Utah
A new trail honors the Utah man whose vision protected Farmington Bay
FARMINGTON — Marlene Hasenyager feels her husband’s presence whenever she stares out toward the flat, marshy openness that is Farmington Bay.
Aside from distant planes here or there, it’s generally peaceful and quiet. It’s a place where you can stand and watch scores of shorebirds, songbirds, nesting birds and raptors mill around the wetlands near Great Salt Lake’s southeast shoreline.
“It’s kind of my happy place,” she says.
Robert “Bob” Hasenyager, who died in 2013 at the age of 61, was a long-time employee of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and the creator of a foundation that sought to protect natural places like what is now the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
He was her husband and a father, as well as a volunteer and a Farmington city councilman at one point.
He was also a lover of nature.
“The young men that he worked with in our neighborhood dubbed him ‘Nature Boy’ because he wanted everyone to love all things wild,” Marlene Hasenyager said, as several swallows flew in murmuration behind her. “He wanted future generations to know that nature needs to be protected and appreciated.”
Bob Hasenyager’s legacy is now preserved through a new trail surrounding the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Wildlife Education Center, 1157 S. Waterfowl Way in Farmington, a facility that he advocated for before his death. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources celebrated the completion of the Robert N. Hasenyager Great Salt Lake Nature Trail on Friday.
Most of the 1.6-mile loop was completed last year, but the division recently installed new signage to finish the project. It’s topped with a viewing deck that allows birdwatchers from across the world a chance to enjoy the wildlife that Bob Hasenyager cared so deeply about.
“It’s a really great place to go, where you can experience the wetlands up close and personal, and see all the different species,” said Ashley Kijowski, manager of the Eccles Wildlife Education Center.
Preserving Farmington Bay
Bob Hasenyager’s vision for Farmington Bay likely began nearly 50 years ago. He’d go duck hunting with his father every fall, and it’s probably why he fell in love with the bay, Marlene Hasenyager surmises. It became a space where he hoped children could go to explore nature, not far from the Wasatch Front communities.
This led to him founding the Utah Wildlife In Need, which would include the Great Salt Lake Nature Center at Farmington Bay — a precursor to the Eccles Wildlife Education Center. It initially featured two portable classrooms and a small boardwalk, all of which were constructed by him with the help of high school students and state wildlife employees.
He later reached agreements with Davis and Weber school districts to bring students to the center on field trips, allowing them to learn all about the bay’s delicate ecosystem. It also grew over time, although Hasenyager died before the current Eccles Wildlife Education Center was completed in 2018 on the location of the original classrooms.
Despite the growth that has taken place outside the waterfowl management area’s boundaries in recent years, including the construction of new homes and the West Davis Corridor, Bob Hasenyager’s dream has been realized. The education center and management area maintain the slice of nature that he spent decades championing.
“None of this nature preserve would be here if it weren’t for the tenacious work and leadership of my very favorite person,” Marlene Hasenyager said. “He died knowing he had left a place his neighbors, Farmington, school groups, birdwatchers and all people could come to hear the sound of birds, to smell the smells of the Great Salt Lake, and to enjoy this little piece of nature right in the heart of an urban area.”
A renewed importance
The 18,000-acre management area is set apart to protect waterfowl, preserving a space for duck and goose hunters. It also holds great importance for all sorts of other bird species, drawing in a portion of the millions of migratory birds that utilize the Great Salt Lake each year.
While many come to hunt, thousands of people also come just to view the species found by the bay. The Robert N. Hasenyager Great Salt Lake Nature Trail aims to provide a place where they can do just that. Pelicans, ibis, egrets and great blue herons were some of the species that flew around the area as the state wildlife employees celebrated the trail on Friday.
“This truly is a jewel for the Division of Wildlife and the state of Utah, and it gets visited heavily,” said Riley Peck, director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
The trail has increased visitation importance because it and the center are exempt from a new state law that requires visitors to own a state fishing or hunting license to enter other parts of the management area, along with similar management areas along the Wasatch Front. The Utah Wildlife Board finalized the rule last week.
It means that anyone without a license still has a place to view wildlife.
“Anyone can come here and walk our trails,” Kijowski said. “I do think that’s important because we can educate people who are coming from out of state, maybe people who come out here with a lot of family. They can still learn about how important the ecosystem is and still see all of those species because you’re immersed in the wetlands.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A man died after he was caught in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon over the weekend.
A spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Thursday that Kevin Williams, 57, had died.
He, along with one other person, was hospitalized in critical condition after Saturday’s avalanche in the backcountry.
MORE | Big Cottonwood Canyon Avalanche
In an interview with 2News earlier this week, one of Williams’ close friends, Nate Burbidge, described him as a loving family man.
“Kevin’s an amazing guy. He’s always serving, looking for ways that he can connect with others,” Burbidge said.
A GoFundMe was set up to help support Williams’ family.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
_____
CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.
LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.
Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.
The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.
MORE | Murder-Suicide
Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.
10:33 a.m. — Call 1
After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.
Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.
“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”
11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3
As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.
“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”
11:26 a.m. — Call 4
Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.
“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”
She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.
Police indicated officers were on the way.
2:26 p.m. — Call 5
Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.
Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.
“They found a note on the door.”
2:35 p.m. — Call 6
Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.
“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”
A dispatcher responded:
“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”
2:36 p.m. — Call 7
Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:
“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”
2:39 p.m. — Call 8
Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.
“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”
He repeats the details he knows for the second time.
3:13 p.m. — Call 9
Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.
“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”
Dispatch responded:
“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”
4:05 p.m. — Call 10
More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.
“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”
The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.
Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.
The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.
5:23 p.m. — Call 11
Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.
“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”
She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.
Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference
Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.
The investigation remains ongoing.
______
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — AI glasses could allow you to get answers, snap photos, access audio and take phone calls—and now a proposal moving through the legislature would ban the glasses from Utah school classrooms.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kizzy Guyton Murphy, a mother who accompanied her child’s class on a field trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday. “You can’t see inside what the student is looking at, and it’s just grounds for cheating.”
Mom Tristan Davies Seamons also sees trouble with AI glasses.
“I don’t think they should have any more technology in schools than they currently have,” she said.
Her twin daughters, fourth graders Finley and Grayson, don’t have cell phones yet.
“Not until we’re like 14,” said Grayson, adding they do have Chromebooks in school.
2News sent questions to the Utah State Board of Education:
- Does it have reports of students using AI glasses?
- Does it see cheating and privacy as major concerns?
- Does it support a ban from classrooms?
Matt Winters, USBE AI specialist, said the board has not received reports from school districts of students with AI glasses.
“Local Education Agencies (school districts) have local control over these decisions based on current law and code,” said Winters. “The Board has not taken a position on AI glasses.
MORE | Utah State Legislature:
Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.
“I think it should be up to the teachers,” said Briauna Later, another mother who is all for preventing cheating, but senses a ban could leave administrators with tired eyes.
“It’s one more thing for the administration to have to keep track of,” said Later.
The proposal, HB 42, passed the House and cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
___
Former federal attorney faces arson charge after two fires in Fondren
See how much new unemployment claims in Missouri fell last week
Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana
Nebraska State Patrol troopers find 242 pounds of cocaine during commercial truck inspection
Mansion on the Nevada Side of Lake Tahoe Swiftly Sells for $46 Million
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Where Iran’s ballistic missiles can reach — and how close they are to the US
Has India’s influence in Afghanistan grown under the Taliban?
Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links
Read Judge Schiltz’s Order
Vulnerable House Dem lashes out at Trump’s ‘racist’ SOTU challenge: ‘That was uncomfortable’
-
World2 days agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts2 days agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Montana1 week ago2026 MHSA Montana Wrestling State Championship Brackets And Results – FloWrestling
-
Oklahoma1 week agoWildfires rage in Oklahoma as thousands urged to evacuate a small city
-
Louisiana5 days agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Technology6 days agoYouTube TV billing scam emails are hitting inboxes
-
Denver, CO2 days ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Technology6 days agoStellantis is in a crisis of its own making