As the year comes to a close, BlackburnNews.com is taking a look at the stories that got the most reaction from you.
2016 was the year Windsor hosted the FINA World Swimming Championships, Essex County library workers hit the picket lines in one of the region's longest labour disputes and thousands of basements flooded in a September deluge that dropped 200mm of rain on some parts of Windsor, Tecumseh and Lakeshore. However, it was crime that got the most attention on BlackburnNews.com.
Number Three
The third most popular story of the year was on May 1. Windsor police were called in to investigate after a poem posted by a student on the app Whisper was mistakenly interpreted as a threat against staff and students at Walkerville Collegiate Institute.
Crews assess and clean up the damage left near the EC Row Expressway and Central Avenue in Windsor on August 25, 2016 after a tornado hit the area. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)
Number Two
On September 24, Windsor police issued an alert on social media asking the public to help find two boys reported missing. The boys' names were never released, and fortunately, they were found a short time later.
Number One
BlackburnNews.com's most viewed story in 2016 bucks the trend of crime stories. On the evening of August 24, two tornados touched down, first in LaSalle and then, just minutes later in the Central Ave. and E.C. Row Exwy. area of Windsor, causing significant damage to homes and buildings. No one was hurt, but Environment Canada later reported the twisters were the strongest to touch down in Ontario this year.
The Best of the Rest
4. On September 22, Crime Stoppers of Windsor-Essex held an emergency meeting after its president was arrested. The Ontario Provincial Police arrested two men, including 44-year-old Jon Paul Fuller of Lakeshore after carrying out a search warrant at a Leamington greenhouse. Inside, they found 2,900 marijuana plants and 91lbs of harvested marijuana worth more than $3-million. Crime Stoppers quickly replaced Fuller with Past President Charlie Hotham.
5. Tragedy struck again on Hwy. 3 when seven vehicles collided on May 20 between County Rd. 18 and Upcott Side Rd. This time one person died and four were rushed to hospital with injuries.
Madison Arseneault, left, is in hospital following an serious injury in Windsor. (Photo courtesy GoFundMe)
6. A 14-year-old girl suffered severe injuries when she was impaled with the handle of a golf club at the Ford Test Track. On June 1, Madison Arsenault's family filed a lawsuit against the City of Windsor. Arsenault had been running with her grade 8 class from Gordon McGregor Public School at the time.
7. George Wilms of Lakeshore died in a single-vehicle crash on Morris Rd. September 5. The Ontario Provincial Police say his pickup truck left the road and ended up in a farmer's field. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
8. Another fatal crash made headlines in May when two vehicles collided near Kingsville at the intersection of Road 6 E and Graham Side Rd. Two pickup trucks slammed into each other killing 70-year-old Earle Armstrong. A second Kingsville man was charged with failing to stop at a stop sign.
9. A shock for the Chatham-Kent Police Service on May 31 when the province's Special Investigations Unit found grounds to charge Constable Kenneth Miller with sexual assault. A 23-year-old woman complained that she had been driven to a parking lot in August of 2015 and sexually assaulted. Chatham-Kent Police notified the SIU shortly after and Miller was suspended.
Windsor block off area of Pillette Rd. and Wyandotte St. E before arresting a gunman, June 1, 2016. (Photo by Jason Viau)
10. On the morning of June 1, residents living in Windsor's Pillette Village awoke to find their community on lock-down. Police were searching the area for a gunman. The drama began to unfold at 12:30am when police received reports of gunfire on Grandview between Rivard and McMahon Ave. Their search quickly centred on the area of Wyandotte St. E and Pillette Rd. where the suspect was believed to live. Police arrested Richard Wallace and charged him with four weapon offences.
