Using stats to calculate which stories got the most traffic, we have compiled the top 20 stories of 2013. This helps us know the types of stories our readers share and are most interested in.
1. September 17th, 55,785 views - Miramichi Online posted a story sent to us by the RCMP asking the public to look at some photos and see if they could identify the suspected child pornographer in them.
2. June 14th, 31,145 views - the unfortunate death of Scott Bowes on June 14th made headlines only a week before graduation. Scott was to graduate with his JMH classmates, but instead is grieved by his family and friends. The trial of man accused of causing his death will commence in May.
3. August 16th, 18,609 views- this was a simple notification from police that the Newcastle Bridge was closed to traffic because of a serious accident. Miramichiers were getting sensitive to traffic delays because a few weeks earlier there was gridlock on both sides of the river as there was an accident on both the Newcastle Bridge and the Centennial Bridge, and there was a paving going on at the intersection in Chatham Head.
4. June 14th, 17,302 - this was the intitial story about the accident that killed Scott Bowes. No names had been released at the time of the first story.
5. April 10th, 14,372 views - Dan Benoit, reporting for Miramichi Oline, submitted the story of a woman being allegedly stabbed to death by her son. Christian Jason Godin of 161 Hanover Street faces murder charges. It was the first murder in Miramichi in ten years.
6. August 30th, 11,905 views - the man accused of causing the death of Scott Bowes was charged in court. Tyler Kirk Gouchie faces 8 charges including impaired driving causing death.
7. June 2nd, 11,268 views - MO))) reported a rumour that Giant Tiger and Winners were coming to Miramichi because we were sent a floor plan of the Northumberland Mall that showed the retailers names. Spokesman for the companies denied the rumours, but local sources were confident they were coming. In September Giant Tiger confirmed they were coming, and in December Winners confirmed.
8. February 14th, 10,460 views - with the help of Miramichi Online, Miramichi Police pieced together the surveillance footage from Family Convenience on the night they were robbed by masked man with a weapon. The video was posted on Miramichi Online, and was viewed more than 13,000 times on YouTube.
9. January 3rd, 10,183 - on a bitterly cold night, fire crews battled a blaze that destroyed a building on Newcastle BLVD. The fire threatened a nearby restaurant, and water damage claimed the book store next door. MO))) posted videos and photos sent to us by readers as the fire was happening.
10. July 1st, 9,451 - accidents on both bridges marred the July 1st holiday as traffic came to a stop on both sides of the river. Paving crews at the intersection in Chatham Head also didn't help.
11. June 13th, 9,376 views - Rolly Carroll was arrested in Napan by the RCMP. He had 2000 methamphetamine pills. The Meth charges were later dropped, but he faces cocaine trafficking charges.
12. June 7th, 9,103 - MO))) posted the success story of Tanner Stewart. The Nelson man started his own company in Alberta, and it is now worth millions, and employs over a 100 people.
13. June 24th, 9,074 views - Donald Joseph Martin was taken into custody on child porn charges. Martin was later convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison for distributing child porn.
14. October 15th, 8,094 - three men are accused of beating two others outside a nightclub in Newcastle. Witnesses told MO))) the beating was unprovoked. Brett Sterling Sturgeon, 18, Brody Joseph Sturgeon, 20, and David Brandon Kenny, 23, are accused of the assaults and their trial dates have been set.
15. June 30th, 7,554 views - a man was arrested by Miramichi Police for holding up a sign on the Centennial bridge. The sign had derogatory remarks about a Miramichi doctor. The same man faces criminal harassment charges for a similar incident.
16. May 9th, 7,52 views - there were tears of disbelief when Miramichi lawyer George Martin was found guilty of obstruction of justice. The verdict came in at 8:30 pm that night. Martin was accused of obstructing justice when he was heard on a wire tap instructing the wife of a client to hide something from police.
17. September 23rd, 6,757 views - a woman was arrested At Walmart on unrelated issues after witnesses called the police because they did not like the way the woman disciplined her child in the store.
18. May 6th, 6337 views - Dr. Sanjay reacted to further job cuts at the Miramichi hospital by giving an interview to MO))) in which he ripped the middle management at the hospital for being a “fluffy and fat” bureaucracy responsible for worsening patient care.
19. July 29th, 6291 views - a young driver lost control of a car by the library in Newcastle and ended up in the river. This story had lots of comments and that's what drove up the views.
20. November 24th, 6,170 views - a woman was struck and killed by a car in Millbank. Kathleen Frances Mary Rendell was 32 years old.