The last 12 months have seen all sorts of wonderful, wacky and woeful news in Prince George. The city celebrated the beginnings of a reinvigorated downtown, local representation at the Olympic Games, and a hometown boy drafted by the NHL.
Residents also suffered through severe unemployment, choking smoke from wildfires and the conviction of a killer who went unpunished for 13 years.
After much deliberation, The Citizen's editorial department settled on the newsmaker - make that newsmakers - of the year.
Canada Winter Games
Premier Gordon Campbell sent anxious viewers into screams of delight on Sept. 17 with the words "And history begins in... Prince George!"
Campbell was announcing the winning bid for the 2015 Canada Winter Games, the first time the nation's top winter athletic extravaganza had gone to British Columbia.
By defeating challengers Kelowna and Kamloops, the table has now been set for Prince George to take in millions of dollars above investment costs and get the benefit of intense media attention from coast to coast.
Thousands of visitors will attend, many of the nation's future sports heroes will be on display, corporate sponsors and other levels of government will invest deeply, facilities will get major upgrades and locals will get national-level training and experience.
Other events would likely come to P.G both before and after the Games. The list of potential benefits is long - to say nothing of what the athletes and audiences stand to receive.
John Furlong, the CEO of the bid and host committees for the 2010 Winter Olympics, said hosting this event will permanently change Prince George and region in fundamental ways. He said not only will the nation think better of Prince George, but local residents will have unprecedented confidence in Prince George. The city has four years to get ready.
Gang Crime
Bullets in broad daylight, innocent victims, new police units, national publicity. Gangs saw to it that Prince George was in the spotlight this year.
Almost the entire drug trade in the region is controlled directly by factions of organized crime, police concluded. The Game Tight Soldiers, The Renegades and the Independent Soldiers are the Prince George gangs of greatest influence.
While most homicides in the past few years can be traced to gangs, this year provided a special case. On Aug. 14, Darren Allen Munch, 25, was murdered. He was shot to death in the street of a residential neighbourhood on a sunny afternoon. No charge has been laid in his killing.
The community responded with outrage, leading to a summit held on the topic.
Police were already mobilized against gangs in Prince George, but this year featured two visits by a special provincial task force of anti-gang officers who did crackdowns.
Also, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit-North was unveiled this year, a team of Mounties based in isolation in Prince George who do nothing but combat organized crime across northern B.C.
The tragedy of gang violence spread outside of the underworld this year. A number of arson attacks, all connected to gang activity, did damage to homes and a business. In one of the targeted homes lived a woman in a wheelchair named Linda Joyce Fredin. She suffered severe injuries in the blaze and died.
It all combined for a dubious distinction. Prince George was named by Maclean's Magazine as the crime capital of Canada.
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