Top stories read on Your Local News in 2021

As we come to the end of yet another strange year, we again look back with a little less fondness than we had hoped to on stories that dominated our local headlines. While the pandemic was there, just as intrusive as the year before, it was again the local tragedies outside of coronavirus that dominated the headlines on Your Local News.

I am often asked, “Why all the bad news?” This list usually validates the answer, “Because that is what everybody reads.” And 2021 was no different. In the top 26 stories, there were very few that were not pretty heart-wrenching – really just No. 19 on the potential of snow next week and No. 26 on the opening of Publix in Monroe in January 2022.

These stories were not chosen by us – they were chosen by the readers. The statistics recorded for online publications give exactly how many times a story has been read. Sadly, most of them again reflect tragic incidents and losses that were experienced by members of our community during 2021.

We will continue to pray for healing for those who lost loved ones this year, those lost to the pandemic as well as to the many other tragedies. Our hope for the community as we say goodbye to 2021 is that we have much more upbeat and happy news to celebrate next year.

And in the meantime, we wish all our readers a happy, peaceful, prosperous and above all a healthy 2022. Bring it on – we’re more than ready!

1. Update: Victim in head-on collision passes away
2. Update: Names of victims in fatal vehicle crash in Jersey Tuesday released
3. Update: Injured man in Loganville road rage shooting incident charged with aggravated assault
4. Update: 29-year-old Monroe woman dies in crash in Monroe Wednesday afternoon
5. Update: Loganville man who shot himself following a traffic stop Sunday has passed away
6. Update: Victims identified in Sunday’s I-20 crash; charges pending
7. Update: Victims identified in Friday’s head-on collision in Monroe
8. Letter and plaque on Moore’s Ford Lynching gives rise to heated exchange between Monroe Mayor and Councilman
9. Breaking: Fatal golf cart accident in Walton County Wednesday involved a child
10.Update: Woman involved in collision with horse remains critical; charges likely against horse rider
11.Breaking: Federal agents are conducting an investigation in a Loganville neighborhood
12.Update: Victims in Thursday morning crash in Loganville identified
13.Update: Victim identified in fatal car crash on the Alcovy River Bridge as 31-year-old Monroe man
14.Obituary and funeral service: Aiden Ellis ‘Bug,’ 10, of Loganville
15.Update: 2-vehicle crash on Ga. 138 Thursday results in a fatality
16.Update: Second passenger in the Sunday’s crash on Highway 138 succumbs to her injuries
17.Update: Additional charges to filed against horse rider following the death of the driver in the Aug. 1 collision on Highway 81
18.Update: Charges pending in overnight crash that injured 3 teens
19.Meteorologist flirts with the ‘S’ word early in the New Year for some parts of Georgia
20.Update: Woman charged in Tuesdays alleged child abuse case in Monroe
21.Update: Driver of van that crashed resulting in 6 deaths in Gwinnett has been arrested
22.Update: One of the victims in the Nov. 9 head-on crash on GA 138 has passed away
23.Update: Identity released of 25-year-old Loganville man who died in traffic crash over the weekend
24.Update: Student receives non-life-threatening injuries after jumping from rear window of school bus
25.Update: Automotive repair shop in Loganville sustains major fire damage Wednesday afternoon
26.Publix retail development on track for January 2022 opening, officials say