By Cindy Allen, Managing Editor
December 30, 2007 01:12 am
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A number of big stories made headlines in 2007, and many of them were weather-related.
While 2006 saw mostly drought conditions in the area, that quickly changed in early 2007, and wetter weather became the trend, as Enid and northwest Oklahoma received record rainfall and moisture levels throughout the year.
Other stories making headlines in 2007 include a bridge collapse, murders, a citywide cleanup and city and school funding issues.
The News & Eagle is wrapping up the year with two summaries of the biggest stories of the year. This summary begins with the No. 10 story through No. 6 for 2007.
10. Orion Ethanol announces delay in building plant; second ethanol plant pulls out of Enid.
While 2005 brought exuberant news of two new ethanol plants slated to be built in Enid, those hopes were dashed in spring 2007 when both ethanol plants announced construction delays.
Orion Ethanol was the first to announce a delay in construction due to economic conditions and a high demand for ethanol plant construction across the country.
Then, Oklahoma Sustainable Ener-gy and Chapparal Energy, which first announced intentions to build a plant in Enid, decided to relocate its plant to Blackwell.
Oklahoma Sustainable Energy called the decision to pull out of Enid “strictly a business decision,” citing better incentives provided by Blackwell. The company also returned $250,000 in seed money to the city of Enid.
Meanwhile, Orion Ethanol backers say they still plan to build a plant in Enid when economic conditions are right. There have been no new updates on any future construction plans for Orion Ethanol.
9. City of Enid proposes cuts to local entities’ budgets.
Enid city commissioners approved $1.15 million in general fund budget cuts for the 2007-08 fiscal year, resulting in some local non-profit entities taking major hits.
The budget cuts were proposed by City Manger Eric Benson as a way to help fund construction of a new bridge on West Randolph to replace one that collapsed in March. Also, Benson noted the general fund has been declining and city departments also were involved in the cuts.
Among those non-profit entities set for cuts were PEGASYS, Main Street Enid, Leonardo’s Discovery Ware-house, Enid Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and Vance Development Authority.
Announcements of the cuts set about a lot of debate among backers of these organizations about how vital they are to the quality of life in Enid. Many complained the city budget cuts to the organizations were too draconian and would mean a reduction in services.
In the end, PEGASYS and Main Street saw the largest cuts. PEGASYS lost $100,000 in city funding, and Main Street lost its contract to run the Cherokee Strip Conference Center.
PEGASYS continues to operate, and Main Street offices moved out of the Cherokee Strip Conference Center into an office above a downtown business. Main Street recorded its best Oktoberfest event this year, and also again sponsored Lights Up the Plains.
8. Young girls kidnap baby and leave ransom note.
In early July, two pre-teen girls allegedly kidnapped a 1-year-old neighbor in the early morning hours and left a ransom note.
The boy was returned home safely, and police arrested the two sisters, ages 12 and 10.
They allegedly broke into the child’s home. The girls told their own mother they “found the baby on the corner” when she noticed them with the infant. The mother recognized the boy as the child of her neighbors.
The incident made national headlines as well, as national news shows debated in general the crimes being committed by younger and younger children.
7. Enid celebrates Centennial in style.
The Oklahoma Centennial celebration was a state and national story, and Enid and surrounding towns played their part.
In Enid, the annual Cherokee Strip Days saw some added activities, including a covered wagon rendezvous organized by two local residents.
A concert featuring artists with ties to northwest Oklahoma was held at Chisholm Trail Expo Center.
Another highlight of the Cherokee Strip Days was groundbreaking on the new $7 million Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center. The new interactive museum will be built on the site of the current Museum of the Cherokee Strip. Construction is expected to continue into the fall.
6. Chemical vials found at Salt Plains crystal digging area.
In April, a Bartlesville Boy Scout troop took the typical field trip to the Great Salt Plains crystal digging area near Jet for a day of fun and crystal digging.
Instead, one of the boys dug up a chemical vial that broke and caused him some uneasiness and breathing difficulties. He was not affected seriously.
With that incident, the crystal digging area was closed and teams brought in to determine what the chemical was and if there was any more. There was. Investigators eventually found more than 130 vials of blistering solutions in chemical warfare training kits that somehow were disposed of in the area post-World War II.
An Army chemical unit from Aberdeen, Md., was ordered to the site and found more vials nearby and also incendiary devices apparently used in an attempt to destroy them. Army specialists have said the vials were part of 200,000 kits made by the military between 1929 and 1969 to train soldiers to identify chemical agents they might encounter in war. The kits contained vials with diluted mustard gas and lew-isite in a solution of mostly chloroform.
Between 1942 and 1946, part of the Salt Plains area was used by the military for practice bombing and strafing; however, Army officials have no record of the vials being buried in the area, so they did not know how many vials could possibly be there.
Closing the digging area cost Salt Plains about 30,000 visitors this past year. The crystal digging area remains closed and no announcements have been made about when it will reopen.
• Top 5 local news stories of the year will be published on Sunday.
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