EDITOR’S NOTE — This is the last of a two-part look back at the 10 biggest news stories in the Press coverage area in 2008, as voted on by public ballot and the Press staff. Part one appeared in Tuesday’s newspaper.

In a year of disasterous events and occurrences, it should come as a surprise to no one that the top vote-getter for biggest local news story of 2008 in the Charles City Press coverage area was, in fact, the biggest disaster of them all.

Last June’s record flooding and the devastation and heartbreak it left behind received 14 first-place ballots and easily was the top choice in voting by the public and Press staff members. In fact, because of its state-wide impact, the flooding was also ranked as the top story in Iowa by The Associated Press.

The news wasn’t much brighter, unfortunately, in the other four stories ranked right behind it. Here then, in reverse order, are the final five picks in this year’s top 10 local stories:

5) Winnebago Layoffs

Aug. 1 marked the end of the  line for Charles City’s largest assembly line operation.

At the close of business that day, the Winnebago Industries Charles City Manufacturing Facility was shut down indefinitely and close to 270 employees left looking elsewhere for work.

The Forest City-based company called it a “strategic manufacturing consolidation decision” back in early June when the announcement was made.

The CCMF assembled Class C motor home products, which were relocated to the company's Forest City facilities.

“As a 38-year employee who has been through several industry downturns in the past, I know how devastating this can be for employees. So the decision to idle CCMF has been particularly painful,” remarked Winnebago Industries Chairman, CEO and President Bob Olson. “Unfortunately, it is necessary so that we more closely align our capacity with market demand.”

The company said it will maintain a significant presence in the Charles City area, with approximately 200 employees remaining in the company's Hardwoods Facility and Charles City Assembly Facility, which produces the new Class B motor homes. Those plants, along with the larger Manufacturing Facility, make up  Winnebago Industries’ Charles City Campus within the Southwest Development Park.

Winnebago Industries was in the midst of a record sales year when the company completed construction on the 217,000-square-foot Charles City Manufacturing Facility — the company’s largest expansion project ever — which in its prime employed just over 300 people. 

Since then, however, market conditions changed dramatically. 

“A declining United States economy, significantly increasing fuel prices, decreasing consumer confidence and a difficult lending environment have contributed to a decrease in overall motor home demand, with double digit retail sales declines for seven of the last eight consecutive months for the industry,” the company stated. “The current conditions have necessitated capacity reductions for the company to more closely match market demand. The company believes these actions will better position it for a business environment that it expects will continue to be challenging.”

Mayor Jim Erb noted that Winnebago’s closing of the CCMF might open up the opportunity for new industry in town. 

“It’s not outdated or off the beaten track (located along the Avenue of the Saints), so we would hope that we will be able to do something to restore that one,” he said.

4) Fatal Bar Fight

A bar fight in Charles City on May 17th turned deadly, leaving one man dead and two others injured.

Kenyon Dante Armstrong, 28, of Charles City, was pronounced dead at Floyd County Medical Center following the incident which began inside of Tori’s Bar & Grille, 700 Riverside Dr., and ended outside of the bar.

Suspect Richard Gilbert Cortez, 42, of New Hampton, was arrested at the scene and charged with one count of first degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. He was also charged with interference with official acts, public intoxication and assault on a peace officer.

Witnesses reported seeing Cortez using a knife as a weapon in the fight, in which he also allegedly stabbed a minor and 23-year-old Cyrus Riley.

Rumors of possible racial undertones had the community and its law enforcement officials on edge following the incident, but nothing ever became of it. The real motive behind the fight has yet to be released, although there is now wide-spread speculation it was over a woman.

Cortez remains in jail awaiting trial in January.

3) VeraSun Energy bankruptcy

Less than two years after opening a state-of-the-art bio-refinery just outside of Charles City with a huge celebration, VeraSun Energy Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 

The nation’s second largest ethanol producer reported that skyrocketing corn costs and a deterioration in capital markets left the company short on cash. The company also sought authority from the bankruptcy court in its Oct. 31st filing to pay for goods delivered and to continue to pay employees without interruption. 

‘‘Today’s filing allows VeraSun to address its short-term liquidity constraints as we navigate historically challenging market conditions while we focus on restructuring to address the company’s long-term future,’’ Don Endres, VeraSun’s chief executive, said in a statement.

VeraSun said it had significant losses in the third quarter due to a ‘‘dramatic spike’’ in the cost of corn it turns into fuel. The company also said the capital markets and a tightening of trade credit placed ‘‘severe constraints’’ on its liquidity.

Founded in 2001, VeraSun went public in June 2006 amid perfect market conditions. Corn was cheap, gas cost a bundle and refiners were clamoring for more ethanol to use as a cleaner-burning alternative to the additive MTBE.

But skyrocketing corn costs began cutting into ethanol producers’ profits, and many tried to use hedging to control costs. Hedging sets future prices for corn sellers, while helping buyers avoid the risk of volatile price swings by letting them lock in at a set cost.

After VeraSun locked into prices for its feedstock for the third quarter, corn went into a sharp decline from almost $8 per bushel to less than $3.50 per bushel in November.

When the company began refusing to accept corn shipments contracted at $4 or above and then sought court approval to reject forward contracts with no more than a 10-day notice, farmers filed legal objections. They included the VeraSun Corn Suppliers, a group spearheaded by Charles City farmer and state representative Mark Kuhn.

The VeraSun Corn Suppliers argued that the 10-day notification period is tantamount to holding farmers’ corn hostage and wanted the court to establish Dec. 15 as a deadline for the company to make decisions regarding all forward contracts. That way,  farmers could market their corn elsewhere if the contracts were to be rejected. A Delaware judge, however, did not set such a date.

“We were deeply disappointed with that ruling,” Kuhn said. “We were represented professionally and were allowed to state our case and did a great job of doing so on behalf of the VeraSun Corn Suppliers, but the end result is not what we hoped for.”

The Charles City plant, which employs approximately 65 workers, continues to operate as the VeraSun bankruptcy ordeal continues to play out.

2) Fireworks Accident

Coming in as the runner-up story of 2008 was a spectacular fireworks show that went awry

State investigators in September said they were unable to determine the cause of a July 4 fireworks explosion in Charles City that injured 38 people.

The state fire marshal’s office said the initial explosion was likely caused by the detonation of one or more shells in their launch tubes, causing other racks of launch tubes to fall apart or tip over, thereby causing secondary explosions.

The ensuing series of shell explosions, high-velocity debris and a massive fireball generated by the misfire blew into a portion of the crowd, sending 38 people to the hospital for treatment. Two of the injured were subsequently transferred to other medical facilities due to the severity of their injuries.

No names, ages or conditions of any of the injured were released.

The mishap occurred at 10:27 p.m. the night of the Fourth, right near the end of the scheduled half hour fireworks display. As has been a long-time tradition, a grand finale was planned involving a massive volley of shells, one right after another, to provide a near continuous display high above the river from the launch location in the parking lot of the former Theisen’s building at 90 South Main St.

As the initial launch of that finale took place, however, there was a brilliant flash and explosion, followed by a series of flashes at or near ground level that mushroomed sideways towards the south end of the Main Street bridge and the courthouse parking lot just beyond. Hundreds of onlookers were seated throughout that area, many in lawn chairs or on blankets to watch the fireworks show.

Many spectators not immediately around the launch zone didn’t realize there had been a mishap because some of the estimated 200-plus shells in the finale did go up in the air and go off as planned, as did the special encore “Ring of Fire” display around town afterwards.

Investigators reported that the site was set up according to national fire protection standards for the handling of fireworks and that the electrical control board, which initiates the launch of fireworks, was operating correctly. J&M Displays, Inc., based in Yarmouth, was the company putting on the show.

“We may never know exactly what happened because the evidence involved was destroyed in the blast,” Deputy Fire Marshal Bryan Shupe remarked several days after the accident. “There’s not a whole lot left to work with.”

1) Record Flood

Charles City and Floyd County officials called it a “perfect storm, of sorts.”

The Flood of 2008 — the worst flood on record in Floyd County — was actually a combination of three factors: a saturated ground, a rising river from heavy rains upstream and torrential rainfall on top of that. Each by themselves was a bad situation, but together they proved devastating.

“It was a flash flood, that’s what happened,” remarked Floyd County Emergency Management Director Bridget Moe. “The National Weather Service said it wasn’t like anything they had seen before here.”

It was unlike anything Charles City and the surrounding area had seen before — flooding at an unprecedented rate and level that caught many by surprise and ended up impacting nearly everyone in and around town. By the time the river crested around 1 p.m. on June 9, it was measured at 25.55 feet — well past the previous record of 22.81 feet set in 1999.

Moe said the Shell Rock River in Rockford also hit a new record high, but she didn’t know exactly what level it reached. The river in Shell Rock hit 13.20 feet.

“County-wide, I think we had about 1,000 homes that were directly impacted to some degree with an inch or more of water in them,” said Moe right after the June 8-9 flooding. 

The drama began on June 8 and continued for a week, even though the water level had dropped significantly within a few days. That’s because a second flood crest was predicted for sometime June 13 or 14 at, or just below, the same level as the first one. As it turned out, the crest was “only” 20.12 feet early on the 14th, and while more homes and businesses were ready for it this time, it was added insult to injury for others already impacted.

The Cedar was initially forecast to crest at around 15 feet, with limited flood damage. Flood stage is 12 feet, but the river usually has to hit 18 feet or higher to cause serious issues. However, more rain on the 8th — heavy at times — changed everything. 

“At one point it was rising a foot or more every 45 minutes,” reported Eric Whipple, who served as the public information officer for the county’s Emergency Operations Center.

Flood waters quickly overwhelmed property and streets in low-lying areas adjacent to the river. What had been mild concern only hours before turned into a crisis situation very rapidly, catching some home and business owners off guard. Between 75-100 residents were evacuated in Charles City due to the flood waters.

The water rose too quickly for sandbagging at some places, but a massive effort was thrown together in a short time to save others. The top priority was Charles City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, situated along the river at the end of Shaw Avenue. An army of over 100 volunteers converged to battle the Cedar both to the south and west in an attempt to save the plant.

"If we would've lost that pumping station, the whole town would've been without sewage pumped out of their sewer lines," said Nicholson.

Similar efforts were unable to save other properties, however, such as Immaculate Conception School which had its lower level flooded out. Riverside Drive, Park, Cedar Circle and Court streets were all under water and many of the homes there heavily impacted. On the north end of town, a portion of North Grand Avenue had to be closed due to water over the road and Sportsmen’s Park was turned into a lake. 

Floodwaters at either end of the Brantingham bridge resulted in that structure being closed down. The Main Street bridge was also closed for a time due to concerns about its structural integrity, “especially with that amount of pressure and debris hitting it,” said Whipple. The walking bridge near City Hall was shut down to traffic for a day as well, leaving the nearest access point across the river clear up at Floyd. All three bridges were reopened the next day after being inspected once the water level dropped.

City Planning & Project Coordinator Tracy Meise estimated that around 50 homes in town sustained “pretty substantial” damage and may or may not be useable anymore. In addition, she said of the 50 or so businesses in town that were impacted by the flood, “a handful” required substantial repair. The community’s McDonald’s restaurant had to be torn down and rebuilt, just re-opening this month.

The damage numbers were enough to get Floyd County listed in a federal disaster declaration, opening the door for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal entities. As of July 28, FEMA was reporting 518 individuals or households had registered for assistance.

Touring the area later that week, Congressman Tom Latham called the damage he witnessed around town, “catastrophic for a lot of people, obviously in their homes and their businesses. But you really have to appreciate the fact that there was no loss of life or serious injury — in the end, that’s the most important thing.”

Damage from the second flood crest was minimized by a tremendous community effort to collect and dispose of ruined items from the first flood that had been set outside. Local companies and teams of high school students aided City crews in clearing away the debris within a couple of days, just prior to the second rising of the river.

The one thing that couldn’t be saved in town was Charles City’s beloved landmark suspension bridge. It collapsed in the flood around 11 p.m. the night of June 8.

“It’s incredible to see the amount of damage in town, certainly with the suspension bridge and that being the insignia of the city here,” remarked Latham. “It’s heartbreaking to see that gone.”