Revisit CBC Sudbury's top news stories of 2016
Reread some of the sad, serious and strange stories that were most popular with CBC readers
For your holiday reading pleasure, we've compiled a list of the ten most popular CBC Sudbury stories of 2016, as chosen by you, our audience. Enjoy!
#10. Robert Wood, discredited engineer to inspect Elliot Lake mall before collapse, pleads 'not guilty' at trial
The trial for the deadly Elliot Lake Mall collapse in 2012 got under way, and the only person criminally charged pleaded "not guilty."
Discredited engineer Robert Wood is facing two counts of criminal negligence causing death and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
MP Charlie Angus led the charge when CBC reported the average price of groceries in remote communities along the coast was double that of southern Ontario prices.
"What kind of country thinks it's OK not only that children don't have access to clean drinking water, but children don't have access to food on their tables?" Angus said.
After announcing that frontman Gord Downie was diagnosed with brain cancer, the Tragically Hip embarked on a hectic summer tour, culminating in an emotional final concert in Kingston. To escape the frenzy, the band took a trip on the James Bay coast, where Downie was photographed by an excited fan while passing through an airport.
After seeing a statue of Jesus stand outside a Sudbury parish headless for awhile, a local artist created a terra cotta replacement, which drew national and international attention.
In a tragic story, the Timmins couple — a guidance counsellor and retired teacher — drowned in the sea outside of a Tulum, Mexico resort.
Mexican media report says they drowned outside resort in Tulum, Mexico
Sudbury had its share of bear encounters this year. Despite the MInistry of Natural Resources' assurances that bears are attracted mostly by garbage and repelled by loud noises, the video — shot from a New Sudbury yard — says it all.
In March CBC reported a horrific story about children in Kaschewewan covered in sores. Some suggested, or feared, the water conditions in the remote first nation were the cause of the lesions.
Three children were removed from the First Nation near James Bay, including a five-month-old recovering from open-heart surgery, to get medical help.
Michael Persinger, a controversial psychology professor at Laurentian University, was removed from classes after compelling students to sign a waiver, essentially warning them that foul language would be heard in his class. The story provoked a lot of discussion about free speech in the classroom, as well as a student's right to be sheltered from nasty words.
Chief Bruce Shisheesh and council for the Attawapiskat First Nation on remote James Bay declared a state of emergency in April, saying they're overwhelmed by the number of attempted suicides in the community. On one Saturday night alone, 11 people attempted to take their own lives.
61-year-old Rick Nelson slugged his way to international fame when he went toe-to-toe with a 300-pound black bear while on a walk in the woods near Lake Panache.
And Nelson gave us what was probably the most famous quote in the Sudbury newsroom this year:
"I knew it would swing first with its left but it would really come with its right, because most bears are right-handed," Nelson said.
