At year's end, many take some time to reflect on their achievements and what's been important in the past 12 months. In the Sudbury.com newsroom, we have taken stock of the news and videos that mattered most to our readers.
Here's a look back at the videos that garnered the most attention on Sudbury.com in 2019.
1. Dashcam captures moment truck crashes into hydro pole, lands on house roof (230,918 views)
Several of our most popular videos of the year were put together using cellphone footage sent in by our readers, including this short dashcam clip sent in by Denis Lefebvre which shows a moving truck leave the road, hits a hydro pole and somehow finds itself on top of a home along Highway 64 in Alban, Ontario.
2. Timelapse of Canada's largest mural (34,646 views)
Love it or hate it, there's no denying the massive mural on the wall of the old St. Joseph's Hospital was a massive undertaking for the artist, RISK, a.k.a. Los Angeles-based artist Kelly Graval, and his team. The Sudbury.com video crew was on-site for the entire project and produced a complete timelapse of the making of the 70,000 square foot mural. Since it is the only timelapse that shows the entire project from start to finish, the video was a hit amongst the curious and was viewed more than 34,000 times by people around the world.
3. Road rage turns physical, but the dash camera sees all (25,226 views)
The shocking dashcam video of a man who was slapped during a road rage incident on Marcus Drive caught the attention of thousands of viewers. In this Sudbury.com news video, the victim, Blake Grenier, shared his story of what led up to the assault. Thanks to the dashcam footage, Greater Sudbury Police were able to read the license plate number to locate the 42-year-old suspect and charged him with assault and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
4. Knives, bear spray, a hostage, charges laid in scary downtown Tims incident (23,511 views)
Cellphone video sent to us by Jenn Rae shows an aggressive man wielding a knife inside the Tim Hortons located on Cedar Street. In the video, you can hear the man yelling and threatening customers. One of the people trying to calm him down was the woman who eventually deployed pepper spray. When Greater Sudbury Police arrived they found the man behind the counter, holding a knife to an employee's throat. He ignored the officers' commands to drop the knife and release the hostage. Police didn't say how, but the Tim Hortons employee somehow managed to break free, and officers were able to move in on the man and take him into custody. As a result of the incident, a 31-year-old man was charged with hostage taking, assault with a weapon, weapon dangerous, robbery, resisting arrest, and numerous breaches. A 34-year-old woman was charged with administering a noxious substance (bear spray), possession of a weapon, and numerous other breaches.
5. Take a pothole tour of Greater Sudbury (18,952 views)
2019 has been called one of the worst years for potholes. In March, Sudbury.com decided to film a car's eye-view of the state of some of the main roads in Greater Sudbury. The video garnered a lot of attention with over 6,000 shares and close to 19,000 views this year. Perhaps we should make it a yearly tradition.
6. A sneak peek inside Sudbury's new Urban Air Adventure Park (8,727 views)
With the highly anticipated opening of Canada's first Urban Air Adventure Park in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury.com got a sneak peek at the trampoline park before it officially opened to the public on March 9.
7. Police remove body from Junction Creek in Sudbury (7,036 views)
On April 11, 2019, emergency responders removed a body from Junction Creek off Douglas Street. The body was later identified as 25-year-old Branden Bodson-Gratton. Bodson-Gratton was reported missing four months prior. A post-mortem exam later confirmed there had been no trauma to the body prior to it entering the creek, leading Greater Sudbury Police to the conclusion that there is no indication of foul play in the young man's death.
8. Suspect who stabbed woman, punched baby same man shot by police at Sudbury transit terminal in 2018 (6,388 views)
Luckily, the 35-year-old mother who was stabbed in the neck and her baby has made a full recovery after being attacked in June by 25-year-old Alexander Stavropoulos. Stavropoulos was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and one count of breaching probation. Stavropoulos is scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice on Jan. 13 where he is expected to enter a plea or pleas.
9. Live coverage of federal election night in Sudbury and Nickel Belt (5,671 views)
Led by hosts Mark Gentili, editor of Sudbury.com and Northern Life, and Nick Liard, news director for KiSS 105.3 and 92.7 Rock, Sudbury.com brought residents live coverage from local candidate headquarters, polls results and announcements from the winner.
10. Trudeau learns that Sudbury is a 'one arch town' (5,385 views)
During a stop in Sudbury on Feb. 13, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stopped in at a Sudbury fast food institution, the Deluxe restaurant on Regent, for lunch, chatting with staff and patrons and kissing a few babies.
