Review of the year 2010, January - July: Brown goes... tram trouble here to stay

JANUARY

IT was a bitterly cold start to 2010 as the "big freeze" continued to cause havoc, council chiefs came under pressure as supplies of salt ran dangerously low and Councillor Norman Work sparked fury by telling residents that unless they were over 90 they should stop moaning and clear frozen pavements themselves.

Meanwhile, locals rallied to support the victims of an earthquake that struck the capital of Haiti in which thousands were killed. With the backing of the Evening News, the Edinburgh Disaster Response Committee quickly began seeking donations.

Traders in the West End revealed "deep concerns" over plans for tram works in the area as an ongoing dispute with contractors looked set to delay the start date by up to six weeks - a story which rumbled on for the rest of the year.

Financial pressures began to hit and 700 city council jobs looked likely to be axed, while the city's festivals, charities and community groups braced themselves for savage cuts in funding.

Jim Jefferies took up the manager's spot at Tynecastle, and three-year-old Freya Aldred, from Parkhead, was crowned winner of the Evening News Top Tots competition.

FEBRUARY

FINANCIAL woes continued as thousands of people had their council tax collected early in a blunder which left many overdrawn or penniless.

The bill to replace the Seafield roundabout was revealed to have doubled to 3.5 million and the 15m New Pyjamas campaign for the new Sick Kids Hospital was abandoned after its director was suspended and an investigation launched.

While 275,000 was raised in Edinburgh in just four weeks for the Haiti appeal, the council continued to announce cost-cutting measures, including the closure of six community centres.

There was more tram fury this month when the Evening News revealed a council committee set up to scrutinise the project had met only twice in the past year and the project's boss, Richard Jeffrey, admitted there was "no sign of a breakthrough" in talks with contractor Bilfinger Berger as work had not restarted after Christmas.

The Balmoral Clock stopped working for the first time in more than 100 years, and sporting fans paid their respects to Alan Gordon, a city footballing legend in both green and maroon, who died.MARCH

LINDA WILLIAMSON, the mother of tragic fire hero Ewan Williamson, spoke for the first time about the agony of losing her son in Dalry's Balmoral Bar fire in July 2009, while tributes were also paid to life-long Hibs' fan Maude MacFarlane, who died aged 93, and former player and manager Willie Macfarlane.

Tram news this month: residents on the route were told they'd have to ask for permission to clean their windows because of the hazard of overheard power cables. Deputy council leader Steve Cardownie said the city would be landed with a tram route used by "just three men and a ferret" as fears mounted that a large part of the line could be mothballed, although leader Jenny Dawe laughed him off.

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland set off for Afghanistan as the winter weather made a return to the city, closing rail routes and roads. Lothian Buses announced it was to bring back its traditional dark maroon fleet to the city.

And hoping for a slice of stardom, former Tynecastle High student Jenny Douglas earned herself a place in the final of the BBC talent competition Over the Rainbow, led by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

APRIL

POLICE began the month by investigating a major heist at security depot Sunwin Services in Broxburn in which thieves made off with 235,000, while an urgent review into the Capital's rickshaw trade was ordered following a fatal accident involving an off-duty soldier.

A brother and sister accused of the murder of Martyn Barclay went on trial for killing the father-of-one, who was gunned down beside his home in Hazelwood Grove, the Inch, in January 2009.

Meanwhile, paedophile ring victim Dana Fowley became a bestselling author after her book, How Could She?, about the horrific abuse she suffered during her childhood in Edinburgh, sold tens of thousands of copies.

In trams news, traders in Leith celebrated the return of traffic to Constitution Street for the first time in almost two years and the first 2 million tram arrived on Princes Street to go on public view.

Travel chaos of a different sort saw thousands of people stranded at Edinburgh Airport owing to the effects of a volcanic ash cloud over Europe - which business leaders predicted could cost Edinburgh's economy "hundreds of millions of pounds". But soldiers from the 3Rifles battlegroup did manage to return to Edinburgh from a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

April also saw the launch of the Evening News campaign to help fund a huge rebuilding project at St Columba's Hospice.MAY

THE start of May was all about the General Election. As talks led to a new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition being formed, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown led his family from Downing Street to fly home to North Queensferry.

Police launched a major search for Suzanne Pilley, who was posted missing on May 4 after failing to arrive at her Thistle Street office.

In the courts, former model Caroline Igoe was convicted of murdering her boyfriend Martyn Barclay while Alan Cameron was convicted of murdering Heather Stacey, whose head was found in a bag in Newhaven on Hogmanay 2008.

Lord Provost Adam Montgomery, of Midlothian Council, came under fire for making a 150-mile round trip to buy a kilt on expenses, yet he said he had "F*** all" to answer for. "I am the lowest paid Lord Provost in Scotland. I received my P60 last month and I earned a total of 15,300 last year. I'm allowed 2000 in expenses for clothes," he said after the Evening News revealed he went to Kilmarnock for the kilt, costing 60 in mileage and 890 for the outfit itself.

Architects unveiled images of what the 140m new Sick Kids hospital at Little France will look like, while figures revealed the average price of a property in the Capital had risen from 201,497 to 224,931.

Huge crowds of well-wishers gave Edinburgh's troops a heroes' welcome as the soldiers from 3Rifles, joined by the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, marched through the city. Of the 1400 soldiers who went to Afghanistan on the tour 30 made the ultimate sacrifice.

Plans to overhaul Waverley Station's entrance from Princes Street were given the green light by the Scottish Government, yet air passengers continued to face disruption because of the Icelandic volcano.

While Lothian Buses revealed a pair of breast implants, a 2ft stuffed seagull, and a robotic talking monkey were among items left behind on its buses over the year, a real-life monkey - Fame, a Barbary macaque - went on the loose from Edinburgh Zoo having broken free from her cage.JUNE

TRAM news dominated this month. The Evening News revealed the scheme was heading for the courts after council bosses began moves to kick one of the contractors off the job. Deputy council leader Steve Cardownie then called for a referendum on whether to scrap the project.

It then emerged that less than one-fifth of construction work on the project had been completed and bosses admitted they needed an extra 55m for the scheme, while revealing parts of the line may never be built.

As if that wasn't enough, it was agreed the line would stop in the city centre at York Place rather than go to Newhaven. Business leaders branded such an outcome a "disgrace", and in an Evening News poll of more than 1700 people, 47.4 per cent said the project should be scrapped.

The icing on the cake emerged when we revealed tram bosses had spent more than 1 million on lawyers and consultants in the previous three months.

In other travel news, bosses at Edinburgh Airport were accused of cashing in on motorists with plans to charge drivers 1 for dropping off passengers outside the terminal.

Meanwhile a die-hard Hearts fan did her best to annoy Hibernian supporters by burying a strip under its east stand as she was employed to demolish the structure.JULY

THE nation was gripped by events unfolding in Northumbria, as crazed gunman Raoul Moat was pursued by police after killing one man and shooting a police officer in the face.

Closer to home there was heartbreak for the family of West Lothian teenager Elizabeth Coulter, killed as she made her way home from Edinburgh to Livingston after a night out. Elizabeth was walking with a friend when she was hit by a minibus on the M8 near Hermiston Gait.

Honeymooners John and Nicola Tams, both 31, from Bonnyrigg, were seriously injured after they were struck by a car while in Sorrento. Mr Tams, a teacher, was left in a coma after throwing himself in front of his new wife in the hope of saving her.

Bosses at Edinburgh Airport enraged motorists by adopting the controversial 1 drop-off charge.

Meanwhile it emerged that one "white van man" had been flouting city parking laws to the tune of 9000, having racked up 160 parking fines, yet paid none of them.

And an Evening News investigation revealed the true cost of the PFI project that built the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary - a whopping 1.26bn for a building we'll never own.