2009: What a year!

The health news, scandals, farewells and breaking news in 2009 were simply remarkable and memorable to say the least. I will start with the top stories for the year: (1) premature death of Michael Jackson (2) Twilight saga (3) World Wrestling Entertainment (4) Megan Fox (5) Brittany Spears (6) Naruto (7) American Idol (8) Kim Kandashian (9) Nascar Racing (10) Runescape- hottest video game.

The top health news for 2009 was the H1N1 pandemic flu which infected 50 million in the U.S. It caused school closings and public facility shutdowns in major cities. The second health story was of course the health care reform bill. Political efforts to reform the U.S. health care system brought protests, support and debates. The third major concern was the changes in cancer screening guidelines which challenged efficacy of mammograms and prostate exams. Lastly, was the stem cell policy reversal. Obama signed an executive order permitting the National Institutes of Health to conduct and fund studies on controversial embryonic stem cells.

The year was full of scandals. (1) David Letterman - unfaithfulness (2) Tiger Wood'- infidelity (3) Rhianna and Chris Brown - abuse (4) Jon & Kate Gosselin -adultery (5) Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift - aggressiveness (6) All-American Olympic Gold winner Michael Phelps - tarnished image (7) Sarah Palin Alaska governor resignation (8) Nadya "Octomom" Suleman and her 8 babies - unbelievably inconsiderate (9) True heroism "Miracle on the Hudson" U.S. Airways flight 1549 to Charlotte NC emergency landing- miraculous (10) Reality-show hopefuls,Michaele and Tareq Salahi crash White House state dinner - unsecure.

We lost a lot of respectable, memorable people in 2009 that have been truly missed. Some of the ones that come to mind locally were: Trumann Police Chief Larry "Red" Blagg; business owner Johnny Rye Sr.; Three Rivers Nursing Center administrator Dorothy Abbott Castro; Product Support Manager for Case Corporation, J.D. "Bud" Boland and son Scott Boland; Dr. William Sneed Shaw; Cowboy Buckie Oneil Fires; students William Criswell and Taylor Wayne McPhearson.

Also, there were so many celebrities and public figures taken from us way before we were ready. Among them were: Natasha Richardson; Brittany Murphy; Dom DeLuise; Walter Cronkite; Army Archerd; Dominick Dunne; Paul Harvey; Billy Mays; Oscar Mayer; Ed McMahon; Farrah Fawcett; Micheal Jackson; Sen. Ted Kennedy; Eunice Kennedy Shriver; Patrick Swayze; Les Paul; Soupy Sales; Karl Malden; Jett Travolta; Roy Disney; Oral Roberts; Jennifer Jones; Bea Arthur; David Carradine; TN Titans Steve McNair; Adam "D J AM" Goldstein and sadly, the cute little Taco Bell dog.

What a year 2009 has been for us, and I hope for an amazing year to come with 2010.