A deadly pandemic and consumer issues dominated the webpages of BlackburnNewsWindsor.com in 2020.
Just like every new year, 2020 came full of hope and promise. But 2020 went out with the legacy of the worst global pandemic since the Spanish flu in the late 1910s.
Blackburn News listeners flocked to these stories in 2020, as our journalists were committed to providing people with the latest information on the year's top overall story. But there were of course, other stories that drew listeners' attention this year.
Starting at number-10, here are the ten most popular stories on our site in 2020.
10. Southwestern Ontario rocked by severe thunderstorms - June 19
Windsor-Essex is certainly no stranger to wild weather, and on this particular occasion, a strong cell of storms capable of bringing heavy downpours and high winds was being tracked by Environment Canada.
The storm came a week after two tornadoes touched down in the London area, which broke trees and power lines, damaged a building, and tossed a snowmobile around like a toy.
9. Windsor-Essex surpasses "red" level thresholds - November 25
Public health experts had warned Ontarians throughout the summer that a second wave of COVID-19 was coming, but how severe it would be was anyone's guess at that point.
On this day, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit reported that weekly incidence rates in the region were at 49 per 100,000 population, well above the provincial threshold to enter the "red", or control, zone. The region would enter the most severe "grey" zone in the second week of December.
8. Health unit orders Windsor-Essex retail outlets to close - March 20
To reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit ordered all non-essential retailers to close immediately.
The original order was due to last until April 5. Several bars and restaurants across the region were cited for defying the guidelines and holding St. Patrick's Day parties.
7. Ontario orders all non-essential businesses closed - March 23
The province of Ontario followed Windsor-Essex's example three days after.
Premier Doug Ford, in one of the first of a long series of daily COVID-19 briefings from Queens Park, ordered all non-essential businesses across Ontario to close. A list of 70 types of businesses that were allowed to stay open was provided.
6. Almost 90,000 Ford pickup trucks sold in Canada are recalled - January 27
Before COVID-19 dominated the headlines, consumer, crime, and weather stories drew our listeners' attention.
The Ford Motor Company recalled about 90,000 of its popular F-150 pickup trucks that were equipped with an electric tailgate release. The automaker said any moisture entering the electrical system may cause a short circuit that could have tripped the release and opened the tailgate by itself.
5. Ford Canada suspends production indefinitely in Windsor due to COVID-19 - March 30
Auto production across Ontario was affected by the pandemic, due to the likelihood of the virus spreading among autoworkers in close quarters.
Ford had originally hoped to have its Windsor-Essex employees back on the engine lines April 20, but the Dearborn-based automaker did not resume production at its North American facilities until mid-May.
4. Ontario garden centres and hardware stores fully reopen - May 6
Some business owners across the province got some good news from Queen's Park.
Premier Doug Ford announced that Stage One reopening would begin as the warm-weather planting season got underway. Garden centres and hardware stores were among the businesses that were allowed to reopen for in-person sales, subject to pandemic-control guidelines.
3. Canada Post asks residents for help during the pandemic - March 31
Neither rain, snow, nor a global pandemic could stop the mail from getting through.
With Canada Post being an essential service, the union representing mail carriers urged residents to help protect them from the spread of COVID-19. People were being asked to clean and disinfect mailboxes on a daily basis, along with any doorknobs or handles that carriers may have to touch.
2. Ford tells Ontarians to prepare for stark COVID-19 projections - April 2
The premier said he saw the bleak numbers, and that Ontarians had a right to know what they looked like.
And the projections that came out the following day were indeed bleak. Provincial health experts had predicted that 15,000 Ontarians could die from COVID-19 over the following two years. If shutdown measures weren't in place, that number could have topped 100,000.
As of noon on New Year's Eve, the Ministry of Health had counted 4,530 deaths from the virus.
The number-one story on our website in 2020, though, was a consumer story and not pandemic-related.
1. Ford recalls 54,000 vehicles sold in Canada due to a valve issue - March 25
A hydraulic control issue on some Ford vehicles prompted a recall in Canada.
The automaker called back 54,000 midsize and luxury sedans. In some affected vehicles, a normally-closed valve inside the hydraulic control unit could stick open, which may have resulted in extended brake pedal travel and increased chances for a crash.
