Goodbye '08, hello '09

From the disappearance of John and Elizabeth Calvert to the economic downturn to the Bluffton elections, 2008 has been a year of newsmakers. Here are the Packet's picks for the top 10 local stories of the year.

1. THE CALVERTS

The mysterious disappearance of a wealthy Hilton Head Island couple dominated front pages and the talk around town for much of 2008.

John and Elizabeth Calvert disappeared after a March 3 business meeting with Dennis Gerwing, who was then chief financial officer for The Club Group, an island property management and real estate company.

Gerwing became a suspect and committed suicide March 11 before he could answer detectives' follow-up questions about what happened to the Calverts.

In the aftermath of his death, his former company accused him of siphoning off $2.1 million from eight clients, including the Calverts, who owned the company that operates the Harbour Town Yacht Basin and three ancillary businesses.

Elizabeth Calvert, by some accounts an aggressive business attorney, apparently was about to expose Gerwing'sembezzlement.

Although there is significant evidence Gerwing was involved and that the Calverts are dead, there still are gaps in the story.

How were they killed?

Where are the bodies?

Did anyone help Gerwing?

Sadly for family members, co-workers and friends of the couple, we might never know. Even with a $65,000 reward, the case has gone cold, and the spotlight of national media attention is gone.

2. THE ECONOMY

The national economic downturn hasn't spared Beaufort County, where businesses and governments alike are adjusting to the new climate.

The number of unemployed residents in the county reached a 14-year high of 6.3 percent in November. That's still the second lowest level in South Carolina, which had an overall rate of 8.4 percent, the third worst rate in the nation.

Citing projections that 2009 will be a tough year for tourism, the Town of Hilton Head Island gave $200,000 to the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce to bolster advertising of the area. The town also has said it is going to re-prioritize its spending plans, only paying for must-have projects.

Meanwhile Beaufort County officials have mentioned downsizing certain departments that are less busy because of the decline in business activity.

Finally, Bluffton cut costs by laying off at least six employees.

3. THE ATTACK

Three masked suspects brutally attacked a 33-year-old greater Bluffton man and his friend as they were cooking outside Oct. 30.

Brian Lanese and friend Jeffery Wooten, 24, were flipping steaks for a birthday dinner for Lanese's wife when the attackers burst from the woods behind Lanese's home.

Lanese suffered serious head trauma and spent nearly a month in Savannah's Memorial Health University Medical Center, where he was in a drug-induced coma for several weeks. Wooten suffered minor injuries.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office arrested three Bluffton teens in the incident. Theophilus D. Hamilton and Harry C. Battle, both 16-year-old Bluffton High School students, are charged with attacking Lanese. Kuwan A. Fields, 18, is charged with attacking Wooten.

Lanese now is at home with his family, but faces months of rehabilitation.

4. THE TRAGEDY

The death of Bluffton High School junior Josh George is one that many will never

forget.

The 17-year-old died May 20 -- two days after being hit by a suspected drunken driver in the early morning hours following prom night.

The crash occurred at the intersection of Buck Island Road and Bluffton Parkway. Josh had just dropped off his girlfriend and two friends after a party and was headed home.

Josh was a gifted student and captain of the school's varsity soccer team.

The suspect, Juan Rodriquez, is being held in the Beaufort County jail. Rodriquez, 21, is charged with felony DUI resulting in death. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is investigating his immigration status.

5. THE CRACKDOWN

Beaufort County's illegal immigration audits began in 2008, part of an effort by the County Council to make sure illegal immigrants weren't taking the jobs from legal residents.

The county has inspected the federally required immigration documents of thousands of employees at hundreds of businesses.

In October, auditors said there's evidence that about one-fifth of the employees they've looked at probably used false or stolen identification cards to get their jobs.

Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers also spent July, August and September at the Beaufort County jail, and five others across the state, checking the immigration status of inmates suspected of being in the country illegally.

That ICE program, dubbed Operation Surge, meant 280 prisoners, some of whom were accused of minor crimes like driving offenses and littering, were not allowed to post bond, and were instead processed for deportation hearings.

Finally, a handful of Beaufort County Sheriff's Office deputies were trained by ICE over the summer to enforce federal immigration laws.

Sheriff P.J. Tanner said those officers are focusing on investigating suspected illegal immigrants who've committed serious crimes and instances of illegal hiring uncovered by the county's audits.

6. THE ELECTION

Presidential hopefuls and their surrogates came to Beaufort County in droves in the run-up to South Carolina's January presidential primaries.

With South Carolina considered a must-win state for presidential contenders of both parties, John McCain and Michelle Obama were on Hilton Head Island wooing voters on the eves of the Republican and Democratic primaries.

Obama fired up an audience at Central Oak Grove Baptist Church, talking about the American dream, which she said has become increasingly elusive for average Americans.

McCain, speaking at the Hilton Head Beach & Tennis Resort, focused on foreign policy, particularly his support of increased troop numbers in Iraq.

For McCain, the event went better than a November 2007 appearance here. At that event, a Wexford woman called Hillary Clinton the B-word, and a CNN anchor and many liberal blogs criticized McCain for not chastising the woman.

7. THE HEART

Sonny Graham was a popular Hilton Head Island resident who received a heart transplant in March 1995 that saved his life.

The transplant came from a 33-year-old Charleston man named Terry Cottle, who apparently had committed suicide.

A year after the transplant in January 1997, Graham contacted Cheryl Cottle, the donor's widow. They married in December 2004.

But Graham never emotionally returned from his surgery, family and friends have said. The transplant would later lead to his unexpected and unexplained death, an apparent suicide at his home in Vidalia, Ga., on April 1. He was 69.

A Georgia native, he was one of the island's first permanent residents, coming to Hilton Head in the mid-1960s. He was a longtime volunteer at the popular Verizon Heritage golf tournament and served as the event's director. Hilton Head Island High School's football stadium is named in his honor.

Officials from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which has examined the case, have called it an "extraordinary" one. It remains open.

8. THE THEATER

Owners of the struggling Mall at Shelter Cove think one thing can save it: adding a movie theater.

It now appears they'll get their wish through a new development agreement with the Town of Hilton Head Island that allows the extra space for a 12-screen theater in exchange for some space for an unspecified community group, the elimination of some lights and a new parking lot that can be used for special events.

The Town Council has yet to approve the new agreement.

The mall could be first in a wave of redevelopment to spruce up the island's aging strip malls.

At a recent retreat, town officials spoke about the need to revise the island's land management ordinance, which was initially drafted to rein in growth.

That chapter of the town's history has passed, officials said, now that the island is approaching build-out.

The next stage is encouraging constant improvements and redevelopment so that tourists will continue to visit each year.

9. THE CHALLENGE

Bluffton still does not have clear winners in November's four-way council race to fill two seats.

The town awaits a S.C. Supreme Court ruling to determine whether the Nov. 4 results should stand. It is not clear how long it will take the court to resolve the issue.

Third-place finisher Jeff Fulgham, who finished 26 votes behind second-place Allyne Mitchell, contested the results Nov. 6. The Beaufort County Board of Elections and Voter Registration decided to hold a new election after ruling that an undetermined number of voters might not have been allowed to cast ballots in the town races due to an address coding error.

Incumbent member Fred Hamilton, who finished first in the race, and Mitchell appealed that decision to the S.C. State Board of Elections. At a Dec. 3 hearing, that board decided to uphold the Nov. 4 results due to "insufficient evidence" voters actually had been disenfranchised.

On Dec. 12, Fulgham and fourth-place finisher Normand E. "Gus" Thomas filed an appeal of that decision to the state's Supreme Court.

10. THE SHOOTINGS

It was a violent year on the island, even if crime statistics indicate crime actually is decreasing.

Harry Fripp III, 19, was stabbed to death by three masked men in broad daylight at Sandalwood Terrace on April 10. The case remains unsolved.

The following month, 27-year-old Linden Ben Johnson was shot to death in the parking lot of Barker Field. Three alleged accomplices were arrested, but the man police say pulled the trigger still is on the run. Christopher Jesus Mono, 19, who once lived in Plantation Point Apartments in greater Bluffton, is thought to be living in Mexico.

Aside from the two homicides and the disappearance of the Calverts, there were a plethora of incidents at bars, including brutal attacks, near riots and shootings on the south-end. One man was paralyzed when he was dropped on his head and a bartender spent weeks in a Savannah hospital with life-threatening head trauma from being hit in the head with a tire iron.