Lincoln Journal Star staff writers

It’s the last Sunday of the year. That means it’s time for our annual look back at the preceding 12 months.

What a year it was. Here we look at the major stories and trends in our culture as well as celebrities, technology, religion, media, TV and home and garden.

In Friday’s Ground Zero and on Ground Zero Online, we’ll look at the best of movies, music, performing arts and dining in Lincoln.

Culture: Politics, economy dominate

Nationally and locally, culture in 2008 was dominated by the failing economy and the presidential election.

While the day-to-day stories about the declining stock market and the contest between Barack Obama and John McCain appeared in the news sections of the Journal Star and journalstar.com, the economic squeeze and politics were prime elements in  cultural coverage as well.

Tight budgets were a factor in vacationing closer to home and searching for inexpensive cultural offerings as well as the financial pinch on the Lied Center for Performing Arts and other cultural institutions, touring rock bands struggling to make ends meet as the price of gasoline spiraled up to $4 a gallon and the reality of celebrating Christmas in a recession.

Political humor took center stage but the political/culture wars heated up but stopped short of banning books.

Lincoln is known as a movie town, with higher than average per-capita film attendance. The release of “The Dark Knight” was  the backdrop for an exploration of the history of Batman. Similarly, stage and screen musicals continued to capture our attention and our dollars as books continued to transition to celluloid.

Music interests were diverse as Guitar Hero picked up more wannabe guitar players and Johnny Cash tributes continued well after the legendary singer’s death.

Farmers markets attracted an expanded customer base as green and buy local worked their way into our daily lives.

So did yoga and bicycling.

Elsewhere, the baby boom generation entered its 60s and an avalanche of books about Hunter S. Thompson hit bookstores.

And vampires bit deeper into our psyches as we flocked to them on the big and small screens, the printed page and even in our imaginations. 

— L. Kent Wolgamott

Families: Focus on parenting

Parenthood — the good, the bad and the ugly — made many headlines in 2008.

Perhaps most memorable was Nebraska’s Safe Haven law in which 36 children — most of them adolescents — were abandoned legally by their parents.

Although legislators held a special session limiting the Safe Haven law to children 30 days old or younger, the controversy brought to the forefront many issues, primarily access to mental health and behavioral programs to help families in crisis.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln received a five-year, $8.7 million grant to address gaps in child welfare services. UNL will establish the Midwest Child Welfare Technical Assistance Implementation Center, which will pull together child service providers and experts to improve the quality and effectiveness of child welfare services in Nebraska.

Also happening in 2008:

* The FDA ruled that children under 4 years of age should not take over-the-counter children’s cough and cold medicines. The American Academy of Pediatrics tells parents children under age 6 should not take the medication.

* In an effort to curb flu outbreaks, the Centers for Disease Control recommended all children 6 months and older receive the flu vaccine. The CDC says the vaccine will not only protect the child, but everyone else who comes in contact with them.

* Beds made headlines. There are new safety standards for bunk beds. Tens of thousands of cribs and bassinets were recalled after the tragic deaths of a few children. And Nebraska reiterated a national warning that co-sleeping with infants can be deadly.

* In January, producers from ABC Television’s “SuperNanny” held a casting call and found two families, one from Lincoln and another from Papillion, to be featured on the show. Just two weeks ago, producers returned in search of more frazzled families to be aided by British nanny Jo Frost.

* More than 20,000 Lincoln area children and adults participated in the first ever Lincoln Safari, a program coordinated through the Lincoln Children’s Zoo to get kids playing and exploring outdoors.

— Erin Andersen

The year in Celebrity

It was a year of scandals, comebacks, one shocking loss and lots and lots of babies with zany names. (Political celebs excluded.)

Heath Ledger dies

Ledger, who died of an accidental overdose in January, likely will win a posthumous Oscar for his immortal turn as The Joker in “The Dark Knight.” That performance was a sad reminder of how Hollywood has lost one of its finest actors.

Comeback kids: Britney Spears and Mickey Rourke

Spears started 2008 under psychiatric care but has made her way back to normalcy, maybe even some kind of grace. She reconciled with her mother, was granted more custodial rights to  her kids, had a killer guest appearance on “How I Met Your Mother” and made an honest-to-God pretty good album.

And Rourke, who saw a personal and professional downfall in the ’90s, is getting the best reviews of his career for his role in “The Wrestler.” The performance could win him his first Oscar.

Jennifer Hudson’s family slain

The former “American Idol” and Oscar winner is just now re-entering the spotlight after the slayings of her mother, brother and nephew in October. 

Hey, photographers, “Beware of Kanye”

West was arrested in the United Kingdom after fighting with a photographer.

The celeb baby boom

Shopping for diapers this year were the nannies of Jennifer Garner, Usher, Ashlee Simpson, Jack Black, Adam Sandler, Matt Damon, Gwen Stefani and, of course, America’s No. 1 fetus factory, Brangelina.

Christian Bale’s family woes

The man behind the Bat was arrested in London for allegedly assaulting his sister and mother. The charges later were dropped.

Miley Cyrus’ double whammy of depravity

Not only was the star of “Hannah Montana” caught not wearing a seat belt while riding around in a Range Rover with her pa, Billy Ray Cyrus, but she also appeared in a Vanity Fair spread wrapped in a bed sheet, flaunting her bare back. The photo, courtesy of Annie Leibovitz, enraged suburban moms everywhere.

Winner of the 2008 “Please-Get Some Help” Award:

Amy Winehouse

— Micah Mertes

Local media

The local media scene was marked by the death of public broadcasting pioneer Jack McBride.

Stan Carpenter, chairman of the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission, summed it up best, saying, “Without Jack McBride, there is a real question as to whether NET would even exist today.”

McBride, 82, died in July from complications from lung surgery. He and his staff, including his longtime friend and colleague Ron Hull, built Nebraska’s public broadcasting network from the ground up into one of the nation’s elite systems.

McBride had the respect and admiration of his peers throughout the country.

“We all stand on shoulders of giants,” said Paula Kerger, president and CEO of the Public Broadcasting System, “and, in this instance, Jack was one of those giants.”    

McBride’s death topped the headlines of the local media scene, which was quite active this year. Other top stories:

* The upcoming digital television conversion, which will affect viewers who watch TV with antennas. TV stations will shut off their analog signals on Feb. 17 and replace them  with digital signals. That means over-the-air viewers will need to replace their analog TVs with digital ones or purchase converter boxes.

* Radio intermediary Chapin Enterprises selling 102.7 FM (KBZR) to Spirit Catholic Radio.

* Country station 96KX letting go longtime popular morning show host Keith Allan for financial reasons.

* John Baylor giving up his afternoon talk show at KFOR for business and personal reasons.

* Morning anchors Royale Da (KOLN/KGIN-TV) and Stacey Kulow (KLKN-TV) leaving for TV gigs in Albuquerque, N.M., and Augusta, Ga., respectively.

* Longtime KFOR personality Dale Johnson deciding to leave, then changing his mind.

* KLKN sports anchor Jon Wofford out after five years when the station didn’t renew his contract.

— Jeff Korbelik

TV: Some good viewing

The year in TV began in turmoil with the writers’ strike still in full swing but finished on a high note with one of the most memorable presidential elections ever.

The 100-day strike ended Feb. 12, after which the broadcast networks opted not to bring back many of their shows until fall.

That decision proved costly.

Hits such as “Heroes” have seen their audiences dwindle, while several new shows (“Pushing Daisies,” “Dirty Sexy Money”) have been canceled because viewers didn’t come back to them.

Fortunately, 2008 was a banner year for sports on television, from the New York Giants upsetting the unbeaten New England Patriots in the Super Bowl to Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open on a broken leg to Michael Phelps winning a record eight gold medals in swimming at the Beijing Olympics.

It also was a good year for cable, despite the strike. The Emmy for best drama went to AMC's “Mad Men.” Best actor winners Bryan Cranston (AMC's “Breaking Bad”) and Glenn Close (FX’s “Damages”) came from cable shows.

Cable also was home to “The Shield” (FX), which ended its remarkable seven-year run with a more-than-satisfying finale.

The new season is a disappointment, with only one breakout hit — Simon Baker’s “The Mentalist.” The CBS crime drama is formulaic, but Baker’s performance is sublime.

The election resulted in the fall’s best programming. We already knew Tina Fey was funny — her Emmy-winning “30 Rock” is proof of that. But her spot-on impersonation of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live” is one for the ages.

Palin herself made for good television. Her debate with Joe Biden was one of the most-watched debates ever. It was then she made famous the phrase “Joe Six Pack.”

The Alaska governor also may have helped Katie Couric save her job. Couric has struggled in her time as CBS News anchor, but she won over many of her critics with her pointed interview of Palin.

Election night saw the networks actually counting electoral votes and Jon Stewart counting laughs on a special presentation of “The Daily Show.”   

The only thing missing was Tim Russert and his white board. The NBC News legend and “Meet the Press” moderator died in June. Barack Obama’s historic victory wasn’t the same without him.

— Jeff Korbelik

Home and Garden

Lincoln Parks and Recreation promised us a rose garden — and came through with the August opening of the renovated and expanded Hamann Rose Garden at Antelope Park.

The half acre includes a strolling garden mixing perennials with hardy shrub roses.  

More than 1,000 roses  — from hybrid teas, floribundas and grandifloras — make up the beds in the centerpiece. The formal area includes a knot garden and fountain with custom rose tiles.

The entire garden has Art Nouveau and Art Deco nuances in the design. 

There’s more.  2008 brought us:

30 years and still growing: 2008 was the 30th year for the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, which celebrated all year across the state with a touring exhibit of 20 excerpts from artist Keith Jacobshagen’s notebooks documenting the lay of the land and his vision of rural Nebraska.

Arboretums around the state  brought in speakers to celebrate their landscapes.

Purple and “green”: Barney the dinosaur’s favorite color was the hue forecasters said would sweep into our homes in small and large doses. Maybe if you are a Kansas State fan, but it seems a little purple goes a long way.

Other national and local color trends for the year included more “green” options, with multiple shades of Kermit the Frog, and blues, like the ocean and sky. 

Several brands of paint were available with fewer VOC emissions and didn’t make the house smell like it was newly painted.      

New home sales: Although experts say Lincoln and Nebraska seem to be lagging behind dismal national new home sales — which is a good thing — there is little reason to celebrate.

Building permits for new single family homes stood at 396 at the end of November. That compared to 537 for the same category a year ago and 1,452 in 2003.

Remodeling permits were also down for single family homes, said Nadine Condello, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Lincoln. “It is bleak; however, builders are optimists,” she said.

 House giveaway: For the first time, the Lincoln Journal Star gave away a new house in the Ultimate Home Delivery Contest.

Five Lincoln builders built five homes, each valued at $300,000.  Over several months, contest finalists were selected randomly.

Susan Haase,  one of 10 finalists, had the winning house key and in August selected the home built by Aspen Builders. The other four homes returned to the open market after the contest.

— Kathryn Cates Moore

The 7 Best in Tech

This year’s tech superstars all share a common trait: They’re doing their part to cause the death of other industries and technologies.

Note: Not all of these gadgets and breakthroughs necessarily came out in 2008, but they were certainly the devices that defined the year.

1. iPhone 3G and iPod Touch

The devices launched the next era, not in the SmartPhone, but in mobile computing. When you sit in a coffeeshop years from now and see more touchscreen gizmos than you do laptops, remember that these were the magic little men who started it all.

2. Kindle

Paper, shmaper. Amazon’s digital-book-reading device asks the question: Why get ink on your fingers when you can have your own personal library at your disposal?

3. Nikon D90

It takes photos! It shoots video! Sure, hybrid devices have a sordid history (those TV/VCR/DVD players always were going awry), but I still want one of these. 

4. Roku Netflix Box

The brick and mortar video store took a punch in the gut this year with this little black box that allows Netflix subscribers to stream movies right to their TVs. We might see the DVD go the way of the dodo before this decade’s over.

5. Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

With a writers’ strike in full fruit, director Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) made the most ambitious Web-only TV show to date, a three-part supervillain musical starring Neil Patrick Harris. A goofy but groundbreaking invention.

6.  Wii Fit

Nintendo’s terrifically innovative weight-loss game does the impossible: It makes physical activity fun. Disguising tedious things like strength building, yoga, aerobics and balance exercises as games, the Wii might have forever expelled the notion that video games breed fat kids.

7. Hulu.com

Because you don’t need a TV to watch TV.

— Micah Mertes

Faith in ’08

On a national scale, the presidential election and a faltering economy grabbed much attention in the faith community.

But here in Lincoln and Southeast Nebraska, churches focused on new beginnings and reaching out.

 In April, 82-year-old Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2110 Sheridan Blvd., shuttered its sanctuary and began a $1 million restoration project. The newly restored sanctuary opened to the public on Nov. 9.

And in late October, Trinity United Methodist Church broke ground on its new building in Village Gardens, 7130 Kentwell Lane.

In early 2006, church members voted to leave the building at the corner of 16th and A streets and build new just south of Pine Lake Road.

The new church, being built in two phases, is expected to open in January 2010.

While some churches were moving to meet their growing needs, Lincoln’s Christ Lutheran Church decided to stay put at its 43rd and Sumner streets site. In September, the congregation broke ground on a $5 million project that will include a new elementary school, child care center, administrative offices and a multisensory worship space. Construction is expected to be completed in March 2010.

Other church happenings in 2008 included:

* Lincoln Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz as well as Catholic leaders, students and adults traveled to Washington, D.C., in April to see Pope Benedict XVI on his first official visit to the United States.

* The creation of Intersect, a new ministry dedicated to bringing all churches and faiths together in addressing poverty in Lincoln. Intersect’s mission is to bridge “the gap between pews and poverty to transform Lincoln by transforming lives,” said Mark Pomeroy of Christ for the City’s Lincoln office, which developed the ministry.

* The June 21 installation and blessing of a shrine to the Virgin Mary at Lincoln’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. The giant statue of Our Lady of Vietnam depicts Mary in traditional  Vietnamese robe and hat holding the Christ Child, whose hand is raised in blessing. The statue, two years in the making,  was a gift from a family living in Danang, in central Vietnam.

* The June 29 closing of All Saints Lutheran Church, 82nd Street and Pioneers Boulevard, due to dwindling membership.

— Erin Andersen