Local Top 10 stories of 2006

10. Democrats swept races

Democrats swept through local legislative races in November, continuing a long-running tradition in the four-county area of Colbert, Lauderdale, Franklin and Lawrence.

The election, however, produced significant news.

Tammy Irons became the first woman to be elected to a legislative office that represents the Shoals. She defeated attorney William Smith in a special election in March for the District 1, House seat and won a rematch in November’s general election.

Mike Curtis won the District 2 seat, claiming the position again for Democrats. Four years earlier, Lynn Greer became the first Republican to ever be elected to office in Lauderdale County.

Ironically, the person who Greer defeated in 2002, Mary Pettus, switched parties and was defeated by Curtis in November.

Democrats won all legislative races in the four counties.

9. Trail of Tears motorcycle ride

Despite the controversy that surrounded this year’s Trail of Tears motorcycle ride, organizers say they will continue to advocate that it stop in Florence rather than travel to Waterloo, the traditional last stop in the Alabama leg of the annual event.

The Trail of Tears made headlines earlier this year when the board decided the ride should end at McFarland Park in Florence. That decision and the subsequent protests made this year’s ride a controversial issue.

Bill Cason, a member of the Trail of Tears board as well as the originator of the event, said his main concern is for the approximately 150,000 riders.

“We never intended people not to go to Waterloo if they wanted to,” he said. “But the official ride ends in Florence.”

8. Shoals bids farewell to six

Their lives may have ended in 2006, but the accomplishments of six prominent Shoals residents will be remembered for generations.

The deaths of Buddy Killen, James Joiner, Stanley Robbins, Jerry Davis, Mimi Rosenbaum and Don Holt made big news in 2006.

Joiner and Killen both made their mark in the music industry. Joiner is credited with writing the song that paved the way for the Muscle Shoals music industry, while Killen’s success was helping Nashville, Tenn., build its reputation as the Mecca of country music.

Davis and Robbins were known for their contributions in the business community.

Robbins will be remembered as an entrepreneur, industrialist and philanthropist. Davis, meanwhile, will be recalled as one who helped new businesses get their start at the Shoals Entrepreneurial Center, a model program for the nation.

Rosenbaum will be remembered for her contributions to the community, most visibly her family home, which was designed by the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Holt was considered by his peers as the best criminal defense lawyer in the region, but also served as a mentor for young attorneys.

7. North American Lighting begins construction

The massive building is beginning to take shape and plans to begin production are on schedule.

North American Lighting, the latest major manufacturing facility to call the Shoals home, is rapidly approaching startup at the plant in Muscle Shoals.

North American Lighting, which is owned by Japan-based Koito, manufactures automotive lighting products for the worldwide market. The company‘s fourth plant is taking shape at Shoals Research Airpark.

Muscle Shoals Mayor David Bradford said the construction process is on schedule.

The company will initially employ 320 people, with expectations of 500 workers by the end of 2009. Workers will be making 1.8 million taillights per year for Toyota, Nissan and Honda.

North American Lighting officials expect to begin the hiring process in February or March and begin production in June.

6. Taco, the Jack Russell mix puppy

The survival of Taco, the Jack Russell mix puppy, and subsequent arrest of the Sheffield man charged with first-degree animal cruelty touched the emotions of hundreds of Shoals residents.

Andrew Chase Slatton, 21, was arrested in connection with the 6-month-old puppy’s ears being cut off on or around Nov. 8.

The owners realized the puppy had escaped from the backyard when they started out to take children to school. They called her name and she ran across the alley near their home. Her ears had been cut off.

Less than two weeks later, police apprehended Slatton in connection with the case. He remains in jail on $1,500 bail.

Colbert County District Attorney Bryce Graham said Slatton’s case will be presented to a Colbert grand jury in February.

Graham didn’t discuss particulars of the case but said the case has received national attention.

“This office has gotten calls and letters from all over the country,” he said.

Taco’s owner, Kerry Williams, said Taco’s ears have healed well. However, the puppy, who once loved romping in the outdoors, is now scared to go outside.

5. Police officers plead guilty

The Florence Police Department was forced into the spotlight in 2006, but not for what they do best – solving crimes and serving the community.

Instead, two members of the department – a former community policing officer and a former captain over investigation and internal affairs – pleaded guilty to criminal charges and were sentenced during the year.

On Aug. 25, Basil Ken Stanley, 50, Killen, a former department captain, pleaded guilty to possession and distribution of child pornography. He was sentenced in federal court Dec. 12 to seven years in prison.

Stanley was arrested at the police department June 19 and resigned 11 days later after 26 years of service. He was accused of uploading pornography to a photo-sharing Web site, which enabled others to view and download the material.

In October, former police officer Patrick Robert Wilson, 33, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor third-degree assault.

He was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl. The indictment accused Wilson of inappropriately touching her on more than one occasion.

Wilson agreed to plead guilty to the lesser offense, which included a 12-month sentence. The sentence was suspended for two years. He was ordered to pay $10,000 to the victim, who is now 20.

4. Bass Pro Shops controversy

More than a month after Tennessee Valley Authority directors adopted a land management plan that protects the utility’s shoreline property from residential and retail development, the future of Veterans Park remains unclear.

TVA owns the land where the park is situated near Wilson Dam. Florence is allowed to use the land under a recreational easement.

Before TVA adopted the new land management plan Nov. 30, Veterans Park was being considered as the site of a new shopping complex anchored by a Bass Pro Shops store. It was a plan that attracted much criticism from a group of local residents, many of whom made their frustration known at Florence Council meetings.

An agreement among Florence, Public Park Authority of the Shoals and the Retirement Systems of Alabama called for an attraction to be built at the park as part of an economic development project. The attraction was to help draw tourists to the nearby Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa and a pair of Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses in Colbert County.

In wake of TVA’s decision, the search continues to find a suitable attraction at the park that will fall within TVA guidelines.

3. Moulton firefighters killed

Two Moulton volunteer firefighters were killed Feb. 21 fighting a massive warehouse fire in town.

The front wall of Outdoor Parts and Service collapsed on top of Capt. Lloyd McCulloch, 64, and Dusty Jones, 23. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

In the days after the fire, the community rallied together, and joined firefighters from around the country to provide support to the department and the firefighters’ families.

Both men were honored with traditional firefighter funerals that drew mourners from as far away as Plano, Texas, and Sarasota, Fla.

2. Death of a soldier

The impact of the war in Iraq was felt in the Greenhill community Feb. 19 with the death of U.S. Marine Cpl. Matthew Conley. His family and friends are still trying to deal with the loss.

The 21-year-old Conley was killed while serving in Iraq.

He was buried with full military honors with more than 1,000 people in attendance Feb. 26. Ironically, he would have celebrated his 22nd birthday on the day.

“The holidays were hard, very hard,’’ said Conley’s father, Tommy Conley. “But we’ve got family backing us and supporting us, and a lot of people praying for us. That really has helped.

“If it wasn’t for our faith and belief, I don’t know how we would have made it.’’

The 2002 Rogers High School graduate was a squad leader assigned to the First Marine Division.

Family members said Conley and other members of his squad were killed when an improvised exploding device detonated near their Humvee. The squad was on security patrol in the province of Al-Anbar.

The Greenhill native was a passenger in the vehicle, training another soldier who was to take his place when he returned home.

Conley left for Iraq on Labor Day in 2005 and was scheduled to end his tour in Iraq on March 6 and be home by March 22.

Catherine Mattison Conley was born 25 days after her father’s death.

1.John Mark Karr’s confession

Northwest Alabama and the University of North Alabama were placed in the national spotlight in August for reasons they would just as soon not be a part of.

Former Hamilton resident and ex-UNA student John Mark Karr made national headlines in August when he told authorities that he killed 6 year-old JonBenet Ramsey in her Boulder, Colo., home Dec. 26, 1996.

Karr, who worked as a substitute teacher in schools throughout Marion, Franklin, Winston and Lauderdale counties before moving out of the area, later revealed that he fabricated the story. DNA tests showed that it was impossible for him to be the child’s killer.

In the days after Karr’s startling confession, media outlets around the nation converged on Hamilton and the UNA campus where Karr had been a student.

Staff reports