Looking back, 2024 had lots of bad news—but thankfully, some of it was actually good. Here are our most heartwarming stories from this past year:
The Washington Spirit Surprised Its “Good Luck Charm Baby” With a Trip to the Championship
Molly Brune and Vikas Mendhiratta’s daughter Meera made a name for herself as the Washington Spirit’s “good luck charm baby,” as the team didn’t lose any match she attended. In October, the Spirit surprised the family with a flight, hotel, and tickets for Meera and her parents to attend the NWSL championship at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City. (Washington lost to top-seeded Orlando 1-0 in the title match, but Meera remains very cute).
Meet the Kids Behind the Movement to Designate an Official DC Amphibian and Fourth Graders Give the DC Council a Lesson in “Herping”
A group of fourth graders from Powell Elementary School lobbied the DC Council to make the red-backed salamander DC’s official amphibian after discovering the creature while “herping” in Rock Creek Park. Their case: red-backed salamanders can be found at local parks, they help maintain a balanced ecosystem by eating pests like mosquitoes, the red stripes on their backs resemble the DC flag, and having an official amphibian can help DC’s case for statehood. All told, a pretty good argument—and if you ask us, any animal helping to limit local mosquitos deserves all the recognition we can muster.
Time Magazine’s Kid of the Year Is a Fairfax High Schooler Trying to Cure Skin Cancer
He’s one of the country’s top young scientists, and he’s Time Magazine’s 2024 Kid of the Year! Heman Bekele of Fairfax is developing a special soap that could someday treat skin cancer. Dividing his time between Woodson High School and molecular biologist Vito Rebecca’s lab at Johns Hopkins University, this teenage Ethiopian immigrant told Washingtonian that he was “raised under the thought that I could always ask questions, be as curious as possible, learn as much as possible.”
Miss Maryland USA Bailey Anne on Her Ceiling-Shattering Win
Bailey Anne’s 2024 Miss Maryland USA win made her the first trans woman, first Asian American, first military wife, and first competitor over 28 to take the crown. The Montgomery County resident, 32, shared everything that brought her to that moment: her immigration story from Cambodia, thoughts on representing the trans community, and her love for her mother.
Meet Cat Janice, the DC Musician Who Became a Viral Pop Sensation—From Hospice
Cat Janice had an aggressive sarcoma cancer and didn’t know how much time she had left. But when the local musician’s song “Dance You Out of My Head” became the No. 5 track worldwide on iTunes just weeks after she got out of the ICU, it was a major breakthrough at a most unlikely moment. A month later, she passed away—but not before sharing her art and life with the world.
DC Could Grab the Record for World’s Largest Pupusa This Weekend
A group of Salvadorean American chefs hosted by Fiesta DC teamed up on Pennsylvania Avenue to cook a 20-foot pupusa, beating out the previous Guinness world record of 18 feet, from a pupusa made in Olocuilta, El Salvador. Spoiler alert: They broke the record. We’re still dreaming about how much cheese that pupusa had.
People Can’t Get Enough “Stumpy.” What’s the Story Behind DC’s Most Beloved Tree?
A “hero.” “An icon.” A “living legend.” In a deeply divided time, Stumpy—the sturdy little cherry blossom tree that somehow, some way could—brought DC together. And while Stumpy was ultimately removed from the Tidal Basin alongside roughly 150 other trees, his legacy will live on in more than just our hearts: cuttings from the beloved tree will be propagated into genetically identical saplings and planted around the basin.
The National Zoo Debuts Two Adorable Baby Primates
Never mind our incoming new pandas: this past April, National Zoo resident pygmy slow lorises Naga and Pabu had two adorable babies. You can see them at the Small Mammal House. Their eyes are wide with wonder, and they’re SO small.
