Top 10 stories of 2012

10.) Fashion Island shooting. A gunman fired off 50 rounds in the parking lot, miraculously not injuring anyone.

9.) Banning Ranch. The Costa Mesa City Council voted to accept developer money for road improvements in anticipation of the residential and commercial development planned for neighboring Newport Beach.

8.) 19th Street bridge. The proposed expanse connecting Costa Mesa to Huntington Beach was removed from the county master plan.

7.) Superintendent guilty. Newport-Mesa school Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard was fired after he was convicted of two felony counts of misappropriation of public funds tied to actions in a previous job.

6.) Freeway tolls. Former Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever helped defeat the “Lexus Lanes” proposed for the San Diego (405) Freeway.

5.) Election day. Voters defeated a proposed city charter for Costa Mesa, brought back former Mayor Sandy Genis and set the stage for a nailbiter between Councilman Gary Monahan and challenger John Stephens.

4.) Fire rings. The Newport Beach City Council voted to remove the fire rings in Corona del Mar, but the state wants more details before it will consider granting permission.

3.) P.I.’s police call. A private investigator followed Costa Mesa Councilman Jim Righeimer home from a restaurant and called police, saying he suspected DUI, even though Righeimer only had Diet Coke.

2.) Dock fees fight. The Stop the Dock Tax folks battled with Newport Beach City Hall over whether it was right to increase fees to “fair-market rates” and proposed a boycott of the holiday boat parade.

1.) Layoffs rescinded. The newly seated Costa Mesa City Council agreed to take back the remaining layoff notices for city positions considered for outsourcing.