2020 has been the busiest news years in recent history.
Between a global pandemic, social unrest, a major U.S. election -- and everything else happening in the world -- the news did not stop in 2020.
We’re taking a look at the most-read local stories on ClickOnDetroit this year, minus COVID-19 related coverage (because pretty much every most-read story was COVID related).
10. Puppy with cleft lip at Jackson animal shelter finds companion in boy with cleft lip
From September: A Michigan boy with a birth defect found his perfect match. It was pure happiness at the Jackson County Animal Shelter when 2-year-old Bentley Boyers got to take his new puppy home.
WILX reported Bentley’s dad, Brandon Boyers came to the shelter to look at chickens he was thinking about adopting when a 2-month-old puppy with a cleft lip caught his eye. They family knew they had to bring her home to show Bentley he isn’t alone.
9. Man using submarine to smuggle drugs across Detroit River found tied to floating bags of marijuana
From June: A man who admitted to using his submarine business to smuggle drugs between the United States and Canada escaped authorities by fleeing a hotel in the middle of the night and was found in the Detroit River attached to floating bags of marijuana, officials said.
Glen Richard Mousseau, from Canada, was pulled over May 10 while driving a U-Haul truck on St. Clair Highway in China Township, Michigan, according to authorities. Deputies from the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office found a large plastic package in the truck, and Mousseau said he didn’t know who it belonged to, officials said. (More on this here)
8. Art Van closes all stores
From March: The Warren-based furniture chain Art Van Furniture announced it would close all stores. Art Van was founded by Art Van Elslander in 1959. The first store was on Gratiot Avenue and 10 Mile Road. Elslander died in 2018.
The announcement was followed by liquidation sales at all stores and eventually, Love’s Furniture opened up shop in many of the vacant locations in Michigan.
7. Flight to Michigan makes emergency landing after bloody fight
From May: A Macomb County woman said she was in shock when a fight broke out as she was flying back home. She and her children returned home from a family commitment in Los Angeles, but that wasn’t the worst part of the trip -- a large brawl broke out on board.
“We were in shock, really. We couldn’t believe it was happening,” she said. “It was really scary. I had my kids with me and everybody was like, ‘Oh my God.’” What started as an argument between passengers, she said, turned into an assault. A passenger said other passengers were being too loud when he was trying to sleep and he was beaten bloody. (More here)
6. Workers fired from Michigan Wendy’s after video shows employee bathing in kitchen sink
From February: Several workers were fired from a Michigan Wendy’s after a video posted online showed an employee bathing in a kitchen sink.
The video shows a worker in a sink full of water and soap at the Wendy’s on N. Lafayette Street in Greenville, Michigan. Another person walks by and talks to the employee who is in the sink as someone else records the incident for the social media video app Tik Tok. (More here)
5. ‘I’m the sheriff. Who are you?’: Mike Bouchard pulls over man posing as a cop
From February: Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard had just gotten out of a meeting and was in a suit and tie driving down M-59 near Telegraph Road when he saw what looked like a police SUV.
“Initially, to me, it looked exactly like a police car. It was a police car, it had the push bumpers, a whole light array on the back. It said ‘police interceptor dial 911’ as well as ‘K-9 stay back,’” Bouchard said. When he got closer to the vehicle he noticed a decal on the side that read, “emergency response.”
“I was like, ‘That’s not a police car. Something weird is going on here,’” he said. (Read more here)
4. Protests across Metro Detroit following George Floyd killing
Protests, mostly without incident, happened in communities across Michigan following the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.
In Detroit, protesters took to the streets for several weeks, calling police accountability, and for an end to police tactics. Some meetings between protesters and police ended in police using tear gas and rubber bullets to break up crowds. (More coverage here)
3. Men charged in domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer
Here is a deep dive into the intricate details of a scheme to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home, including quotes from undercover audio recordings, code words used while plotting and a secret trap door hidden under the rug of a Grand Rapids business.
Five Michigan residents -- Adam Fox, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta -- and Barry Croft, of Delaware, have been charged with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer. Attorney General Dana Nessel issued charges against seven others. (Read more)
2. Catastrophic floods hit mid-Michigan as dams fail
From May: Catastrophic flooding caused by dam failure in mid-Michigan left shocking damage to roads, houses and entire cities in the area.
A State of Emergency was declared for Midland County after two dams failed. The Edenville Dam broke and the Sanford Dam was breached, but it did not break. An estimated 10,000 people were evacuated as floods have devastated towns.
A U.S. House of Representatives Committee is now investigating the State and Federal Government’s oversight of the dam failure in Midland County.
1. Woman found alive at Detroit funeral home after being declared dead
In August, a 20-year-old Southfield woman was declared dead by Southfield emergency crews -- but was later found to be alive when she arrived at a funeral home.
Timesha Beauchamp’s mother called 9-1-1 on Aug. 23 when her daughter, who has cerebral palsy, had trouble breathing after several attempts to revive her. Southfield fire paramedics declared her dead -- but she was later found alive at a Detroit Funeral home. Beauchamp later died in October. The family filed a $50 million lawsuit against the city.