The August overflow of the Santa Cruz River forced Taylor's Holsteins to move 600 head of cattle away from the flooding.

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The Northwest Side saw a lot of news in 2006.

We've whittled it down and summarized the most important.

Here's a look back at what happened.

MARANA

1. More than an inch of rain fell in Marana in late July, causing the most severe area flooding in 20 years.

The storm flooded Berry Acres — a neighborhood in northwestern Marana — and damaged area roads, businesses and farmland.

After the storm, town and Pima County officials debated what to do with several homes in Berry Acres, which lies south of Marana Road, west of Luckett Road and north of the Santa Cruz River.

Many homes and properties in the neighborhood are in the floodway, which is the main path that floodwater takes.

Pima County officials want to buy the properties using tax dollars, though many residents aren't interested in selling.

2. Marana's growth continued into Pinal County this fall when construction crews broke ground on a 4,000-home development near Picacho Peak.

Red Rock Village, a master-planned community, will develop 1,000 acres west of Interstate 10 about 12 miles north of Marana.

The community will have two K-8 schools, a 25-acre park and an 8,000-square-foot swimming complex.

The first phase of 452 homes should be completed by March or April. Homes will start at between $100,000 and $200,000.

3. Town officials created stricter building standards this year, making Marana one of the toughest communities in Arizona in which to construct a home or commercial building.

After several residents complained of poor tile-roof construction that led to leaks, town building officials began inspecting all tile roofs under construction. The inspectors walk on roofs and make sure that the proper amount of paper is laid before tiles are placed. The inspection is the first of its kind in Arizona.

Town officials also proposed commercial design standards that would regulate the appearance of shopping centers. The proposal comes a year after the town adopted similar standards for home construction.

4. Construction crews began work this month on a $30 million road project to alleviate congestion near Gladden Farms.

The project, part of the Tangerine Farms Road Improvement District, will be paid for using bond money.

The four-lane road with a landscaped median will run west of Tangerine Road, jogging northwest along Tangerine Farms Road before connecting to West Moore Road.

The road will have a bike lane, sidewalks and an off-road multiuse path. The town will also build a tunnel underneath the road to connect with the area's park.

5. The trial of former Marana Mayor Bobby Sutton Jr. and businessman Richard A. Westfall is scheduled to begin in February.

Sutton and Westfall face federal charges in connection with trying to extort money and a job for Westfall from Waste Management Inc., a Houston-based company that has a facility in Marana.

After entering not-guilty pleas in May 2005, the pair were scheduled to go to trial over the summer. The trial was delayed while Sutton's attorney finished other cases.

NORTHWEST

1. Fire districts could have a new source of revenue if Northwest Fire/Rescue District wins a court battle that has raged since 2005.

Implementing the fee against builders has been stalled while the case continues to be appealed.

The Facilities Benefit Assessment Fee — designed for homes and businesses under construction — is necessary for the district to accommodate rapid growth, district officials said.

But developers say they're already paying for fire coverage through property taxes and construction fees. They also argue the fee isn't regulated like property taxes, which are the fire district's main source of revenue.

The case has been appealed to the state Supreme Court.

2. One of the biggest surprises of this fall's election came on the Northwest Side when two Democrats won state legislative seats in a heavily Republican district.

Charlene Pesquiera nabbed District 26's Senate seat while Lena Saradnik grabbed the second House seat in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats by 9,000 registered voters. The other House seat went to incumbent Republican Pete Hershberger.

The district covers eastern portions of Marana, Oro Valley, the Foothills and parts of Pinal County.

Pesquiera outlasted Republican Al Melvin, a conservative who beat out moderate Republican incumbent Toni Hellon in the primary. Saradnik beat conservative Republican David A. Jorgenson.

The difference in the election appeared to be the 27,000 voters who are independents or registered with another party.

3. A county proposal that allows property owners to sell the rights to build homes on their land was hailed as another conservation tool, though it's unclear if the program will have any impact on growth.

The voluntary program would apply to county land on the Northwest and Southeast sides.

The program, called transfer of development rights, allows landowners in certain areas — called sending areas — to sell off the rights to build homes to other developers in receiving areas.

For example, a landowner in a sending area could sell the rights to build three homes to another developer. The receiving developer could build three extra homes in a development without going through a formal rezoning process.

While the proposal has the blessing of several area conservation groups, some residents are concerned about the lack of public input.

It's also not clear whether developers would want to participate, though the president of Southern Arizona Home Builders Association likes the idea.

4. Oro Valley, Marana and Pima County officials are worried about potential lawsuits after voters passed a private-property-protection initiative this year.

Proposition 207, which was written to prevent governments from taking land by eminent domain to use for commercial purposes, also has unintended consequences, officials said.

The law also allows property owners to sue if a government causes a decrease in property values through rezoning or other action.

For example, a property owner could buy a property intending to build 15 homes. If new zoning is passed that only allows for 12 homes to be built, the property owner could sue for the difference.

Developers don't think the measure will have any real impact on development, but officials are waiting on the courts to work out the issue.

5. Three small fire districts just south of Oro Valley began a merger in November to avoid getting swallowed up by larger districts nearby.

The North Ranch/Linda Vista, Heritage Hills and La Cañada fire districts would form one district that would run in an area north of West Ina Road between North Thornydale Road and North Northern Avenue.

Officials from the three districts wanted to start the merger to avoid annexation from either Northwest Fire/Rescue or Golder Ranch fire districts.

Officials also said they were consolidating to keep property taxes low while maintaining the same level of service.

The merger is expected to take about a year.

ORO VALLEY

1. The Oro Valley Town Council adopted a 2 percent local sales tax on utility services Dec. 6, after voting down such a tax only a few months earlier.

The Town Council voted 4-3 against imposing a 4 percent local sales tax on gas, water and electricity services at the Sept. 20 council meeting.

But Vice Mayor Terry Parish requested that the council reconsider the 4 percent utility tax, and on Dec. 6. Councilwoman Helen Dankwerth requested that the proposed tax be reduced to 2 percent.

Councilman Al Kunisch switched sides Dec. 6 and voted in favor of the 2 percent tax, making it narrowly pass by a margin of 4-3.

2. Oro Valley Town Attorney Melinda Garrahan's proposed policy on handling public records requests sparked a debate in October over open government versus privacy of government workers.

Garrahan said at the time that the release of such documents in their entirety would likely damage the town's employee performance review and internal investigations processes.

But First Amendment advocates said that information could not be withheld because of speculative harm.

At the center of the controversy was Tucson-based private investigator Andrew Sowards' request for the personnel and internal affairs records of two police officers.

Oro Valley eventually released the records to Sowards and media organizations and the Star reported Oct. 18 that the files contained information about the Oro Valley Police Department's investigation into the death of a 44-year-old Oro Valley woman, who was found dead in her yard the day after being given a courtesy ride home by the two officers.

An attorney for the woman's family told the Star he is continuing to investigate whether police were negligent in driving her home after a traffic stop when she may have needed medical attention.

The woman's death, as well as the officers' failure to file reports, prompted the dead woman's husband, Thomas G. Blanchard, to file notice of a $4.5 million wrongful-death claim against the town Feb. 15.

3. Former Oro Valley Town Manager Chuck Sweet announced his resignation in May after 13 years in that position.

Sweet said at the time that it was time for a change, both personally and career-wise.

His last day as town manager was Sept. 1, at which point then-Assistant Town Manager David Andrews picked up the reins as town manager.

Oro Valley has been operating without an assistant town manager since then, but Jerene Watson is scheduled to begin work in that position on Jan. 9, 2007, Andrews said.

4. Oro Valley approved settling a $4.5 million deal to preserve Steam Pump Ranch in October, marking the end of a end of a three-year battle over the fate of the historic property.

The money came from a 2004 Pima County bond package that included $2 million to buy the ranch and $3 million to buy a northern addition to the Naranja Town Site.

The town requested that the $3 million intended for the Naranja project go toward Steam Pump, which made $5 million available for purchasing and preserving the ranch.

The remaining $500,000 will also go toward site preservation and operation.

5. Oro Valley Public Library staff and patrons packed the council chambers at Town Hall Sept. 20, advocating for the library to remain under the town's control rather than under Pima County.

The Town Council that night gave staff the go-ahead to begin negotiations with Pima County over the future of the library.

The library, at1305 W. Naranja Drive, currently operates as an affiliate of the Pima County Public Library, but that could change when the intergovernmental agreement between the town and the county expires on June 30, 2007.

The council instructed staff on Sept. 20 to explore all options for creating a new intergovernmental agreement and to focus on keeping library services and administration in the town's hands.

SPORTS

1. Southern Arizona officially hit the international golf map in February with the announcement that a major golf tournament, the WGC Accenture Match Play Championships, would be coming to Marana's Gallery Golf Club, 14000 North Dove Mountain Blvd., in 2007.

The event, which pits the world's top 64 golfers, will run from Feb. 21 to Feb. 25, 2007, and will include a prize pool of $8 million. Golfers will battle each other in head-to-head matches rather than through a traditional stroke-play format, with the tournament champion needing to win six matches over five days.

The tournament is also expected to bring the world's top-ranked golfer, Tiger Woods, to Tucson for the first time for a PGA Tour event.

2. Pima County announced in August that it wants to build a $24 million athletic complex on land currently occupied by a wastewater treatment facility. If approved, the project could lead to the closure of Tucson SportsPark, 6901 N. Casa Grande Highway.

During the course of studying ways to revamp its wastewater treatment system, the county unveiled a plan to build 18 soccer fields and about 24 baseball and softball fields on 375 acres just west of Interstate 10 between West El Camino del Cerro and West Sweetwater Drive.

That land is currently where the county's Roger Road Wastewater Treatment Plant is located. At the time the county was considering closing that plant — building the athletic complex in its place — and expanding its treatment facility on West Ina Road.

Expansion of the Ina facility would have required taking over land the county currently leases to SportsPark, which opened in 1985 and has six baseball/softball fields, one soccer field and one multipurpose field. In October the county announced its intention to reduce the size of its Roger Road plant, rather than close it. The county still intends to build the athletic complex on land next to the Roger Road plant.

SportsPark has a lease with the county that runs through 2010, general manager Mark Oliver said.

3. The town of Marana announced in November its plans for a $55.5 million regional park that would include space for the soon-to-close Rillito Racetrack.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved in August a plan to move Rillito Racetrack from 4502 N. First Ave. to Marana. The county plans to tear down Rillito and replace it with 18 youth soccer fields, but that cannot happen yet because of a referendum passed in 1984 that guarantees the Rillito land would continue to be used for horse racing through 2010.

The county continues to maintain and fund repairs to Rillito Racetrack, including $55,000 for new carpeting.

4. Ironwood Ridge High School physical-education department head Dee Dinota was put on administrative leave for a month last spring after an incident at a boys basketball game Feb. 8 at Canyon del Oro High School.

Dinota, who is also Ironwood Ridge's weight-lifting coach, allegedly grabbed the buttocks of Daniel Horetski, an Oro Valley police officer who serves as CDO's school resource officer, during the CDO-Ironwood Ridge game.

Dinota was put on paid leave from March 6 and was allowed to return to work April 7. Students displeased with the suspension staged a walkout March 31, and attempts by parents and students to address the issue at an Amphitheater school district board meeting April 11 were rebuffed.

Dinota has been at Ironwood Ridge since the school opened in August 2001. Before that she taught physical education and coached varsity softball at CDO, leading the Dorados to the Class 4A state championship in 2001.

5. A slew of Northwest Side boys and girls high school athletes claimed individual or team state championships in 2006.

Team titles were won by the girls basketball team at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy, which won its second consecutive Class 2A crown in February, and the girls track and field team from Canyon del Oro, which won the 4A-I state meet in May.

Flowing Wells had its girls basketball, girls soccer and girls tennis teams each reach the 5A-II state finals, each finishing second, while Amphitheater's baseball team and CDO's softball team each played in the 4A-I title games.

Individually, 14 Northwest Side athletes won state titles.

SCHOOLS

1. For the third year in a row, a Northwest-area teacher was named the state Teacher of the Year. Kristin Bourguet, a science teacher at Marana High School, was named the 2007 Teacher of the Year by the Arizona Educational Foundation in November.

Bourguet received $20,000, a laptop and a Smart board and will vie for the National Teacher of the Year title in April in Washington, D.C., where she will meet the president.

She is the first teacher from the Marana Unified School District to win the award.

Other Northwest-area finalists were Mamie Spillane of Prince Elementary School and Laurie Burrell of Wilson K-8.

2. An alcohol-related head-on car crash took the life of a Marana Unified School District teacher in March. Erin Leadbetter, a reading teacher at DeGrazia Elementary School, was driving on Avra Valley Road when a Ford pickup truck crossed the center lane and crashed into her minivan. Her husband, Thomas, survived.

Leadbetter had been at DeGrazia since August 1994.

The pickup's driver, who had a blood alcohol level of 0.37, also died.

3. In February, the Arizona School Facilities Board gave the Marana Unified School District the go-ahead to build two new elementary schools. Then, in November, the facilities board approved the district's request to build an elementary school, middle school and high school.

As of now, only an elementary school in the Continental Reserve area is guaranteed to open.

The school is expected to alleviate over-enrollment at Twin Peaks and Coyote Trail elementary schools and open for the 2007-2008 school year.

4. The Internet connection in the Marana Unified School District got up to speed after the district went live with a high-speed wireless broadband network in October.

The district qualified for adiscount and will pay a little more than $300,000 a year to operate the system.

The network includes poles and rooftop mounts that were erected at all 17 schools sites. Some of the poles are as tall as 130 feet, which drew some complaints from neighbors..

5. While other students hurled themselves over campus fences to protest immigration reforms, officials at La Cima Middle School, 5600 N. La Cañada Drive, let their students vent right on school grounds.

When officials got word that 200 to 300 students planned to walk out in early April, the school, which is in the Amphitheater Public Schools district, decided to host its own forum on immigration.

La Cima students were given the opportunity to express how they felt about immigration in front of close to 300 of their classmates.