What will you remember most when you remember the events that touched Western Pennsylvania in 2004?

Will it be the hotly contested presidential election? The remnants of hurricanes that swept devastating flood waters over the region? The blaze that claimed firefighter's lives and reduced a 131-year-old Hill District church to rubble? Or will it be Big Ben's first moments as a Steeler?

Post-Gazette photographers' pictures of these and other noteworthy events are presented here today as a record of the year that was.

You may view the photos by category in this index, or by clicking on the small images here see a full-size presentation of the pictures in an online gallery Photos of the Year 2004.

Categories

News

Campaign 2004

Culture

Sports

Life in Western Pennsylvania

News

The Ebenezer Baptist Church Fire

	J. Monroe Butler II, Post-Gazette

CHURCH FIRE: Pittsburgh Police Detective Brenda Tate, left, who has been a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church since 1988, and fellow church member Lisa Biggs grieve as the building burns on the morning of March 13. The 131-year-old church on Wylie Avenue was destroyed. Photographer J. Monroe Butler II was not at work that day, but he raced to the scene, where two firefighters died.

BUTLER: "While doing some chores at my church, West End A.M.E. Zion, my cousin called me and said that Ebenezer church was burning. I raced to the Hill out of concern because Ebenezer was an important part of my recovery life, as well as others who came there to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings. As a photographer, I always have my camera ready, and God blessed me to capture this touching photo."

Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette

STAND BY ME: Pittsburgh firefighters offer each other silent support after one of their colleagues' bodies was recovered and removed from the wreckage inside the Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Hill District on March 13. Two firefighters lost their lives when the roof of the church collapsed on them.

PAM PANCHAK: This was a case where so much was happening and the scene was so emotional, I just kept shooting and didn't know what I had until I came back to the office and looked at the images.

	John Beale, Post-Gazette

REMEMBRANCE: Bill Oslick, a police detective with the Pittsburgh Arson Squad, kneels in front of Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Hill District just days after two firefighters were killed and 28 were injured on March 13. On the day before the funerals for the firefighters, Oslick paused while working with investigators who were digging through the rubble to determine a cause.

JOHN BEALE: Oslick escaped the church less than 30 seconds before the bell tower came down, killing and injuring his colleagues. "I was thinking about how close I came to not seeing my daughter's first birthday," Oslick said.

On the homefront of the War in Iraq

John Beale, Post-Gazette

A VETERAN'S DAY: A flag is reflected on the windshield of an Army truck driven by Army Staff Sgt. Mark O. Williams, a member of the 23rd AG Postal Company. Williams, who spent 14 months in Iraq, was participating in Pittsburgh's Veterans Day parade.

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	Tony Tye, Post-Gazette

WAR HITS HOME: Members of the 107th Field Artillery, based in New Castle, fold a flag over the casket of fellow soldier Spc. Carl F. Curran II, who was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, Bradys Bend. Curran was killed in Iraq when the Humvee in which he was riding ran into a canal after an explosive device was detonated near it.

TONY TYE: Our hearts go out to the families whose loved ones have died in Iraq or in Afghanistan, especially at this time of year.

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The death of a President

	Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette

FUNERAL MASSES: Thousands of people stood for hours along Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C,, waiting to see the procession carrying the body of former President Ronald Reagan, who died June 5 at age 93.

STEVE MELLON: The mood was light despite the heat. People chatted and occasionally laughed. Some listened to portable radios and gave updates on the status of the flight and motorcade bringing Reagan's body from Los Angeles to the district. When the procession finally neared in late afternoon, the talking and laughter stopped and an eerie quiet settled over the street. There were only the ancient sound of horse hooves on a hard surface and an insect-like ticking as hundreds of modern digital cameras captured a moment in history.

International News

	Martha Rial, Post-Gazette

MARTHA RIAL: While on sabbatical from the Post-Gazette in March, I traveled to Haiti. Everyone thought I was crazy to vist a country in the midst of a civil war. But this complicated little country continues to fascinate me. You can witness life in its rawest form, from the crowded streets of Port au Prince to the mystical countryside. On a Sunday morning in the capital, scenes like this, in which a woman pauses to pray outside the National Cathedral after attending Mass, are common. Haiti is the most spiritual place I have ever visited.

News Close to Home

	Tony Tye, Post-Gazette

A DEADLY FIRE: Amy Arlotta Ellis hugs a friend as she watches firefighters battle a fire in her apartment building on Abanda Way in Hazelwood. The July 15 fire started in Ellis' apartment. She escaped, but her mother was hospitalized and her mother's boyfriend, Robert McMasters, died in the blaze.

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Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette

GRIEF AND QUESTIONS: Barbara Wynn, left, and her daughter Wanda McGinnis pray at the grave of Wynn's daughter, Sharon Smith, at Restland Memorial Park on March 11, the first anniversary of Smith's death. Toxicology tests uncovered startlingly high levels of antidepressant and painkilling drugs in Smith's body, triggering an ongoing state police investigation.

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	Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette

A TIME FOR TEARS: Loretta Cunningham, grandmother of Robert Stringer Jr., weeps as she leaves the coroner's hearing Jan. 26. Stringer, 21, was held for trial in the death of Wilkinsburg banker Daniel Lynch, 56.

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STEVE MELLON: The third floor of the coroner's office is small and harshly lit. There is a hearing room, and outside the hearing room is a waiting area with a few chairs and a table and some pamphlets offering advice to families who have lost loved ones. After coroner's hearings, many people pass through this area. Some weep, some express outrage or disgust, some express just sadness. Loretta Cunningham was one who cried.

John Beale, Post-Gazette

SHOW OF SUPPORT: Fearing an unwarranted attack on midwives, Amish people lined the halls of the Municipal Courts Building in support of midwife Judith Wilson of Portersville, Butler County. On June 4, she was ordered to stand trial for manslaughter after the death of a child she delivered.

JOHN BEALE: I was looking for a way to photograph the gathering of Amish without being intrusive. Looking down from the floor above, I waited for people to walk through the picture, two floors below. After about 15 minutes of waiting, the elements of the photo seemed to come together.

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Fall Floods

	Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette

FLOOD AFTERMATH: Surrounded by floating debris, Angela Tain, 4, surveys the river that flooding created on Cherry Street in Etna. Angela and her father, Joseph, went there on Sept. 18 to help friends try to salvage items from their home.

STEVE MELLON: This was one of the first pictures I shot in Etna on the morning after the September flood. I had walked through a lot of mud to get to this place and was filthy from my knees to my feet. I remember thinking, "How had this little girl managed to keep her shoes so clean and white?" It was as if an angel had placed her on that bench. After a few moments, she called out to her father, who was helping friends a few feet away. He lifted her and carried her to another dry, clean spot nearby.

Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette

SAFE IN HER ARMS: Shannon Moran slogs down a flooded street Sept. 18 after rescuing Paws from her mother's Cherry Street home in Etna. This cat had survived a night of devastating flooding, but a second cat died in the home.

STEVE MELLON: I got to Etna early on the morning after the flood and walked along Cherry Street, which was blanketed with mud an inch thick. A car parked along the curb was encased in the goo. Farther down, the street dipped, and there it remained flooded. I saw two men rowing a small fishing boat past the first-floor window of a house. One young woman emerged from another house and waded through water that was chest-deep. At first, I could not tell what she was carrying, but she cradled it, and so I knew it was something precious to her. For the Moran family, which lost a home and a business, the rescue of Paws was one happy moment amid a torrent of bad news.

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	Robert J. Pavuchak, Post-Gazette

FLOOD AFTERMATH: Greg Schmitt, left, and Ralph St. Clair move a mud-caked dryer out of the basement of the house of Ralph's mother, Nancy St. Clair, in Houston, Washington County, and add it to the pile of debris from the basement that was flooded on Sept. 17. Up to 8 feet of water filled the streets of Houston as hurricanes swept through the region.

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Campaign 2004

	V.W.H. Campbell Jr., Post-Gazette

PATH TO GLORY: Friends scream at each other at the top of their lungs, "I touched him! The president!" as President Bush leaves a campaign rally at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe on Sept. 22.

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	Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette

ELECTION DAY, NOV. 2, 2004: Tracey Doven of Millvale uses her homemade Bush sign while Sarah Midkiff of Chesapeake, Va., holds a Kerry-Edwards sign, each hoping to sway voters from their perch at Bigelow Boulevard and Fifth Avenue, Oakland. Doven, a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, majors in media communications, while Midkiff is a freshman at the university majoring in political science and art history.

DARRELL SAPP: "I could not wait for all of the campaigning to be over because I was sick of all the misleading ads, but I loved Election Day because of the turnout and the enthusiasm. The lines for voting were refreshing. Tracey and Sarah were an example of the political system at work because even though they disagreed, they could campaign at the same corner."

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V.W.H. Campbell Jr., Post-Gazette

CANDIDATE'S WIFE: Teresa Heinz Kerry is greeted Oct. 22 at the NAACP state conference in Washington County. President Bush declined an invitation to the conference, while then-candidate Sen. John F. Kerry asked his wife to stand in for him. Before she uttered a word, she received a standing ovation.

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	Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette

ANTI-BUSH LEAGUE: Pittsburgh police arrest a protester outside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, on April 19 as a group of about 200 demonstrators protested the Bush administration's policies on domestic issues and the war in Iraq. President Bush was there attending a fund-raiser for Sen. Arlen Specter.

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	Martha Rial, Post-Gazette

LADIES FIRST: Laura Bush, backed by a screen image of her husband, President George W. Bush, takes the stage Aug. 31 at the Republican National Convention.

MARTHA RIAL: Political conventions do not usually generate news, but they provide plenty of theater. Each night the fervor builds. Although events are mostly well-orchestrated, a moment can still happen. Republicans and Democrats seem to like this image, but each for different reasons.

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Culture

	Andy Starnes/Post-Gazette

LOOK CLOSELY: These folks are fully dressed. The floating bodies -- costumes to create the illusion of flight -- are strapped to their backs, part of the inventive work of Squonk Opera's Steve O'Hearn (left, wearing the costume of Daedalus) and Jackie Dempsey (wearing the costume of Icarina). For their creativity, Dempsey and O'Hearn received Creative Heights grants from the Howard Heinz Endowments to pursue separate projects.

Tony Tye, Post-Gazette

VOICES RAISED: Jazz singer and CAPA teacher Etta Cox, left, rehearses Pittsburgh native Billy Strayhorn's "Take the A Train" with students, clockwise from front center, Kelsey Kizina, Christen Wurschmidt, Renaldo Fisher and Moses Cheeks.

They were preparing Oct. 29 for the school's second annual fund-raising gala, titled "Nothing Black and White at CAPA," which featured an original production called "The Colors of Jazz."

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Alyssa Cwanger, Post-Gazette

UP IN THE AIR: Hot Pink Pittsburgh, an Oct. 19 event sponsored by the Family Health Council to benefit its cancer screening and education programs for uninsured women in Western Pennsylvania, filled the Byham Theater with music and dance, including the Bodiography Contemporary Ballet performers up in the air for a work titled "Transit Euphony."

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Sports

Under Distant Lights

This image and those below are from the Under Distant Lights project by the Post-Gazette photography staff, blanketing the opening of high school football on Aug. 27. The project appeared only in print.

	John Heller, Post-Gazette

THE EYES HAVE IT: North Allegheny coach Jim Rankin argues with an official on the sideline over a holding call that set up Penn Hills' first touchdown. The late August game against Penn Hills was called because of weather in the third quarter.

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Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette

STANDING TALL: Though barely thigh-high to the rest of the Sto-Rox cheerleaders, Mackenzie Bohm, 4, is welcome on the sidelines as a member of the squad. She cheered on Sto-Rox against the visitors from South Fayette.

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	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette

CAUGHT HOLDING: Sabrina Kuhn, 15, a freshman at Quigley High School who had been a student in the New Brighton school system, and Chris King, also 15, of Aliquippa, watch from a distance as the first half ends for New Brighton and home team Rochester.

BILL WADE: As a staff, we spread out to cover the first night of high school football in Western Pennsylvania. This was one photograph that was not published but was a favorite of mine because of the budding relationship taking place all by itself in the corner of the stands.

High School Playoffs

John Beale, Post-Gazette

ONE-POINT DIFFERENCE: Clairton quarterback Andre Carr can't bear to look as Rochester celebrates its 15-14 victory over his team in the WPIAL Class A championship Nov. 20 at Heinz Field. It was Clairton's first title-game appearance since 1992. At the team's banquet following the loss, Coach Tom Nola had to fight back tears when he spoke of Carr. "Coaches might not say it," said Nola, "but you get more emotional with some players than others. He's one of the ones special for me."

JOHN BEALE: Championship games are always physical and emotionally charged. Players practice all year for the chance to play at Heinz Field. But the best photos usually come when the game is over.

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College Sports

Lake Fong, Post-Gazette

TAKE DOWN: Pitt linebacker Clint Session separates Boston College's L.V. Whitworth from the ball in the Panthers 20-17 overtime victory Oct. 16 at Heinz Field.

LAKE FONG: This hit set the tone not only for the game but also for the whole season. Pitt beat then-ranked Boston College and went on to the Fiesta Bowl -- and everybody jumped on the bandwagon, including me!

	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette

GOOD START: A jubilant Chris Taft celebrates two of his 17 points in the Panthers' Big East opener Jan. 6. Pitt finished 31-5 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

MATT FREED: It seems that when the competition gets better, the emotions run higher, even for someone like Chris Taft, who usually doesn't get too vocal on the court. It's always nice to see players show their true emotions -- especially for photographers on a deadline.

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Pro Sports

Peter Diana, Post-Gazette

BEFORE HE BECAME "BIG" BEN: Ben Roethlisberger waits to meet the local media after reaching terms on a six-year contract worth as much as $40 million. The Steelers' first-round draft pick started his Steelers' career backing up Tommy Maddox as quarterback and stepped in to a starter's role in the second game of the season.

PETER DIANA: Here's a guy who had nothing but media around him all the time, and to find him alone collecting his thoughts was a really nice moment.

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	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette

HEAD LOCK: Rockies catcher J.D. Closser tries to pull Jason Kendall off pitcher Joe Kennedy on Aug. 16, when the Pirates catcher stormed the mound after being hit by a pitch in the fourth inning. Both Kendall and Kennedy were ejected after a brief, bench-clearing scrum in front of the mound. After the dust cleared, the Pirates won the game, 3-0, behind Josh Fogg and three relievers.

MATT FREED: Jason Kendall has always been known to be a fan of the WWF, so I think he was just trying out some of the moves he's seen on TV.

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Peter Diana, Post-Gazette

WHAT LOCKOUT?: Mario Lemieux, center, with Wayne Gretzky, celebrates with the rest of Team Canada after beating Finland's team in the finals of the World Cup of Hockey at the Air Canada Center in Toronto.

PETER DIANA: As I was shooting, I saw Mario waving someone over, and then Wayne Gretzky came into my frame and kneeled down beside Mario. You hear the history about the two of them when they were players, that maybe they didn't get along, but now they're older and they cherish moments like these.

Life in Western Pennsylvania

	Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette

CARING: Post-Gazette photographer Annie O'Neill and staff writer Gary Rotstein chronicled a difficult time in the life of Tim Tullis to illustrate the challenge of finding homes for disabled adults after the deaths of their primary caregivers. Tullis, 50, who is autistic, was cared for by his father until Donald Tullis' death in April at age 84. Tim was placed temporarily with the Badaczewski family. Among her children, Marianne Badaczewski said that Madeline, 6, had the closest relationship with Tullis. Here, she helps him to say grace before dinner.

	Martha Rial, Post-Gazette

NEW FRIENDS: Thea Rokke, right, an exchange student from Norway and a junior at Schenley High School, plays with Dunia Darbane, a 6-year-old Somalian Bantu, at a welcoming reception for refuge families at the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh (April 26; not published previously).

MARTHA RIAL: The faces of Pittsburgh have begun to change now that it is home to nearly 150 Somalian Bantus and several other refugee groups. When I was photographing shy little Dunia, I was wondering what her life would be like in the years to come. Would she remember anything about her brief life in Africa? Her journey is just beginning.

	Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette

MAN'S BEST FRIEND: Dan Brenner snuggles with Aragon, the grief therapy dog at the Turner Funeral Home in Ellwood City. Dan accompanied his family to make funeral arrangements for his grandfather, Ken Brenner Sr., who died on Nov. 18.

BOB DONALDSON: The one thing you don't know is if you're ever going to see this dog doing what it does with real people. While we were there, a family came in to make final arrangements. The grandson was on the floor, and the dog gravitated to him on his own and nuzzled up to him, and it was a really interesting moment that you didn't think was going to happen. You just never know, because of the type of feelings you naturally face at moments like this. But chance was there.

Lake Fong, Post-Gazette

ONE IN A MILLION: Sylvia Fisher of Squirrel Hill waits to get her hair done at Dottie's Hair Salon on the 50th anniversary of the Squirrel Hill business.

LAKE FONG: If you are a newcomer, you don't have to travel around the whole city to get a feel for Pittsburgh. You can just go to Dottie's. The owner and customers are all seniors, and the place is full of energy, passion, laughter and humor. When I asked Sylvia Fisher for her age, she said, "My mom told me not to talk to strangers, especially if they're asking for your age!" I approached her twin sister and got the exactly same answer.

	Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette

FESTIVAL OCCASION: Jenny Bell, 8, Courtney Hetherton, 7, and Alexa Stynchula, 8, throw flower petals during the Our Lady of Mount Carmel procession along Route 119 in Crabtree, Westmoreland County. The procession was part of St. Bartholomew Church's Our Lady of Mount Carmel festival July 19.

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Robert J. Pavuchak, Post-Gazette

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: Isaiah Jackson picks up the "hello" sound as he touches teacher Margaret Stutzman's forehead, part of a morning greeting exercise in an autism support class at New England Elementary School in West Mifflin.

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	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette

DEDICATED: Mary Mangone (seated) is greeted by a sister Feb. 11 at the dedication of the Little Sisters of the Poor's new $9.8 million addition in Brighton Heights. The Phase One building provides residential living for 48 people. Bishop Donald W. Wuerl celebrated Mass and then blessed the new building. About 200 people attended. Little Sisters of the Poor has served the elderly in Pittsburgh since 1872.

BILL WADE: Dedications are normally straightforward events so you're always looking for something different, and I saw this nice little intimate moment.

Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette

DUCK SEASON FOR DOGS: Loreli, a 2-year-old Jack Russell terrier, swims after a pair of mallards in the Squaw Valley Park pond, O'Hara, on June 1. Her owners, Kate Rosewell and her brother, Bill Rosewell, were fishing at the park. Loreli never caught the ducks.

DARRELL SAPP: Animals are great subjects to photograph, and I think that Loreli had the most fun of anyone at the park that day. While shooting pictures of the terrier, I just kept having images of Daffy Duck yelling "It's RABBIT SEASON" and not fooling the hunters, or in this case, a Jack Russell terrier.

	Douglass Oster, Post-Gazette

SHORE THING: Fishermen stand near the mouth of 12 Mile Creek where it empties into Lake Erie as they fish for steelhead on March 26, when the lake was still filled with large chunks of ice.

DOUGLASS OSTER: Working as a picture editor at the paper doesn't give me much of a chance to get out and shoot, but every once in a while my boss lets me out of the office to photograph an assignment I'm interested in. I love shooting for our Outdoors page, and spending the day photographing fishermen landing steelhead was just the break I needed from being inside at the photo desk. I liked seeing all the anglers grouped together drifting bait in the knee-deep water. The amazing thing about steelhead is you can see them sitting in the stream, just waiting to get caught. It's not that easy, of course, and even though the fishermen were grouped together, some would catch fish and others would just enjoy the day standing in the cool water.

Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette

IT PAYS TO BE FLEXIBLE: Yoga expert Shri Suraj Karan Jindel, 80, of Jaipur, India, performs Garbhasan, or "a child in mother's womb posture." This difficult posture is aimed at overall flexibility of the body, and Jindel says it also relieves constipation. He visited his family last summer in Franklin Park, where he also taught classes.

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	Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette

AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT ...: A caterpillar crawls across a photographer's windshield on the North Side (Aug. 20).

DARRELL SAPP: "Even when you're eating lunch, sometimes a picture will crawl in front and pose for you."

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Summertime

These images come from a project in which Post-Gazette photographers and reporters fanned out across the region to cover the first day of summer.

Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette

WARMING UP: Joey Fairly, 10, of Glenfield skips stones from the shores of the Ohio River, across from Neville Island.

STEVE MELLON: Joey was pretty good at skipping stones. Still, I thought I could teach him a thing or two. On my first attempt, my flat, carefully chosen rock turned sideways in midflight and then disappeared into the Ohio River. There's nothing like the "plunk" of a rock nose-diving into the waves to remind you that you are no longer a 10-year-old boy.

	Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette

WINDING DOWN: Brian Hensell, 18, of Fox Chapel takes a catnap during a break in his summer school course in U.S. History at Shaler Senior High School.