Dramas involving high stakes, warnings about poisonous giants, and soul-searching should Windsor's biggest employer ever leave the city dominated the headlines and our top ten most-read stories of 2018.
Mother Nature once again flexed her muscle in 2018 with meteor sightings over Windsor-Essex last January and summer tornadoes that touched down across the county, but it the rumbling under Amherstburg that was our third most read story of the year.
3. UPDATE: Earthquake In Windsor-Essex Upgraded To 4.1 Magnitude
Amherstburg Fire Department reported the tremour the evening of April 19. It was first reported as a 3.6 magnitude earthquake and was later upgraded to 4.1. Fortunately, there were no reports of damage.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada has two entries in the top ten most read stories of the year, including a welcome excuse for those who hate yard work this fall.
2. Still haven’t raked your leaves? Don’t bother
However, the story that captured the most attention on BlackburnNews.com/Windsor this year was a drama involving love, money, lost love, and lawsuits.
Photo of Maurice Thibeault and Denise Robertson courtesy of facebook
1. Lotto Dispute Gets Juicier With A Lawsuit
Former Chatham resident, Maurice Thibeault decided to sue the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation last June after winning $6.1-million in January. His former girlfriend, Denise Robertson laid claim to half the prize, more than $3-million. The lawsuit remains unresolved.
Here's a look at what else made the top ten most-read stories in 2018.
4. Police Operation At East Windsor McDonald’s
On April 9, Windsor Police officers shot a man in the parking lot of the McDonald's on the corner of Goyeau St. and Wyandotte St. after a man threatened them with knives.
5. Giant Hogweed Warning: Stay Away From This Giant
In its second appearance on the list, the Nature Conservancy of Canada urged Canadians to stay away from a giant weed with a nasty nature.
6. Coke bust at the Blue Water Bridge
Border officials on the U.S. side of the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia arrested a Canadian man in October after they found 280 lbs of cocaine.
7. Nightmare For Windsor If Largest Employer Leaves
As trade talks to reach a deal to replace NAFTA dragged on, officials were forced to consider the worst-case scenario; what would happen if Fiat-Chrysler left Windsor?
8. Leamington pot producer accused of money laundering
This fall should have been the biggest yet for Aphria in Leamington with the legalization of pot. Instead, a report questioning acquisitions outside of Canada sent share prices into a tailspin.
9. Missing Windsor man found dead in Toronto
Friends and family mourned the loss of a Windsor man whose body was found in Lake Ontario after he was last seen onboard a ferry.
10. Gene Simmons Of Kiss Fame Spotted At Leamington Restaurant
Kiss frontman, Gene Simmons was spotted at a Leamington restaurant and touring an area greenhouse prompting speculation he might be interested in a business venture.
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Now that the readers have had their say, our editors at BlackburnNews.com chose their top five stories for Windsor-Essex in 2018
5. Sergio Marchionne Dead At 66
Windsor lost a friend and a champion last July when the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Sergio Marchionne died shortly after shoulder surgery.
Striking Caesars Windsor employees picket outside the Glengarry Ave entrance on April 6, 2018. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
4. Caesars Windsor Workers Ratify New Contract
After seven weeks on the picket line, more than 2,000 workers at Caesars Windsor voted in favour of a new contract in a second ratification vote.
3. Higher pot supply by spring says cannabis CEO
Recreational pot, cannabis, or marijuana became legal October 17 ending decades of prohibition in Canada. While police reported few crime-related complications, the rollout was fraught with Canada-wide shortages of cannabis and delays in delivery.
2. Hardcastle: New NAFTA deal is an ‘epic, epic fail.’
Following months of difficult negotiations and uncertainty, Canada finally reached a new trade deal with the U.S. and Mexico, but not everyone was happy. The deal did not end U.S. imposed steel and aluminium tariffs, and the dairy industry was forced to open up to the American market.
Finally, our number one story as chosen by our editors at BlackburnNews.com, the continued opioid epidemic is Windsor police confirm investigations into drug deaths.
Windsor Police Chief Al Frederick, September 21, 2018. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
Over one weekend in mid-November, Windsor Police reported several opioid-related overdoses resulting in four deaths. Although deaths had been rising in Windsor-Essex and across the country, the weekend death toll brought into sharp focus the toll the epidemic was taking locally prompting greater calls for action and a debate over whether police officers in the city should carry life-saving naloxone kits.
