Bad news weighed down the good in wearisome 2008

This past year in the Upper Rio Grande Valley was a tough one for cops, Mexican border cities, people living in low-lying areas and anyone who relies on money to buy goods and services.

It was a presidential election year when everyone, not just the candidates, seemed to feel everyone else's pain. Gas prices spiked, the Dow Jones industrial average cratered and leaped, and financial institutions collapsed. Murder rates climbed alongside foreclosures, violence extended its finger across the southern U.S. border, and tragic, macabre stories attracted worldwide attention.

In short, it won't be too hard to say goodbye to yesteryear. But today we take a look at the top 10 stories Monitor staff thought marked 2008 and may yet shape 2009 ... for better or for worse.

1. DOLLY DRENCHES VALLEY

Parts of the Rio Grande Valley are still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Dolly.

The storm rushed into the Valley as a Category 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds July 24, dumped as much as 14 inches of rain in some areas and left thousands of people without power and areas of Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties flooded for weeks and months afterward.

Dolly snapped telephone polls, tore up homes and left many in the Delta area standing in water several feet deep. But the storm spared the levees, which have deteriorated over time. Local crops also took a hit from the hurricane, especially the year's cotton harvest, which growers said was a total loss.

About 1,000 people sought refuge in shelters located throughout the Valley while waiting for the water to subside.

Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency surveyed the area after the storm to assess the damage - estimated at about $1 billion - and the federal government declared the area eligible for FEMA funds.

The federal government pledged about $15 million to help with repairs. Local leaders say that number is woefully inadequate and leaves the local governments to repair their communities. A group of 14 homeowners filed suit against FEMA last month for denying their claims for hurricane relief.

The storm brought out both the best and worst in people.

Local businesses and residents pitched in to help those whose homes were damaged, donating clothes, toiletries, food and other necessities. And the nonprofit Pride Foundation put on a three-day concert last month to raise money for families who did not qualify for FEMA assistance.

But the Texas attorney general's office also charged threeValley hotels last month with price gouging during Hurricane Dolly.

The attorney general's office alleges managers at the Comfort Inn on the 4000 block of South Closner Boulevard in Edinburg nearly doubled their prices for some rooms in the days before Dolly made landfall.

It also accuses Motel 6 at 205 N. Expressway 77 in Harlingen and Best Western Las Palmas Inn at 609 E. Expressway 83 in Mission of raising room rates after Gov. Rick Perry issued a disaster declaration in July.

- Jennifer L. Berghom

2. BORDER BARRIER GOES UP 

2008 was a year of dissension, compromise and, ultimately, uncertainty for the border wall that has been slow to spring up even as the initial deadline set by Congress for its completion passed Wednesday.

The year opened with ongoing legal wrangling as property owners fought condemnation suits in federal court in an attempt to keep the wall away.

While property owners fought the wall, Hidalgo County compromised with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to incorporate the border wall into 22 miles of levee work in a plan that diverted almost $50 million of county bond money to construction.

Construction on the levee-wall began after Hurricane Dolly blasted the area in July, and crews raced to try to meet the Wednesday deadline set for the completion of the entire border barrier.

Meanwhile, Homeland Security decided to halt construction of 14 miles of the border fence in Hidalgo and Starr counties due to engineering problems.

Border wall opponents took the announcement as a ray of hope that a new presidential administration - including incoming Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano - would stop further construction of the wall.

Hidalgo County's levee-wall was nearly 90 percent complete by this week, but DHS had not started construction on almost 40 miles in Cameron County.

- Jared Janes

 3. OBAMA ASCENDS TO PRESIDENCY

The presidential primary season revved into high gear and took the country on a wild, yearlong ride that culminated with Sen. Barack Obama's election to the highest office in the land.

And improbably, the road to the White House passed through Texas for Obama and Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Thanks to their hard-fought, extended battle, a red state with a late primary was, for a moment, a player in the race to decide the Democratic Party's nominee.

For a few weeks in late February, living in the Rio Grande Valley was like living in Iowa in January: Residents were practically tripping over the candidates and their proxies, as Obama fought to wrest loyal Hispanic voters away from Clinton.

Clinton visited the Valley twice, holding packed rallies at Dodge Arena, and sent her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and daughter, Chelsea, to stump for her. Obama drew a crowd to the University of Texas Pan-American and flew in friends like comedian George Lopez and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

The phrase "Texas two-step" - a reference to a peculiar delegate selection process that combines voting and caucusing - became common outside honky-tonks and local politicians briefly warred over attendance at rival rallies.

And just as quickly, the signs and canvassers were packed up and the circus had moved on. Clinton's win in Texas' primary was wiped out by Obama's strong showing in the election night caucuses, leaving the two even, but a clear win in Ohio carried her on through June, when she eventually conceded that Obama's delegate count made victory impossible for her.

Texas went back into the "solid Republican" column for the general election, but 69 percent of Hidalgo County voters gave Obama a solid symbolic win.

- Sara Perkins

4. U.S. ECONOMY FALLS INTO A TAILSPIN

The U.S. economy tumbled and the world was wracked by a crisis that is likely the defining national story of 2008.

Rampant borrowing, high-risk investing and the swelling federal budget and trade deficit sunk the world's economy at a pace not seen since the Great Depression.

Thousands continue to lose jobs every week and experts predict the downturn is likely to continue through at least half of 2009, though they caution that's just a guess.

While economic growth halted in the Rio Grande Valley, the area remained a haven from the broader economic troubles afflicting the nation - even though this region had significantly higher rates of the subprime home mortgages that started the crisis in 2007.

Still, that's little relief for the locals who continue to be laid off as retail sales slow and manufacturers decrease production - and for the thousands who had their homes foreclosed upon.

- Sean Gaffney

5. BATTLE ON THE BORDER RAMPS UP DEATH TOLL

The battle between Mexican authorities and violent drug cartels heated up in January 2008 when two battles in as many days left three suspected cartel members and two federal officers dead in Rio Bravo and Reynosa.

After the gunfights, Mexican President Felipe Calderon ordered in thousands of soldiers to patrol border cities from Matamoros to Tijuana.

In August, a police officer was gunned down at a restaurant in Reynosa. And in September, a soldier was killed in Reynosa during a shootout in the streets. A downtown Matamoros shootout in October injured several people, including at least one Mexican soldier.

Authorities arrested suspected Gulf Cartel leader Jaime "El Hummer" Gonzalez in November, but authorities believe the cartel's power remains strong.

The reports of violence along the border have kept many Winter Texans and Rio Grande Valley residents from crossing into Mexico to frequent the stores and restaurants there.

Still, the violence in border cities across from the Valley was relatively tame in 2008 compared to the level of violence in areas farther west.

In Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, at least 1,300 people were killed last year. The Mexican attorney general's office estimates at least 5,300 people died in gangland-style killings in 2008 - more than twice the 2007 number.

- Jared Taylor

6. MURDER RATE RISES, BUT MANY CASES ARE CLOSED

The number of murder cases opened in Hidalgo County in 2008 topped the previous year's number, but local authorities also notched a higher clearance rate than the national average.

Crime investigators across the county worked 51 murder cases in 2008 - 14 more than in 2007.

Sheriff Lupe Treviño attributed the high clearance rate to "good, old-fashioned police work."

"Some is good cooperation from the public," he said. "Some of it is just because we got darn lucky."

Most of the murder cases in the county are investigated by the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office, which investigated 26 suspected murders last year.

The McAllen Police Department also recorded more suspected murders this past year than in 2007 - 9 versus 6.

Edinburg's police investigators cleared its two murder cases of the year - the same as in 2007. And the city of Pharr had a drop in suspected murder s, with two investigations in 2008 - five fewer than the year before.

In Mission, three of that Police Department's four murder investigations ended with arrests last year.

And the year came to a tragic close with the death of a 23-year-old kidnapping victim on Dec. 31. The woman was abducted the day before, then her apparent former boyfriend killed her in Harlingen before driving back to Hidalgo County and crashing through a Weslaco Wal-Mart.

- Ana Ley

 7. GAS PRICES PLUMMET BY END OF YEAR

"What goes up must come down" doesn't usually apply to gas prices, but the adage did in 2008.

Gasoline and oil prices fell sharply at the end of the year. A barrel of oil fell from an all-time high of $147 per barrel during the summer to below $40 per barrel on the last day of 2008.

When prices spiked, Rio Grande Valley residents flocked across the border for cheaper, state-subsidize gas, increasing traffic on the international bridges.

But the tumbling prices weakened the Mexican peso - that country relies on oil production to supplement its income - and made cross-border shoppers less likely to cross, compounding problems for local retailers.

And despite the cheap gas, demand for fuel continued to fall through the end of the year as consumers reined in spending amid the deepening economic crisis. Consequently, sales at many area automobile dealerships fell.

- Sean Gaffney

8. McALLEN WORKS TO BOOST ITS HIPNESS

McAllen spent 2008 trying to improve the quality of life for young people in an effort to make the place a "destination city."

A sort of downtown renaissance took place in the South 17th Street entertainment district. Once an area generally deemed unsafe, the area now features a dozen new bars and restaurants that opened in 2008 or are scheduled to in coming weeks. And just last night, the city put on its first major downtown New Year's Eve event.

While looking to the future, the city is also preserving its past. In 2008, the city designated a portion of 15th Street its first historic district. The move is considered a progressive one, as many large cities take steps to preserve their heritage.

McAllen has long been considered the region's retail capital, but leaders are now trying to diversify. Officials spent 2008 trying to land an automobile manufacturer, which would be a boon to the local economy.

Even the city's familiar nickname, City of Palms, isn't sacred. The city spent 2008 considering updated slogans. A new one could be named in just a few weeks.

- Ryan Holeywell

9. ALLEGATIONS APLENTY FALL ON LAW ENFORCERS

For several local law enforcement agents, 2008 brought a litany of allegations that ranged from drug trafficking to soliciting sex from a middle school student.

Federal prosecutors indicted Starr County Sheriff Reymundo "Rey" Guerra in October, alleging he was involved in a drug trafficking organization with ties to the Gulf Cartel. Prosecutors said he helped smugglers avoid detection and helped coordinate activities with telephone calls. If convicted, Guerra faces up to life in prison and $6.25 million in fines. His case is expected to go to trial this year.

Charges were also filed against Edcouch police Chief Eloy Cardenas in connection with a February incident in which he allegedly fired at the car of his wife's ex-husband as the man drove by their home. Cardenas was reinstated to his job after he was suspended with pay as the criminal allegations loomed over him.

In November, a jury cleared former Alton police chief Jose Luis Vela of sexual assault and theft charges. Vela was accused of sexually assaulting one of his male employees. A judge dropped the rest of Vela's charges after the jury found him not guilty.

Pharr assistant police chief Javier Perez resigned from his post in August after the Police Department launched an investigation against him. Perez was investigated for allegedly selling accident reports to lawyers and chiropractors, but he was not charged with any crime following the internal probe.

A Starr County grand jury indicted La Grulla Police Chief Alfredo Hernandez in May for allegedly soliciting sex from a female middle school student. Hernandez was suspended without pay pending the outcome of his case, which remains unresolved.

Former Edinburg police Sgt. Santos Leal resigned in August after he admitted to unintentionally drafting fake search warrants and other allegations about how he conducted drug investigations. The 19-year police veteran also was accused of sharing an informant's identity with a drug dealer who organized the man's kidnapping.

- Jared Taylor

10. ODD TWISTS TURN EYES OF WORLD TO SAD CASES 

The beating death of a 2-year-old child - while a horrific crime - is unfortunately not unheard of in the Rio Grande Valley.

But when nearly 800-pound Mayra Lizbeth Rosales was accused of killing her nephew in March, the world took notice.

Almost immediately, media outlets from as far away as Brisbane, Australia, began following every minute development in the case.

While the facts of Eliseo Gonzalez Jr.'s death differ little from most cases of fatal child abuse, the physical condition of the child's alleged killer has caused complications from the start.

Court administrators continue to work out the details on how the nearly half-ton woman will be brought to trial. (Moving the case out of a traditional courtroom and conducting hearings by videoconference have both been discussed.) Until then, a judge has allowed her to remain in her home because the Hidalgo County Jail cannot accommodate her medical needs.

Meanwhile, Rosales - who has been diagnosed with a rare thyroid condition - is in talks with a documentary film crew that has offered her a physician's attention in exchange for the right to tell her story.

Rosales has maintained her innocence since her arrest and argued her nephew sustained his injuries before the day he died at her house. She is expected to go to trial sometime this year.

The story of a 9-year-old Pharr girl who wrote a letter to Santa wishing that her relative would stop molesting her also struck a chord nationwide.

The girl, a student at Cesar Chavez Elementary, turned in the letter as a school assignment. Upon reading it, a counselor alerted authorities who soon arrested the girl's relative, Andres Enrique Cantu.

Cantu is accused of molesting the girl and her 10-year-old sister over the course of several years.

At the time of his arrest, Cantu was a computer lab technician at Lamar Academy in the McAllen school district. He could face nearly 200 years in prison.

- Jeremy Roebuck and Ryan Holeywell