‘Fighting Heroin’ leads top-10 most-read stories from 2016

By John William Howard • December 30, 2016 1:30 am
Juanita High School students walk down 132nd Street as part of a protest on Nov. 14. JOHN WILLIAM HOWARD/Kirkland Reporter
Juanita High School students walk down 132nd Street as part of a protest on Nov. 14. JOHN WILLIAM HOWARD/Kirkland Reporter

This year has been marked with big news in Kirkland, from the long awaited redevelopments of Totem Lake Malls and Parkplace to local election results and national election protests. Here are the top ten most read news stories of 2016 on www.kirklandreporter.com.

1. Fighting heroin, June 23: Part one of a two-part series on local Heroin usage quickly became the biggest social story in the Kirkland Reporter’s history, with 100 shares and more than 17,000 views on Facebook. The piece told the story of the families of Amber Roberts and Georgia Styant-Browne, both of whom died of a heroin overdose. The second part of the series discussed the local response to the national heroin epidemic and a lack of local resources.

2. Fatal wreck on 405, June 6: A collision during a Monday morning commute caused the death of Chris Ryden, 49, of Bothell. Ryden was a dedicated volunteer with the Inglemoor High School (Kenmore) football program and in other youth-focused organizations, and his memorial was held in downtown Kirkland.

3. Totem Lake Malls development, March 7: The redevelopment of Totem Lake Malls into the Village at Totem Lake will certainly dominate the Totem Lake neighborhood for the next several years. CenterCal began knocking down the lower portion of the mall in March with construction already rising along Totem Lake Blvd.

4. Threat at Juanita High, Feb. 3: A message was left in a bathroom at Kirkland’s Juanita High stating, “Don’t come to school on 2/5 if you like your life. I’m sorry.” A similar message was found at Redmond High School, and both schools were closed on Feb. 5 as law enforcement had yet to determine if the threats were credible.

5. Election protest at Juanita, Lake Washington High, Nov. 14: Several hundred students walked out of class at Juanita High and walked along 132nd Street to 100th Avenue in protest of the 2016 presidential election. Students also held a rally in front of Lake Washington High School, but the Kirkland students weren’t alone — thousands of students from across the state marched for mixed reasons: the election, a stand against hatred and to voice their own opinions.

6. Search for domestic violence suspect, July 8: Matthew Gordon, suspected of assaulting a female victim with a handgun and threatening to kill her, managed to slip past SWAT and Kirkland police during an overnight standoff on July 7. Gordon was arrested on July 15 and remains in King County Jail.

7. Chick-fil-A Kirkland, Dec. 9: Though long rumored, Chick-fil-A finally confirmed a Kirkland store in early December. The store is expected to open in July, 2017, on Totem Lake Blvd. and is the second location on the Eastside.

8. Deadly house fire, Feb. 19: Firefighters discovered the body of an elderly woman after a Finn Hill home caught fire in the early hours on Feb. 19. The woman was reportedly a longtime resident of the home.

9. Fatal motorcycle wreck, Oct. 18: 41-year-old Josh Porter was killed when his motorcycle struck a car along NE 70th Avenue. Porter, who grew up on the Eastside, loved the outdoors, loved to work with his hands and was a recent grandfather at the time of his death.

10. Coyote attacks, May 3: When a Kirkland family lost a pet dog to a large coyote in the middle of the night on March 28, it sparked a response from the City of Kirkland and readers alike. Kirkland resident Chris Carlson shared the story of coming face-to-face with a massive German Shepherd-sized coyote shortly after it delivered a fatal injury to the family beagle. The same coyote had been reported by other city residents. U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services staff killed a coyote matching Carlson’s discription on May 13.