By Elizabeth Cook

ecook@salisburypost.com

Who dominated the news in Salisbury-Rowan in 2014?

At the end of each year, the Salisbury Post editorial board names a local Newsmaker of the Year and features the newsmaker in a front-page story.

We’re asking for your suggestions for 2014.

Last year, there was no question that missing teenager Erica Parsons made the most headlines. Reported missing by a family member over a year after her disappearance, Erica — and her parents — became the focus of intense media attention. To this day, her adoptive parents say they don’t know where Erica is, and she has not been found.

This year the choice is less obvious. Newsmaker of the Year is not a popularity contest. Instead, the Post seeks to identify the person or entity that made the most news in Rowan County that year. Who had the greatest visibility, good or bad, and figured in the most news events and stories?

Email your suggestions to josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com.

Here’s a list of previous Newsmakers of the Year to help, starting with the first one in 1984:

1984: Salisbury native Elizabeth Dole, transportation secretary in the Reagan Administration, who was a rising star, along with husband Sen. Bob Dole, in national politics.

1985: David Murdock, owner of Cannon Mills since 1982, who fought off a union vote and then sold the company to Fieldcrest

1986: Salisbury Post Publisher Jim Hurley III, whose leadership and investments led to several building projects downtown, at Catawba College and elsewhere.

1987: Edward Clement. one of the founders of Historic Salisbury Foundation, who stepped forward to fight the siting of a hazardous waste incinerator in Rowan.

1988: Tim Russell, Rowan County manager, who led the county through several thorny issues, including condemning land for a landfill.

1989: Don Martin, the first superintendent of the newly merged Rowan-Salisbury School System, who kept the plan from unraveling before it even started.

1990: Darrell Hinnant (now mayor of Kannapolis), executive director of the state’s hazardous waste management authority when the state was trying to site an incinerator on the Rowan-Iredell county line.

1991: Food Lion co-founder Ralph Ketner and wife Anne,  who gave the newly restored Plaza to the city, started a housing program and donated substantially to several causes.

1992: Food Lion, then the nation’s fastest-growing grocery chain and the focus of a citical  PrimeTime Live TV report, two congressional hearings and a Labor Department investigation.

1993: Newton Cohen, chairman of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners, whose change of heart helped convince voters to pass a $44 million school bond issue.

1994: Sheriff Bob Martin, who dealt with several brutal murders, political change and a construction project plagued by delays

1995: Fieldcrest-Cannon Stadium, which saw disappointing attendance and a payment dispute in its first year of operation.

1996: Rowan Regional Medical Center, which saw the construction of the $14 million Wilson L. Smith Family Outpatient Clinic

1997: Four children who died of abuse while their families were under investigation by or involved with the Department of Social Services: Budde Clark, Trola Miller, Christopher Jones and DeMallon Krider

1998: Julian Robertson Jr., a Wall Street money manager who grew up in Salisbury, helped start The Blanche and Julian Robertson Family Foundation with an $18 million endowment and whose multi-billion-dollar Tiger Fund made headlines.

1999: David Treme, Salisbury city manager, who hired a new police chief and caught flak for a policy prohibiting married couples from working in the same department.

2000: Displaced workers, people suddenly out of work as Cone Mills closes its Salisbury plant, other companies start layoffs and U.S. jobs go elsewhere.

2001: NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt, who died after crashing into a wall at Daytona.

2002: Elizabeth Dole, this time for winning a seat in the U.S. Senate

2003: U.S. soldiers from Rowan who were fighting in the war in Iraq

2004: Dr. Albert J.D. Aymer, president of Hood Seminary, which has a growing enrollment and is moving from Livingstone to its own campus

2005: Tim Russell, fired as county manager after hiring a private investigator with county find out who was mailing scathing criticisms of county government to community leaders, signing them, “Common Sense” (who has yet to be conclusively identified).

2006: Jack Thomson, director of Historic Salisbury Foundation, who oversaw a dramatic home restoration featured on the History Channel and fought against demolition of buildings on West Fisher Street downtown.   

2007: Treasure Feamster, a Salisbury 13-year-old whose killing in gang crossfire brought attention to gangs and youth violence.

2008: Victor Isler Sr. and Justin Monroe, two Salisbury firefighters whose death in the Salisbury Millwork fire rocked the city.

2009: The Rowan County American Legion baseball team, which finished third in the nation in the Little World Series in Fargo, N.D.

2010: Retiring D.A. Bill Kenerly, who in his last year on the job handled several murder cases and served as special prosecutor investigating former Gov. Mike Easley’s campaign finance practices.

2011  The student athlete, as local high schools win state championships in sports ranging from girls’ tennis to boys’ basketball.

2012: Doug Paris, named Salisbury city manager after starting with the city in 2006 as a summer intern.

2013: Erica Parsons, missing teenager.

2014: ??

Email your suggestions for Salisbury Post 2014 Newsmaker of the Year to josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com.