photo by: Mike Yoder

Alexandra Schmidt, 1, keeps her grip on her nanny Jade Benton's hand, as she slowly descends a slide as the two and Alexandra's brother, Noah, 2, left, play in Watson Park on Wednesday. After a mild 50-degree December day Wednesday, the forecast for Thursday is partly sunny with temperatures near 60.

photo by: Photo courtesy of Michael Andersen

One of three Snow Owls seen at Smithville Lake in Clay County, Mo., on Dec. 10, 2011. This individual was seen at dawn sitting on a sign at the south end of the dam. At about 8 a.m., it flew north across the face of the dam and was again found on the road to Shelter 1 and 2 in the park south of the Paradise Pointe Golf Course.

The top stories on LJWorld.com in 2011 included the tragic death of a McLouth high school student in Costa Rica, a K-10 car accident that killed 5-year-old Cainan Shutt, the seizure of Jefferson's' assets, a 2009 story about the synthetic drug K2, a 2000 story about the best pop songs since 1963, a photo gallery of the Journal-World's series on Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," and a classic car found in storage.