The year 2015 in review, with photo gallery

Parts of 2015 looked menacing and inspired fear.

In Paris, in Charleston, S.C., and in San Bernardino, Calif., people died in massacres that defied explanation.

In Topeka, state legislators struggled to maintain tax cuts and pay the bills for public education and government. They made it legal for state residents to carry concealed weapons.

In Wichita and across the state and nation, many other people, usually out of sight of the news headlines, took care of their loved ones and committed repeated acts of kindness for one another.

And they tried to make sense of it all.

January

Jan. 10 – Fixing a smile

Oklahoma lawyer Fred Boettcher orders a funnel cake waffle at the Doo-Dah diner in Wichita, then offers to fix the teeth of popular waiter Brian Maixner. Boettcher’s generosity sets Twitter and other social media ablaze with praise.

Jan. 15 – Bombardier announces layoffs

The planemaker says it will pause development of its Learjet 85 business jet and lay off 1,000 workers, including 620 in Wichita, as it struggles with costly delays on its C Series CS100 airliner and Global 7000 and 8000 ultra-long-range business jet programs. In late October, Bombardier announced it was canceling the Learjet 85 program amid a $4.9 billion loss.

February

Feb. 1 – Super Bowl XLIX breaks American TV records

Super Bowl XLIX became the most-watched broadcast in American TV history. With an estimated 114.4 million viewers, it beat the record of 112.2 million, which was set in 2014 by the previous Super Bowl. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots won their fourth Super Bowl, beating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24. The game cemented Brady’s legacy as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Feb. 18 – Life as a murderous scam

Daniel Perez, known also as Lou Castro, is convicted in Sedgwick County District Court of 28 charges, including first-degree murder. Perez’s cars, planes and horses caught the attention of law enforcement. He traveled with an entourage in high-end SUVs with matching vanity plates. Investigators eventually show that members of Perez’s group died, that their life insurance money was taken and that much of Perez’s life was a murderous scam.

Feb. 22 – Forgiveness is not tidy

Near the tenth anniversary of her father’s nationally covered arrest, Kerri Rawson tells for the first time the full story of how she and her family learned that her father, Dennis Rader of Park City, was the BTK serial killer.

Feb. 26 – The dress phenomenon

Friendships are tested over a simple question: Is the dress blue and black or white and gold? The dress, which first appeared on Tumblr, is referenced in more than 10 million tweets after just one week of fame. In reality, the dress is blue and black, though the shadowing of the photo can trick the brain into interpreting it as white and gold.

March

March 18 - Frequent earthquakes

Kansas limits disposal of wastewater related to oil drilling and fracking in Harper and Sumner Counties. The limits are imposed after a Harper County resident complained to the Kansas Corporation Commission about the frequent earthquakes that have rattled and cracked his rural home.

March 22 - A sweet Wichita victory

The Wichita State Shockers beat Kansas 78-65 and move on to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA basketball tournament.

April

April 2 – New gun law

Gov. Sam Brownback signs into law Senate Bill 45, which allows anyone 21 years and older who can legally own a firearm to carry it concealed in public, without a permit or safety training, which were previously required.

April 2 – $25 limit

The Kansas legislature passes a bill putting a $25 limit on the amount of cash that beneficiaries of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families could withdraw from ATMs. Four months later, the state rescinds the limit after federal authorities say it hinders families’ access to the help they need.

April 11 – No more Joyland

Owners begin tearing down the structures of the Joyland Amusement Park. The park’s wooden roller coaster had given joy to generations of parents and children starting just after World War II. The long-closed park had attracted vandals, arsonists and copper thieves in recent years.

April 19 – Death of Freddie Gray

Freddie Gray was arrested on a weapons charge in Baltimore on April 12. Gray died days later of a severed spinal cord suffered while being transported to the police department. Demonstrators argue that officers ignored Gray’s pleas for medical attention. Protests then became riots, which soon spread to New York, Washington, Boston and other cities across the U.S.

April 24 – A change of note

Once hailed as one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time, Bruce Jenner made news when he announces his new identity as a transgender woman. She was awarded the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPYs this summer.

May

May 20 – David Letterman hosts his last show

Former late-night talk show host David Letterman hosts his last episode of “The Late Show,” ending a career spanning more than 33 years — the longest of any talk show host in American history. He is replaced by Stephen Colbert, who ended “The Colbert Report” to assume the position.

June

June 12 – Legislature sets record

Kansas lawmakers take 113 days before they agree on a tax plan to fill the state’s budget shortfall. The session is the longest in the state’s history after lawmakers battled for weeks about how to close the shortfall. In the end, the House passes a sales-tax hike at around 4 a.m. on the second Friday of June, after an emotional debate that has some lawmakers in tears. The Kansas Senate passes the bill later that day.

June 3 – Costco arrives in Wichita

The retail-membership store opens a 150,000-square-foot location at Kellogg and Webb.

June 3 – Eisenhower Airport

The new, and newly named, Wichita Eisenhower National Airport opens. It took Wichita a decade to plan and build the $225 million terminal. Five airlines — Allegiant, American, Delta, Southwest and United — plan to make 72 flights daily from the new terminal.

June 4 – Grieving for Tanya Tandoc

Tanya Tandoc, an innovative and popular restaurateur, is murdered by a housemate, Curtis Mitchell. Tandoc, 45, founded Tanya’s Soup Kitchen and inspired a generation of cooks and other foodies here by showering customers and fans not only with inspired recipes and menus but with social skills that made her beloved with nearly anyone she met. Mitchell pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

June 17 – Charleston church shootings

Nine people are killed when 21-year-old Dylann Roof opens fire on a Bible study group within a historically African-American church in Charleston, S.C. Many decry the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism against the black community, and it spurs discussion about gun control and whether Confederate flags should come down outside statehouses and other government buildings.

June 26 – The Supreme Court rules same-sex couples have the right to marry

The court strikes down states’ same-sex marriage bans, effectively bringing marriage equality to the entire U.S. The ruling, which five justices supported and four dissented from, means same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states. The decision came down to anti-discrimination laws, with the Supreme Court ruling that denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples is discriminatory. In the aftermath, issues arise, notably in the case of Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

June 26 – Block grants unconstitutional

A three-judge school-finance court in Topeka rules that the block-grant funding law that Gov. Sam Brownback proposed and the Legislature passed is unconstitutional.

The judges issue an opinion saying that the block-grant law provided inadequate funding overall and was inequitable to growing school districts that would have to educate more students with less money per pupil. The state has appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

July

July 7 – Religious liberty

Gov. Sam Brownback issues an executive order prohibiting state government from taking action against clergy members or religious organizations that, based on religious beliefs, deny services to couples. Critics argue that the order appears to conflict with the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling.

July 14 – Planned Parenthood faces scrutiny in light of video release

The Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion advocacy group, releases edited undercover footage of a Planned Parenthood employee discussing the sale of fetal tissue and organs. The video sparked outrage from abortion opponents, and many called for the organization’s government funding to be cut entirely.

August

Aug. 2 – An accident

Kaiser Carlile, the 9-year-old bat boy for the Liberal Bee Jays baseball team, is fatally injured on the field in a batter-warm-up accident during the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita. The boy’s death touched off an outpouring of grief throughout Wichita, the state and the nation.

Aug. 12 – Cutting cultural funding

A new majority on the Sedgwick County Commission proposes cuts to public health, culture and recreation, sparking opposition. Chairman Richard Ranzau says the final budget, adopted in August, aligns with “core American values” of limited government. The Sedgwick County Zoo and supporters accuse the county of breaking its prior commitments. The zoo and the county are still trying to negotiate a new agreement.

September

Sept. 4 – A grandmother arrested

Kathleen A. Williams, 41, is arrested in Wichita on suspicion of child abandonment, theft and probation violation. Authorities say she was the woman who in June abandoned her 5-year-old grandson at a Kohl’s store on West Kellogg after an aborted shoplifting attempt.

Sept. 10 – A Syrian crisis

Amid increasing pressure to demonstrate alliance between the U.S. and European nations, President Obama announces that in the next fiscal year, the U.S. will take in at least 10,000 displaced Syrians.

October

Oct. 13 – Koch-inspired reform

With his latest book, “Good Profit,” Charles Koch finds himself in the unusual position of giving many interviews — and hearing praise from liberal groups who hail his work with President Obama in reforming the U.S. criminal justice system. Koch himself had instigated a national conversation about the problem with a yearlong public relations push.

Oct. 15 – Body cameras

About 55 Wichita police officers are wearing body cameras, a first phase of a plan by the city to equip 400 officers with body cameras at a cost of $2.2 million. The move comes after protests against police nationally and concerns expressed locally about holding police accountable for mistakes made in confrontations.

November

Nov. 16 – New airplane

Textron Aviation publicly unveils at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in Las Vegas its Cessna Citation Longitude super-midsize business jet, and announces plans to manufacture the company’s biggest and longest-range jet ever, the Citation Hemisphere, with an expected first flight in 2019.

Nov. 9 – A flag is furled

The Wichita Park Board, spurred by a national outcry after a mass shooting in South Carolina, votes to permanently keep the Confederate flag out of Veterans Memorial Park. The flag had flown there since 1976.

Nov. 9 – University of Missouri president resigns

The controversy began back in August when the university eliminated the health care plan for graduate students. The health care issue was resolved, but incidents of racism remain largely unaddressed by the school’s administration. In October, demonstrators attempting to get the attention of University president Tim Wolfe interrupt the homecoming parade. After repeatedly trying to meet with Wolfe with little success, graduate student Jonathan Butler begins a hunger strike, and soon after many students, faculty and staff stage a walkout in support of him. On Nov. 8, the football team joins in by saying that they refused to play or practice. President Wolfe and chancellor R. Bowen Loftin resign.

Nov. 13 – Paris attacks

Three teams of suicidal attackers kill 130 and wound 352 in Paris. The terrorists target a soccer match, a concert hall and multiple bars and cafes on a Friday night. ISIS takes credit for the attack as retaliation for France’s airstrikes on Iraq and Syria.

December

Dec. 2 – Another massacre

Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik open fire at a holiday party in San Bernardino, Calif. Fourteen die, 22 are wounded and the killers, married to each other, die in a shoot-out with police.

Dec. 9 – Wichita State president John Bardo says he will investigate bringing football back to WSU as part of an evaluation of the entire athletic department.

Dec. 17 – Star Wars returns

Moviegoers spend $248 million to see “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” its opening weekend, smashing the previous record set by “Jurassic World.”

Dec. 18 – New chief selected

Wichita hires Duluth, Minn., police chief Gordon Ramsay as Wichita police chief, replacing Norman Williams, who had retired 15 months before. Ramsey promises to address community concerns about policing.

Contributing: Roy Wenzl, Bryan Lowry, Dion Lefler, Jerry Siebenmark, Daniel Salazar of The Wichita Eagle; Chicago Tribune.

This story was originally published December 26, 2015 at 6:38 PM with the headline "The year 2015 in review, with photo gallery."