The top 10 local stories of 2009
Sally Bondi peers into the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Santa Rosa on the first ``Furlough Friday,'' twice-monthly office closures designed to save the state money. Bondi, who drove from her home in Guerneville to get a new driver's license, was one of a stream of visitors who turned up at the doors of the DMV.
PD filePublished: Friday, December 25, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, December 26, 2009 at 10:53 p.m.
The top local news stories of 2009 involved a national recession, an international flu pandemic and a state budget crisis, all of which influenced Sonoma County residents in ways that will resonate long into the next decade.
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No person's name appeared more promimently than Clem Carinalli, the self-made multimillionaire who spent decades turning real estate into gold until creditors began asking for more than his firm handshake.
The year was also marked by changes in government leaders, by alterations in political fortunes and by accidents that never should have happened.
Here is a glance at the top stories of 2009:
1. The recession.
Sonoma County's economy has been in recession since October 2007 and things only got worse in 2009.
More layoffs involving more companies and government workers. Higher unemployment. Mortgage loan foreclosures soaring to constitute a significant portion of all homes sold throughout the year.
Although some national experts see signs the country is moving out of recession, those familiar with the California and the local economy say there may not be improvement until 2012 or 2013.
By year's end, unemployment stood at 10.1 percent, meaning some 26,400 residents were looking for work.
This year, the median home sale price hit a 20-year low of $305,000 in February, but rose to $356,000 in November, still far below the high of $619,000 registered in August 2005.
2. Clem Carinalli's bankruptcy
Within six short months, the real estate and financial empire assembled by investor Clem Carinalli came crashing down as he stopped paying his debts and creditors started asking for answers.
Since his short-of-cash position was first disclosed last June, the story of Carinalli's financial demise has stretched into Sonoma County's wealthiest circles and even rocked Sonoma State University's Academic Foundation, a nonprofit agency that invests money donated to the university.
A $1.25 million unpaid loan by the foundation to Carinalli has stirred even more controversy because it and another half dozen paid loans raised questions whether his relationship with the foundation board was too cozy. Carinalli resigned as a board member just two days before receiving his first loan.
Ultimately, his creditors forced him into declaring bankruptcy and into revealing intimate details of how he had maneuvered into the position of the county's largest single private landowner. With debts estimated at nearly $200 million, Carinalli has struggled to unscramble his financial affairs and some investors have accused him of fraudulent business dealing.
Still, the tale is unfinished as the state Attorney General's office has stepped in to audit some $20 million in university foundation loans, almost half of which went to Carinalli. And a U.S. bankruptcy judge has put off until February a hearing on restructuring the Carinalli empire debt.
3. Swine flu sweeps the region.
The H1N1 flu virus swept through the North Coast in waves over the last year, killing 10 people and requiring hospitalization of about 150 others. Attendance in schools and at the workplace was spotty as people struggled with new guidelines for hygiene, including covering coughs, using sanitizers and avoiding handshakes.
Thousands managed to get vaccine injections, but by year's end many more still scrambled to find health care providers with a supply. Not all went smoothly with vaccine distribution as public clinics were swamped with people desperate to get an injection and at least 400 children in Sonoma County received dosages that were not as potent as originally advertised.
In late November, public health officials concluded that swine flu had peaked for the moment, but they warned that another wave was in the offing in late January as students returned to schools and holiday vacations came to an end.
4. Drunk driving issues raised in the Dylan Morse case.
The drunk driving case of Dylan Morse, the 19-year-old son of a Central Valley prosecutor, was controversial twice this year. He pleaded guilty last May in connection with a collision that killed the driver of another car, injured a passenger and left his own best friend in a coma. Initially, Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Ken Gnoss handed Morse a 12-year prison sentence, which was praised by prosectors and the victims' families but criticized as excessive by others. Earlier this month, Gnoss changed it to a 3-year sentence, which was hailed by Morse's family, but led to allegations of favoritism from the family of Alex Ruiz, the 22-year-old who lost his life in the Valentine's Day accident at Stony Point Road and Highway 116.
5. Traffic shuffles as Highway 101 is widened.
All year long, motorists using Highway 101 north of Santa Rosa put up with construction equipment, traffic diversions, uneven pavement and slowdowns as widening of the North Coast's main artery proceeded. But by the holidays, the highway officially was transformed into three lanes from the c
The new third lane is devoted to car pools, which will be effective weekdays 7 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6:30 p.m. Should you forget, the fine is $381.
The $120 million effort for construction, design and planning was one of the county's largest-ever public works projects, and finished 9 months ahead of schedule.
Next up is a $38 million project for a new Wilfred Avenue overpass and car-pool lanes to the Rohnert Park Expressway, scheduled for completion in August 2012.
6. Sonoma family of four killed in car accident.
Four members of the Maloney family of Sonoma, returning from a vacation in Hawaii, were killed last November in a traffic accident that bore all the hallmarks of a wrong-place at the wrong-time tragedy. Steven Culbertson, 19, of Lakeport, was speeding through a red light at the intersection of Lakeville Highway and Highway 37 when he clipped one car and rammed his Mini-Cooper broadside into the Maloney's car. Killed were Susan Maloney, 42, and John, 45, and their children, Grace, 5, and Aiden, 8. Culbertson died later at a hospital. Investigators who struggled for answers found no evidence that Culbertson had either drugs or alcohol in his system.
To compound the horror of the crash, burglars broke into the Maloney's empty home and ransacked it, stealing a family car. A 26-year-old San Mateo man, Michael Vincent Gutierrez, was arrested for the crime, and in a jailhouse interview, apologized to the family, saying, “I am not a monster.”
7. Budget cuts hit schools, cities and county.
The effect of a slumping economy was felt at the grass roots level of government when schools laid off teachers and staff while county and municipal governments shed programs and furloughed employees.
The full effect of declining revenues from property and sales taxes didn't hit until early 2009 when state government began whacking programs and cutting out Friday workdays. Sonoma County officials managed to find $21 million in budget cuts and Santa Rosa officials trimmed $26 million from theirs.
Schools had little leeway as they turned to cutting arts and music programs as well as cutting their school year by five days. Projections are local governments and schools will face even more drastic cuts in 2010.
8. Sen. Pat Wiggins decides against re-election.
Beset by months of allegations of unusual behavior that raised questions about her mental competency at the state Capitol, State Sen. Wiggins, a Santa Rosa Democrat, announced last August that she would not seek re-election in 2010. Reports that the 69-year-old senator had public outbursts and an apparent inability at times to focus or remember topics of discussion had swirled in political circles for months. Wiggins declined to elaborate on her reasons for leaving public office, citing personal health issues unrelated to hearing problems she's had much of her life.
9. Leadership changes atop local governments.
Within six months, Santa Rosa and Sonoma County governments lost their top executive leaders at a time of declining revenues and morale-crushing cutbacks. Bob Deis, county administrator for the last five years, resigned last June after coming under increasing criticism from county supervisors on a board remade after the November election. Similarly, Jeff Kolin, who had been Santa Rosa's city manager since 2000 and was dealing with council that had lost its business friendly majority, resigned in November to take a similar post in Beverly Hills.
10. Carmina Salcido returns to scene of crime.
The Salcido slayings came back into the headlines this year. After a 20-year absence, Carmina Salcido returned to Sonoma County, the place where her father had killed most of their family and left her for dead in a garbage dump. The 3-year-old was the only survivor of a rampage committed by Ramon Salcido that will be remembered as a gruesome trail of murder that left seven people dead. She came back, armed with a book about her recollections of the crime, her years of abuse at the hands of a stern grandfather in Missouri and her hope that resettling here would bring her inner peace.
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