Jan. 1, 1945: We jumped ahead to see what The Times considered the top stories of 1944, the year we’re going to focus on in 2014. The D-Day (current Times style being D-day) invasion is the most important story, followed by what we now know as the Battle of the Bulge.

Times columnist Tom Treanor is killed in August during the liberation of France.

Spanish will be taught in all grades at Los Angeles schools (Aug. 27).

Esther Takei, the first Japanese American to return to Los Angeles from an internment camp, arrives to enroll in college.  (Sept. 11).

Movies for 1944: “Going My Way,” “Double Indemnity” and “Wilson.”

Other top local stories include the death of Times Publisher Harry Chandler (Sept. 23), a 19.4% increase in juvenile delinquency, raises for police officers and firefighters, a ban on smoking on streetcars, and several ominous items involving the Los Angeles streetcar system: Lower fares for the Pacific Electric and Los Angeles railway systems and sale of the Los Angeles Railway Corp. and half-interest in the Los Angeles Motor Coach Lines to American City Lines of Chicago.

And Los Angeles is trying to figure out what to do about the toxic fumes in the air.