A new year is approaching, so as 2014 comes to a close the Picayune Item has reviewed the most read stories on our website.
Over the course of the year our staff has covered a variety of stories, from the heartwarming efforts of volunteers to make other people’s lives brighter, to acts of crime throughout the county.
These statistics come from Google Analytics, a service that tracks the number of clicks on each story, or views.
In January of 2014 the most read stories involved two stories about the ice storm causing roads to freeze, deputies making an arrest for the sale of heroin, the obituary for Danielle and Elyjah Moye, and an announcement of road closures due to the ice storm.
During the month of February the top read stories included a man being arrested for begging, a fatal pedestrian accident on Interstate 59, a feature on locally owned Frostop, a story on an early morning drug roundup and a story about the death of an accident victim.
In March the drug roundup flowed over into this month, while second on list was a story about a Picayune Police officer being charged with stalking. Third on March’s list is a story about the need for blood donations to help a local accident victim, followed by stories about a rash of local arsons and the story of the officer charged with stalking resigning from the police department.
During the month of April a story about child abuse was the most read, followed by a drug roundup in Poplarville, a missing juvenile out of Texas, a sexual battery story and the death of three Picayune residents as the result of a residential fire.
In May of this year the top read stories on the website included a suspect pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess methamphetamine, the alligator near Neal Road being captured, the sheriff’s department investigating a residential burglary, the obituary for Tanner Dale Morgan Chapmon, and a story about the sheriff’s department charging six suspects with manufacturing methamphetamine.
In June the story about 42-year-old Shannon Paul Lee being fatally stabbed at the 29 mile marker of Interstate 59 was the most read story, followed by a man wanted for rape being found dead in his vehicle, a stabbing in Hide-A-Way Lake, a man being charged with a drive-by shooting and a story about the Poplarville Police Department’s involvement in the capture of 43-year-old Frank Aubrey Knight for the murder of Lee.
During the month of July the story about a head on collision on Ceasar Road that led to the death of 18-year-old Jacob Moeller received the most clicks, followed by the story of a fatal accident on I-59 believed to be the result of a medical emergency, a story about four suspects being arrested for robbing a man looking to buy a motorcycle, Moeller’s obituary, and the follow up to the motorcycle story alerting people to be wary of Craigslist postings.
In August the most clicked on story involved a two-year-old child being found wandering the streets, followed by stories about an armed robbery at an ATM, a same sex couple filing for a marriage license in Pearl River County, a fatal accident and the arrest of several suspects for drug violations.
During the month of September the story about a vehicle driving through the local donut business and striking customers led the first two spots, followed by a drug bust story, an update releasing the name of the man who died in the donut business accident, rounded out by a story about a woman being arrested again about an hour after bonding out on a separate charge.
In October the story about a couple being charged for the neglect of about 70 dogs, 11 people being arrested in a drug roundup, a woman being arrested for child neglect after leaving her child in a car in front of a local business, an update to the drug roundup story, and finally a shooting of a man in front of his home on Kingsway Drive.
In November the most clicked on stories were that of a fatal accident involving a Carriere woman, a drug arrest, a request for information in the Kingsway Drive shooting and a local thrift store collecting donations for a pastor in need.
So far in December the most clicked on story involved three county residents being charged with the kidnapping and attempted murder of another, followed by a man firing a gun in the Walmart parking lot, a local pharmacy being held up at gunpoint, an editorial on NASA’s successful launch of the Orion capsule and the renovation of the local movie theater.