Partly Stormy Forecast for O.C. in 2005

In 2005, voters may approve plans for Orange County's tallest building to rise in the center of Santa Ana -- or they may not. The sheriff's political career will continue to shine, or be muddied by the stain of controversy. A long-envisioned light-rail line may chug ahead, or be derailed. And Anaheim will either find itself in the running for an NFL team, or be thrown for a loss.

Uncertainty beats at the heart of many of the county's ongoing news stories in 2005.

How does the Roman Catholic Church in Orange County recover in the wake of its multimillion-dollar settlement of a priest sexual abuse lawsuit? Will justice be meted out nearly three years after 5-year-old Samantha Runnion was kidnapped and slain? Who will lead the county's largest university? How will new owners change the appearance of the county's only local television station? Will the Great Park be built?

And what will eccentric Orange school trustee Steve Rocco do next?

*

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona, shadowed by controversy in 2004, awaits the outcome of several probes involving his administration as he weighs his political future, which some believe includes a run for lieutenant governor.

Potential stumbling block No. 1: George Jaramillo, his friend and former assistant sheriff, who faces corruption charges for allegedly misusing county equipment and sheriff's deputies to demonstrate a law enforcement tool from a company for which he was a paid consultant. Jaramillo has said Carona was aware of his financial arrangement with the company, which the sheriff denies.

Meanwhile, other investigations involving Carona are pending. The nonprofit Mike Carona Foundation was ordered in 2004 to turn over various financial documents to a federal grand jury. Carona says the charity, which seeks to curb juvenile delinquency, is not a target of the investigation.

*

After three years of revelations and a record $100-million settlement, the sex scandal roiling the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange won't fade away.

As part of the agreement reached Dec. 2 with 87 plaintiffs, Bishop of Orange Tod D. Brown vowed not to fight the release of files that show how the church handled those allegations through the years. Attorneys who crafted the settlement say they expect the case files to be released this year.

Those who have seen the files say they show that Orange County church leaders quietly moved molesting priests to new parishes and other dioceses, ignored or downplayed testimony by victims and their parents and rarely reported the crimes to police.