Top national news from headlines in 2023
During the last three weeks, the highlights for local news, weather and sports have been reviewed in local papers and now with the start of a new year, this article will feature news, weather and sports headlines that took place across the nation.
These highlights reviewed are not the only news items that took place in 2023, but the ones listed will bring to mind stories of the past year.
National:
Shortly after the start of 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives elected Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. However, his tenure as Speaker only lasted for 10 months when the House removed him due to hard-right members of his own Republican Party not agreeing with his leadership.
After several standoffs, the House elected Republican Mike Johnson as the new Speaker.
Former president Donald Trump became the first president to be indicted for a crime when a grand jury in Manhatten, New York voted to charge him for falsifying business records.
Hollywood writers went on strike causing a disruption in the entertainment business including movies and television programing.
After COVID was determined to be a pandemic in March 2029, this past May the World Health Organization declared the disease was no longer considered a global health emergency
A massive wildfire in August on Maui in the Hawaiian Islands nearly destroyed the entire town of Lahaina causing several hundred buildings to be affected by the fires and hundreds of families displaced.
In late September, the longest serving U.S. Senator, Dianne Feinstein, passed away. Feinstein was 90 years old and served for more than 30 years in the senate.
On October 7, Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel, who responded with bombing on the Gaza Strip. Hamas also took 248 people hostage.
In November, former first lady, Rosalynn Carter, the wife of Jimmy Carter, passed away at the age of 96. Her husband, the former 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, despite being invalid, was able to attend her funeral.
As the year comes to an end, the war between Ukraine and Russia continues and has been going on for the past 22 months.
In addition, the war in the Middle East also continues following Hamas surprise attack on Israel that begin nearly three months ago.
Weather:
Each year that goes by different areas of the United States can expect to be hit by snow and ice storms, violent weather that is accompanied by tornadoes and hurricanes slamming into the Gulf Coast or Atlantic states.
This year was no exception with a total of 147 tornadoes touching down between March 31 and April 1 across 11 states including the Midwestern, Southern and Eastern states.
The storms caused dozens of injuries and multiple fatalities and the week before, an EF-4 tornado struck a small town in the Mississippi Delta causing 17 Mississippi residents to lose their lives.
On Dec. 9, several tornadoes hit areas near Nashville, Tennessee and was considered the deadliest December outbreak in the history of the region.
During the hurricane season there were 20 named storms, but only Hurricane Idalia struck U.S. landfall.
Idalia was designated a Category 4 hurricane and made landfall near St. Petersburg, Florida.
In the Spring, a massive wildfire in Canada spread extreme amounts of smoke into the northeastern parts of the U.S.
The skies over New York City and Philadelphia turned an orange color and topped the list for the worst air quality in the world.
In February, a polar blast brought an ice storm to the Hill Country in Texas as well as Arkansas and northwestern Mississippi. Over 500 thousand customers lost electrical power during the storm.
The World Meteorological Organization reported, according to date, that June through August were considered the hottest three months recorded in the history of the earth. July was reported to be the hottest month ever on record with August the second hottest.
Sports:
This year brought another exciting year in sports with professional and collegiate teams winning championships.
The 2023 sports year began with the Georgia Bulldogs crushing the TCU Horned Frogs, 65-7, in the National Championship Football game played at SoFi Stadium in Ingleside, California.
Super Bowl LVII (57) was held in Phoenix, Arizona with the Kansas City Chiefs coming from behind to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35.
The NCAA Men’s Final Four was played at NRG Stadium in Houston with the University of Connecticut Huskies beating San Diego State, 76-59. On the women’s side, LSU knocked off Iowa, 102-85, in finals played in Dallas.
The LSU Tigers won game three over the Florida Gators to win the College Baseball World Series by the score of 18-4. In the women’s College Softball World Series, Oklahoma swept Florida State in two games to win the national championship.
The NBA finals had the Denver Nuggets sweep the Miami Heat in four games to win the men’s championship. In the WNBA, the Las Vegas Aces swept the New York Liberty in four games to win the women’s professional basketball title.
Lastly, the Texas Rangers won its first ever World Series championship in baseball beating the Arizona Diamondbacks four games to one.
As 2023 comes to an end and 2024 begins, there is one thing for certain, we can expect more news making headlines with the passing of each month. Wishing you all a happy, blessed and successful new year.