With the arrival of the new year comes our traditional look back at the events of the previous year. Here’s a look back at what was in the news in the first six months of 2008 for the West Salem/Bangor area. See next week’s edition of the Coulee News for the exciting conclusion of our year in review:

JANUARY

Adam Yeoman, a 21-year-old Sparta man recently released from prison, and his 18-year-old sister, Megan Yeoman, were arrested after an attempted robbery at the Log Cabin Bar in Bangor. Adam Yeoman was charged with attempted murder, accused of trying to shoot bar owner Donald LaBarre during the course of the robbery when LaBarre resisted. When the gun jammed, LaBarre wrestled with Yeoman, trying to get the gun away from him. “I’m not going to lie down and have a guy shoot me in the head,” said Barre, 63.

The West Salem Village Board approved a liquor license for Breakers, a downtown tavern owned by Stewart Higdon and partners, over the objections of other bar owners.

Courtney Koepp, a third-grader at West Salem Elementary School, was chosen as winner among 7- to 10-year-olds in the La Crosse Winter Rec-Fest button design contest.

Michael Martin began working as a reporter for the Coulee News.

Linda’s Bakery officially became a West Salem business after the property it sits on was annexed into the village of West Salem.

West Salem Public Works Director Wade Peterson was presented the Wisconsin Emergency Service Ribbon for his role in helping deal with widespread flooding in August 2007 with the 115th Civil Engineer Squadron of the Wisconsin Air National Guard.

The Heider Center hosted “Pennies From Heaven,” a Broadway revue by Liz MCconahay and Beth Lakmann that benefited the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation’s Paula’s Purse Cancer Patient Fund.

Jim Hines of Mindoro stepped forward as the buyer of a $100,000 lottery ticket sold at the West Salem Kwik Trip.

Major League Baseball catcher and West Salem native Damian Miller’s presence was one of the highlights at a fundraising event for the Boys & Girls Club of West Salem at Maple Grove Country Club.

The Friends of Lake Neshonoc and a West Salem High School construction and remodeling class joined forces on a project, building an ice fishing shanty to help promote ice fishing among youths.

Apex Hardwoods took over the former Webster Hardwoods plant near Bangor.

The Hamilton Town Board approved a memorandum of understanding relating to a boundary agreement with Onalaska and West Salem.

The West Salem School District began listing approved school fundraisers on the district Web site in an attempt to help people avoid being duped.

More than 300 people took part in the annual Lake Neshonoc Ice Fishing Derby.

Brian MacPhetridge, a 33-year-old West Salem man, was charged for the seventh time with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated after he was involved in a car crash.

The West Salem School Board voted to fire John Smalley, the elementary school principal who had been on administrative leave since December, as of Jan. 25. Superintendent Nancy Burns said he was fired due to “neglect of duty and dishonesty surrounding his job performance in recent months.”

The Presbyterian Church of West Salem held a mortgage burning ceremony

FEBRUARY

The West Salem School Board agreed to extend Superintendent Nancy Burns’ contract through June 2010.

The Coulee News was named Weekly Newspaper of the Year in the Wisconsin Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, winning 25 awards in all.

Shelly Holub and Danielle Ferguson of Bangor were honored with the Girls Scouts Silver Award, an accomplishment it took about a year to achieve.

A Candian Pacific rail car derailed on the tracks at Mill Street in downtown West Salem, blocking the road for about 18 hours.

The West Salem School Board expelled its seventh and eighth students of the school year, all of them for drug-related offenses. In reaction to the rash of drug offenses, the police department and school district hosted a drug seminar for parents.

West Salem High School’s 2009 graduation day was set for May 31, a departure from the usual Memorial Day weekend ceremony.

The Maplewood Community-based Residential Facility, a new care facility for those with mental illness, opened at the Lakeview Health Center.

Area municipalities began to worry about having enough salt to make it through a very snowy winter as the state halted sales of salt to municipalities in order to preserve salt for de-icing state and interstate highway systems.

Donnie Blunck was named Citizen of the Year at the West Salem Business Association, while Jones Chiropractic was named Business of the Year.

The West Salem School Board rejected a proposal to start a 4-year-old kindergarten program.

The West Salem Village Board approved its comprehensive plan, although board members had to approve it a second time later in ordinance form.

Democrat candidate Barack Obama was the top vote getter in the presidential primary in West Salem and the towns of Bangor, Barre and Hamilton, while Hillary Clinton won in Bangor and the towns of Burns and Farmington. Clinton and Obama tied with 50 votes each in Rockland. On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee won in West Salem and the towns of Bangor, Barre, Burns and Farmington. John McCain won in Bangor, Rockland and Hamilton.

MARCH

The Palmer-Lewis Octagon Home, built in 1856 and on the National Register of Historic Places, was moved a quarter mile down Highway 16 to its new resting spot at W3362 Hwy. 16.The West Salem Historical Society took possession of the 152-year-old home and moved it to make way for a new housing development.

Coulee Region Christian School hosted a dinner to honor members of the West Salem police and fire departments and first responders.

Sprint marked the opening of its West Salem call center, which is expected to employ up to 250 people.

Fired West Salem Elementary Principal John Smalley filed a discrimination complaint and notice of claim against the school district, a precursor to a lawsuit. He also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with a domestic dispute that happened in December, just before he was placed in administrative leave.

West Salem police officer Mark Bellacero was treated at a La Crosse hospital after being bitten in the leg by a dog.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission granted a 97 percent increase in water rates for the Rockland Municipal Water Utility, its first increase since 1994.

The Shared Ride program that first started in Onalaska and later spread to Holmen and West Salem, was expanded to Bangor and Rockland.

West Salem Middle School students conducted a Pennies for Peace program, collecting more than $2,200 to help fellow students in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

River Steel began operations in its new fabrication facility in West Salem’s Lakeview business park.

The Bangor School Board approved starting a 4-year-old kindergarten program in the fall.

APRIL

After April’s municipal election results, almost half the West Salem School Board was new, with Linda Brown, Tom Ward and Henry Althoff IV beating out three-year incumbent Ken Schlimgen and newcomer Kimberly Henderson. Incumbents held onto their West Salem and Bangor village board seats, while Village President Dennis Manthei ousted J. Terry Hanson from his La Crosse County Board seat.

Amerhart, a building material distributor serving retail and industrial customers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, announced plans to build a 100,000-square-foot facility on a 15-acre site in West Salem’s Lakeview Business Park.

The second annual Celebrate West Salem community expo was held at West Salem High School.

The Rev. J. David Bersagel, pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in West Salem, was named as a finalist for bishop of the La Crosse synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

William Ogden, 60, of West Salem, was charged with two counts each of first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13, second-degree sexual assault and false imprisonment in connection with the sexual assault of two 9-year-old girls he was babysitting.

The annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life event at West Salem High School drew a record crowd of participants, with 23 teams raising at least $63,000.

Three improvised explosive devices were found in mailboxes in the towns of Barre and Hamilton.

Farmington residents voted overwhelmingly at the town’s annual meeting to approve moving ahead with plans to build a branch of the county library in Mindoro. The residents voted to buy land and build a library at an estimated cost of $200,000.

Snap Fitness opened a 24-hour workout center at 234 N. Leonard St.

After 21 years on the Bangor School Board, the board’s vice president, Curt Pierce, stepped down from the board.

The West Salem School District began the process of equipping school buses with video cameras.

Sarah Beier, a senior at West Salem High School, was crowned Miss Onalaska at the 32nd annual pageant.

Gunner Skroch, a West Salem fourth-grader with autism, had his painting, “Animal Tracks,” chosen by VSA Arts of Wisconsin for part of a traveling exhibit.

Stratman Implement and Appliance, a business started in Bangor by Ruth and Maynard Stratman in 1949, closed its doors for good.

The Bangor American Legion honored Al Antony and Wilfred Stratman for 60 years of membership and Edward Richmond and Harry “Clyde” Beal for 50 years of membership.

At a meeting hosted by the Village People, a new aquatic center and revitalization of downtown were the consensus priorities of those attending the meeting.

Nick Schmidt and Lauren Unser were named king and queen of the West Salem High School prom. Jordan Zimmerman and Stephanie Peters were named king and queen of the Bangor High School prom.

Bangor High School Spanish teacher Heidi Lyga completed the Boston Marathon in 3:58.49.

C.J. Bina of West Salem was crowned Wisconsin Junior National Teenager, earning the right to compete at the national pageant in Nashville in July.

MAY

West Salem Public Works Director Wade Peterson resigned from his job after 11 years. He was the village’s first public works director and left to take a job as building and grounds supervisor with the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs.

Four men - Mathias Marco, Daniel Sye, Anthony Dobbs and Benjamin Pfaff - were charged in connection with the recent string of mailbox bombings.

Dr. Greg Wegner, a professor at UW-La Crosse and a longtime Bangor resident, was recognized as one of the state’s outstanding history teachers at the state National History Day competition in Madison. He was awarded the Richard T. Farrell Teacher of Merit Award for innovative teaching.

West SalemElementary students completed their “Environmental Quilt,” a four-month-long project aimed at promoting awareness of the environment.

The West Salem School Board approved purchase of 160 new uniforms for the high school marching band.

Breakers in downtown West Salem was cited for operating a restaurant without a permit.

Memorial Day was special for longtime West Salem resident Elvera Soper. Her brother, Harry’s, remains were recovered, nearly 60 years after he was killed in action in the Korean War.

Bangor’s Kevin Nuttleman won his 100th feature race at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway.

Matthew Huston and Rae Davis graduated from West Salem High School as valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively. Joseph Vargo and Megan Gerke graduated from Bangor High School as valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, while Sarah Nogee and Austin Ross were valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, at Coulee Region Christian School.

The West Salem School Board passed a new policy prohibiting students from bringing purses to class.

West Salem and Hamilton withdrew from the process of trying to reach a boundary agreement with Onalaska.

Rockland rural mail carrier Stacy Ziemke was honored by the U.S. Postal Service with the Carrier of the Month Award.

JUNE

Lisa Hendrickson was named the winner of the June Dairy Days button design contest, while Jim Quinn was named this year’s June Dairy Days parade marshal.

Bangor held its fourth village-wide rummage sale, held as usual on the second weekend in June.

Coulee Region Christian School Principal Dan Odenbach began his summerlong quest to run in 100 miles worth of competitive runs.

A new book by Keith Newlin, “Hamlin Garland: A Life,” was released, only the second biography of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, playwright and essayist who called West Salem home.

The debut of the West Salem High School post-graduation party was a big hit, drawing 94 of the schools 125 graduates. About $14,000 in cash and prizes were collected for the event.

The Lake Neshonoc Protection and Rehabilitation District asked La Crosse County to reimburse the district for at least half the money the county received for selling sand taken from the lake during a dredging project eight years ago.

A farmhouse lost its roof and several outbuildings were destroyed when a tornado touched down about three miles east of Barre Mills.

Kayla Wegner of Bangor was named La Crosse County’s Fairest of the Fair.

West Salem High Schools track and field facility got a mini-makeover at a cost of about $45,000.

The unexpected resignation of Bangor Recreation Director Amy Doubek left the summer sports program “in chaos,” according to parents and coaches who came to the Bangor Village Board to voice their concerns.

The Bangor School District was notified it had qualified for a startup grant for the 4-year-old kindergarten program.

West Salem High School Principal Troy Gunderson was chosen as the new superintendent for the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District. He was WSHS principal for 15 years.

A centennial celebration marked the hundredth anniversary of the opening of the Mindoro Cut, the deepest hand-hewn road cut in the nation.

Michael Hudson, 41, of Bangor, was found guilty of child enticement and first -degree sexual assault. He was accused of luring a 10-year-old girl to his apartment and raping her.

Larry Benoit, a 53-year-old Bangor man, was charged with two counts of being a sex offender photographing minors without a parent’s consent.

Students from the West Salem School District staged “The Sound of Music” for a summer musical.

.