2005 Year

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.

The following new laws take effect Jan. 1 unless otherwise indicated. .50-caliber rifles: Sale of the heavy, long-range weapons, used mostly by target shooters, is banned in California. Ban supporters argued that the weapons, capable of hitting hovering helicopters, could be used by terrorists. AB 50 by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood).

Consider the weekends you lost in 2004 to activities that were merely necessary. Visiting in-laws. Studying for an exam. Painting the bathroom. In 2005, you have 53 opportunities to do better; a quirk of the calendar gives the year one extra weekend. To help, we've selected a promising activity for each and every weekend -- rooting for the Dodgers, tanning at Coachella or appraising King Tut's stash at LACMA, for starters. We had to choose between ballet and baseball.

Michael Ritchie Artistic director Center Theatre Group's new artistic director (as of Jan. 1) will be hard to avoid in 2005. Everyone in the Los Angeles theatrical world and many theater mavens elsewhere will sift his selection of productions for 2005-06 and his appointments of personnel for clues as to where he'll take the city's flagship theater company as it changes captains for the first time in its nearly 40-year history.