2009 Ladies European Tour
The 2009 Ladies European Tour was a series of golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place from January through December 2009. The tournaments were sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET).


2009 Ladies European Tour
The tour featured 21 official money events, as well as the Solheim Cup and the European Ladies Golf Cup. Sophie Gustafson won the Order of Merit with earnings of €281,315, ahead of Catriona Matthew. Gustafson participated in only four events, and Matthew only three events. Anna Nordqvist won Rookie of the Year honours, after finishing 13th in the Order of Merit.


2009 Ladies Tour of Qatar
The 2009 Ladies Tour of Qatar was the first edition of the Ladies Tour of Qatar cycling stage race. It was rated by the UCI as category 2.1, and was held between 8 and 10 February 2009, in Qatar.


2009 Ladies Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 1
The sprint of the front group of 21 riders was won by Giorgia Bronzini before Kirsten Wild and Ellen van Dijk.


2009 Ladies Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 3
Team Flexpoint split the bunch with about 10 kilometres to go. After the bunch regrouped slightly, Ellen van Dijk attacked with 800 metres to go. The headwind was very strong and Van Dijk couldn’t stay away. The bunch sprint was won by Giorgia Bronzini before Rochelle Gilmore and Kirsten Wild, who won the general and points classification. Ellen van Dijk, finishing 6th, won the Best Young Rider’s classification.


2009 Ladies Tour of Qatar, Classification leadership
In the 2009 Ladies Tour of Qatar, three different jerseys are awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on each stage and in intermediate sprints, the leader receives a golden jersey. This classification is considered the most important of the Tour of Qatar, and the winner is considered the winner of the Tour.


2009 Ladies Tour of Qatar, Classification leadership
Additionally, there is a points classification, which awards a silver jersey. In the points classification, cyclists get points for finishing in the top three in an intermediate sprint or the top twenty of a stage. The first in an intermediate sprint gets 3 points, second 2, and third a single point. The stage win affords 30 points, second is worth 27 points, 25 for third, 23 for fourth, 21 for fifth, 19 for sixth, 17 for seventh, 15 for eighth, 13 for ninth, 11 for tenth, and one point less per place down the line, to a single point for twentieth.


2009 Ladies Tour of Qatar, Classification leadership
There is also a youth classification, which awards a blue jersey. This classification is calculated the same as the general classification, but only riders born on or after January 1, 1984, are eligible.


2009 Ladies Tour of Qatar, Final classifications, Youth Classification
New Columbia-Highroad women’s team rider Ellen van Dijk secured the Best Young Rider prize. Van Dijk’s consistency after taking the jersey on the first day when she made it into the front group of 21 riders. The last hour of the last stage was a tense affair for the Dutchwoman, when she was caught on the wrong side of a split. She had to get past seven groups and finally crossed the line in sixth place, in the same time as stage winner, and won the Best Young Rider’s classification.


2009 Lafayette Leopards football team
The 2009 Lafayette Leopards football team was an American football team that represented Lafayette College in the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Lafayette tied for second place in the Patriot League.


2009 Lafayette Leopards football team
The team was led by Frank Tavani, in his 10th season as head coach. The Leopards played their home games at Fisher Stadium in Easton, Pennsylvania.


2009 Lahore police academy attack
At 07:31 on 30 March 2009, the Manawan Police Academy in Lahore, Pakistan, was attacked by an estimated 12 gunmen. The perpetrators were armed with automatic weapons and grenades or rockets and some were dressed as policemen. They took over the main building during a morning parade when 750 unarmed police recruits were present on the compound's parade ground. Police forces arrived 90 minutes later and were able to take back the building by 15:30. Five trainees, two instructors and a passer-by were killed. A suspect was captured alive in a field near the school. Three of the attackers blew themselves up to avoid arrest while three others were taken into custody as they tried to escape in police uniforms. The four were taken to undisclosed locations for interrogation by the security forces according to local media.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Initial attacks
The Manawan Police Academy is a training school of the Pakistan Police located on the outskirts of Lahore. At around 07:30 at least 12 gunmen, some dressed in police uniform, attacked the academy during the morning drill hour when around 750 unarmed police recruits were on parade. The gunmen apparently gained access to the site by scaling the perimeter wall before causing three or four explosions on the parade ground, using grenades or rockets, and opening fire with automatic weapons. Several civilians on the road adjacent to the compound were hit by fire from the gunmen apparently when the gunmen attacked a police guard detachment near to a gate.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Initial attacks
The academy had only been in a peacetime defensive stance and probably contained just a small armoury of outdated weapons. The attackers proceeded across the parade ground and stormed the academy building, taking hostages from the police trainees and establishing three or four defensive positions including one on the rooftop.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Siege
Elite Forces of Punjab Police arrived on the site within 90 minutes of the attack and were cheered on by a crowd of spectators. The security forces took up position on rooftops around the compound, firing on the gunmen and sealing off any escape routes. The gunmen returned fire with automatic weaponry and grenades and also shot at a police helicopter. Several hours into the attack security forces used explosives to storm the building and retake it from the gunmen after ten to fifteen minutes of sustained firing, capturing the building by 15:30. During the course of the attack and siege eight police personnel, two civilians and eight gunmen were killed and 95 people injured. At least four of the gunmen have been captured alive by the security forces.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Siege
A curfew was imposed in the area surrounding the academy. Several hundred civilians poured in from close by localities to watch the operation despite the ‘curfew-like’ conditions in the area. Elite forces declared victory signs on completion of the successful operation. Punjab Police resorted to aerial firing and chanted slogans of Allahu Akbar after the siege successfully ended and hostages were freed and at least three of the would-be suicide bombers were caught alive.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Claims of responsibility, Baitullah Mehsud
The leader of Tehrik-i-Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud took responsibility for the attack. "Yes, we have carried out this attack. I will give details later," Mehsud, an al Qaeda-linked leader based in the Waziristan tribal region told Reuters by telephone. He also said that his next target would be Washington D.C., US.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Claims of responsibility, Baitullah Mehsud
Mehsud was also accused by the government of Pakistan for carrying out the attack that killed popular Pakistani political leader, Benazir Bhutto in December 2007.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Claims of responsibility, Fedayeen al-Islam
Fedayeen al-Islam, a previously unknown group, claimed responsibility for the assault and added that it would carry out more attacks unless Pakistani troops withdraw from the tribal areas near the Afghan border and the end of US drone attacks in the country.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Arrests
A person named Hijratullah, believed to be part of the group of attackers, was apprehended by local citizens when he was seen hiding in the nearby fields at first and then moving slowly towards the rescue helicopters with two grenades in his hand. He was confirmed by authorities as a resident of Paktika province of Afghanistan. Authorities also confirmed later to have arrested 3 more attackers after the Rangers forced them to lay down their arms. Another gunman Hazrat Gull of Miranshah in Waziristan was also arrested. Ten suspects belonging to a religious organisation were arrested from Sukkur.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Arrests
Police also arrested Qari Ishtiaq, who was said to be the commander of the Punjabi Taliban. He was arrested from Bahawalpur on the information provided by the Hijratullah who was jailed for 10 years due to his role. Seven other militants were arrested from different parts of Punjab based on his information.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Reaction
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan both condemned the attacks.


2009 Lahore police academy attack, Reaction
Interior Minister Rehman Malik, placed security services on high alert across the country and pointed the finger at extremist groups and hinted Indian involvement. Further he stated that fighters loyal to Baitullah Mehsud were believed to have carried out the attack. Rehman Malik said that all these terrorist outfits were receiving weapons and funds from outside the country. He said "Some rival country, or some hostile Intelligence agency is definitely out to destabilise our democratic forces". He said the attack was impeccably planned.


2009 Lake Ohrid boat accident
On 5 September 2009, the Ilinden sightseeing boat with a group of 57 foreign tourists on board, of which 55 were Bulgarian, sank in Lake Ohrid, southwestern Republic of Macedonia. Fifteen people died. The sinking of the Ilinden was the deadliest boat accident in the history of the Republic of Macedonia.


2009 Lake Ohrid boat accident
Lake Ohrid is the deepest lake in the Balkans, with maximum depth of 288 metres (945 ft). The Ilinden boat was taking tourists to the Saint Naum Monastery. The boat, built in 1924, had a maximum capacity of 45 passengers. It sank within four minutes, some 200 metres (700 ft) from the shore, in shallow waters. The boat is said to have sunk around 11:00 AM local time, in the vicinity of the Elešec camping site. Two other boats, the Alexandria and the Kristina, were nearby and were able to assist the passengers of the Ilinden. Most of the tourists on board were senior citizens, many of whom were unable to swim. Victims were from Pirdop, Zlatitsa, Chelopech and particularly Anton.


2009 Lake Ohrid boat accident
The Republic of Macedonia's top officials visited the place of the accident. Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov ordered that a Bulgarian government aeroplane bring the surviving Bulgarians back home. Another aeroplane, a Bulgarian Air Force C-27J Spartan, transported the corpses of Bulgarian victims. The Minister of Transportation and Communications of the Republic of Macedonia Mile Janakievski offered his resignation over the accident due to moral reasons, which was not accepted by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.


2009 Lake Ohrid boat accident
6 September was declared a national day of mourning in the Republic of Macedonia. Similarly, 7 September was declared a national day of mourning in Bulgaria and all official events related to the celebration of the Bulgarian unification on 6 September were cancelled. A minute of silence was observed before Macedonia and Bulgaria's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers later on 5 September and against Scotland and Montenegro.


2009 Lake Ohrid boat accident
A nongovernmental organization, the Bulgarian Cultural Club – Skopje proposed to Mayor Aleksandar Petreski of Ohrid the erection of a monument commemorating both the victims of the accident and those whose help saved many lives.


2009 Lake Ohrid boat accident
In November 2020, a monument in Ohrid to the Bulgarian tourists that died on the ship Ilinden was vandalized and destroyed. On the 28th of November, the mayor of Ohrid, Konstantin Georgieski announced that the plaque had been replaced.


2009 Lakewood shooting
On November 29, 2009, four police officers of Lakewood, Washington were fatally shot at the Forza (now Blue Steele) Coffee shop, located at 11401 Steele Street #108 South in the Parkland unincorporated area of Pierce County, Washington, near Tacoma. A gunman, later identified as Maurice Clemmons, entered the shop, shot the officers while they worked on laptops, and fled the scene with a single gunshot wound in his torso. After a massive two-day manhunt that spanned several nearby cities, an officer recognized Clemmons near a stalled car in south Seattle. When he refused orders to stop, he was shot and killed by a Seattle Police Department officer.


2009 Lakewood shooting
Five people, all friends and family of Clemmons, were convicted of crimes associated with aiding his escape and enabling him to elude capture, but most convictions were reversed on appeal, based on court findings of misconduct by the Pierce County Prosecutor's Office, led by Mark Lindquist.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Pattern of attacks on police
Clemmons' shooting of the Lakewood officers was initially thought to be have been part of a targeted attack by multiple persons against police officers in the Seattle-Tacoma area, but these actions are now considered unrelated. Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton was murdered a month earlier under similar circumstances. Three weeks later on December 21 in Eatonville, two Pierce County sheriff's deputies were shot and critically injured (one later died of his wounds). That gunman was shot dead in return fire. The Lakewood shooting is the most deadly attack on law enforcement in the state of Washington.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Pattern of attacks on police
At the time, the Lakewood shooting was both the deadliest attack on law enforcement in the United States since the March 21, 2009, fatal shootings of four Oakland, California, police officers, as well as the deadliest attack on law enforcement in a single incident by a single gunman. The four Lakewood police officers were the first to be killed in the line of duty since the department was established in 2004.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator
Maurice Clemmons (February 6, 1972 – December 1, 2009) was identified as the shooter in the November 29, 2009 murder of four police officers in Parkland, Washington. After evading police for two days following the shooting, Clemmons was shot and killed by a police officer in Seattle.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator
Prior to his involvement in the shooting, Clemmons had five felony convictions in Arkansas and eight felony charges in Washington. His first incarceration began in 1989, at age 17. Facing sentences totaling 108 years in prison, the burglary sentences were reduced in 2000 by Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee to 47 years, which made him immediately eligible for parole. The Arkansas Parole Board unanimously moved to release him in 2000. Clemmons was subsequently arrested on other charges and was jailed several times. In the months prior to the Parkland shooting, he was in jail on charges of assaulting a police officer and raping a child. One week prior to the Parkland shooting, he was released from jail after posting a $150,000 bail bond.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator
At the time, Clemmons' murder of four police officers represented the largest number of law enforcement officers killed by a lone perpetrator in a single incident in U.S. history. It was surpassed in July 2016 when a mass shooting occurred in Dallas, Texas, resulting in the deaths of five police officers.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Early life and juvenile crimes
Maurice Clemmons's father made frames for automobile seats at a Chrysler factory;  his mother, Dorothy Mae Clemmons, worked in a nursing home. He had five siblings. Clemmons lived in Marianna, Arkansas in his early youth, and moved to Little Rock as a teen. He was arrested when he was a junior at Hall High School for carrying a .25-caliber pistol on school property. He claimed to be carrying the gun because he was "beaten by dopers", and said he had "something for them" if they attacked him again.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Early life and juvenile crimes
Clemmons did not return to school, and finished his education at eleventh grade. In 1989, a 17-year-old Clemmons and two other accomplices robbed a woman at midnight in the parking lot of a Little Rock hotel bar. Clemmons pretended to have a gun in his pocket and threatened to shoot her if she did not give him her purse. When she responded, "Well, why don't you just shoot? ", he punched her in the head and ran off with the purse, which contained $16 and a credit card. A court sentenced Clemmons to 35 years imprisonment for the crime.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Early life and juvenile crimes
Clemmons was accused multiple times of displaying violent behavior during court appearances. In one incident, he managed to dismantle a metal door stop, hiding it in his sock to use as a weapon. It was discovered and confiscated by a court bailiff. In another incident, he took a lock from his holding cell and threw it at a bailiff, but missed and accidentally hit his mother instead. Clemmons was once accused of reaching for a guard's pistol while being transported to court.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Early life and juvenile crimes
During one trial, he was shackled in leg irons and seated next to a uniformed officer because the presiding judge had ordered extra security, claiming Clemmons had threatened him. At age 16, Clemmons's charges were transferred from juvenile court to adult court due to the extremely violent nature of his crimes and his threatening demeanor.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Early life and juvenile crimes
By 1990, Clemmons was sentenced to 108 years in prison for eight felony charges from his teenage years in Arkansas. The total prison term stemmed from multiple sentences, some of which were concurrent to others, while others were consecutive. The heaviest sentence came in 1990, when he was given a 60-year prison term for breaking into an Arkansas state trooper's home and stealing $6,700 in property, including a gun.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Early life and juvenile crimes
During his sentencing on the charges, a circuit judge told Clemmons that he had broken his mother's heart, to which he responded, "I have broken my own heart." In 1989, Clemmons was sentenced to 35 years in prison for his 1989 robbery in the parking lot of the Little Rock hotel bar. Among his other sentences were six years for weapons possession based on his high school arrest and eight years for burglary, theft and probation violation in Pulaski County. He was ineligible for parole until at least 2015. Clemmons was initially held at the Tucker Correctional Facility in Tucker, Arkansas and was eventually transferred to the Cummins Unit near Grady.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Clemency
Where once stood a young ... misguided fool, who's  [sic] own life he was unable to rule. Now stands a 27-year-old man, who has learned through 'the school of hard knocks' to appreciate and respect the rights of others. And who has in the midst of the harsh reality of prison life developed the necessary skills to stand along ([ [sic]]) and not follow a multitude to do evil, as I did as a 16 year old child.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Clemency
—Maurice Clemmons, in his clemency application to Governor Mike Huckabee


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Clemency
In 1999, after having served 10 years of his sentence, Clemmons filed a clemency appeal with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Clemency
In his petition to Huckabee, Clemmons wrote he came from "a very good Christian family" and was "raised much better than my actions speak". Clemmons claimed he had just moved from Seattle, Washington, to Arkansas as a teenager, and because he had no friends he gave in to peer pressure and "fell in with the wrong crowd" to be accepted by his young peers, which led him to commit his crimes. Although he apologized for his actions, Clemmons also complained that he received overly harsh sentences.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Clemency
He also claimed to have changed and expressed regret that his mother had recently died without seeing him turn his life around. Clemmons' clemency application was supported by Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Marion Humphrey, who argued the cumulative sentence was excessive and cited Clemmons' young age at the time he committed the crimes.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Clemency
The decision was made over the objections of some victims and prosecutors involved in Clemmons' previous cases but was supported by the bipartisan parole board and the trial court judge in Clemmons' case. Mark Fraiser, an attorney who prosecuted early cases against Clemmons in Pulaski County, argued Clemmons was extremely likely to commit further acts of violence in the future, and said for a teen to receive such a lengthy prison sentence without committing a murder, "you've got to be a bad little dude".


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Clemency
On May 3, 2000, Huckabee commuted Clemmons' 108-year sentence to 47 years, 5 months and 19 days, which made him eligible for parole that day. As a factor in his decision, Huckabee cited the unusually long sentence for Clemmons' age at the time the crimes were committed. The Arkansas Parole Board unanimously approved Clemmons' release on July 13, 2000, and he was set free on August 1, 2000.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
Less than a year after his release, in March 2001, Clemmons violated parole by committing aggravated robbery and theft yet again in Ouachita County. He was convicted on July 13, 2001 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He faced charges of parole violation, but, due to problems with the case, he was not served with the charges until 2004. His attorney argued the parole violation charges should be dropped, as much time had passed; subsequently, those charges were dismissed. Clemmons was granted parole on the robbery charges in 2004.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
He told the parole board he was "not ready" the first time he was released, but that he "[didn't] want to die in prison" and would "try to do the right thing". Clemmons moved to Washington in 2004 while still on parole, which was approved by Arkansas authorities. That year, he married a woman named Nicole Smith; The Seattle Times later reported the relationship had "been tumultuous". He was placed under the supervision of the Washington State Department of Corrections and classified as "high risk to reoffend". His supervision was to continue until October 2005. He lived in Tacoma, where he ran a landscaping and power-washing business out of his house. Over the next five years, Clemmons was able to purchase six houses, including one in Arkansas and five in Washington.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
Following his parole in 2004, Clemmons had no arrests or problems with the law until May 2009. The Seattle Times noted four days in May 2009 as the time when "Maurice Clemmons' behavior and mental state deteriorated". On May 9, a Pierce County Sheriff's deputy responded to Clemmons' home after reports he was throwing rocks at houses, cars and people. When the deputy tried to enter the house, one of Clemmons' cousins grabbed his wrist. After a struggle, Clemmons emerged from the house and punched the deputy in the face, then assaulted a second deputy who arrived to help.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
Clemmons was placed under arrest and taken to Pierce County Jail, where he continued to struggle and told jail workers, "I'll kill all you bitches." He was charged with two felony assault charges and two felony malicious mischief charges, and released from jail the next day after posting a $40,000 bail bond, without ever seeing a judge.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
On May 11, around 1 a.m., Clemmons appeared naked in his living room and ordered two female relatives, ages 11 and 12, to fondle him. The two reportedly complied out of fear, and the 11-year-old fled the house afterward. Clemmons took the 12-year-old into his bedroom along with Clemmons' wife. Clemmons repeatedly referred to himself as Jesus, and said his wife was Eve. He released the 12-year-old after his wife begged him to let her go. However, around 4 a.m. that same morning, he gathered his family back into the living room and demanded they strip naked together.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
He later left the house, claiming the world was coming to an end and that he was "going to fly to heaven". A family member called 911; police found Clemmons at a nearby second house he was building for himself, but he fled on foot and escaped. Clemmons failed to appear the next day for an arraignment on his May 9 charges. Child Protective Services investigated and substantiated the sexual abuse complaint. Clemmons's sister told authorities he had undergone a change and was "not in his right mind".


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
Clemmons was arrested on July 1, 2009, after he appeared in a Pierce County court trying to have his bench warrant thrown out. He was charged with second-degree rape of a child, and with being a fugitive from Arkansas. At the time of his arrest, Clemmons made religiously-themed comments and referred to himself as The Beast. He also told a police officer that then-President Barack Obama and LeBron James were his brothers, and Oprah Winfrey was his sister.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
Pierce County prosecutors asserted that Clemmons's recent crimes amounted to a violation of Clemmons's parole in Arkansas, and that he faced years in prison if he was returned to that state. However, the Arkansas Department of Community Correction notified Pierce County on July 22 that they did not intend to ask for his extradition and that he should be adjudicated on his Washington charges. Stephen Penner, a deputy prosecuting attorney in Pierce County, said of the Arkansas decision, "There's a built-in incentive to not following through. In a way, the more violent they are, the less you want them in your community."


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
During a court-ordered mental health evaluation, Clemmons told psychologists he had experienced hallucinations in May 2009 of "people drinking blood and people eating babies, and lawless on the streets, like people were cannibals". He claimed the visions had since passed. He also claimed to have no faith in the American justice system, and thought he was being "maliciously persecuted because I'm black and they believe the police". The evaluation, completed by two psychologists from the Western State Hospital on October 19, concluded Clemmons was dangerous and presented an increased risk of future criminal acts.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
Pierce County Judge John McCarthy set bail for Clemmons's assault charges at $40,000, considerably below the $100,000 prosecutors sought based on Clemmons' history of violence. Pierce County Judge Thomas Felnagle set bail for the child-rape charges at $150,000, lower than the $200,000 sought by prosecutors, but higher than usual for the charges.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Perpetrator, Later crimes
After a mental evaluation, a psychologist concluded Clemmons was competent to stand trial on the charges, which eliminated him as a candidate for involuntary commitment. An attorney for Clemmons notified the court he planned to pursue an insanity or diminished-capacity defense. On November 23, 2009, Clemmons paid $15,000 for a $190,000 bail bond to secure his release. Two other bail bond agencies had earlier rejected Clemmons's bond request, based on his history of failing to appear in court.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Shooting
On the morning of Sunday, November 29, 2009, the four officers were working on their laptops at a Forza Coffee Company coffee shop prior to the start of their shift in nearby Parkland, next to McChord Air Force Base. All four were armed and in full uniform, wearing bulletproof vests. Clemmons drove a white pickup truck to getaway driver Dorcus Allen's home, and Allen drove him past the coffee shop. After they saw marked police patrol cars in the parking lot, Allen drove back past the coffee shop and parked nearby.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Shooting
At approximately 8:15 AM (UTC-8), Clemmons entered the coffee shop, approached the counter, turned around, and opened fire on the four seated officers with a Glock 17 9mm semi-automatic handgun. He also carried a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver. Sergeant Mark Renninger and Officer Tina Griswold were shot in the head and killed while sitting. Officer Ronald Owens was shot in the neck as he stood up and attempted to draw his weapon. Officer Greg Richards fired his own weapon and hit Clemmons in the abdomen, before succumbing to a shot to the head.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Shooting
Clemmons stole Richards's Glock before fleeing the scene with Allen. Clemmons did not harm bystanders. Investigators said the murders were an attack against police officers in general, since none of the four officers was individually targeted, and robbery was ruled out as a motive. Allen later told detectives he stopped at an intersection and abandoned Clemmons and the truck, claiming he "wanted of no part of this". But, police found no evidence Allen had abandoned the vehicle.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Manhunt
The afternoon following the shooting, the Pierce County sheriff identified Maurice Clemmons as the suspected murderer, saying that he had a long, violent, criminal history in Arkansas and Washington. Police confirmed that Clemmons had been shot in the abdomen during the attack, and advised hospitals to be aware.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Manhunt
In the late evening hours of November 29, Seattle police believed they had Clemmons surrounded in a home in the Leschi area of Seattle. With air support provided by King County Sheriff's Office, SWAT teams from the King County Sheriff's Office, Seattle Police Department, Tacoma Police Department, and other agencies entered the home after a twelve-hour standoff, but they found no one inside. Earlier in the day, Tacoma police served a search warrant on a Tacoma home belonging to a "person of interest" and collected evidence.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Manhunt
An intense manhunt ensued, and police from agencies in Pierce and King counties conducted searches at the University of Washington campus, Rizal Park, and in Renton, without success. Acting on a tip, King County Sheriff's Deputies and Washington State Patrol troopers were also conducting surveillance and going door to door at Snoqualmie Pass-area homes, 50 miles (80 km) east of Seattle. After hours of investigating, that search was called off.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Manhunt
The tip had been one of thousands received by local law enforcement agencies. The police were offering a $145,000 reward for information leading to Clemmons's arrest.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Death of Clemmons
Having evaded police for two days, Clemmons was located on December 1. He was shot and killed by a police officer in Seattle.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Death of Clemmons
Around 2:45 a.m. on December 1, Seattle police officer Benjamin L. Kelly was on patrol in the Brighton neighborhood of south Seattle in the Rainier Valley; he came upon a 1990 Acura Integra parked on the street at 44th Place South and South Kenyon Street. It was empty but the hood was raised and the engine running. He ran the vehicle's license plate number and determined that it had been stolen about two hours earlier.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Death of Clemmons
While sitting in his patrol car to report the stolen vehicle, Kelly noticed a man matching Clemmons' description approaching him from behind, walking first on the sidewalk and then in the middle of the street. Police accounts state that Kelly confronted Clemmons and ordered him to stop and show his hands, but Clemmons began to flee around the disabled vehicle and reportedly "reached into his waist area and moved" as Kelly was drawing his side arm. Kelly fired three shots at Clemmons, followed by another four shots as the suspect ran away "in a dead sprint," and struck him at least twice.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Incident, Death of Clemmons
Clemmons reached the sidewalk and collapsed face-down in a walkway leading to a home on Kenyon Street. Kelly retreated behind his patrol car, retrieved his shotgun, and called for backup. Within moments, Seattle police came to the scene. A team of officers approached the suspect, handcuffed him, and took him away from the home. Seattle Fire Department medics responded and pronounced the suspect dead at the scene. Clemmons was carrying a handgun identified as having belonged to a slain officer in the Lakewood shooting. Clemmons had a bullet wound to his abdomen sustained during the shooting in Parkland, which had been stuffed with cotton and gauze and sealed with duct tape.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Victims
All four officers had been with the Lakewood Police Department from its beginning in 2004. They were:


2009 Lakewood shooting, Victims, Memorial funds raised, stolen
Immediately following the shootings, the Lakewood Police Independent Guild set up a memorial fund for the officers. As of 2012, about $3.2 million were donated to the fund. In March 2012, Lakewood police officer Skeeter Timothy Manos pleaded guilty to charges of stealing from the account, using funds for his personal use.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Weapons
Federal authorities determined these details regarding the 9mm Glock Model 17 and a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver Clemmons brought to the crime scene:


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Trials of accomplices
One accomplice has been convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, while four convicted of rendering criminal assistance, including getaway driver Dorcus Allen, had their convictions reversed on appeal. The trials of accomplices to this crime were marred by prosecutorial misconduct, with many reversals and rebukes from higher courts. By December 2, 2009, six individuals were arrested charged with providing assistance to Clemmons before and after the shooting.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Trials of accomplices
Five were accused of providing such assistance to Clemmons as transporting him to several locations, providing him with money and cell phones, making arrangements for him to flee the state, and treating his gunshot wound from the Lakewood shooting, all with full knowledge of the crime he had committed. In June 2010, Clemmons's sister was sentenced to five years imprisonment for acting as a getaway driver. In December 2010, three of the four other suspects were convicted.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Trials of accomplices
On January 14, 2011, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend sentenced accomplices Eddie Lee Davis to 10 years, five months; Douglas Edward Davis to seven years, six months; and Letrecia Nelson to six years, two months in state prison. One defendant was acquitted of all charges. All of these convictions and sentences were reversed by the Washington Supreme Court in appeals of 2013 and 2014 because of prosecutor misconduct in the original trials.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Trials of accomplices
In May 2011, Darcus Allen, the remaining suspect, was convicted of four counts of murder as the getaway driver for Clemmons, and sentenced to 420 years in prison the following month. In January 2015, the Washington Supreme Court overturned his conviction and ordered a new trial, citing prosecutor misconduct similar to the earlier reversals. After being convicted in the retrial and sentenced, Allen's sentence was reversed on appeal. The high court ruled that Allen was acquitted of aggravated murder at his second trial, and could not be re-tried for aggravated murder. In response, the prosecutor is re-trying him for first-degree murder. Allen maintains that he did not know Clemmons intended to commit a crime, and believes he has been a scapegoat for the public anguish and outrage evoked by the murders.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Political fallout
Mike Huckabee was widely criticized for having commuted Clemmons' sentence and allowed his release from prison in 2000. The evening of the shooting, Huckabee released a statement noting the roles of the parole board that freed him and the criminal justice system, which Huckabee said had repeatedly failed to properly handle Clemmons.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Political fallout
In his statement, Huckabee said, "Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State." Huckabee, who was considered a favorite for the Republican Party presidential nomination in 2012, claimed that the situation was used as a political weapon against him. Clemmons has been compared to Willie Horton, a convicted felon who was furloughed from a Massachusetts prison in 1986 but never returned and committed more violent crimes several months later.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Political fallout
The Horton case eventually factored into the 1988 presidential campaign of Democratic Party candidate Michael Dukakis, who was Governor of Massachusetts at the time and supported the furlough program. Timothy Egan, opinion writer for The New York Times, said of Huckabee's role in Clemmons's release, "If this case does not sink the presidential aspirations of Huckabee…it should."


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Political fallout
In his book about the shooting, The Other Side of Mercy, Jonathan Martin of The Seattle Times wrote that Huckabee apparently failed to review Clemmons' prison file, which was "thick with acts of violence and absent indications of rehabilitation." Martin also suggested that Huckabee failed to ensure Clemmons' post-release plan was "solid, or even factual." In an article for the Times, Martin wrote that if Huckabee was serious about running for president in 2016, "he'll have to answer his Maurice Clemmons problem."


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Political fallout
Some university professors, criminologists, and attorneys speculated that U.S. governors will become more reluctant to grant pardons and clemencies to convicted felons, in order to avoid the negative publicity faced by Dukakis and Huckabee in the Horton and Clemmons cases, respectively.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Political fallout
According to several witnesses, local elected prosecutor Mark Lindquist said that the mass-murder was worth "$100,000 of free publicity" in a campaign to re-elect him.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Officers' memorial service
A public memorial service for the four slain officers was held December 8, 2009, at the Tacoma Dome. The day began with a 10-mile (16 km) procession from McChord Air Force Base past the Lakewood police station to the Tacoma Dome. Over 2,000 police and fire vehicles from over 150 different law enforcement and fire agencies participated in the procession, which took five hours to complete. Over 20,000 people, mostly from the law enforcement and firefighting communities, attended the service at the Tacoma Dome.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Officers' memorial service
Police officers from as far away as New York City and Boston, as well as a large contingent of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, were in attendance. Lakewood's mayor and police chief spoke, followed by eulogies by family, friends, and colleagues of the four officers. Washington Governor Christine Gregoire also spoke, saying, "We will remember them today. We will remember them always." The service concluded with a played recording of a police dispatcher attempting to call each officer with no response, and the dispatcher declaring each officer as "gone but not forgotten." The officers' remains were buried in private ceremonies by their individual families.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Officers' memorial service
The memorial was logistically complex. The agencies preparing for the memorial services expected 20,000 law enforcement personnel to take part. One thousand emergency vehicles and police cruisers followed the families of the victims to the Tacoma Dome.


2009 Lakewood shooting, Aftermath, Site and memorial
The site of the murders reopened two weeks after the shooting. The business later changed ownership and became Blue Steele Coffee Company. A memorial to the slain officers appears near the site.


2009 Lambertz Open by STAWAG
The 2009 Lambertz Open by STAWAG was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the nineteenth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2009 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Aachen, Germany between 9 and 15 November 2009.


2009 Lambertz Open by STAWAG, ATP entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 Lambertz Open by STAWAG, Champions, Doubles
Rohan Bopanna /  Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi def. Philipp Marx /  Igor Zelenay, 6–4, 7–6(6)


2009 Lambertz Open by STAWAG – Doubles
Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Waske didn't defend their title. Kohlmann participated with Horia Tecău, but lost to Philipp Marx and Igor Zelenay in the semifinals. Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi defeated Marx and Zelenay 6–4, 7–6(6) in the final.


2009 Lambertz Open by STAWAG – Singles
Evgeny Korolev, who was the defending champion, chose to not compete this year. Rajeev Ram won in the final match 7–6(2), 6–7(5), 7–6(2), against Dustin Brown.


2009 Lancashire County Council election
A whole-council election to Lancashire County Council took place on 4 June 2009 as part of the 2009 United Kingdom local elections. The United Kingdom government department Department for Communities and Local Government  on the issue of moving the elections to the same date as the 2009 European Parliament election, which resulted in the council elections being postponed to June to coincide. 84 councillors were elected for 84 divisions by first-past-the-post' for a four-year term of office. Wards were the same as those at the previous election in 2005. Elections are held in all electoral divisions across the present ceremonial county, excepting Blackpool, and Blackburn with Darwen which are unitary authorities in a similar way to Greater Manchester and most of Merseyside.


2009 Lancashire County Council election
All locally registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 4 June 2009 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections, although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections.


2009 Lancashire County Council election
It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.


2009 Lancashire County Council election, Results
The overall turnout was 37.99% with a total of 336,261 valid votes cast. A total of 3,311 ballots were rejected.


2009 Lancashire County Council election, Council composition
Following the last election in 2005, the composition of the council was:


2009 Lancashire County Council election, Council composition
G - Green Party I - Independent IT - Idle Toad B - BNP


2009 Lancaster, Pennsylvania mayoral election
An election for mayor of the City of Lancaster in Pennsylvania was held on November 3, 2009. Incumbent Mayor Rick Gray, a Democrat, defeated challenger Charles W. "Charlie" Smithgall, a Republican by 313 votes, out of 7,261 cast.


2009 Lancaster, Pennsylvania mayoral election
Gray announced his intention to seek a second term as mayor on December 17, 2008. Former two-term mayor Charles W. "Charlie" Smithgall, who had initially declined to run, won the Republican primary by write-in vote by supporters. Smithgall, who was in office from 1998 until 2006, was not a declared candidate in the primary. Smithgall announced on June 26, 2009, that he would accept the nomination.


2009 Lancaster, Pennsylvania mayoral election, Election background
Smithgall was first elected to office in 1997, easily defeating his Democratic opponent, attorney Jon Lyons, with 52 to 36 percent of the vote. Smithgall won re-election for a second term in the 2001 mayoral election against Democrat Ed Ruoff.


2009 Lancaster, Pennsylvania mayoral election, Election background
Smithgall sought to seek a third term in the 2005 mayoral election. His Democratic challenger during that election was Rick Gray, a lawyer. The 2005 campaign between Smithgall and Gray was the most expensive mayoral election in Lancaster's history. Smithgall and Gray raised a combined $229,000 for their campaigns: Smithgall raised $146,792 and Gray $82,072. In a surprise outcome, Smithgall, an early favorite for re-election, was defeated by Gray by 16 percentage points.


2009 Lancaster, Pennsylvania mayoral election, 2009 campaign
Gray announced his intention to seek a second term as mayor  on December 17, 2008. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary and initially had no Republican opposition in the general election as well.


2009 Lancaster, Pennsylvania mayoral election, 2009 campaign
Smithgall initially declined a potential rematch with Gray, leaving no Republican challenger. However, a grassroots campaign was launched by supporters of the former mayor to support him as a write-in candidate in the Republican primary. Despite the efforts by supporters to draft him into the election, Smithgall remained out of the mayoral race until after the May 2009 primary. Smithgall received 227 write-in votes from supporters in the primary. Smithgall's supporters needed 100 votes to draft him as their write-in candidate and validate a potential candidacy.


2009 Lancaster, Pennsylvania mayoral election, 2009 campaign
After some consideration, Smithgall entered the race and officially announced his candidacy on June 26, 2009.


2009 Lancaster, Pennsylvania mayoral election, 2009 campaign
Unlike the 2005 election, Gray has outraised and outspent Smithgall by nearly five times between June 2009 and October 2009. Gray had raised in $33,908 and had approximately $20,805 in cash on hand as of October 19, 2009. By contrast, Smithgall raised just $6,900 and had just $519 in cash on hand during the same time period.


2009 Landshut shooting
The 2009 Landshut shooting was a revolver shooting at a courthouse in Landshut, Bavaria, Germany that left the 60-year-old German shooter and one of his sisters-in-law dead. Another sister-in-law and a lawyer were severely injured. It took place on Tuesday April 7, 2009. Leonard Mayer, spokesman for the police, said that he was unaware of any warning.


2009 Langerado Music Festival
The seventh Langerado Festival was scheduled to be held on March 6–8, 2009. The festival was planned to move to Bicentennial Park in Miami, Florida.


2009 Langerado Music Festival
This caused controversy among fans who disliked the direction the festival is heading, considering it "selling out" and saying it will lose the unique character of the festival. Another concern was the availability of parking and places to stay in Miami, as many people who attended the previous festivals simply camped out at the park or nearby camping sites. On February 3, it was announced that Langerado 2009 would be canceled due to sluggish ticket sales resulting from disenchantment over the new location, atypical lineup, and lack of onsite camping.


2009 Langerado Music Festival, Lineup
Death Cab for Cutie • Snoop Dogg • Thievery Corporation • Slightly Stoopid • Ryan Adams and the Cardinals • Dashboard Confessional • The Pogues • Matisyahu • Flogging Molly • Michael Franti & Spearhead • Broken Social Scene • Café Tacuba • Umphrey's McGee • The Disco Biscuits • Robert Randolph & The Family Band • Pepper • The Faint • Cold War Kids • Steel Pulse • Public Enemy • Gym Class Heroes • Tricky • Girl Talk • Chromeo • Mutemath • Bad Brains • Ozomatli • Against Me!


2009 Langerado Music Festival, Lineup
• George Clinton & Parliament / Funkadelic • Tortoise • DeVotchKa • Black Kids • Grupo Fantasma • Holy Fuck • Budos Band • Tokyo Police Club • Lotus • The Virgins • The Gaslight Anthem • King Khan and the Shrines • Lucero • Murs • Ra Ra Riot • Tortured Soul • Rebelution • K'Naan • The Egg • Zac Brown Band • Tigercity • The Aggrolites • Cloud Cult • Spam Allstars • Rachel Goodrich • Blue King Brown • The Heavy Pets • Awesome New Republic • The Postmarks • Suenalo Sound System • Live Painting by LEBO • Modest Mouse • Gene Ween Band • Deerhunter • Alberta Cross


2009 Laois County Council election
An election to Laois County Council took place on 5 June 2009 as part of that year's Irish local elections. 25 councillors were elected from five electoral divisions by PR-STV voting for a five-year term of office.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic
The 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic (officially the 2009 PartyPoker.com Las Vegas Desert Classic for sponsorship) was a professional darts tournament staged from July 1 to July 5, 2009 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the eighth and final staging of the event since the original 2002 edition, and the fourth time it took place at the Mandalay Bay Resort. The tournament was the third of five Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) premier events in the 2009 season. Online gambling website PartyPower.com sponsored the tournament broadcast on Sky Sports.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic
Phil Taylor, the tournament's defending champion, defeated Raymond van Barneveld by 13 legs to 11 in the final, winning the fifth Las Vegas Desert Classic tournament of his career. He defeated qualifier Jamie Caven in the first round, Dennis Priestley in the second round, Gary Anderson in the quarter-finals and John Part in the semi-finals. Adrian Lewis achieved the tournament's highest checkout, a 164, in the final leg of his first round match against Vincent van der Voort.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Background and format
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) began the Las Vegas Desert Classic in 2002 as its first live televised darts competition in the United States. Players considered the tournament difficult to play because matches were held early in the morning for a European broadcast. The 2009 tournament was held between July 1 to July 5, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was the third of the five PDC-sanctioned premier events in the 2009 season. This was the final year PDC staged the competition because of a lack of public interest. It was the eighth edition of the tournament and featured a 32-player main draw held at the Mandalay Bay Resort for the fourth successive year.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Background and format
A total of 20 players, 16 from the PDC Order of Merit following the 2009 UK Open and 4 from the North American Order of Merit, automatically qualified for the main draw. There were 8 seeds assigned according to the PDC Order of Merit after the UK Open: Phil Taylor was seeded first, with James Wade seeded second. Two five-round qualifying tournaments held at the Mandalay Bay Resort from June 28 to 29 decided the remaining 12 places.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Background and format
The maximum number of legs played in a match increased from 11 in the first round to 15 in the second, 19 in the quarter final, and 21 in the semi-finals leading up to the best-of-25 legs final. Sponsored by the online gambling website PartyPower.com, and broadcast on Sky Sports, it had a total prize fund of £200,000.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Background and format
Bookmakers installed Taylor as the favorite to win the tournament. Taylor, who hurt his back as he rode a bicycle two weeks before the event, commented on his chances: "It's going to bring the best out of me. It's what I do for a living. It's my job. I'll play well the rest of the week, especially after getting beat [Tuesday] in a final."


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Background and format, Prize fund
The breakdown of the 2009 prize money is shown below:


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Qualification
The two qualifying rounds were held on June 28 and 29. Nearly 200 players had applied to enter by the June 24 deadline. The qualifying draw was conducted at 11:00 local time on June 28. All matches were best-of-9 legs, and the first round was played on a 24-board setup in the arena. Players were assigned to six groups and each group winner qualified for the main draw. Both qualifying tournaments featured 24 seeds. The losing players from the first tournament entered the second on June 29 to determine the other six main draw entrants.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Qualification
Jelle Klaasen beat Mark Webster, a former BDO world champion, James Barton and Dennis Smith with checkouts of 146 and 149 in the final two legs of his fifth round match to qualify. Fellow Dutchman Vincent van der Voort was the second qualifier, defeating Louis Blundell, Ian Jopling, Ken MacNeil and Tony Eccles. Co Stompé achieved two 5–0 whitewashes before beating Jacko Barry 5–2, Michael van Gerwen 5–4 and whitewashing Nick Fullwell to qualify. Peter Wright, who entered the top 100 in 2009, beat Andy Smith 5–3 to debut in the tournament.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Qualification
Simon Whitlock, who was undefeated on the 2009 DartPlayers Australia circuit, won his first three matches over Chris Edwards, Bernard Prenter and Gary Mawson without losing a leg before beating Mark Dudbridge and Barrie Bates to return to PDC competition. Jamie Caven made 14, 11 and 13-dart finishes in his 5–4 victory over Shane O'Connor, becoming the last player to qualify from the first day's play.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Qualification
Peter Manley, the 2003 winner, entered the main draw by whitewashing Bryan de Hoog 5–0. Colin Monk recovered from losing in the second round of the first qualifiers to defeat Ken MacNeil 5–3 in the final round of the second competition. Two-time Las Vegas Desert Classic semi-finalist Wes Newton beat Graham Warburton, Mark Carter, Paul Lim and Roland Scholten to qualify. Gary Anderson beat Dudbridge and Sam Rooney to qualify, and Phillip Hazel and Blundell made their televised debuts after final round wins over Barrie Bates and Mark Lawrence, respectively.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 1
The draw for the first round of the championship was conducted in the Islander Ballroom at the Mandalay Bay Resort on the evening of June 30.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 1
The first round of the event, in which the 12 PDC Order of Merit and four North America Order of America entrants played the 12 qualifiers, was held between July 1 and 2. Dennis Priestley won 6–1 over Monk and Newton beat Alan Tabern 6–3. Colin Lloyd, who had lost in the first round of the last three Las Vegas tournaments, beat Wright 6–3. Ronnie Baxter, a UK Open semi-finalist and Las Vegas Players' Championship winner, lost 6–2 to Klaasen. Terry Jenkins, the losing finalist at the 2007 event, defeated qualifier Whitlock 6–1, and Taylor played through his back trouble to average 102 in his 6–3 win over Caven.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 1
Anderson went into his game against Wayne Mardle requiring treatment for an allergic reaction to an energy drink he had the day before and hit six out of seven tries at a double ring to win 6–2. John Part, the 2006 winner, defeated the North American Darts Championship victor Scott Burnett 6–2. Part took a 4–0 lead from finishes of 117 and 90 points and 14 darts before finishes on the double 16 and double 10 rings from Burnett on his television debut made the score 4–2. Part took legs seven and eight to enter the second round.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 1
Mervyn King began his third Las Vegas campaign by winning 6–3 against Blundell. Tied at 3–3, King finished on the double 13 ring to take the lead and made an 11-dart finish in leg eight and finishing on the double four ring in the ninth leg to win after Blundell missed three times.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 1
Andy Hamilton, a 2008 quarter-finalist, led 4–0 over Chris White before the latter won leg five after Hamilton missed a double ring three times. Hamilton took the next two legs to win 6–1. Manley requited him falling out of the world's top 16 by defeating Mark Walsh 6–4. Both players shared the first four legs before a 106 checkout and finishes on the bullseye, double eight and 12 rings gave Manley the victory. Stompé beat Colin Osborne 6–4; Stompé led 3–1 after Osborne missed four darts at a double ring before Osborne tied the match at 4–4. He prevented a final leg decider by winning leg 10 after 13 darts.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 1
Raymond van Barneveld won the first two legs of his match against Bill Davis, who claimed the third on the double 10 ring. Van Barneveld took the next two legs before Davis used the former's missed 124 finish to claim leg six. Van Barneveld had finishes on the double 16 and nine rings for a 6–2 victory. Wade, the 2009 Premier League Darts champion, overturned a 3–3 tie with Hazel from missed hits at a double ring to enter the second round with a 6–3 win from finishes on the double 20 and 9 rings.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 1
Adrian Lewis beat Van Der Voort 6–5 in a closely contested game. Both players took turns to lead the match, which went to a final leg decider won by Lewis on the bullseye ring from a 164 checkout. In the final first round match, Kevin Painter came from tying 2–2 with Darin Young to claim four successive legs and win 6–2.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 2
The second round on July 3 consisted of eight 15-leg matches. Wade became the first player to go through to the quarter-finals with an 8–4 win over Hamilton. The match began with Hamilton leading 2–1 before Wade won four legs in a row to go ahead 5–2. Hamilton went 6–4 behind before Wade completed the victory. Taylor whitewashed Priestley, who had two chances at a double ring, 8–0. Taylor said post-match he felt uncomfortable, and it was hard to whitewash another professional player. Lewis beat Manley 8–1 in their third meeting in Las Vegas.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 2
Manley took the first leg after Lewis twice missed the double 20 ring. Lewis achieved five maximum scores and used errors from Manley to seal the victory. Part and Klaasen played the fourth second-round match exchanging the lead four times. They went to a final leg decider. Klaasen failed to hit the bullseye ring to complete an 84 checkout and Part finished with an 80-point checkout on the double ten ring to claim an 8–7 victory and remain unbeaten in meetings against his opponent.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 2
Anderson contested the fifth second-round match with Newton. Anderson opened a 4–0 advantage, before he missed six darts to lead 5–0, with Newton hitting the double eight ring to claim the fifth leg. Finishes on the double eight and four rings gave Anderson two more legs, which Newton followed by clinching the following two legs. Three missed chances to hit a double by Newton allowed Anderson to win 8–3. Van Barneveld played fellow Dutchman Stompé and led 5–2 when he failed to achieve a nine-dart finish in winning the eighth leg after his ninth dart missed the double 12 ring.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Round 2
He then won the next three legs to win 8–2, and extended his unbeaten career wins record against Stompé. Jenkins faced Lloyd and took a 3–0 lead. He twice failed to win the fourth leg that Lloyd took on the double four ring. Jenkins struck the double top ring for a 4–1 lead before Lloyd won two legs in a row to be 4–3 behind. Jenkins clinched the next four legs to go through to the quarter-finals by 8–4. The final second-round match saw King and Painter go to a final leg decider won by King 8–7 on a 13-dart finish.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Quarter-finals
The four quarter-finals were played as best-of-19 legs on July 4; the start was delayed by 40 minutes because of the need to reestablish a television feed with Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. Part played Jenkins in the first quarter-final. Part achieved checkouts of 112 and 78 to take a 3–0 lead. An 88 checkout gave Jenkins the fourth leg, and he hit the double 14 ring to go 3–2 behind. Part won four frames in a row before Jenkins claimed six of the next eight to be 9–8 behind.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Quarter-finals
Part won the 18th leg on the double four ring to win the match 10–8. Van Barneveld was drawn against King in the second quarter-final. Van Barneveld took a 6–0 lead with two 13-dart finishes and hitting the double 20 and 16 rings. King won a single leg in the seventh from a maximum score and hitting the double 16 ring to stop him being whitewashed. Van Barneveld won 10–1 to eliminate King from the quarter-finals for the second time in three years with three 13-dart finishes in succession. Van Barneveld, who averaged 104 points in the match, said: "10–1 was a great result but I never thought it would be that easy. I'm happy with this win and hopefully I can play well again on Sunday."


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Quarter-finals
Anderson and Taylor were the two players in the third quarter-final. Taylor took the first leg with a 13-dart finish before Anderson won the next two legs to go ahead 3–1. The match went to 4–4 until Taylor made it 6–4 and later 8–5. Anderson made a 84 checkout to lower the deficit before Taylor prevented him from making a 61 checkout in the 14th leg, which he won. A 14-dart finish and hitting the double 20 ring gave Taylor a 10–6 victory. The final quarter-final match was between Lewis and Wade.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Quarter-finals
Wade held a 3–1 lead, and hit the double 20 ring in two of the next three legs to move 5–4 ahead. Wade prevented Lewis from tying the game at 5–5 by finishing the 10th leg on the double 20 ring before Lewis took the 11 on the double eight ring. He then clinched three legs in succession to move within one leg of victory at 9–5. Lewis struck the double 19 ring which kept him in contention until Wade finished on the double 11 ring to win the match 10–6 and the final semi-final berth. Wade said it was not "a vintage performance" against Lewis and called it "a battle and I came through it".


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Semi-finals and final
Both of the semi-finals took place on July 5 and were best-of-21 legs. The first semi-final was between Taylor and Part. Taylor began with a failed attempt to achieve a nine-dart finish in the first leg, which he finished in ten dart throws. Part claimed the second leg with a 117 checkout before Taylor made a 13-dart finish to break the tie. Taylor won the next two legs and used an error by Part in leg five to go 4–1 ahead.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Semi-finals and final
Taylor won the remaining six legs to win the match 10–1 with an average of near to 108 and went through to the final; he had a second try at achieving a nine-dart finish by hitting two consecutive maximum scores, but he missed the eighth throw. Taylor said he was delighted to qualify for the final and that he had taken advantage of Part's poor play.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Semi-finals and final
Van Barneveld faced Wade in the other semi-final. Wade took a 2–1 advantage, which Van Barneveld cancelled out with eight of the nine following legs. Wade hit the double ten and eight rings to lower his deficit to Van Barneveld before the latter hit the double 16 ring to be within one leg of reaching the final. A finish on the double six ring allowed Wade to reduce the deficit by one leg before Van Barneveld finished on the double 16 ring to win 10–6 and requite his loss to Wade in the semi-final of the Premier League Darts.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Semi-finals and final
Post-match, Van Barneveld said he was relaxed throughout the competition and praised the quality of play. He said he was unhappy not to reach the final of the Premier League Darts but believed he could win the Las Vegas Desert Classic, adding: "Phil will have to play his best darts to beat me."


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Semi-finals and final
The best-of-25 legs final between Taylor and Van Barneveld was held on the afternoon of July 5 before almost 1,000 people. The Sky Sports team called the match "a dream final"; the two finalists were ranked first and third in the PDC Order of Merit and noted they had not played each other in a long time since Van Barneveld played in the British Darts Organisation. Eric Bristow, a Sky Sports commentator, observed that Van Barneveld would have to "play at his very, very, very best" to defeat Taylor.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Semi-finals and final
The final began Taylor winning the first leg on a 13-dart finish. Taylor led 3–0 after Van Barneveld could not strike the double 18 ring in the third leg. Van Barneveld entered the first interval 3–2 behind Taylor with consecutive finishes on the bullseye ring. He achieved two successive 11-dart finishes to lead Taylor 4–3 and won a fifth leg in a row on the double two ring. Taylor won the next four legs to reclaim the lead before Van Barneveld finished the double 18 ring in a 13-dart finish to tie the score.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Semi-finals and final
Taylor retook the lead with five legs in succession to hold a 11–7 advantage. Van Barneveld won the next three legs before Taylor made an 11-dart finish to be within a leg of victory. Van Barneveld finished on the double 16 ring to win an 11th leg and leg 24 saw Taylor obtain a checkout of 104 to win the match 13–11.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Tournament summary, Semi-finals and final
It was Taylor's fifth Las Vegas Desert Classic win, and the third time he had beaten Van Barneveld in the final of a major competition. He earned £30,000 prize money for winning the tournament. Taylor commented on his success: "I'm delighted. It was a super final to be involved in and, in the end, I broke his spirit I think." He added, "Raymond raised his game and there were times during the early stages when I wasn't even getting a chance at a double." Van Barneveld said he was disappointed to have lost in the final. Van Barneveld left the arena upset and his friend apologised to the tournament director for his behaviour.


2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Draw
Numbers to the left of players' names show the seedings for the tournament's top eight players. The 12 non-automatic qualifiers are indicated by a (Q). The figures in brackets to the right of a competitor's name state their three-dart averages in a match. Names in bold denote match winners of the main draw.


2009 Las Vegas Locomotives season
The 2009 Las Vegas Locomotives season was the first season for the Las Vegas Locomotives. In the United Football League's Premiere Season, the Locomotives posted a 4–2 record, finishing in second place. They defeated the Florida Tuskers in the 2009 UFL Championship Game in overtime.


2009 Las Vegas Locomotives season, Draft
The draft took place on June 19, 2009. Those selected were among participants in earlier workouts held in Orlando as well as Las Vegas. Once a player was picked by a team, his rights were held by that team should he elect to play in the UFL.


2009 Las Vegas Locomotives season, Personnel, Roster
Rookies in italicsRoster updated November 19, 200952 Active, 2 Inactive


2009 Latin Billboard Music Awards
The 2009 Billboard Latin Music Awards was held on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. It is produced and broadcast lived on Telemundo network. The nominees were announced on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 during a live televised morning show Levantate on Telemundo network.


2009 Latvian Athletics Championships
The 2009 Latvian Athletics Championships were held in Ventspils, Latvia on July 31 and August 1, 2009.


2009 Latvian Figure Skating Championships
The 2009 Latvian Figure Skating Championships (Latvian: Latvijas Čempionāts daiļslidošanā 2009) was held in Riga from December 19 to 20, 2008. Skaters competed in the disciplines of ladies' singles.


2009 Latvian Higher League
Latvian Higher League 2009 (Latvian: Virslīga) was the 18th season of top-tier football in Latvia. It began on 14 March 2009 with the first round of games and ended on 8 November 2009 with the 36th round of matches. Ventspils were the defending champions.


2009 Latvian Higher League
Due to numerous pre-season team changes, such as club mergers and withdrawals, the format of the league was changed. Since there are only 9 clubs that participate in 2009 Virslīga, every team plays 4 times against every other team, what will make every team playing 32 games. Contrary to the previous season, there is not Championship and Relegation pool.


2009 Latvian Higher League, Teams
Olimps Rīga were relegated after finishing the relegation round in last place. They were replaced by First League champions FK Daugava Riga.


2009 Latvian Higher League, Teams
Blāzma won the promotion/relegation play-off against Tranzīts Ventspils with 6–1 on aggregate. However, after several mergers and withdrawals Tranzīts were also awarded a place in Virslīga, as the runners-up of First League.


2009 Latvian Higher League, Teams
FK Rīga withdrew due to unpaid debts. They eventually merged with Olimps Rīga and created a new club called Olimps/RFS. The new club plays in Virslīga, what saved Olimps Rīga from relegation.


2009 Latvian Higher League, Teams
On 12 January 2009 Vindava withdrew from Virslīga due to financial reasons.


2009 Latvian Higher League, Teams
FK Jūrmala merged with JFC Kauguri/Multibanka, which is also a merger of JFC Kauguri Jūrmala and FK Multibanka Rīga, to a new club named FK Jūrmala-VV. The new club carried over the players and other personnel from FK Jūrmala.


2009 Latvian Higher League, Teams
Daugava Daugavpils and Dinaburg also merged and remained under the Dinaburg FC name. It is not yet certain which club's staff will operate the new club. Dinaburg also took Daugava's 2009–10 UEFA Europa League spot.


2009 Latvian Higher League, Results, Relegation play-offs
Since there are only 9 clubs participating in 2009 Virslīga, no teams will be directly relegated. 9th placed Virslīga team and runners-up of First League will compete in relegation play-offs for one spot in Virslīga 2010. The other spot will be taken by First League champions. Since one of the teams were excluded from the league, the relegation play-off will be replaced with the direct promotion of the First League team placing second.


2009 Latvian Higher League, Team of the season 2009
Goalkeepers: Viktors Spole  (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ), Aleksandrs Vlasovs (Skonto FC )


2009 Latvian Higher League, Team of the season 2009
Defenders:Oskars Kļava  (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ),Grigori Chirkin  (FK Ventspils ),Deniss Ivanovs  (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ),David Gamezardashvili  (Skonto FC ),Tomas Tamošauskas  (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ),Vitālijs Smirnovs  (Skonto FC ),Deniss Kačanovs  (FK Ventspils ),Dzintars Zirnis  (FK Liepājas Metalurgs )


2009 Latvian Higher League, Team of the season 2009
Midfielders:Jurijs Žigajevs  (FK Ventspils ),Andrejs Prohorenkovs  (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ),Vitālijs Astafjevs  (FK Ventspils ),Jevgēņijs Kosmačovs  (FK Ventspils ),Maksims Rafaļskis  (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ),Igors Kozlovs (Skonto FC ),Pāvels Surņins  (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ),Igor Tigirlas  (FK Ventspils )


2009 Latvian Higher League, Team of the season 2009
Forwards:Vits Rimkus  (FK Ventspils ),Vladimir Dvalishvili  (Skonto FC ),Kristaps Grebis  (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ),Ģirts Karlsons  (FK Liepājas Metalurgs )


2009 Latvian meteorite hoax
The 2009 Latvian meteorite hoax was a publicity stunt in which Swedish-based telecommunications company Tele2 staged an apparent meteorite landing which was later revealed to be fake.


2009 Latvian meteorite hoax, The "Meteorite" incident
The drama began at around 17:30 local time (15:30 GMT) in Latvia on Sunday 25 October 2009. Student Ancis Steinbergs reported that a fiery meteor-like object had fallen in a field outside the town of Mazsalaca near the Estonian border. Reports described the object lighting up the evening sky with a blazing trail and hitting the ground with a loud crash, leaving a burning crater claimed to be around 20 m (66 ft) wide and from 3 m (9.8 ft) up to 10 m (33 ft) deep. Fire crews, police and military units attended the site, which was cordoned off while tests were carried out to check radiation levels. The crater quickly attracted scientific and media interest amid widespread speculation about the origin of the object.


2009 Latvian meteorite hoax, The "Meteorite" incident
Steinbergs also filmed a video in which he and his two companions (his girlfriend and another student) approach the smoking crater and talk to each other excitedly when they apparently discover a burning mass at the bottom of the crater. The deliberately amateur style of the video, with shaky handheld camerawork and apparently spontaneous reactions from the students, has been compared to The Blair Witch Project. The video was published on YouTube and news websites, attracting worldwide interest. Landowner Larisa Gerasimova reportedly charged visitors the equivalent of $2 each to view the crater.


2009 Latvian meteorite hoax, Investigation
The first scientist to visit the site, Uldis Nulle of the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre, said his initial impression was that a meteor impact could have caused the crater. However, when he later examined the site in daylight he concluded it had been faked. Other scientists who inspected the crater confirmed that it was a hoax. Andris Karpovics, a doctoral student of geology at the University of Latvia, described the crater as "a simple, man-made hole with a substance poured in".


2009 Latvian meteorite hoax, Investigation
He told journalists that the hole appeared to have been dug with shovels, and noted that thermite (a mixture of aluminium and iron, possibly with sulfur added), probably caused the increased temperatures observed in the crater. The crater was considerably smaller than initially reported: its actual diameter was around 9–10 m (30–33 ft) and it was about 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) deep. Dr Ilgonis Vilks, chairman of the scientific council at the University of Latvia's Institute of Astronomy, declared "it’s a fake.


2009 Latvian meteorite hoax, Investigation
It’s very disappointing, I was full of hope coming here, but I am certain it is not a meteorite". Dr Vilks pointed out that there was green grass inside the artificial crater, with only a small area at the bottom burnt, and no ejected material or meteorite fragments were found on surrounding land. He described the supposed meteorite as "a ball of clay that was burning", and said that samples had been taken for university geologists to examine. He noted "There was a small blast heard by local people but this was not strong enough to create the crater". Nature conservationist Dainis Ozols also examined the scene and said he believed that someone had burned a pyrotechnic compound at the bottom of a man-made hole to create the illusion of a meteorite crater. Police warned of a possible criminal investigation into the hoax.


2009 Latvian meteorite hoax, Investigation
Caroline Smith, meteorite curator at the Natural History Museum in London, stated that the pictures and video footage of the burning crater indicated that it was not a meteorite crater: meteorites are not aflame when they strike Earth. Smith also pointed out that there were no other reported sightings of any fireball in the sky, which would have been very clearly visible had the "meteorite" been real. It is believed that a meteorite would have to be around a metre or more in diameter to result in a crater of that size. Sizeable meteorites are rare, since most objects which enter the Earth's atmosphere burn up before reaching the planet's surface. The most recent large meteorite known to have landed on Earth struck near Carancas in Peru in 2007, leaving a crater around 15 m (49 ft) wide.


2009 Latvian meteorite hoax, Tele2's admission and aftermath
On Tuesday 27 October 2009, Swedish-based telecommunications company Tele2 admitted to perpetrating the hoax as a publicity stunt, and promised to reimburse the Latvian government for expenses incurred in responding to the incident. Spokesperson Vita Sirica representing the Latvian branch of Tele2 said the stunt, which was organised in collaboration with media agency Inspired,was intended "to draw attention away from Latvia's economic crisis and toward something else more interesting." She explained that 9 people had dug the hole and burned chemicals at the bottom to create the elaborate hoax.


2009 Latvian meteorite hoax, Tele2's admission and aftermath
The meteorite hoax occurred the day before the recession-hit Latvian government approved an austerity budget for 2010, and some officials were not impressed by the stunt. Interior Minister Linda Murniece accused Tele2 of a "cynical mockery", and announced that the Government would cancel its contract with Tele2, stating "The Interior Ministry doesn't want to do business with a firm that promotes itself at our expense".


2009 Latvian meteorite hoax, Tele2's admission and aftermath
Pernilla Oldmark, spokesperson for Tele2 in Stockholm, said the hoax had been carried out by the Latvian branch of Tele2 though authorised by its head office. She apologised for disruption and said the stunt had been intended to launch a forthcoming marketing campaign, claiming "The message will become clear as soon as the concept is launched". Latvian Advertising Association President Girts Ozols said that the situation was unprecedented but the hoax could be considered an ethics violation in professional advertising. Ozols expressed concern that the incident had caused the community to feel insecure, and commented "If such a prank is pulled, the culprits should not have allowed it to drag on for so long without revealing the truth." The Latvian Advertising Association's board is to review the matter.


2009 Laugavegur Ultramarathon
The 2009 Laugavegur Ultramarathon was an ultramarathon race held on July 18, 2009. A total of 321 runners started the race; 313 runners finished, among them 238 men and 75 women. The oldest participants were Gunnar J. Geirsson and Baldur Jónsson of Iceland, who were born in 1944 and finished the race in 7:13:38 and 8:05:33, respectively; the youngest participant was Karl Rúnar Martinsson of Iceland, who was born in 1991 finished the race in 6:35:21.


2009 Laurence Olivier Awards
The 2009 Laurence Olivier Awards were held in 2009 in London celebrating excellence in West End theatre by the Society of London Theatre.


2009 Laurence Olivier Awards, Productions with multiple nominations and awards
The following 24 productions, including two ballets and four operas, received multiple nominations:


2009 Laval municipal election
The 2009 Laval municipal election took place on November 1, 2009, to elect a mayor and city councillors in Laval, Quebec.


2009 Laval municipal election
Gilles Vaillancourt was elected to a sixth term as mayor, and his municipal party won every seat on city council.


2009 Le Mans Series
The 2009 Le Mans Series was the sixth season of Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. It was contested over five events between 5 April and 13 September 2009.


2009 Le Mans Series
Aston Martin Racing trio Jan Charouz, Tomáš Enge and Stefan Mücke finished every race on the podium en route to the LMP1 championship. In LMP2, the pro-amateur pairing of Olivier Pla and Miguel Amaral won the title, with two class wins. Yann Clairay and Patrice Goueslard shared the honours in GT1, driving for former skier Luc Alphand's team. In the tightest battle out of the classes, Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz took GT2 honours by a single point ahead of JMW Motorsport pairing Rob Bell and Gianmaria Bruni.


2009 Le Mans Series, Schedule
On 10 October 2008, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) announced a preliminary 2009 schedule consisting of five rounds. The 1000 km of Algarve in Portugal notionally replaced the 1000 km of Monza, while the rest of the events from 2008 remain. In a first for the Le Mans series, the Algarve ran at night. A second testing event was added to the schedule later, consisting of two days in April at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, France.


2009 Le Mans Series, Championship Standings
Points were awarded to the top 8 finishers in the order of 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. One bonus point was also awarded for winning pole position (denoted by bold). Cars which failed to complete 70% of the winner's distance were not awarded points. Drivers who did not drive for at least 45 minutes did not receive points. Entries which changed an engine prior to the two race minimum were penalized two points, with a four-point penalty for every subsequent engine change.


2009 Le Mans Series, Teams Championships
The top two finishers in each teams championship earned automatic entry to the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans.


2009 League of Ireland Cup
The  2009 EA Sports Cup is the 36th staging of the League of Ireland football knockout competition.


2009 League of Ireland Cup
Twenty nine clubs participated in this year's competition. The ten Premier Division, twelve First Division and the five non-reserve teams from the A Championship were joined by Kildrum Tigers, the 2008 Ulster Senior League champions, and the Kerry District League representative side. For the Preliminary, First and Second Rounds of the competition, all participating clubs were split into 4 regional pools with the further rounds of the competition having an open draw.


2009 League of Ireland Cup
The 2009 EA Sports Cup kicked off on Monday, 30 March 2009 with the Preliminary Round. The Final was played on Saturday, 26 September 2009, and was won by Bohemians.


2009 League of Ireland Cup, Preliminary round
The matches were played on Monday, 30 and Tuesday, 31 March 2009.


2009 League of Ireland Cup, First round
The matches were played on Monday, 13 and Tuesday, 14 April 2009.


2009 League of Ireland Cup, Second round
The matches were played on Monday, 4 and Tuesday, 5 May 2009.


2009 League of Ireland Cup, Quarter finals
The matches were played on Monday, 18 and Tuesday, 19 May 2009.


2009 League of Ireland Cup, Semi-Finals
The matches will be played on Monday, 3 and Tuesday, 4 August 2009.


2009 League of Ireland First Division
The 2009 League of Ireland First Division season was the 25th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by 12 teams and UCD won the title. Third placed Sporting Fingal also won the 2009 FAI Cup Final, qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League and were promoted to the Premier Division after winning a promotion/relegation play off.


2009 League of Ireland First Division, Overview
This season saw the division expanded from 10 to 12 clubs. This was because the 2009 Premier Division was reduced to 10 clubs. The regular season began on 6 March and concluded on 7 November. Each team played the other teams three times, totaling 33 games. UCD finished as champions and were automatically promoted to the Premier Division. There was no promotion/relegation play-off between the First Division and the A Championship this season. This was only because Kildare County, who finished bottom of the table, withdrew from the League of Ireland before the play-offs could be played.


2009 League of Ireland First Division, Promotion/Relegation play-offs
The second and third placed First Division teams, Shelbourne and Sporting Fingal played off to decide who would play the winner of the Premier Division play-off. The winner of this play off would play in the 2010 Premier Division.


2009 League of Ireland First Division, Promotion/Relegation play-offs
Sporting Fingal won 4–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the Premier Division.


2009 League of Ireland Premier Division
The 2009 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 25th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 10 teams. Bohemians were champions while Shamrock Rovers finished as runners-up.


2009 League of Ireland Premier Division, Overview
The 2009 Premier Division featured 10 clubs. The regular season began on 6 March and concluded on 6 November. Each team played every other team four times, totalling 36 matches. On the final day of the regular season Bohemians were crowned League of Ireland champions for the eleventh time in the club's history after drawing 1–1 with Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds. After the season ended both Derry City and Cork City were expelled from the League of Ireland. Derry City were accused of making extra payments to players using unofficial secondary contracts.


2009 League of Ireland Premier Division, Overview
This was against league rules which placed limits on the amount clubs could spend on players' wages. Cork City had been in serious financial difficulties for several seasons and its holding company was eventually wound up by the High Court. However both clubs were effectively reformed and were subsequently allowed to join the 2010 First Division.


2009 League of Ireland Premier Division, Promotion/Relegation play-offs
The ninth and tenth placed teams from the Premier Division, Drogheda United and Bray Wanderers, played off after the regular season was completed. The winner would retain a place in the 2010 Premier Division. The loser would play off against the winner of the 2009 First Division play off. The winner of this match would also gain a place in the 2010 Premier Division.


2009 League of Ireland Premier Division, Promotion/Relegation play-offs
Drogheda United retain their place in the 2010 Premier Division


2009 League of Ireland Premier Division, Promotion/Relegation play-offs
Sporting Fingal won 4–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the Premier Division. The result of the play off would eventually prove null and void. Despite losing play-off, Bray Wanderers also retained their place in the Premier Division after Cork City and Derry City were relegated.


2009 Lebanese Elite Cup
The Lebanese Elite Cup 2009 is the 12th edition of this football tournament in Lebanon. It will be held from August 29 to September 13, 2009. This tournament includes the five best teams from the 2008-09 season and the Cup Winner. Since both cup finalists, Al-Ahed and Shabab Al Sahel, finished among the first five in the league, sixth placed Al-Mabarrah qualified as well.


2009 Lebanese Elite Cup
The draw took place on May 29, 2009 in Beirut.


2009 Lebanese general election
Parliamentary elections were held in Lebanon on 7 June 2009 to elect all 128 members of the Parliament of Lebanon.


2009 Lebanese general election, Background
Before the election, the voting age was to be lowered from 21 to 18 years, but as this requires a constitutional amendment, it did not happen before the election.


2009 Lebanese general election, Allocation of seats
Following a compromise reached in the Doha Agreement on May 2008 between the government and opposition, a new electoral law was put in place, as shown in the table below. It was passed on 29 September 2008.


2009 Lebanese general election, Results
Preliminary results indicated that the turnout had been as high as 55%. The March 14 Alliance garnered 71 seats in the 128-member parliament, while the March 8 Alliance won 57 seats. This result is virtually the same as the result from the election in 2005. However, the March 14 alliance saw this as a moral victory over Hezbollah, who led the March 8 Alliance, and the balance of power was expected to shift in its favor. Many observers expect to see the emergence of a National Unity Government similar to that created following the Doha Agreement in 2008.


2009 Lebanese general election, Formation of government
As is typical of Lebanese politics political wrangling after the elections took 5 months. Only in November was the composition of the new cabinet agreed upon: 15 seats for the March 14 Alliance, 10 for the March 8 Alliance, and 5 nominated by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, who has cast himself as a neutral party between the two main political blocks.


2009 Lebanese general election, Aftermath
The government fell in January 2011 after the March 8 alliance's 11 ministers withdrew from the government over PM Hariri's refusal to convene a cabinet meeting to discuss possible indictments to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.


2009 Lebanese general election, Aftermath
The March 8 alliance formed a new government in the ensuing six months.


2009 Leeds Rhinos season
This article details the Leeds Rhinos 2009 Super League XIV season.


2009 Leeds Rhinos season, League table
Source: . Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference. Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.


2009 Leeds refuse workers strike
The 2009 Leeds refuse workers strike was an eleven-week industrial dispute in City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England between Leeds City Council and the city's binmen.


2009 Leeds refuse workers strike, Background
The strike began on 7 September 2009  and was over the city council's plans to equalise the pay of men and women, which some workers argued would see considerable reductions in their wages.


2009 Leeds refuse workers strike, Council reactions
On 27 October 2009, with the strike having lasted for eight weeks, the council began advertising for new refuse workers. The council said it was advertising for staff in order to meet its target of a fortnightly black bin collection.


2009 Leeds refuse workers strike, Resolution
In November 2009 Leeds City Council put fresh proposals to union members which would see 20 staff getting a pay cut, but most workers receiving small increases. At a secret ballot of about 600 union members on Monday 23 November, 79% voted in favour of the proposals and refuse workers returned to work on the morning of Wednesday 25 November. The first bin collections took place the following day.


2009 Legends Cup
2009 Legends Cup was the first edition of the Legends Cup, a tournament for senior retired players (35+). The teams invited to the tournament were Russia, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The first edition of the Legends Cup, which took place from January 31 to February 1, 2009 in Moscow in the Ice Palace "Megasport".


2009 Legends Cup
All of the matches were held in the Khodynka Arena, Moscow, Russia.


2009 Legends Cup, Background
The organizer of the tournament which featured European stars was the sports agency NewSport. The tournament was held with the support of the Russian Football Union, the Government of Moscow and the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Accommodation and customer service – at the Marriott Grand Hotel, which was also the headquarters of the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow. All the games of the tournament took place in the Megasport Sport Palace on the Khodynka Field.


2009 Legends Cup, Regulations
The tournament was held in two stages: qualifying games in the subgroups and the final part, drawing places from 1 to 6. On the first day of the tournament on January 31 (Saturday) qualifying games were held in groups, each group consisted of three teams. Games in groups were held in a circular system, each team played 2 games.


2009 Legends Cup, Regulations
The duration of one match was 40 minutes, two halves of 20 minutes, a break between halves – 10 minutes. The game was conducted according to the 6-a side scheme: 5 in the field + goalkeeper. The size of the ball is No. 5. The size of the platform is 48 × 24 meters, the size of the gate is 5 × 2 meters.


2009 Legends Cup, Regulations
For the victory, 3 points were awarded, a draw – 1, a defeat – 0. In case of equality of points, two or more teams took into account the following indicators: the results of matches among themselves, the number of wins, the difference of goals scored and conceded, more goals scored. In case of equality of all these indicators – by lot.


2009 Legends Cup, Regulations
On the second day of the tournament, on February 1 (Sunday), the games of the final stage took place. The teams that took the 3rd place in the groups played 5-6 places. Teams that took the 2nd place in the groups, played 3-4 places. The teams that took the first place in the groups played in the finals.


2009 Legends Cup, Regulations
Determination of the winner in the games of the final stage with equal score occurred through a series of post-match penalties – five hits from each team, with a draw result – further to the first miss.


2009 Legends Cup, Squads
Italy: Marco Ballotta, Amedeo Carboni, Lorenzo Amoruso, Demetrio Albertini, Maurizio Ganz, Dario Marcolini, Angelo Carbone, Alessandro Romano, Diego Bonavina


2009 Legends Cup, Squads
France: Guillaume Warmuz, Christian Karembeu, William Ayache, Patrice Loko, Martin Djetou, Jean-Pierre Cyprien, Jean-Marc Chanelle


2009 Legends Cup, Squads
Spain: Toni Jimenez, Ion Andoni Goikoetxea, Guillermo Amor, José Emilio Amavisca, Ángel Cuéllar, Cristóbal Parralo, Enrique Romero, Julen Guerrero, Francisco González Javier Pérez, Paco Jémez


2009 Legends Cup, Squads
Portugal: Neno, Paulo Futre, João Pinto, Jorge Costa, Sá Pinto, José Dominguez, Hugo Porfírio, Oceano da Cruz, Hélder, Carlos Xavier, Dimas, Fernando Gomes


2009 Legends Cup, Squads
Netherlands: Ronald de Boer, Pierre van Hooijdonk, Richard Witschge, Danny Muller, Frank Verlaat, Regi Blinker, Peter Hoekstra, Bert Konterman


2009 Legends Cup, Squads
Russia: Alexander Filimonov, Viktor Onopko, Yuriy Nikiforov, Dmitri Popov, Dmitri Ananko, Akhrik Tsveiba, Dmitri Alenichev, Valeri Karpin, Igor Simutenkov, Konstantin Yeryomenko, Sergei Yuran, Igor Korneev, Dmitry Kuznetsov, Sergei Kiriakov


2009 Legends Cup, Squads
Famous football players and coaches were invited to the tournament as guests: Eusébio, Franco Baresi, Fabio Capello, Oliver Kahn, Michael Rummenigge, Rinat Dasayev and other European football legends.


2009 Legends Tour
The 2009 Legends Tour was a series of professional golf tour events for women aged 45 and older sanctioned by the Legends Tour. Based in the United States, it is an offshoot of the main U.S.-based women's tour, the LPGA Tour. The tour was founded in 2001, and is intended to allow women to prolong their competitive golf careers on the model of the successful Champions Tour for men.


2009 Legends Tour, Schedule and results
The 2009 Legends Tour consisted of five events. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Legends Tour events she had won up to and including that tournament.


2009 Legends of Snooker
The 2009 110sport.tv Legends of Snooker was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 31 October–1 November 2009 at Rothes Hall in Glenrothes, Scotland. The tournament was won by Stephen Hendry, who defeated Ken Doherty 5–3 in the final.


2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
The 2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic (also known as the 2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic presented by GEICO for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 41st edition of the event known that year as Legg Mason Tennis Classic, and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2009 ATP World Tour. It took place at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington, D.C., United States, from August 1 through August 9, 2009. The Legg Mason Tennis Classic was the third ATP stop of the 2009 US Open Series. Unlike previous years, the men's event was field 48 players instead of 32.


2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Finals, Singles
Juan Martín del Potro defeated  Andy Roddick, 3–6, 7–5, 7–6(8–6).


2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Finals, Doubles
Martin Damm /  Robert Lindstedt defeated Mariusz Fyrstenberg /  Marcin Matkowski, 7–5, 7–6(7–3).


2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, ATP entrants
List of Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles entrants, as of July 27, 2009.


2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, ATP entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw


2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic – Doubles
Marc Gicquel and Robert Lindstedt were the defending champions, but Gicquel chose not to participate that year. Robert Lindstedt partnered with Martin Damm, and won in the final over Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, 7–5, 7–6(7–3).


2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic – Singles
Juan Martín del Potro was the defending champion, and won for the second straight year in the final 3–6, 7–5, 7–6(8–6), over Andy Roddick.


2009 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team
The 2009 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team was an American football team that represented Lehigh University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Lehigh tied for second in the Patriot League.


2009 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team
In their fourth year under head coach Andy Coen, the Mountain Hawks compiled a 4–7 record. B.J. Benning and Matt Cohen were the team captains.


2009 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team
The Mountain Hawks were outscored 234 to 230. All of their losses, however, were to non-conference opponents, and their 4–2 conference record placed them in a three-way tie with Colgate and Lafayette for second in the Patriot League standings.


2009 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team
Lehigh played its home games at Goodman Stadium on the university's Goodman Campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.