By McKenzie Romero | Editor
Would the governor’s office withhold road funding over local opposition to a 144-lot housing development?
That appeared to be the confrontation Gov. Spencer Cox’s office and Wasatch County were barreling toward last month. The disagreement was complex, involving school trust lands, a housing project on private land, a recently passed law and a rumored repeal effort. The dust has settled, but frustration remains for residents.
In today’s Dispatch we break down the high stakes, high emotion standoff that played out between the county and the state, Utah’s strategy for fighting invasive phragmites at the Great Salt Lake, and how explosive wildfires are hurting tribal communities.
“It seems like all sides have acknowledged what happened was wrong. They’re not actually able to withhold those funds, so why did they threaten to withhold those funds? … No one knows the answer to that.” — Jeff Pierce, a Park City investor and previous Utah House candidate, on his continued frustration about Gov. Spencer Cox’s message to Wasatch County.
New homes are under construction in Heber Valley on Sept. 19, 2026. (Katie McKellar/Utah News Dispatch)
By Katie McKellar
In a Heber City Council meeting last month, Gov. Spencer Cox’s senior housing adviser Steve Waldrip said Wasatch County’s rejection of the 144-unit development “kind of came with the proverbial ‘we don’t care’ message” about the state’s efforts to alleviate Utah’s housing shortage, as well as local opposition to a controversial new state law that allows up to three land owners to apply to create their own municipality.
The governor’s threat to withhold funding has since been pulled back and state and local leaders are now communicating about housing and development issues in the area, but Wasatch County residents who were angered by the governor’s message want accountability and answers about his tactics.
A tributary to the Great Salt Lake at the Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area is pictured on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (Kyle Dunphey/Utah News Dispatch)
By Annie Knox
Floods of four decades ago wiped out native plants and left the Great Salt Lake vulnerable to an expensive problem: tall, invasive, thirsty reeds crowding out other plants and covering up habitat for migratory birds. Getting rid of them could yield an estimated 82,000 more acre-feet of water, state land managers told legislators.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on the Legislative Water Development Commission agree that killing the phragmites is “low-hanging fruit” in the state’s ambitious goal to deliver almost 10 times that amount — 800,000 more acre-feet of water — to the lake each year.
The Columbia Princess Ferry on the Gifford side of the Columbia River as the Modrite Fire burns south of Inchelium, Washington. (Photo courtesy of Colville Tribal Broadcasts, News and Information)
STATELINE
By Nada Hassanein
Tribal leaders across Washington and Oregon say this year’s record-breaking wildfires burned timber that they rely on for income, threatened food sources and waterways, and harmed the health of their communities. Power outages left families without food they’ve hunted or gathered and frozen.
Hotter, drier conditions driven by climate change already have made wildfires nationwide more frequent and intense, a trend that is expected to accelerate. Substandard housing and higher rates of acute and chronic underlying health conditions, including respiratory illnesses, make tribal communities more vulnerable during and after the fires.
RECENT DISPATCHES
MORE UTAH NEWS
Thanks for reading Your Daily Dispatch. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.