What Were The Most Popular Reads On Burlington Patch In 2020?

BURLINGTON, MA — Many of us are welcoming the end of 2020, easily one of the worst years of some of our lives. Most of this consternation and pain is center around the coronavirus-COVID-19 pandemic.

But the coronavirus wasn't the only thing in the news this year. At Burlington Patch, 2020 was insanely busy. Over 1,000 stories and posts were published by me as well as other Patch reporters and our news partners.

And apparently, residents were eager to read those stories. At this time last year, Burlington Patch had about 620 thousand page views. By the end of 2020, Burlington Patch will have well over a million.

So what do you think? What story drew the most page views — coronavirus, or something else?

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Many of the big stories were about coronavirus: By late March, the town had a handful of coronavirus cases, and in recent weeks the town has landed on the state's high-risk list due to its high positive rate. But people came together to figure out how to move forward. A Burlington-based group of hospital workers got 1,000s of volunteers to sew cloth masks in March. Food pantries like People Helping People stepped up. Burlington Schools introduced a plan mixing remote and in-person learning.

And the federal government passed a large, though temporary, relief bill. Dozens of Burlington businesses received $150,000 or more in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans.

There was a lot of business news this year. Burlington businesses were hit with complaints for failing to protect workers from the coronavirus. Early in the year, Burlington Mall announced new additions, including a Sweetgreen. But it was closed for months soon after, due to the coronavirus.

L'Andana's owners said they would close and replace it with Moo... Steakhouse. BurgerIm opened in town. Most recently, Burlington Beer Works finally gave up on its liquor license. Kadilak Homes owners Susan and Paul Kadilak announced they'd be on a new home renovation show coming to WCVB. Burlington's Cosi closed.

A Burlington police officer was charged with domestic violence, and a Burlington company was accused of trying to bribe a N.H. inspector.

The annual town election was held in June, with Carl Foss and Katherine Bond winning a tightly-contested four-way School Committee race.

Can you guess what the most-read story of the 2020 is? Leave a note in the comment section below and I will have a post later this week.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.