2012 in Review

Its been a year full of births, deaths, weddings, divorces, senseless violence and human kindness. Take a look back at 2012 and see what you remember. If you don’t recall the event, click on the link to read the full story.

JANUARY

-Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott marries.  Hillary and Chris Tyrrell tied the knot Saturday January 7th in New York.
-Blake Shelton’s dad passes away.  Dick Shelton’s health had been in decline. He died with loved ones surrounding him.
-A cruise ship hit a reef and capsized off the west coast of Italy with 4,200 passengers and crew aboard. Six passengers died when the Costa Concordia ran aground near Tuscany.
-Four-time Winter X Games champ Sarah Burke has dies, nine days after wiping out at the base of the super-pipe during a practice run in Utah. The Canadian freestyle skier, who lived near Whistler in British Columbia, was 29.

FEBRUARY

 

-An fire at the South Utica Sportsplex on French Road.  The building has since been torn down.
-Randy Travis is arrested on suspicion of public intoxication. It was the first in a string of alcohol related arrests for Randy.
-Dixie Chick Natalie Maines gets into a feud with Jason Aldean after Tweeting a joke on his Grammy performanc; ‘Well the good thing about his mic going out is suddenly the song got a lot more in tune.‘
-6 adults and 2 children were rescued from Oneida Lake after a slab of ice they were fishing on broke free from the shoreline and began drifting.
-NBA star Jeremy Lin visits Hamilton college.

MARCH

 

-The MVCC nursing class wins National Award for their ‘Joy of Nursing’ video.
-New Hartford native, Tom Gossin of Gloriana gets engaged.
-Acoustic show at Rome Capitol Theater with Gloriana, Dustin Lynch & James Wesley.
- WIBX Great American Radiothon and Heart Run & Walk raised over 1.1 million dollars and more than 8700 people participated in the run and walk.
-Tornadoes ripped across the U.S, killing several people.

APRIL

 

-The Big Frog staff do the Carlton dance.
-A Clayville soldier fighting with the Bank of America over fraudulent debit charges finally got a refund, two years later.
-Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood ties the knot.  Dave and Kelli Cashiola got married at a private farm in Nashville.
-Dick Clark dies. He had a heart attack at the age of 82
-Anderson Cooper apologizes for making fun of Dyngus Day in Buffalo.
-Joe Nichols becomes a father.  His wife gave birth to a little girl they named Dylan.

MAY

 

-Jake Owen gets arrested for showing up at a restaurant in a mask, as a joke.  Two days later he gets married in a sunrise ceremony in Florida.
-Justin Moore’s tour bus gets into an accident. The crew was fine but the driver of the car died in the crash.
-Students at Madison-Oneida BOCES created an anti-bullying video called ‘The Groovy Project,’ that aired on 20/20.
-Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook marries.
-450 bikes rode 100 miles in the Ride for Missing Children.

JUNE

 

-Josh Thompson & Easton Corbin headline FrogFest at the Herkimer County fairgrounds.
-Team Polly rides 15 miles and raises over $3000 for Tour de Cure.
-Karen Klein, the bullied bus driver in Rochester received outpouring of support. Donation collected were enough to allow her to retire.  She’s since started an anti bullying campaign.
-Wynonna marries her band’s drummer.
-Paula Candella, a teacher at Westmoreland wins Teacher of the Year award.
-Nik Wallenda became the first man to tightrope walk over Niagara Falls.
-The principal at a Coney Island, NY elementary school banned the kids from singing Lee Greenwood’s patriotic anthem ‘God Bless the USA’ at a kindergarten graduation.

JULY

 

-Tracy Byrd and his wife are in a car accident.
-Utica bans the sale of bath salts after several arrests.
-Boilermaker road race in Utica.
-Andy Griffith passes away at the age of 86.  Kitty Wells also dies.
- James Holmes opens fire at a theater in Colorado during a midnight showing of ‘The Dark Knight’
-Stephen Baldwin broadcasts his show from our studios.

AUGUST

 

-Randy Travis is arrested again for DUI.  He was found naked, in the middle of the road after crashing his car.
-Prince Harry is in hot water after naked pictures of his trip to Vegas show up on the web.
-Hurricane Isaac dumped more than ten inches of rain and left at least 725,000 homes without power. Property damages are estimated to total well over $1 billion.
-Several people were shot at the Empire State Building. 2 people died in the shooting.
-Proctor High School teacher Catherine Koestner, was shot to death in Old Forge.
-The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong passes away.
-Wynonna’s husband loses his leg after serious motorcycle accident.
-A fire destroyed the former Union Tools factory in Frankfort.

SEPTEMBER

 

-Topless photos of Kate Middleton are taken while on her honeymoon.
-19 year old Nick Beach of Westmoreland died after suffering an asthma attack.
-Michael Clarke Duncan, best known for his role in “The Green Mile”, died at the age of 54. Andy Williams passes away.
-Sons of Anarchy’ actor Johnny Lewis murdered his  landlady, beat her cat to death and dismembered it before climbing onto the roof and falling to his death.
-NFL begins season with replacement refs.
-Keith Urban officially announces he’ll be the next judge on American Idol.
-George Strait announces he’ll retire from touring.
-Gangnam Style becomes a worldwide phenomenon and the Big Frog staff show off their best Gangnam Style dance moves.  The video has since become the most watched in YouTube history.

OCTOBER

 

-New Hartford teen Alexandra Kogut is killed.
-Hurricane Sandy kills more than 50 people and leaves thousands in the dark as it hits the East Coast.
-Weddings: Big Vinny, formerly of Trailer Choir ties the knot in country wedding.  Thomas Rhett also gets married.  Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel get hitched.
-Babies: Butter & Emily Fortney have baby boy they name Tug Ryder. Daryle Singletary and wife have baby girl named, Nora.
-Jason Aldean photographed getting cozy with another woman at a bar.
-Big Frog Bras across the building raised awareness during Breast Cancer Awareness month.
-Alex Karras  passed away at the age of 77 from kidney failure.
-Randy Houser, Heidi Newfield & Andy Gibson put on acoustic show.

NOVEMBER

 

-Bon Jovi’s daughter, Stephanie Bongiovi arrested after a heroin overdose at Hamilton College. Charges were later dropped.
-Marine Corporal Alex Domion, of Richfield Springs  was killed in Afghanistan.
-Poland girls soccer team are state champs.
-New York city cop gets national attention after photo of him buying a homeless man shoes, goes viral.
-Marijuana becomes legal to smoke in Colorado & Washington.
-Hostess announces they are going out of business.  The company closed all their plants after filing bankruptcy.
-Deaths Larry Hagman dies at the age of 81. Boxer Carmen Basilio passes away.
-Ray Price is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
-Angus T Jones goes on a video rant, calling his show ‘Two & A Half Men’ filth.
-John McAfee wanted on murder charges.

DECEMBER

 

-20 children and 6 adults are shot and killed in the worst elementary school shooting in U.S history.
-Townsquare staff writes and sings 12 Days of Utica Christmas
-Kate Middleton announces she is pregnant.  She’s taken to the hospital severe morning sickness.
-Australia DJ’s prank Kate Middleton’s nurse, who later killed herself.
-Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum announces she’s pregnant.
-Javon Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs kills his girlfriend and himself
-Dallas Cowboy Josh Brent arrested after crash kills teammate, Jerry Brown.
-Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles has baby boy, named Magnus.
-Clint Black mourns the unexpected death of his father.

As you close out 2012, be thankful for what you have rather than focusing on what you don’t. The recent events should make us even more thankful. Let’s all prayer for a healthy, happy new year with less violence and more kindness.