Top Stories of the Past Decade

Hundreds of stories have affected the Tri-State from 2000 to 2009. Help us identify the top 10 biggest events of the past 10 years.

Please restrict yourself to only selecting around 10 events from our list to help us narrow them down. If you think we're missing a big story, two spaces are supplied at the bottom for write-ins.

2000: U.S. Rep. Bob Wise gives up his congressional seat to run for governor. Wise serves only one term after a sex scandal involving an employee in the state's Development Office. 2000: Marshall graduate student David Felinton upsets incumbent Jean Dean to become mayor of Huntington. Felinton was re-elected in 2004, but lost to current Mayor Kim Wolfe in 2008. 2001: Terrorists use airplanes to strike the World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C., as well as one that crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Marshall University graduate Dr. Paul Ambrose was one of the victims. He died on the plane that hit the Pentagon. 2001: Plans announced for Pullman Square. The development helps in revitalization of Huntington's downtown. 2001: Paramount Arts Center in Ashland undergoes major renovation. 2002: The Huntington Police Department loses 16 police officers and four administrative employees in city budget cutbacks. 2002: Marshall University student Samantha Burns disappears. A pair of escaped inmates were convicted in her death. 2002: Cable barrier installation begins on Interstate 64. The barriers came after a series of fatal accidents on the interstate. They are designed to reduce crossover accidents and deaths. 2002: Marshall University begins plans for a new biotechnology center, the first of multiple expansions for the university, including freshmen dorms, a recreation center, an engineering complex, a softball stadium and an alumni center. 2003: Marshall University athletics moves from the Mid-American Conference to Conference USA. 2004: Joe Manchin is elected governor of West Virginia. He was re-elected in 2008. 2004: Merritt Creek Connector opens, connecting W.Va. 2 with Interstate 64, and leading to a local shopping center. 2004: The Point industrial complex in South Point, Ohio, is completed. 2005: Four Huntington teenagers killed at an apartment on Charleston Avenue. The deaths highlight the rise of crack cocaine drug issues in the Tri-State. No arrests have been made 2006: "We Are Marshall," about the recovery of the Marshall University football team after a fatal plane crash, films in Huntington and Atlanta. Premiere held in Huntington. 2006: The voters of Cabell County passed a levy to supply new buildings for Barboursville Middle School, Milton Middle School and Martha Elementary School and a new building that would consolidate the current Cammack and Miller elementary schools. 2006: Allegiant Air announces jet service from Tri-State Airport to Orlando, Fla. Allegiant Air added flights to other Florida destinations and eventually Myrtle Beach, S.C., revitalizing the airport. 2006: The death of 12 miners and the rescue of another at the Sago Mine in Upshur County, W.Va., leads to a push for more mine safety regulation. 2006: Keith-Albee movie theater closes. Building donated to Marshall University Foundation, which turned it into a Performing Arts Center. 2006: Marshall University and West Virginia University revive the intrastate football rivalry with a series of games called the Friends of Coal Bowl. 2006: U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, who represented Lawrence County in Congress, was elected in November as the first Democratic governor in Ohio in 16 years. 2006: Edwards Cancer Center, a $30 million facility housed on the Cabell Huntington Hospital campus, opens. Joan C. Edwards donated $47 million in total for the cancer center and to continue further operations. 2006: St. Mary's Heart Center opens its Regional Heart Institute and Trauma II Emergency Room, a $30 million construction project. 2007: A fire at the Emmons Jr. apartment building kills nine people, the worst fire in Huntington in 50 years. 2007: Marshall University student Leah Hickman found dead in her Huntington apartment. Police have made no arrests in the death. 2007: Huntington High basketball team gains national prominence with the combination of O.J. Mayo and Patrick Patterson. 2007: Cabell Huntington Hospital opens its North Patient Tower, an $85 million project. 2008: The Associated Press names Huntington the unhealthiest city in America, which leads to celebrity chef Jamie Oliver filming a television show about healthy eating in Huntington. 2008: Economy goes into a downslide in the midst of the presidential election season. 2008: Barack Obama elected the first black president of the United States. 2009: Huntington High junior Kayla Williams wins a gold medal in the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships, the first gold medal in vault for an American ever. 2009: Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., becomes the longest serving member of Congress. 2009: West Virginia Legislature passes a pension reform measure, which is designed to ease some of the city of Huntington's financial issues. 2009: Tri-State hosts major regional sports tournaments for soccer and Little League baseball. 2009: St. Mary's Medical Center opens new educational complex to house its nursing, radiology and respiratory therapy schools. Write In: Write In:  

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