For all its hardship, 2008 will also be remembered as the year when Simi Valley got behind those who needed it most. As jobs were lost and home prices fell, residents from every corner of the city rallied behind one another in many ways—organizing food drives, collecting clothes or simply giving whatever they could spare to help their neighbor. And while the Sept. 12 Metrolink accident will stand out as the year's most lasting memory, we should not forget the strength the community summoned in the days following the tragedy and the promise to carry on for those 25 who lost their lives. But before we enthusiastically usher in 2009, let's take one last look back.

Top stories of 2008

January •In its first high school ranking list, U.S. News and World Report recognizes Santa Susana High School with a silver ranking. •Democratic candidate Jim Dantona of Simi Valley withdraws from the state Senate race one month before the primary election, clearing the way for a showdown between Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson and Republican Tony Strickland. •Waste Management meets with all four local neighborhood councils about plans to expand the Simi Valley Landfill and Recycling Center. •Peter Foy is appointed chair of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors after his first year in office. •State officials agree to keep the provisions of Senate Bill 990 in place. The legislation requires the strictest cleanup standards for the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a former rocket engine and nuclear testing facility in the hills south of Simi. •Resident Garnette Schroeck celebrates her 100th birthday at the United Methodist Church in Simi Valley. Schroeck was born in Chicago on Jan. 9, 1908.

February •Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney, John McCain, Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee meet at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library's Air Force One Pavilion for a 90-minute televised debate— the final GOP face-off before California's "Super Tuesday" primary. •BeverlyHills based developer Casden Properties LLC receives unanimous approval from from the Simi Valley City Council to build a 266-unit residential development on a 16.8-acre site east of Madera Road between Los Angeles Avenue and Simi Village Drive. •Lauren Donahue, a 41year-old transient, is arrested and charged with the murder of her mother, 63-year-old Simi resident Rose Weiss. The fatal stabbing is Simi's first homicide of 2008. •Simi High boys' basketball beats Thousand Oaks High School 6656 to win the Marmonte League Championship, giving the Pioneers their first league title since 2000. The Royal girls' basketball team also secures the league title with a 58-40 victory over Newbury Park High. •Royal High wrestlers dominate the Marmonte League Wrestling Finals in Moorpark, with six of its grapplers taking home titles. •A list of questions and concerns about the environmental impacts of Waste Management's proposal to expand the landfill are sent to the county's planning division for review. •The newly formed Sustainable Simi Valley Committee, which is committed to finding ways to make the city more environmentally friendly, holds its first meeting. •The Simi Valley Water Quality Control Plant is awarded the distinction of 2007 Plant of the Year by the California Water Environmental Association Tri-Counties Section. •Simi Valley Hospital CEO and president Gary Irish resigns. •Employees from 15 different local businesses receive citations as a result of an undercover investigation by Simi Police into the sale of liquor to minors. The department's special enforcement section and a representative from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control investigated a total of 77 locations.•An annual General Plan progress report reveals that Simi only met half of its goal last year in terms of providing new housing units in the community, particularly for low and verylow-income families. More than half of the units built in 2007 were for abovemoderateincome families

March •Royal High student Shawn Sage, 17, is honored during a school assembly. Sage, who was denied permission to enlist early in the Marine Corps by a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner, proposed a law that would allow foster teens early enlistment at age 17 with the consent of a foster parent or social worker. •The school board unanimously approves a plan to use alternative funding sources to help construct a long-awaited multipurpose auditorium on the Santa Susana High School campus. The total cost of the auditorium, which will be for the use of the entire community, is expected to be $12 million. •Tapo Canyon Regional Park reopens to the public five years after it was badly burned in the 2003 Simi fires. •Darwin Remboldt replaces Gary Irish as president and CEO of Simi Valley Hospital. Remboldt served as the facility's CEO during the 1980s. •The initial phase of construction for Simi Valley's first dog park at Big Sky Park is approved.

April •A study by the Ventura Council of Governments and the county Board of Supervisors predicts that 135,708 people will be living in Simi by the year 2040. The report predicts that vacant developable land in the city will run out by 2009. •The 23 Freeway widening and soundwall project is completed. The $65-million project on State Route 23 between Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Los Angeles Avenue in the cities of Thousand Oaks and Moorpark was completed 14 months ahead of schedule. •Waterworks District No. 8 declares a moratorium on water service in the Santa Susana Knolls, prohibiting property owners to build any new construction projects for the next two years. According to a public works memorandum, the Alta Vista Water Tank is 4,000 gallons below Ventura County's updated requirement for domestic, emergency and fire storage demands in the Knolls service area. •Following a 51 victory over Moorpark High, the Simi Valley softball team established a new Ventura County record with its 22nd consecutive win to begin the season.

May •Most summer school classes in Simi Valley Unified schools are cancelled due to the budget crisis. •Simi Valley Hospital cuts the ribbon on its stateoftheart $75million patient care tower. Simi resident Yvonne Neumann, 75, is the first patient in the fourfloor, 128bed facility. •Royal High School's boys' volleyball team wins its first Marmonte League title since 2002—and 15th overall—by finishing 14-0 in league action. •Simi Valley High's baseball team wins a CIF-Southern Section Division I championship by defeating Long Beach Wilson 41 at Dodger Stadium. Simi High's softball team comes within a step of a perfect season, but loses in the section championship game to Valencia and finishes 30-1. •According to the Simi Valley Alliance to House the Homeless, 64 previously homeless people found roofs over their heads between December 2007 and May 2008.

June •Simi Valley Hospital cuts 26 jobs. Most of the cuts affect programs for outpatient therapy, workrelated injuries and endoflife care. •The California Transportation Commission approves $32 million for construction of a new westbound lane for the 118 Freeway between Tapo Canyon Road and the Los Angles County line that is expected to improve traffic flow. •The City Council adopts a balanced budget despite a predicted $5-million shortfall.

July •The Rotary Club of Simi Valley puts on the city's largest Fourth of July fireworks event in its history. Thousands fill the streets of Simi to witness the nearly hourlong display. •Simi Valley police write 28 tickets on the first day of the new "handsfree" cellphone law. •Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs Assembly Bill 1932, which allows Simi Valley to build a new public cemetery. •Three people say they were assaulted by Joel Angeles, Assemblymember Audra Strickland's chief-of-staff, at a June protest in Westlake Village aimed at state Senate candidate Tony Strickland. Angeles is placed on a one-month unpaid leave.

August •Exactly one year after the United Church of Christ of Simi Valley began giving sanctuary to Liliana, an illegal immigrant, and her son, about 30 protesters demonstrate outside the church to mark the occasion. •The city honors police officer Michael Clark, who was shot to death in the line of duty 13 years ago, with an emotional tribute when part of Alamo Street is renamed Officer Michael Clark Memorial Parkway. •After going unchallenged in the last two mayoral elections, Mayor Paul Miller finds out he will face competition from substitute teacher Ed Lang and small businessman Bruce Witkin. •It's announced that Fire Station 43 on Cypress Street in the Santa Susana Knolls—built in 1952—will be closed in the near future. Station 43 is moving to 5830 E. Los Angeles Ave., into a new building set to be complete in one or two years.•The City Council approves construction of a Target store on the corner of Madera and Tierra Rejada roads, the site of a closed Kmart store. •Stan Mantooth replaces Charlie Weis as Ventura County superintendent of schools. Weis was the county superintendent for 11 years.

September •Families flock to the 75th annual Simi Valley Days celebration, which for the first time in its long history is held at Rancho Simi Community Park, the event's new permanent location. •The city expresses displeasure with Southern California Edison's plans to construct new aboveground power lines in the western edge of the city near the Reagan Library. Many residents attending an open house at Cal Lutheran University also urge SCE to put the lines underground. •Arson is believed to be the cause of a fire at a Simi Valley strip mall that badly damages the First Amendment Tattoo Shop and two other businesses. •For the sixth consecutive year, Simi Valley students show improvement on the state's Academic Performance Index, registering 808. The statewide target score is 800. For the second year in a row, Vista Fundamental School earned the highest score in the district with a 938. •Due to neighbors' complaints, the planning commission denies the request of Deborah and Alex Shaw to keep eights pets—six dogs and two potbellied pigs—in their Torrance Street home. The municipal code allows a maximum of four animals to be kept on a residential lot.•The original copy of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation goes on display for four days only at the Reagan Library. •Hundreds of residents take part in the third annual Simi Valley Freedom Walk on the seventh anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. •In the worst train wreck in Southern California in 50 years, Metrolink train 111, en route to Simi Valley and Moorpark, collides head-on with a Union Pacific freight train. Twenty-five people, including 10 from Simi Valley, are killed and more than 130 injured. Around 800 mourners gather at Grace Brethren Community Church for a prayer service for the victims and their families. •The City Council passes a law prohibiting the feeding of crows and ravens within city limits. •The Simi Valley Police Department celebrates 40 years at its Alamo Street location with an open house and a new exhibit. •Apollo High School wins a statewide student fitness contest and $100,000 toward the construction of a new fitness center. The contest challenged students to put in the most hours of exercise outside of gym class. •The community is shocked to learn of the death of a 5-year-old Simi Valley girl in a pit bull attack.

October •Enrollment in the school district is down for a fifth consecutive year. There are now 20,885 students attending school in Simi Valley Unified. •The City Council proposes an idea to build a memorial to the victims of the Metrolink accident and receives a positive response. A meeting is held to get ideas from the public and from the victims' families. •Acorn managing editor John Loesing poses questions to 16 officeseekers at a candidate's forum sponsored by the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce and held at Paul's Italian Villa. •Wildfires rage around Southern California, but Ventura County is mostly spared. The Sesnon Fire burns 14,125 acres in nearby Chatsworth and Porter Ranch. •Cornerstone Community Church is denied permission to build a religious campus and facilities for the Children's Hunger Fund in the Tierra Rejada Valley. The Ventura County Planning Commission votes 5-0 against, saying the project does not fit within open space requirements. •Lorene Foster, former owner of the Santa Susana Airport, celebrates her 100th birthday at the Simi Hills Gracious Living Village. •The community responds in force to the local food bank's call for help. Simi Valley Care and Share says the number of families it serves has jumped from 350 to around 1,400 in just four months. •The East County District Attorney's office opens inside the Simi Valley Courthouse. The office is home to Simi Valley and Moorpark's first community prosecutor and provides services that previously were only available in Ventura. •The Simi Valley Acorn wins several awards in the California Newspaper Publishers Association's Better Newspaper Contest, including first-place prizes in general news and breaking news photos. The paper is also recognized for its ongoing coverage of the Runkle Canyon dispute. •Jewish congregation B'Nai Emet moves to the temple's new permanent home at 9 W. Bonita Drive, taking the place of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, which combines with Our Saviour Lutheran Church to become Shepherd of the Valley at 4191 Cochran St.

November •There are no surprises on Election Day as all incumbents on the City Council and school board are reelected to office. Mayor Paul Miller retains his seat in a landslide, securing 79 percent of the vote. •Former Simi Valley mayor Elton Gallegly (R-Thousand Oaks) is elected to serve his 12th term in the United States Congress. •The Simi Valley girls' team captures first place at the Ventura County Cross County Championships. Royal High's boys' and girls' teams each place second. •Simi Valley Hospital is named the Chamber's 2008 Business of the Year. •Retired Marine Corps Capt. Dale Dye is the keynote speaker at the city's Veterans Day ceremony at Rancho Tapo Community Park. •After thieves steal $10,000 worth of tools from the Habitat for Humanity build site on Royal Avenue, residents and businesses respond with donations of time, money and equipment. Farmers Insurance gives $15,000. •After more than two years of waiting, the City Council finally receives word that it will get an answer to the question of whether it's safe to build in Runkle Canyon. The state's Department of Toxic Substances Control says its investigation into the controversial piece of land south of Simi will be complete by summer '09. •Royal defeats Simi Valley on the football gridiron 240, securing the Highlanders 14th win over the rival Pioneers in 15 games. •Dep. District Attorney Jim Eicher takes over as Simi Valley and Moorpark's first community prosecutor. •U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson defends the government's bailout of the financial industry during a speech at the Reagan Library, saying they are necessary to prevent "financial collapse." •Hundreds gather to witness three Simi single mothers and their children cut the ribbons on their new Habitat for Humanity-built homes during an emotional ceremony. It is the city's first Habitat project.

December •One hundred fifteen Simi Valley police officers receive a 7 percent pay hike as part of a fouryear contract negotiated between the city and the police officers' union in 2005. The raise will cost the city an extra $1.35 million. •The school district announces it will cut 16 classified jobs as part of ongoing budget cuts. The district estimates it will need to shave at least $4.9 million from its budget over the next three years to stay above water. •Six new stores, including toy store FAO Schwarz, open at the Simi Valley Town Center. •Four Simi Valley men graduate from Marine Corps boot camp on the same day. •The City Council approves $3 million in budget cuts to help offset a proposed deficit caused by tumbling revenue and a stalled housing market. The DARE antidrug program is suspended for the remainder of the school year. •Simi's Alliance to House the Homeless reports it has managed to put a roof over the heads of nearly 100 of the city's homeless in 2008. •Eric Lundstrom is named president of the Simi Valley school board by a 3-2 vote.