The year 2014 was fraught with inspiration and sorrow, scandal and surprise for Federal Way.

From high school student Dom Cooks’s passing to former school board member Tony Moore’s sentencing, the Federal Way news never stopped in 2014.

Here are the top 10 stories from 2014, as compiled by the Mirror’s editorial staff:

1. Federal Way student with inoperable tumor in running for national inspirational award (by Casey Olson, March 24).

Decatur senior Dominque Cooks became a top-10 finalist in the 2014 Air National Guard USA TODAY High School Sports Inspiration contest. Cooks advanced through two rounds of voting and received more than 100,000 votes in each round.

Cooks originally finished 11th place in the semifinal round of voting, meaning he wouldn’t advance into the final round. But the next morning, Decatur assistant athletic director Teri Galloway received a call from USA TODAY informing her that Cooks would advance into the top-10 after Nicholas Hibbeler gave up his spot in the final round.

Hibbeler is a soccer player from Park Hill High School in Kansas City and finished in 10th-place in the semifinal round. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in July and underwent surgery and six rounds of chemotherapy treatment while also playing high school soccer.

At age 18, Cooks was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in the spring of 2012. He played football, basketball, ran track and was in charge of the morning announcements every morning, which included an inspirational quote. He was also appointed as an Associated Student Body officer by Decatur and named Homecoming King in the fall. Cooks graduated in February after doctors gave him only weeks to live.

2. Federal Way man ejected from car dies during rollover collision (by Carrie Rodriguez, Jan. 8).

Sergey Romashevskiy, 26, died at the scene after he was ejected from his car. The car flipped several times after he lost control of the vehicle. Tacoma police reported seeing Romashevskiy driving recklessly before the accident. Witnesses said he was speeding before he struck a parked car as he tried to illegally pass it.

3. Missing Federal way girl added on trucking trailers (by Carrie Rodriguez, Feb. 25).

A Federal Way mother worked hard to add her daughter Danica Childs to the side of a trucking trailer with Gordon Trucking after she went missing in 2007. Gordon Trucking had 100 trailers that featured posters of 21 missing children from Washington and Oregon at the time Childs’ photo was added. Dianne Zoro believes her daughter was a prostitute, based on sexually graphic voicemails she obtained from her daughters phone.

Childs went missing in December 2007 from the Sunset Motel after she left at around 3 p.m. Her sisters had planned to go Christmas shopping with her that evening but she never answered their phone calls. Zoro believes Childs’s boyfriend was her pimp and that he sold her but he said she was supposed to come back that day with a friend who had a car to pick him up from the motel.

Zoro began working with the Federal Way Coalition Against Trafficking in 2011 and has since raised awareness and educated students in Federal Way schools about sex trafficking.

4. Oregon jury finds Federal Way school board member guilty of felony theft (by Carrie Rodriguez, April 18).

A jury found former Federal Way school board member Tony Moore guilty of seven counts of felony theft on April 18 in Oregon. Moore was convicted of stealing $150,000 worth of tires in 2011. Moore resigned from the school board shortly after the verdict and was sentenced to six months in September.

5. Federal Way’s Decatur to hold special graduation for student with brain tumor (by Casey Olson, Feb. 13).

Decatur High School was able to hold an early graduation for Dom Cooks, senior at the school who was battling brain cancer. They held the special event on Feb. 20 after doctors gave Cooks only a couple of weeks to live.

In the beginning of that school year, he accomplished his goal of getting back on the football field and scoring a touchdown during the Gators’ homecoming game against the Auburn Mountainview Lions. Cooks was noted as saying, “if it wasn’t for Decatur, I don’t think I would be here today.”

6. Decatur senior Dom Cooks passes away from brain cancer (by Casey Olson, April 15).

Decatur High School senior Dom Cooks passed away from an inoperable brain tumor on April 15 at St. Francis Hospital. Cooks was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2012 but his condition worsened in the days before his death when he went into a coma. Decatur High School set up posters around the school’s campus for staff and students and they held a candlelight vigil the next night.

Ironically, on the day of his passing, Cooks officially finished up in third place in the 2014 Air National Guard USA TODAY High School Sports Inspiration contest, which concluded the morning he died. Cooks finished with a grand total of 214,260 votes during the final round, which included 10 student/athletes from across the nation.

7. Rep. Roger Freeman dies at Federal Way hospital (by Raechel Dawson, Oct. 29).

Late Rep. Roger Freeman died six days before he was voted into office during the November 2014 general election. Freeman died of colon cancer at age 48. In April, it was reported that Freeman’s cancer had spread to his lungs and liver but he was optimistic about running for the 30th Legislative District House Representative position 2. As a way to commemorate Freeman, the mayor of Federal Way ordered flags in Federal Way to be flown at half-staff.

“I’m heartsick and I feel for his family, his children and his wife,” Sen. Tracey Eide said. “He’s done a phenomenal job the last couple of years. He’s a very fine man and will be missed.”

8. Federal Way chiropractor keeping Seahawks in top shape for Super Bowl (by Casey Olson, Jan. 28).

The 12th man could have local chiropractor Jim Kurtz to thank for the Seahawks’ Super Bowl win in 2014. Kurtz has worked as the team’s chiropractor for the three seasons before the big win as he managed his own clinic here in Federal Way, NW Sports Rehab. Kurtz traveled with the team to ensure everyone was in shape for the Super Bowl by doing adjustments and focusing on muscle work.

9. Federal Way mother in custody battle with former NBA player claims baby in Spain (by Raechel Dawson, Nov. 17).

Former NBA player Michael Deangelo Dickerson and Sandra Boughner, both from Federal Way, decided to travel the world together. But things got shaky when Boughner became pregnant with their daughter, Rahda. After giving birth and being isolated from her family, Boughner finally made her way back to Federal Way to tell her family about her travels and baby.

But Boughner didn’t bring Rahda. While home, she found out Dickerson was actually broke, among other issues. When she returned to Spain to call off the relationship and take back her baby, she couldn’t find the two. Boughner’s friends created a gofundme.com account to raise money for her so that she can get her daughter back to the states and arrange a proper custody hearing.

10. Widow of slain Federal Way police officer outraged at city following suit settlement (by Carrie Rodriguez, June 3).

After former police officer Patrick Maher died in 2003, his wife didn’t realize she was supposed to get money from a required insurance policy. While his collective bargaining agreement between the Federal Way Police Guild and the city of Federal Way mandated he sign up for the policy, he never did so it slipped through the cracks for nearly 10 years.

But his wife Renee discovered some inconsistencies in February 2013 and learned it was the city’s responsibility to ensure he hadn’t violated the agreement, which meant the insurance policy should have been in place when he died.

After Renee filed a lawsuit on Jan. 16, she and the city ended up settling for $88,000.