RICHMOND — Help us choose the top 10 stories of the year published in the Richmond Register. Pick 10 stories below that you believe had the biggest impact on the community, with the most important being No. 1 and the least important being No. 10.

All paper entries must be received in the Richmond Register office by 5 p.m. Dec. 27. Mail entries to Richmond Register, Attn: Sarah Hogsed, 380 Big Hill Avenue, Richmond, KY 40475.

Entries also may be dropped off in person at the office.

We encourage online voting at www.surveymonkey.com/s/356VGFZ.

Please limit votes to one per person. Thank you!



____ Executive Director Debra Hoskins resigns from EKU Center for the Arts. Hoskins resigned June 19, and no reason was given in the university’s statement. The question arose of whether EKU administration and regents or the center’s community operations board has authority over center personnel. Also, the university denied all Open Records requests for Hoskins’ personnel file, and the state attorney general ruled the documents are public, but the final decision will now be made in Madison Circuit Court.



____ William Tribble charged with killing great-grandmother in three-year old case. More than three years after JoAnn “Margie” Tribble was found dying from a head wound in the garage of her Teakwood Drive home, her great-grandson William Cody Tribble was charged with her murder. Although he was 17 at the time of the alleged crime, he will be tried as an adult.



____ Parents of 7-month-old Serenity Dawes take manslaughter, murder pleas in beating death. William and Diana Dawes pleaded guilty in connection with the June 2011 death of their infant daughter. William pleaded guilty to murder and received a sentence of 35  years in prison. Diana pleaded guilty to manslaughter, receiving a sentence of 25 years in prison. Prosecutors believe William inflicted the severe injuries on the baby while Diana failed to notify authorities or get medical help for her child.



____ Election year leads to changes in local and state government. Two new people will be joining the Richmond City Council next year, Laura Durham Morgan and Jim Newby. The Madison County School Board will have one new face, Mary Renfro. While Rita Smart and Donna Mayfield retained their spots representing Madison County in Frankfort, Jonathan Shell will be a newcomer in the state house next year. Finally, Republican Andy Barr unseated Ben Chandler to represent Kentucky’s Sixth District in the U.S. House of Representatives.



____ Bodies of Sonsaray Warford and Charles Walker found after they were reported missing two years ago. The couple’s bodies were found in shallow graves off Tates Creek Road this spring, and police believe two men – Daniel Keene and Matthew Denholm – were hired by a local drug dealer to kill Walker. Warford was Walker’s girlfriend. Another man, LeBruce Ellington, has been indicted on complicity charges in the case. Matthew Denholm was already in jail facing a murder charge in the shooting death of a Berea man in November 2011.



____ Lesbian couple says they were asked to leave a privately owned park open to the public, leading to an increased push for a Fairness Ordinance in Richmond. A Richmond couple said they were asked to leave E. C. Million Memorial Park while they were having a maternity photo session, an incident which garnered national attention. The Kentucky Human Rights Commission issued a statement condemning the incident, and local proponents of a “Fairness Ordinance,” which would outlaw discrimination against gay people, have a rally outside city hall.



____ $4.6 million Madison Central High School  athletic facilities upgrade approved by school board. In a 3-1 decision, the school board voted in March to upgrade the school’s athletic facilities, which included artificial surfaces for the football field and running track, a new stadium to seat 4,000, concession stand, two restrooms, press box, weight room, three ticket booths and other amenities were included in the project.



____ Pattie A. Clay becomes Baptist Health in Richmond. Starting Sept. 1, Richmond’s Pattie A. Clay Regional Medical Center became Baptist Health in Richmond. The 120-year-old hospital is the oldest facility to join the Baptist Healthcare System, which includes hospitals in Corbin, Lexington, Louisville and elsewhere.



____ Construction continues on U.S. 25. Drivers have faced some headaches as the project to widen U.S. 25 near the Eastern Bypass continue. The first phase of the project will end just past Pumpkin Run (South Pointe subdivision). The second phase will go to the Duncannon Lane intersection, and the last phase will continue to the US 421/US 25 split. The Berea end of the project, which is the widening of US 25 North from the Berea Bypass to Ellipse Street, will start in the summer of 2013.



____ Chenault cocaine trafficking drug ring members enter plea deals in federal court. Jakolbe “Kolbe Cheese” Chenault, along with seven others plus his supplier, pleaded guilty to charges related to drug trafficking in Madison County, and their sentences ranged from 12 months to 30 years. Chenault admitted to dealing large quantities of cocaine, and the money was laundered through Chenault’s Richmond clothing store, JaRu’s New Fashions. Police court testimony and a search-warrant affidavit also have accused Chenault of hiring the two men who killed Charles Walker and Sonsaray Warford although he has yet to be charged in their deaths.



____ Doug Whitlock announces he is stepping down as EKU president. Whitlock, who has led EKU since 2007, announced in August he will be retiring July 31. The Board of Regents has begun the process of selecting a new president, forming a search committee and hiring a Washington, D.C., firm to help with the selection.



____ Late summer thunderstorms cause flooding in Richmond. In the space of 34 days, Richmond saw two thunderstorms that dumped large amounts of water on the city in a short time, causing flash flooding problems. Downtown Richmond, Boggs Lane and EKU were among several areas that were affected. City officials blamed much of the flooding on old infrastructure, and stormwater improvements, such at the current Sunset Avenue project and the future Water Street project, are designed to alleviate the problem.



____ Construction begins on large student apartment complex across from EKU on Lancaster Avenue. Despite opposition from property owners along Barnes Mill Road and Lancaster Avenue, the Richmond City Commission approved the rezoning of 15 acres across from EKU as multifamily. Grand Campus Properties LLC of Lexington paid $2.4 million for the land to build an apartment complex that would house 512 people. A pedestrian overpass walkway also is being built to link the complex to campus.



____ Waco woman killed, house set on fire. The body of Ana Marshall, 86, was found inside her burning College Hill Road home during the early morning hours of March 25. An autopsy revealed she died of blunt force trauma, and the fire was suspected to be arson. No arrests have been made as Kentucky State Police continue to investigate the homicide.



____ Summer drought affects gardens, water levels and July 4 celebrations. A winter with lower-than-usual precipitation amounts preceded a summer of high temperatures and little rain, causing droughts conditions throughout most of Kentucky. Madison Countians were asked to voluntarily conserve water while Richmond and other area cities banned fireworks for fear of starting fires during the dry conditions.