(This is a first in a two-part series summarizing the top local news stories of 2011.)
Murder, suicide, drownings and a wide array of crimes unfortunately made up the top local news stories of last year. 
Recorded in the history books for DeKalb County in 2011 is a double murder/suicide, a missing person on Center Hill Lake, three drownings, two pedestrian deaths, two traffic-accident related deaths and tornadic and destructive weather. Though bad news seemed to make our pages 52 weeks of the year, good news also took its place on pages as well.

January
• Lois Nicole Cobble, 24, and Carlos Lynn Godsey, 31 were charged with child abuse and neglect after taking a child to River Park Hospital in McMinnville for an unrelated problem. Hospital staff allegedly observed that the child smelled of urine and was badly bruised on its leg, backs and head. After an investigation, it was alleged that the child had been beaten with a belt and a switch. The pair were arrested and placed under a $10,000 bond.
• Seven people were injured in a three-car crash on Hwy. 70 in Alexandria on Jan. 12. Those injured included Timothy Estes, 42, and David Glenn Cole, 47, both of Watertown; Brandyn Lee Wright, 30, of Smithville; Shirley Ann Hardy, 37, Jeff Bush, 30, Dustin Lee Hardy, 16 and Devyn Wayne Jones, 12, all of Rutledge, Ala. It was reported that Estes’ vehicle approached the Hardy vehicle from behind at a high rate of speed, trying more than once to pass her. When Estes did pull into the lane to pass, Wright’s vehicle was hit head-on. According to reports, alcohol was present in the Estes vehicle.
• The DeKalb County Board of Education voted unanimously, in a special called meeting, to enter into a contract to purchase a 57-acre tract of land on Allen Ferry Road intended to become the site of a new high school. The purchase price is $374,000.
• Nineteen meth labs were discovered within the first three weeks of the new year. The latest “shake-and-bake” method of cooking methamphetamines makes labs portable and does not require heat or red phosphorus.
• A former policeman charged with being part of a drug trafficking ring was found not guilty. Larry Pedigo, Jr., 34, was found not guilty during a lengthy hearing Jan. 20.
• Dick Kinsey, commander of the Short Highway Station, was named “2010 County Firefighter of the Year” at the department’s annual awards banquet on Jan. 22.  Lieutenant Anthony Boyd was named Officer of the Year, while Rookie of the Year went to Kevin Adcock.
• Christopher Justin Garrett, 20, Brandon J. Gurley, 28, Jamie Lee Hodges, 28, Wesley J. Hayes, 18, Scott B. Carroll, Jr., 29 and Francisco Bustamonte, 19, were all arrested and charged with manufacturing meth.
• James Vernon, 39, of Rock Island received a four-year prison sentence on Jan. 25 for the brutal beating death of 24-year-old David Joseph Clark on Center Hill Lake in 2009. Vernon’s original charge of first-degree murder was lessened to wreckless homicide during the court proceedings.

FEBRUARY
• Two former City of Smithville employees were dismissed and charged with theft of property for allegedly taking scrap brass from the water treatment plant and selling it to a recycling center. Kenny Waymon Dyal, 45 and Christopher Derrick Ferrell, 42, were each charged with two counts of theft over $500 and one count of theft under $500.
• The DeKalb County School Board voted unanimously to enter into a contract to buy the proposed site of a new high school, pending an agreeable site assessment and approval by the county commission.
• DeKalb County High School announced its academic honors, with Britney Campbell named Valedictorian and Martha Webb named Salutatorian. Both young ladies have a 4.0 GPA. Britney is the daughter of Micheal Campbell and Kimberly Cox. Martha is the daughter of Alan and Lora Webb.
• Tractor Supply opened on Feb. 12 in the former Stribling Chevrolet building on West Broad Street. Lynn Adcock, of Smithville, is the store manager and said they look forward to serving Smithville and surround counties.
• Chase Bryant took top honors at the Eighth Annual DeKalb County Spelling Bee held at DeKalb County High School. This is Bryant’s second win in three years. He is the 13-year-old son of Donald and Teresa Bryant of Dowelltown.
• The Tennessee Highway Patrol named Trooper Charlie Caplinger, of DeKalb County, Trooper of the Year for the Nashville District.
• A lawsuit was filed against the City of Smithville on behalf of dismissed employees Christopher Ferrell and Kenny Dyal. The suit, filed by a Murfreesboro law firm alleges, among other things, that city officials gave the two men permission to take scrap metal but then had them arrested for theft of the materials.
• Vickie Sue Vickers was named Rotary Youth of the Month for February. She is the daughter of Joe and Wanda Vickers of Liberty.

MARCH
• The Federal Drug Enforcement Agency informed local governments that grants for the clean up of meth labs had been depleted and that local agencies would be responsible for the clean-up of any labs they might recover.
• Walter Richard Hartman, 47, was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated rape and contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly giving two 14-year-olds beer then assaulting them.
• Robert M. Turner entered a best interest guilty plea to a charge of attempted rape. He was accused of trying to have sex with a woman who was unconscious and under the influence of drugs while at his home in February.
• After a winter without management, the Smithville Municipal Golf Course and Swimming Pool has a new lease on life. The city council reached a final agreement with Tony Poss to manage the facility. A 10-year lease was signed.
• A group of teachers from the DeKalb County School System traveled to Nashville to protest pending eduction legislation after state lawmakers began re-establishing the state’s position on eduction. The Senate Education Committee recently voted to reverse a 1978 law that gave teachers the right to collective bargaining through a union.
• Director of Schools Mark Willoughby signed a new three-year employment contract during the board’s regular monthly meeting after a vote of 5 to 2. The agreement will take effect July 1, 2011 and runs through June 30, 2014.
• An Alexandria man pulled off an escape from Japan in the middle of the infamous earthquake.
Commercial pilot Lyndon Powell, in a 747, along with his crew, left the runway in Tokyo with the runway still shaking and headed for Anchorage. More than 10,000 people are estimated dead, water and power were out and the meltdown of three nuclear reactors seems imminent.
• Roel Celaya Sosa, 25, was charged with statutory rape after allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl in an empty classroom at Smithville Elementary School while the school held reading night on March 7.
• Liz Qualls, 13, was crowned Miss Jr. Motor Speedway during a three-day national competition held in Sommerset, Ky. She is the daughter of Brad and Kim Trapp of Smithville and Jason and Stormy Qualls of Sparta.
• Work is progressing in the hills of neighboring Cannon County as the Short Mountain Distillery prepares to produce legalized moonshine. Owners anticipate that all produce will be organically grown either on grounds or by local farmers.
• A tornado blew through Alexandria destroying two buildings at the DeKalb County Fairgrounds. The Alexandria Lions  Club Softball Field and the Alexandria City Park also suffered severe damage. Some homes and outbuildings also suffered structural damage.
• Executive Committee Members of the DeKalb County Republican Party 2011-2012 were named, including, Bertha McBride, co-treasurer; Jennifer Winfree, chairman; Walter Burton, vice-chairman; Laura Chandler, Republican women’s club representative; Tom Chandler, Treasurer and Sandy Brown, secretary.
• Wesley Burchfield was named Rotary Youth of the Month for March. He is the son of Kevin and Penny Birchfield of Smithville.

April
• Craig Hill, 38, Ricky Estes, 45 and Roxanna Landis, 26, were indicted by the DeKalb County Grand Jury for their alleged involvement in the robbery of Liberty State Bank last August.  After an investigation, Hill was identified as the hold-up man. Estes and and Landis allegedly “aided in the robbery by being involved in the planning of the robbery, driving the get-away car and shared in the proceeds of the robbery.”
• Trevor Matthew Kirby, 5, was crowned the 2011 Little Mister, as well as Mister Personality,   and Addison Jean Puckett, 6, was crowned Little Miss during the annual Little Mister and Miss pageants sponsored by the Smithville Women’s Club. Kirby is the son of Cindy and Clent Shehane of Smithville. Puckett is the daughter of Jimmy and Anita Puckett of Smithville. Kelsey Sueanna Hedge, the 13-year-old daughter of David and Trina Hedge of Smithville, was crowned the 2011 Spring Blossom Queen during the annual event.
• The DeKalb County United Way, along with county government, the Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour and the Appalachian Center for Crafts, announced a plan to help alleviate lack of after school activities by announcing a new program called Art Revolution.
The program is structured to benefit students, teachers and parents alike.
• Ned Ray McWherter passed away at the age of 80 after a lengthy battle with cancer. McWherter, who was born the son of a sharecropper in Palmersville during the Great Depression, rose to the rank of governor for our great state.
• Donald Ray Henson, 51, of Sparta was indicted for vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. Henson was driving a Dodge Caravan on Broad Street when he allegedly rear-ended a Toyota pick-up driven by Randy Paris.
The incident resulted in the death of Henson’s passenger 44-year-old Priscilla Judkins of Smithville.
• The DeKalb County Grand Jury handed down indictments for 63 people including 16 who were named in sealed indictments.
• More storms, and possibly a tornado, ripped through the county just a little over a week from the first round of damaging weather uprooting trees and spreading damage throughout the county.
• The DeKalb County Commission split 7-7 on a vote to approve a budget amendment to purchase the 52.68 acres of property on Allens Ferry Road where the Board of Education proposed a new high school be built.
• Twenty-six-year-old Kenneth Brian Ring of Smithville was charged with child abuse after the grand jury returned a sealed indictment. The indictment read  “On or about Dec. 18, Ring intentionally and knowingly did, other than by accidental means treat a 15-month-old child, in such a manner as to inflict injury, constituting the offense of child abuse.”
• DeKalb County High School teacher Jenny Norris was awarded teacher of the year at the annual Teacher of the Year Banquet. Christina Ontiveros from Smithville Elementary, Michelle Jones from DeKalb Middle School, Shelia McMillen of DeKalb West School and Lisa Mabe from Northside Elementary School were also honored as teachers of the year at their respective schools.

MAY
• Osama bin Laden was reported dead by the White House on Sunday evening 15 years after he declared war on the United States. Bin Laden was reportedly hunted down and killed by Navy SEALs.
• Local state lawmakers Senator Mae Beavers and Representative Terri Lynn Weaver announced that the repair for Sligo Bridge was included in Governor Bill Haslam’s 2011-12 budget plan.
•  A McMinnville woman was charged by Smithville city police with two counts of prescription fraud after obtaining drugs from a local pharmacy on two separate occasions using a false name. Jill Jones, 36, on two occasions telephoned a local pharmacy claiming to be a secretary for a doctor’s office in Mcminnville. She ordered prescriptions of Loratab and Xanax in the name of Sarah Ward.
• The DeKalb County School Board of Education will request a property tax rate increase of 17 cents to help fund the projected 2011-2011 school budget.  If approved by the county commission, the local tax rate fro schools would increase from 48 cents to 65 cents per $100 assessed value. One penny of the tax rate is estimated to generate $44,323.
• Jessica Hodges was named Rotary Youth of the Month for May. Jessica’s guardians are Patricia Linder and Barbara Stewart.
• Over $60,000 in scholarships was awarded to 43 members of the Class of 2011 during the DCHS Awards Day on Thursday. A special award, given by Principal Kathy Hendrix, went to Cole Hawker recognizing his perfect attendance for 13 years, 1998 to 2011.
• Graduation ceremonies were held for the DeKalb County High School Class of 2011 Friday night. Wesley Burchfield was presented the Citizenship Award, while the prestigious White Rose Awards went to Ethan Duke and Brittany Campbell.
• Two people died tragically over the Memorial holiday weekend. A 17-year-old Springfield boy drowned Sunday afternoon while swimming in the Floating Mill Recreation area on Center Hill lake. On Sunday night, David Lynn Judkins, 49, was struck and killed by a vehicle as he was walking near the center of Jefferson Road.
•  A tornado touched down in the middle of the night on May 26, completely destroying the BP Station on South Congress Boulevard, heavily damaging homes, the Smithville Elementary School and the unfinished county center at the old Town and Country Shopping Center location.
• Dwayne Allen Redder, 31, pled guilty and was sentenced to three years for vehicular homicide on May 20. The charges come from a 2009 automobile accident that happened in Dowelltown where Reeder was the driver and Bain, along with Walter Redmon and Courtney Paris, were passengers.
Reeder apparently fell asleep and the SUV went off the left side of the road, over an embankment, overturned and plunged straight down into a creek below. Bain and Redmon were ejected from the backseat of the vehicle.

June
• Cancer survivors took center stage Friday night during the opening ceremony of DeKalb County’s 14th Annual Relay for Life at Greenbrook Park. Nearly $55,000 was raised by the close of this year’s event, with more anticipated to com in.
• Local attorney Gayla Hendrix and Smithville businessman Danny Washer won seats on the Smithville City Council, unseating incumbents W. J. (Dub) White and Aaron Meeks during the recent election. Incumbent Shawn Jacobs retained his seat receiving 18.65 percent of the votes.
• An unknown assailant allegedly kidnapped a Silver Point area woman from her garden and attempted to force her to drive him to an unspecified location.
Lisa Mackie told the Review shortly after the incident that the man approached her with a knife while she was working in her garden, told her he had run out of gas and forced her into her vehicle, telling her to drive or he would kill her.
As they approached a nearby convenience store, Mackie opened the door in an attempt to escape. At that time, the man pushed her from the truck and attempted to run over her.
The unidentified assailant sped away only to wreck the vehicle a short distance away and flee into the woods.
• Capella Healthcare recently announced the execution  of a definitive Purchase Agreement for the subsidiary that owns a majority interest in White County Community Hospital, Cannon County Hospital, Stones River Hospital and DeKalb Community Hospital.
• Leadership DeKalb Class of 2011 graduation was held on June 23. Graduates included Dalton Fish, Susan Young, Charlene Adcock, Misty Poss, Beth Gill, Jana Crook, Patricia Hoover and Tim Price.