Violence dominates 2009 headlines

It's a particularly violent list compared with past years: the killing of an unarmed BART passenger, a gang rape outside a high school dance and a rampage that killed four Oakland police officers.The list of the top local news stories of the year also has familiar themes, like problems with the state budget, debates over California's water supply, economic strife and the battle over same-sex marriage. Many of these stories will continue to make news in 2010. Others will become lessons and prompt changes so that such tragedies are not repeated. As in every year, Chronicle reporters and editors selected the top local news stories of the year - news that changed the region and shook the lives of Bay Area residents.

BART officer shoots, kills Oscar Grant: In the first hours of 2009, an unarmed BART passenger named Oscar Grant was fatally shot in the back by Officer Johannes Mehserle at the Fruitvale Station. Mehserle's lawyer has claimed the officer thought he was reaching for a Taser. Grainy images from riders' mobile phones captured the shooting, triggering days of both violent and peaceful protests in Oakland. The incident and fallout was also viewed through a racial lens: Mehserle is white and Grant was black, leading some people to see the case as representative of a pattern of police abuse of young men of color. Mehserle was charged with murder, a rarity for officers, and his criminal trial was moved to Los Angeles, where it is scheduled to begin in six months to a year. "I think I can get justice for Oscar in Los Angeles," said Cephus Johnson, Grant's uncle. On Wednesday, Grant's family and the BART Board of Directors issued a joint statement, saying the anniversary of the shooting was a chance to peacefully remember the 22-year-old victim. BART officials expressed their condolences, and Board President James Fang called the shooting "one of the most gut-wrenching episodes in BART's history."

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