Hangar expansion was completed at Lampasas Municipal Airport. A variety of stories highlighted the front page of the Lampasas Dispatch Record over the past 12 months.

Excerpts from the top events in the first half of 2009 follow.

JANUARY

Longtime restaurateur IraDell Storm died at 87. She and her husband, Jim, were co-founders of Storm’s Drive-In. The first one was built in Lampasas in 1950 and was known as the Dairy Cue.

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Karleigh Vann and her exotic steer earned grand championship honors at the Lampasas County Youth Livestock Show.

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Rex and Linda Johnson donated more than 16 acres of land around Cooper Springs to the city of Lampasas. Plans call for the land to be developed into a public nature and recreation area.

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The Lampasas Independent School District Board of Trustees extended Superintendent Dr. Brant Myers’ contract through June 30, 2012.

Swift-moving water trapped several men in a pickup truck. * * *

A meeting to gather input on a possible dress code for the Lampasas school district proved unpopular, with the majority of those in attendance voicing opposition to the idea. The LISD scrapped a second forum.

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Schools and businesses opened late due to a morning of ice-glazed roadways and temperatures that dropped into the 20s.

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New colorful banners were hung along Key Avenue to point the way to the downtown’s historic shopping district.

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A retail trade study prepared for the Lampasas Economic Development Corp. illustrated the need to attract new retailers to Lampasas and to encourage existing business owners to offer more products and services.

FEBRUARY

The Lampasas County Commissioners Court approved a 10-year contract, at $120,000 per year, with Capital Ambulance & Transit Service for emergency services. The new contract will save the county about $5,000 per month.

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The Lometa Independent School District Board of Trustees agreed to pay off the remainder of a $353,000 note on the district’s cafetorium work, completing payment of the $800,000 stage and cafeteria facility within a four-year time frame.

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LISD Superintendent Dr. Brant Myers announced his intent to leave Lampasas for a superintendent’s post at Jim Ned Consolidated School District in West Texas. Myers had been with the LISD since October 2005.

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Kempner City Council tabled action on granting any tax exemption for homesteads or for persons over 65. Several residents asked the council to consider granting the exemptions. Mayor Gene Isenhour said the city utilizes property taxes to generate revenue to operate the city.

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Downtown Lampasas readied for a second mural to be painted on the exterior wall of Lampasas Hardware and Contractor Supply. The theme features three generations of companies that did business in that build- ing: Texas Trading Company, a bowling alley and several car dealerships.

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Pam Haynie, a former First Texas Bank employee, pleaded guilty to theft, embezzlement, misapplication by a bank employee in U.S. District Court in Austin, admitting to taking more than $500,000 dollars over a 10-year period. In April sentencing, Mrs. Haynie received one year and one day in federal prison. She also was ordered to pay restitution of nearly $500,000.

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The Lampasas City Council approved formation of a design review committee to develop aesthetic guidelines for properties that participate in a “neighborhood empowerment zone.”

MARCH

A Texas Parks & Wildlife Department public hearing was held concerning proposed wildlife- and hunting related regulations that would expand special buck restrictions and liberalize antlerless harvest opportunities.

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Persistent dry weather continued to hurt agricultural activities in Lampasas County and elevated the risk of grass fires, as severe drought conditions extended brought on by less-than-average rainfall across Central Texas.

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The Lampasas County Sheriff’s Department made several arrests in connection with an organized crime ring involved in numerous burglaries across Central Texas. The group of organized burglars was suspected of stealing property in Bastrop, Bell, Bosque, Burnet, Dallas, Ellis, Hamilton, Johnson, Lampasas and Williamson counties.

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Animal control officials received confirmation of a positive rabies test for a raccoon found on South Willis Street.

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Rex Daniels was selected interim superintendent of the Lampasas Independent School District while a search began to fill the spot vacated by Dr. Brant Myers. Daniels has served as interim superintendent during previous searches to fill the top LISD slot.

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Former longtime educator and coach Dale Hatley died at the age of 77. In August 1989, Hatley was coaxed into serving as Lampasas High School’s athletic director, after the death the month before of longtime LHS head football coach and athletic director Rodney Hudson.

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Downtown Lampasas was earmarked for a breezeway and “pocket park” as part of the plans for completion of the Lampasas County Office Building expansion project.

APRIL

An expansion project at Lampasas Municipal Airport will allow the facility to offer larger hangars to its existing customers as well as to attract additional pilots to the airport.

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Dr. Bruce Wood of Horn, Smith, Wood and Preston -- the firm hired to search for a new superintendent for the LISD -- introduced himself to trustees and predicted quite a bit of interest in the job due to two new schools being built in the district.

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Metroplex President/CEO Ken Finch accepted the position of president/CEO of Huguley Memorial Hospital in Burleson and president/CEO of the Adventist Health System Southwest Region.

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A Lampasas man was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault and burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a sexual offense stemming from a March 28 incident in the city. Curry Batiste was jailed on bonds totaling $1 million.

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A truck tractor and semi-trailer crashed into the Colorado River bridge at the Lampasas-San Saba county line shortly before the vehicle became engulfed in flames. The bridge was shut down for 16 hours, as Texas Department of Transportation engineers inspected the structure and an Austin hazardous materials cleanup firm readied the site for use again.

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Lampasas High School graduate and former Badger quarterback Keith Null was selected in the sixth round of the National Football League draft by the St. Louis Rams.

MAY

STAR Flight rescued two men stuck on County Road 2925, which was flooded by the Lampasas River. The men drove through high water on the county road north of Adamsville and with the water level rising, they were unable to cross the bridge in the pickup they were driving. The men moved to a high point in the roadway to avoid being swept into the river.

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The Lower Colorado River Authority’s Transmission Services Corp. announced that new transmission lines to be built to transport wind-generated electricity are expected to pass through Lampasas County as part of TSC’s Westwind/Kendall to Gillespie to Newton project. The project encompasses a bundled-conductor, 345kV transmission line that will connect the expanded Gillespie Substation to the proposed Oncor Newton Substation in southeastern Lampasas County.

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Lampasas High School Principal Brandon Stiewig resigned as head of the campus to take the principal’s job at Calhoun High School. Also, Darla Peter, LISD director of special education, accepted a post with the Taylor-Callahan Special Education Co-op in Abilene. Both resignations were effective at the end of the 2008-09 school year.

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Kempner City Council accepted the deed for approximately six acres of property earmarked for a city park. Walter and Jeanette Prugh donated the land to the city, with the stipulation that the park was to be named Sylvia Tucker Memorial Park.

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Andrew Irvin, Lampasas ISD incumbent for Place 2, fell by a five-vote margin to challenger Mark Bishop, and Place 3 trustee Max Keele -- who had been on the board for 15 years -- lost his bid for reelection to Dan Claussen.

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In Lampasas City Council balloting, the lone challenged race ended in an incumbent’s defeat when Place 2 Councilman Robert McCauley fell to Bradley Neely. McCauley had served on the council since 2005.

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In a low voter turnout, Lometa Mayor Cynthia Kirby successfully defended her seat by outpolling her challenger, former mayor Robert McClinton. In a local option election to allow the sale of beer and wine for off-premises consumption, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 voters approved the measure 477-214.

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The Lampasas City Council rejected all six bids for the Lampasas Regional Sports Complex on Farm-to- Market Road 580 West after the lowest bid exceeded the city’s budget for the project.

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Carlyle Walton accepted the job of president/chief executive officer of Metroplex Health System, effective in July. He replaced Ken Finch, who was named Adventist Health System Southwest Region president and board chairman for Metroplex Health System.

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Hanna Springs Swimming Pool’s two-year hiatus ended with a grand reopening to mark the beginning of the swimming season. The pool had been closed the last two summers for repairs.

JUNE A Seguin man was arrested in Winder, Ga., clearing a number of burglary cases in Lampasas that dated back to October 2008. Steven Joseph Johnson, 26, was extradited to Lampasas and was charged with seven counts of burglary at various local businesses.

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Randall J. Hoyer, a 28-year educator, was named the lone finalist in the Lampasas Independent School District’s search for a superintendent. He came to Lampasas from the superintendency at Class 3A Columbus Independent School District.

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LISD officials learned the district would benefit from President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Investment Act’s $100 billion education investment.

The district was slated to receive two grants for Title I programs and special education services in the amount of $415,959.

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Lampasas-owned businesses Guyco Inc. and RKJ Construction Inc. submitted the lowest bids, and those were accepted by Lampasas County commissioners for the addition to the Lampasas County Office Building. Guyco bid the annex work at $1.66 million, while RKJ submitted a bid of $1.69 million.

Commissioners did award the general contracting bid to Guyco Inc.

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Wind damage from a tornado destroyed parts of a home on County Road 3430 just west of the city limits. The family, who saw the funnel coming, moved into a centrally located room to wait out passage of the storm. No one was injured.

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Former Lometa Mayor Troy Duncan died June 16. He served three terms at the city’s helm.

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Lampasas Independent School District Board of Trustees began to consider Mark Kehoe -- a former head football coach, athletic director and then assistant principal at Lampasas High School -- as principal of LHS to replace Brandon Stiewig.

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The longest-serving Lampasas County Extension agent, Marilyn May, announced her retirement after 34 years, with 17 of those in Lampasas.