STORIES TO WATCH IN 2009:

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second story in a two-part series detailing the top 10 stories to keep an eye on in the coming year.

Newport Beach City Hall’s progress:

The Newport Beach City Council is expected to approve a contract in January with the San Francisco-based design firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson to design a new city hall in Newport Center for an estimated $60 million.

Preliminary designs for the new municipal complex include an oversized, light-catching sail-like structure on one side of the building that has raised the hackles of some who live in the area.

The sail protrudes above city-imposed height limitations for the area and residents worry the structure will block their bay and ocean views.

City Council members have vowed to scale back the sail in the final designs. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson’s 81,000-square-foot, two-story design also features a wave-shaped roof that would clear the view plane.

A park included in the design plans would feature wetlands, walking trails and an amphitheater.

Weston Kruger trial: The trial for a Newport Beach man accused of throwing a liquor store owner to the ground and killing him when confronted about stealing a magazine could start as early as April.

Weston Kruger, 30, is charged with murder during the commission of a robbery after prosecutors say he threw Newport Beach Sportman’s Liquor Store owner Hao Quang Huynh to the ground with such force that the injuries killed him after Huynh accused Kruger of stuffing an adult magazine down the front of his pants and leaving without paying for it in 2007.

Kruger is listed at 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds in Orange County Sheriff’s Department records. Huynh was described as 5-foot-3, 110 pounds. Huynh suffered a severe head injury when he hit the ground outside of his liquor store and died a day later at a hospital.

Kruger, who was out on bail while cases for armed robbery and domestic violence worked their way through the courts, could face the death penalty.

The trial has a tentative April 6 start date. His other cases are pending.

Back Bay dredging:

The slow process to keep dredging in Upper Newport Bay has just enough funding to last through January, but it will take millions of dollars more to finish the job, according to city officials.

The future of the project, which needs $16 million more to finish, hangs on what Congress does in its upcoming session.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) has asked the legislature for $12.3 million more for the project, while supporters also hope that a federal economic stimulus package might throw in some more cash.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the project, could receive money from that stimulus package — money the agency could spend on existing projects like the dredging.

If the money doesn’t come through, city officials estimate that it will cost $1.5 million for the contractor to tear down its work site and set up again in the future.

Statewide campaigns of Chuck DeVore and Tom Harman: Assemblyman Chuck DeVore has announced a run for the U.S. Senate while Sen. Tom Harman has pulled papers to run for state attorney general, but has not made it official yet.

DeVore is trying to unseat 15-year U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer while Harman could run for the attorney general seat held by Jerry Brown.

California’s a predominantly Democratic state overall, making the two Orange County lawmakers’ bids long shots, but they both see opportunities.

DeVore thinks that with the budget difficulties the country is facing his more aggressive proposal to increase drilling off the coast of California might gain traction and propel him to victory.

And Harman says that Brown’s potential run for governor might open the door for him.

Both men are fresh off victories in November when they easily defended their seats against Democratic challengers.

Wendy Leece and the Costa Mesa Senior Center: Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece has been fighting for months for a bigger role in the management of the Costa Mesa Senior Center, but executives and board members say her efforts are counterproductive and distracting.

Earlier in the year, for instance, she gave the center a laundry list of questions asking everything from salaries and hours of individual staff members to details of how the tables in the bridge room were selected. She says complaints from seniors that weren’t being addressed by staff prompted her inquiries.

The board has fought back. Members say that the vast majority of seniors who participate in activities and food programs at the center are happy with the service and Leece’s presence is only stirring up trouble that wasn’t there before and costing the center money in the process.

One point of contention is the salary of the executive director, which the board votes on and doesn’t feel it should have to reveal to the public because the center is a private corporation.

Leece, however, says that even though the center is not owned or operated by the city it should have to disclose the information like a city-owned agency would because city money makes up part of the budget.

In exchange for some taxpayer support, two of the center’s voting board members are picked by the City Council.

Right now they are Costa Mesa residents who donate to the center and volunteer their time. Leece acts as a nonvoting liaison to the board.

She wants to change that, though, to give a council member a vote on the board. The two current council-appointed board members come up for reappointment in April, at which point Leece could propose replacing one or both of them with council members.

The center’s management says it’s fine with giving a council member a vote on the board, just not Leece.