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2014 recap: Gay marriage, Swallow-Shurtleff charges, Mia Love’s victory, police shootings, Mormon ins & outs

Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune The pollution-plagued Salt Lake Valley is obscured by another red air day as they inversion continues on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. A weak storm predicted for Thursday could bring a little relief but is not expected to last.

This is the place for same-sex marriage

Armed with a powerful ruling from U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby, six Utahns — Derek Kitchen and Moudi Sbeity, Karen Archer and Kate Call, Laurie Wood and Kody Partridge — made their case for same-sex marriage before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. They won a 2-1 decision in June and prepared to do battle again, this time before the U.S. Supreme Court, this time to settle the issue once and for all. But, on Oct. 6, the justices spoke — by not speaking. They refused to hear appeals from five states, effectively legalizing gay marriage in Utah and across most of the nation. Hundreds of gay couples are now married in the Beehive State, legislators are weighing how to rewrite laws to cover that reality and taxpayers are out hundreds of thousands of dollars that went toward Utah's failed appeals.

The state v. Swallow and Shurtleff

The scandal surrounding former Attorneys General John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff has graduated from a nondescript doughnut shop to the stately halls of government, from political backrooms to state courtrooms, from sordid accounts in news stories to itemized allegations in charging documents. The two were arrested and charged July 15 with a range of corruption crimes from bribery to evidence tampering. Shurtleff faces nine felony counts. Swallow, his handpicked successor, is staring at 12, along with two misdemeanors. Both proclaimed their innocence as the unseemly saga continued to produce surreal images: two ex-prosecutors appearing before a judge as defendants and law-enforcement officers searching the Sandy homes of their former bosses.

Love finds a way

It took three years, dozens of ads, hundreds of speeches, thousands of votes and millions of dollars, but Mia Love finally made history in November, becoming the first black Republican woman elected to Congress. Two years after losing by 768 votes to incumbent Rep. Jim Matheson (who opted against an eighth term), she bested Democratic newcomer Doug Owens by 3 percentage points in the 4th District on election night. Come January, she will join Utah's congressional delegation, which for the first time in 14 years, will be an all-GOP troupe.

Police draw guns and scrutiny

Police use of deadly force captured headlines from Missouri to New York to Utah, setting off protests and counter-protests across the nation. Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman deemed two Saratoga Springs officers justified in gunning down a sword-wielding Darrien Hunt. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill backed a Salt Lake City police officer in the shooting of an unarmed Dillon Taylor outside a convenience store. He also supported the actions of a Unified Police officer who shot dead a suicidal knife-wielding Luis Quintana. A shooting Gill had declared unjustified, the 2012 death of an unarmed Danielle Willard, led to a manslaughter charge against former West Valley City police detective Shaun Cowley. But a 3rd District judge tossed out the case at a preliminary hearing, and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes refused to appeal that dismissal. Salt Lake City police also cleared an officer who shot a dog, a 2-year-old Weimaraner named Geist, during a search for a missing 3-year-old boy. The inherent perils of policing also hit home in January, when a fugitive shot and killed a 19-year law-enforcement veteran, Utah County sheriff's Sgt. Cory Wride, setting off a two-county chase that left Deputy Greg Sherwood wounded and the gunman dead.

Healthy Utah runs intocomplications

Republican Gov. Gary Herbert succeeded in negotiating with a Democratic White House in gaining federal approval of his Healthy Utah plan to cover 146,000 people as an alternative to expanding Medicaid. He hasn't had the same luck with Republicans in his own Capitol. A Health Reform Task Force decided against recommending Herbert's plan to the full Legislature, opting instead for two alternatives that would cover far fewer Utahns. The governor still could prevail, but he seemingly will need help from moderate Republicans and, wait for it, Democrats.

Lost little ones

In April, Darren West, who had spent eight years in prison for drug crimes before going to a Salt Lake City halfway house, went to his Pleasant Grove home to retrieve some belongings. There, he made a grisly discovery: a baby's remains stuffed into a sealed box. Police came and found six more infant corpses similarly stowed away. West's estranged wife, Megan Huntsman, is charged with six counts of murder for allegedly killing six of her own newborn babies between 1996 and 2006. A seventh child is believed to have been stillborn. Police say Huntsman, who has three older daughters, was hooked on meth during that time and made the choice between feeding her addiction or caring for the babies.

Heavy medal — Utahns rock the Olympics

The world's Olympic powers flexed their muscles at the Sochi Winter Games — Russia, the United States, Norway, Canada, the Netherlands and Utah. Yes, Utah is part of Team USA, but if the Beehive State were its own country, it, too, would have ranked among the global leaders. In all, 15 Utah residents hauled home golds, silvers or bronzes in February. Park City's Sage Kotsenburg got the Beehive buzz going early on with a victory in the new snowboard slopestyle event. Other Utah stars included Ted Ligety (gold in the giant slalom), Joss Christensen (gold in ski slopestyle), Noelle Pikus-Pace (silver in skeleton) and Steven Holcomb (two bronzes in bobsled). A knee injury kept world champion Sarah Hendrickson from landing on the medals stand in Sochi, but she and two other Park City athletes, Jessica Jerome and Lindsey Van, still flew high, competing in the first-ever Olympic women's ski-jumping event.

Ins and outs of Mormonism

Kate Kelly: out. The Ordain Women leader was excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in June. General women's meeting: in. After some confusion and mixed signals, the twice yearly gathering is now officially a General Conference session. News media: out. Reporters and photographers were barred from downtown Salt Lake City's Temple Square during General Conferences. Mormons at the Vatican: in. Top LDS officials participated last month in a Catholic-sponsored conference on marriage that included a historic handshake between Pope Francis and Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the governing First Presidency. Joseph Smith's polygamy: out. LDS officials released yet another essay about sometimes-sticky historical and theological issues, this one explaining their founder's plural wives, including marriages to young teens and women already wedded to other men. Foreign languages at General Conference: in. For the first time, several top LDS leaders delivered their sermons in their native tongues. Chi Hong (Sam) Wong, a member of the First Quorum of Seventy, was the first to do so, giving his speech in Cantonese. Women at priesthood meetings: out, then in. After repeatedly failing to gain entry to the all-male general priesthood session, dozens of women were allowed to attend the proceedings at satellite locations in Provo, Ogden, Logan and elsewhere.

The bitter ballot battle

It may be the mother of all intraparty challenges: A Republican-dominated Legislature adopted — and a GOP governor signed — SB54, paving the way for political candidates to get on Utah's primary ballots without going through the current caucus-and-convention system. The change, a compromise meant to pacify the Count My Vote group and boost Utah's slumping voter turnout, is set to take effect in 2016. Trouble is, the Utah Republican Party doesn't like the new approach and is suing to dump it, arguing it is unconstitutional for the state to dictate how it picks its nominees.

Fed up

The turf war between Utah and the federal government escalated on several fronts. Legislators pressed forward with their push to take control of more than 31 million acres overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. In May, San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman led an ATV ride in southeastern Utah's Recapture Canyon to protest federal "overreach." Lyman and three other Utahns face misdemeanor conspiracy and trespassing charges for their excursion through the BLM-closed area. In southwestern Utah, ranchers and local leaders ramped up pressure on the BLM to remove hundreds of wild horses from parched territory. Much of this rangeland wrangling came after the feds backed down in an April standoff with armed supporters of Nevada cattleman Cliven Bundy, who owed more than $1 million in grazing fees.

Air apparent

Anti-smog advocates reached for the sky, but fell short when Utah lawmakers refused to allow state regulators to adopt standards that exceed federal rules. But they did air dozens of measures designed to battle pollution, including efforts to get cleaner school buses and low-emission cars on the road and to reduce wood burning as heat sources. At the top of the governor's clean-air push: funneling more Tier 3, low-sulfur fuels into Utah gas tanks.

And so much more …

Utah motorists sped up, able to cruise legally at 70 mph on freeways across most of the state. Student scores went down, largely because the state switched to new SAGE tests. The Utah State Prison and the Hoberman Arch, an iconic sculpture from the 2002 Winter Olympics, are having a hard time finding new homes. Even homeless services may run into the same problem if a Salt Lake City commission decides it is best to move that campus away from the Pioneer Park area. Accused fraudster Rick Koerber walked after a federal judge threw out federal charges he operated a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Uintah Elementary tossed school lunches of students behind on their meal bills. Diner Jan Harding survived after drinking tea accidentally laced with lye at a South Jordan eatery. Feminist Anita Sarkeesian scrapped a speech at Utah State University after receiving a death threat. A pistol-packing teacher accidentally shot a toilet at Taylorsville's Westbrook Elementary. A buying game broke out at Wasatch Front ski resorts, with Vail purchasing Park City Mountain Resort (ending a long legal feud), former PCMR owner Ian Cumming taking over at Snowbird and Deer Valley snatching Solitude. In sports, Tyrone Corbin departed as Utah Jazz coach; Quin Snyder arrived. Utah and Utah State University won football bowl contests; BYU lost, giving the program a black eye with an ugly post-game brawl. U. gymnasts vaulted to the school's first Pac-12 crown before stumbling at nationals, and BYU's women's volleyball team made an unlikely run to the NCAA title match, falling to perennial powerhouse Penn State.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Utah Party Chairman James Evans drew rounds of laughter at the Utah Republican Party 2014 Nominating Convention while trying to set up voting credentials for attendees at the South Towne Expo Center, Saturday, April 26, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Curt Bramble speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Sen. Curt Bramble speaks to the media in front of other Utah lawmakers and Count My Vote leaders in a press conference announcing a deal at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune House Majority Leader Brad Dee speaks to the media in front of other Utah lawmakers and Count My Vote leaders in a press conference announcing a deal at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Curt Bramble speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune House Majority Leader Brad Dee speaks to the media in front of other Utah lawmakers and Count My Vote leaders in a press conference announcing a deal at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Sen. Wayne Niederhauster speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune House Majority Leader Brad Dee speaks to the media in front of other Utah lawmakers and Count My Vote leaders in a press conference announcing a deal at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Protect Our Neighborhood Elections, public relations director James Humpherys speaks to students at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics Monday January 13. He provided a counter argument to the Count My Vote Initiative.

Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune The pollution plagued Salt Lake valley is obscured by another red air day as they inversion continues on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. A weak storm predicted for Thursday could bring a little relief but is not expected to last.

Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune Mia Love addresses the audience as she debates Doug Owens, in Utah's premier congressional matchup in the 4th district at the Dolores DorŽ Eccles Broadcast Center on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, October 14, 2014.

Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Darrien Hunt's aunt, Cindy Moss, makes a speech to supporters, during a rally in Saratoga Springs , for justice for Darrien Hunt, Friday, November 14, 2014

Darrien Hunt

Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Protesters march down State Street, halting traffic, as approximately 350 people turned out for a rally to protest police brutality in Salt Lake City, Saturday November 29, 2014.

Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune An airliner glides into the Salt Lake International Airport as haze blankets the western sky in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, December 9, 2014. Wednseday will be another day where people sensitive to bad air conditions should avoid lengthy or strenuous outdoor activities. People are also being asked to voluntarily not burn solid fuels, like wood and coal, and to carpool.

Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune Plaintiffs Moudi Sbeity and Derek Kitchen listen to speakers as they joined Utah Unites for Marriage at City Creek Park in Salt Lake City, Utah Wednesday, June 25, 2014, to celebrate the historic decision in Kitchen v. Herbert and stepping-stone toward the freedom to marry.

KRASNAYA POLYANA, RUSSIA - JANUARY 14: Noelle Pikus-Pace celebrates with her family; son Traycen, 2, daughter Lacee, 6, husband Janson, right, and her brother Jared Pikus, left, after winning the silver medal in the women's skeleton competition at Sanki Sliding Center during the 2014 Sochi Olympics Friday February 14, 2014. Pikus-Pace finished with a time of 3:53.86. (Photo by Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Count My Vote Executive Director Taylor Morgan speaks to students at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics Monday January 13.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Curt Bramble speaks to the media in front of other Utah lawmakers and Count My Vote leaders in a press conference announcing a deal at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Rich McKeon, executive chair of Count My Vote, speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Rich McKeon, executive chair of Count My Vote, speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Gail Miller speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune House Majority Leader Brad Dee speaks to the media in front of other Utah lawmakers and Count My Vote leaders in a press conference announcing a deal at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune House Majority Leader Brad Dee speaks to the media in front of other Utah lawmakers and Count My Vote leaders in a press conference announcing a deal at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Curt Bramble speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Gail Miller speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune House Majority Leader Brad Dee speaks to the media in front of other Utah lawmakers and Count My Vote leaders in a press conference announcing a deal at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Curt Bramble speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune House Majority Leader Brad Dee speaks to the media in front of other Utah lawmakers and Count My Vote leaders in a press conference announcing a deal at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Rich McKeon, executive chair of Count My Vote, speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune House Majority Leader Brad Dee speaks to the media in front of other Utah lawmakers and Count My Vote leaders in a press conference announcing a deal at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Senator Curtis Bramble sponsor of SB005401, Elections Amendments gets a congrautalations handshake from former legislator Holly Richardson and republican politcal blogger in the audience at the House Government Operation Standing Committee Monday March 3 The amended bill passed unananimously in the committee to bring it to the house floor. Many on the committee had reservations but voted for the so-called "Utah count my vote" compromise bill.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan speaks in the House Government Operations Standing Committee Monday March 3 on SB005401, Elections Amendments. Rep. Jack Draxler, R-North Logan, chairman of the committee, left. The amended bill passed unananimously in the committee to bring it to the house floor. Many on the committee, like Ivory had reservations but voted for the so-called "Utah count my vote" compromise bill.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Rep. Keith Grover, R-Provo,left, Rep. Michael Noel, R- Kanab, and Rep. John Mathis, R-Vernal listen to testimony in the House Government Operations Standing Committee Monday March 3 on SB005401, Elections Amendments. The amended bill passed unananimously in the committee to bring it to the house floor. Many on the committee like these three had reservations but voted for the so-called "Utah count my vote" compromise bill.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Senator Curtis Bramble testifies in the House Government Operation Standing Committee Monday March 3 on SB005401, Elections Amendments. He was the sponsor of the bill. The amended bill passed unananimously in the committee to bring it to the house floor. Many on the committee had reservations but voted for the so-called "Utah count my vote" compromise bill.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Senator Curtis Bramble, bottom, testifies in the House Government Operation Standing Committee Monday March 3 on SB005401, Elections Amendments. He was the sponsor of the bill. The amended bill passed unananimously in the committee to bring it to the house floor. Many on the committee had reservations but voted for the so-called "Utah count my vote" compromise bill.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Former Utah legislator Freed Cox testifies in the House Government Operation Standing Committee Monday March 3 on SB005401, Elections Amendments sponsored by Senator Curtis Bramble at right. The amended bill passed unananimously in the committee. Many on the committee had reservations but voted for the so-called "Utah count my vote" compromise bill.

Jeremy Harmon | The Salt Lake Tribune Mia Love gets a hug from her father after she beat opponent Doug Owens in the race for Utah's 4th Congressional District, Tuesday November 4, 2014.

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Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune Holding a graph showing Utah as having the best health and most affordable health care in the country, University of Utah Senior VP for Health Sciences, Vivian Lee, joins Gov. Gary Herbert as he releases his detailed Healthy Utah plan, which is an alternative way to expanding health care coverage for the poor without technically expanding Medicaid. The plan was hammered out in months of negotiation this year with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He was joined in the Gold Room at the Utah State Capitol by city and state leaders in Salt Lake City, Thursday, December 4, 2014. Date for the graph comes from the Kaiser family Foundation which is a non-profit organization focusing on national health issues, as well as the U.S. role in global health policy.

Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune Gov. Gary Herbert addresses the media as he releases his detailed Healthy Utah plan, which is an alternative way to expanding health care coverage for the poor without technically expanding Medicaid. The plan was hammered out in months of negotiation this year with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He was joined in the Gold Room at the Utah State Capitol by city and state leaders in Salt Lake City, Thursday, December 4, 2014.

Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune Gov. Gary Herbert addresses the media as he releases his detailed Healthy Utah plan, which is an alternative way to expanding health care coverage for the poor without technically expanding Medicaid. The plan was hammered out in months of negotiation this year with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He was joined in the Gold Room at the Utah State Capitol by city and state leaders in Salt Lake City, Thursday, December 4, 2014.

Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune Sen. Wayne Niederhauster speaks to the media in a press conference announcing a deal between Count My Vote and lawmakers at the Capitol on Sunday, March 2, 2014.