The year would also present a riddle of crimes. Two consecutive weeks in April, two couples were gone.
Sunday, April 17, Rusty and Becky Porter disappeared from their Willard home. Eight days later, Don and Helen Willingham of Springfield were found stabbed. By July, a third couple was added to the list when Jason Johnson and Rebecca Sisk were found murdered in Oak Grove.
In the same month Taney County deputies found the remains of the Porters but their killer, like the Willingham's and the couple from Oak Grove's, are still out there.
But not all suspects can hide forever. Danny Waggoner was shot in the chest by a homeowner he was trying to rob in Powersite. After three months on the run, he was captured in South Dakota.
And most notorious suspect in America found himself in Springfield. Jared Loughner, charged with killing six and wounding 13 in Tucson, was sent to Springfield's "Fed Med."
While he waits for his day in court another case went before a jury. The ex-wife of lawyer Rolland Comstock was found liable for his 2007 death in a civil trial by a jury. The judge threw out the decision a few days later.
More decisions would change what was the status quo in 2011. In Springfield, smokers could no longer light up inside city buildings. To the south, residents in Boone County, Arkansas, could buy alcohol just around the corner for the first time since Prohibition. The alarming vice among some teens, versions synthetic marijuana, were officially banned in Missouri.
Other teens were hooked on winning.
On the court, the Crane boys and the girls of Stockton and Purdy won state champions. Lamar won a football title along with a familiar power Webb City and Logan-Rogersville. LRHS, once not known for football, won it's first title along with the Springfield Catholic boys soccer team.
Speaking of titles, the Saint Louis Cardinals thanks to many former Springfield Cardinals eclipsed a ten-and-a-half game deficit to win the wild card. Their magic continued through the post season to claim championship number-11 in 2011.
After the title, Tony La Russa retired and Albert Pujols left for Anaheim. It was almost a carbon copy at MSU.
The Bears men shocked the conference, and the Shockers, to win the Missouri Valley Championship. After the season, Cuonzo Martin left for Tennessee. It was the first of two MSU departures as Dr. James Cofer stepped down as president after only one-year on the job.
But while these men left for other jobs, plenty more were coming in. New stores like Academy Sports and Hy Vee created 650-jobs for Springfieldians. Meanwhile an old staple of the Queen City, Paul Mueller, announced it'd add 200-jobs over the next three-years.
Along with the improving business landscape the landscape itself changed. Highway 65 was widened to six-lanes and just south the twin, fly-over ramps were opened at the 60-65 interchange. That project is scheduled to be completed in 2012.
