The Daily Herald’s top human interest stories of 2025
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- Payson Principal Jesse Sorenson cuts a ribbon to open the new high school Monday, May 19, 2025.
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- Wilkerson Farm is pictured Friday, April 18, 2025, in Orem.
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- Lilly Holloway, right, and her guide Joan Holcomb, left, pose for a photo on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, at Soldier Hollow in Midway.
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- Jennifer Lambert, center with green shorts, is pictured during the Highland Run Club’s annual Glow Run on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025.
As highlighted in the Daily Herald’s top news stories of 2025, Utah County had its share of chaotic headlines across the last 12 months.
But it was also a year full compelling human interest stories and societal conundrums that impacted people on a deep personal level.
Here is a compilation of some of the best feature stories told by the Daily Herald this year, which attempted to capture the heart and soul of the people who inhabit the greater Provo area.
Last January, Midway became a haven for visually impaired adults who wanted an opportunity to cross-country ski.
Individuals from all over the world spent a full week staying in Provo and commuting up the canyon to ski with guides at the renowned training grounds of Soldier Hollow and connect with other people.
“I’m here on my own but I’ve never felt alone,” Australian Lily Holloway said. “It’s just been so supportive. As a visually impaired person, to have people who get it, and what I mean by get it is to get vision impairment and understand how you need to be supported, I can’t tell you the anxiety that takes away from you.”
Eight summers ago, Jennifer Lambert started the Highland Run Club, a program challenging youth to run a combined 10,000 miles in a 10-week period for fundraising efforts.
Every summer, kids take on the challenge, and along the way, money is raised to support organizations, such as Thanksgiving Heroes or individuals who are fighting significant health problems.
“The impact is so much more than just a fun place to come and run,” Lambert said. “It’s very life changing for a lot of these families and the community. So I think for me it is a lot of sacrifice, but it doesn’t feel that way just because of what it produces and the impact it has in the community.”
An April story examined the conundrum of balancing the rights of landowners with the preservation of open land through the lens of Wilkerson Farm in Orem.
The agri-entertainment property ran by Richard and Rachel Wilkerson was beloved by many visitors, but the owner, Al Switzer, said he lost money trying to keep it afloat and was ready to sell to developers.
In the story, multiple stakeholders shared their perspective of the controversial matter and what the fate of the property should be.
A rezoning of the property was ultimately approved by the Orem City Council in a narrow vote and Wilkerson Farm closed.
Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, officials converged onto an Orem neighborhood on Sept. 10 in search of a murder weapon.
In this Sept. 11 story, residents of the neighborhood recalled the chaos of heavily-armed policemen converging on their property and the fear felt that day.
“It’s Orem, Utah. Stuff like this doesn’t happen here,” Robin Harris said. “It just feels like a little bubble of happiness. But last night the bubble burst, and it was kind of like, ‘Oh, we actually do live in the real world.'”
Rugged Grounds moves locations
Provo coffee shop Rugged Grounds closed earlier this year to make way for the building’s owner to develop apartments on his property.
Shop co-owner Sadie Crowley detailed in a February story what it was like to operate a business that was about to close.
“The amount that people cared was absolutely stunning to witness; probably the best night of my life. It was a little bit like being alive at your own funeral,” she said.
This story has an updated happy ending, though, as Rugged Grounds was able to continue in a new location at 397 E and 200 North in Provo.
In celebration of its 150th anniversary, Brigham Young University opened a time capsule in October that had been sealed inside the Harold B. Lee Library in 1976.
Of the items found were freeze-dried chocolate-covered cinnamon bears and Gifford Nielsen’s game-worn football jersey.
“It’s always so exciting to actually be a part of history and to bring out these artifacts,” BYU librarian Rick Anderson said. “I look at the items and think, man, I was nine years old when these were put in there. A lot of the stuff I remember from my childhood, and to interact with it in the context of revealing BYU history is just really fun, and it’s really an honor.”
‘I just want to find my sister’
In 1995, 15-year-old Kiplyn Davis headed off to school at Spanish Fork High School and never returned.
A former classmate of Kiplyn’s, Timmy Brent Olsen, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony manslaughter for his role in killing her in 2011, and was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, Davis’ body was never found.
Kiplyn’s sister, Karissa Davis Lords, told the Daily Herald that not a day goes by that she does not think about her. Karissa runs a Facebook page dedicated to finding Kiplyn’s body and honoring other missing and murdered individuals.
“I just want to find my sister,” she said.
Last May, Payson High School closed the doors to its 58-year-old building and opened a state-of-the-art, 360,000-square-foot facility that it now calls home.
The changeover was a time full of emotions for students, administrators and community members.
“The history and the memories of the old building are so rich and so deep that it’s hard to ignore that,” Payson Principal Jesse Sorenson said. “But the excitement for the future is obviously what we’re thinking about, too. Can’t always live in the past, and we’re excited for what this means to our students and the future generations.”
