The year began with an icy blanket of snow frosting Tallahassee in early January. College students took to the streets to sled downhill on folding tables and yard signs. While across town, families blew up inflatable pool toys and slid down hills off Thomasville Road.
As 2025 continued to unravel, Florida State University and the community surrounding it were devastated when a student opened fire outside the student union building on April 17, killing two employees and injuring five students. The faculty, staff, student body and families were shaken, gut wrenched and left mourning the loss of two innocent lives.
Change was another theme in 2025, as Marva Johnson overcame a wall of opposition to become Florida A&M University’s 13th president in August.
Controversy arrived in March when Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare was put up for sale by the City of Tallahassee, unbeknownst to the hospital CEO Mark O’Bryant and the TMH board. A deal was put into the works with FSU and after months of back and forth, input from citizens, commissioners and others, a price tag was agreed upon.
Amid more shootings, TMH revealed the hidden heroics inside its emergency room in May, allowing the Tallahassee Democrat access to witness the doctors and medical staff who play a vital role in the decades long fight with gun violence.
Also notable: Donna Adelson was the fourth person tried in connection with the murder of her former son-in-law Dan Markel. Adelson received a guilty verdict and life sentence in August.
“No Kings” protests took over cities throughout the country as Americans voiced their opposition to the Trump Administration. Tallahassee was a gathering place for activists who waved signs and chanted outside the Capitol building. And ICE arrested more than 100 people at a construction site.
This is 2025 in photos. See more of the best photos at tallahassee.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 2025 Tallahassee snapshot: Best photos from a year of icy fun, wrenching tragedy
Reporting by Alicia Devine, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
