The Year in Review: An Optimist's Guide

It might be easy to call 2008 a year of disappointment for St. Louisans, considering everything from the highway’s shutdown to the brewery’s sellout. But we decided to make lemonade out of proverbial lemons by taking a look at the upside to this year’s potential downers.

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January 2: Highway 40 closes, forcing

St. Louisans to start the new year by finding a new way to work. The upside? Public transit suddenly looks like a viable option—well, in theory.

July 14: Anheuser-Busch’s board approves selling the company to Belgium brewer InBev. The upside? One more reason to drink.

September 26: The Post lays off 20 more staffers, including its primary crime reporter. The upside? Guess that means there are fewer crimes to cover. Oh, wait ...

September 29: PBS’s Gwen Ifill breaks her ankle days before moderating the highly anticipated debate at Wash. U. between veep hopefuls. The upside? More drama for the sequel to her forthcoming book, Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.

September 29: After a dismal four-loss start, the Rams ax head coach Scott Linehan and replace him with defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. The upside? It’s tough to do worse than 0–4.

November 4: Voters cast their ballots after an exhausting election season. The upside? The election season is finally over. One more reason to drink.

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