2012 in the News: Floods, elections but no apocalypse (whew!)

Well, that was a close one.

Two thousand twelve was supposed to be the last year any of us were here. Alas, the apocalypse wimped out, and we'll live to see 2013. So it's just the end of another year.

But what a year it was.

Clark County saw more than 25,000 births in 2012 and more than 14,000 deaths, according to stats from the Southern Nevada Health District. One baby even came into the world at 12:12 p.m. on Dec. 12. There were lots of cool stories like that one.

But there is stuff that happened, and then there is news. One is not the same as the other.

Stuff is life; news is the unusual. News is often the shocking, the maddening and the inexplicable. News gets you talking. It's rarely fodder for a Disneyesque fantasy.

We had flooding and shootings and layoffs here in the Las Vegas Valley this year. There were crashes and criminals and campaign stops to keep us agitated. These are the things that dominated the news pages in 2012.

The Review-Journal staff came up with a list of the top 10 stories of the year. They're big, all of them. They're so big that stories about escaped chimpanzees, a killer dog named Onion that some folks want to save, an embattled pediatrician who died before he could serve his prison sentence, and a weird saga about a sexual threesome between two schoolteachers and a teenage girl didn't even make the cut.

1. NEVADA MATTERS

Judging by all the campaign stops, you might have thought Nevada had cornered the market on dark suits and power ties in 2012.

President Barack Obama, challenger Mitt Romney and their campaigns made dozens of stops and spent millions on advertising here as they competed for our six electoral votes.

Obama took the prize, but that wasn't the only political story of the year.

Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul and chairman and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., spent more money than anyone in American history in trying to defeat Obama. It is unknown exactly how much Adelson spent, but estimates put it well over $100 million.

Shelley Berkley, a longtime Democratic member of the House of Representatives, took a chance and challenged Republican Dean Heller for his seat in the U.S. Senate. But an ethics scandal cropped up at exactly the wrong time for Berkley, and Heller kept his seat.

Elsewhere in Republican land, supporters of Ron Paul, the dark horse libertarian Republican candidate for president, staged a takeover of the state party. Despite GOP rules saying Romney would get the state's delegates at the national convention, Paul supporters tried to nominate him anyway. It didn't work.

2. POLICE SHOOTINGS

In the wake of increased scrutiny of shootings by the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Department of Justice released a study of the department that recommended several changes.

The study said police training is scattershot and inconsistent, policies are cumbersome and poor radio communication and other tactical errors often happen during officer-involved shootings.

The Clark County Commission is also considering remaking the coroner's inquest process, which investigates officer-involved shootings. One proposal under consideration would hold public hearings after such shootings.

Any changes would follow changes made in 2011, which effectively stalled the inquests because officers would not participate. Many of them disagree with changes that eliminated coroner's inquest juries who ruled officers' actions justified, excusable or criminal and added an ombudsman who could cross-examine witnesses.

In related news:

■ The widow of Stanley Gibson, who police shot and killed in 2011, sued the department and several officers this year.

■ Sheriff Doug Gillespie pledged to publicly release details of nonfatal shootings.

■ The family of Trevon Cole, shot and killed during a botched drug raid in 2010, received a $1.7 million settlement from the department.

3. TERRIBLE CRIMES

The Martinez family suffered a brutal attack that officers said was the worst they had ever seen.

Someone raped 38-year-old Ignacia and her 10-year-old daughter, Karla, and then beat them both to death with a hammer.

The suspect also attacked Karla's father, Arturo, fracturing his skull at least 17 times.

Two boys, then ages 9 and 4, were unharmed.

Bryan Clay, who has said he was high and does not remember what happened that night, was charged in the case and pleaded not guilty.

The motive for the crime is unknown.

Authorities said they found Clay's fingerprints and his DNA at the scene of the Martinez killings.

He is also charged with beating his then-pregnant girlfriend, and with raping a 50-year-old woman before attacking the Martinez family.

That was not the only violent crime to catch the public's attention in 2012.

■ Police arrested Nathan Burkett and labeled him a serial killer. Burkett, who has twice before been convicted of manslaughter, is suspected in three more deaths: that of 22-year-old Barbara Ann Cox on April 22, 1978; the death of 27-year-old Tina Gayle Mitchell on Feb. 20, 1994; and the death of a Los Angeles woman, Althea Williams, also in 1994.

■ Linda Cooney, 64, was charged with trying to kill her son Kevin by shooting him in the neck following an argument. Kevin is now paralyzed.

Authorities said the gun Linda Cooney used to shoot her son was the same one she used to kill his father in Florida 21 years ago. A jury acquitted her in his death thanks in part to testimony from Kevin Cooney, who witnessed the shooting.

Another son, Chris Cooney, is a Las Vegas police officer. He testified that his mother told him that his brother attacked her before she shot him.

4. MONEY WOES

The valley's government agencies ran into budget shortages again, forcing layoffs, huge cuts and, in one case, a declaration of an emergency.

North Las Vegas was hit hardest. The city is more dependent on property taxes than others, and property values there have plummeted.

The City Council essentially declared a financial emergency and found a little-used state law that allowed them to void portions of union contracts.

Council members said the action was taken to prevent hundreds of layoffs.

In Las Vegas, the large cuts of the past few years were essentially over. But all was not restored.

Past cost-cutting measures are still in place, including the closing of city offices on Fridays and cutting work hours from 40 per week to 38 for many employees.

Henderson officials were able to negotiate with the city's unions. The city passed a budget that is 4 percent smaller than the previous year's.

The Clark County School District and the teachers union waged an epic battle that included pickets, chanting and the elimination of 1,000 positions. Class sizes increased and electives were cut.

Outside government, the local economy continued to sputter along. Unemployment dropped to 10.8 percent in November, down from 12.7 percent at the beginning of the year, but still well above the national average of 7.7 percent. Nevada still had the highest rate in the nation.

5. GONE IN A FLASH

A speeding car early in the morning on Sept. 13 plowed through a bus stop, sent bodies flying, and ended up killing four people: Gerber Hernan Ayala-Tomasino Jr., 24; Johnni Lee Garner, 49; Margoth Gonzalez, 65; and Hyon Cooley, 47. Eight other people were injured in the crash, three critically.

The driver, Gary Lee Hosey Jr., 24, faces nine felony charges. Police said he had been drinking and his blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit.

Hosey also tested positive for THC, the principal active ingredient in marijuana.

His lawyers dispute results of the blood tests, however, and say alcohol and marijuana were not significant factors in the crash. They said speed was a factor and that Hosey has accepted responsibility for that.

6. HOA SCANDAL GETS STRANGER

Two attorneys targeted in a federal investigation into fraud and corruption at homeowners associations were found dead within a week of each other in March.

Las Vegas attorney David Amesbury was found dead by apparent hanging five days after attorney Nancy Quon was found dead in the bathtub of her Henderson home. Both were suspected suicides.

The HOA investigation alleges a massive scheme to take over homeowners association boards, push for construction defect lawsuits against builders, and then steer legal and construction contracts to co-conspirators.

Two other people who attracted the interest of authorities in the federal investigation previously had died under unusual circumstances.

Former Las Vegas police officer Christopher Van Cleef shot himself to death a few days after a September 2008 FBI raid in the investigation. A former Vistana homeowners association board member, identified as Robbi Castro, died in 2010 of a drug overdose.

Amesbury was among two dozen defendants who pleaded guilty and struck deals to cooperate with federal prosecutors looking to charge higher-level players in an alleged conspiracy to profit from the takeover of homeowners associations across the valley.

7. DEADLY FLOODS

Two heavy rainstorms within a few weeks of each other caused severe flooding.

In the first, in August, 17-year-old Green Valley High School senior William Mootz was killed when floodwaters swept him away.

He disappeared after falling into the fast-moving rapids of the Pittman Wash behind the Target store at Stephanie Street and Sunset Road in Henderson.

He was with two friends, and they apparently were throwing things into the wash after jumping a fence, his father said.

In September, Luis Lopez-Solis, who also went by the name Calletanno Lopez, was swept away from the Desert Rose Golf Course. He was a groundskeeper there.

Witnesses said floodwaters were as high as 12 feet there during the storm.

8. JUDGE BUSTED

Clark County Family Court Judge Steven Jones and five others were indicted by a federal grand jury in a $3 million investment fraud scheme.

The FBI and Las Vegas police executed search warrants at the longtime judge's Henderson home in connection with the 20-count indictment. Investigators seized computers and paperwork.

Jones, 54, was first elected to Family Court in 1993. He is accused of using the power of his office to carry out the scheme, which authorities alleged began in 2002.

According to the indictment, between September 2002 and October 2012 the defendants persuaded people to loan them money under the guise of quick repayment with high rates of interest.

But authorities allege that the defendants had no intention of paying back investors.

Jones has a history of unusual behavior for a judge. He has been involved in domestic violence incidents with two different women, once as a victim. He was acquitted of domestic battery in 2006 after his girlfriend recanted her testimony.

He later came under scrutiny after it was learned that he was having a romantic relationship with a prosecutor who regularly appeared in his court.

The district attorney's office in 2011 filed a complaint with the Judicial Discipline Commission against Jones over his handling of the relationship with Lisa Willardson, who ended up losing her job with the district attorney's office.

9. STRIP GETS VIOLENT

A 31-year-old Illinois man shot and killed his ex-girlfriend in the crowded lobby of the Excalibur on the Strip, then killed himself.

Police said Edward Brandt walked into the medieval-themed resort and shot 30-year-old Jessica Kenny multiple times with a .38-caliber revolver registered in his name before killing himself.

The Dec. 14 shooting was an unusual occurrence. The last high-profile shooting inside a Strip casino occurred in 2007.

But only a week later, another violent incident occurred at the Bellagio on the Strip.

Authorities said Brenda Stokes went to the resort, where she worked, and slashed the face of co-worker Joyce Rhone with razor blades in a gaming area.

Police later learned that Stokes had picked up her ex-fiancé's daughter, 10-year-old Jade Morris, earlier that day for a shopping trip and that the young girl was missing.

Police found what later was identified as Jade's body on Thursday in a desert area in North Las Vegas. Stokes is jailed and is expected to be charged with murder.

Jade's family said they believe Stokes was a scorned lover retaliating against Rhone and Jade's father.

10. BRIDGE ATTRACTS DISTRAUGHT

The Hoover Dam bypass bridge, officially called the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, is an engineering marvel. It is also nearly 900 feet above the Colorado River.

The bridge opened in 2010, and until this year, no one had chosen to use it for suicide. But, in the first seven months of 2012, four people jumped to their deaths from the bridge.

Authorities identified the dead as Colleen Tyler, 51, of Boulder City; Jacob Gerard Foreman, 39, of North Las Vegas; Thomas Matchko, 57, of Las Vegas; and Patricia Oakley, 60, of San Jose, Calif.

The deaths had transportation officials considering making changes to the bridge, such as netting or a series of columns that would stop jumpers. But no changes have been made.