January

COUNCILLORS claimed £1.1m in wages and expenses, including hotel stays during party conferences and travel to sporting events in 2010, it was revealed. Green Clr Andrew Cooper, also a claimant, said he thought it was time expenses rules were tightened up. Click here to read full story .

TAX dodgers left Kirklees £23m down during the 1993-2010 period, at a time when the council was being asked to find £30m in savings. The debt included £8m in unpaid instalments for the 2010/11 council tax year. Court summonses had been issued for £5.4m of that debt. Click here to read full story .

DAVID Brown Gears of Park Works, Lockwood were considering a move to Mirfield. The firm, which employed 420 people, started in 1860 in East Parade, Huddersfield and moved to Park Works in 1902. Click here to read full story .

SOCIAL worker Judyth Kenworthy started a two year suspension from work after a London disciplinary hearing found her guilty of failing to pass on information that might have saved the life of abused Deighton toddler Sanam Navsarka. The child was found dead with more than 100 injuries in 2008. Click here to read full story .

PEOPLE who attended adult day care centres were told they might not have a place as Kirklees considered how to cut millions from its budget. The council was considering continued support for people with ‘critical’ care needs but withdrawing them from those with ‘substantial’ ones. Click here to read full story .

THIEVES stole 60 grit bins and many others helped themselves to sackfuls of grit during the extended icy spell. The theft hotspots were Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Batley and Holmfirth. Click here to read full story .

PARKING TICKETS cost motorists in Huddersfield £750,000 and the Examiner revealed the top five streets where parking attendants had been busiest. They were St Peter’s Street, Byram Street, New Street, Corporation Street in the town centre and Acre Street in Lindley. Click here to read full story .

THONGSBRIDGE Tennis Club announced it was in financial difficulties and asked members to help it out. Officials blamed the recession, saying the members were spending less at the Miry Lane club. Click here to read full story .

February

THE X-Factor’s Simon Cowell turned ‘Mr Nice’ for Siobhan Greene from Shelley, the show’s executive producer. He called her up on stage and praised her when the show received a national TV award. Siobhan was suffering from breast cancer. Click here to read full story .

KIRKLEES councillors were asked to shave thousands of pounds from their allowances to help the public spending squeeze. They were also to take a pay freeze. Click here to read full story .

FAMILIES of some of Kirklees’ most vulnerable people and their carers took to the streets to protest at proposed cuts in money for adult social care services. The council needed to save £31m. A town hall meeting later ended in mayhem. Click here to read full story .

A CHANGED plan by developers Miller Holmes for about 300 homes and a data campus to be built on Lindley Moor was given an airing. The proposal fell within the Kirklees Unitary Development Plan. Click here to read full story .

A SUSPECT in the murder of Mirfield woman Nadija Ondzule was arrested in Estonia. Click here to read full story.

DENBY Dale villagers united to fight proposals for a 39-metre high wind turbine at Dry Hill Lane. Their main argument was that it would be within a 200 metre radius of about a dozen properties and would ruin the view. Click here to read full story.

TWO thugs who beat Brockholes man John Collins, 55, to death outside his home in July, 2010 were jailed for life. The two were Christopher Burton and Douglas Stephen, both 29. Click here to read full story .

KIRKLEES put an extra £400,000 into the road repairs kitty after it was announced there were probably more than 10,000 potholes in the borough, many of them a result of the harsh winter. Click here to read full story .

THE body of Marie Stewart, who had been stabbed and beaten to death, was found in a Holmfirth garage. Arrested man Andrew Lindo, a music teacher, admitted killing her but said he had been ‘provoked’. Click here to read full story.

SUPERMARKET giant Tesco was given the go-ahead for a new store on the site of Huddersfield Sports Centre and published a projection of what the new store would probably look like. Click here to read full story .

March

THE £6 gallon of petrol arrived early in the month with Hartshead Moor motorway service station selling it at 132.9p a litre. Click here to read full story .

A DEAD caterpillar in a Kentucky Fried Chicken corn on the cob gave customer Adrian Robertson a shock. "It made me feel sick," he said. "I thought it was a maggot." The Wakefield Road, Aspley outlet apologised. Click here to read full story .

A MAN who hacked off the ear of a puppy after a row with his girlfriend was jailed for 20 weeks. Shamrez Ali Wasim, of Newsome, could not explain why he had been so cruel to the animal. Click here to read full story .

JULIE Alderson, brought in as interim director of resources for Kirklees Council to advise on cutting costs and jobs, was revealed to have earned £10,000 a month and claimed almost £1,000 a month in addition for living and travel expenses. Click here to read full story .

RACY writer Leonora Rustamova, known to her pupils as ‘Miss Rusty’, lost her fight to be reinstated as a teacher at Calder High School, Mytholmroyd. She was sacked after her book, described as racy, appeared on the internet. The book named several teachers and featured Year 11 pupils – all real students and referred to as Miss Rusty’s favourites. Click here to read full story .

ABOUT 900 children from local schools joined a ‘choral explosion’ in Huddersfield Town Hall as part of the Huddersfield Choral Society’s 175th anniversary celebrations. Click here to read full story .

LEADER of Kirklees Council Clr Mehboob Khan was accused of meddling with answers supplied to the public under the Freedom of Information Act. He said he had put the answers in context and improved and clarified them. "I’ve done nothing wrong," he said. Click here to read full story .

SCRAP metal thieves were blamed for an explosion at a home in Mirfield. They had cut away and stolen a length of copper gas pipe that attached a gas meter to the boiler of the house. The gas ignited and blew out the wall and roof on an outhouse in Hepworth Lane. No-one was injured. Click here to read full story .

April

POLICE raided a Hillhouse brothel after neighbours’ complaints and found kinky outfits and equipment. "It was a bit unpleasant," said Sgt Simon Short of Huddersfield North Neighbourhood Policing Team. Click here to read full story .

SEVERAL Paddock residents were left with hefty repair bills after a £700,000 road improvement scheme in Longwood Road. They claimed the road narrowing works had caused accidents, not prevented them. Click here to read full story .

PLANS to turn Lindley Junior School into an academy – freeing it from Kirklees Council’s control – sparked parents’ fears. An information meeting about the plans had been "brief, vague and confusing," according to Neil Clarkson, whose son was due to start at the school in 2012. Click here to read full story .

EVEN though there were 7,000 Kirklees youngsters on the dole, textile boss Gordon Hawley couldn’t get a single one to join an apprentice scheme to become a pattern weaver at Paragon Textiles, Birkby. Publicity later got Gordon 50 possible recruits. Click here to read full story .

ASHLEY Pickup saw a £170,000 supercar up for raffle at Manchester Airport and, on impulse, bought a £20 ticket. He won – and was suddenly in possession of a car worth £50,000 more than his Lockwood house. Click here to read full story .

QUAD bikers were blamed for a blaze that scorched about eight square kilometres of Marsden Moor. "We will pursue a prosecution to its conclusion," said Alison Mills, National Trust community trust warden. Click here to read full story .

AN 11-minute raid on a Queensgate Market jewellers netted thieves £80,000 worth of gold. The raiders got into the Gold ‘n Time through a skylight and stole nearly 300 items. Click here to read full story .

TWO Huddersfield connections came to light as the fantasy blockbuster Game of Thrones hit our Sky screens. Former Shelley High school pupil Lena Headey played major character Cersei Lannister and stuntman Buster Reeves from Newsome was stunt co-ordinator. Click here to read full story .

AN unseasonal heatwave contributed to the warmest April for more than 20 years – and local weatherman Paul Stevens reckoned it would last until Easter. The year had already produced the driest spring on record. Click here to read full story .

A CALL for patrols in Greenhead Park went out after two youngsters were confronted by a gang of about 20 youths who tried to rob them. This was the latest in a spate of robberies and attempted robberies in the park. Click here to read full story .

May

FIRE wrecked the Oxfam Wastesaver plant on Beck Road, Huddersfield, leaving staff in tears and tonnes of clothing a smouldering heap. The depot regularly processed more than 120 tonnes of clothing every week, for sale or recycling. Click here to read full story .

A PLAN to set up a night shelter for between two and 10 asylum seekers in an abandoned school building in Kirkheaton was criticised by nearby residents. The idea was axed later in the month. Click here to read full story .

KIRKLEES Council’s Local development Framework came under fire after it was found that few of the thousands of consultative documents that should have been delivered to affected households had reached their destination. Tory leader Clr Robert Light said: "People did not get the information they were promised. The consultation process was a complete sham." Click here to read full story .

ALMONDBURYsoldier Lisa Head, who died in April while trying to defuse a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, was honoured in a funeral service at Huddersfield Parish Church. "She was a talented professional and a highly respected officer," her commanding officer Lt Col Adam McRae said. Click here to read full story .

SIKH Temple official Tarsam Singh died in the driveway of his home in Alder Street after being attacked by his son, Jasknwal Rana, who was charged with manslaughter. Rana was later jailed for three years. Click here to read full story .

THE first year of Coalition government between the Tories and the Lib Dems was dismissed by Huddersfield Labour MP Barry Sheerman. "It’s been a disaster all round," he said. "It’s been a depressing year for those of us who thought there might be some innovation and new ideas." Click here to read full story .

KIRKLEES sent out its first CCTV van with the job of catching illegal car parkers. The van’s camera captures images of car number plates and sends a parking ticket to the driver’s home. Click here to read full story .

LOCAL health boss Diane Whittingham got a pay rise of up to £10,000 at the same time doctors and nurses were told to grin and bear a two-year pay freeze. Her pay had gone from £180,000 in 2008/9 to £190,000 in 2009/10. Click here to read full story .

IT was revealed that Kirklees Council paid out £275,938 in 2010 to cover the wages of nine full time union officials. Click here to read full story .

June

VIOLENCE marred the Huddersfield Town play-off final against Peterborough United at Old Trafford. Two stewards were treated in hospital for injuries they suffered after stewards and police intervened to break up violence in one of the stands. Click here to read full story .

HUDDERSFIELD teacher Dee Llewellyn and her team of swimmers smashed the world record for the longest continual freshwater swim. She and five teammates swam a relay spanning 12 lengths (201.6km) of Windermere in the Lake District to beat the previous 200km record. Click here to read full story .

FIRE badly damaged the brewhouse at Linthwaite’s Sair Inn, but landlord Ron Crabtree vowed it would be business as usual. The pub was serving beer later that day. Click here to read full story .

POLICE recovered cannabis with a street value of £200,000 from a house in Meltham and, with five arrests and raids on several houses throughout Kirklees, they believed they had smashed a major drugs ring. Click here to read full story .

BEST selling author Joanne Harris, who lives in Almondbury, became the first patron of the Forget Me Not Trust’s Brackenhall hospice, due to open in September. Click here to read full story .

SAFETY chiefs ruled out a prosecution over the blaze that wrecked the premises of Grosvenor Chemicals, Linthwaite on May 24, 2010. Tests had failed to pinpoint the cause of the fire. Click here to read full story .

FORMER Huddersfield police officer and Mr Gay UK Mark Carter was cleared of rape. The court case arose after a pre-Christmas night out in Leeds. Click here to read full story .

MORE than 200 business bosses signed a petition asking Kirklees Council to clean up Huddersfield town centre, particularly the St Peter’s Street and Byram Arcade areas. Click here to read full story .

CASH-STRAPPED Kirklees Council called off one of its biggest annual events, the Party in the (Greenhead) Park. Last year the event drew 15,000 revellers. Click here to read full story .

CAMPAIGNERS lost the battle to save Clayton Fields, Birkby, from developers. A High Court judge ruled that the land no longer had ‘village green’ status. Click here to read full story .

July

STRIKING teachers demonstrated outside schools and held a protest meeting in the St Patrick’s Centre over the Government’s plans to change their pensions. Click here for full story .

A CRUCIAL final element in the multi-million pound renovation of Greenhead Park was taken over by Kirklees Council after problems between the private developers and their sub-contractors. Click here for full story .

ONLY Westminster and Bristol have more listed building than Huddersfield – but a great number in the town were in a state of neglect and decay, the chairman of Huddersfield Civic Society Chris Marsden said. Click here for full story .

PROTESTERS thought developers had jumped the gun at Lindley Moor, controversial site of a planning appeal. But the excavator digging trenches on the site turned out to be in use by archeologists looking for traces of a Roman road. Click here for full story .

MOTHER Carly Evans won the right to send her twin four-year-old daughters Ciera and Kayley to the same school. Initially, officials said there was only one place available at their local Flockton CE First School. Click here for full story .

HUDDERSFIELD Choral Society members were among 750 performers involved in a performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London, of the biggest piece of music ever written: Symphony 1, The Gothic, by Havergal Brian. In all, 120 singers from the Choral joined nine other choirs accompanied by two orchestras, in this rare performance. Tickets sold out as soon as they hit the box office. Click here for full story .

ABOUT 200 David Brown employees at the Lockwood Gear Systems factory went on strike over a 2.5% pay offer and changes in pay grades and pensions. Click here for full story .

CLASSES at Holmfirth Adult Education Centre were partially reprieved after a 2,476-name petition against closure was delivered to Kirklees College which controls the centre. College principal Peter McCann said: "We want to continue adult education in Holmfirth but we can no longer afford to have highly subsidised forms of provision." Click here for full story .

August

POLICE were hunting arsonists who started a massive blaze in a disused factory in Dowker Street, Milnsbridge. More than 40 firefighters battled for hours to bring the inferno at the Taylor Valves factory under control. Click here for full story .

THE BATTLE for local beauty spot Clayton Fields continued as developers moved on to the site and began to put up fencing around the green belt land situated between Edgerton and Birkby. Protestors were pinning their hopes on an appeal at the High Court. Click here for full story .

FIRE chiefs praised staff who saved elderly residents from a blaze at a Fartown care home. Prompt action by two night workers, Joanne Wood and Kelly Byrnes, meant that more than a dozen residents were evacuated calmly and safely. Click here for full story .

DESPITE a heavy downpour thousands flocked to the annual Emley Show, pushing entrance figures up on the previous year. Encouraged by the turn-out, organisers promised an even bigger and better event next year. Click here for full story.

‘A NIGHT of shame’ was how The Examiner described a spate of copycat violence and looting in Huddersfield during which a number of people were arrested. Some of the worst damage was at the Asda supermarket in Bradford Road and at Deighton and Sheepridge Conservative WMC Club in Brackenhall. Click here for full story .

COUNCIL chiefs decided to pull the plug on the annual Christmas ice rink in the Piazza, citing expense as the main reason. They said it cost £150,000 to stage the attraction but ticket sales brought in only £50,000. The ice-rink had been very popular and attracted people into Huddersfield town centre. Click here for full story .

A BRAVE jeweller came face to face with masked raiders armed with a sledgehammer. After smashing a window in Brighouse town centre store and taking jewellery, the raider fled after being confronted by shopkeeper Steve Neimantas. Click here for full story .

A-LEVEL results were a cause for celebration in the town. At Huddersfield New College students achieved a 98% pass rate, above the national average, while at Greenhead College students beat that with a 99% pass rate. A total of 30 Greenhead students also achieved their Oxbridge offers. Click here for full story .

SINGING sensation Ashford Campbell was being tipped for the top when he wowed X Factor judges in the early stages of the competition. The former Huddersfield Grammar School pupil went all the way to the live shows. Click here for full story .

A MOTORIST was left stunned when an insurance company refused him a policy because of his HD2 postcode. Richard Williams wanted to insure his BMW but was told there was a ban on the area where he lives in Birkby. The case highlighted the fact that car insurance is a postcode lottery. Click here for full story .

September

OBJECTORS lost their fight to prevent development of a new cemetery at Farnley Hey, near Castle Hill. Councillors voted unanimously for development, though protesters said it would be windswept, waterlogged and an eyesore. Click here for full story .

A PLAN to convert the Black Bull pub in Mirfield into a Tesco store provoked a mass rally at the site. Protests were still rumbling on over Tesco’s plans for a Huddersfield ring road store and another at New Mill Road, Holmfirth. Click here for full story .

THE deaths of Efias and Grace Rusukira – whose bodies were found by police in the couple’s Deighton flat – shocked neighbours. Efias strangled his wife and hanged himself. Click here for full story .

AFTER many rumours, the full scale of a plan to develop 260 hectares of land in Birkby’s Grimescar Valley, at Ainley Top and as far as Fixby, was revealed. The proposed development was dubbed the ‘Northern Gateway’ and included residential and commercial property, a hotel and a care home. Click here for full story .

PATRICK Borys and Marcin Kasprzak admitted they abducted Kasprzak’s girlfriend Michalina Lewandowska and buried her alive in a cardboard box near Woodsome Hall Golf Club. Michalina, 27, escaped by cutting herself free with her engagement ring. Click here for full story .

VANDALS wrecked Reinwood Infant School’s new garden centre before it was officially opened. The school’s outdoor learning co-ordinator Bethany Matthews had worked for months to get funding for the centre. Click here for full story .

OUTDOOR swimming fans challenged British Waterways’ attempts to prevent them swimming in Sparth Reservoir at Marsden. "Our No Swimming signs are there for the benefit and safety of the public," a BW spokesman said. Click here for full story .

KIRKLEES Council leader Clr Mehboob Khan warned that Kirklees young people might be left jobless if the council failed to develop greenfield sites. Anti-LDF lobbyists poured scorn on his defence of the 17-year development plan. Click here for full story.

ANDREW Lindo showed no emotion or remorse as he was found guilty of the murder of his fiancee, Marie Stewart, at their Holmfirth home in 2010. He had strangled, battered and stabbed her before stuffing her into as suitcase and hiding her in their garage. He was sentenced to 22 years’ jail. Click here for full story .

October

UNUSUALLY, three singers on the ever-popular X-Factor national TV talent show were from Huddersfield. Jordan Higo, of Crosland Moor, and Ashford Campbell from Lowerhouses were in boy band Nu Vibe and Carolynne Poole from Birkby was a solo singer. Carolynne left the show at the beginning of the month and Nu Vibe were voted off on October 16. Jordan then got a second chance joining boyband The Risk after a band member left, but the band didn’t reach the final stages. Click here for full story .

KIRKLEES Council announced it would seek Public Finance Initiative cash for a new primary school on the Moorend Academy site in Crosland Moor and major facelifts for Mount Pleasant, Lockwood and All Saints Catholic College, Bradley. Click here for full story .

TEENAGER Jonathan Elson was quoted £47,000 to insure his 11-year-old, £500 Fiat. The Milnsbridge 19-year-old sold his car and considered buying a ‘smartbox’ which monitors speed and braking and checks that the driver is not out and about between 11pm and 6am. Compliance could have reduced his insurance to about £2,500. Click here for full story .

THATCHERS Furnishings, the quality furnishing store in Dundas Street, Huddersfield, closed. it had been established in 1940. The name lives on in Thatchers of Huddersfield Ltd, a new company which opened on Leeds Road on Boxing Day. Click here for full story .

POLICE arrested several people in raids targeting suspected ‘cash for crash’ insurance fraudsters. The inquiry is investigating the suspected staging of car accidents to falsely claim insurance payouts. Click here for full story .

RESIDENTS were told they couldn't speak at a meeting to discuss the controversial Local Development Framework, which proposed building 28,000 new homes in Kirklees by 2028. They were to be given the right to speak at a specially arranged November 8 Cabinet meeting instead. Click here for full story .

PLANS to dim or extinguish many of Kirklees’ 52,000 street lights were discussed by the council in a bid to cut a £1.8m street lighting bill. The first area to be dimmed down was Thornton Lodge. Click here for full story .

CONSUMER watchdogs found that Chinese fireworks masquerading under the brand name of Black Cat contained a powerful and potentially fatal flash powder and were being sold in Huddersfield. Click here for full story .

MOBILE speed cameras were to be introduced on the B6108 Meltham to Lockwood road by the end of the month, following yet another accident. Cyclist Adrian Daniels, 22, was seriously injured. Click here for full story .

A CALL to ban dogs from Huddersfield sports fields was made by Clr Christine Stanfield who said: "There is a huge number of people who think it’s the council’s job to clean up." Click here for full story .

COUNCIL officials apologised after it was discovered that a gravestone had been used to repair a dry stone wall in Bourne View Road, Netherton. Click here for full story .

ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour in Station Street was blamed on the clients of Lifeline, a centre in that street offering drugs and alcohol treatment. Click here for full story .

November

KELLY Moon, 22, decked out her mother’s Cowlersley home with a ghoulish array of handmade models and accessories on a Halloween theme. The items included spiders, ghosts, zombies, skeletons and even a Grim Reaper with glowing eyes. Click here for full story .

TURBOCHARGER manufacturer Cummins Turbo Technologies and valve maker Severn Unival were among 119 successful bidders in the second round of applications for a share of the Government’s £1.4bn regional growth fund. Click here for full story .

A SERIES of calls sparked a lion hunt in Shepley. Rail passengers were not allowed to get off at the village station after it was reported that a cub had been seen on the Penistone Line. Click here for full story .

SOME of the 60 staff at Oxfam’s Beck Road depot are due to move to a site in Morley, near Leeds, a relocation caused by the devastating fire in April. Several workers said they were dismayed at the thought of having to travel that distance. Click here for full story .

A PLAN to allow motorists to pay for their parking by mobile phone in Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Holmfirth was backed by Kirklees councillors. The scheme is likely to cost £5,000 to set up and £1,500 a year to run. Click here for full story .

MUHAMMED Nassam foiled a would-be robber who tried to grab a bag containing £5,000 as he was on the way to the bank. Mr Nassam, of Fartown, was punched twice in the face but held on to the bag. Click here for full story .

ARTHUR Briggs and Arthur Crawshaw are golfing partners who played two or three times a week, despite both being 95 years old. "If it rains we go inside and have a game of snooker," said Mr Crawshaw. Click here for full story .

GREEN Belt land in Grimescar Valley was saved from development – but land at the lower end of the valley in Birkby was ‘public open space’ and could still be built on, protesters were told. Click here for full story.

HUDDERSFIELD Town broke a Football Association record by playing an unbeaten consecutive run of 43 games – games either won or drawn. Click here for full story .

THE stormy scheduled ‘public’ November 23 Local Development Framework meeting lasted 12 hours. A compromise meant that Kirklees should build 22,470 new homes over the next 15 years, not 28,000, with 2,472 in South Kirklees. Click here for full story .

VOLUNTEERS were to be given a chance to run their village libraries in Golcar, Honley, Slaithwaite, Shepley Kirkburton, Denby Dale and Lepton in a further Kirklees cost-cutting exercise. The proposal met with much disapproval. Click here for full story .

HUDDERSFIELD was counting the cost of a public sector workers’ one-day strike that disrupted schools, cleansing, care homes, council, hospital and ambulance services. Thousands joined the national protest at the Government’s plans to change their pension schemes. Click here for full story .

December

THE owners of land on top of Castle Hill, Mick and Barry Thandi, were told that Kirklees Council could reject their plan for a pub on the site in favour of a nature reserve. Click here for full story .

ACROBATIC displays, music, a light sculpture show in St Peter’s Gardens and a firework display marked a three-day Festival of Light celebration that was marred only by bad weather and delays caused when a steel ball, vital for the acrobatic display by Grupo Puja!, was accidentally left on a Dutch quayside. Click here for full story .

NORTHERN Rail announced it was to add another 60 carriages to its stock to relieve chronic overcrowding on its routes, including the transPennine Huddersfield to Manchester line through the Colne Valley. Click here for full story .

LINDLEY councillor Tony Brice was thrown out of the Conservative group on Kirklees Council after being convicted of benefit fraud. Click here for full story .

MORE than 100 fundraisers dressed as Santa and ‘dashed’ around the town centre in foul weather to raise £1,735 for 19 charities. Click here for full story .

A LANDMARK building was destroyed by fire, temporarily closing the M62’s Junction 23 slip road at Outlane. The four-storey building, formerly housing Lumb’s joiners and once managed by Town and England soccer hero Ray Wilson, was to be demolished. Click here for full story .

"I DARE you to shoot me," defiant car showroom owner Shak Shah told shotgun-toting raiders when they demanded cash at Shak’s Specialist Cars on Birkby Hall Road, Birkby. Mr Shah later shut them in the premises, forcing them to shoot their way out to escape virtually empty-handed. Click here for full story .

MARCIN Kasprzak was convicted of attempted murder and his co-defendant Patryk Borys of kidnapping. Kasprzak buried his former fiancee Michelina Lewandowski in a cardboard box near Woodsome Hall. Click here for full story .

A BURST water pipe flooded premises at Bradley Mills. Company secretary for Ironmongers Timothy Wood, Graham Stanley, said they would be losing about £10,000 a day in the run-up to Christmas. Click here for full story.