BAY MINETTE — Economic challenges headlined much of 2009 for Baldwin County and the state of Alabama, as businesses and schools struggled to adapt to economic changes. Yet despite the economic challenges that came with last year’s recession, 2009 was a year of forward progress in many ways for Bay Minette.

New programs and industries made news in Baldwin’s county seat as major industry eyed the area, and many of the city’s operations enjoyed new programs and facilities.

With the economy grabbing headlines for much of the year, bringing both good and bad news to the city, finances still comprise some of the city’s top stories as it enters 2010.

Hybrid Kinetic Motors announces new plant

During an investors meeting of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance on Sept. 24, officials announced a new industry, Hybrid Kinetic Motors, would be locating at the new mega site industrial park north of Bay Minette.

Company officials revealed plans for a $1.25 billion plant and have indicated they could break ground as early as March 2010.

The hybrid auto plant is expected to employ nearly 6,000 people and produce 300,000 cars in its first year. The cars will be powered by natural gas as opposed to traditional petroleum gasoline, making them cleaner and cheaper to drive.

County, state and city officials worked together with the BCEDA to recruit the company and continue to work together to bring more industry to the county in 2010.

BOE struggles

It wasn’t all good news for the local economy, as the Baldwin County Board of Education, headquartered on Hand Avenue, struggled for much of 2009, cutting jobs and slashing budgets in an attempt to recoup the tens of millions of dollars lost to the system due to education cuts and declining tax incomes.

In light of the cuts, two Baldwin County schools had their doors shut in 2009, including Vaughn Elementary School.

Additionally, Schools Superintendent Faron Hollinger resigned effective Dec. 31, more than a year before the end of his contract, after seven years in charge of Baldwin County Schools.

City adds to bicentennial activities

Baldwin County celebrated its 200th birthday in 2009, and activities included the expansion of Bicentennial Park near Stockton and the unveiling of a monument on Courthouse Square.

The Davida Hastie Memorial Trail was dedicated at the park in honor of Baldwin County historian Davida Hastie, who died in April.

On Dec. 21, a monument honoring Judge Harry Toulmin was unveiled outside the Baldwin County Courthouse.

City says farewell to principal, soldier, mother

As fall and a new school year began, the Alabama Department of Public Health issued a warning that the 2009 flu season would be one of the worst, including a new strain known commonly as the Swine Flu.

By the end of August, every school in Baldwin County had seen cases, and schools in Mobile had to close because of low attendance.

In October, the illness claimed its first confirmed case of swine flu-related death in Delta Elementary School Principal Leah Ann Overstreet.

Overstreet spent 25 years in the education forum and was president of the North Baldwin Coalition for Excellence in Education.

The widespread cases of the flu and Overstreet's death prompted school officials to schedule flu clinics in the elementary schools.

The ADPH Web site states that a confirmed 39 influenza-associated deaths have occurred in Alabama since July 1, 2009.

The War in Afghanistan came close to home last August when Perdido resident Lance Cpl. Bruce "Bubba" Ferrell died in the line of duty.

The 21-year-old marine was killed Aug. 10 when the Humvee he was riding in was hit by a roadside bomb. Ferrell was stationed in Afghanistan.

The fallen marine was given a hero's homecoming as residents of Bay Minette lined the streets to honor him when the procession brought his body home.

The city offered the Civic Center for his service, which was standing room only. Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Daphne, and Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, on behalf of Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, presented a certificate of commendation to Ferrell's parents, Pam and Bruce Ferrell Sr.

The war had claimed an estimated six Alabama soldiers in 2009.

The city also lost a “beloved mother and wife” in June when Michelle Vilborg, 50, disappeared off the Carnival Holiday while on a birthday cruise with her husband Swede. The U.S. Coast Guard searched for Vilborg in the open Gulf waters for days but never saw any sign of her.

BMFD, Police make advances

It was a year of progress for the Bay Minette Police and Fire departments, with the Oct. 8 opening of the Fort Beveridge Fire Station and training tower on D’Olive Street and the implementation of many new community police programs.

The station, built on the former site of the Bruce Beveridge Armory, maintains the armory's namesake as the Fort Beveridge Fire Station, and keeps the memory of the armory's 711 batallion alive through photos and other keepsakes.

The new training tower, along with a training room, will allow the fire department to host training programs and fire college training here rather than sending firefighters to other cities.

The Bay Minette Police Department, meanwhile, had a record year for outreach, implementing numerous new community programs.

The Citizen’s Police Academy held its first graduation April 30, followed by the second class in November. Out of the first class was founded the Bay Minette Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association.

The Academy is a 10-week program that allows adult residents the opportunity to see what the police do, how they do it and why they do it.

During those 10 weeks, cadets are introduced to investigations, communications, traffic control, firearms and more.

In May, the department hired a furry new officer in the form of Buster, a chocolate lab narcotics dog. Officer Kevin Gandy is Buster’s partner.

By the end of his first month, Buster had "paid for himself,” Gandy said, with the drug seizures he had assisted in, including finding 19 crack rocks hidden in a chapstick bottle concealed in a purse inside a vehicle.

Through the department’s Project Safe Neighborhood Committee, community meetings were held in all but one district.

During these meetings, residents worked with the city to identify issues in their communities and come up with solutions.

The department also began a new Law Enforcement Explorers Program, providing year-round, police-related activities for youth from 14 to 20 years old.

The Rev. Robert Gates, pastor of the former Evangel Assembly of God Church, worked with Rowland to found the Police Chaplain Program.

Since the program began, at least 13 other area ministers have joined the program. The ministers respond to calls where someone has suffered a trauma or the violent death of a loved one, and serve as an informal counselor to officers.

While the Christmas Cop program is not new, the fledgling program that began in 2008 and provides Christmas gifts to children in need, extended its outreach in 2009 to reach more than 90 children in need.

Cello Energy goes to court

What began as a foray into new energy and recycling efforts ended with a lawsuit and lost grants.

Cello Energy LLC, owned and operated by Jack Boykin, first struck a deal with the city of Bay Minette through an ADECA grant, promising to divert the city's household waste to its plant and turn it into a cleaner, more efficient diesel fuel.

The plan was for Cello to purchase usable waste from the city and in turn give the city a deal on the diesel fuel produced.

Additionally, the city would use the diesel in its vehicles, keeping records of the gas mileage to determine the difference between traditional diesel and the new Cello Energy diesel.

Production was slated to begin in 2008, but was delayed into 2009, and was finally halted through a lawsuit filed in federal court by a Cello Energy investor, Parsons & Whittemore, which owns a couple of pulp mills in Monroe County.

According to reports, company owner George Landegger said his business entered into an agreement with Cello Energy to invest $2.5 million in the Bay Minette company with an option to later invest another $10 million, giving him one-third ownership.

The suit also claimed that information Boykin gave the pulp company regarding the new technology was false and the technology had not been proven.

In July, a jury agreed with Parsons & Whittemore and ordered Cello Energy LLC to pay $10.4 million.

By the end of 2009, the company had lost the ADECA grant and the Bay Minette plant remained unopen.

NBI opens state-of-the-art mammography suite

In addition to several new doctors and specialists who joined the staff of North Baldwin Infirmary, the hospital celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness Month by opening a new, state-of-the-art digital mammography suite.

Digital mammography is similar to the traditional mammography in that it still uses X-rays to produce detailed pictures of the breast. However, digital mammography utilizes a digital receptor and a computer rather than a film cassette. The procedure results in shorter exams and more comfort for the patient.

Other benefits of the digital procedure are shorter time to view the results, clearer pictures that can be manipulated on the computer to help the radiologist more clearly see certain areas.

According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 40,470 women died from Breast Cancer in 2009. However, death rates have been decreasing since 1990.