JANUARY
Corpus Christi residents were still recovering from the four-day water ban that happened at the height of the Christmas season in 2016 when New Year’s rolled around. Lawsuits were filed, restraining orders issued and the city began working on new ordinances regulating back-flow devices.
By mid-month, the water crisis made headlines again, this time when newly elected Mayor Dan McQueen resigned in a Facebook post. He has served a total of 37 days. The city council immediately called a special election for a new mayor. Six candidates threw their hats in the ring, including defeated incumbent Mayor Nelda Martinez.
In economic news, the Chamber of Commerce moved into new offices at the Regional Transit Authority’s state-of-the-art building uptown, and ExxonMobil announced that the Coastal Bend was one of four locations being considered for the world’s largest ethylene production plant. The Outlets at Corpus Christi Bay in Robstown began hiring as contractors put the finishing touches on the long awaited shopping mall.
The year started with Selena news and ended with it. The Latina Superstar continues to captures the hearts and souls of music fans around the world. In January, it was announced that the wax figure at Madame Tussauds Hollywood would be on display for Selena selfies at the Fiesta de la Flor in Corpus Christi in April.
FEBRUARY
A new water director was appointed for the City of Corpus Christi (he has since gone back to his home in Houston, which was damaged by Hurricane Harvey), and H&M department store opened in La Palmera.
The city council decided to pull red-light cameras off the streets when its 10-year contract was up in April, and the long awaited back-flow ordinance was approved. The chamber launched a new initiative, the Total Resource Campaign — a 10-week fundraising drive to bring in new members and sell sponsorships to all of its events throughout the year — a one-stop shop for all things Chamber. Former Mayor Martinez lead the drive.
MARCH
As March winds blew, the city council entered into an agreement that would allow the construction of the Chapman Ranch Wind Farm. While that was a nice kumbaya moment for the council, the race for mayor got ugly. The city council declared in a 6-2 vote that former council member Mark Scott was not eligible to run. The battle continued throughout the month, ending up in court where judges sided with the candidate, declaring him eligible despite council misgivings. Scott dropped out of the race right after that announcement.
In other news, Chamber President Annette Medlin resigned after 15 months at the helm of the newly merged United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce. She was in charge as the Corpus Christi Chamber and the Hispanic Chamber merged.
Two local government entities voted to grant tax abatements to ExxonMobil if the company picked the Gregory-Portland area for its $10 billion steam cracker plant. Both the Nueces County Commissioners and the Gregory-Portland school board voted tax cuts for what is slated to be the largest in the world. In other building news, one of many new pipelines planned from the Permian Basin to Corpus Christi was announced.
Back to Selena. The third Fiesta de la Flor brought in more than $15 million and boasted an overall attendance of 55,000 people from all over the world. Date for the 2018 festival was set for April 13-14.
APRIL
A third new pipeline was announced, and 7-11 bought Sunoco’s Stripes stores. Payless Shoes closed two of its five locations in Corpus Christi, and the Old Nueces County Courthouse sold. It could be turned into a hotel this year or next.
Christus Spohn moved its trauma center to Shoreline where the hospital expansion is still underway.
H-E-B became the state’s largest employer, and ExxonMobil picked the Coastal Bend for its ethylene cracker plant, partly thanks to all those tax abatements.
MAY
The Texas State Aquarium opened its much anticipated Caribbean Journey, which doubled the size of the aquarium, bringing Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and the western Caribbean Sea to the Coastal Bend. The shortest snapper season ever — three days in June — was announced by NOAA, setting up a firestorm of criticism from both recreational and commercial fishermen.
Texas A&M University-Kingsville announced it would build a $60 million music hall, and Urban Bricks Pizza opened in Corpus Christi. At-large council member Joe McComb became mayor without a run-off in a five-person race, capturing 52.2 percent of the vote. The council set about the process of appointing his replacement as the 9-member governing body was still one short. 
The biggest ship to ever sail in the Gulf of Mexico pulled into a dock in Ingleside to load up and ship out. The test was an important step in the Port of Corpus Christi’s journey to being the nation’s top energy port, a status it now maintains. It is the fourth largest port in terms of tonnage in the U.S., up from sixth just a few years ago.
Thanks to a new state law, Uber and Lyft returned to Corpus Christi. The state law does not require drivers to undergo fingerprinted background checks. The city had passed an ordinance requiring the tougher background checks earlier in the year, driving out the two major ride-hailing services.
JUNE
In a bid to fill the now vacant at-large city council seat, 19 people filed for consideration. By the end of the month, council city appointed Debbie Lindsey-Opel to fill that seat.
Bending under pressure from the recreational and commercial fishing industry, NOAA, after several public hearings, decided to extend the red snapper season to three-day weekends through Labor Day. In exchange, Texas had to suspend red snapper fishing in state waters four days a week throughout the summer.
TAMU-CC named Dr. Kelly M. Quintanilla as its first female president, and more than 175 of America’s top young sailors competed in the 2017 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships. The competition was a qualifying event for the 2017 Youth Sailing World Championships. The Corpus Christi bike rental program was named best in the country after only about a year in operation.
JULY
Three major leadership positions were filled during July. The Chamber named a new President, Cleofas Rodriguez Jr., a Corpus Christi native who had been working in Washington, D.C. U.S. Navy Captain Phillip Brock took over command of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, and the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra chose Hector Guzman as its new conductor.
Lorelei Brewing Co. became the city’s first brewery to distribute canned craft beer, and Driscoll Children’s Hospital received a level IV NICU rating, the highest in the nation.
Mayor McComb joined 18 Texas city mayors to meet with Governor Greg Abbott about proposed laws under consideration during a special session of the legislature. Mayors were concerned the proposed legislation would weaken municipal powers. The city council also learned that the American Bank Center was losing its largest convention, the state FFA, because facilities are just not big enough.
AUGUST
Another pipeline and gas plant announced construction plans in Corpus Christi, while BikeFest, another big convention, decided to hold off this year. Three election districts were declared invalid by  a federal court, including U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, who serves in District 27. The court said the districts were intentionally drawn to dilute the power of minority voters.
Stripes employees began getting their pink slips after 7-11 officialy took over ownership.
Just as the month came to a close, what is probably the biggest story of the year was seen on the horizon.  Hurricane Harvey, a category 4 storm, zeroed in on the Coastal Bend.  No one knew which area would take the biggest hit up until it landed on August 25. While Corpus Christi suffered damage, the brunt of the storm hit Port Aransas and Rockport before its powerful rains brought record floods to Houston. All areas are still struggling to recover.
The Chapman Ranch Wind Farm began generating electricity by the end of the month.
SEPTEMBER
Hurricane recovery efforts dominated the news. From fighting mosquitos and black flies to clearing brush and stripping flooded homes, residents struggled to clean up after the storm. In Corpus Christi, the Museum of Science and History has remained closed since the storm.
The President and First Lady, Vice President and country singer George Strait all paid visits to the area to review storm damage and offer words of encouragement. A series of events had to be cancelled because of storm’s aftermath. The UT Marine Science Center moved to temporary offices at Texas A&M Corpus Christi because of damage to its facilities in Port Aransas.
OCTOBER
The head of the Downtown Management District, Terry Sweeney, announced he would be leaving in November to take a similar job in Kentucky. In his three years in office, he created the Marina Arts District and began several popular events to draw visitors to the area. He also was instrumental in having downtown declared a Main Street Historic District, the largest in the state.
Let’s not forget about Selena! Google honored the anniversary of her Grammy winning album with a Google Doodle video, one of the browser’s most popular.
Also, Corpus Christi will soon have a professional soccer team. The Corpus Christi Sharks announced tryouts for players and will play its first games in 2018.
Oil and gas industry news was good/bad throughout the month. While the $10 billion liquefied natural plant being build by Cheniere in Portland nears completion, the M&G Resin plant, also nearing completion, declared bankruptcy.
NOVEMBER
Corpus Christi opened a new fire station, and the Fannie Bluntzer Nason Spirit Center opened for business as well.
Selena! Yes, again with Selena! A new children’s book on the life of the Latina Queen went on sale in time for Christmas giving. Also, in arts news, the Art Museum of South Texas implemented a new augmented reality app that puts a museum docent in the palm of your hand. The app was developed by a research at TAMU-CC.
Mustang Island State Park announced it would be closed indefinitely due to hurricane damage. Another pipeline announced construction, bringing the total number of new oil and gas pipelines heading for Port Corpus Christi to six.
DECEMBER
The bad news this month is: Schlitterbahn may soon be put up for auction. The land around the water park was auctioned off in early December because it defaulted on a loan. The park itself won a reprieve until Jan. 31, 2018 to come up with $23 million it owes a different lender. A statement from the park’s spokesperson assured everyone the park would remain open.
Some better economic news came with the ground breaking for a $128 million oil storage and shipping facility at the Port of Corpus Christi.
Some weird news is, that Corpus Christi was blanketed with several  inches of snow on Dec. 7, closing schools and injuring 101 green sea turtles. The turtles were warmed up and sent back out into the Gulf of Mexico within a week of the snow storm during a public release at Padre Island National Seashore.
Just a few days after filing for re-election. U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold announced he would not be seeking office in 2018 after all. He succumbed to pressure from party officials in Washington, D.C., after it became public that $84,000 in taxpayer money was used to settle a sexual harassment claim by one of his staffers. After that news became public, other staffers came forward and detailed an uncomfortable work environment in which they were subjected to verbal abuse and sexual innuendo. Farenthold released a public apology both in print and verbally on Facebook when he withdrew his candidacy.
Port of Corpus Christi Executive Direct John LaRue announced he would be turning over the helm as of Jan. 31 to Deputy Executive Director Sean Strawbridge. LaRue served as head of the port for the last 23 years. He will remain in an advisory position until after the 2019 Texas legislative session.
Port Aransas partnered with the World Food Championship to host qualifying competitions throughout the year. Winners will compete in the finals in Orange Beach, Alabama, Nov. 7-11, 2018.
What do you think is the biggest story of 2017 in Corpus Christi?