News Pix: The Best Images of 2013

The Rim Fire began in mid-August and wasn't completely contained until late October. It was the third-largest wildfire in California’s history, burning 400 square miles in and around Yosemite National Park and threatening the San Francisco-owned Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Estimates of total losses in the fire, including damage to the forest's carbon-storing function, range up to nearly $1 billion. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

On June 26 the Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that struck down Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage, clearing the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California. Two of the the people who sued to overturn Prop. 8, Sandra Stier, left, and Kris Perry, face each other and prepare to seal their marriage with a kiss at San Francisco City Hall on June 28. They were married by California Attorney General Kamala Harris. (Darlene Bouchard/KQED)

BART strikes in July and October sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for commute alternatives. Streets and freeways were jammed, ferry lines stretched out of sight, AC Transit provided extra buses and at least one intrepid commuter decided to kayak across the Bay. Here, ferry-borne commuters are reflected in a window as they disembark at San Francisco's Ferry Building on Oct. 18. (Sara Bloomberg/KQED)

One final car crosses the old eastern section of the Bay Bridge on Aug. 28 as Caltrans shut down the span to put the finishing touches on the bridge's long-delayed $6.4 billion self-anchored suspension span. The new bridge opened late the night of Labor Day, Sept. 2. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)"

The new eastern span of the Bay Bridge is not just for vehicles. There's a bicycle and pedestrian path, too. People came out in droves when it first opened to check it out and get a different view of the bay. (Nancy Rubin / Berkeleyside)

San Francisco hosted the San Francisco hosted the America's Cup over the summer. During the finals, tens of thousands of people crowded the city's shoreline to watch Oracle Team USA defend the cup against Emirates Team New Zealand in a series of 19 races. The contest was decided Sept. 25, when Oracle came back from a deficit of 8-1 to beat the the Kiwis and retain the cup. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Early this summer, construction continued on the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in the Mojave Desert. Ivanpah, the largest solar thermal power plant in the world, opened this year, putting the state a step closer to its ambitious renewable energy goal. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)

The Devil's Slide Tunnels south of Pacifica and north of Half Moon Bay opened in March after decades of environmental battles and years of construction. The new tunnel consists of two bores, each about 4,200 feet long, with one lane and a wide shoulder. The tunnels are meant to solve the safety and erosion problems that have plagued that notorious stretch of Highway 1 since it was built. Here, a Caltrans construction crew works on one of the twin 30-foot wide tunnels. (Jenny Oh/KQED)

In March, hundreds of students from several campuses of the City College of San Francisco arrived at City Hall as part of an ongoing protest against a plan to revoke the college's accreditation. That battle continues, with CCSF supporters now suing to block an accreditation agency from proceeding with its plan. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)

As part of a July protest against border militarization, faith leaders, workers, and community groups gathered in San Francisco and dramatized the the fate of those who have died trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. The action took place at the offices of SAIC, one of the contractors building the U.S. border wall and surveillance system. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)

In May, Pancho Ramos-Stierle, part of an urban farming group that repeatedly occupied a UC Berkeley agricultural research plot in Albany, held plant starts that survived a UC plow and were ready to be replanted. The university is proceeding with plans for developing part of the site, but it's also sponsoring a collaboration between researchers and urban farm activists on another part of the plot. (Emilie Raguso/Berkeleyside)

In January, dolphins from an Ocean Beach pod were spotted leaping from the waves near Sutro Baths. (David Cruz / Ocean Beach Bulletin)

In March, a protester known as "Warbler" watched a Caltrans truck from her perch in a Ponderosa pine near the Mendocino County town of Willits. Warbler protested Caltrans' plan to build a bypass for U.S. 101 by sitting in the tree for more than a month. Critics of the Caltrans proposal said the project will have dire environmental consequences. (Deborah Svoboda / KQED)