2011: The year in review for Topeka [Topeka Capital Journal (KS)]

From beginning to end, 2011 was a newsy year for Topeka.

The city experienced hail, heat and homicide.

Residents saw city manager Norton Bonaparte lose his job but savored the start of what could be a sweet relationship with Mars Chocolate North America.

Here is a chronological account of many of Topeka's top news stories for the year:

Jan. 10 -- After wintry weather forced the ceremony indoors, Sam Brownback was inaugurated at the Kansas Statehouse as the state's 46th governor.

Feb. 7 -- Brownback signed an executive reorganization order to abolish the Kansas Arts Commission and transfer its responsibilities to the Kansas Historical Society. The Kansas Senate subsequently rejected the order before Brownback vetoed state funding and eliminated six FTE positions at the arts commission from the FY 2012 budget.

Feb. 18 -- Shawnee County Treasurer Larry Wilson closed his office's White Lakes annex, precipitating long lines at the treasurer's courthouse office of people waiting to renew vehicle registrations. Wilson plans on Jan. 25 to open a new annex near S.W. 17th and Wanamaker Road.

April 5 -- Topekans elected new city council members Denise Everhart, Chad Manspeaker and Andrew Gray. Manspeaker defeated incumbent Deborah Swank, and Gray beat incumbent Jeff Preisner. Everhart replaced incumbent Jack Woelfel, who didn't seek re- election.

April 7 -- In the wake of a controversy over the way he dealt with the theft of scrap metal by four city employees, the city council approved a severance agreement ending city manager Norton Bonaparte's employment effective July 1.

May 21 -- Storms raked Topeka, bringing considerable wind and hail while damaging vehicles and residential roofs. A tornado struck Reading in Lyon County, killing one person, while destroying 55 of its 110 homes and 14 of its 21 businesses.

June 28 -- The city council voted to hire former Topeka Councilman Dan Stanley as interim city manager. Stanley is under contract to hold the job through Jan. 31.

June 29 -- Mars Chocolate North America announced it would open a manufacturing facility expected to eventually create 425 full-time jobs in southern Shawnee County'sKanza Fire Commerce Park. The facility's groundbreaking was Aug. 23.

July 21 -- Natalie Gibson was shot to death outside of her Topeka home. Authorities on Aug. 9 announced nine people had been charged with crimes linked to the slaying, as well as a June 25 failed home invasion in which a dog was fatally shot. The cases remain pending.

July 25 -- Authorities arrested Dana Chandler in Duncan, Okla., on first-degree murder charges linked to the July 2002 shooting deaths in Topeka of her former husband, Michael Sisco, and his fiancee, Karen Harkness. Chandler was bound over for trial Dec. 19.

July 26 -- The city of Topeka's governing body approved a consolidation of city and Shawnee County parks and recreation departments under county control. The county commission subsequently also OK'd the merger. It takes effect Sunday.

Aug. 2 -- The mercury in Topeka topped out at 112 degrees, the highest temperature recorded here by the National Weather Service since 1936. The weather service reported Topeka recorded 25 100- degree days in 2011, its highest such total since the city saw 30 100-degree days in 1954.

Aug. 16 -- The city's governing body voted to pay a $300,000 settlement to brothers Daniel and Devin Llamas for damages linked to their being shot in March 2008 by an off-duty Topeka police officer.

Sept. 8 -- The Shawnee County Commission asked District Attorney Taylor to arrange for an investigation into Treasurer Wilson that could lead to the initiation of ouster proceedings. The probe remains in progress.

Sept. 8 -- County Commissioner Vic Miller announced he was leaving his commission position to become administrative judge for Topeka Municipal Court.

Sept. 8 -- District Attorney Taylor said he would no longer prosecute domestic batteries committed in Topeka as budget cuts left his office unable to afford to do so. The move brought national attention to Topeka, where the city council voted Oct. 11 to repeal the city ordinance banning domestic battery. Taylor subsequently resumed prosecuting the domestic battery cases involved.

Oct. 11 -- James Kraig Kahler was sentenced to death for capital murder in Lyndon for the 2009 gunshot slayings at Burlingame of his wife, their two daughters and his wife's grandmother.

Oct. 14 -- After the longest disciplinary action in Kansas history against a lawyer, a three-member panel of the Kansas Board of Discipline for Attorneys recommended an indefinite suspension of the law license of former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline. The matter now goes before the Kansas Supreme Court.

Oct. 25 -- The city council transferred $1 million from the city's ending balance for 2011 to its health care fund, reducing anticipated health insurance premiums for city employees with dependent coverage but still requiring them to pay increased costs. The step was the last among several weeks' worth of efforts by the city to deal with a declining balance in its health insurance fund.

Nov. 29 -- The city council rejected a proposal to establish a domestic partnership registry.

Nov. 30 -- The Brown Foundation vacated the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site at the request of the National Park Service after an audit showed the foundation had what auditors considered questionable costs of $620,871 over a three-year period. The audit was subsequently released Dec. 21.

Dec. 13 -- District Attorney Taylor certified a petition seeking a recall election for Treasurer Wilson, giving a citizen's committee 90 days to obtain 31,395 signatures of registered Shawnee County voters to bring about such a vote.

Dec. 16 -- Architect Barry Greis told the state's capitol preservation committee the Statehouse's copper dome and roof would need to be replaced. Fourteen contractors have submitted pre-bid applications to do the work.

Dec. 24 -- Manager Matthew Hill was fatally shot by a robber while working at Hudson Liquor, 810 S.E. 15th. Police arrested Matthew Daniel Myers on charges linked to the slaying on Dec. 29. No arrests have been made in connection with the shootings of two clerks who survived gunshot wounds sustained in a Nov. 19 robbery next door at Mo's Express convenience store.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached

at (785) 295-1184

or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter

@timhrenchir.