The Thousand Oaks Acorn’s top 10 stories of 2004 (and why we think so)

1. The Conejo Valley Little League team captures the United States Championship and almost wins the world title.

Big things come in small packages. These boys were winners. 2. The city celebrates its 40th anniversary of incorporation and the Civic Arts Plaza turns 10.

Art festival, concerts, performances and other events highlighted weeks’ worth of exciting activities. Our small city came of age.

3. Bob Wilson loses his city council reelection bid.

The incumbent mayor fell victim to the community’s vociferous anti-development forces and outsider Jacqui Irwin reaped the rewards.

4. A 13-year-old Thousand Oaks boy is killed when the truck he’s riding in, driven by his 16-year-old friend, crashes in North Ranch.

The driver was too young to have a passenger in his vehicle and Chase Arnett paid for the mistake with his life. In a separate incident, 17-year-old Tia Nugent of Newbury Park was killed while walking on the 101 Freeway high on drugs. It will be a long time before the families heal.

5. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Conejo/Las Virgenes open a 10,000-square-foot facility at Los Cerritos Middle School.

Following strong objections in Oak Park—mostly involving the community’s misinformed belief that Boys & Girls Clubs are for poor, inner-city youth only—the organization mounts a comeback in T.O.

6. Affordable housing gains momentum with the opening of the Many Mansions Hacienda de Feliz project. Other units in the city are being planned.

Nothing’s really affordable, but in technical terms, less than one-fourth of Ventura County’s families can afford to buy the county’s median-priced home of $600,000. Any affordable housing project locally is to be commended.

7. Conejo Valley Days arrive as temperatures soar into the 90s. Some $500,000 was raised, including a record $122,000 by the Elks and Kiwanis.

T.O.’s annual bash gets better every year.

8. Kmart announces it is leaving Thousand Oaks, opening the door to a possible new Home Depot.

Although Kmart plans to sell up to two dozen of its nationwide stores to the giant home-improvement chain, we hope the Hampshire Road location isn’t one of them. Access to the Kmart was difficult at best and a Home Depot would only exacerbate the local traffic. With one Home Depot in Newbury Park, why do we need another?

9. A state audit alleges the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy misused $7 million in public funds. Among other things, grant money earmarked for land acquisition went toward superfluous operating expenses.

We’ll be more careful the next time we vote for a public park bond.

10. The Thousand Oaks City Council votes to give Timber School historical landmark status.

Preservationists had wanted to save the 80-year-old building, while the school district was hoping to sell the high-priced property to raise revenue. The funds would have been helpful, but we’re glad Timber was saved.