Hits and misses of the year gone by

A sampling of the highs and lows of the year that is ending ...

MISS A tidal wave

This year began with the financial unraveling of Norfolk's light rail system and the departure of the man in charge. The year ends with The Tide under a cloud, $100 million over its original budget, its former management accused of hiding trouble and the actual costs. By the summer, the trains should be running; by the winter, perhaps we'll know if that's enough to keep the project on track. It may take considerably longer to know whether anyone is going to prison.

MISS Gridlock another year

The ideological stalemate in Richmond meant another year without progress on the region's roads. The governor is trying, desperately, to find money to move forward, but he's so far confined his search to the wrong places - ABC stores, debt, punishing tolls. The needs are so great in Hampton Roads that it will take political compromise, which has been in short supply among rural and urban lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats. It will also take debt and tolls and taxes to begin to build what's necessary. As attorney general, Bob McDonnell brokered such a compromise, which was struck down by the courts. Try, governor. Please try again.

MISS Showing up

Norfolk's Community Services Board, which neither the city, the state, the board, nor its supervisors was adequately overseeing, produced the most resonant scandal of the year: An employee who didn't show up for 12 years and still collected a pay check. Several people have left the CSB's employ as a result, but the truths behind the scandal - why this happened and how - remain unknown. That only ensures that this scandal will continue into the new year and probably beyond.

MISS DoD uncertainty

For a community that depends on the Department of Defense for 45 percent of its economy, Hampton Roads found 2010 quite stressful. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans to shutter Norfolk-based Joint Forces Command, with its $704 million budget, 2,800 civilian and military members and 3,000 contractors. Virginia's congressmen fought to keep an aircraft carrier from being relocated to Florida - a move that has been put off for several years. But the Navy, state and congressional leaders have been unable to persuade any community thus far to accept a practice field for F/A-18 pilots, a must if Oceana Naval Air Station is going to remain in Virginia Beach. Hampton Roads has long been proud of its military connections, but these days, it's mostly feeling vulnerable.

MISS Waiting and waiting

This summer, the Chesapeake Police Department touted a new effort to reduce crime by getting illegal guns off the city's streets. The program, funded through a $10,000 federal grant, offered $100 cash to tipsters who called the Crime Line (1-888-LOCK-U-UP) and gave details that helped lead to the seizure of illegal firearms. As of this week, authorities still were waiting for the first call.

HIT Welcome change

A sad, divisive story drew to a close this summer when Portsmouth voters ousted longtime mayor James Holley in a recall election. His erratic behavior and lackluster leadership were hurting the city, and it was time for him to go. Former City Council member Bernard Griffin Jr. stepped in as interim mayor and helped begin healing the wounds. This fall, voters chose engineer Kenny Wright to finish Holley's term. During his campaign, Wright spoke of his ability to move across racial and economic divides and foster understanding. It's a tough challenge, but one that Wright and a generation of new leaders need to emphasize in 2011.

HIT Classy contrition

The revelation was preceded by an unfortunate blunder, but Gov. Bob McDonnell showed he's one of the few politicians capable of a sincere apology. The governor failed to mention slavery when he declared April Confederate History Month, but he did much to repair hard feelings with a classy speech at Norfolk State University expressing regret for the oversight. There was no mealy-mouthed "I'm sorry if anyone is upset" obfuscation. He took responsibility and made amends.

HIT Roll 'em

In just a few years, Amtrak trains will return to the south side of Hampton Roads, rolling at 79 mph from Richmond to a station at Harbor Park, providing a link between Norfolk's light rail system and trains heading across America. It is a long-overdue restoration of passenger rail service and will include $87 million to upgrade the tracks. Thanks are due to the governor and Thelma Drake, head of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

HIT Drilling freeze

The Obama administration tabled a plan this fall to allow drilling for oil and natural gas off Virginia's coast. The change of heart, as welcome as it was, sadly came only after the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico, which turned into the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Until safety regulations and processes are brought up to speed, Virginia shouldn't risk its tourism or fishing industries or its great natural beauty in trade for the uncertain financial benefits of offshore drilling.

HIT Extraordinary gifts

Some people go quietly through their years, doing their jobs, staying out of the limelight while improving their communities. Sometimes, only when they retire - or pass away - do we learn of their legacies. Among such heroines: ODU secretary Sue Smith, whose soothing presence in the engineering department is augmented by her gift of a year's salary for engineering scholarships - and her retirement savings when she dies; writer, painter and conservationist Julia Bristow of Norfolk, whose college education decades ago was possible because of scholarships, left $1 million to allow others to experience college; and Adelaide Eberly, 89, Portsmouth's "Tree Lady," who died this year but left a legacy of more than 5,000 trees planted in her city.

They all provide a model for making Hampton Roads a better place.

Coming Friday: More hits and misses of 2010