Probably not as fun as a champagne toast, but a New Year's tradition nonetheless, here is my arbitrary list of the top ten Highline stories of the year.

As noted last week, 2009 was the year of the big ribbon-cutting scissors. The Burien Town Square project, Burien Transit Center, the Matt Griffin YMCA in SeaTac and two area light-rail stations all opened last year.

Of course, all these projects were years in the planning and implementation, which makes it ironic that they all came to fruition during the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression:

1. The Burien Town Square project, including the condominium/retail building, city hall/library and public plaza finally opens.

A minor debate broke out over whether the Town Square opening was the biggest thing to happen to Burien since Gottlieb Von Boorian settled on Lake Burien or since Mike Kelly discovered a "sunny dale."

Mayor Joan McGilton, who never stopped smiling on opening day, insisted it was simply "the most momentous event in Burien's history."

The economy has put the condos and retail spaces in a holding pattern. Publisher Jerry Robinson, always brimming with promotional ideas for his beloved Burien, thinks the condos could house refugees if the Green River floods. Valley businesses should also be reminded that Burien has plenty of high and dry land for relocation, the publisher says.

As an old Burien boy, I felt a definite tingle of excitement during the opening ceremonies and I remain hopeful for the square's future.

2. Residents in the southern part of North Highline vote on the first try to annex to Burien.

It took three attempts before Burien originally voted to incorporate, so this came with a lot less election hassle. The historical ties between the Boulevard Parkers and Burienites will be re-knotted in March. Adding White Center and its northern neighbors in the future would create a city of over 60,000.

3. Light rail comes to Tukwila in the summer and beyond to the airport and SeaTac city center by the Christmas holidays.

Growing up in the '50s and '60s, I never expected to see tall buildings along Burien's main street or Jetsons-like light-rail trains zipping above 154th and Highway 99.

This gives the Puget Sound area an amenity enjoyed by so many other cities, including Portland and Tacoma.

Although for now, I still love the smell of beauty bark in the morning on my suburban plot, light rail expands the possibilities for others who don't want to own a car and prefer to live and play in a transit-oriented development.

This also opens up more fights over zoning and possible condemnations.

4. SeaTac lawmakers and staffers face a revolt by some residents and business people.

Speaking of fights over zoning and condemnations, James and Doris Cassan are fighting back hard against the city's eminent domain action against their park 'n fly surface parking lot across the street from the new light-rail station.

The city wants to use the property for a parking garage and possibly a mixed-use development to kick start development of an envisioned downtown/entertainment district. The owner of a nearby motel says the city's plans are messing up a deal to build a big new Marriott hotel.

The Cassans have presented mixed-use development proposals that city staffers seem to view as lame from local developers in over their heads. They apparently hope to snag a national developer.

SeaTac faces the same condemnation controversy as Burien did when they condemned the Meal Makers restaurant property owned by the seven Strobel sisters.

Conservatives don't like the government taking private property and liberals balk at the government taking property from one business, not for a public necessity like roads, but for the economic gain of another more-favored business.

5. Money woes bedevil Des Moines as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Our coverage area is broken down into the cities along Puget Sound-- Burien, Normandy Park and Des Moines and the interior cities-SeaTac and Tukwila.

The surprising thing is that the interior cities generate more tax revenue than the "Gold Coast" cities. SeaTac has airport parking and hotels; Tukwila has shopping malls and office parks.

SeaTac plans to spend $16.2 million more than it takes in for 2010 but will still have $48 million in reserves.

Meanwhile, Des Moines has to choose between parks and police.

The city did rekindle some of its old Waterland Festival spirit with a Seafair-sanctioned Grand Parade during its 50th anniversary celebration.

6. Some razor-thin races while a few incumbents defeated in Nov. 3 general election.

A proposition that would have overturned SeaTac's form of government and led to the popular election of a strong mayor lost by just nine votes. SeaTac Planning Commission Chairman Rick Forschler slipped onto the city council by 50 votes. Normandy Park voters decided to form a parks district by a margin of 31 votes.

In Des Moines, incumbent Councilman Dave Kaplan filed for Councilwoman Susan White's seat and won. Former Burien Councilman Jack Block Jr. defeated incumbent Councilwoman Sue Blazak.

The female-male ratio on the Burien council goes from 6-1 to 4-3. Does that mean shorter meetings or longer meetings?

7. The Highline School District institutes pay for play as it struggles with the budget.

The school district used a clever idea at public workshops. Instead of inviting people to just rant about their pet causes, administrators handed participants a calculator and sheets listing program costs and had them devise their suggested budget. A teachable moment, educators would call it.

As part of the budget cuts, junior and senior high students will have to pay to play sports.

Expect an even larger shortfall for the 2009-10 budget.

8. The YMCA opens a new Highline facility in SeaTac with two pools.

A vastly underserved community receives needed services in a beautiful new facility. But SeaTac withdrew from the agreement to fund the Mt. Rainier Pool in Des Moines. The Y's two pools are not competition-sized for school athletics so would not make up for the permanent closing of the Mt. Rainier and Evergreen pools.

A pool district will run the Mt. Rainier Pool, while fundraising continues to hopefully reopen Evergreen.

9. Two very different stories from Tukwila: District schools are most racially diverse in U.S. and flooding is expected from the Green River this winter.

The New York Times determined the district's schools are almost evenly divided between whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians.
Some good news on the flooding front-the forecasted odds of significant flooding have gone from an almost inevitable 1 in 3 to 1 in 33.

10. The Port of Seattle says they will use the third runway during peak periods in good weather as well as bad.

A few months after the third runway opened, the Port closed the first runway temporarily moving more traffic over to the new runway. They also plan to close the second runway for renovation at some point.

A lawsuit has been filed against the Port. The attorneys have had great success in other cases, but I don't hold out much hope.

With the Port, don't trust and do verify.