Mormon president honored

? The Salt Lake Tribune has chosen Mormon church president Gordon B. Hinckley as the newspaper’s Utahn of the Year.

The designation by The Tribune’s editors and publisher is based on a person’s influence — positive or negative — during the past year.

During the 2002 Winter Olympics, the 92-year-old leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints showed the world that the Mormon church is a mainstream religion, the newspaper said.

By the end of the year, the city’s attention had turned to the Mormon-owned Main Street Plaza. The church argued it had the right to control behavior there. But a judge said the walkway through the plaza was public, and First Amendment rights could not be restricted in the space.

The city and church continue to seek a compromise solution.