W hile Dec. 21 came and went without anything particularly apocalyptic, anyone watching the news during the year could be forgiven for seeing a variety of signs in the heavens, including a giant fireball crossing the sky in April, an eclipse in May and the crossing of the sun by Venus in June.January didn't do much to improve the drought picture, which had been framed by two months without measurable precipitation. But while the weather was dry, the economic picture looked up a little bit with home sales approaching near pre-recession levels.Mitt Romney locked up the Douglas County caucus along …