Review of the year 2010, August - December: Crowds flocked as city played host to the Pope

AUGUST

IT was a month of tragedies which began with the horrific deaths of three young children at an Edinburgh home.

The bodies of twin brothers Luca and Austin, eight, and their sister Cecilia, five, were found covered in blood in the same room of a three-storey Slateford home. Their mother, Theresa Riggi, 46, was taken to hospital after falling 40ft from the terraced house. She later appeared in court charged with their murder.

Meanwhile, the fun and spectacle of the Edinburgh Festival was dampened by the deaths of two young people in separate incidents, both after falling from the windows of tenement flats.

There was heartache for the family of Archie Dunbar, just five years old, knocked down and killed as he played on his bike near his Gullane home.

There was also shock at the killing of delivery driver Simon San near his Lochend Road takeaway. He had been persistently targeted by gangs of youths. Sixteen-year-old John Reid later admitted culpable homicide and was sentenced to five years' detention.

Meanwhile, protesters arrived at the RBS Gogarburn offices to begin a mass protest which spilled over into trouble. There were arrests and confrontations with police as the activists also targeted firms involved in oil and energy exploration.

August also saw moves to revive the Caltongate development stutter to a halt after city council talks with new developer Allied London collapsed.

Still, at least we could take comfort from knowing we might not be alone - thousands of MoD documents about UFO sightings were made available in the National Archives, many relating to Edinburgh.

SEPTEMBER

Thousands lined the streets hoping for a glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI as he arrived in Edinburgh for the first Papal visit to the UK in 28 years.

The Pontiff travelled to the Palace of Holyroodhouse where he met the Queen, before riding in the Pope-mobile along Princes Street to Morningside and the home of Cardinal Keith O'Brien. He later travelled to Glasgow for an open-air mass.

At least he was able to travel through the city unhindered - unlike the beleaguered trams project. News emerged this month that tram bosses were ready to tear up the contract with contractor Bilfinger Berger if it could not agree to build the route as far as York Place. But on the plus side, 100 million plans were lodged to create a rail, bus and tram interchange at Haymarket.

There was bad news too for financial sector employees as it emerged 600 jobs were to be axed by Standard Life - most of them in Edinburgh - followed by an RBS announcement of 3500 jobs to go across the UK.

However, there was delight for two unemployed Craigmillar cousins Alan Rennie, 50, and William Air, 46, when they scooped 2.5m on the National Lottery.

A replacement for outgoing city council chief executive Tom Aitchison was found in the form of Aberdeen council official Sue Bruce. She takes up her new role in the New Year.

The nation tuned in to watch this year's X Factor, with Edinburgh singer Storm Lee reaching the final 12.

Finally, there was worrying news that Edinburgh could be facing an HIV time bomb, with a predicted 100 new cases every year over the next decade.OCTOBER

The city council assured residents it was fully prepared for the onset of winter, with news it had snapped up five extra gritters, eight mini- tractors and stockpiled 40 per cent more salt than last year. "We're ahead of the game," insisted a spokesman.

There was a less upbeat message concerning the trams project, which appeared to be careering well out of control with councillors split over whether to sack Bilfinger Berger and many blaming tram firm TIE for delays and contractual wrangles.

While TIE said it was committed to building the 11.5-mile route in its entirety, it was becoming clear the line would initially only run to the city centre - and could take 20 years to reach Leith. There were also fears that subsidising the trams could cause Lothian Buses to crumble.

There was more gloom as it emerged that NHS Lothian could face funding cuts of up to 20m. And bad news for the Army, with the announcement that its HQ in Scotland, Craigiehall, near Cramond, is to close with the only General's post in Scotland lost under the Government's defence spending review.

In crime, police launched a murder inquiry after pub landlord Steven Curran, 47, was found dead behind the Dolphin Inn in Whitecraig, East Lothian.

A 37-year-old who blacked out in a cemetery near Musselburgh had his nose and fingers bitten off in a suspected fox attack. The man was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary having been discovered by police at St Michael's Parish Church Cemetery, Inveresk.

And the world of showbiz mourned the sudden death of popular actor Gerard Kelly.

Still, there were some reasons to be cheerful - the Capital was ranked best in Britain and in the top ten of European cities for the quality of life it offers to employees and the world was mesmerised by scenes from Chile, where 33 miners who had been trapped underground for 69 days were slowly winched to safety.

In sport, Colin Calderwood became the new Hibs manager.NOVEMBER

The trams project was plunged into further chaos with the sudden resignation of chairman David Mackay, who branded the controversial scheme "hell on wheels".

He cited "personal reasons" for his decision to stand down as chairman of tram firm TIE, Lothian Buses and the new Transport Edinburgh Limited, to be created from the merger of the two firms.

While a hunt began for his successor, Audit Scotland confirmed it is preparing a report on the 600m scheme following a request from Robert Black, the Auditor General for Scotland

The city's seemingly endless bin dispute rumbled on, with news that Steven Thomson, a refuse collection manager at the council's Russell Road depot, had been suspended after a complaint made about one of his posts on the social networking site Facebook.

Public services continued to struggle against tight financial restraints. It emerged that police officers are to be offered thousands of pounds to take career breaks while those with 30 years' service will be forced to retire.

At least there was good news for workers at Blindcraft. After weeks of uncertainty, councillors agreed to save the factory from closure.

Evening News talent contest Edinburgh's Got Talent was a roaring success and ended up going to a public vote after judges couldn't agree on a winner. Eventually, hairdresser Gavin Blackie, 27, from Granton, took the honours.

The final days of November saw Edinburgh blanketed with the first snow of winter - just a taste of the horrendous white-out conditions that would come.DECEMBER

There were mixed fortunes on the jobs front. First Mitsubishi confirmed plans to generate around 200 jobs in the Edinburgh area, only for news to emerge that around 340 jobs are to go as pharmaceutical firm Aptuit is to close two Lothian plants.

There was disappointment too at the scale of the council's grant cut from the Scottish Government. Total funding for the city was 790.9m - understood to be around 3.1 per cent down on the previous year, and a larger cut than the average 2.6 per cent cut facing local authorities across Scotland.

The family of young mum Nattalie Muir spoke of their heartache after the 21-year-old was found injured in Whitburn town centre. She later died in hospital. A 15-year-old was charged with her murder and a man and a woman also charged in connection with her death.

An Evening News investigation revealed the insidious background of the city's sex trade, with prostitutes using top-class hotels to ply their trade and students funding their studies by selling sex.

But the month ended the year the same way it began - with Edinburgh under a deluge of snow which brought havoc to roads, airports, public transport and businesses. Schools closed their doors and thousands of householders had to grab shovels and dig their way out of their streets as the big freeze took hold.

The situation had barely improved when the snow returned with a vengeance. Dozens of vehicles were left stranded on the M8 and eventually the Army was drafted in to help clear treacherous city pavements and roads.

The chaos led to the resignation of Scottish Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson.