Top 10 Stories of 2011: Windstorm, FBI Sting, School Milestones and More

While San Marino has a reputation for being a small, quiet town, big news still happens, as the past year proved.

Here are the biggest stories in San Marino from 2011. Tell us in the comments what story you felt was the biggest of the year.


Dec. 1 gusted into town with high winds that knocked out over 100 trees and branches, plus power lines, and caused widespread damage and power outages. Schools closed for a day and Lacy Park was closed for about three weeks. .


After a two-year investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies raided Huntington Pharmacy and arrested the owners, charging them with healthcare fraud. The owners and 14 others charged plead not guilty to an elaborate prescription drug scam and Huntington Pharmacy closed for good on Dec. 22.


The cold case of the 1985 San Marino murder of John Sohus was re-opened and Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who once lived in San Marino and posed as a member of the famed Rockefeller family, was charged with the murder. Gerhartsreiter plead not guilty and awaits a preliminary hearing in January.


About 100 protesters from Refund California, in solidarity with the Occupy LA movement, marched on the front lawn of Wells Fargo CFO Tim Sloan’s home to demand that banks pay for the economic crisis. The non-violent protest motivated the


As the world watched the protests in Cairo, Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian-American and San Marino resident Ahmed Zewail went to Egypt in February and asked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down. Patch got exclusive reaction from a Cairo resident who once lived in the San Gabriel Valley. 


Former football coach and assistant principal Mike Mooney, who was placed on administrative leave and resigned in fall 2010, was charged with embezzling $21,000 from San Marino High School and the Associated Student Body. .


The but somewhat breathed a sigh of relief when the City of San Marino leased the Stoneman School property (where the Department of Recreation resides) for $5 million. The historic lease is for 99 years.


City Council and Board of Education elections were combined this year. Incumbent councilmen and were re-elected and . Residents also voted to continue that funds a third of police and fire services, and voted in favor of term limits.


For the eighth consecutive year, San Marino’s public schools earned the top API score in the state.


After reading that Danny’s Farm, a petting zoo that serves and employs people with autism, had to close its Altadena location and was struggling, actor Alec Baldwin held a fundraiser for the organization at a San Marino home. Between the cost of tickets and a silent auction lead by Baldwin, the event raised $100,000 for Danny’s Farm.

What do you think was the biggest San Marino story of the year? Tell us in the comments.