Community Corner

Top Stories of 2011

The last 12 months have been eventful. Residents launched the Occupy Petaluma movement, city budgets continued to shrink, Lowe's said 'nay' to coming to town and a young man who touched so many people's lives left us too soon. Click on any title

After months of meetings and an environmental impact report, home improvement giant Lowe’s announces that it’s canceling plans to build in Petaluma, citing weakened sales. Merlone Geier, the shopping center developer blames city for inability to obtain project entitlements. Now, Friedman's is in negotiations with the city to open up at the spot, on North McDowell and Rainier Avenue. Fingers crossed.


Find out what's happening in Petalumawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A month after activists “occupy” New York City’s Zuccoti Park, a group of Petaluma residents form a similar movement, calling for major reform of the financial system and an end to corporate loopholes and tax breaks for the wealthy.

Camping out at Penry Park off Petaluma Boulevard North, the group makes foreclosures a focal point of their campaign and calls for a holiday moratorium. After six weeks, the group folds up the encampment, but vows to carry on their social justice work. Will the Occupy movement turn into a tangible social movement that translates into real change? Or will it disintegrate under dueling ideologies and a lack of focus?

Find out what's happening in Petalumawith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Danny Cox, the affable teen paralyzed in a 2010 diving accident, dies August 8 when his car crashes into a tree on southbound 101 near Novato. Cox captured the hearts of Petaluma residents who raised nearly $100,000 for his rehabilitation, but the former track standout also struggled with feelings of despair at his new disability, even as his family flew him for stem cell treatments in Panama.

A group of residents, nonprofit organizations and the city of Petaluma file a lawsuit against Dutra Materials and Sonoma County in an attempt to block an asphalt plant across the river from Shollenberger Park. The plaintiffs say the location--right at the gateway to Petaluma-- is not appropriate and will negatively impact tourism, air, noise and other quality of life issues.

In December, concerned Petalumans pack a courtroom as a judge hears the arguments from both sides. A written decision is expected within 90 days.

KEARNEY BECOMES YOUNGEST COUNCILMEMBER IN CITY’S HISTORY

After months of collecting applications from some 20 contenders and holding three preliminary votes that all end in a stalemate, the City Council elects Gabe Kearney, a 29-year-old emergency preparedness coordinator, to fill the seventh seat on the council.

The 11th hour decision makes Kearney the youngest and first openly gay councilmember elected in the city’s history. Kearney is praised for his ability to work on “both sides of the ideological divide," but he has yet to make any controversial decisions, namely on anything dealing with development.

Still dealing with declining sales and property tax revenue, the city ponders how to shave $4 million from its 2011-12 budget, resulting in the elimination of seven positions, including two captain slots. The latter sets of a furor as many residents get upset that a police captain is now demoted to a lieutenant, arguing that the city is mistreating its most loyal workers.

Those on the council who vote for cuts say "it's nothing personal" and that the reductions have to be made across the board. Now the question is, will there be more cuts in the new year and if so, how low can we go?

Marin Sheriff's deputy Jim Mathieson is killed July 19 during an altercation on Liberty Road when he goes to the home of a friend who is receiving threatening messages from a former boyfriend. The spurned suitor shoots Mathieson and holds another woman hostage, prompting her son to kill the gunman.

Later it's revealed that the gunman had a history of making violent threats against women and was on active state parole. More than a thousand turn out for Mathieson's funeral in San Rafael.

More than 150 Petaluma residents lose hundreds of dollars each after their debit card information is lifted off of debit card machines at the Lucky on Lakeville. It turns out that grocery store chain had known its electronic readers had been compromised in at least 20 stores throughout the Bay Area, but did not put out a system-wide warning, prompting anger from many of the victims.

The FBI takes a lead in the investigation and one of the trails leads to an Armenian gang in Los Angeles. But the biggest take away from the scam is: every time we use our credit cards or debit cards, our financial details can be compromised. Welcome to the 21st century.

A Patch analysis of arrest data finds that half of Sonoma County residents arrested by federal immigration authorities and deported did not commit any crime besides coming to the U.S. illegally. The county reaches a compromise with the ACLU agreeing to not arrest illegal people unless they have committed crimes, a move celebrated as a major victory by immigration advocates.

Later in the year, law enforcement agencies announce that they will accept identification cards issued by the Mexicanc consulate as a way of verifying someone's identity, removing the need to detain and fingerprint those without licenses or identification cards issued by the U.S. government.

SOLDIER MIA FOR OVER 60 YEARS, RETURNED TO PETALUMA

First Class Private Mervyn Earl Sims was only 23 when he perished in a 1943 plane crash in the Himalayas and for years was considered Missing in Action. But in 2003 his remains were found by a mountaineer who has made it his life's work to travel to the world's most remote places in search of missing soldiers.

Although it took years to work, this April Sims was returned to Petaluma, where he was buried with full military honors at Cypress Park Cemetery as relatives, former classmates and dozens of veterans looked on.


Petaluma Historical Museum is a jewel of the community, a testament to our rich history and traditions. But it's also lost $40,000 over the past two years as a result of new exhibits that have not always paid for themselves. Critics have raised a bevy of issues like alleged conflicts of interest on the board to exhibits that don't align with the museum's mission. But plenty of others approve of the bold new direction and say the expenditures are needed to raise the museum's visibility.

And no matter what think of the finances, curious museum-goers want to know, what's in store for 2012?

What did you think were the top stories of the year? Sound off in the comments below.


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