2019: The year in sound and images

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — KYW Newsradio reporters take us through the biggest stories of 2019, the news that affected our region, the headlines that got us talking — from a year we won't soon forget. It's the KYW Newsradio "All Local Year in Review."

The beginning of the year saw union leader "Johnny Doc" and City Councilmember Bobby Henon get slapped with federal corruption charges.

In Bucks County, two years after four young men were killed on a farm, their legal saga came to a close, with Sean Kratz and Cosmo DiNardo behind bars in state prison.

It has been nearly four decades since he was convicted of murdering Philadelphia police office Danny Faulkner, but Mumia Abu-Jamal continues his quest for freedom. And this year, decisions made by the district attorney prompted protests.

Lawkmakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey this year grappled with how to help survivors of child sexual abuse. Both states made quite different changes to their statutes of limitations.

The Philadelphia area lost two iconic structures this year: the big board at 30th Street Station and the Tower Theater sign.

In the spring, we spent time at Suburban Station in Center City, investigating business owners' complaints of a problem with violence and drugs, which they blamed on a shelter for homeless people.

The unimaginable horror inflicted on 14-year-old Grace Packer by her adoptive parents played out in a Bucks County courtroom in the spring. The mother was sent to prison for the rest of her life; the father, to death row.

Philadelphia scored a decisive victory in its battle with the Trump administration over immigration policy. A federal court ruled in the city's favor in a case that tested the legality of sanctuary cities.

Kate Smith's statue is no longer standing tall outside of the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers removed it and stopped using her classic rendition of "God Bless America."

"Not in my backyard" turned into "not on our athletic fields" in Delaware County as the Upper Darby School District tried to move forward with building a new middle schiool in Clifton Heights.

At the Port of Philadelphia, it was a memorable year for customs and border protection agents, who made a couple of big cocaine seizures there, one in March and the other in June.

A historic church in West Philadelphia, the Greater Bible Way Temple, went up in flames, a major blow to the congregation noted for their service to the homeless in the surrounding commuinty.

The Phillies lost a big piece of their heart in May when David Montgomery, the team's former president, died at the age of 72.

2019 will be remembered as the year we stomped around a lot. There was a valiant effort to quell an invasion of the spotted lanternfly.

Five people were found dead in an apartment in Morrisville, Bucks County. Two family members were charged in their deaths.

Archbishop Charles Chaput turned 75 this year and presenterd his resignation to Pope Francis as Vatican law prescribes.

The odds of dirty dealings at Atlantic City Hall have gotten pretty good. This year saw the fifth A.C. mayor since the 1970s to be busted on corruption charges.

Pennsylvania is facing a lawsuit over new voting machines rolled out this year in Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley. The election security advocates behind the claim the system can't ensure each vote is properly recorded. There was drama in the selection process, but in the end, voters gave the machines high marks.

Local e-cigarette users were among the more than 50 to die from, and 2,500 others to be treated for, a lung illness. It took months for investigators to pin down a probable cause.

Across eight hours on Aug. 14, part of North Philadelphia was under seige. Police found themselves in a bloody standoff with a man who had a lot of firepower, shooting at them from inside of a house in Nicetown.

All six officers shot in the Nicetown incident survived, no civilians were hurt, and the gunman surrendered — an outcome credited to the leadership of Commissioner Richard Ross — so it was a shock with Mayor Jim Kenney annouced his resignation.

The death of Delaware County woman Deana Eckman at the hands of a driver on his sixth DUI left that man in prison for at least a quarter-century now has Pennsylvania lawmakers calling for harsher penalties for repeat drunk drivers.

In South Jersey, two cops, Frank Nucera and Nicholas Romantino, faced federal charges, accused of roughing up suspects because they were minorities.

A story we followed with interest this year was the plight of Peter Biar Ajak, a peace activist, educated in Philadelphia, who is stuck in a prison in South Sudan.

The mayor of Ocean City, New Jersey, reminded us: Don't feed the seagulls; it's against the law.

Seagulls weren't the only animals giving people a run for their money. A couple of bears got a little too close for comfort in June and November.

This past spring, into fall, saw several tornadoes touch down in Philadelphia's suburbs.

While it led the ballot in November, the Philadelphia mayor's race wasn't really a race, but there was a surge in voter turnout in some other races from the city to the suburbs.

The final chapter of the story of the legalization of marijuana in New Jersey will be written next year by voters after what didn't happen in 2019.

This year marked the end of an era for nuclear power as fission finished at the plant infamous for the fear it stoked in the area 40 years ago. Permanent shutdown of Three Mile Island could 60 years.take

It's not what happened on the field for which a school football game at the Shore will be remembered. The game was interrupted by gunfire, which took the life of a young spectator.

The Phillies this year scored the biggest prize of in free agency, using what they called "stupid money." The pressure will be on for a return on investment for Bryce Harper.

A Philadelphia institution locked its doors and turned off the lights for the first time in more than 150 years: Hahnemann University Hospital, whose parent campany blamed the closure on unsustainable financial loss.

A few hours before the morning rush on June 21, drivers on I-95 in South Philadelphia witnessed a fireball so hot that the temperature shot up up inside of their cars and trucks. What they saw and felt was an explosion and fire that destroyed the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery and led to serious health concerns in the months to come.