Best U.S. news photos of 2014

Throughout the year, AP photojournalists capture critical events across the U.S. - from the massive drought that hit California, to the legalization of marijuana across the nation, to the the Fort Hood shooting. 

As the editors of AP Images blog, we are proud to highlight the best photos from the top U.S. news stories of 2014.

Washington Mudslide

The massive mudslide that killed at least eight people and left dozens missing is shown in this aerial photo, Monday, March 24, 2014, near Arlington, Wash. The search for survivors grew Monday, raising fears that the death toll could climb far beyond the eight confirmed fatalities. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Rethinking Pot Northeast

In this photo made Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, former U.S. Marine Sgt. Ryan Begin smokes medical marijuana at his home in Belfast, Maine. Begin had his right elbow blown off by a roadside bomb in 2004 and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Maine could lead the way for legalization in the northeast, as two of its biggest cities have gone legal, and advocates want to take it statewide. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Violence Against Women

FILE - In this May 24, 2014 file photo, students march on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara during a candlelight vigil held to honor the six victims of a mass killing in Isla Vista, Calif. Sheriff's officials said Elliot Rodger, 22, went on the rampage near UC Santa Barbara. Accounts of Rodger's hostility to women, and his bitterness over sexual rejection, led to an outpouring of commentary and online debate over the extent of misogyny and male entitlement. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

APTOPIX Fort Hood

Active members of the military, veterans and civilians march through Lions Club Park to pay tribute to the victims and families affected by the Fort Hood shooting, on Friday, April 4, 2014, in Killeen, Texas. On April 2, three people were killed and 16 were wounded when a gunman opened fire before taking his own life at the Fort Hood military base. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa)

YE Domestic Violence

FILE - In this May 23, 2014, file photo, Janay Rice, left, looks on as her husband, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, speaks during an NFL football news conference at the team's practice facility in Owings Mills, Md. Ray Rice spoke to the media for the first time since his arrest for assaulting his fiance, now his wife, at a casino in Atlantic City, N.J. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

California Drought Water School

FILE - This May 1, 2014, file photo shows irrigation water runs along a dried-up ditch between rice farms in Richvale, Calif. In Santa Cruz, Calif., dozens of residents who violated their strict water rations take a seat at Water School, hoping to get hundreds of thousands of dollars in distressing penalties waived. California is in the third year of the state's worst drought in recent history. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

APTOPIX California Wildfires

A plane drops fire retardant over a hot spot on Wednesday, May 14, 2014, in San Marcos, Calif. Wednesday, May 14, 2014, in San Marcos, Calif. Flames engulfed suburban homes and shot up along canyon ridges in one of the worst of several blazes that broke out Wednesday in Southern California during a second day of a sweltering heat wave, taxing fire crews who fear the scattered fires mark only the beginning of a long wildfire season. (AP Photo)

Obama Holder Resignation

President Barack Obama, right, and the audience applaud as Attorney General Eric Holder wipes his eye, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, where the president announced that Holder is resigning. Holder, who served as the public face of the Obama administration's legal fight against terrorism and weighed in on issues of racial fairness, is resigning after six years on the job. He is the first black U.S. attorney general. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Sept 11 Museum

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013, file photo taken with a fisheye lens, One World Trade Center, center, overlooks the wedge-shaped pavilion entrance of the National September 11 Museum, lower right, and the square outlines of the memorial waterfalls in New York. The long-awaited museum dedicated to the victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks will open to the public at the World Trade Center site on May 21, officials announced Monday, March 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

APTOPIX Immigration Overload LI

In this July 17, 2014 photo, Maria Ruiz, 9, plays with neighbors in the front yard of her apartment building in Huntington Station, N.Y. Ruiz traveled from Nicaragua to the United States with her sister in June of 2013. Since October 2013, 4,244 minors who crossed Rio Grande River illegally, without their parents, have made New York their home. Metropolitan New York cases are being handled by the federal Immigration Court in New York City, which is struggling to allocate resources, including pro bono lawyers. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

APTOPIX Deep Freeze

Homes are seen covered in snow and ice Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014, in Chicago. An arctic blast eased its grip on much of the U.S. on Wednesday, with winds calming and the weather warming slightly a day after temperature records — some more than a century-old — shattered up and down the Eastern Seaboard.(AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Gay Marriage-Nevada

Jefferson Ruck, right, and Thomas Topovski react as they hear they can get a marriage license at the Marriage License Bureau Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, in Las Vegas. The two were one of the first few couples to get a same-sex marriage license in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

APTOPIX Sony Hack Theaters

A poster for the movie "The Interview" is taken down by a worker after being pulled from a display case at a Carmike Cinemas movie theater, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014, in Atlanta. Georgia-based Carmike Cinemas has decided to cancel its planned showings of "The Interview" in the wake of threats against theatergoers by the Sony hackers. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

ADDITION APTOPIX NYPD Officers Shot

ADDS BOTH OFFICERS KILLED - Mourners stand at attention as the bodies of two fallen NYPD police officers are transported from Woodhull Medical Center, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014, in New York. An armed man walked up to two New York Police Department officers sitting inside a patrol car and opened fire Saturday afternoon, killing both officers before running into a nearby subway station and committing suicide, police said. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Breeders Cup Horse Racing

Exercise rider Willie Delgado and California Chrome wait for the track to open during morning workouts ahead of the Breeders' Cup Classic horse race at Santa Anita Park Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014, in Arcadia, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Police Chokehold Death

Atiya Elliott-Semper, of Atlanta, holds up a sign during a demonstration in Atlanta on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014 against the deaths of two unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

White House Security

The White House is seen through the North Lawn perimeter fence in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. An intruder managed to jump the north fence of the White House and escape capture until he was inside the North Portico entrance of the White House. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

YE Police Shooting Missouri

FOR USE AS DESIRED, YEAR END PHOTOS - FILE - Protesters march in the street as lightning flashes in the distance in Ferguson, Mo. on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. On Aug. 9, 2014, a white police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year old, in the St. Louis suburb. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

General Motors Recall Congress

General Motors CEO Mary Barra lowers her eyeglasses as she testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 1, 2014, before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation. The committee is looking for answers from Barra about safety defects and mishandled recall of 2.6 million small cars with a faulty ignition switch that's been linked to 13 deaths and dozen of crashes. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

APTOPIX Ebola NYC Doctor

Police officers stand outside the home of Craig Spencer, a Doctors Without Borders physician who recently returned to the city after treating Ebola patients in West Africa, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014, in New York. Spencer tested positive for the virus, according to preliminary test results, city officials said. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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