By ERIC MEYER
Staff writer
As the year’s final seconds tick off the clock Thursday night, many in Marion County will breathe a still-mask-covered sigh of relief for the passing of what may have been its worst year in collective memory.
COVID-19 quarantined thousands of residents, sickened hundreds of others, claimed an ever-increasing number of lives, and dominated headlines unlike any issue in recent years.
Still, other topics also were in the news in 2020. Here’s a rundown on the top topics, based on data for the most-read news stories this year:
1. Pandemic
Among the 500 most-read stories in the Marion County Record, Hillsboro Star-Journal, and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin, COVID-19 figured in more than a third of them.
The Marion County Board of Commissioners met for their regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 14.
With the cold and moisture, roads have returned as the main topic for the meetings.
Brice Goebel, county engineer, gave the commissioners his weekly update regarding the roads.
“We finished up Chisholm and put rock on there in anticipation of rain that never came. We will take top rock out there probably next week or when it isn’t as cold. If you haul it and try to work with it when too cold, it just clumps up and makes it difficult to work with,” Goebel said.