sun, setting their sights on the snow-capped peaks of Salt Lake City. The decision, finalized amidst a whirlwind of negotiations, saw Alex Meruelo relinquish ownership to Ryan Smith, the current owner of the Utah Jazz.
Arizona’s General Manager Bill Armstrong,
delivered the news to the Coyotes players prior to their clash with the Edmonton Oilers on April 12, marking the end of an era. The Delta Center, home to the Jazz, will serve as a temporary stadium for the team, offering solace until a new downtown arena emerges from the Salt Lake skyline.
Before finalizing the decision to make the move to Salt Lake, Meruelo had pushed for a new stadium to be built in the Scottsdale area. Meruelo’s aspirations of erecting a $3 billion arena complex in North Phoenix evap-
orated, dashed by the weight of prohibitive costs. Despite plans for an auction to secure prime real estate, fate intervened, sealing the Coyotes’ destiny in Utah.
The journey from Glendale to Tempe, marked by financial woes and makeshift facilities, embodied the team’s tumultuous saga. Even in Tempe, where hopes of a new dawn flickered, the challenge of relocation loomed large, casting a shadow over the Coyotes’ ambitions.
Meruelo’s enduring commitment to Ari-
zona’s hockey legacy persists, with plans to retain the team’s name and intellectual property.
As the Coyotes begin a new chapter in the land of the Great Salt Lake, uncertainty gives way to possibility. Smith’s pledge to transform the Delta Center into a hockey arena signals a new era for the Utah community. The Arizona Coyotes brace for a fresh start in Utah as they take on this new venture.
Graduating students need a ticket for graduate area seating on the arena floor during commencement. Students should wear their cap and gown to sit in this area. Graduating students can easily pick up their ticket at the ticket office at the Dee Events Center during Grad Finale, or online at weber.evenue.net
Faculty and staff can also obtain tickets for special seating for commencement. While tickets are not required, they are highly encouraged to make sure we have enough seats available. All faculty and staff are encouraged to attend and wear regalia. Get a free ticket at weber.evenue.net.
There will be indoor pyrotechnics at this event.
No tickets are required. General admission seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis, while space is available. Families of graduates are encouraged to arrive early. General public space is also open to Weber State graduates, faculty and staff without regalia.