From a Salvadoran couple who sought refuge from the horrors of civil war in the United States to seniors in Elko struggling to access health care, The Nevada Independent told stories this year about the very real and human consequences of big-picture policy decisions.

We provided in-depth coverage of an intense and nationally important midterm election in Nevada, including a fact-check of claims made by proponents of the Energy Choice Initiative, profiles of two candidates who faced off in the U.S. Senate race and a look at the grades given to Nevada politicians by the National Rifle Association.

We also took the time to dig in and tell stories that often are not, with reporter Jackie Valley embedding in an elementary school in East Las Vegas for an entire school year for a deep dive into the triumphs and the challenges within the world of education. We even sent Daniel Rothberg off on a sage grouse hunt for a window into the imperiled bird and conservation efforts in the state.

Below we've included some of our favorite stories this year. We hope they were among your favorites, too.

Jan. 26: "In Vegas, day laborers living on the fringes learn to fight for their rights"

Day laborers live life on the fringes. Though they face wage theft and other abuses related to their under-the-table gigs, they're often afraid to report out of a fear of deportation. Luz Gray and Michelle Rindels spent time with some of these workers and took a look at how a new resource center that opened this year is trying to empower them.

April 1: "Connecting the Dots: How the NRA has graded every Nevada politician since 2002"

Republicans frequently tout their top grades from the National Rifle Association, but many Nevada Democrats received high marks from the group over the last decade as well. Riley Snyder dug through 954 grades issued by the NRA in its online database to see how lawmakers and candidates on both sides of the aisle fared with the gun rights organization.

April 8: "In the boomtown that never went bust, retirees face barriers accessing primary care"

The first answer a retiree in Elko typically gives when asked why he or she is moving away is grandkids. But ask a second or third question and they'll admit health care was a factor, too. Megan Messerly traveled to rural Nevada to take a look at the barriers to accessing health care that seniors face in a town that suffers from a shortage of health-care providers.

April 29: "For Vegas business owners, fleeting security of TPS came after surviving horrors of Salvadoran war"

Luz Gray and Michelle Rindels told the story of one Salvadoran couple who made their way through the darkness of civil war to come to the United States and open Olocuilta, a restaurant in East Las Vegas. The Trump administration announced earlier this year that it would phase out the Temporary Protected Status program for Salvadorans, though a federal court has temporarily halted the administration's enforcement of its decision to terminate the program through an injunction.

June 24-28: "Stars and Struggles"

Jackie Valley spent a year embedded inside Sunrise Acres, an elementary school in East Last Vegas, for a firsthand look at not the challenges but the triumphs in the day-to-day life of a school, its teachers and its students. The five-part series introduces the school, before focusing on budgetary challenges, the education ecosystem, challenges with discipline and students' home lives and the pressures of testing.

July 11: "Drugs, dismemberment led 'great kid' Scott Dozier to Nevada's death row"

Death row inmate Scott Dozier was scheduled to be executed earlier this year before a court intervened with hours to go after a last-minute challenge by the manufacturer of one of the drugs set to be used in the execution. In advance of the planned execution, Michelle Rindels took a deep dive into Dozier's troubled life, the history of the death penalty in Nevada and an execution manual laying out Dozier's final day. Riley Snyder also looked at the drug combination that was slated to be used and pieced together a timeline of executions in the state.

Aug. 19: "Indy Fact Check: Claims of lower electric rates from energy choice backers need significant context"

Resident fact-checker Riley Snyder investigated a claim made by supporters of the Energy Choice Initiative that passing the constitutional amendment would have lowered energy rates in Nevada and that electric rates in retail choice states are 14 percent lower than those in other states. He found that while electric rates in retail choice states have gone down in price over the last decade compared to monopoly states, the overall claim is missing some significant context.

Sept. 26: "Immigrant mom who was held in Nevada reunited with daughter, awaits the unknown in family detention center"

Luz Gray and Michelle Rindels told the story of a single mother from Guatemala who was reunited with her 5-year-old daughter after being separated because of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy. Olivia Aguilar Bamaca, the mother, told them how her daughter now hugs her and starts to cry every time she sees a family detention center official because she is afraid they will be separated again.

Oct. 7: "A Reporter in Grouse Country: At Massacre Rim, a city councilman and a conservationist hunt an imperiled bird"

In this longread, Daniel Rothberg examines the decades-long battle over balancing development with conservation on America's public lands through the lens of a sage grouse hunting trip. Though the bird is under threat, there are places like Massacre Rim where its habitat is doing well and the sage grouse can be hunted, within limits set by the state.

Oct. 7: "The Color Purple: Why more voters are becoming nonpartisans"

The number of voters opting to register as neither Republican nor Democrat is quickly growing in Nevada. In fact, Clark County voters who are not a member of either major political party will soon outpace Republicans in terms of voter registration numbers. The majority of those are nonpartisans, the name Nevada gives to its independent voters. In this story, Jackie Valley talked to many nonpartisans to figure out why they're bucking the two major parties.

Oct. 14-15: "Dean Heller goes to Washington, but would he rather be home" and "Jacky Rosen: From politically invisible to the center of a critical Senate rate"

In two profiles of this year's U.S. Senate candidates, Megan Messerly took a deeper look into what drove Democrat Jacky Rosen, a first-term congresswoman, and Republican Dean Heller, the incumbent, to run for office. Through a combination of interviews with the candidates (when possible), their friends, their colleagues, a review of newspaper clippings and time spent on the campaign trail, she pieced together the stories of their lives for a glimpse behind the stump speeches.

Oct. 24: "Ryan Bundy is free and running for governor. But is anyone listening?"

Ryan Bundy made a longshot bid for governor this year, only winning 1.4 percent of the vote when the final totals rolled in. But in this profile, Daniel Rothberg went behind the scenes with Bundy, who helped lead his family's armed 2014 standoff with federal land managers and joined his brother at an armed takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge, to look at exactly why an anti-government protester would launch a campaign to become a part of the government.