As December ends, people often take a moment to reflect on the year’s events, all the changes enacted and memories made.

And, like every year, 2015 has had its ups and downs. Over the past 12 months, Miss-Lou residents have seen oil prices drop, progress on local recreation efforts, a civil rights era injustice addressed, a flurry of elections among other changes.

But no matter what responses last year’s events evoked, positive or negative, 10 stories dominated the year.

Oil prices drop

Low oil prices made headlines nationwide this year, but it was a double-edged sword for many locals.

This year saw the price of oil move from $48.65 a barrel in January to approximately $60 in May, and then plummet to $40 in December. The drop meant many in the energy industry had to face tough choices to stay in business.

The low price of oil has all but curtailed oil drilling efforts in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale deposit, running from central and southeast Louisiana into Wilkinson and Amite counties in southwest Mississippi. Natchez oil businesses indirectly associated with drilling in southwest Mississippi saw a steep decline in activity.

Natchez Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ said the area has weathered its share of troubles in the past.

“We know that the industry has its ups and downs, and it is going to ebb and flow, and our area has a long history in that business so they are accustomed to it,” Russ said.

Natchez’s hospitals consolidate

Community Health Systems consolidated Natchez Community Hospital and Natchez Regional Medical Center into Merit Health Natchez.

A flurry of renovations were done on former NRMC facility in order to combine the two facilities. The doors were officially shut at Community, which had been renamed Merit Health Natchez — Community Campus, in November before the consolidation.

As employees turned off the lights for the final time, Chief Nursing Officer Lee Hinson looked to the future.

“I think this is the end of a chapter of health care here in our county, but it is also the beginning of a new chapter of health care, one of the best quality health care the Miss-Lou can have,” Hinson said. “Our patients can receive the best, compassionate, quality care and not have to leave home. Home is where the heart is, and now the heart will be under one roof.”

Bond commission tables discussion on Square on Carter

Vidalia’s Square on Carter project started as a straightforward bond proposal — for the city to purchase and develop two tracts of land in the hope of attracting commercial and residential developers — but became a bigger issue over the course of the year.

Its consideration by the Louisiana Bond Commission was pushed back, tabled and reconfigured over several months.

At one point, the bond commission delayed hearing it until the City of Vidalia had hearings to return to compliance with the ordinance governing how royalties from the Sidney A. Murray Hydroelectric Station were used — hearings that drew significant public pushback.

It later drew accusations of real estate conspiracy when former Secretary of State Al Ater publicly called for state and federal investigations after alleging Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland was attempting to get the city to purchase property from a former business partner at an inflated rate.

The project has not been taken up by the bond commission since the FBI made a records request about the project in August, though city officials have said the application to the commission is still pending.

Isle of Capri closes

After more than two decades of gaming Under-the-Hill, the Isle of Capri Casino closed its doors in October.

The company announced the closure in August and sold its hotel on Canal Street to Magnolia Bluffs Casino, which is renovating the hotel.

The Isle of Capri stayed open through the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race in October, and residents gathered on Silver Street in November to watch the riverboat casino pushed down the river and out of Natchez.

Local leaders sign interlocal recreation agreement

After six years of sometimes contentious debate, leaders from Adams County, the City of Natchez and the Natchez-Adams School District finally agreed on a plan to bring new recreation opportunities to residents..

The plan is for the YMCA to take over recreation for the Natchez and Adams County. District 2 Supervisor Mike Lazarus, who first introduced the idea of approaching the YMCA, said the organization’s involvement will remove local politics from the issue and provide an honest assessment of what the area does and doesn’t need for recreation.

One phase of the plan includes the construction of a pool and multi-purpose fields.

The agreement received its final signature from the NASD Board of Trustees at a special meeting on Dec. 8.

Patten elected sheriff

Travis Patten made history in August when he was elected the first black Adams County sheriff since Reconstruction.

Patten faced competition in the Democratic primary race, both from incumbent Sheriff Chuck Mayfield and challenger Randy Freeman. A close vote sent Patten and Freeman into a runoff.

Patten defeated Freeman in the runoff and independent candidate Elvis Prater dropped out, leaving Patten as the winner.

“What I am really proud of is that I am sheriff of all people, not just one people,” Patten said on election night.

Patten will take office in January.

NASD discrimination court battle

After an ongoing court battle between the Natchez-Adams School District and former West Elementary Principal Cindy Idom, a federal jury awarded Idom $371,373 in September.

The money was given for breach of contract, back pay and compensatory damages for the infliction of emotional distress. Idom, who is white, sued the district saying Superintendent Frederick Hill and Assistant Superintendent Tanisha Smith, who are both black, targeted and harassed her based on her race.

Idom claimed Hill and Smith used school performance test scores as a pretext to demote her in an attempt to push her into resigning or retiring. Hill and Smith denied the charges during the trial.

The judge has yet to draft the final judgment.

City apologizes for Parchman Ordeal

Fifty years after Natchez police forced hundreds of black Natchezians onto buses and shipped them to the state penitentiary at Parchman, the City of Natchez passed a resolution apologizing for its role in what has become known as the Parchman Ordeal.

The detainees were potential protesters who had gathered to take a stand against the violent atrocities inflicted upon the black community. Once at Parchman, they were illegally detained for days, suffering terror and abuse at the hands of law enforcement.

The October resolution stated that the “City of Natchez, Miss., must stare down its shame for the mistreatment of hundreds of innocent black Natchezians” and “that for 50 years, the City has failed to acknowledge publicly the disgrace of the Parchman Ordeal.”

At the time, city officials said they hoped it was a first step in healing and allowing those who suffered through the ordeal to find peace.

District 37 Senate race comes down to the wire

The November election for the Mississippi Senate District 37 seat between incumbent Sen. Melanie Sojourner and former Sen. Bob Dearing, both of Natchez, came down to less than 100 votes.

Officials took more than a week to declare Dearing the winner by 64 votes.

Sojourner filed a petition, however, to overturn her loss in early December. The petition claimed there were voting irregularities in the election.

A decision has not yet been made on Sojourner’s petition.

Locals celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide

In June, the Supreme Court ruled to legalize same sex marriage nationwide.

Gay and lesbian residents celebrated the ruling and shared their feelings. First Natchez Radio Group President and CEO Margaret Perkins said it was surreal when she learn the news.

“I get very emotional when I think about it,” Perkins said at the time. “To think back to so many years ago and peacefully, joyfully marching in Boston, to think back to my friends from that time, and those who have died since then, this is huge. And it’s frightening that it’s taken this long. I guess I feel tremendous pride.”