From a series of tragic wrong-way crashes on area interstates to the release of a new movie about Winter the dolphin, the 2014 Tampa Bay news cycle ran the gamut.

There was news we're all grateful for: The region enjoyed an unusually quiet storm season, the real estate market continued to rebound, gas prices tumbled toward $2 a gallon and tourism soared.

And there was news that made our stomachs turn: Eleven people lost their lives in I-275 and I-75 wrong-way crashes. A family was murdered in the exclusive Avila community. Four people were killed and left to rot on a Hill in Hudson.

Politics took the forefront during summer and fall with the most negative gubernatorial race anyone can remember. Along the way, those who fought hard for medical marijuana suffered a narrow defeat. And voters said "no" in no uncertain terms to light rail in Pinellas County.

There was a high-profile trial in late April-May, and when it was done, a jury convicted Julie Schenecker of first-degree murder. The mentally ill New Tampa woman shot and killed her two teenage chilldren in 2011 and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

On the business front, Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik bought downtown Tampa's depressed Channelside complex and donated land for a University of South Florida medical school. Bill Edwards reopened St. Pete's BayWalk as the upscale Sundial, Tampa International Airport broke ground on a $1 billion expansion and Manatee-Sarasota opened an upscale mall that was eight years in the making.

In sports, the Bucs spawned optimism by hiring respected coach Lovie Smith from their past but trudged through a dreadful season. The Rays inched closer to getting permission from St. Pete to look at new stadium in options in Tampa, but lost executive vice president Andrew Friedman and beloved manager Joe Maddon to other teams. The Lightning, on the other hand, morphed into a hockey championship contender.

On the entertainment scene, Tampa's Busch Gardens opened North America's tallest free-standing drop tower after mechanical problems kept kids waiting the whole summer. Orlando's Disney World and Universal Studios added cool new attractions and the sequel Dolphin Tale 2 again showcased the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

Once again, the Baynews9.com staff has chosen our 10 biggest stories. We picked the stories that resonated with you - sometimes over hard news - which is why a mystery elephant found wondering off Redington Beach made the list.

Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to select the No. 1 story of the year. Here are our nominations:

Ex-police captain claims self-defense in theater shooting

The unthinkable happened on Jan. 13 when a retired Tampa police captain, attending a matinee movie in Pasco County with his wife, got into an argument with another patron over texting and shot and killed him.

It happened during previews for war movie Lone Survivor at the Cobb Theatres Grove 16 in Wesley Chapel. Curtis Reeves Jr., 71, argued with Chad Oulson, 43, who was also at the movie with his wife and was either texting or performing another function on his phone. An argument ensued, popcorn flew, and Reeves, who decades ago started a SWAT team at the Tampa PD, pulled a gun from his pocket and fatally shot Oulson.

Reeves, charged with second-degree murder, is claiming self-defense. He will go on trial sometime next year.

Scott defeats Crist in mudslinging governor's race

Rick Scott really wanted to win. The incumbent Republican governor injected nearly $13 million of his own money in weeks leading up to the Nov. 4 election, and that helped him fend off Democrat Charlie Crist in a race that will be remembered for its relentless attack ads.

Pre-election polls made it clear voters weren't enthralled with either main candidate. That was reflected in Scott's final winning percentage of 48.14 percent, the smallest in a Florida's governor's race in nearly a century.

The Scott and Crist campaigns spent a Florida record $150 million, most of which went to negative TV ads. Republicans slammed Crist, a former Republican governor, for switching parties and positions and went so far as to call him dishonest and corrupt. Democrats reminded voters that Scott once headed a hospital company that paid record fines for health care fraud.

Florida Republicans had a good night on Nov. 4. They also won a super-majority in the State House and celebrated Pam Bondi easily winning re-election as attorney general.

Medical marijuana amendment falls short of approval

Florida voters said yes to legalizing medical marijuana on Nov. 4, but not quite enough of them. A 60 percent majority is needed to amend the state constitution, and Amendment 2 failed by fewer than 3 points.

Debate raged for months leading up to the election, with supporters saying people suffering from debilitating diseases should have legal access to alternative medications like marijuana and opponents arguing the amendment had too many loopholes.

Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan led the fight for legalization, spending $4 million of his own money and championing the cause in debates, TV ads and a now-famous  profanity-laced speech to a group of young voters.

Opponents included the Florida Sheriff's Association, Florida Medical Association and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

"Our objection has been against the horrible way that Amendment 2 was written, therefore creating de factor legalization," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Pinellas voters crush light rail referendum

Greenlight Pinellas had a catchy name, a $1 million war chest to spend on advertising and the strong support of politicians, the business community and even the Tampa Bay area's three professional sports teams. But voters slammed the lid on the major public transportation initiative, rejecting the referendum 62 percent to 38 on Nov. 4.

A grassroots group called No Tax for Tracks aggressively fought the initiative, arguing that its core piece - a light rail line running from downtown Clearwater to downtown St. Pete - would be a boondoggle that could taxpayers with decades of debt. Proponents pointed to successful mass transit elsewhere and said Tampa Bay has to plan for its future.

The referendum would have increased the county's sales tax to 8 percent, the highest in the state, while repealing a transit property tax. County residents would have also gotten a major expansion of bus service.

This was a Pinellas story, but it had broader impact. Hillsborough County officials hoped the referendum would pass so they would have a better chance of selling their own public transit referendum in 2016. Voters in Hillsborough rejected soundly rejected a tax for transit in 2010.

Pinellas' vote wasn't the only area defeat for public transit in November. In Polk County, voters said no to a plan called My Ride/My Road that would have increased the sales tax to pay for road maintenance and more bus service.

Man charged in gruesome Hudson quadruple murder

Pasco County authorities conducting a welfare check on a missing 4-year-old boy in early September made a grisly discovery: four rotting adult bodies on a hill near the boy's Hudson home.

Killed were the boy's mother, Megan Brown; her parents, Margaret and Gregory Brown; and Nicholas Leonard, whom Megan Brown had just started dating.

Authorities soon after arrested 28-year-old Adam Matos, who was Megan's ex-boyfriend and lived at the home. The boy, Ismael "Tristan" Santisteban, was found safe. Matos has been charged with four counts of first degree murder and is in jail awaiting trail.

According to investigators, Matos confronted Megan Brown with a knife early on Aug. 28 after she had gone out with Leonard and a friend. Matos ran away when Tristan woke up. Megan Brown called deputies, but they never found Matos, and she never showed up to work again.

Wrong-way crashes claim 11 lives on area roads

Early on the morning of Feb. 9, four USF fraternity brothers were here heading home after a night of playing games. They were traveling north in a Hyundai on I-275 just north of Busch Boulevard when a Ford Expedition appeared out of nowhere and crashed into them head-on. All four men - Jobin Joy Kuriakose, 21, Ankeet Harshad Patel, 22, Imtiyaz Ilias, 20, and Dammie Yesudhas, 21 - died at the scene.

The Expedition burst into the flames and it's driver, 28-year-old Daniel Lee Morris, was also killed.

What seemed unimaginable at the time is that the wrong-way crash would be one of five in 7 1/2 months on Bay area roads that would claim 11 lives.

Just two weeks after the crash that killed the five men, Chase Kaleb Leveille, 25, turned around on I-275 to head north in the southbound lanes near Bearss Avenue. He crashed a rental truck and was killed.

Another man, Edwards Joese Duran, 23, died in August when he drove against southbound traffic and crashed into an ambulance just north of Floribraska Avenue.

Early on Sept. 7, sisters Lakritra and Gabrielle Lanier, 31 and 33, were driving a Honda south in the northbound lanes of I-275 near Bearss Avenue when they collided head-on with a semitrailer truck transporting petroleum products. The women and a friend, 26-year-old John Pierson, all died at the scene.

Only a couple of weeks later, 25-year-old Jessie Rey Mahn was driving a Nissan north in the southbound lanes of I-75 in Pasco County when she struck the broad side of a semi carrying food and drinks. She careened across the highway and slammed into a concrete wall, suffering fatal injuries.

Impairment was a common denominator in the crashes, which have state legislators, law enforcement officials and Department of Transportation officials brainstorming on better prevention strategies.

Tampa executive murders family, torches home, kills self

Authorities still don't have any real idea why a successful Tampa executive murdered his family, set his rented Avila mansion on fire and then killed himself this spring.

Darrin Campbell, 49, gave outward appearances of being a family man. He took an interest in his children's activities and was the treasurer for Carollwood Day School. He did not have any serious financial problems, not any history of mental illness.

But on May 7, investigators say, Campbell executed his wife, Kimberly, 51, and children Colin, 18, and Megan, 15, in their bedrooms. He then, using a large number of fireworks and gas cans, set the $1 million home on fire before killing himself.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has closed its investigation of the case, ruling it a murder-suicide.

"Based on my investigation and the information that I have at this time, I am unable to determine Darrin Campbell's motive," Detective Charles Keene wrote in a report.

The Campbells rented the home on Sierra de Avila in the exclusive community north of Tampa from retired tennis star James Blake.

End of an era: Rays lose Maddon, Friedman

For more than a half-decade, the Tampa Bay Rays found a way to compete with the likes of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox while at a economic economic disadvantage. They reached the World Series in 2008, won another division title in 2010 and reached the playoffs again in 2011 and 2013.

They did so largely because of stalwart pitching, led by left-handed ace David Price, and the baseball acumen of executive vice president Andrew Friedman and popular manager Joe Maddon.

Nothing lasts forever in professional sports, though, and in the case of the financially challenged Rays, change was definitely coming.

The first sobering move happened on July 31, when Price, the 2012 American League Cy Young Award winner, was traded to the Detroit Tigers in a three-team deal that brought the Rays pitcher Drew Smyly and prospects Nick Franklin and Willy Adames.

Then, after a disappointing season in which the Rays struggled at home and finished eight games under .500, Friedman left suddenly to become president of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Maddon exercised an opt-out clause in his contract to take the Chicago Cubs' helm.

Mystery elephant takes dip off Pinellas beach

Beachgoers had to rub their eyes when they saw a seemingly unattended elephant found wading in the Gulf of Mexico off North Redington Beach in May.

The mystery was solved pretty quickly. As it turned out, the elephant was on the beach for entertainment during a 60th birthday party held by local resident Claudia McCorkle.

McCorkle had received permission from town commissioners to have the elephant at her beach home. The town's Beach Park parking lot was used to load and unload the pachyderm.

Clearwater-based Dolphin Tale 2 hits theaters

Dolphin Tale 2, a sequel to 2011's true story about an injured bottlenose dolphin who receives a prosthetic tale at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, hit theaters nationwide on Sept. 12.

Again starring Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble and Cozi Zuehlsdorff, the heartwarming sequel continues to story of Winter by introducing another dolphin, Hope, who is also rescued in a distressed state. Hope rises to the occasion to save Winter from relocation, becoming her pool mate after her surrogate mother dies.

Most of the movie is filmed at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where Winter and Hope live, but there are also shots from Fort De Soto Park, Florida Hospital North Pinellas in Tarpon Springs and a few other locations.

Bay News 9 again has prominent role, with scenes showing actors playing anchors at the station's studios and faux BN9 programming showing on TVs in people's homes and offices. Bay News 9 meteorologist Juli Marquez and anchor Erica Riggins even get to pose as reporters.