A Look Back At San Francisco: 2017

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — 2017 is nearly in the books. While some people will be happy when this year is behind us, for others, it was momentous. Some of your neighbors got engaged or married, while others had a baby. Some graduated from college, or landed their dream jobs or started companies.

As we pause for a few minutes to look back on the year, rather than look at the loss of our mayor, crime, fires, traffic accidents or winter flooding and mudslides, we’re taking stock of some of the things that brought smiles to our faces, or caused our chests to swell with pride.

The Golden State Warriors clinched another Championship. A joyous throng some one million strong descended on Oakland to celebrate with the team at a victory parade and rally. Warriors fever was heated, as one fan paid a staggering amount of money for courtside seats at Game 5. Meanwhile, 2017 also marked the year that the Warriors broke ground on a privately funded, $1 billion arena in San Francisco.

Many animals won our hearts this year. Remember the feisty kitten who clung to the undercarriage of a speeding police cruiser? Or the bobcat that was nursed back to health after being hit by a car? The mama duck who stood guard next to a storm sewer after her ducklings fell in. And the Clydesdale that was rescued from a ravine. Plenty of people are willing to step in to help animals when they can’t help themselves.

In no particular order, here are some of the San Francisco stories that caught our eye this year:

Diving Santa Greets Children In San Francisco

• The jolly fellow dove into a tank two-and-a-half stories tall at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

Sea Turtle Trapped In Floating Cocaine Bales Freed By Coast Guard

• As cocaine makes a comeback, contraband likely jettisoned by drug traffickers entraps an endangered sea turtle, the Coast Guard said.

SF Supervisors Rescind Tax Auction Of Private Street

• The private street was put up for auction by the city's tax collector for failing to pay its property tax bill.

San Francisco Tops List Of Best Cities For Singles: Study

• Also in the Top 5 are Los Angeles and San Diego.

Mountain Lion Strolls Through San Francisco (Video)

• Tech billionaire Marc Benioff shared the video.

New Cancer Drugs: Slashing Research From 6 Years To 1

• This will give you hope that a treatment or cure is imminent - super computing is joining the search for a cure.

All Female Crew Flies Into SFO (Video)

• Whether flying the plane or serving beverages, all crew members aboard this flight were women.

Pier 39 Celebrates 39th Birthday

• The shops, restaurants and other attractions are being recognized as Fleet Week ramps up.

$90 Million Expansion Planned at SF's Asian Art Museum

• Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and his wife Akiko Yamazaki made a major donation.

Harvey Relief: Food Shipments From San Francisco

• The food bank that serves San Francisco and Marin counties is shipping pallets of non-perishable food to Houston.

Heroes Jump Onto Tracks To Save BART Passenger (Watch the Video)

• An unconscious man was sprawled on the tracks at San Francisco's Civic Center station as a train approached.

Rescued Alaskan Black Bear Cubs Now Frolic At San Francisco Zoo

• The San Francisco Zoo is known nationally as a haven for rescued animals.

San Francisco Marathon Winners From Bay Area

• The men's winner is from Marin County, while the women's is a Stanford student. (Video)

San Francisco Church May Be Added To National Register of Historic Places

• It is under consideration for the church's involvement in the Black civil rights movement.

Guinness World Record Set In San Francisco Over The Weekend

• Thousands of people gathered to form a lotus flower to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the "Summer of Love" in San Francisco. (Video)

San Francisco Top Rated For Park Accessibility

• Golden Gate Park is the crown jewel of city parks, but hardly the only one.

Lotto Ticket Worth $10,339 Sold In San Francisco

• Have you checked your lotto tickets? You could be in for a big payday!

San Francisco Reaches Greenhouse Gas Goals

• "San Francisco is proof that you can have a strong economy while being environmentally responsible."

New Park Dedicated in San Francisco

• The new park includes a dog run.

Volunteers Restore Bird Habitat in Golden Gate Park

• They worked on white-crowned sparrow habitats and other coastal scrub species at the edge of the Bison Paddock.

Butterflies Extinct in San Francisco Being Re-Introduced

• San Francisco is known for the number of butterflies that have gone extinct in the city. It's the last place a Xerces Blue was seen

San Francisco Playground Getting $10 Million Facelift

• What is a child's smile worth? In San Francisco, $10,000,000.

-Image via Patch