Following are some other top stories from 2009.

January

* The Denton City Council bowed to the sinking economy and postponed a bond sale and bond election to 2010, shelving plans for a downtown tax district and a residential-retail-parking garage project.

* Many local residents attended President Obama’s inauguration, including Nick Meegan, a Lake Dallas High School graduate, who participated as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Color Guard. 

February

* Arlington-based Texas Health Resources bought remaining interests in Presbyterian Hospital from subsidiaries of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health System Inc. for about $100 million. Under terms of the agreement, Community Health Systems’ Triad-Denton Hospital GP LLC and Triad-Denton Hospital LP transferred their partnering units to Texas Health Resources, and the hospital became a nonprofit. The deal, which was finalized in April, also took the hospital off the city’s property tax rolls.

March

* The Denton City Council agreed to revise its $62 million incentives agreement made in 2007 with Allegiance Hillview LP, the company behind Rayzor Ranch, to let the developer recoup the cost of widening U.S. Highway 380 sooner.

* As part of Sunshine Week 2009, Denton Record-Chronicle reporters made open-records requests of 35 public entities for information related to take-home vehicles. Nearly every entity provided the information requested on the more than 400 cars and trucks public employees take home with them each night. The request revealed that most of those vehicles were taken home by first responders, but not all entities had a written policy about the use of those vehicles. Of the University of North Texas employees with take-home vehicles, 13 work for the athletic department.

* Another Record-Chronicle investigation found that poll workers in Argyle’s 2008 combined town and school election made scores of errors, including giving different ballots to people in the same household. An analysis of the voting roster together with county records found dozens of irregularities in Argyle’s May 10 combined election. Some residents, including several candidates, were concerned that a combined school and town election in Argyle invited not only confusion, but also abuse — a concern voiced long before a Bartonville couple, Ralph and Teresa Rather, were indicted on a charge of voting illegally in that election.

* Denton County Transportation Authority officials broke ground on the Hebron Station of the A-train rail line through Denton County — the first step in connecting the county with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system via a regional rail system.

April

* Pilot Point city leaders condemned four historic buildings on the south side of the square, all of which were demolished by the end of the year. “It’s the worst-case scenario,” City Manager J.C. Hughes said. “But sometimes you get to the point of no return — and these buildings were at that point.”

* People filled the south lawn of the Courthouse on the Square in Denton to protest the federal bailout and stimulus plans, one of many “tea parties” held around the country on the same day federal taxes were due.

* A grand jury indicted Kenneth Jannereth, 68, the Denton County constable of Precinct 5, on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief. He was accused of twice tearing down a barricade on property owned by the Bar VK Air Ranch Estates Homeowners Association, a small enclave of homes with a private airstrip where he lives near Bolivar in northwest Denton County.

May

* A divided Commissioners Court approved the reorganization of three special taxing districts and formed a new district in the eastern part of Denton County, with that region’s commissioner, Hugh Coleman, leading the charge against them.

* A grand jury indicted former Oak Point City Manager Richard H. Martin on a theft charge, a state felony. He was the second city official to face charges in connection with missing petty cash and credit card abuse at Oak Point City Hall. Jennifer Ashenhart-Hawkins was arrested in 2008. A grand jury indicted her on a charge of abuse of official capacity in November. Both are out on bond.

* The value of Denton County property dropped by more than $3.5 billion since last year, according to the Denton Central Appraisal District. The appraisal district’s preliminary estimates value the property countywide at $55.4 billion, not including mineral property. Last year at this time, the district listed a net taxable value for the county at $60.8 billion, including $1.9 billion in mineral values.

* As layoffs continued in the region and Chrysler pulled its two Denton franchises, foreclosures showed no signs of abating. Residential foreclosures in Denton County for the first half of the year topped 3,000 for the first time, at 3,175. By year’s end, however, fewer homes were posted for foreclosure in Denton County compared with last year.

June

* Denton school board candidate Sheryl English filed for a recount of the hotly contested Place 1 election, after the first count showed her losing by 18 votes. The recount affirmed Curtis Ramsey’s victory, putting the 82-year-old retired professor in the seat for his eighth term.  

* Denton’s two Piggly Wiggly grocery stores closed June 13. The Texas stores were owned by Arkansas-based Affiliated Foods Southwest Inc., which filed for bankruptcy. 

July

* Unemployment rates for Denton County and the city of Denton rose significantly in June, to 7.6 percent. Denton County’s rate was slightly higher than the state unemployment rate of 7.5 percent. The rates hovered near that level for the rest of the year, ending at 7.2 percent for the county and 6 percent for the city in December.

August

* County commissioners appointed their first three members to represent the county in the newly created North Texas Groundwater Conservation District.

* A crane pulled up the first walls of the proposed $1 billion, 410-acre Rayzor Ranch — a visible sign that the mixed-use development is closer to opening retail stores after years of anticipation by city officials and residents.

* Sheriff’s deputies seized 77 horses from Renazans Arabians ranch after receiving a tip that the animals were starving. Ranch owner Gordon Key was arrested and remains out on bond on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty. Humane Society volunteers managed to rehabilitate and find homes for all the horses.

September

* Denton County commissioners voted 3-2 to name John Polster’s Innovative Transportation Solutions Inc. as the most qualified firm to be the county’s transportation consultant. The county sought new proposals for the consultant work in July after Commissioner Hugh Coleman suggested that the county review the contract Polster’s firm had for 12 years, since it cost the county $30,000 per month. Polster’s firm was the only one that submitted a new proposal.

November

* Denton County state district Judge L. Dee Shipman ruled in favor of Range Production Co. in its dispute with the Rayzor Ranch developer over whether the right to drill on the property expired this summer. Range began drilling the first of five wells in December.

* A grand jury indicted Charles Stobaugh, of Sanger, on a charge of murder in connection with the death of his estranged wife, Kathy Stobaugh, nearly five years after she was last seen at his house and never heard from again. He remains out of jail on a $100,000 bond.

* The University of North Texas broke ground on a $78 million football stadium, which would seat about 30,000. Construction will begin in January. The stadium should open in time for the 2011 season. UNT financed the project largely through a $10-per-semester student fee.

December

* Krum city leaders agreed to pay $310,000 in damages to two sets of Old Town landowners after losing a pair of inverse condemnation lawsuits in April. The city must use water and sewer funds to pay the damages, since insurance will not cover the loss.

* The Dinerstein Companies of Houston and Winkelmann & Associates Inc. of Dallas filed a pre-application with Denton city officials to build 210 student apartments where an enclave of eclectic businesses once stood along Fry and Hickory streets. Two years ago, a divided City Council rejected a drive-through lane for a pharmacy at the site, which seemingly derailed plans for United Equities Inc.’s proposed Fry Street Village.