Friends and family walk to Fermin Estrada's grave at Willow Mount Cemtery. (T-G file photo by Clint Confehr) [Click to enlarge]

The shooting of Fermin Estrada Sr. and the resulting multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the City of Shelbyville have been selected as the biggest story of 2006 by a poll of Times-Gazette staffers, beating out the regulatory dispute which kept the Celebration from naming a World Grand Champion.

For the past week, the Times-Gazette has looked back at 2006 by counting down the top ten news stories of the year. Here are the stories revealed so far:

10) Eastern European students spend months in Shelbyville as temporary workers; some run into financial trouble

9) BCMC gets permission to build new hospital

8) Veterans Memorial Plaza completed and dedicated; statue is defaced later in year

7) Beloved T-G columnist Dick Poplin dies

6) After Holton's execution date set, he decides to live

5) National Guard troops return from Iraq

4) Eugene Ray elected county mayor

3) Randall Boyce defeats incumbent sheriff Clay Parker after Parker misses filing deadline and conducts court challenge to remain on ballot

Here, then, are the top two local stories of 2006:

2) Regulatory dispute hits Celebration; no World Grand Champion named (86 points, 6 first place votes)

The United States Department of Agriculture has had rules in place for years to protect horses from cruel training methods. Those rules include inspection of horses at Tennessee Walking Horse shows. Sometimes such inspections are done by veterinarians hired by the show management, but the federal government also has the right to step in with its own inspectors.

That created controversy during the 2006 show season, as trainers complained that the federal inspectors were inconsistent or excessive in disqualifying horses. At some preliminary shows, trainers withdrew rather than risk disqualification.

During the 2006 Celebration, trainers withdrew en masse on the first Friday night of the show, causing that night's and the next morning's classes to be cancelled. When it seemed that an agreement had been reached between trainers and regulators, the classes were rescheduled. But then, a rash of disqualifications during the World Grand Championship class led to the cancellation of that class for the first time in Celebration history. The exact circumstances which led the class to be cancelled were a matter of debate for some time after the show. Walking horse breeders and exhibitors considered having a special invitational show in order to declare a World Grand Champion, but that proposal turned out to be controversial and the show was never held.

1) Police officer shoots Fermin Estrada Jr., generates controversy (94 points, 5 first place votes)

Some might have assumed that the Celebration story -- which made the Associated Press's list of the top 10 stories of 2006 for all of Tennessee -- would lead the Bedford County list. But it was edged out by a controversy which touches on several highly-emotional issues, from the culture clash caused by the influx of Hispanics to Bedford County to the life-and-death risks faced by police officers in the line of duty and the great responsibility that accompanies their enforcement power.

Merchant Fermin Estrada Sr., 47, died March 18 after being shot in the head by police during a party at his 15-acre property in western Shelbyville. Shelbyville police department officers James Wilkerson and Bruce Davis were responding to a complaint from a woman who reported three men, one of whom matched a description of Estrada, were on her property line. She said one of the three men had a pistol and described a man wearing a shirt and hat like those Estrada was wearing.

According to prosecutors, Estrada fired at least one shot towards Wilkerson and Davis. Wilkerson said he shot back. Local police officials say Wilkerson acted properly and returned him to active duty. But Estrada's survivors claim the police shot without warning and have sued the city for $50 million. Some said that Estrada had been engagining in celebratory gunfire, which is not unheard of in Latino cultures.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has investigated, and prosecutors say the TBI report found that Estrada shot at Wilkerson and Davis. However, the original TBI report is confidential under state law. Just last week, attorneys for the Estrada family claimed the report "raises more questions ... than it answers."

Estrada was the owner of Tienda Mexicana Paty (Paty Mexican Store), named for his daughter Patricia.

Top story suggestions were solicited from the T-G news staff. A ballot containing 29 story possibilities was circulated to 12 different T-G staffers, each of whom selected his or her top 10 choices. Ten points were awarded for a first place vote, nine for a second place vote and so on.

Original reporting by Clint Confehr and René A. Capley conributed to this story.