The best of 2013 - Part Two
By April Baumgarten
2013 was packed full of influential and amazing stories, from a county commission spending months on a personal-use policy to the celebration of the century. The two-part series continues with the top five stories, but here are the headlines that filled the first half of our list.
10. Stanton Public School building transformed into the Coal County Inn
9. Construction season slows down traffic on Highway 200
8. Hazen Golf Course discusses future management
7. Residents, city approves tax for swimming pool
6. Hazen Public Schools installs security system
5. No-use policy
There was one issue on the table before the Mercer County Commission more than any other subject this year, and that was the decision to pass a policy to ban personal use of county equipment.
Commissioners and policy committee members have debated the issue for almost a year, drawing up various policies that would allow, limit or prohibit employees from using county-owned equipment. The latest policy would have allowed the county to take “disciplinary actions” against employees for using county property. The proposal failed in a tie vote during a September meeting.
