What a Year: The Top Stories of 2011

Chicago Heights and its surrounding communities experienced a lot in 2011, and Patch, in it's infancy, was there to cover as much as we could.

Here are five of the top stories of the year. Check back tomorrow for five more.

Battles on the Bloom Township School Board

For many reasons, 2011 was a big year for high school government. Two Unity Party candidates scooped up positions on the board, and soon after, two-year board member Henry Drake was named president.

Drake clashed with longtime board member Robert Rossi on multiple issues, . Drake and Rossi's names even showed up in a police report .The biggest conflict between the two was Rossi's questioning of .

But it didn't end there. The board did not agree on the .

What's next for 206? Only time will tell.

Glen Giannetti's Political Donations and Retirement

Speaking of 206... Supt. Glen Giannetti and South Chicago Heights Mayor David Owen were the center of a key story when the State Board of Election Website revealed . Giannetti said he bought tickets to Owen's smoker using pop machine revenue as a return favor for Owen helping get Chicago water to the school. Our readers debated whether Giannetti was wrong in this regard.

The district later gave Patch an .

Over the summer and ultimately (and abruptly) , with Asst. Supt. Lenell Navarre taking over as acting superintendent.

Hayley Pelock: The Tragedy that Brought a Community Together

In March, Patch reported on one of the most talked about local tragedies of the year: the shooting death of alum Hayley Pelock. , determining the death to be accidental, but the community was outraged.

. Some even expressed concerns that the shooting was not accidental.

Regardless of those debates, the community came together to support Hayley's family and . While nothing can change what happened, the Pelock's have .

Saved By a Stranger, Helped by Patch Readers

After , she had to watch as her home burned to the ground, along with nearly all of her and her two daughters' belongings. She lost everything and was initially stonewalled with paper work when she asked Bloom Township for assistance.

But then Patch readers came to the rescue, offering tons of clothing, assistance and even homes to the young woman and her daughters. .

She thanked the community for an amazing response.

Unity Versus Integrity: Clash of the Political Titans

Oh politics, how ugly can you be?

For the first three months of 2011, the Heights got pretty heated, .

Faso's Integrity Party and Gonzalez's Unity Party threw jabs that questioned each others stances race relations, crime, local business and government spending. .

Ultimately . Josh Deabel, who ran with the Integrity Party, took over Faso's Fourth Ward Alderman position and Peg Donohue and Robert Rossi kept their Bloom 206 board seats. .