A look back at the news that shaped Lebanon

January

Jan. 3, 2007 - Ken and Iona Smith were awakened Christmas morning with a lot more than the sound of eight tiny hooves on their roof. Wet weather, heavy ivy and general poor health of the trees across the canal from the Smith's home combined to fell a 65-foot maple tree onto their roof.

Jan. 3, 2007 - The Lebanon Police Department lost 90 years of police work experience when three veterans of the force announced their retirement plans. Officer Dave Chaput, Sgt. Tim Fitzwater and Sgt. John Atchley left their posts at the department during the year, as did dispatcher Liz Leopold.

Jan. 3, 2007 - Several years of meetings and analysis of transportation needs culminated in the final draft of a Lebanon transportation system plan, calling on the city of make several improvements to its street system.

Jan. 10, 2007 - Former Lebanon High School principal Dick Reiling died on Dec. 27 after a long battle with ALS. Reiling was principal of the school from 1986 until his retirement in 1997.

Jan. 10 - Brooklyn Rose Peeaster-Grossman was the first infant born in

the Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital for the new year. She is the daughter of Rebecca and Scott.

Jan. 10 - A gazebo and picnic shelter will be built at Cheadle Lake Park, thanks to a hefty donation to the foundation from Heather and Jim McDaniel. The 30- x 60-foot gazebo will be the first major structure at the park, and will be a memorial to those who have made significant contributions in their lives and to the community.

Jan. 10 - Longtime Lebanon pediatrician Dr. S.H. Lee retired from Mid-Valley Pediatrics. The doctor was lauded by colleagues, patients and friends in a farewell party at the hospital.

Jan. 17 - The City Council learned that a lawsuit against the city by one city councilor and three former candidates had racked up more than $21,500 in legal fees, not including time spent by city employees working on the issue. City councilor Ray Weldon, mayoral candidate Shirlee Harrington and council candidates Mel Harrington and Jim Beck were plaintiffs in the suit.

Jan. 24 - A lawsuit filed in 2006 by school superintendent Jim Robinson against two school board members and the district was dropped when a majority of the board accepted an agreement with Robinson.

Jan. 24 - The school board was urged by the district's Buildings and Boundaries Committee to sell the property where Crowfoot School sits, along with two acres of land surrounding it. Since the school was closed in 2002, it has been used for storage.

Jan. 31 - Lowe's distribution center in Lebanon announced plans to begin receiving goods in May and shipping them out in June. All but 25 positions on the store's leadership team were in place, but only 44 other employees had been hired. Applications were being taken to fill some of those slots.

Jan. 31 - Hundreds of prospective buyers showed up at the former Weyerhaeuser's Lebanon Lumber Mill site when mill equipment was put up for auction. Nearly 60 hourly and salaried workers at the mill lost their jobs when the mill closed for good in August.

February

Feb. 7 - Weyerhaeuser Company's Bauman Sawmill announced plans to close the end of March. Some 70 workers were given final notices. The planer at the mill site southeast of Lebanon will continue to operate. A new mill will be built on the property.

Feb. 7 - School superintendent Jim Robinson was given a positive evaluation by the school board, although needs for improvement in communications and community relations were noted by the board.

Feb. 14 - Laticrete International broke ground on its new manufacturing plant in Lebanon. A 80,000 square-foot building will be erected on ENTEK Way at a cost of $6 million. Laticrete makes adhesives, mortars and grouts used in the installation of tile and stone. It is a supplier for Lowe's.

Feb. 14 - After separating in bitterness 16 years ago, the congregations of Family Bible Fellowship and First Baptist Church came together with forgiveness and open arms with special services together.

Feb. 21 - The city and the aquatic district worked out the terms of an agreement allowing the district to collect fees from builders of new housing in the area. Monies earned would help fund an expansion of the swimming pool and partially reimburse the district for past renovation costs.

Feb. 21 - Gang-related activity downtown seemed to have hit a lull, dipping to a two-month low in graffiti and vandalism.

Feb. 21 - School libraries finally reopened their doors to students, after closing down for several weeks as librarians entered some 60,000 volumes into computer databases and placed barcodes on the books.

Feb. 28 - A dispute between the Lebanon Aquatic District and the Lebanon Aquatics Club was ended when a small claims court judgment found disputed equipment belonged to the Aquatic District. As a result of the legal finding, the club ended up owning only a storage shed, not the timing system and scoreboards.

Feb. 28 - Four girls' basketball teams from Lebanon took home team titles at the

Sisters Shootout tournament. Lebanon sent fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade squads to the competition.

March

March 7 - Outstanding members were honored at the annual Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce banquet. Betty Schmidt was named Ambassador of the Year, and Santiam Physical Therapy, owned by Brian Corbett, won Small Business of the Year honors. Business Leader of the Year went to Robert Lamb. New Member of the Year honors went to Judie Rubert of the Willamette Financial Group. Jacine Van Atta was named Volunteer of the Year.

March 7 - The Fire District honored employees, particularly citing the work of Scott Wilkerson as Firefighter of the Year, Mike Harlan as Rookie of the Year, Jim Oeder as Officer of the Year, Mark Fitzwater as EMS Member of the Year, and Dale Miner Outstanding Member.

March 14 - The 2007 Strawberry Festival princesses were introduced to the community. Serving as ambassadors from Lebanon this year will be Ali Krebs, Amanda Masog, KaLynn Alley, Megan Phillips, and Aubree Mayfield.

March 14 - The Downtown Association began a push to get a skatepark built in Lebanon. The plan was to build a 10,000 square-foot facility adjacent to the soon-to-be-built justice center off Harrison St.

March 21 - Lebanon Fire Chief Perry Palmer announced that he will retire the end of June, but remain on as a contract employee through the end of the year. Palmer has been with the district nearly 32 years.

March 21 - Local folks were honored at the annual Distinguished Service Awards banquet. Rob Allen was named Man of the Year, Mary Meader Woman of the Year, Ken Toombs Senior First Citizen, Marc Rose Junior First Citizen, Scott Wilkerson Hero of the Year and the Lions Club the Community Group of the Year.

March 21 - Lebanon High dancers, the LHS Explosion!, finished the season by taking top honors in the 5A small division in Portland. Two of the dancers performed with the All-State Team, chosen out of 177 competitors throughout the state.

March 28 - The Lebanon Community Foundation turned more than an acre and a quarter of land to the Lebanon Fire District for a new substation in the Cheadle Lake Park area.

April

April 4 - Bauman Sawmill on Highway 20 closed operation after 50 years in the area.

April 11 - One incumbent and three newcomers filed for two Lebanon School Board positions on the May ballot. Sherrie Sprenger was challenged by Kathy Benzo; Eric Jefferson and Debi Shimmin filed for another position being vacated by Tom McHill.

April 18 - City Council members voted to tear down three gyms during site preparation for the construction of a new library and justice center. Two gyms, part of the former Lebanon Middle School, are on the west end of Academy Square, and the other is located where Santiam School once stood.

April 25 - After considerable discussion, the Planning Commission gave a thumbs up to the Rick Franklin Corp. to operate an industrial materials recycling business in the Santiam Canal Industrial Park, at the north end of Williams St.

May

May 2 - Three candidates threw their names into the pool for open seats on the Lebanon Aquatic District Board. All three are running unopposed. The trio are Steven Wimer, Janet Nadig and Cathy Benneth.

May 9 - The annual benefit auction at the Boys & Girls Club raised a record high of $193,000. Proceeds from the auction are used to provide services and programs to Lebanon children.

May 9 - Five local folks were on the ballot for Fire Board posts - Tony Lindsey, K.C. Pyle, Martin Suing, Jessica Ruef and Robert Duane Taylor.

May 16 - Two Lebanon High School students, KaLynn Alley and Amanda Wilson, won third-place honors in

Financial Analysis Manage-ment Team at the DECA Worlds competition in Florida.

May 16 - Linn-Benton Community College in Albany was locked down for an afternoon after a report of a man on campus who might have guns. The suspect was later apprehended but not arrested.

May 16 - Catherine McVein was chosen first female Exalted Ruler of the local Elks Lodge.

May 16 - Riverview teacher Marla Ernst was named Teacher of the Year for Lebanon by Wal-Mart. She earned a $100 gift card for herself and a $1,000 check for her class.

May 16 - The LHS men's track and field team won the Mid-Willamette Conference champship.

May 23 - Cheadle Lake Park was the site of a Civil War reenactment, thrilling some 1,400 school students with demonstrations and battle reenactments.

May 23 - Sherrie Sprenger and Debi Shimmin won seats on the Lebanon School Board in the May 15 election.

May 23 - Cascades special education teacher Carolyn Hanscom was surprised by an announcement that she was named Coach of the Year from the Portland Blazers and Northwest Ford. The title earned Cascades a check for $2,000.

May 30 - Blue skies and warm temperatures opened the 98th annual Strawberry Festival, expected to attract thousands.

May 30 - A 14,742 square-foot Walgreens store will be built across the highway from Wal-Mart. Plans were approved following an administrative review process.

June

June 6 - Nearly 2,000 family and friends gathered at the National Guard center in Albany to send off area solders to Iraq. Several of the soldiers were from Lebanon.

June 6 - The school board accepted a recommendation to list Crowfoot School for sale. The fate of the closed school building had been debated for weeks.

June 6 - Ron Miller resigned as City Councilor after 26 years on the post. He left because of a new job in Roseburg.

June 13 - Eleven graduating seniors won valedictorian and salutatorian honors at Lebanon High School. The 11 were Grace Nauman, Claire Nauman, Taylor Overbeck, Ali Krebs, Yuriy Mikitchenko, Michael Barrish, Wyatt King, Thomas Evans, Amanda Masog and Jessica Silva.

June 20 - After five separate testings for hazardous materials, Cheadle Lake was declared free of any significant hazards. Rumors had circulated for years about various by-products and waste dumped or buried in the former mill pond.

June 20 - The school board adopted an operating budget for the 2007-08 year of $44.9 million.

June 27 - The largest annexation in recent Lebanon history was approved by the Planning Commission and was set to go next to the City Council. The requests were to add 146.63 acres of land in the Crowfoot area and another 10.46 acres off Russell Drive.

June 27 - Doug Parker, who provided planning services for the City of Lebanon for 20 years, resigned from his position.

July

July 4, 2007 - Michael Lefevers and Rachel Evans, at 7 p.m. in front of 77 guests, were married at the Wal-Mart garden center. The couple met via a Wal-Mart connection, and Rachel went into labor while working at the store. They won a national contest for the wedding.

July 4, 2007 - Lowe's Distribution Center held its grand opening and open house with a crowd of 400 gathered to welcome the new business to Lebanon. The distribution center would start shipping products on July 9.

July 4 - Don Thoma was appointed to fill a Ward III council spot vacated by Ron Miller. Thomas will serve until next December.

July 11 - Debi Shimmin and Sherri Sprenger were sworn in as Lebanon School Board members on July 9. Sprenger immediately won the chair position by a 3-2 margin.

July 11 - After more than a year of preparation and planning, volunteers with the Lord's Storehouse opened the doors for a grand open house on July 17. Newly located behind the First Assembly of God Church, the Storehouse is a food and clothing outlet for people with fixed or low incomes, as well as people without homes.

July 11 - Bender Mechanical of Lebanon moved to the Lebanon Machine site formerly owned by Weyerhaeuser Co. The move to the larger site allowed the steel fabrication and machining firm to expand its operations. The company had been on located on E. Grant Street for the past two years.

July 11 - The 2007 Star-Spangled Celebration drew more than 5,000 people to the Independence Day event. New this year were a mini train, mechanical bull, karaoke contest and a car show.

July 18 - The City Council heard 'what if' plans for the use of the Cheadle Lake Park area. If the city buys the property, it could be developed to include RV parking and camping, soccer fields, ball fields, picnic area, as well as continuing to house the Strawberry Festival.

July 25 - The Lebanon Community School District got notice from the State Department of Education that it may be held financially liable if Sand Ridge Charter School does not register two of its teachers with the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission. The District threatened to cancel its contract with People Involved in Education (PIE), the nonprofit organization that runs Sand Ridge, if PIE didn't take steps to disengage from running a second charter school in Sweet Home. Meanwhile, Sand Ridge announced plans to open a new campus in the fall on South Main Road.

August

Aug. 8 - During a quickly-convened special session of the Lebanon Community School Board, Superintendent Jim Robinson was put on paid administrative leave, despite a warning from the board chair that the action was putting the district at financial risk. The decision by Robinson to not renew Bo Yates' extra-duty contract as athletic director set off a fire storm of protest within the community.

Aug. 8. - Lebanon Police Chief Mike Healy retired, but remains on the job. Although Healy will remain in his post, he can start drawing retirement, saving the city money it was required to pay into the state retirement system for the chief. Healy called his retirement just a paper transaction.

Aug. 15 - After months of environmental studies and preliminary planning, the City Council unanimously acted to accept ownership of Cheadle lake. The former plywood mill log pond had been donated to the Lebanon Community Foundation a few years ago, and offered to the city shortly after that time.

Aug. 15 - The City Council finalized the annexation of more than 150 acres to the city. The land is in the Seven Oak Middle School area and on Russell Drive and Airport Dr.

Aug. 29 - Nearly a month after the Board of Education put School Superintendent Jim Robinson on administrative leave, tensions remained high because of the on-going clash between board members and Robinson. The board moved away from a performance review of the superintendent that had been called for, now looking at a total review of the school system, including the board.

September

Sept. 12 - A $500 reward was offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in connection with the recent rash of graffiti in the northwest section of Lebanon. A private citizen offered the reward. Graffiti in the past two months plagued Green Acres Elementary School and the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Classy Mac charter buses also were tagged.

Sept. 12 - Linn County failed to reach an agreement with a group that hoped to hold a Renaissance festival on county land at the intersection of Highway 34 and Seven Mile Lane. The county decided instead to develop the area into a park.

Sept. 12 - Community members hit the Lebanon school board hard at a public meeting Sept. 4, chastising them for its conduct regarding Superintendent Jim Robinson.

Sept. 12 - Despite improved test scores in 2007, Lebanon schools as a whole failed to meet standards in the No Child Left Behind act. It was the fourth straight year the district did not meet those goals.

Sept. 19 - The City Council raised the city administrator's base salary from $84,000 to $112,200. The unanimous decision followed a review of Administrator John Hitt by the City Council.

Sept. 19 - Bob George, principal of Sand Ridge Charter School's Sodaville campus quit abruptly, saying the job wasn't a "good fit" for him. George had been hired just a few weeks before school started and did not yet have a contract with the non-profit organization.

Sept. 26 - The school board voted to change its mind on Superintendent Jim Robinson after placing him on administrative leave six weeks earlier. The board said it would move ahead with its plan to bring in independent investigators to help evaluate Robinson.

October

Oct. 3 - A surprise tornado hit the Tennessee area. The path of the tornado was no more than 300 feet wide and took only minutes to move through the area, leaving behind downed trees and damaged property.

Oct. 10 - School district business manager Donna Chastain resigned after nearly four years on the job. Superintendent Jim Robinson called her decision "a tremendous loss for the school district."

Oct. 10 - Dan Woodson was named new fire chief for the Lebanon area. The former assistant chief was chosen unanimously by the fire board.

Oct. 10 - Longtime businessman Dalton Johnson died Oct. 6. He had operated a photography studio and printing business and invested in downtown real estate through his 83 years.

Oct. 10 - Jason Bolen was named Teen Director of the Boys & Girls Club, overseeing the high school program at the club.

Oct. 17 - The City Council voiced its support for the latest effort to build a skateboard park near the planned justice center near Second Street.

Oct. 24 - Water pressure in Lebanon was back to normal after a chemical imbalance in the water forced the treatment plant to shut down over the weekend.

Oct. 31 - Former Lebanon principal and city councilor Lyle Winters died at the age of 82. Winters had been principal at Green Acres Elementary, retiring in 1988.

November

Nov. 7 - East Linn Christian Academy cross country stars brought home two medals at state competition. Caleb Goins and Amy Renfro placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 1A/2A/3A classification.

Nov. 7 - The Lebanon School Board rejected the district's recommendation to hire an interim athletic director and Social Systems Academy principal at the high school.

Nov. 7 - Retired Lebanon firefighter and paramedic Jim Anglin died while on a climbing expedition at Smith Rock in Central Oregon. Anglin was 55 years old.

Nov. 14 - ENTEK International's long-time senior management team purchased the company from founder Jim Young. The acquisition means continuity in management.

Nov. 14 - Shelly Garrett was named new executive director of the Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce. She left her post as sales manager for radio station KGAL and KSHO to begin her post with the chamber.

Nov. 28 - School board member Rick Alexander filed a motion in Linn County Circuit Court, asking for a declaratory judgment on whether the board can vote not to renew Superintendent Jim Robinson's contract without an adverse performance review. The complaint listed Robinson and the district as defendant's in the action.

Nov. 28 - Lebanon's Habitat for Humanity organization announced plans to open a ReStore in Lebanon, offering low-cost building supplies to help fund more Habitat houses here.

Nov. 28 - Supporters of Sand Ridge Charter School turned out in large numbers to participate in a school board hearing that was part of a contract renewal process for the school. The current charter expires at the end of this school year.

December

Dec. 5 - A new health clinic will open in Lebanon, thanks to a $600,000 annual grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration. The clinic is designed to help meet the needs of the uninsured and underinsured in the area.

Dec. 5 - The Lebanon School Board voted to renew Sand Ridge Charter School's charter for another five years, despite allegations of contract violations and compliance issues by the school district administration.

Dec. 5 - High winds and heavy rains from two storms caused slides, fallen trees and high water in Oregon, but Lebanon escaped significant problems. Residents were without power, however, throughout the storm.

Dec. 5 - In a sign of mounting tension between members of the school board, Chris Fisher asked fellow member Rick Alexander to resign. Fisher called for Alexander to step down after being served at his business with a summons stemming from the lawsuit filed by Alexander against the board.

Dec. 12 - East Linn Christian Academy opened its new Activity/Resource Center, which houses the school's first gym as well as offices, a computer lab, music room and weight room. Construction was begun several years ago but completion depended on fundraising.

Dec. 12 - Longtime Lebanon resident Lois Abrell died on Dec. 7. The retired teacher and World War II veteran was active in many local organizations over the years, but in the past decade was best-known as the bugler for the American Legion Honor Guard.

Dec. 12 - The PIE Board asked the school board for direct negotiations on the Sand Ridge Charter School contract, bypassing the district administration.

Dec. 12 - Police department volunteers are handing out warnings and tickets to drivers parking in handicap spaces.

Dec. 19 - The City Council approved a request from Allied Waste to raise garbage rates beginning in March. Rates will go up an average of 8 percent.

Dec. 19 - Concerns about PIE administration at Sand Ridge Charter School continued when it was discovered that Administrator Jay Jackson had failed to file required registration papers with the state.

Dec. 26 - Plaintiffs in a suit filed against the city in federal court withdrew that case and filed another in Linn County Circuit Court. Councilor Ray Weldon and 2006 council candidates Mel Harrington and Jim Beck and mayoral candidate Shirlee Harrington alleged that the council did not inform the electorate a few years ago that a change in the city charter would ban family members from serving on the council together.