Citizen readers tap Winter Games as top story

The 2015 Canada Winter Games dominated the year in news.

According to an online poll, Citizen readers declared the two-week February event as the year's top story with 70 per cent of the 256 votes.

Also in the running were the renaming of Fort George Park as Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park (12 per cent), the Lakeland and Babine coroner's inquests (12 per cent), the UNBC faculty strike in March (three per cent) and James Moore being named UNBC chancellor (four per cent).

Emily Dickson, a local biathlete who cleaned up at the 2015 Canada Winter Games with multiple medals, was the runaway favourite in The Citizen's online poll for newsmaker of the year. Dickson received 52 per cent of the 785 votes cast and can add that honour to the bronze medal for 12.5-kilometre individual race, silver in the 7.5 km sprint and gold in both the 10 km pursuit and the 3x6 women's team relay.

Her closest competitor was Lexi Shymanski, the five-year-old hero who climbed barefoot up an embankment to get help after the vehicle her mother was driving went off the road. Shymanski's heroics garnered her 36 per cent of the votes.

New Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty came in third with eight per cent of the votes. Doherty won the Oct. 19 federal election, withstanding strong competition from a never-before-seen Liberal surge in the riding led by candidate Tracy Calogheros.

Coroner Lisa Lapointe had the unenviable job of presiding over the inquest into the Lakeland Mills explosion. Charged with making recommendations and not finding fault, Lapointe also had to suspend the entire session once new evidence cropped up. Lapointe received two per cent of the newsmaker votes.

Following closely behind her was UNBC president Daniel Weeks, with two per cent of the newsmaker of the year tally. Weeks got to lead the local university through its 25th anniversary celebrations, its selection as Maclean's magazine's number one choice for universities in its category as well as a two-week faculty association strike that eventually went to a recently concluded arbitration.