As Greater Williamsburg residents celebrate the beginning of 2018, WYDaily has put together a list of popular stories and their photos from 2017.
Scroll through this list to see some of the in-the-moment photos WYDaily took in 2017. -Ed.
Yorktown teen races at Langley for return of Hampton Heat 200
Yorktown teenager Macy Causey likes to spend life in the fast lane. Just 17, Causey is a race car driver who spent 2017 driving for a professional NASCAR team. Months after her breakthrough victory at South Boston Speedway, she competed in the Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway in July. In the above photo she entered turn one at more than 100 miles per hour during pre-race qualifying.
Abandoned during Hurricane Irma, four dogs and cat seek new life in Williamsburg
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the Heritage Humane Society took in animals that were abandoned by their owners in Florida and left to survive the storm alone. Four dogs and a cat were rescued and transported to Heritage’s facility in Williamsburg, where they were treated before being made available for adoption. Here, the rescue Sandy poses with Heritage Humane staff member Matt Scherer in October.
Photos: Active shooting leads to barricade at Williamsburg auto shop
Ebby’s Auto Painting/ Collision Shop on Second Street was the scene of a standoff between police and an active shooter in late July. 40-year-old Hampton man Michael Sean Taylor entered the auto body shop around 9 a.m. on July 25 and allegedly shot Joseph St. Clair, a painter in the shop. In the above photo Taylor was escorted out of the shop in police custody. St. Clair survived his wounds.
‘They built this town:’ The legacy of Williamsburg’s enslaved carpenters
Ayinde Martin, 37 of Hampton, has worked as a journeyman carpenter in Colonial Williamsburg for nearly a decade, and rarely do visitors ask him the questions he wants them to ask. Instead visitors ask about the tools, the materials, seldom do visitors ask “Who built this place?” according to Martin.
Driven out: License suspension crisis nearly three decades in the making
Gregory Sewell, a car salesman in Newport News lost his driver’s license after his then-girlfriend broke up with him and canceled his car insurance. Little did he know he was just one of more than a million Virginians with a suspended driver’s license when the story was published.
Photos: Trump inauguration unfolding in nation’s capital
In January, WYDaily traveled to Washington D.C. to attend President Donald Trump’s inauguration, witnessing protests, chants, red hats and pink hats. Every photo tells the story of Americans coming together in the nation’s capital to have their voices heard. Click here to see the photos.
‘Swept under the rug:’ Students protest at Warhill over sexual assault concerns
Citing concerns about the handling of sexual harassment reports, over a dozen students stood in front of Warhill High School in May, holding handwritten signs. The students —some of whom report themselves as victims of sexual harassment — told WYDaily they don’t believe Warhill administrators have done enough to protect victims of sexual assault.
‘Remembering family’: After five deaths, friends honor Williamsburg’s homeless
The air was a cool 40 degrees Fahrenheit as Jason Thornton stood in the grass holding an unlit white candle, looking out at six lantern-lit tents in a row. A large group of people wearing coats and mittens gathered on the lawn of the Williamsburg Christian Church to memorialize five men and women who died in 2017 — and each had lived through homelessness in Williamsburg. A tent was illuminated for each of the five, and a sixth was lit for the unknown souls who passed.
From farm to feud: Evangelist’s black ‘mecca’ faces uncertain future
In 1936, Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, an African-American radio evangelist with over 25 million listeners across America in 1934, bought 500 acres of land located along the James River with the purpose of creating the National Memorial to the Progress of the Colored Race in America. Michaux’s elaborate vision never came to fruition, but the land remains— as do 30 cows.
‘Humble with a bright future:’ Family remembers 21-year-old killed in I-64 crash
Axel Gabriel Quintana Cruz had just turned 20 when he packed up his life in Puerto Rico to chase a better future. He was adventurous, unafraid of traveling or seeing new places. With his father, Axel Cruz, and “brother from another mother,” Christian Medina-Rodriguez, now 22, he started a new life in Williamsburg, landscaping and working at a Latin restaurant.
Two years later, he died in a car accident while traveling with a close friend.
Religious leaders preach unity after president’s refugee order
One topic in particular has been strong in Reverend Corwin Hammond’s mind since Jan. 27, the day President Donald Trump issued an executive order temporarily barring all refugees and citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.
