Deadly tornadoes voted most significant event
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Each person awarded 10 points to what they thought was the most significant story of the year, nine points to the second most significant story, and so on. With 100 points being the highest possible score with all 10 first-place votes, the deadly tornadoes which hit the county were voted the top story of the year with 91 points. Here?s the Standard?s top 10 list:
1. Tornadoes leave devastation in path
Two tornadoes swept through Warren County on a single evening in April leaving three dead amid two paths of destruction in both the northern and southern parts of the county.
The first of the deaths occurred in the Green Hill community near Dibrell on Foster Road when Barbara Alberson, 53, and Ollie Parsley, 81, were killed when an F-2 tornado struck the trailer in which they were living. Relatives said Alberson, who was caring for the elderly Parsley, had decided to ?ride out? the storms and stay in her home.
The tornado flattened several houses and trailers along its path toward Midway, skipping some houses while hitting others head-on just before sundown.
As emergency service workers were aiding those hit by the northern tornado, a second one hit at sundown in the southern part of the county, striking the trailer of Sherry Bruce, 48, on Bonner Road. Bruce was killed when her trailer was carried several yards before being dropped and destroyed.
The deaths were the first in Warren County due to a tornado since a motorist was killed during a similar tornado outbreak in 1974.
2. Preacher?s wife accused of murder
The initial news came as a total shock. Nine months later, people are still asking how a pleasant preacher?s wife could kill her husband in cold blood?
Mary Winkler has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the death of her husband, former Central Church of Christ youth minister Matthew Winkler. The Winklers were living in Selmer, Tenn., at the time of the murder.
During the Winklers nearly three years in McMinnville before moving to Selmer, Mary built strong ties to the community as an employee for the post office at Super D, and as a member of Junior Auxiliary.
Mary Winkler was found by authorities some 475 miles away from the murder scene in Orange Beach, Ala. Her Toyota van was reportedly spotted by police on the side of the road after an Amber Alert had been issued for the Winklers? three young children, who were in the van with her.
According to police reports, Winkler has confessed to waking up early March 22 and shooting her husband in the back with a 12-gauge shotgun while he was still in bed. She said the two had been arguing the night before.
A Selmer judge set bail at $750,000. Winkler?s family eventually posted that bail and she was released Aug. 15 under strict conditions.
Winkler was ordered to live in Warren County at the home of Rudie and Kathy Thomsen and work at Cleaners Express. She was told not to leave Warren County except to visit her children or her attorneys.
During her stay in Warren County, Winkler has been showered with gifts. Complete strangers have stopped by Cleaners Express and dropped off money.
Her case has received national media attention in the pages of People magazine and on ?Good Morning America,? among other places.
3. Rogers dances on cellphone message
Shortly after emerging from a 198-day incarceration a free woman, former Centertown teacher Pamela Rogers returned to jail ? this time to serve the balance of her eight-year sentence after she was caught sending risqu? pictures of herself to her teenage victim on her cellphone.
Rogers remains in state prison. She is serving her sentence for having sex with a 13-year-old male student in 2005 and faces additional time behind bars when she returns to court Jan. 10 for the graphic images she sent the now-15-year-old boy.
The former beauty queen was jailed in 2005 after entering a no-contest plea to having sex with the teen, a case which made worldwide headlines. She was released on probation in early 2006 with a warning not to contact her victim. However, prosecutors said she had violated that order by contacting the boy?s teen-age sister over the Internet through a Web site she constructed on MySpace.com. And then, prosecutors say, she contacted the boy himself, sending the youth videos and still pictures of herself, some semi-nude. Rogers was arrested after lawmen obtained some of the images.
In her appearance before the court during the summer, Rogers cried and apologized for her actions, admitting she may need help to curb her urges. The court violated her probation, sending her to the penitentiary for the remainder of her sentence. She is now appealing her jail time even as she faces more prison time for sending illegal images to an underage person.
4. Sen. Cooper indicted for fraud
State Sen. Jerry Cooper enters the new year facing trial on charges of bank and mail fraud for a land deal gone bad at his former business in Smartt Station.
Cooper was indicted in August by a federal grand jury in a case which has already seen two sent to prison. Cooper was originally named as an unindicted co-conspirator when indictments were first handed down last year against local appraiser James Passons along with Huntsville, Ala., couple Anthony and Teresa Auyer.
While Passons was acquitted in a trial, the Auyers entered guilty pleas on the eve of their trial, Mr. Auyer taking 34 months and his wife 18 months.
Investigators believe Cooper used his influence to help the Auyers, who were buying Cooper Manufacturing, to get a federally insured loan from Bank of Tennessee. The indictments stem from a deal in which prosecutors say the Auyers obtained $1.77 million from various loan institutions under false pretenses.
The bank fraud indictment contended Passons prepared an appraisal of a lumber mill, belonging to Sen. Cooper, a mill which they claimed the appraiser falsely represented as containing a railroad spur, therefore making the appraisal higher. Cooper then allegedly sought to sell the over-appraised property for $800,000.
Jurors found Passons did not commit the crime, with Passons maintaining his one mistake was trusting Cooper. Cooper, last year, pointed out he was never paid $500,000 still owed to him by the Auyers.
Cooper continues to serve as state senator.
5. Zavogiannis ousts Potter in landslide
Sweeping into office in a landslide, defeating the incumbent 3-to-1, political newcomer Lisa Zavogiannis became the 31st Judicial District?s fourth district attorney by beating Dale Potter.
Zavogiannis won the post after narrowly defeating fellow attorney Robert Newman for the Democratic nomination just months before. The one-sided loss is considered one of the worst in local history for an incumbent. Zavogiannis earned much respect for her tireless work on the campaign trail.
In addition to the DA?s office, the county also received a new county executive as John Pelham handily defeated one-term executive Kenneth Rogers.
In other election changes, retiring County Court Clerk David Smartt was replaced by a his former employee, Lesa Scott, who defeated Randy England in a down-to-the-wire race.
Also, retiring Trustee Joy Slatton was replaced by Darlene Bryant, who won the election by beating two of Slatton?s former employees.
On the national level, Bob Corker captured the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Bill Frist by gaining a high-priced victory over Harold Ford Jr. The race will best be remembered for its non-stop TV advertising.
6. Main Street project complete
The downtown economic revitalization project officially completed its first phase May 1. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Court Square to commemorate the event.
The project, which began as a vision to invigorate a dying downtown district, started in August 2004 with the closing of Chancery Street in the downtown area. The move created traffic headaches as motorists had to turn to little-used S. High Street as a primary road. The detours created not only traffic headaches but financial difficulties for downtown merchants.
The official grand opening ceremony, held several months after all of Main Street was reopened to traffic, was scheduled to coincide with Preservation Week.
The project came with a $5.17 million pricetag and Main Street has received rave reviews for its new look. City officials are now contemplating phase II of the project which focuses on Morford Street.
7. Prominent businessmen accused of pulling handgun
The fate of local businessman Gordon McGee and his son, Gordon McGee Jr., hangs in the balance as their case is prepared for the grand jury next month for an alleged brawl in October at Furniture Depot where the senior McGee pulled a gun on the store owners.
McGee Sr., the founder of Pioneer Building Supply, is charged with aggravated assault for brandishing the gun while his son, the newest member of the school board, faces assault charges for his part in the fight which led to the gun being pulled by his father.
According to information revealed during their recent preliminary hearing, Gordon Jr. and Furniture Depot co-owner Steve Ray had words after Ray asked him to move his truck from in front of the store. At some point, Gordon Jr. called his father on his cellphone and the two walked into the store where the fight ensued.
Evidence suggests Gordon Sr. suffered several blows to the face during the fight, a fight which ended when he pulled a handgun and began waving it in the faces of Ray and co-owner Patti Davis, who was on the phone with a 911 operator. A policeman responding to the 911 call forced McGee to drop his weapon at gunpoint.
McGee would later say he pulled the gun because he was afraid if he was hit in the chest during the fight it could kill him because he has a pacemaker. McGees were bound to the grand jury during a recent hearing and remain free on bond.
8. A.O. Smith announces plant shutdown
The July 18 announcement was hardly a surprise for the shell of a workforce still remaining at A.O. Smith. That?s when company officials ended years of speculation and formally announced the local plant would close.
Company officials have continually said the jobs are moving to Mexico because of fierce competition and the need to compete in a global economy.
As Century Electric and MagneTek, the business was once a major employer in Warren County. A.O. Smith acquired the worldwide electric motor operation of MagneTek in 1999.
Based on figures provided to the Standard in February 2001, A.O. Smith had a workforce of 925 employees, second in the county only to Carrier. But the layoffs would soon begin.
By 2005, A.O. Smith said its plans were to keep the local workforce around 250 employees and keep the plant operational. But it wasn?t long after that announcement the workforce dipped to around 200.
According to company spokesman Mark Petrarca, the local plant currently has 63 employees. The plant was originally scheduled to shut down by the end of 2006. That timetable was moved back slightly and the company now says the new timetable is to shut down during the first quarter of 2007.
9. Local Marine loses legs in Iraq
The conflict in Iraq was brought home to Warren County in a sobering way when local soldier Eric Frazier received grievous wounds as his Humvee rolled over an improvised explosive device (IED) during a mission in October.
The injuries resulted in the amputation of both legs and he continues to undergo a lengthy recuperation and rehabilitation process.
He was serving his country as a member of the Marine Reserves. Frazier joined the Marines in November 2004 and had just been deployed to Iraq about a month prior to the incident. The 20-year-old Marine, part of a Nashville-based Marine Reserve, was deployed with a reserve unit from Michigan. The unit, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, was stationed north of Fallujah.
Frazier is the son of former Marine Kary Frazier and his wife, Kimberly. He has a sister, Christa. Eric and his wife, Amanda, were married shortly before he was stationed in Iraq.
The community has rallied around the soldier, establishing a fund at First National Bank to help with the expenses the family has incurred during his hospitalization in Bethesda, Md.
The Warren County Commission also voted unanimously to approve a resolution honoring the young Marine for his bravery and sacrifice in the service of his country.
Anyone wishing to write to Eric can do so at the following address: Eric D. Frazier, Attn: Marine Liason, 8901 Wisconsin Ave., Room 1022A, Bethesda, Md., 20889.
10. Work begins on new road to Woodbury
Building a four-lane to Woodbury is a project that?s been discussed for over 20 years. Now that construction work has finally started, it could very well take that long for the project to be completed.
Major dirt and excavation work started in October for the first phase of the project, which is only a 1.1-mile stretch. The first phase, which will reach Spring Valley Road, is estimated to take two years.
One major misconception is the commonly called four-lane to Woodbury will actually be five lanes. There will be two lanes in each direction with a continual turning lane, similar to the road to Manchester.
?It will have five lanes with sidewalks and curbs,? said Mark Odom, the president of Highways, Inc., a Cookeville-based company that was awarded the project with an $8.4 million bid. ?And you?ll be getting all new signs so it will look pretty good when it?s all done.?
The new road, during this phase, will roughly follow the same path through Newtown. The biggest change is the sharp curve that comes just after Cornerstone Baptist Church as you?re leaving Newtown. The new road will straighten out the curve by going over what was once Forrest Park Package Store and going over the log cabin that used to sit on the hill.
U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis secured $11 million in federal funding for the project.