12.22.19 SB_K

The Year in Pictures Post-Dispatch photographers share their favorite photographs from 2019

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2019

WELCOME

BEHIND THE LENS

OF A PULITZER PRIZE AWARD WINNING TEAM

Connecting through pictures

BY GARY HAIRLSON

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

DAVID CARSON Post-Dispatch photojournalist, 19 years @PDPJ

ROBERT COHEN Post-Dispatch photojournalist, 20 years @kodacohen

CRISTINA M. FLETES Post-Dispatch photojournalist, 6 years @cristinafletes

J.B. FORBES Post-Dispatch chief photojournalist, 44 years @twitjb

CHRISTIAN GOODEN Post-Dispatch photojournalist, 20 years @pd_shutterspeed

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s rich history in photojournalism was born around 1900, when the Post-Dispatch hired a pioneering photographer named Garnett Palfrey.

Since then, the Post-Dispatch has built a tradition of visual excellence by bringing on dozens of photojournalists and picture editors.

Nearly 120 years later, the Post-Dispatch has some of the most talented photojournalists in the country — many with roots and ties to the St. Louis region.

Three of our current seven staffers were born and raised in the area, and com- Hairlson bined, they have devoted more than 150 years to their craft at the Post-Dispatch.

No two days are the same, but in 2019 we covered way too many news events where lives were cut short because of violence or other tragedy. Many of these involved our children.

It’s hard not to be affected by the gruesome things we cover, but fortunately, we’re also able to document many good Naso things that reflect our community.

One of my most memorable 2019 events was watching St. Louis celebrate its first Stanley Cup championship. Our photographers documented the highs, lows and ultimate triumph of the season. I wasn’t a hockey fan before that, but working through the playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final turned me into one, and it was great to see St. Louis unite.

No doubt there are events we covered in 2019 that are not represented in this 32-page section.

The dozens of photos that are included are a col-

LAURIE SKRIVAN Post-Dispatch photojournalist, 22 years @LaurieSkrivan

WE CAPTURE THE IMAGES THAT MAKE NEWS Photos at STLtoday.com and on Instragram @stltoday

K2 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

Gary Hairlson • 314-340-8279 @fotobro on Twitter ghairlson@post-dispatch.com

INSIDE

HILLARY LEVIN Post-Dispatch photojournalist, 21 years @D76

lection of images we believe are instrumental to our community; others are simply photos that we liked.

It’s a tough task wading through so many incredible photos to distill it down to what you see here.

In 2018, the Missouri History Museum staff approached us about collaborating on an exhibit — “In Focus: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Photographs” — to run alongside “Pulitzer Prize Photographs,” a traveling exhibit of Pulitzer Prize-winning photos that includes many of our own. As part of the community outreach, our photo staffers took part in several panels. The response to the exhibits and panels left us amazed. St. Louis loves photography.

The exhibit runs through Jan. 20, so see it while you can.

By the way, what you are viewing is also produced by many other newsrooms. Hats off to my colleagues at other publications for devoting the time and effort to share an annual photo retrospective.

On behalf of my colleague, assistant multimedia director Jon Naso, and our seven staff photojournalists, we appreciate that you took the time to look at our section, and invite you to support local journalism by going to stltoday.com/subscribe.

Your support as a subscriber helps make what we do at the Post-Dispatch possible.

If you haven’t gotten enough, there’s more: Go to stltoday.com/bestof2019 to see additional photos taken by our photographers in the past year.

J.B. FORBES CRISTINA M. FLETES CHRISTIAN GOODEN HILLARY LEVIN LAURIE SKRIVAN ROBERT COHEN DAVID CARSON

PAGES 3-6 PAGES 7-9 PAGES 10-12 PAGES 13-15 PAGES 18-22 PAGES 23-27 PAGES 28-31

COVER PHOTO Godfrey firefighter Luke Warner salutes the helmet and casket of Capt. Jacob “Jake” Ringering as his remains are taken from St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Alton for his funeral procession March 12.

Warner broke both legs while fighting a house fire March 5 in Bethalto that took the life of his captain.

ROBERT COHEN, RCOHEN@POST-DISPATCH.COM

J.B. FORBES When I first started working at the Post-Dispatch in 1975, I was concerned about making a good impression on the editors. I was determined to show them that I could come back from any news event with a picture.

So, one night when the police/fire scanner announced that a house was on fire on the city’s South Side, I grabbed my cameras and raced to the scene.

I remember that the house was a two-

story with stairs leading up to the front door. Hoses snaked up to the open door and continued up the stairs to the second floor. But, the fire seemed to be contained to the inside of the house. I couldn’t see any fire or firefighters on the outside of the building. That is when I decided to follow the hoses up the stairs to the second floor. Water was cascading down the dark stairs, but that didn’t deter me from getting to the action.

In a second-floor bedroom I stood and watched two firefighters shooting water at the fire. They had their backs to me, so they didn’t know I had joined them.

I then took my one and only photo using my flash. The two firefighters nearly jumped out of their suits. They thought there had been an electrical explosion.

They turned on me and asked me what the heck I was doing in the building. I told them that I was desperately trying to get

a picture. They told me I’d better get out of the building or I would get them in big trouble. So I did.

Since that fateful day, I’ve been to literally hundreds of fires. Needless to say, I’ve never again made the mistake of going into a burning building to try and get a picture.

What makes it all worthwhile is when I cover a fire and watch firefighters rescue kids and save lives as they did on Ohio Street on Aug. 15.

St. Louis firefighter Patrick Ferguson carries an injured baby as fellow firefighter Mike Perkins administers oxygen on Aug. 15 on their way to a waiting ambulance. Four children were rescued from a second-floor apartment in the 1300 block of Ohio. The children were reportedly left alone in the apartment.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K3

J.B. FORBES

Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies gather for a photo with their new babies on Nov. 4 at the Sandy Creek Covered Bridge in Jefferson County. They jokingly call the newborns “Prop P babies” because they were born after Prop P passed, giving all of the deputies a much-needed raise.

Family members are overcome at the scene of a shooting on Sept. 29 in Milwaukee, Wis. In the background, Milwaukee police give aid to one family member who collapsed at the scene. A home invader shot a man inside his apartment, but then the injured man returned fire and killed the home invader. Members of 414Life were on the scene to offer help to the victims’ families.

K4 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

Destinee Williams, 30, holds her nose on July 22 while she points at mold growing on the walls of a vacant apartment below hers at the Windham Chase Apartments in Spanish Lake. The apartment had soggy, wet carpeting and smelled of mold and mildew.

J.B. FORBES

St. Louis firefighters pour water on the dome of a former church at sunset on Feb. 13 at Kingshighway and Washington Place in the Central West End. The building is now home to Link Auction Galleries. University City also sent equipment to help fight this fire.

A Godfrey Fire Protection District firefighter wipes away tears on March 6 at the district station in Godfrey, while he listens to Chief Erik Kambarian during a press conference about Capt. Jacob “Jake” Ringering, who died in a fire on March 5.

St. Louis firefighter Brian Jackson stops to feed three boxer dogs on Nov. 13, after helping put out a house fire in the 4300 block of Randall Place. Jackson said all the firefighters at his engine house are dog lovers, and they buy dog treats to carry with them on fire calls.

Jackson said they have to deal with dogs all the time. “Even bad dogs respond to wavy bacon treats,” he said.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K5

Canada geese take off at sunrise on Oct. 13, from cornfields near the Big River at Cedar Hill, as the fog starts to lift.

Large flocks of geese can be seen heading south as the weather turns colder.

J.B. FORBES Two cardinals fight for dominance at a bird feeder in Fenton on Jan. 20. The birds become more agitated when snow begins to fall and increasingly anxious about getting something to eat at the bird feeders.

Deer graze between the headstones during a thunderstorm on Aug. 22 at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

A tiger yawns as it walks the grounds of its enclosure at the St. Louis Zoo on Nov. 11, during the first snow of the year.

K6 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

CRISTINA M. FLETES The group assembled quietly, with brightly colored signs and hopeful hugs, for what was to be a heavy-hearted occasion. It was a chilly day in mid-October and we were gathered behind the parking lot of Family Dollar on Halls Ferry Road near where 12-year-old Akeelah Jackson was struck.

We were attending a prayer vigil for Akeelah, affectionately called “Ke Ke,” who was clinging to the last strands of life after

being hit by a St. Louis County police officer during a pursuit the week before. The several dozen family and friends prayed for healing for Akeelah. They prayed for the doctors treating her. They prayed for the anguished family. And then they prayed for the officer that struck her.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such strength.

They had every right to lash out over the horrible circumstance. They could have

wished upon him the same nightmare they were living. But they didn’t. If there was one moment from 2019 that will stay with me, it was this one.

Akeelah later died from her injuries.

I cried when I heard the news. I still cry about it sometimes. I know her family’s pain is exponential. Still, I think about their grace under the circumstances. Her family showed how real love isn’t easy — that it takes overriding our natural tendencies,

instead choose the higher ground at our lowest points.

Not enough is said about forgiveness.

In an age where strength is judged by an unwillingness to back down or apologize, the strength of forgiveness is too often overlooked. If they could set aside their pain and choose forgiveness in the biggest of matters, then perhaps we can find it in ourselves to do so in smaller ones.

Do it for Akeelah.

Pastor Pete Nehr, of Word Deliverance Christian Church, prays over a crowd of several dozen family and friends that gathered for a vigil for Akeelah “Ke Ke” Jackson, 12, behind the Family Dollar on Halls Ferry Road on Oct. 21 near the spot where she had been struck by a St. Louis County police officer’s car. Also pictured, from center to right are Akeelah’s aunt, Michelle Jackson; her father, Rob “Willie” Jackson; cousin, Elizabeth Fowler-Davis; mother, Melissa Bassett; and cousin Jan’iya Atkins, 6.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K7

CRISTINA M. FLETES

A driver who declined to give his name waits for a rescue after getting stuck at the intersection of Fairway Boulevard and Black Lane in the Collinsville area while attempting to drive through a flooded stretch of road on Aug. 12.

Newly sworn-in St. Louis County Executive Sam Page takes down decorations that remain from his predecessor, Steve Stenger, as Page settles into his new office on May 3.

Mona Spiker, of De Soto, laughs as she hauls away her Black Friday purchases at West County Center in Des Peres on Nov. 29. She was shopping for family and co-workers.

Hannah Galler, 20, of Imperial, performs with the Missouri State University Herald Brass Band color guard as the 137th Annual VP Parade makes its way down Market Street on July 4.

K8 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

CRISTINA M. FLETES

Dauna McClelland, of Arnold, and her grandson, Connor Gooch, 10, listen as the names are called out of law enforcement officers and firefighters who have died in the line of duty during a ceremony at St. Louis County Memorial Park in Clayton on May 3.

McClelland’s husband, Wayne, was a police detective killed in the line of duty in 1975.

Manikins sit ready for use in a lab at the new Center for Nursing and Health Sciences building at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park on Aug. 12.

A sun halo and plane contrails are seen behind the St. Louis Wheel on Sept. 24 at Union Station in downtown St. Louis.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K9

CHRISTIAN GOODEN Early in the year, an experienced and venerable former colleague of mine said it simply with the utmost clarity: “It’s just practice.”

Those words, slowly settling in over the next few days, would erase a growing anxiety I held before my first 11-day trip to Florida to document Cardinals spring training. Knowing that news from Jupiter in February is some of the most anticipated journalism in St. Louis, I had for years shuddered at shouldering such responsibility for

the country’s most baseball-thirsty fans.

Also in 2019, a surprise opportunity arose to shoot a performance by jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard. The conclusion of that performance triggered apprehension because I had only minutes to devise a plan to shoot an engaging portrait of him. And I had to do it with no lights inside a static office building setting.

I was also tasked with shooting cover photos for two of our most fretted-over sections: the all-important sports season

previews.

One featured a newly acquired Gold Glove slugger to help bolster the roster in the upcoming, do-or-die 2019 Cardinals season (now in the history books).

The other featured the stars of the Stanley Cup-winning Blues, poised to dominate a new season.

My year also saw a museum fire that, at first, seemed devastating, but proved to be less costly than feared; a new cast of exotic animals at Grant’s Farm to soothe the sad

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, at 3524 Russell Boulevard, burns on March 26 as St. Louis firefighters try to contain the fire.

K10 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

memories of pachyderms passed; a history-making curtain call ovation at Busch Stadium after a former hero hit a home run while wearing the opposing team’s jersey; and a moment that illustrated what has been undoubtedly a stressful year for Kimberly M. Gardner, arguably one of the more scrutinized first-term St. Louis circuit attorneys in modern times.

These were interesting sights to close out the teens.

Looking forward to covering the ‘20s.

CHRISTIAN GOODEN

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner answers reporters’ questions on Jan. 30 at St. Luke Memorial Baptist Church following her announcement of new initiatives that she says will address an over-burdened court system and give judges alternatives to incarceration for lesser offenses.

Grace Strobel works out on the pull-down machine on March 7 at the Jewish Community Center in Chesterfield. Grace, of Wildwood, is breaking barriers as a cover model with Down syndrome.

Bethany Coffey, a crew member with balloon pilot Scott Wooge, fires the team’s race craft sponsored by Purina Pro Plan on Sept. 20, on the eve of the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. The annual event was marking its 47th year. The stars and stripes of pilot Frank Anger’s balloon are seen in the background.

The Year of Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K11

CHRISTIAN GOODEN

Left to right, Terrell Adams, 8, Patrick Etienne, 8, and Vincent Pitts, 6, all first cousins of Eddie Hill IV, attend a vigil on July 25 to honor his life and death.

Hill, a 10-year-old, was shot on the front porch of his home on Page Boulevard on July 19 and later died. About 200 people attended the gathering to pray and denounce perpetrators of violence in St. Louis.

Nationals pitcher and St. Louis native Max Scherzer throws in the fourth inning of Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Oct. 12.

K12 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

Cardinals players, from left, Yairo Munoz, Kolten Wong and Jose Martinez ride on a golf cart they highjacked on Feb. 20 after practice during Cardinals spring training at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. Dexter Fowler was driving with Yadier Molina and Marcell Ozuna in the front.

HILLARY LEVIN One of the best aspects of being a newspaper photographer is the variety that can come with each workday.

Part of it could be photographing food for the cover of Let’s Eat, and then being sent to find what we call a standalone feature — a photograph not connected to a story, like dogs playing in the park. But one of the more challenging assignments

I had this year was not because of any difficulty in the photo subject — it was to not inadvertently reveal a surprise.

Bayless Elementary special education teacher Therese Shain was being awarded the $25,000 Milken Educator Award during a school assembly. But she didn’t know that. So the challenge for me was positioning myself to get a clear shot

of her hearing the good news, while not focusing on her too much ahead of time to make her wonder why she was getting extra attention.

One of the other things I like to watch out for is a connection between people.

This is demonstrated in the loving look Michael Brown Sr. and his daughter, Mikelle, shared during a press conference,

and in the warm hug Honduran refugee Alex Garcia gave his son, Caleb, after a press conference.

Sometimes a press conference can offer an opportunity for more interesting photos than of someone just standing in front of the microphone, reading from a prepared statement.

Bayless Elementary special education teacher Therese Shain, center, lets the news sink in that she was just awarded a $25,000 Milken Educator Award on Feb. 13 during a school assembly. She is congratulated by fellow educators Jamie Heidmann, left, and Stephanie Chrestman. Shain was one of 33 educators in the nation to be awarded the prize and the only one in Missouri this year.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K13

HILLARY LEVIN

Michael Brown Sr. shares a light moment with his daughter, Mikelle, 6, before a press conference Aug. 9. The event was called by Brown to announce his intention to ask St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell to reexamine the evidence in the death of his son, Michael Brown, five years ago, and to reopen the investigation.

Adriana Schmittgens, 4, of Eureka, yells “Hi mama,” while following directions given by “Waitress” assistant director Susannah Wolk during auditions Feb. 11 for the role of “Lulu.” The show played at the Fox Theatre beginning in March.

K14 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

Alex Garcia hugs his son, Caleb, 13, after a press conference July 12 at Christ Church United Church of Christ, the Maplewood church that has given him sanctuary since 2017. Garcia is a Honduran refugee.

Standing in prayer are, from left, delegates Kimberly Woods, of Industry, Ill., Sara Isbell, of Bloomington, Ill., and Andy Adams, of Troy, Ill., at the United Methodist Church General Conference Day of Prayer on Feb. 23 at The Dome at America’s Center.

HILLARY LEVIN

Jett, a horse with the St. Louis Carriage Company stables on Cerre Street, pokes his head out his stall window and checks the ground for any nearby grass on June 6.

A robin takes flight in the snow on Boland Place in Richmond Heights Feb. 15.

Andy Orahood of Maplewood has his dog, Sam, leap through the rings for a stick on March 11 at the Maplewood Dog Park, while Sam’s buddies look on.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K15

STANLEY CUP CHAMPION ST. LOUIS BLUES St. Louis Blues center and MVP Ryan O’Reilly skates around with the Stanley Cup after the Blues beat the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 12 at the TD Garden in Boston.

LAURIE SKRIVAN, LSKRIVAN@POST-DISPATCH.COM

St. Louis Blues center Oskar Sundqvist flattens Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo in second period action during Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final June 12 at the TD Garden in Boston.

LAURIE SKRIVAN, LSKRIVAN@POST-DISPATCH.COM DAVID CARSON, DCARSON@POST-DISPATCH.COM

A large crowd of people file into the Arch grounds and line Market Street on June 15 to help the St. Louis Blues celebrate winning the Stanley Cup.

ROBERT COHEN, RCOHEN@POST-DISPATCH.COM ROBERT COHEN, RCOHEN@POST-DISPATCH.COM

The Blues’ Pat Maroon scores the winning goal as he is trailed by Tyler Bozak and Robert Thomas to beat the Dallas Stars in double overtime of Game 7 on May 7 at Enterprise Center.

St. Louis Blues fans stretch to touch the Stanley Cup as Brayden Schenn walks it toward the Gateway Arch after the championship parade in downtown St. Louis on June 15.

Blues coach Craig Berube kisses the Stanley Cup as his team cheers at the end of Game 7 in Boston.

J.B. FORBES, JFORBES@POST-DISPATCH.COM

K16 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

Lifelong St. Louis Blues fan Zac Pyles, 34, paints the front yard of his home on En Cino Drive in Hazelwood on May 24 with the St. Louis Blues logo to celebrate the team’s trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

Pyles said he paints his yard every year the Blues make the playoffs.

DAVID CARSON, DCARSON@POST-DISPATCH.COM

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K17

LAURIE SKRIVAN The doors of the Cathedral Basilica had just opened, and the funeral procession was imminent. In the middle of the somber moment, I was frantically searching for Gloria, a leasing manager who had kindly offered to let me photograph from a nearby apartment for an overhead view.

But with the clock ticking on an important moment the Post-Dispatch owes to its readers to cover, I couldn’t find her.

Luckily a guard took action, rushing me upstairs to connect with Gloria. I raced

toward the balcony just in time to get a photo of lines of saluting officers honoring North County Cooperative Police Officer Michael Langsdorf, who had been killed in the line of duty. Each officer is doubled by his or her shadow, which for me, carries a powerful symbolic meaning.

As it has happened many times in my career, I couldn’t have shared an important (and in this case, heartbreaking) event with the community without a little luck, and more than a little kindness from

the people I meet.

As I look back through my pictures this year, I can’t help but notice the kindness and perseverance that echoes through so many of them: T.E.H. Realty resident Amanda Jackson let me into her home to photograph a breathing treatment for her sick child as part of her fight for better living conditions — which led to a reader paying for her to relocate; St. Louis County couple David Frei and Mary Piper fighting Lou Gehrig’s disease while con-

tinuing to make new memories; UAW members supporting each other at the picket line through a cold, wet night; a homeless man who survives the cold with the help of outreach mission workers; and many more.

That determination to make it through hard times, and the kindness to help others make it through as well, is everywhere if we look for it, almost like a shadow.

Pallbearers carry the casket of Officer Michael Langsdorf, of the North County Police Cooperative, from the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis following a funeral Mass on July 1. Langsdorf was killed in the line of duty on June 23.

K18 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

LAURIE SKRIVAN

“We had a rough night last night. I had to give him three breathing treatments. And it’s the first thing we do when we wake up each day. That’s a lot of medicine for a 1-year-old,” said Amanda Jackson, who comforts her son Marquise while using a nebulizer treatment for his asthma on Nov. 5 at Southwest Crossing Apartments in St. Louis.

Ciara Anderson, 11, empties trash into the overflowing dumpster on Nov. 6 at Southwest Crossing Apartments in St. Louis. Several residents said trash had not been picked up in weeks.

Demetric Halloway, 1, rests underneath the covers before falling asleep for an afternoon nap on Nov. 22 inside his aunt’s apartment at the Pinnacle Ridge Apartments. They hand no heat or hot water in the apartment. The apartment complex, north St. Louis County, is owned by T.E.H Realty.

“You can see how the neighbor’s unit is working,” said Margaret Hill, who points out the working furnace’s pilot light, left, as opposed to the broken furnace to her daughter’s apartment on Nov. 22.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K19

LAURIE SKRIVAN

Planned Parenthood supporters, dressed in “Handmaid’s Tale” costumes, stand in silence before the fourth day of hearings between Planned Parenthood and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on Oct. 31 at the Wainwright State Office Building in St. Louis.

“I pray for him all the time. I have dedicated my life to taking care of him. I worry about what will happen to Marcus. Who will take care of him?” said Wynester Logan, who rests Nov. 11 at her home in north St. Louis. She was diagnosed with breast cancer last spring. She worries about who will take care of her son, Marcus, 22. He was one of 86 adults with developmental disabilities in Missouri who were on a Medicaid waiver waitlist for 24-hour care.

K20 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

UAW members huddle near a fire as they picket outside the GM Wentzville Assembly Center on Oct. 11.

LAURIE SKRIVAN

St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jose Martinez hugs coach Willie McGee during a game between the Cardinals and the New York Mets at Busch Stadium on April 20.

“My girlfriend is somewhere in the park playing Pokémon GO and I was bored. I wanted to see how far I could roll it,” said William Biscarri of Clayton, who spent 15 minutes creating a giant ball of snow on Jan. 12 in Oak Knoll Park in Clayton.

Jessica Woods, left, is comforted by her friend Amanda Merriweather at the scene of a house fire in the 8500 block of Partridge Avenue in the Baden neighborhood on April 5. Woods and her family were at home at the time of the fire. Everyone escaped without injury. “I heard popping and then I heard my older son yell,” Woods said. “All I saw was black smoke. I don’t know what I am going to do. I don’t have nothing left.”

“I was only 13 when Mike Brown was killed. I just remember seeing people looting stores and thinking that was crazy. I think things have gotten better. You don’t hear about that happening much anymore and there are lots of new stores around here,” said Arie Durgins, 18, of Normandy, who posed for a photo with of her brother, El Washington, 18.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K21

LAURIE SKRIVAN

“I just think David is amazing. He’s so incredibly positive about everything. I just like spending time with him,” said Mary Piper, who takes a walk with her husband, David Frei, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease, on Feb. 20 in their neighborhood.

UAW member Jonathon Stafford snuggles with his daughter Myia on Oct. 24 at their home in Hazelwood. Stafford and his wife are former GM Lordstown plant employees. Stafford was relocated to GM’s Spring Hill plant and his wife, who was on maternity leave at the time of the move, was relocated to the GM Wentzville plant. The separation has been hard on the couple.

The St. Louis Wheel at Union Station is shown at dusk on Sept.

23.

K22 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

ROBERT COHEN There is power in the still photograph.

It’s a sweaty August afternoon and St. Louis firefighters are responding to a routine call for smoke in a nearby apartment building.

A neighbor screams.

Firefighter Josh Roth is off but filling in on an overtime shift. He and Timothy Evans work to revive a little girl, the first of four children rescued after being found unattended in an upstairs unit. Three are in cardiac arrest.

Minutes later ambulances take them all to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. By nightfall all are in stable condition.

Almost a month passes before the hospital staff gathers at fire department headquarters to honor the crews working that day with applause, frozen custard and a plaque. The fire chief is asked to speak.

Chief Dennis Jenkerson says that while he’s pleased to see lifesaving efforts being recognized, they are routine. Our firefighters do this everyday, he says. But seldom are their efforts captured, he adds.

There is power in the still photograph.

St. Louis firefighter Josh Roth carries a girl from a burning apartment, one of four children rescued on Aug. 15 near the Lafayette Square neighborhood in St. Louis. Three were in cardiac arrest and had to be revived. All four were listed in stable condition later that day.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K23

ROBERT COHEN On his last day working in his shoe repair shop, Giovanni LoCascio, 87, watches for the truck that will haul away his machines and repair tools on June 18. LoCascio was able to sell one of his Singer sewing machines, but the rest was hauled away as junk. After 50 years of work, LoCascio was shutting the doors on his Affton business.

The Cragwold estate in Kirkwood stands out among the trees overlooking the Meramec River, as photographed from Unger Park before sunset in Valley Park on Oct. 27.

The estate was originally built for brewer Edwin Lemp in 1911.

K24 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

ROBERT COHEN

A man who declined to be identified unfolded a metal chair in the middle of Canfield Drive at a rebuilt memorial to Michael Brown, preparing to guard it through the night on Aug. 8 before the fifth anniversary of Brown’s fatal shooting by a Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9, 2014. “These are our streets,” he said.

Inmates from the Women’s Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia gaze at the Mississippi River after helping to a sandbag wall in Clarksville as the river approached record levels downtown on May 31.

A view of downtown St. Louis can be seen March 14 from the second floor of a crumbling two-family home at 1604 North 14th Street owned by Paul McKee’s NorthSide Regeneration. The building was later torn down.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K25

ROBERT COHEN

Romell Smith, 2, plays in the driver seat of his mother’s running car as firefighters from the Northeast Fire Protection District make quick work of unlocking her car in Bel-Ridge on Aug. 12. Andrea Smith let her son out of his car seat to move around while she pumped gas at a Shell station in the 8800 block of Natural Bridge, but accidentally locked the car when she got out. “It’s a blessing,” said Smith as she watched the firefighters open the door in moments.

Bentley and Ryker, St. Bernard puppies of Paul and Haydee Reed, shop with their owners at Roger’s Produce in Webster Groves on Oct. 22. A fresh load of pumpkins from Amish and Mennonite farmers in Vandalia, Ill. attracted shoppers as they were unloaded by owner Roger Krull.

K26 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

With media in tow, St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger and his lawyer Scott Rosenblum leave federal court after pleading not guilty on corruption charges following his indictment on April 29.

ROBERT COHEN

“Thank you,” says Kasey Bergh as she kisses her husband Henry Glendening goodbye in the preoperative area before he donates a kidney to her at Barnes-Jewish Hospital on April 9. More than three hours later, Glendening’s kidney would be walked from his operating room to hers next door.

Autumn Christopher, 4, plays with a favorite ball outside the Hawthorne Park apartments in Jefferson City after a tornado ripped through the community on May 23. Autumn’s mother, Elaine Christopher, was awakened by her crying daughter as the storm approached. “We went in the bathtub and hid under blankets,” she said. “It seemed like it lasted forever.”

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K27

DAVID CARSON I apologize. I loathe writing these introductions for our year-end best photos section. I never really know what to say that doesn’t feel forced or trite. So I’ll try to keep it short.

This year I covered more than 40 homicides, shootings, funerals or vigils for victims of violence in our community. Compounding the tragedy

of all the violence in 2019 is that too many victims were children. One was 8-year-old Jurnee Thompson, who was killed by a stray bullet in August.

The heart-wrenching photo of Jurnee’s sisters and mother, consoling each other during a candlelight vigil for her and other children killed in violence is one of the images that has stayed with

me. It’s a sad, uncomfortable photo to see. That’s part of the reason why I chose it to lead my portion of this section.

For as much as I love to shoot beautiful photos of the harvest moon rising above the Arch and how much fun it is shoot Cardinals games, it’s equally important to me that photojournalists be

there for important issues like violence in our community. Sometimes that means presenting photos that make us uncomfortable and sad about the world we live in.

The gunman who fired the bullet that killed Jurnee has eluded justice and Jurnee’s case remains open.

Shardae Edmondson, 11, is consoled by her mother, Sharonda Edmondson, and sister Zha’lea Thompson, 7, on Aug. 28 during a vigil at Herzog Elementary School in St. Louis for children killed in St. Louis. Shardae and Zha’lea are sisters of 8-year-old Jurnee Thompson, who was killed by a stray bullet on Aug. 23. Sharonda is Jurnee’s mother.

K28 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

DAVID CARSON

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel throws in the second inning during Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Cardinals and the Braves in Atlanta on Oct. 3.

President Donald Trump gestures to St. Louis Blues left winger Alexander Steen as he flashes a smile with a few missing teeth as members of the St. Louis Blues are honored as the 2019 Stanley Cup champions in the Rose Garden of the White House on Oct. 15 in Washington.

Cardinals center fielder Harrison Bader watches the Nationals celebrate winning the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park in Washington on Oct. 15.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K29

DAVID CARSON

A truck drives west out of Alton over the Clark Bridge as clouds from a thunderstorm roll in on July 17. The storm dropped the temperature from the day’s high of 95 around 3:30 p.m. to 73 degrees at 7 p.m.

Demolition charges on the eastern portion of the old Champ Clark Bridge are set off to drop the steel trusses of the bridge into the Mississippi River in Louisiana, Mo., on Nov. 18. The old Champ Clark Bridge opened in 1928 to carry traffic along U.S. Route 54 over the Mississippi River. The new bridge opened to the public on Aug. 3.

K30 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Year in Pictures

A woman who wanted to be identified only as Deb rakes leaves in her yard as police, right, investigate the scene where a body was found inside an SUV in the 5000 block of Wren Avenue in St. Louis on April 10. Residents said the SUV had been parked along the street for several days.

North County Police Cooperative Officer George Vargas rests his head on the memorial set up for fellow North County Officer Michael Langsdorf outside the department’s criminal investigations building at 8027 Page Avenue in Vinita Park on June 24. Langsdorf was shot and killed by a suspect June 23.

DAVID CARSON

Kimberly Roback tries to coax her daughter Olivia Roback, 2, to meet the St. Louis Cardinals mascot, Fredbird, during the Cardinals Winter Warm-Up on Jan. 20. Olivia allowed herself to be photographed with the mascot.

Muny workers check Sister Dorothy Guadalupe with a metal-detecting wand on her way to see “Guys and Dolls” on opening night of The Muny’s 101st season in St. Louis on June 10. “We always try to make it to The Muny,” said Sister Dorothy who was in St. Louis visiting family. A 1982 graduate of Cor Jesu Academy, Sister Dorothy is now a member of the Sisters of Life in New York.

A harvest moon rises over the St. Louis skyline and the Arch on Sept. 13. Friday’s full moon was a micromoon, which happens when the moon is full and it’s at the furthest point in its orbit around Earth. It might have appeared slightly smaller than usual as it was the smallest full moon of 2019.

The Year in Pictures • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • K31

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K32 • Sunday, December 22, 2019 • St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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