They made headlines, sparked water cooler talk and kept us busy in the newsroom.  It's time to count down the Top 5 Local News Stories of the Year.  Our annual feature is back again and this year was a little more difficult than previous years. 2011 was full of big news stories that affected our lives from elections to announcements, promises made, promises kept and promises broken.  

So, with the year coming to an end this weekend it's time to reveal out list. In at # 5 this year was an announcement that got the attention of the international business community.

The $3.25 billion announcement that the Legacy Project on the north side of Buffalo Pound garnered the attention of the local business sector, provincial officials and the international investment market. Up until that point, K+S Potash from Germany had just been exploring the idea of a new mine in Saskatchewan.  Sure, they had built some roads and some work sites but there was never an official mining project underway.

In November, it became official to the delight of a lot of local people who were trying to push the project forward because they knew what the potential would be for the local and provincial economy.

"I'm very pleased to tell you that the Supervisor Board of Directors has approved the Legacy Project." announced Senior Vice President and Project Manager Mike Ferguson at a special luncheon in Moose Jaw. "They's approved $3.25 billion in expenditures over the next five to seven years to construct what we call the first two phases."

A lot of people were following the project closely, at the head of the pack was Thunder Creek MLA Lyle Stewart because the site was in his riding.  He never really doubted the project was going to happen because of all the work he's witnessed this year on site but an official announcement can always calm whatever nerves are there.

"I think this will be huge for Moose Jaw and for my constituency of Thunder Creek." said Stewart. "During construction of the mine there will be up to a thousand people on site and when the mine gets into the production phase, which will get started in 2015, when it's up to full production there will be up to over 300 permanent jobs."

As part of the announcement this year, K+S Potash made it clear that they would like to use Moose Jaw as their main hub of operation.  While Ferguson didn't elaborate on that he did say that employees will need homes to live in and schools for training.

The mine will be the first new potash project in Saskatchewan in the last 40 years.

Stay tuned as we continue to countdown the Top 5 Local News Stories of the Year.  If you're interested, we've also dug out the list from 2010, click here to check it out.