Published: December 28, 2008 01:37 pm      

Clark County’s top stories of 2008

Jeff/GRC’s march to Little League World Series tops list

It was a year of wins on the baseball diamond and winds snapping trees and sapping power.

It was a year when presidential hopefuls finally paid attention to Hoosier voters.

It was a year when a Marine’s life was tragically lost, not in battle, but likely because of the emotional scars of war.

And it was a year when for days the talk of Southern Indiana was a road-rage shooting at a busy intersection in Jeffersonville.

This year — 2008 — was filled with big stories. Below are a look at the top five, as voted on by the staff of The Evening News.

1. JEFF/GRC ALL-STARS ADVANCE TO LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES

The Little Leaguers from the Jeff/GRC All-Stars had history working for and against them this season. The 1965 Jeff/GRC team was the last from the area to make it to the Little League World Series, but the league’s all-star team hadn’t made it out of regionals — the first round of play — since 1992.

Baseball history turned out to be kind to this year’s squad, as manager Derek Ellis guided the 11 boys — age 11-13 — to Williamsport, Pa., in mid-August to compete with 15 other teams from around the country and globe in the Little League World Series.

The drama to get there was something straight out of a Hollywood baseball movie. The team beat Brownsburg 1-0 to win state after taking the District V title over New Albany.

That meant a trip to the Great Lakes Regional and a game for the ages to advance to Williamsport. Jeff/GRC’s bats came alive in the 11th inning to best Ohio 11-4. Keep in mind that a standard Little League game is six innings.

The team bowed out of the Little League World series with an 0-3 mark, losing two games by one run.

It didn’t tarnish the accomplishment, however, as Jeff/GRC received a warm welcome home with a parade down Spring Street and a party at RiverStage. The team also was honored by various groups on both sides of the Ohio River.

The community showed its love by pitching in to help cover costs incurred by parents and families to make the trips through the tournament run.

The Evening News covered the team from start to finish, putting out its only special Monday edition of the year with coverage from Williamsport and producing a commemorative magazine and picture disc.



2. PRESIDENTIAL RACE COMES TO SOUTHERN INDIANA

It had been more than 40 years since the majority of Hoosiers voted for a Democratic presidential candidate, until President-elect Barack Obama’s promise of change swept the country — including Indiana.

With prognosticators tagging Indiana as a swing state, Obama and other candidates took notice, with Southern Indiana a focal point. It seems everyone visited — except for GOP nominee John McCain, as far as Clark and Floyd counties are concerned.

Obama went as far as to shoot a commercial along Spring Street in Jeffersonville. And his wife, Michelle, and running-mate, Joe Biden, also gave talks or visited schools locally.

McCain’s vice-presidential choice — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — did make a late stop in Clark County, and just shy of 20,000 folks showed up to hear her speak.

Before the May primary, Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, campaigned in the area.



3. CRAZY WEATHER

More than a foot of snow fell here in early March, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale shook people awake on an April morning and Hoosiers had yet to experience the wildest weather of the year.

Ironically, that came on a warm, sunny day in late summer. A weather system from the west combined with the remnants of Hurricane Ike from the south and all heck broke lose.

Wind gusts reached 80 mph, snapping trees, downing power lines and damaging homes. Two people died Sunday, Sept. 14, in Clark County during the windstorm and tens of thousands lost power — some for as long as two weeks. Classes were canceled at some area schools for a week.

The aftermath brought out the best in Clark Countians, however, as neighbors helped each other and charities, while municipalities and schools opened temporary shelters to feed storm victims and provide a place for a warm shower and friendship.

Clark and Floyd counties were later declared disaster areas, making residents, cities and towns eligible for relief funds.



4. ROAD-RAGE SHOOTING

On June 17, Yalanda Parrish and Wesley Mosier became involved in a road-rage incident that resulted in Parrish shooting Mosier.

Mosier, 52, of Corydon, claimed Parrish, 39, of Jeffersonville, was tailgating his motorcycle while driving her sport utility vehicle down East 10th Street in Jeffersonville.

Near the stoplight at the Allison Lane intersection, Mosier got off his motorcycle and approached the SUV. Parrish shot Mosier in the chest, and he spent 10 days at University Hospital in Louisville.

Parrish claims Mosier tried to hit her and that she was acting in self-defense, but Mosier denies he ever tried to hit her and said she threatened to kill him.

Clark County Prosecutor Steve Stewart decided to take the case before a grand jury. Parrish was indicted July 21 on charges of class B felony aggravated battery and class C felony criminal recklessness. Her jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 10. She faces as many as 20 years in prison if convicted of the more serious charge.

Witnesses accused her 15-year-old son, Phillip Parrish, of kicking Mosier after he had been shot. He is scheduled to admit guilty to a juvenile charge of battery Jan. 7 and be sentenced to six months of probation.



5. ERIC HALL GOES MISSING, FOUND DEAD

The plight of Eric Hall, a Marine from Clark County who went missing near a relative’s home in Florida last winter, dealt a sad blow to the community in 2008.

Hall had been injured by a roadside blast while serving in Iraq in 2005. A fellow Marine was killed in the same blast.

Hall, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, moved from Jeffersonville to Florida upon his retirement to stay with relatives and get a fresh start.

However, shortly after he got there he began to experience war flashbacks and hallucinations. And one afternoon, he disappeared into a nearby woods.

For weeks, thousands helped search for the Marine, hoping to find him alive.

The 24-year-old’s body was later found in early March, badly decomposed, inside of a drainage culvert where he’d likely sought shelter.

His family organized a fundraiser in the summer to help raise money to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.





— Compiled and written by Staff Writers David A. Mann and Matt Thacker and Editor Shea Van Hoy. Voted on by the staff of The Evening News.



OTHER STORIES RECEIVING VOTES

• Greater Clark County Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett elected to state’s top education post.

• Woman attempts suicide in Clark County Government Building; leads to installation of new security measures.

• Area schools pay millions in interest as tax funding is late to be delivered.

• Local election results.



Your Top Stories

• Listed below are the top five stories of the year in Clark County as voted on by readers at newsandtribune.com:

1. CRAZY WEATHER: Windstorm batters area, thousands lose power; rare earthquake hits; record snowfall in March

2. JEFF/GRC IN LLWS: For the first time in decades, a local Little League Baseball team advanced to Williamsport, Pa.

3. ROAD-RAGE SHOOTING: Motorist Yalanda Parrish was indicted by a Clark County grand jury following the shooting of Wesley Mosier near 10th Street and Allison Lane.

4. PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS VISIT: Southern Indiana saw now President-elect Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin come to town, among other campaigners.

5. TIE:

• Greater Clark County Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett elected to state’s top education post.

• Area schools pay millions in interest as tax funding is late to be delivered.

• Former Clark County GOP Chairman Glenn Murphy Jr. pleads guilty to criminal deviate conduct, a class B felony; gets two years in prison.

— Staff reports