In our series “2025 in Review,” WTOP takes a look back at the some of 2025’s most memorable or impactful stories that happened in the D.C. area. Listen on air, read and watch them online.
A lot of us over the last 12 months would hear a story on WTOP or read a headline and then shake our heads in disbelief while thinking, “This can’t be real.”
There were other times when we would hear about someone in the news that would cause us to have a lump in our throats or a tear in our eyes because it gave us hope or made us feel good.
One of those moments for a lot of us here at WTOP was in October, when Luke Lukert shared Dr. Michael Feuerstein’s story.
“Are you ready? OK,” said Melissa Blumgart, an audiologist with MedStar Health in Northwest D.C. “OK sir, can you hear my voice?” she asked.
“I hear it, and I hear mine,” he responded.
That’s the exact moment the state-of-the-art cochlear implant was turned on for the 75-year-old. It has been decades since he was able to hear out of his right ear, but thanks to an updated cochlear implant, he can hear his wife and family clearly.
In April, WTOP was there when 19 people graduated from D.C. Central Kitchen’s culinary job training program.
Ja’Sent Brown, D.C. Central Kitchen’s impact officer, said the program teaches more than just cooking.
“They spent 14 weeks gaining not just knife skills, but really life skills,” Brown said. “Our students join us from many different paths.”
This is a second chance for a lot of the students, as some have been incarcerated or in recovery.
Jonique Vaughan is one of the graduates, and there are few times you will see someone look as happy as he did as he walked across the stage to receive his diploma.
“Man, I’m learning how to do great things without substance in my life. And it feels, it feels awesome,” Vaughan said.
In September, reporter Mike Murillo proved that not all heroes wear capes when he introduced us to Tilwonna Gollman Stevenson.
The Montgomery County Ride On Bus operator was praised for her swift action and compassion after helping reunite a missing woman with dementia and her family.
Stevenson was driving her normal route through Germantown when a woman boarded the bus.
“When she got on the bus, she stood out to me because she’s not one of my regulars,” Stevenson recalled.
The elderly woman with dementia had wandered away from a nearby hospital and Stevenson stayed with the lady until police arrived.
Ride On commended Stevenson with a certificate of appreciation.
“I just wanted to keep her calm, and I wanted her to know that she was safe,” Stevenson said.
There were 450 thrilled kids this past October in Northeast D.C. at Miner Elementary School. WTOP’s Luke Lukert was there as the students got to pick out free Nikes thanks to Nordstrom and the nonprofit Shoes That Fit.
“They look nice. I never had a pair of these, my first time,” said Kingston Cook, a fifth grader at Miner Elementary School. “I was actually pretty happy because I get shoes, but only for Christmas and stuff.”
Miner Elementary School Principal Carrie Broquard said the parents were thrilled.
“They’re amazed. It sounds too good to be true. They are really, really grateful,” Broquard said.
A few weeks after the shoes were handed out, a group of kids were equally happy across the bridge in the Commonwealth at Alexandria’s Just Dance Studio.
For the last nine years, children with Down syndrome have had the opportunity to be introduced to ballet thanks to The Purple Tutu, which is under the umbrella of ArtSpireVa.
Every Sunday, the dancers receive a free 30-minute ballet class, taught by members of the West Potomac High School dance team.
As much fun as the young dancers and the teachers are having, parents such as Erica Kraft look just as happy.
Kraft’s 13-year-old daughter Elsie has been in the program for seven years.
“Ballet gives her a lot of mental and physical strength,” Kraft said. “From the emotional part, it gives her such pride and confidence.”
It would be hard not to see the joy Elsie gets from dancing, and she does give her mom credit for her dancing skills, but not so much her dad.
“Dad’s dance moves are horrible,” Elsie said.
On July 4, not only was it our country’s birthday, but it was the 101st birthday of a resident of Brightview Fallsgrove senior living community in Rockville, Maryland.
Calling Thelma Spencer sharp as a tack does not fully state how “with it” she is.
She reads multiple papers daily, and only gave up driving two years ago, saying she was not as mobile as she was at 99.
During WTOP’s chat with Spencer, it was revealed that her grandfather, who once held her in his arms, fought for his freedom in the Civil War.
Little did he know that his granddaughter would go on to do great things.
After earning her doctorate from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Spencer went on to devote her life to improving standardized testing at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey.
“I know I made a difference because I have been the first in many different situations, but I also made sure I was not the last,” Spencer said.
Before Spencer went to her birthday party, she shared her secret to a long life.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Spencer said.
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