As the year, and the decade, come to an end, Global Calgary is taking a look back at the stories that captivated readers and kept them scrolling, according to traffic online.
From a shooting that terrified shoppers at a Calgary-area shopping centre, to the devastating end to a days-long search for a young mother and her daughter, here are the stories that made up the Top 10 online stories of 2019.
10. Alberta man’s bowl of noodles freezes, suspends fork mid-air in frigid temperatures
Much of Alberta was plunged into a deep freeze in early 2019 and for one man, seeing his breath in the air when he walked outside wasn’t enough to show just how cold it was.
Calgarian Jonathan Scholes decided to experiment with a bowl of hot, boiling noodles and a fork on a -30 C day in February and the result was nothing short of amazing.
Within about 10 to 15 minutes, Scholes said the noodles froze solid, leaving a spectacle for the eyes of the noodles and fork suspended in the frigid air.
9. Owner of trucking company involved in Humboldt Broncos bus crash pleads guilty to safety charges
More than a year after the bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team collided with a semi-truck in Saskatchewan, the owner of the company which owned the truck pleaded guilty to five charges laid against him.
Sukhmander Singh admitted he didn’t follow several provincial and federal safety rules in the months leading up to the fatal collision and was convicted of offences ranging from failing to keep a daily drivers log and neglecting to make sure his drivers complied with safety regulations. He was fined $5,000. The Calgary-based company, Adesh Deol Trucking, is no longer in business.
8. ‘Your son died saving my little girl’: Calgary man dies while rescuing girl in B.C.
A Calgary young man died after he rushed into the water of Windermere Lake in May to rescue a young girl he saw was struggling and calling for help.
The 20-year-old wasn’t a strong swimmer, but didn’t think twice before running into the water to save the girl from a near-drowning. After saving the child, Jon Paul Stein-Palmiere went under the water. Despite efforts to save him, he later died in hospital.
The young girl’s family hailed Stein-Palmiere a hero, and “the greatest human you could ever imagine.”
7. Calgary is experiencing its longest stretch of cold weather in 21 years
Remember the frozen bowl of noodles? That experiment was done during one of Calgary’s longest stretches of frigid temperatures in the city’s history.
The polar vortex that gripped much of Canada didn’t shy away from Alberta, and Calgarians bundled up to battle daytime highs that were 23 C below average. As of Feb. 2, the city hadn’t seen temperatures creep above -11 C for a nine-day stretch.
6. 4.6 magnitude earthquake hits central Alberta near Red Deer
Giving someone a shake to wake them up isn’t unusual for some, but waking up to the feeling of your whole house shaking was certainly unsettling for many people living in Sylvan Lake and Red Deer, after a 4.6 magnitude earthquake hit in the region in March.
According to Natural Resources Canada, the epicentre of the earthquake was just south of Red Deer and it had a depth of about one kilometre.
Residents reported to waking up to feeling their homes shaking and power outages followed. Nearly a week later, another 4.3 magnitude quake was felt in nearby Rocky Mountain House.
5. Man injured after reports of shooting at CrossIron Mills shopping centre north of Calgary
Shoppers, diners and movie-goers feared for their lives on a September night after shots rang out at the popular and busy CrossIron Mills shopping centre near Calgary.
RCMP and Calgary police officers rushed to the shopping district after one person was shot in what police called a “targeted incident” and there was no threat to the public, despite officers not having anyone in custody.
Four people would eventually be arrested and charged with several offences, including attempted murder, in relation to the brazen shooting.
4. Woman wanted on 115 charges by Calgary police arrested in Sask.
Police in Saskatchewan were key in helping Calgary police apprehend a woman wanted for 115 charges, including assault with a weapon and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Laetitia Angelique Acera, who investigators said had ties to Lower Mainland B.C. and Saskatchewan, was eventually arrested in Saskatoon thanks to the help of social media, which police said made it harder to hide in another province.
3. Bodies of Jasmine Lovett, Aliyah Sanderson believed to be found, Calgary police make arrest
The days-long search across a large swath of southern Alberta came to a devastating end in early May, after the bodies of Jasmine Lovett and Aliyah Sanderson were found in Kananaskis Country.
More than 50 police officers and other officials helped in the desperate search for the young mother and her toddler daughter after they didn’t show up for a family dinner in late April. Their disappearance was declared a homicide two days later.
Just one day after their bodies were found, Robert Leeming, the primary suspect who Lovett and her daughter lived with at his Cranston home, was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of the mother and daughter.
2. Syrian family in Calgary mourning loss of 9-year-old daughter who died by suicide
Members of several Calgary communities grieved together with a Syrian family new to the city in April, after their young daughter died by suicide. The family of Amal Alshteiwi said the nine-year-old took her own life after she was bullied at school.
The young girl’s death, along with other reported bullying incidents, prompted the Calgary Board of Education to launch an independent review into school bullying aimed at understanding the effectiveness of the board’s policies and practices to address bullying.
The review found bullying is rare in CBE schools and that the board’s policies on addressing it were “fundamentally sound.”
It also made a number of recommendations, including that the board keep statistics on bullying, and give teachers and any parents interacting with students more time to learn how to deal with bullying.
1. Alberta election 2019
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Alberta Election 2019: A look back on the night in under 2 minutes -
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Alberta Election 2019: ‘Build those pipes’ premier-designate Jason Kenney ushers in new era -
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Alberta Election 2019: Jason Kenney greets UCP supporters in pickup truck -
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Alberta Election 2019: Victory helps Kenney keep promise to young voter -
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Alberta Election 2019: Global News panel says fight has begun for Premier-designate Jason Kenney
The election of Alberta’s 18th premier was something Calgarians did not want to miss, or be uninformed on.
From the dozens of riding profiles outlining every candidate running, to the Promise Tracker outlining political campaign commitments, to live results, Global News was the go-to website for Alberta and Calgary voters.
Global News also offered voters in-depth coverage through its one-of-a-kind Fact Check investigations, and a quick-and-dirty breakdown of where the major parties stood on some of the biggest policy issues in a robust election cheat sheet.
Then on election night, thousands of eager readers and viewers turned their eyes to the live election coverage that brought thoughtful analysis and reaction from across the province.
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