BlackburnNews.com is looking back at the stories that had the most impact as decided by both you, the reader, and us the staff.
It was a year that saw significant flooding along the lakes, labour strife at manufacturing plants and schools, and scammers who blew up your phone.
First, let's get to the stories you voted the most important by how many page views they collected online.
Our tenth most-read story of the past year was about a double fatal crash in Leamington last June that claimed two young lives.
On Father's Day, a vehicle left Mersea Road 1 at Mersea Road 19, rolled, and landed submerged in a water-filled ditch.
Paramedics had to free three teens after a fourth managed to escape the vehicle.
A 17-year-old and a 14-year-old were hurt, but the crash claimed the lives of 15-year-old Nicholas Wiebe and 13-year-old Henry Reimer of Wheatley.
******* Our ninth most-read story was also from Leamington.
Provincial police and firefighters were called to the shore of Lake Erie near 700 Point Pelee Drive after the body of a man was found in mid-June.
Police later identified the man was 48-year-old Michel Gaudreault of Leamington.
Gaudreault was reported missing in February. Police determined his death not suspicious.
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(© Can Stock Photo / tomwang)
A story about new mandatory courses for grade ten students was BlackburnNews.com's eighth most-read story of 2019.
In July, Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced starting in September, grade ten students in Ontario would have to take a newly revised career studies course to earn their high school diploma.
The course would focus on financial management and budgeting. It would also teach students about the skilled trades, reasoning, and debate.
******* Our seventh most-read story of the year was about a hit and run crash in Leamington.
In October, 85-year-old Joyce Morency died after she was struck by a vehicle leaving the driveway of The Superstore on Talbot Street East.
Morency was in an electric wheelchair at the time, and initially, her police said her injuries were non-life-threatening.
Police arrested a 23-year-old Windsor man after releasing photos to the media.
Julian Helou was charged with failing to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in death. The charge has not been proven in court.
******* A story about a Chatham woman who died in a crash in Lakeshore in November was our sixth most-read story.
The Ontario Provincial Police identified 53-year-old Brenda King as the victim of a single-vehicle crash at Tecumseh Road and Lighthouse Road. The crash happened overnight and was discovered around 7 in the morning by a passerby.
King and her husband owned Dockside on the Cove, a popular restaurant in Lighthouse Cove.
"She always took care of us... she was like our mom," said Joslynn Wassing, a chef at the restaurant.
******** If your phone seemed to be ringing off the hook because of scam phone calls, maybe you helped propel this story into the top five most-read stories on BlackburnNews.com of 2019.
In March, the RCMP asked for the public's help investigating the CRA scam. It had been working with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre to dismantle an illegal call centre network in India.
In addition to annoying Canadian cellphone users, it also duped many victims.
******* Labour strife at Ontario schools also made an appearance in our top ten list. The closure of both public high and elementary schools in Windsor-Essex for a one-day strike by members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation sent this story into the number four spot.
On December 4, thousands of public school students had a day off when not only high school teachers but elementary school support staff walked off the job to protest the lack of progress in contract talks with the province.
Public elementary school teachers were already taking part in a work-to-rule campaign.
Three teachers unions, the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, are still hoping to reach a deal with provincial negotiators soon.
******* There were a lot of vehicle recalls in 2019, but this one, in particular, got the third most page views on BlackburnNews.com.
In October, Ford issued a recall for 44,000 Ford F-150 pickup trucks and Ford Explorer SUVs. That was in addition to select 2020 Ford Escape crossovers.
The axle shift did not meet the company's specifications, but there were no collisions reported as a result.
Photo of the sit-down protest at GM Oshawa courtesy of Unifor.
******* Our top two most-read stories of the year were both about the General Motors plant in Oshawa.
At number two, GM Canada responded to a boycott of GM vehicles made in Mexico. Unifor, the union that represented workers at the company's facility in Oshawa, called for the boycott after GM announced it was closing the plant putting 2,600 people out of work.
GM said the union's boycott was full of misinformation because no jobs were going to Mexico.
The boycott called on Canadians to stop buying GM vehicles with a VIN that started with the number "3" because that signified it was made in Mexico.
******* And finally, the most-read story of 2019, was published in February.
That was when General Motors announced it was extending production at a Detroit-area assembly plant, giving Unifor hope the Oshawa plant would stay open.
The plant in Oshawa was one of five the company said it was closing.
In May, Unifor and General Motors officials announced plans to turn the Oshawa plant into a new stamping and light-assembly facility, saving 300 jobs.
Now, it is our turn to weigh in on the top stories of 2019.
On Labour Day, workers at Nemak in Windsor walked off the job marking the start of a 13-day blockade at the plant to protest plans to close the facility in mid-2020.
Unifor members gather at a rally in support of Nemak employees, September 12, 2019. (Photo by Maureen Revait)
The dispute between management at Nemak and Unifor sparked a complaint to the Ontario Labour Relations Board and a court battle.
Unifor lost both bids.
The union argued Nemak violated its collective agreement in which workers took a pay freeze in a bid to keep the plant open until at least 2022.
Finally, on November 29, an arbitrator dismissed Unifor's grievance.
The plant employs 270 people.
******* High water levels plagued residents living along the shores of Lake Erie, the Detroit River, and Lake St. Clair this past summer.
Those living in Leamington near the lake were among the hardest hit, prompting the Director of Watershed Management at the Essex Region Conservation Authority to declare the eastern shore of Leamington from Wheatley Harbour to Point Pelee unsafe.
Flooding was also a problem in Tecumseh, where town officials urged residents to come up with an evacuation plan if the need arose. LaSalle shut down Front Road because of flooding and moved its annual Strawberry Festival from Gil Maure Park to the Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex.
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The battle over the location of the new acute care hospital in Windsor-Essex raged on in 2019.
Critics of the new acute care hospital location are accusing the City of Windsor of using old development data while planning for the future. August 7, 2018. (Photo by Paul Pedro)
The group Citizens for an Accountable Mega Hospital Planning Process filed an appeal of the city council decision to re-zone land on County Road 42 across from the airport to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. Eventually, the tribunal dismissed the appeal. The group is appealing that decision now.
Meanwhile, the debate between those with CAMPP, and Windsor Regional Hospital, Mayor Drew Dilkens, and a new group in favour of the location, 42 Forward continued to heat up.
In early November, one citizen called for civility in the debate after the driver of a pickup truck drove up onto his front lawn, got out, pulled out his sign, and sped off.
******* As soon as the writ dropped on September 11, it was clear the governing Liberals were in for a fight.
Months after it broke, the SNC Lavalin scandal refused to die, and the Liberals found themselves on the defensive.
Before the campaign was over, the public found out Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had been photographed repeatedly in blackface, and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer had dual citizenship with the United States and was maybe not a certified insurance broker.
The Liberals won re-election, but with a minority government.
Andrew Scheer during a press conference on April 7, 2019. (Photo via Andrew Scheer Facebook)
Scheer resigned as leader of the Conservatives in the final days of the year.
The campaign also saw the return of Liberal Sandra Pupatello. Pupatello considered a political powerhouse provincially, gave NDP incumbent Brian Masse a battle in Windsor West. Up to the end, the polls showed the two in a virtual dead heat, but after the votes were counted the night of the federal election, Pupatello lost, and Masse came away with his sixth consecutive win federally.
The night had a couple more surprises. The riding of Essex changed hands, from NDP incumbent Tracey Ramsey to Conservative newcomer Chris Lewis. In Windsor-Tecumseh, former city councillor turned Liberal candidate Irek Kusmierczyk defeated NDP incumbent Cheryl Hardcastle after a tense race at the ballot box.
******* The final story the staff at BlackburnNews.com identified as one of the most important of 2019 is the only one that saw cross over with the list of most-read stories of the year. That was labour strife at Ontario schools.
With talks ongoing between the province and its three biggest teachers' unions, it promises to be a major story in 2020 as well.
Will public high school teachers continue their series of one-day strikes? Or will the union step up its protest and settle in for a more extended walkout? Will public elementary school teachers and teachers at Ontario's Catholic schools join them on the picket lines? Or will the Ford government successfully negotiate new collective agreements with all three unions?
We will find out in 2020.