News : Remembering Y2KXII: The biggest stories of Vinton from Jan.-Feb. 2012

Olivia Spencer was a leader at area events in 2012, including the UNI Dance Marathon.

Remembering February: NCCC team leader Holly Lee helps new member Gabriel Huang try on coveralls..

Remembering January: Gracie Whelan plays in a snow fort with her siblings.

Political changes were among the first, biggest and last, stories of 2012 in Benton County.

2012 began with Chris Bendull and Tami Stark joining the Vinton City Council. The sudden death in late 2011 of Shellsburg Mayor-Elect Joyce Pence forced city leaders there to begin the year by looking for a replacement. Danny Roehr won a special election in March of 2012, by a one-vote margin over Shadoe Vogt, who was nearly elected by write-in votes.

The Iowa Caucuses brought presidential candidates to Iowa in late 2011 and early 2012 before the Jan. 3 event. Area Republicans supported Rick Santorum, who was later declared the winner across Iowa . Democrats who gathered for their caucuses heard a video presentation from President Barack Obama, who of course ran unopposed for his party's nomination and won re-election over Mitt Romney in November.

Also winning in November 2012 were Democrats Terry Hertle and Don Frese, who will replace supervisors Dave Vermedahl and Ron Buch. Hertle and Frese will be sworn in on Jan. 2, 2013.

Throughout the year, Vinton Today readers kept up with the events of 2012, including:

January

John Gualtier was named one of the "Nine Who Care" honorees by the staff of KCRG-TV, and later represented Eastern Iowa at the Jefferson Awards. Gualtier was honored for his work with veterans at the VA hospitals as well as his volunteer hours spent at area schools, telling students of his life as a WWII medic and also about his role in liberating concentration camps.

Virginia Gay Hospital celebrated the opening of its mammography unit. In a related story, the V-S Vikettes basketball team honored breast cancer survivors with a Pink Night event.

A break-in at LaGrange Pharmacy on New Year's Eve 2011 was apparently linked to other pharmacy break-ins throughout Iowa.

February

The AmeriCorps NCCC Class XVIII arrived to begin their 9-month training and service program.

Carlos and Carmen Legaspi continued to make progress on the La Reyna Mexican Restaurant, which opened in the spring of 2012.

Olivia Spencer of Vinton was a special guest at the first-ever UNI Children's Miracle Network Dance Marathon, where she and her family spoke about her rare heart condition.