The bizarre sight of a jeep nearly submerged in Pipers Lagoon was among the most view stories of 2019. (NanaimoNewsNOW Staff)

By Dan Marshall

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Top Stories of 2019: The most viral and discussed stories of the year

Dec 31, 2019 | 1:10 AM

NANAIMO — From a federal Green party MP getting elected twice to the discovery of Asian hornets and heavy police response at Woodgrove shopping centre, 2019 featured some fascinating local news stories.

On NanaimoNewsNOW the story of high winds wreaking havoc with the ferry schedule struck a chord with many readers.

During a Feb. 9th wind storm, the marina at Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver broke apart and boats began to drift in the choppy waters. The situation made docking impossible for BC Ferries vessels.

Passengers who left Nanaimo on the 6:15 a.m. sailing were stuck on board the Queen of Oak Bay for seven hours as the boat waited to dock before ultimately turned back for the Harbour City.

A second sailing bound for the lower mainland suffered the same fate.

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The all too relatable tale for Nanaimo residents generated the most views on NanaimoNewsNOW in 2019. Photos and videos of the severe weather were viewed thousands of times as people adjusted their travel plans.

On Mar. 6, readers were drawn to a bizarre image of a new jeep getting stuck in the mud at Pipers Lagoon.

The image of a nearly submerged jeep, the story of how it got stuck in the mud and started to sink garnered the most reader reaction of any story on NanaimoNewsNOW during the year.

It was also the second most clicked story of 2019.

Police, Fire Rescue and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans were called in and got the jeep free after it had been cemented in place from early in the morning until later in the afternoon.

Later in March, readers flocked to NanaimoNewsNOW to read the account of five brave bystanders who jumped into save a woman’s life and restrained a 17-year-old suspect on the Waterfront Walkway.

A 30-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times on Mar. 27 and needed life saving surgery.

RCMP said the woman may not have survived had witnesses not intervened on her behalf in the seemingly random incident.

“They, without hesitation, jumped in and restrained that individual and held him until our officers arrived. Outstanding effort on their part,” RCMP Cst. Gary O’Brien said.

A painful ordeal for a wildlife photographer in April was a story viewed by well over 100,000 readers on NanaimoNewsNOW.

Lisa Bell was left with injuries including puncture wounds to her jaw and stitches to her finger.

She was taking pictures at a friends place in Bowser during a mating and feeding frenzy involving large numbers of bald eagles.

Two eagles with their talons locked came towards her on Apr. 26 and ended up in her lap.

She felt lucky to have escaped with relatively minor injuries and despite the unusual altercation had no plans to stop taking photos.

“Absolutely not. Nothing like this has happened to me before. I’ll be back out here taking more pictures.”

Lucky lotto winners were featured several times on NanaimoNewsNOW in the past year and those stories piqued curiosity in who they were, how much they won and where those tickets were purchased.

It was first revealed in late August that a $5 million winning 6/49 ticket was sold in Nanaimo. In early September Jesse Logan and Teresa Winters Day were confirmed as the lucky winners of the huge jackpot.

A Sept. 4 story outlined a lucky run for lottery players in Nanaimo with 13 prizes of at least a half a million dollars being handed out since 2012.

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @danmarshall77