Published December 26, 2012, 12:00 AM

The Daily Republic's photos of the year

A collection of the best images taken by The Daily Republic staff in 2012


Stephanie Bowers, of Missoula, Mont., looks through the charred remains of her late mother’s trailer home in Mitchell. Bowers’ mother, Cheryl Roop, 59, died in the fire that destroyed the home. (Chris Huber/Republic)

  • Stephanie Bowers, of Missoula, Mont., looks through the charred remains of her late mother’s trailer home in Mitchell. Bowers’ mother, Cheryl Roop, 59, died in the fire that destroyed the home. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Levi Loken, 6, of Mitchell, helps the Mitchell Exchange Club set up approximately 450 flags near the intersection of Main Street and the Highway 37 bypass in preparation for the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Mitchell seniors, from left, Tucker Volesky, Tate Martin and Jade Miller sit on the bench in the fourth quarter as the clock winds down in the Class AA state title game in Rapid City. Mitchell lost in the title game to Sioux Falls O’Gorman.(Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Rollie Wilson, of Buffalo, competes in saddle bronc as the sun sets during the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo in Mitchell at Horseman’s Sports Arena. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Alyson Stahl, left, and Haley Delancey stand  at an impromptu memorial set up for Iszabella Morgan, 9, who died after a car accident at the corner of First Avenue and Duff Street in Mitchell in March. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Fans at Boog’s & Co. in Parkston celebrate upon hearing Parkston native Riley Reiff’s name called Thursday night during the opening round of the NFL Draft. Reiff was drafted No. 23 by the Detroit Lions. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Members of the Parkston Mudcats amateur baseball team celebrate the game-winning run in the Class B state championship at Cadwell Park in Mitchell. (Luke Hagen/Republic)
  • The sunrise cuts through a thick fog illuminating a tree on 243rd Street, north of Mitchell near the James River in this Sept. photo. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • An emergency response team prepares to enter a home on the 1100 block of East First Avenue in Mitchell after a shot was fired at the residence following a domestic dispute in this Nov. 2 photo. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Charlotte Haag and her dog Shelby, left, of Mitchell, and Regan Waddell and her dog Callie, also of Mitchell, wait for their turns during the dog showing competition at 4-H Achievement Days at the Davison County 4-H Fairgrounds in Mitchell. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • The partial eclipse just after 8 p.m. on May 21 as viewed from the east side of Mitchell. The annular solar eclipse, in which the moon passes in front of the sun leaving only a golden ring around its edges, was visible in numerous areas, including the American Midwest . (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • A whitetail deer bounds through the edge of a corn field and shelter belt two miles east of Mitchell. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Mitchell senior Jade Miller was named the The Daily Republic's basketball player of the year. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • A smallmouth bass jumps from the water after being hooked by one of the residents of the Abbott House while fishing at My Fishing Pond, Inc., near Bridgewater. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Firefighters battle a house fire in January at 170 N. Harmon Drive in Mitchell, along the north shore of Lake Mitchell. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Mitchell Christian’s Chandler Nelson throws the discus during the Mitchell Christian High School Invitational at Joe Quintal Field in Mitchell. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • The sun rises over the Crow Lake wind farm north of White Lake.(Chris Huber/Republic)
  • A pigeon takes flight after sunning itself on the side of the railroad bridge above Burr Street in Mitchell during a chilly January afternoon. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Ten-year-old Jayden Week, of Salem, heads down a waterslide at the Mitchell Aquatic Center on a July afternoon.(Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Lance Hulzebos affixes wood trim around a restored stained window at 110 E. Second Ave. in downtown Mitchell. The building is being restored by local businessman Jeff Logan with the help of a South Dakota Historical Society Deadwood Fund Grant. Built in 1916, it was designed by William Gray Purcell and George Grant Elmslie, of Minneapolis, both of whom studied under famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright is even rumored to have visited the building in the 1930s. The stained glass was restored in the same pattern as its original installation, and the glass company made the glass to the same specifications. Because the glass is hand-mixed, there are slight variations in each individual square. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Cooper Kelly, 7, Carmoni Badhorse, 7, and Dominic Kelly, 9, jump on a trampoline outside the Kelly home in Mitchell during a warm December day. (Chris Huber/Republic)
  • Taylin Alm was named The Daily Republic's volleyball player of the year. (Chris Huber/Republic)