Theodore Tugboat, the eclipse and 7 more great photos from 2024

2024 was filled with some remarkable stories and the compelling images that came with them.

From a total eclipse that was the stargazing experience of a lifetime for hundreds of thousands of visitors and residents in the Hamilton-Niagara region to the partial, temporary sinking of the beloved Theodore Too tugboat in St. Catharines, this has been a year in pictures worth a second look.

Here are a few, taken throughout the year, that caught our eye and helped capture what the world looked like from the Hamilton and Niagara regions in 2024.

This one came to us from Niagara Parks. Goats from local farmers grazed on plants including phragmites, an invasive species, at Gonder's Flats in Fort Erie, Ont., at the end of June.  

"Every morning they're excited to get out and chew down the phragmites," environmental planning technician Victoria Kalenuik said. "I've been there every morning making sure that they're ready to go."

The historic buildings at 24 and 28 King St. E., collapsed on a morning in November, sending large blocks and debris tumbling into the street below.

No one was hurt but Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath said she cringed "at the thought of what could've happened had this devastating incident occurred [Sunday]," during Remembrance Day ceremonies that drew hundreds to Gore Park, and included a parade that passed by the buildings the day before.

In April, a tenant named Gerald and his dog stood outside 325 James St. S., in Hamilton, where Gerald described what it's been like to live in his bachelor unit in a downtown apartment building, where the property management company has had to spray for bed bugs two dozen times in the past year.

He said he couldn't lie on his bed, move his shower curtain, comb his hair or even put on his shoes without finding bed bugs. 

As the weather became cold in January, John Conrod said he had been homeless for six months after a forklift job fell through and he could no longer afford to keep his housing. He wandered the city with his sleeping bag on his back searching for a place to sleep. 

The damp and cold "hurts the bones," the 62-year-old Hamilton resident told CBC Hamilton, just days before the city issued a cold weather alert. "I never thought it would happen to me but it did," Conrod said. "I worked all my life. I've paid my taxes all these years and the government has not helped."

Painting giant murals on buildings in the city is a tough job that takes a lot of preparation, mural artist Scott McDonald says. Getting paid by the city for the work he did, might have been an even more difficult process.

McDonald was born and raised in Hamilton, and after going through throat cancer, he made it his mission to make a difference in the city. After painting several beautiful murals around Hamilton, he said, dealing with the city has left him feeling "ripped off" waiting years to get paid for murals he finished in 2021.

The photos taken of April's total eclipse, from the Hamilton and Niagara regions, might have been some of the most extraordinary images taken all year long, anywhere.