Well it’s January 1st. Happy New Year! We made another trip around the sun, a journey of over 500 million miles. Didn’t know you had travelled that far, did you?
This is a time to look back at 2023 and review some of the biggest stories in the news, some good, some not so good. We’ll start with a few of the famous people we lost to death in 2023. Some were political and government figures, like Henry Kissinger, Rosalynn Carter, and Sandra Day O’Connor, first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. Jim Brown, one of the best football players in history. And then entertainers: Harry Belafonte, Tina Turner, David Crosby, Matthew Perry, and Tony Bennett. I saw Tony Bennett once. He put on a great show, and I have a couple of interesting stories about it. Ask me sometime. Elvis Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie. And then Jimmy Buffett. It’s always five o-clock for Jimmy now.
Some of the bigger stories from Texas, the USA, and around the world:
COVID The World Health Organization (WHO?) finally declared that COVID was no longer a pandemic, after three years and 20 million deaths world-wide
Earthquake A massive earthquake in Turkey in February
Taylor Swift
Spy Balloon China sent a high-tech spy device to the United States, a balloon. It crossed the country west-to-east until it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean
Mass Shooting A madman shot and killed 18 persons, and injured 13 more, in Maine in October
Taylor Swift She lives
The economy Inflation moderated, but is still higher than desired. Interest rates rose dramatically. Unemployment lessened. The stock market held strong, overall.
Titanic sub An oceanic submersible, taking tourists down to see the Titanic, imploded, killing all passengers instantly in June.
Taylor Swift She sneezed
Sports The Texas Rangers finally win the World Series. (And the devil felt a cool breeze.) Dallas Cowboys doing well, 11-5, in first place.
Wildfires A terrible wildfire broke out in Hawaii in August, killing 99 persons
Hollywood Writers The Hollywood writers union went on strike for several months, and found out that nobody cares
Taylor Swift She went to a football game
Banks Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York failed, pretty much back-to-back. Those were two of the three largest bank failures in U.S. history.
Wars The war between Russia and the Ukraine continues, and then in the Middle East Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, prompting an aggressive response.
Do Nothing Congress In Washington the Republicans and Democrats spent all their time yelling and screaming at each other, and getting very little done. (But what else is new?) In fact, the 118th Congress passed only thirteen or fourteen public laws in the whole year. I don’t know what the operating budget for the Congress is, but I’m sure it’s hundreds of millions of dollars, and we get only thirteen or fourteen laws. On the other hand, if Congress only messes with us thirteen or fourteen times, maybe that’s a good thing!
Taylor Swift Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift……..
Those were some of the bigger stories from across the country and around the world. Brownwoodnews.com, of course, focuses on local news. In 2023 we had over 1.5 million total users (individuals who read our news) producing a record total page views of 6,131,691. Over six million! (Advertisers, take note, hint hint!). Central Texans and many others trust us for their primary source of news, for which we thank you, humbly. Below are the Brownwoodnews.com Top Ten news stories of 2023. You can click on the attached hyperlinks to read the original stories.
Enjoy, have a great year in 2024, and we’ll see you in another 500 million miles from now.
#1. April 15. 113,672 page views. Texas Supreme Court Concludes State Universities May Revoke Degrees By Former Students For Academic Dishonesty
#2. August 13. 93,008 page views. Governor Abbott Signs Largest Property Tax Cut in Texas History
#3. October 30. 25,614 page views. Brownwood Police Reveal Additional Details Regarding Saturday Walmart Incident
#4. July 6. 13,664 page views. Studebaker’s Announces Its Closure
#5. July 25. 9,939 page views. Increased Homestead Exemption Will Save On Property Taxes
#6. June 19. 9,330 page views. Out of the Box With Dallas Huston: Comanche County Accident
#7. March 2. 7,419 page views. Storms Strike Brown County, Leave Damage in Wake
#8. March 16. 6,570 page views. Home 2 Suites Expected to Open in October, Former Kroger to Receive Significant Renovations
#9. February 6. 6,117 page views. Texas House Bill Filed To Increase Teacher Salaries By $15,000
#10. February 9. 4,863 page views. DIANE ADAMS: Mysterious Cairns of West Central Texas
BONUS #11. March 19. 4,251 page views. Teddy’s Brewhaus Bought, Leaving Brownwood