Looking back at Valley’s top stories of 2015

Closing out 2015 this week means a look back at the news that made our year.

We start that look Monday with our top photos of the year as created by our great team of photographers led by Valley mainstays Bob Yosay and Bill Lewis.

The biggest business news is featured Tuesday, followed by top sports events Wednesday.

Thursday will showcase the top news stories of the year, as well as a summary of the top entertainment events.

We’ll close the look back Friday with a roundup of people who – in good ways or bad – led the newsmaking in 2015.

It’s always unique to look back at the year and the news that transpired. Inevitably, there are events we forget over the weeks and months and, when suggestion time arrives, can’t believe “that was this year?”

The events as selected by our staff are not all good news events and good newsmakers. Each year produces a list of events and people as tragic as they are triumphant.

These years, staff rankings are even more interesting to watch due to social media. There, fueled primarily by Facebook and secondarily by Twitter, news takes on a life of its own often varied from the news team.

To compare Vindicator stories that were significant to staff vs. stories that played big on social media is probably the most interesting part of the process these days.

It’s impossible and unfair to weigh either accounting as more important than the other. I think the divide demonstrates the significance of each of us as readers and as humans in how we live and how we die.

On Vindy.com, where much of the social media flurry ends up when the clicks are finished, the top-read stories show a mix of sadness, outrage and significance.

The vehicular death of a beloved preschool teacher and the publishing of a book by the family of notorious Youngstown killer Flip Williams drew immense readership.

YSU President Jim Tressel’s homework on hiring coach Bo Pelini was of high interest.

The most-read stories dealt with Youngstown’s speeding tickets and the guy who called police saying he was too high on marijuana.

Facebook story traction runs a bit differently, and the YSU rock painting flap, the speeding tickets and Handel’s were top stories.

Common story interest across all interests included the “Bar Rescue” television shows made here, the Mill Creek lakes closure and our Valley’s recurring challenges with drug overdoses.

As we share the look back at 2015, we encourage you to share on the various Vindicator platforms what was important to you in the year that was 2015.

Every year produces unique measures of how we live. This year was no different.

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on Vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.