Home Care In Spanish Fork, UT

PROVO — A Utah family is pleading for help in finding their beloved dog Trigger, who disappeared in Spanish Fork Canyon during a rollover crash.

“I’ve had him my whole life, he’s been through everything I’ve been through, he’s been through every passing in the family, every mile marker, he’s literally my best friend,” said Hannah Wright outside Utah Valley Hospital Monday, where her bother Daryl Wright is recovering in the ICU.

Hannah Wright was moving home to Syracuse from Texas when, on Dec. 13, she and her brother were involved in a rollover crash on U.S. Highway 6.

“This truck was veering into my lane, and I swerved, and I started to fishtail, and I couldn’t correct it,” Wright said.

Their vehicle was pulling a second vehicle on a trailer, and when Hannah lost control of the wheel, the car rolled. Daryl Wright was ejected, and Hannah Wright’s two dogs ran off.

“I just remember screaming we’re going to wreck, were going to wreck,” she said. “The next thing was I was hanging upside down, and then I got out of the vehicle, and I see my brother in the middle of the road, and I just kept screaming for my dogs.”

Daryl Wright suffered critical injuries, and a GoFundMe* has been set up to help with medical expenses. Hannah Wright suffered less severe injuries and was released from the hospital the same day. As for her dogs, only one has been found.

“We found Nala across the street from the crash site, clear up on top of the mountain,” she said.

Wright and her family have spent days searching for 8-year-old Trigger, her blue nose pitbull, but so far, there has been no sign of him. She fears Trigger could still be in the canyon, or someone may have picked him up.

“We actually have heard that somebody did pick him up, but nobody is coming forward,” Wright said. “Now I’m scared that he’s still in the canyon, and I can’t find him. He’s not meant to be out there.”

Wright said without Trigger, she and her brother feel lost. She says trying to heal without him is painful.

“I don’t think this recovery process is going to start for me or any of my family until Trigger is brought home,” she said.

The Wright family is offering a $500 reward for Trigger’s safe return. Anyone with information is asked to call Jeff Wright, Hannah’s father, at 435-650-9452.

Hannah with Trigger. (Courtesy: Hannah Wright)

*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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The Verk Industrial Park Project is set to become an industrial hub.

| Updated: 5:13 p.m.

Spanish Fork is on track to become Utah’s next transit and logistical hub, with the Utah Inland Port Authority’s Monday approval of a new project there.

The Verk Industrial Park Project, named for the Icelandic word for “work” as a nod to Spanish Fork’s Icelandic heritage, will be a 2,200-acre industrial land of warehouses, manufacturing facilities, distribution centers and office space, just west of Interstate 15, according to a project draft.

It’s the third project approved by the Utah Inland Port Authority as part of the state’s ongoing efforts to make Utah a landlocked “port” — or, collection of ports.

Board members and proponents said Verk and projects like it will bolster the community’s economy by creating more and diverse jobs.

“This partnership represents a tremendous opportunity to drive positive change, foster economic growth and create a sustainable logistics future for both the local community and the broader region,” UIPA board chair Miles Hansen said in a news release.

The Verk Industrial Park will be a hub for processing, manufacturing and shipping goods in and out of Utah, according to the project draft. The site could be an easy stop for freight trains coming from ports in California, UIPA said, but will need more rail infrastructure before it’s ready to significantly divert traffic from Salt Lake and Utah County.

UIPA will fund the lion’s share of the industrial park with tax differential funds from increased property taxes. UIPA is expected to have roughly $136 million in tax differential funds to spend over the 25-year project term, according to a draft budget.

Port critics have sounded alarms about the speed with which these projects are being approved.

“What’s really disturbing is the lack of public information about business plans for these developments,” Deeda Seed, a volunteer with the Stop Polluting the Port Coalition and staffer for the Center for Biological Diversity, told The Salt Lake Tribune in May.

Spanish Fork Mayor Mike Mendenhell said the project “aligns perfectly” with the city’s goals “while still protecting property owner rights and respecting sensitive lands.”

“Verk Industrial Park will be instrumental in creating an economic focal point for high-wage jobs,” Mendenhall said in a news release, “which will allow for enhanced economic opportunities and a better quality of life.”

SPANISH FORK, Utah — A family new to Spanish Fork purchased a home recently that has a historic schoolhouse in the backyard. They’d like to open its doors to the community but need help restoring it in order to do so.

The one-room schoolhouse was built in 1872 by a group of young men led by George Brimhall. He gathered the group as they decided they wanted a place for them to educate themselves.

They took up a subscription in the community to help pay for it, hauled timber from Santaquin Canyon, and purchased desks. The schoolhouse was known first as The Young Men’s Academy, but held coed programs and functioned as a community center and general school.

Robert Burton, the now owner of the schoolhouse works at Utah Valley University.

“I direct the Civic Thought and Leadership Initiative there,” Robert Burton said.

The Burtons have six children with one expected. They both hold education and learning in high regard.

“It’s been my lifelong dream,” Naomi Burton said. “I love educating [my kids] at home.”

The Burton family hopes that by opening the doors of their schoolhouse to the community, it will have a greater and lasting impact.

“What I try to do is inspire my students to want to do the kind of self-education they were giving themselves here,” Robert Burton said.

The Burtons also hope the community might have more information or family ties to the schoolhouse, and possibly even have pictures of it from the past.

“My hope is people learn about the schoolhouse, and they go ‘Oh I remember my great grandmother or [some other family member] had an association with [that place]’ and they send us pictures or tell us their stories,” Robert Burton said.

The Burtons have decorated the schoolhouse for now with an organ, chairs and shelves. Naomi Burton teaches their children in the mornings at the schoolhouse.

“Connecting children (my children particularly) to history is really important for me to see the dedication and the different things they went through that’s very different from the challenges we go through in our lives,” Naomi Burton said.

Though the Burton’s efforts have celebrated the history of the schoolhouse, they’re in need of extra help to keep it in working condition.

“We aren’t able to restore it all on our own but it really does need work to be able to survive and be structurally sound. Particularly, [it needs] a new roof,” Naomi Burton said.

“It’s part of our history as a community and part of the educational history of Spanish Fork and Utah Valley,” Robert Burton said. “So we would love any support that people have, whether it’s in terms of skills or resources.”

The family has a GoFundMe* and a Facebook page* to help support the journey of restoring the historic schoolhouse.

*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the GoFundMe or Facebook will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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SPANISH FORK, Utah — A third inland port is coming to the Beehive State, with the latest installment set to call Utah County home.

Approved unanimously by the Utah Inland Port Authority Board of Directors during a meeting Monday, the Verk Industrial Park Project Area will be located in Spanish Fork and will serve as a strategic location due in part to its close proximity to both I-15 and U.S. 6.

“It’s right at the edge of the Wasatch Front,” said Ben Hart, executive director of the Utah Inland Port Authority. “I think that creates a really unique opportunity to help capture more traffic or … convert trucks to rail. But I think it also gives access to a lot of shippers in the Utah County community.”

With a strong base of exporters and importers for Utah, having better transportation access in Utah County is critical, Hart said, adding that he hopes the Verk Industrial Park Project Area will draw the “best and brightest” advanced manufacturers to Utah County and improve freight movement.

“It’s strategic in its location because it really allows us to, hopefully, help takes trucks off the road farther to the south along the Wasatch Front. I think it also helps us open shipping corridors to ports that perhaps we haven’t worked with, so ports up in the northwest part of the United States,” Hart said.

Additionally, he said, the port will be a welcome addition to a county experiencing rapid growth.

Utah County was the state’s leader in absolute growth between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022, adding over 16,000 new residents to push the countywide estimate over 700,000 people for the first time — making it the second most-populated county in the state, next to only Salt Lake County, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Along with streamlining freight movement and shipping logistics, the port will also bring a plethora of much-needed jobs to the area, to the tune of around 6,000 to 8,000 new jobs.

“What we’re going to be targeting are high-paying jobs, particularly in durable, forward-facing industries — meaning industries that aren’t just going to be here today, gone tomorrow, but really are going to be a strong economic foundation for the economy for years to come,” Hart said.

Hart estimated that the tax revenue generated through the port over a 25-year period, 75% of which he said will be reinvested back into the local community, to be somewhere near $143 million.

“We’re able to harness the local property taxes that are going to be generated by this project along with, potentially, other state revenues that come from our infrastructure bank to really focus and help invest into this area,” Hart said.

Utah County Commissioner Brandon Gordon emphasized the project’s significance in bolstering the regional economy and attracting high-tech, advanced manufacturing jobs to the region while also providing economic balance to the other strong industries in the county.

“Sustainable growth in the Utah County region will require investments in multi-modal options for both public transportation and the movement of goods. This project area will allow regional businesses to better utilize its existing rail options and ensure less pollutants that stem from dependency on the roadways for truck transit,” Gordon said in a statement.

Above all, Hart said the Utah Inland Port Authority is highly optimistic about the future of the Verk Industrial Park Project Area and he envisions it as an economic focal point for the entirety of Utah County for the foreseeable generations.

“The Spanish Fork project area is really going to stand alone as being very unique for the inland port,” Hart said. “Its location right in the middle of the fastest-growing county, you know, maybe in the country, makes it very special and very unique. But if we don’t have jobs for our kids, if we don’t have strong revenue sources to pay for that growth, then it makes the quality of life diminish.”

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SPANISH FORK — The Utah Department of Transportation is considering adding new interchanges to I-15 in Spanish Fork to accommodate traffic and anticipated growth.

UDOT project manager Darren Bunker presented to the Utah County Commission on the proposed interchanges during a work session Wednesday afternoon.

Bunker said the new interchanges would improve the safety and efficiency of I-15 access for all users and alleviate traffic issues in the community.

There is a four-mile gap between the 8000 South interchange and the U.S. 6 interchange in Spanish Fork. Bunker said typically, the Department of Transportation prefers two miles between interchanges.

UDOT estimates by 2050, another interchange will be crucial to handling the anticipated traffic that will come from growth in the community. If no changes are made, the Main Street and 8000 South exits will be overwhelmed during commuter hours and could cause delays on I-15, Bunker said.

Bunker said UDOT hopes the added interchanges will reduce congestion on Main Street south of I-15, which sees heavy north-south traffic in the morning and after work hours. With the anticipated growth, delays on Main Street could potentially triple in time length, he added.

Prospective locations of interchanges include 400 North, Center Street, 100 South, 900 South, "or a combination of different solutions," Bunker said.

The proposed interchanges are not set in stone. Bunker said the project is still in the early stages of development and the department is using traffic simulation models to dictate the best location for interchanges.

Officials are screening preliminary solutions, which will go through an evaluation determining the environmental and community impact. UDOT says it will assess if the interchanges have negative impacts on streams, wetlands and other natural factors, and take into account farmland, residents or businesses being relocated and public land such as historical buildings or parks being affected.

Bunker said part of the project will look at how to enhance the east-west connectivity across I-15 for bikers, pedestrians and drivers. He said there are narrow shoulders and a lack of sidewalks near the freeway that make it difficult for people to use the crossings on 400 North, 100 South and 900 South.

"It's unsafe and scary for pedestrians and some cyclists to use the existing crossings," Bunker said.

Better crossings are critical for the future of the community, especially for when the FrontRunner is extended and a future transit station is built on the west side of I-15, Bunker said. An environmental impact study is underway for the FrontRunner extension, but Bunker said its construction is inevitable.

A public comment period is open through Nov. 13 for anyone to give feedback to UDOT on the issues and potential solutions to traffic in Spanish Fork.

Bunker said once all possible solutions are screened and evaluated, and an environmental study is completed, he anticipates a decision will be made in fall 2024.

Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner thanked Bunker and UDOT for being proactive with growth-related traffic issues.

"We appreciate you recognizing the extreme growth we are facing in Utah County and planning ahead for that growth so we don't end up with another four-hour rush hour area in the south part of the county like we face in the north part of the county," she said.