Orozco's return leads year's top stories

Student protest voices on the street joined in with those of adults in public meetings who opposed the state legislature's cuts in school funding. Photo by Brian S. Orban

The return of Jorge Alberto Lopez-Orozco to Elmore County to face trial in the 2002 murder of a woman and two of her children topped the list of stories for 2011 at the Mountain Home News.

Lopez-Orozco was the prime suspect in the murder of Rebecca Ramirez and her children, whose burned bodies were found in a car in southern Elmore County.

Number two on the list of top stories in the Mountain Home News for 2011 was the purchase of the long-vacant King's building by the Mountain Home Urban Renewal District. The district is remodeling the building to bring it up to code and believes it has a major retailer ready to sign papers to lease the building.

A series of major fires burned tens of thousand of acres locally in 2011, including some major deer habitat near Glenns Ferry.

Third of the list of stories was the debate and subsequent lawsuit filed against the city by the No Limits Ministry. Using a high-powered Chicago legal firm, the church sued the city, citing a little-known law that prohibited the city from requiring special-use permits for churches.

Fourth on the list was the local impact of the Luna plan, the educational funding bill proposed by state Superintendent of Education Tom Luna that passed the legislature this year. The bill called for cuts in funding for teachers (800 teachers across Idaho lost their jobs) in exchange of giving every student a laptop computer to take classes online.

Fifth on our list of stories were the fires that broke out this year in the area. Although the actual number was down from previous years, those that were sparked, usually but not always by lightning, had a tendency to burn large swaths of the county.

Number six on our list of top stories was the U.S. Census results. Conducted every ten years, the census forms the basis for a large number of government decisions, including the reapportionment of legislative and congressional districts.

Number seven on our list of top stories for 2011 was the on-again off-again efforts of the Western Elmore County Recreation District to move forward on its plans to build a community center in Mountain Home. The rec district received a strong endorsement from the Treasure Valley YMCA to continue its partnership in helping achieve that goal, but due to a variety of factors little actually got accomplished during the year.

Number eight on our list of top stories was the constant debate and public hearings held on the proposed "planned community" developments in the Mayfield area. Despite widespread opposition during public hearings, the county commissioners have given the green light for the developments, which, if fully developed over the estimated 50-year development time-line, would result in a city on the Ada-Elmore county line that would be as large as present day Eagle or Meridian.

Ninth on the list of top stories were the impacts of various elections. The year began with the swearing in of a number of new county officers, including two new commissioners.

Number ten on our list of top stories involved the various military deployments that affected the local community. Two of the base's squadrons, the 726th Air Control Squadron and the 389th Fighter Squadron, were sent on lengthy deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively, adding to the hundreds of airmen from the base that were deployed in penny packets to the war zones throughout the year.

For details on the year's top stories as well as "honorable mentions," pick up a copy of this week's Mountain Home News.