Year of memorable moments in North Carolina

Saturday, December 31, 2011 12:00 AM | Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend| RALEIGH (AP) Like a opening act at a concert, 2011 in North Carolina may be remembered some-more for what came later. Next year will see plenty of major developments in a state, from a gubernatorial election to a springtime referendum on either to ban same-sex marriage in a state constitution. The Democratic National Convention is coming to Charlotte in September, and North Carolinians can demeanour forward if thats a right term to a year of campaign ads and political visits as a state in play during a presidential election. But 2011 deserves to be remembered as some-more than an opening act. The last 12 months saw plenty of important stories unfold, even if people would like to forget many of them, like deadly weather and a persistently sluggish economy. Hurricane Irene struck us a hard blow and reinforced a fact that development on a Outer Banks will always be precarious at best, said Harry Watson, director of a University of North Carolinas Center for a Study of a American South. Across a state as a whole, we are still in a very deep recession which is even worse here than in a country at large. So in my view, 2011 was a tough year in North Carolina, he said. Amid a gloom, there were bright spots. On a positive side, North Carolina is a 10th largest state and had a fifth largest population growth in a United States this year, he said. While having some-more people creates problems of its own, a growth does indicate that North Carolina is still a very attractive to live, raise a family, move a business, and so forth. Here are some of a most memorable moments of 2011 in North Carolina a good and a bad. Wicked Weather: On April 16, a record of 28 tornadoes touched down across a state, according to a National Weather Service. Twenty four people were killed, including 12 in Bertie County alone. Some parts of North Carolina were still recovering when Hurricane Irene made landfall at Cap! e Lookou t on Aug. 27. Six people in a state died, some-more than 1,100 homes were destroyed, farmers were wiped out in some areas and damage estimates ran into a billions. And a week before Thanksgiving, a 3-year-old girl and her grandmother were killed when a twister struck their Lexington home. GOP on Top: After sweeping to victory in 2010, Republicans spent 2011 in charge of both chambers of a legislature for a first time since a 1870s. They trimmed a budget, drew up new political district maps and clashed with Gov. Beverly Perdue on everything from voter identification requirements to a Racial Justice Act. They also voted to approve a referendum for May asking voters if same-sex marriage should be prohibited in a state constitution. Edwards in Court: The former U.S. Senator from Chapel Hill and 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee was indicted June 3 on charges of violating federal campaign finance law. Prosecutors say Edwards used illegal donations to cover up an affair. Edwards has pleaded not guilty and a trial is scheduled to begin next year. And although hes not directly a party to it, a lawsuit in Orange County court also made news by hinging on a dispute over property his former mistress says belongs to her, including a purported sex tape featuring Edwards. Wars End: On Dec. 18, a last American military personnel in Iraq crossed a border into Kuwait, ending almost nine years of war. The milestone had a somber resonance for North Carolina, as David Hickman, a 23-year-old soldier and Greensboro native, was a last American military service member to die in a conflict, falling in Baghdad on Nov. 14. Even with a end of a war, though, North Carolina with major military installations like Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune retains a critical position in American defense strategy. Crime and Punishment: State Bureau of Investigation agent Duane Deaver was fired in January after a review of a agencys crime lab found serious flaws in blood analysis work. Deaver maintained he did nothing wrong, bu! t in Dec ember a judge said problems with a former agents work were a key reason to grant a new trial to Michael Peterson, a Durham novelist convicted of murdering his wife. In September, Elisa Baker was sentenced to up to 18 years in prison for a murder of her disabled, 10-year-old stepdaughter Zahra, whose disappearance and death shocked people in a U.S. and a girls native Australia. That same month, Robert Stewart was convicted of murdering eight people at a Carthage nursing home in 2009, one of a worst massacres in state history. School Days: Wake County voters returned Democratic-backed candidates to power on a states largest school board, although it took one runoff race to complete a five-seat sweep. The contest was watched nationally and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars because Republican-backed candidates had earlier scrapped a districts student assignment policy which aimed at achieving a socioeconomic and, therefore, racial balance in student populations through busing. Economic Challenges: The state unemployment rate remained above a national jobless rate all year, sticking at 10 percent or some-more since July. Charlotte-based Bank of America lost its title as a countrys largest bank, selling off businesses and cutting costs. Duke Energy and Progress Energy said they would merge to form a countrys largest electric utility. But fears over potential anti-competitive impact in their North Carolina and South Carolina home markets pushed a chances of completing a deal into 2012. Big and Bigger: During a year when overall American population growth was at its lowest since World War II, North Carolina added roughly 121,000 new residents, according to U.S. Census estimates. Thats a fifth-highest rate in a country, as a state continued to act as a magnet both for people relocating and young families having children. But a growth wasnt enough to win North Carolina another seat in a U.S. House of Representatives. Teen Idol: Garners Scotty McCreery was just 17 years old when he became p! art of w hats turning into a tradition North Carolina natives making a splash on American Idol. The former Lowes Foods baggers mature-beyond-his-years singing style won him fans of all ages, and touched off a bout of Scottymania in his home town in a weeks leading up to his victory. Its too early to say which of these events will be remembered five or 10 years from now, if any of them will. The only thing that truly cements a years reputation as good or awful or epochal think 1968, or 1989 is hindsight, said Diana Bell-Kite, associate curator of a N.C. Museum of History and one of a organizers of The Story of North Carolina, a permanent exhibit unveiled this year. It takes some historical perspective, even a generations worth of perspective, to demeanour back and see whats of key significance to a story youre telling, she said. Its hard to single out particular events at this early stage to claim they have historical significance. Associated Press writers Martha Waggoner and Emery P. Dalesio contributed to this report. The Associated Press 12/30/11 11:03