Happy New Year to all of the Valley community. Like New Year’s resolutions, we have a tradition at the record of, at the end of the year, looking back on our most read stories of the year. Instead of our choices for the big stories, of the year, this list is entirely reader driven. The more views and clicks a news story got, the higher on the list it climbed.
So, in the past year, what did you readers like the best? Well, number one is one of my favorites, too. It’s the tale of Yogi, the resilient boxer who got lost on a hike just two days before the start of 2017 and found his way home to his family days later after who knows what adventure.
I wrote it, yes, but that’s not why I say it’s a great story. No, it’s a great story because it had elements of all great stories — emotional highs and lows, a loveable main character (have you seen Yogi’s photo?), a whole family of smart and determined heroes, not one, but two courageous quests and a happy ending. We don’t always get those, so we have to treasure the ones we do.
According to our year-end website statistics, you probably thought it was a great story, too. “Lost on a trail, missing Boxer finds his way home after four stormy days” was the most-read story on the Valley Record website in the past year.
Our top 10 list also included its share of tragedy, crime, business and feel-good stories. A death at Snoqualmie Falls was our second most-read story, followed by the era-ending closure of the Snoqualmie Valley Riding Club at number 3. A car crash at the North Bend Post Office was fourth, and an update on planned development on Snoqualmie Ridge was fifth.
The news showed a distinctly more positive trend in the bottom half of the top 10. The planned opening of Heirloom Cookshop in downtown Snoqualmie was sixth, North Bend’s new 32-acre mountain bike park, to be named Tennant Trailhead Park was seventh and an update on North Bend’s downtown plaza project was eighth. A local woman’s 15 minutes of fame with Oprah was our ninth most read story, and the top 10 ended on a sad note with the announced closure of Miller’s Mercantile in Carnation Dec. 31.
Here’s the list of our top stories of 2017:
1. Lost on a trail, missing Boxer finds his way home after four stormy days
2. South county woman killed Wednesday at Snoqualmie Falls
3. Snoqualmie Valley Riding Club shuts down after 70 years
A horse rider from the early days of the riding club. (Photo Courtesy of the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum)
4. Car crashes into North Bend Post office entry; driver was uninjured
Damage to the canopy pillar at the entrance of the North Bend Post Office in March closed the building temporarily. (Evan Pappas/Staff Photo)
5. Snoqualmie Ridge grocery store, hotel, slated for development in Snoqualmie in 2017
6. Historic Snoqualmie bank building owners lease to local chef
Kristen Schumacher is planning to open her business, Heirloom Cookshop, in Snoqualmie’s historic bank building by July. (Courtesy of Kristey Ray)
7. North Bend to create new mountain bike park with help of $1 million county grant
8. North Bend plaza project on track for summer construction
9. Snoqualmie woman shares weight-loss success story with national audience, Oprah
Jennifer Morin of Snoqualmie flew down to Santa Barbara, Calif. to shoot a commercial for Weight Watchers with Oprah Winfrey earlier this year. (Courtesy Photo)
10. Miller’s Mercantile to close in Carnation at end of the year
11. North Bend doctor offers advice, solar filters, for safely watching solar eclipse Aug. 21
Cooper and Kolten don special viewing glasses to watch the Aug. 21 solar eclipse on Snoqualmie Ridge. (Carol Ladwig/Staff Photo)
12. ‘Twin Peaks’ revival can’t come soon enough for Valley cities
13. Logger killed in accident on Snoqualmie Tree Farm Tuesday
15. Best of the Valley 2017 voting results announced
16. Snoqualmie mayoral candidates tackle growth, finance, other city issues in Q&A
17. Branch college campus proposed for Mountain Meadows Farm; Public meeting on proposal is Aug. 31
Alexis Hujar addresses the crowd of several hundred people at a community meeting about the future of Mountain Meadows Farm in August, which owner Chun Hou has proposed as the future site of an agricultural colleage. (Carol Ladwig/Staff Photo)
18. Devoted fans welcome premiere of ‘Twin Peaks’ in North Bend
The Twin Peaks filming location tour group gathers for a picture during North Bend’s day of festivities leading up to the premiere of season 3 of the “Twin Peaks” television premiere. (Photo Courtesy of Mary Miller)
19. Preservation group seeks to stop Dahlgren development, purchase ‘mule pasture’ land for park
20. Hundreds turn out to debate future of Mountain Meadows Farm
