It’s hard to believe that 2014 is almost over. It has been a busy year. Comic book heroes such as Spiderman and Captain America have dominated the top movies this year. Mockingjay’s Katniss has fared well too. In music, Pharrell’s “Happy” was the number one download of the year. Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea, and Sam Smith also have had debuts that have hit it big on the charts. “Let it Go” from the animated movie Frozen seemed to always be playing on the radio.
In pop culture, marriages between Kim Kardashian and Kanye West and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made headlines. Comics Robin Williams and Joan Rivers both passed away. Child star Amanda Bynes went off the deep end and Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to five years in jail for killing his girlfriend.
There are some major news stories in 2014 that none of us will forget. Malaysian flight 370 disappeared in March and still has not been discovered. There has been an Ebola outbreak and ISIS has become a household name. The terror group beheaded several journalists and replaced al Qaeda in news headlines. More recently, race riots have sprung up after the decision not to indict the white police officer that shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
The world of politics also had some major stories. In November, the Republicans took control of Congress. Locally here in Jacksonville, the one-cent sales tax was approved, and we will finally be able to improve our school buildings. Nationally, twelve more states legalized same sex marriages and two states legalized the sale of marijuana.
What an eventful year it has been! One can only guess what 2015 will hold for us. What is even harder to believe is that the school year is almost half way over.