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<strong>Obama Brings Campaign to Leesburg:</strong> Presidential candidate Barack Obama makes a stop for a rally at Ida Lee Park in Leesburg. (Carol Guzy)

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<strong>The Wrong Way Home:</strong> It was already called Crooked Bridge, but it was much straighter — and safer — than this before <a href="/news/2008/may/12/waters-recede-extent-damage-remains-unknown/">flooding in May</a> left the structure badly damaged, <a href="/news/2008/may/13/rain-submerges-bridge-responsibility-repairs-uncle/">cutting off the only road</a> to a pocket of houses south of Oatlands. Residents with four-wheel-drive vehicles were able to use a path through a cornfield, but many cars had to traverse the shaky bridge one last time and park along Lime Kiln Road. The bridge is privately owned, and <a href="/news/2008/may/18/residents-seek-help-after-bridge-damage/">county officials worked</a> to give residents an alternative route. The Greenlea homeowners association is looking for contractors <a href="/news/2008/jun/01/weeks-crooked-bridge-still-out/">to work on the bridge</a>, which it hopes to have refurbished by spring. (Susan Biddle)

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<strong>Not Too Old to Throw a Party:</strong> Mayor Kristen C. Umstattd led a cake-cutting ceremony as Leesburg celebrated the <a href="/tags/250th-anniversary/">250th anniversary</a> of its founding. The party in the historic downtown in September included an anniversary ale, concerts, children’s games and other entertainment. (Joel Richardson)

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<strong>Half Off and All Hurting:</strong> The signs of a <a href="/tags/economy/">weak economy</a> were visible in store windows in downtown Leesburg, advertising deep discounts and, in some cases, space for rent. The <a href="/news/2008/jul/24/downtown-leesburg/">downtown district felt a squeeze</a> from lower consumer spending, higher costs and growing competition from nearby malls. “It’s been scary watching one good business after another close,” said Irene Jericho at the Esoterica store in the 100 block of South King Street. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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<strong>Safe in Their Loving Arms:</strong> Joseph Banks got an enthusiastic welcome from son Tyler, 4, and wife Kitty Banks of Blackstone, Va., as 180 soldiers in the 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Virginia National Guard <a href="/news/2008/apr/28/leesburg-national-guard-soldiers-return/">returned to the Leesburg Armory</a> after a year in Iraq. More than 140 members of the military from Virginia have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Rich Lipski)

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<strong>The Hospital Fight Comes to a Head:</strong> One of Loudoun County’s most contentious issues in decades <a href="/blogs/living-loco/2008/oct/15/broadlands-residents-voice-outrage-hoa-endorsement-hospital/">brought out posters, protesters and hundreds of residents</a> for hearings on plans for a new hospital. The HCA Virginia proposal for a 164-bed hospital in <a href="/tags/broadlands/">Broadlands</a> faced <a href="/news/2008/jul/01/hca-partnership-wont-ease-residents-woes/">opposition from neighbors</a> and nearby <a href="/tags/inova-loudoun-hospital/">Inova Loudoun Hospital</a>. The Planning Commission <a href="/news/2008/nov/25/county-planning-commission-recommends-broadlands-h/">voted 5 to 4 in favor</a> of the proposal, and the Board of Supervisors has until May to make its decision. (Dayna Smith)

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<strong>From the Flames at the Old School:</strong> The Hillsboro Community Center, known as the Old Stone School and dating to the 1870s, was <a href="/news/2008/may/28/kitchen-fire-damages-hillsboro-community-center/">damaged by a fire in May</a>, and workers have been <a href="/news/2008/may/31/fire/">fixing it</a> since. At left, Steve Zurschmeide, left, and William Ovando strip the ceiling to bare wood. The repaired and renovated building is due to reopen early this year. Waterford, too, is nearing completion of renovations and repairs to its Old School, which was badly damaged in a 2007 fire. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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<strong>Dancing at a New Hotspot Down on the Old Farm:</strong> Students from the Loudoun School of Ballet in Leesburg strut their stuff <a href="/news/2008/feb/03/photo-gallery-franklin-park-performing-and-visual-/">at the opening</a> of the <a href="/tags/franklin-park-center/">Franklin Park Performing & Visual Arts Center</a>. The center, built on the foundation of an old dairy barn in Purcellville, opened as the first theater and concert venue in Loudoun County not attached to a school or university. Volunteers started building the center after the barn burned in 1997. It has a stadium-style theater framed by huge wooden rafters and the wall of the original silo, which survived the fire. (Rich Lipski)

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<strong>48 Horses Removed From Middleburg Farm:</strong> The horse above was among 48 <a href="/news/2008/jan/23/48-horses-seized-over-poor-farm-conditions/">seized from a Middleburg farm</a> Jan. 22 and taken to the Loudoun County Animal Shelter when the county filed charges that the animals had been malnourished and neglected. By mid-November, none of the horses remained at the shelter. <a href="/news/2008/mar/02/14-seized-horses-transferred/">Most were placed</a> with equine rescue groups or were in adoptive homes. (Ricky Carioti)

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<strong>Standing Up for Sterling:</strong> After two <a href="/news/2008/sep/17/police-investigating-triple-shooting-sterling/">multiple shootings</a> within a few days in mid-September, Loudoun officials <a href="/news/2008/sep/24/sterling-uproar-over-violence/">met with hundreds of residents of the Sterling area</a>. Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson asked audience members to be vigilant and to pass along knowledge of criminal activity to law enforcement officials. (Katherine Frey)