(This is part one of a two-part series.)

The following are the top news stories covered during the first half of the year 2009 in The Stokes News.

January 2009

Stokes County mourned the passing of Dr. Renato Zarate of King. Dr. Zarate, 64, was a native of the Philippines who practiced medicine at Stokes Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Danbury before opening a private practice in Walnut Cove in the 1980s.

William “Bill” Flynn Southern III was sworn in as 17-B District Court Judge at the Government Center in Danbury.

Walnut Cove lost a longtime resident and well-known citizen in the personage of Erna Neal who succumbed to cancer at the age of 89. Her family began Neal Hardware where Erna worked for many years.

Stokes County Commissioners voted to approve the 2009 revaluation schedule. The revaluation, based on a four-year cycle, was projected to increase property values by an average of 10 percent countywide.

A Pinnacle woman, 43-year-old Carla Kim Lynch, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. According to police reports, Carla shot her husband, 44-year-old Timothy Ray Lynch, after a domestic dispute.

A King woman, 23-year-old Jessica Nicole Walker Nash, was convicted of the 2006 murder of her husband, William Shannon Wade Nash, after she pled guilty to second-degree murder in his death from excessive heroin.

Stokes County’s new mobile command unit, a fully equipped RV, was put into action, paid for by federal drug seizure money.

In a controversial decision, the Stokes County Board of Education voted to change graduation venues for two of the county’s three major high schools. West Stokes and South Stokes high schools would hold commencement exercises at First Assembly of God Church in Winston-Salem, while North Stokes would graduate at home.

February 2009

Longtime Stokes County resident and historian Robert “Bob” Carroll turned 101 years old.

Five men were arrested for home invasions, primarily in the King area. Charged were Michael Cowman, Larry Tilley III, Travis Lee Tilley and William Dwight Willard, all of King, as well as Brandon Anthony Hattaway of Winston-Salem.

Despite opposition, the Danbury Town Council voted to rezone a creek bed in downtown Danbury from business to residential. The Planning and Zoning Board had recommended that the creek not be rezoned.

Stokes County Commissioners took action on three major school projects that had been in the works for quite some time—buying PODs for Nancy Reynolds Elementary School students, acquiring land adjacent to that school and purchasing land for a new school in the Yadkin Township.

Senator Kay Hagan paid a visit to King to announce that $21 million in stimulus money would be coming to Stokes County. The funds were set aside to rebuild the Highway 52 interchange in King, also known as the South Main Street project.

March 2009

March came in like a lion as Stokes County recorded its biggest snow in many years. Approximately eight inches fell in the northern part of the county, with about four inches in the south.

Just Plain Country, a popular antique store in Walnut Cove, reopened after being forced to close in December 2008 when one of its basement walls partially collapsed.

Hollywood Hollow, a well-known music locale in Lawsonville, was fined $54,800 for violating 366 fire codes. The penalties were issued after huge crowds were admitted to a concert by popular country music star Jamey Johnson.

A split vote of the Stokes County Board of Commissioners cut funding for the relatively new position of mental health coordinator.

Stokes County received a state grant to begin an Early College High School for the 2009-10 school year. The first year would be held at the Forsyth Tech campus in King, with selected students entering a five-year program where they would receive two years of college credit for free. The focus was on students whose parents did not attend college.

The art world lost an internationally renowned artist when Tim Bruce of King passed away.

April 2009

Stokes County’s only ABC store, located in Walnut Cove, celebrated its 40th birthday. The store opened in February 1969 after 73 percent of voters in Walnut Cove turned out to pass the referendum.

The City of King continued with the lengthy process to interconnect its water system with that of Winston-Salem. A $100,000 grant was garnered by the city from the state to help with the estimated $750,000 needed to complete the extensive water project.

Despite the arrival of spring, numerous fires broke out across Stokes County. A fire destroyed a farmhouse on Highway 89 above Francisco on April 7 while two apartment fires in King later in the week did major damage.

The Carolina Tarheels won the NCAA men’s basketball championship, bringing business to Nvizion Inc. in King. The screenprinting business won the bid to print the NCAA championship t-shirts.

A King man, 18-year-old Christopher Lee Thomas, was charged with the rape of a 13-year-old juvenile and placed under a $100,000 bond.

A budget freeze on the state level affected Stokes County Schools, cutting even the ordering of necessary items. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Stokes County Superintendent Dr. Stewart Hobbs.

A 58-year-old man, Thomas Dale Fleming of Thomasville, drowned when his fishing boat capsized in a local pond above Walnut Cove.

The Stokes County Jail reported its first ever suicide when James Trent Johnson, 45, hanged himself with the sheet that covered his mattress in his cell.

May 2009

King volunteer firefighters turned out in full force to protest their present status and inadequate funding and equipment at the monthly King City Council meeting.

Operation Pharmaceutical Phrenzy, a six-week drug abuse investigation, came to an end, netting 15 arrests and 140 charges. The Stokes County Sheriff’s Department headed the operation, assisted by the Surry County Sheriff’s Department and the Elkin Police Department.

The Stokes County Board of Education finally reached a decision in the fate of the historic Nancy Reynolds School. They voted for the plan that would allow 20 percent renovation/reconstruction, primarily of the gym, and 80 percent demolition and new construction.

Relay for Life of Stokes County rocked around the clock all night long on May 15 as they celebrated the success of their fundraising year. Even storms and rain didn’t dampen the grand finale at West Stokes High School. The efforts to fight cancer raised over $124,000—smashing the goal of $89,000.

King’s South Main Street project was reported to be up and running, with the goal of realigning the bridge over Highway 52 and widening South Main Street to relieve traffic congestion.

June 2009

Due to the economic downturn and state budgetary deficits, Stokes County’s budget was expected to take deep cuts. County employees would possibly be forced to take furloughs without pay.

Hospice and Palliative CareCenter celebrated 30 years of service to patients in Stokes and surrounding counties.

Angela Denise Gwyn, 23, of Tobaccoville, was charged with trafficking in opium/heroin in King. Her bond was set at $1 million.

A Walnut Cove man, 25-year-old Joshua Allen Bolen, was arrested for the murder of 24-year-old Ashley Denise Ward. Ward, a resident of Mount Airy, had been reported missing before her body was found in Belews Lake on June 2. Bolen was later charged with first-degree murder and second-degree arson and burning personal property, in relation to a suspicious fire that destroyed a mobile home on Stewart Road in Walnut Cove.

Seniors from West and South Stokes high schools graduated out-of-county on June 6. North Stokes seniors graduated on their football field on June 12.

The school board announced that teaching positions would have to be cut due to large budget cuts, resulting from the state’s budget woes. As many as 46 positions were initially projected to be lost, but that number was cut to somewhere between 15-29 after the Central Office staff in Danbury labored to save teachers’ jobs.

After months of haggling, the Town of Walnut Cove and the Walnut Cove Volunteer Fire Department reached an agreement. Both sides made concessions—the fire department agreeing to make quarterly reports to the board of commissioners and the Town agreeing to pay the fire department the remainder of the $6,000 promised if the department upheld the initial contract.