Under staffing at Naracoorte Hospital was one of the big issues covered by the Herald in 2012.
IT was a massive year of news in Naracoorte in 2012.
The Herald looks back on what made headlines in and around the town throughout the year.
In January a Naracoorte local received a big shock when attacked by a six foot bronze whaler shark near Kingston on New Year's Eve.
Ben Bull lost nearly a litre of blood and required nearly 40 stitches as a result of the bite to his left leg.
That wasn't the only big news of the month with a local woman winning Division one X-Lotto.
The lucky winner bagged $4 million from her lucky break.
"It's unbelievable, just absolutely unbelievable," she told the Herald after her win.
The winning ticket was purchased from the Kincraig Plaza kiosk.
David and Yvonne Hogarth were announced as Naracoorte's citizens of the year while Isobel Carracher took out the honour at Lucindale.
Flowing onto February, there was a furore over Naracoorte Lucindale Council area heritage listings, with a handful of property owners not wanting their properties to be listed at the expense of their privacy.
The Taste the Limestone Coast Festival was once again a big hit with nearly 2000 people swarming into the Naracoorte town squares.
All profits from the festival were donated to the Naracoorte CT Scan project.
It wasn't all positive news in Naracoorte, with two shops in the main street of Naracoorte closing down.
Red Rooster and Sweet Kiwi both shut their doors, but local business owners remained positive and later came together for a Herald promotion in a public show of strength.
Local businessman Neil Ottoson at the time described Naracoorte as a successful, vibrant town and said it would continue to be well into the future.
March was all action with the CT Scan project coming along nicely.
The Naracoorte Lions Club came up with the idea of building and selling a house with proceeds going to the the CT Scan.
The aim is to raise $100,000 for the project.
The SE Field Days were among the biggest ever, with 23,000 people attending the event at Yakka Park in Lucindale.
An amazing $150,000 plus was given away to local charities after the two day event, including $100,000 to the Naracoorte CT Scan project.
April rolled around and another main street store closed, with Leading Edge Music shutting its doors.
The 34-year-old store's demise was blamed on a weak retail trend brought about by competition from online music sales and locals shopping elsewhere.
Co-owner Mandy Barr said: "Anybody that thinks we're not being damaged by goods being bought online are kidding themselves."
In May the Naracoorte Hospital opened as the Mr John Smith Operating Theatre, a nod to former local surgeon John Smith.
Mr Smith was the resident general surgeon at Naracoorte Hospital from 1962-1994.
Mental health was a hot topic with former AFL footballer Glenn Manton in town for a series of high profile mental wellness events.
These events were put on by the Naracoorte Area Health Advisory Council in an effort to put mental health in the spotlight.
Jockey Louise Cooper's heartbreaking story was also covered by the Herald.
Mrs Cooper was left a paraplegic after a race fall at Edenhope on March 24.
Since then the local racing community has got right behind Louise and her husband Matt, formerly of Lucindale.
On a more celebratory note, former Naracoorte girl Jess Trengove was ratified one of three Australian team members for the women's marathon at the London Olympics.
June opened with controversy as the KNTFL match between Kingston and Penola at Kingston was called off due to an injury to a player.
Kingston teenager David Werner was hit in an off-the-ball incident and the match was called off as he was attended to.
Penola captain Luke Duncan was eventually found guilty of striking Werner after a month-long investigation and was suspended for three matches at the beginning of July.
Also that month, two weeks after adopting the 2012-13 budget, the Naracoorte Lucindale Council asked CEO Helen Macdonald to "investigate and implement measures" to try to and achieve an efficiency dividend to wipe out the $150,000 budget deficit.
The new Naracoorte town entrances were completed around this time - a diprotodon skeleton at the north entrance and a mother and baby zygomaturus at the southern end of town.
Charges for some items at the council-owned Naracoorte waste transfer station went up 200 per cent, sparking a strong public response.
One unnamed local builder was angry that a trailer he would usually unload for $19 would now cost $67 to dump at the station.
August was all about our golden girl Jess Trengove.
Trengove ran the 42km women's marathon at the London Olympics on August 5.
The Herald featured an interview with her parents the week before and a one-on-one with Trengove after the race, detailing her experience.
In the months from her qualification until the race itself the Herald was lucky enough to have Trengove contribute a weekly diary, giving readers a look into the world of a marathon runner.
Rounding out the month was the revelation Naracoorte would host the 2014 Masters Games.
The town had hosted the same event successfully in 2011 and the council was ecstatic to secure the games again.
There were shocking scenes in September as a rental house in Apsley was found to be in an "absolutely putridly revolting" state by the owners after evicting the tenants.
Piles of rubbish and dog faeces made for a dramatic front page.
The drama continued a week after with nurses protest outside Naracoorte Hospital led by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.
They were crying out against understaffing at the hopsital, with around 80 locals making their voices heard.
Things began heating up in October with the announcement the swimming lake would only be patrolled by lifeguards when the temperature reaches 30 degrees or higher this summer.
This decision was made by the council to cut running costs at the lake.
The Naracoorte Show drew a "tremendous" crowd in another good sign for the show which four years ago had been struggling.
The new committee took over in 2008 and the event has prospered ever since.
Big news for the whole region was the official demise of Limestone Coast Tourism, with the body conceding lack of financial sustainability made it a lost cause.
"A Night On The Cooch" fundraising concert opened up November's news, with the event attracting a large crowd to the showgrounds.
The Flaming Sambuccas and Mickey's Disco kept the masses entertained long into the night.
In other news, Frances Folk Gathering was seeking sponsorship after the withdrawal of government funding.
The gathering is run as a free event but the lack of sponsorship money could put an end to that.
December was all about Christmas, with coverage of the pageant and carols taking centre stage.
The Christmas pageant was switched to a Friday night this year and the new format appeared to be a winner.
That was the Herald's 2012 in a nutshell - will 2013 produce just as much news?