From tragedy to triumph, 2008 was a big year for news in Roseville and Granite Bay – and it blew in early.

But as 2008 bows out, it’s the ongoing economic uncertainty that’s most likely to be remembered as the year’s biggest storyline.

With that in mind, here’s a roughly chronological look at what shaped our lives and our conversations over the past 12 months. Got a different view? Go online at www.rosevillept.com and respond to this article with your own list.

* Major storm wreaks havoc on city. The year was young when a storm packing winds in excess of 70 mph blew in Jan. 4. Dozens of homes sustained damage from falling trees and toppled fences, some of it significant. But the storm’s punch was mostly in its bellow: area creeks were able to swallow the 2.63 inches of rainfall without overrunning their banks – a welcome change from the flooding that followed the drenchers of the 1990s.

* Doolittle announces retirement. Under a cloud of suspicion and facing challenges from within his own party, longtime Republican Congressman John Doolittle announced Jan. 10 he would not run for a 10th term. The news set off a furious and sometimes bruising race for the Republican nomination that would eventually shake out to two well-known contenders: former Congressman Doug Ose and State Sen. Tom McClintock.

* Granite Bay mom arrested for drowning baby. In news that shocked the community, Kristina Fuelling, a Granite Bay mother who had given birth eight days earlier, was arrested Jan. 18 for allegedly drowning her baby, Faith, in a sink. But as part of a plea deal, a judge in November ruled the 27-year-old mother was not guilty by reason of insanity. Fuelling now faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of attempted murder and child neglect. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 23.

* City gains Rose Parade berth. City leaders had been hyping an entry in the Tournament of Roses parade for months as a signature way to celebrate Roseville’s 100th birthday in 2009. But it was all just a possibility – until the acceptance letter came April 21. What followed was a citywide effort to raise the $200,000 for the train-and-tree-themed float. As the Jan. 1 parade neared, hundreds of residents were expected to travel to Pasadena to watch the event.

* Roseville mourns icons. Every year sees the passing of notable residents, but 2008 was particularly tough. In May, former mayor and supervisor Bill Santucci died after a heart attack. His career in public service spanned more than three decades, and bridged the period in which Roseville transitioned from a small town to the most important city in Placer County. He was followed by lifelong Roseville resident, educator and community volunteer Sylvia Besana, who died in July after a battle with cancer. Both Santucci and Besana were honored with major public buildings named after them before the year was out.

* Controversy swirls in school district. The Dry Creek school district just couldn’t catch a break this year. First, parents and teachers enraged by layoff notices issued to senior teachers packed multiple board meetings in early fall and later mounted a recall threat against four trustees. Then the parents of two special-needs students at Quail Glen Elementary School went public with complaints in June that their children were left out of the yearbook. That incident received local and national media attention – including landing the district as a “Worst Person in the World” on MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.”

* Tempers flare over Prop 8. When social conservatives set their sights on repealing the rights of gay couples to marry, Placer County saw its share of controversy. Street corner protests and dueling sign thefts were part of how residents expressed their beliefs on Proposition 8, the November ballot initiative to repeal gay marriage. One Roseville couple filed suit against the county, saying the gender-neutral language on marriage forms violated their rights. But even after voters approved the measure, its outcome remained uncertain with multiple legal challenges.

* McClintock edges out Brown for CD4. After a nasty primary season, State Senator Tom McClintock emerged as the Republican standard bearer for the 4th Congressional District. But that was nothing compared to the hard-fought months that followed as the conservative went up against Democrat Charlie Brown, who ran an unexpectedly strong campaign against Doolittle in 2006. A clear winner wouldn’t emerge until nearly a month after Election Day, with McClintock prevailing by 1,576 votes.

* Retail continues to take off. June saw the opening of the long-awaited Fountains lifestyle center, adding another retail juggernaut to the area near the Galleria mall. That center would see the completion of its own $240 million mega-project in November, bringing some of the most prestigious retailers in the country – including a Louis Vuitton and, soon, a Tiffany & Co. But questions remained about the projects’ success in a worsening economy.

* South Placer hit hard as economy sours. Though the economy had been downshifting all year, the world credit and foreclosure crises added pressure on Roseville and Granite Bay in the second half. Home values tanked, with the median resale price in Roseville hitting $275,000 in November, down from $340,000 the same month last year. Major employers Mervyns, Hewlett-Packard and CarMax all announced closures or layoffs. And then a Thanksgiving-eve bombshell: Kobra Properties, the developer responsible for dozens of commercial projects in the region, was filing for bankruptcy. The downturn shaped up as the defining challenge in 2009 for local governments and school districts, which are poised to take major hits in state funding during the coming year.