A year in stories

• I STILL remember arriving at work on a Monday morning in April and being told that a young man from Hampton Lucy and his friend had been shot in Sarasota, Florida.

As the details of the incident trickled in it became more and more shocking – James Cooper, a tennis coach who seems to have been incredibly popular, had been shot dead in the early hours of the morning with his friend James Kouzaris.

Although 16-year-old Shaun Tyson has been charged with the murder, he is yet to face trial, and still there are big gaps in the story. Why were the duo in the neighbourhood so far from where they were staying at that time of the night? What was the motive behind the shooting? Hopefully 2012 will provide the answers and enable the family and friends of Mr Cooper to get some closure.

• IN SEPTEMBER Warwick Fire Station closed its doors for the final time, and it remains a hugely unpopular decision in the town.

Last year protesters marched through the town in opposition to the decision, and upon the closure in September it was called “a travesty”.

We had all been led to believe that the station wouldn’t close until a decision had been made on the new fire station based in Leamington aimed at covering much of the district.

This wasn’t the case and town residents have been left feeling “vulnerable”, especially with further housing developments planned in and around the town putting demand for adequate fire cover at an all time high. We will all be hoping that 2012 brings the fire station developments promised by Warwickshire County Council.