Each year passes like a roller coaster

If you are anything like me, today's date is somewhat surprising.

It's not that I didn't expect Dec. 31 to follow Dec. 30. But I am surprised at how quickly 2015 flew by.

It was a memorable year. Some of those memories are good and some bad. Some are personal and some are work-related.

You don't always remember how much transpired in those 365 days until you take a serious look back at what happened.

I did that while trying to come up with the Top 10 stories of 2015 for the Boulder City Review. It was a tough task.

I came up with a list of 17 top stories and then had to narrow it down. Even that wasn't easy, and I tried to include a few of those that didn't make the list in the introduction to our page 1 article about this year's top stories.

That's not to say those other seven stories aren't noteworthy. It's just that there were too many to fit on the list.

Among those that didn't quite make it to the top of the list were the championships won by several sports teams at Boulder City High School. The flag football team was crowned the county champion and is on its way to another undefeated season.

The swim teams also won state championships — the boys their fifth consecutive title and the girls their third.

Other stories on the list included reduction of the city's debt; the bankruptcy and sale of the city's largest hotel, the Boulder Inn & Suites; the arrest of a local man on 19 counts of sexual assault; and the sentencing of Peter Bennett, a sexual assault case that been working its way through the system for the better part of three years.

Boulder City also was part of the national news as presidential candidate Marco Rubio stopped by to meet with potential voters.

And those were just the stories we thought were "big." There were many others that were important and affected a great number of people. Just last week we featured an article about Pastor Marjorie Kitchell who is retiring after 48½ years, for example. Or how about the 75th anniversary of the Boulder Dam Credit Union, the 50th anniversary of Papillon Helicopters, two new executive directors at the Senior Center of Boulder City and the birth of the city's drone industry.

For the most part, the final list reflected a lot of changes. Change seemed to be a common denominator among a lot of things that happened this year, professionally and personally.

Around the middle of the year, the Boulder City Review changed its look. On the front page we added quick looks at inside stories and added some new features such as lists of things that make our city special and photo essays of events and activities.

The new design was part of a bigger change, namely a new owner. Then, just a few weeks ago, the paper and its sister publications in Nevada, primarily the Las Vegas Review-Journal, were sold and purchased again.

Hopefully, those changes will have — and have had — minimal impact on the news you read each week.

Closer to home — or at least the home office — three reporters have occupied the desk across from mine. Steven Slivka, who had been here for about 1½ years, left to take a job in public relations. A month later, Randy Faehnrich joined the team. He barely had enough time to start learning his way around town before he found a position better suited to his education and interests.

Just last week, Diego Pergentili was added to the staff. A UNLV graduate, he is eager to meet the people who call Boulder City home and tell their stories, as well as focus on the activities of the city's leaders.

If you would like the opportunity to meet Diego, please join us for an open house from 3-5 p.m. Jan. 29 at the office on Nevada Way. In addition to our editorial team, a few members of our advertising staff are expected to attend.

I have no doubt that come the end of next year I will see that 2016 brought its fair share of changes, too. If it is anything like 2015, it probably will be a white-knuckle roller coaster ride. That's OK with me; I like roller coasters. They make me scream with some of the highs and lows, but by the end of the ride I'm laughing, smiling and ready to go again.

Wishing you all the best for the year ahead.

Hali Bernstein Saylor is editor of the Boulder City Review. She can be reached at hsaylor@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9523. Follow @HalisComment on Twitter.