As the year draws to a close, here are five people, places, and things that will linger pleasantly in Chicagoans’ collective memory—and eight more that will live in infamy. See below.

The Best
 

The nine-year-old Marcus Garvey Elementary student’s speech to a local union on May 20 made it to MSNBC—and, according to the Tribune, helped save his school, which was slated for closing.

The cofounder of A Red Orchid Theatre killed it as General Zod, Superman’s nemesis in Man of Steel, which premiered June 14 and became the third-highest-grossing film of the year.

With 1:17 left in the third period, the Hawks stunned the Boston Bruins at the United Center with two quick goals to win the game—and the Cup—on June 24. It doesn’t get better.

The ’90s rockers kept fans at Wrigley Field until 2 a.m. on July 20 (highlights included Eddie Vedder’s Cubs anthem “All the Way,” featuring Hall of Famer Ernie Banks) in what Rolling Stone called an “epic show.”

For the Girl & the Goat owner’s October 6 nuptials, pastry chef Mathew Rice incorporated the bride’s favorites: Cheez-Its and bacon buttercream frosting.

The Worst
 

On February 20, former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, ex-alderman Sandi Jackson, pleaded guilty to using campaign contributions for personal expenses.
 

The satirical paper’s February 24 tweet about a 9-year-old actress—“Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a [expletive], right?”—led to its first-ever apology.
 

On March 20, aldermen leaked the list of public schools slated for closing just as the Emanuels jetted to the slopes of Utah.
 

It swallowed three cars on the Southeast Side on April 18 after a water main breach undermined soil beneath the pavement.
 

At a high-school commencement on June 29 at Chicago State University, he told the graduates: “Congratulations! You have graduated from one of the most terrible, substandard school systems in the entire world.”
 

“It takes real work to actually enjoy [this] music,” wrote critic Leor Galil of ex–Groupon CEO Andrew Mason’s country/hip-hop/gospel effort, released July 2.

The Department of Public Health found 200 fruit flies and 30 cockroaches infesting the high-end Streeterville market on July 15. (It’s now closed.)
 

The flesh-eating heroin knockoff surfaced in Joliet in October, sending three teens to the hospital.