This is the first in a three-part series on local news that made the biggest headlines in 2009.

— Jan. 7 - Richard H. Mallory, 78, a longtime business and community leader in LaGrange, dies at a Columbus hospital. Mallory served as president and later chairman of both Mallory Realty Co., founded in 1906, and Mallory Insurance Agency, founded in 1907. Gov. Sonny Perdue issued a commendation for Mallory and his family’s “service and dedication passed down through generations.”

— Jan. 13 - LaGrange College announces that the pedestrian bridge over Vernon Street will be named for then-school President Stuart Gulley and his wife, Kathleen. The bridge connects a parking lot with the college’s new Lewis Library.

— Jan. 15 - Bill Parsons, the Troup County school system’s assistant superintendent for maintenance and operations, announces he will leave to become headmaster of Springwood School in Lanett, Ala.

— Jan. 17 - Meg Greer is crowned Miss Troup County and Sydnie Cheplick is crowned Miss Troup Teen.

— Jan. 20 - Several LaGrange residents attend Barack Obama’s inauguration as the country’s first black president.

— Jan. 23 - One man is killed and two others injured in a shooting and robbery at Super 8 motel on Lafayette Parkway. Two men arrested about 30 minutes after the shooting are charged with murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault.

— February - Sewon America, a major supplier for the Kia Motors plant in West Plant, starts hiring 400 workers for its $170 million LaGrange plant, which makes stamped chassis and body components, as well as decorative trim pieces.

The plant could have 700 employees if Kia reaches full production of 300,000 vehicles per year.

— Feb. 3 - The driver’s license office in LaGrange starts operations at its new location in the former county administration building at 900 Dallis St. The office has 6,000 square feet compared to 700 square feet at its former location at the Georgia State Patrol barracks on Hamilton Road.

— March 1 - Troup County gets covered with 3 to 4 inches of snow.

— April 6 - Vickie Faye Linson of LaGrange sobs uncontrollably after a jury convicts her in the death of her 16-month old son, who police said was beaten at the family’s residence at Benjamin Harvey Hill Homes. She was found guilty of murder and cruelty to children, and sentenced to life in prison. A co-defendant is acquitted.

— Cherrie Piper leads about 50 marchers to a sidewalk in the 100 block of Mitchell Street where her 20-year-old son, Matthew Piper, was shot and killed three months earlier while walking home with a pizza. No one has identified a suspect, but a family member said, “Hopefully someone’s conscience will bother them.”

— April 10 - Troup High School graduate Elijah Kelley joins the cast of “Red Tails,” a George Lucas film about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black pilots who distinguished themselves in World War II.

— April 16 - LaGrange College names Dan McAlexander as the college’s 25th president. He succeeds Stuart Gulley, who became president of Woodward Academy in Atlanta.

— April 17 - LaGrange College dedicates the new Frank and Laura Lewis Library, a $12 million facility described as the “literal and figurative heart” of the campus.

— April 30 - West Georgia Medical Center confirms the state’s first case of swine flu. The patient, a 30-year-old Kentucky woman who had visited LaGrange for a wedding, eventually recovers at Emory Hospital in Atlanta.