My most popular stories of 2020

As you might expect for 2020, they weren’t happy stories.

1. Inland Empire angry, resigned to Newsom’s new coronavirus lockdown

3. California School for the Deaf, Riverside, official under investigation for 2006 photo of Nazi-style salute

4. Three teens killed in Temescal Valley crash were ‘inseparable’

5. How Inland Empire schools plan to reopen in the coronavirus era

6. Moreno Valley Unified: Boy killed by bullies died due to own negligence

7. Coronavirus concerns close all San Bernardino County public schools

8. Hemet Valley Mall staff cleans up after looters break in

9. Parents of 3 teens killed in Temescal Valley crash: ‘We have to forgive’

10. What will Inland Empire’s 2020-21 public school year look like?

Here’s hoping for happier news in 2021.

Muck Rack interview

I use the Muck Rack web page to consolidate my portfolio, social media links and other elements of interest to journalism and public relations professionals in one place.

They apparently liked my profile page, as they’ve now interviewed me as a featured journalist. Check it out.

My most-popular stories of 2019

For all you metrics nerds, I’m looking at total engagement minutes.

1. Scandia fun park in Ontario sold, will not reopen as an amusement park

2. Gov. Newsom visits Ridgecrest after declaring state of emergency after 2 major earthquakes

3. Los Osos High band teacher dies by suicide after learning of police investigation, officials say

4. Los Osos High band teacher accused of soliciting sexually explicit photos, videos from students

5. Student dies 9 days after campus attack at Moreno Valley Landmark Middle School

6. Expert for La Verne school’s legal team says 12-year-old special needs student was willing participant in sexual abuse

7. Life is tough in Trona – and a pair of earthquakes just made it tougher

8. Family of Diego, boy who died after Landmark Middle School assault, takes legal action; says he was bullied

9. Moreno Valley OKs marijuana dispensary over objections from landlord, neighbors

10. Upland mom accused of killing 1 child, tossing another from a second-story landing, pleads not guilty

Not a barrel of laughs in 2019. Here’s hoping 2020 turns out better.

My most popular stories of 2018

These are the stories readers engaged with the most in 2018, according to Parse.ly, which is the software that the Southern California News Group uses to track reader engagement.

Once again, they’re mostly bad news. We write good news stories, but it’s the grim stuff that gets the most eyeballs, for multiple reasons.

10. Victorville prison where immigrant detainees held built atop toxic Superfund site

9. San Bernardino County settles for $390,000 with families of girls arrested to ‘teach them a lesson’

8. Why 7 Rialto Unified teachers were reported to credentialing authority over past 5 years

7. Lawsuit claims Moreno Valley Unified officials, PTA leaders tried to cover up sexual assault of special-needs third-grader

6. Police records: Upland council candidate Rudy Zuñiga is Vagos outlaw motorcycle gang member

5. Physical abuse, inappropriate contact get 3 Apple Valley Unified teachers reported to state credentialing authority

4. 4 Rancho Cucamonga students have committed suicide since start of school year

3. Artificial turf fields are failing across Southern California, costing millions. Here’s why.

2. Chino church mourns after pastor’s suicide

1. Parents in Perris torture case charged, plead not guilty; DA says kids were beaten, allowed one shower a year

Journalists generally shy away from stories about suicide, due to the very real, if somewhat surprising (at least to me), threat of suicide contagion. But the situation in Rancho Cucamonga, and then Chino, was so serious and already the topic of rumor and speculation that we felt we had to tackle it, both to put the actual facts out there as well as provide context and resources.

I’m pretty proud of the results. And I plan to return to the topic again in 2019, with a somewhat ambitious, months-in-the-making follow-up on the issue. Stay tuned.

The media does not like mass shootings