The LDS Church was indirectly connected to another top story of 2008 — the April raid of the Yearning for Zion Ranch, a polygamist compound outside Eldorado, Texas. Deseret News journalists ranked the story as the third biggest of the year, while readers listed it seventh.

After child welfare workers and law enforcement responded to a phone call alleging abuse, hundreds of children were removed from the Fundamentalist LDS Church compound.

The FLDS Church is a breakaway sect of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago.

Also weighing heavily on readers' and journalists' minds in 2008 was the shaky state of the economy — ranked by Deseret News journalists and readers as the second biggest story of the year.

Other stories in the readers' top five were Murray's David Archuleta finishing second on "American Idol," and gas prices soaring to more than $4 per gallon but finishing the year around $1.50 a gallon.

The lone sports story to crack the top 10 on either list was the University of Utah's undefeated and Bowl Championship Series-busting football season. The Utes' quest for perfection, which continues Jan. 2 against once-beaten Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, ranked sixth on both lists.

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E-mail: jpage@desnews.com