RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR)—Here are the top ten most viewed stories on WTVR.com in 2012, based on the highest unique page views of CBS 6 local content.
1. Lamb of God singer arrested in fan’s death
The number one story was posted June 29, when news broke that the local rocker of the four-time Grammy nominated band Lamb of God had been arrested. Randy Blythe was arrested in Prague in the Czech Republic in connection with the death of a fan in 2010.
Read more, here.
2. State Board of Elections won’t ask attorney general to investigate worker arrested for dumping voter registrations
A politically charged year with the Presidential election bringing both party nominees through the purple battleground. That must explain why tensions and interest ran so high when a Republican Party contract worker was accused of throwing voter registration forms in the trash.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was asked to investigate the case and he said his hands were tied. Read more, here.
3. Former Chesterfield student alleges substitute teacher had sex with him
Just as candidates took off gloves and squared off at the second Presidential debate, a former Cosby High School graduate prepared his own statements, for Twitter. The Cosby graduate took to Twitter with allegations that a Cosby substitute teacher had engaged in sexual activity with him, while he was a student. The site was all a twitter as the student (who announced he was hammered) began releasing nude photos and alleged text conversations he exchanged with the teacher,who was later charged.
Read more, here.
4. Family: Child dies in school from peanut allergic reaction
A grim start to 2012, with the death of young Amaria Johnson, who died after suffering an allergic reaction at school. The seven-year-old Chesterfield elementary school student’s death sparked a national conversation about food allergies and school policies.
The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act was passed in 2012, and required schools to maintain a stock of epinephrine auto-injectors.
Read more, here.
5. Full text, Brandon Raub’s proclamation: Take our Republic back
In August, a Chesterfield County man, and Marine veteran, was taken away in handcuffs without charges, was held for medical evaluation after questionable Facebook posts.
Raub’s posts questioned the intentions of the government that he fought for, and raised debate over mental health. After all, what is “threatening”?
Raub’s mother gave CBS 6 a copy of a proclamation that Brandon had posted on Facebook in 2011.
You can read it in full, here.
6. PICTURES: Storms in Richmond Sunday, July 15
Katie Demaio Church Hill view
Remember the day it looked like demigod Zuul was going to thunder out from the clouds and wreak havoc on Richmond? That was July 15. Phone lines and social media were abuzz with questions about the clouds pushing through the metro-area. Many of the shots were of scud clouds, which hang down from the thunderstorm and can give the appearance of a funnel.
To view the entire gallery, click here.
7. Missing teen found in Henrico prostitution ring bust
A terrifying case for a Florida family came to an end in Central Virginia, with the bust of a prostitution ring. A middle school student, 13-years-old, was found 1,000 miles away from home in a hotel in the West End after the bust.
Miami police said the girl ran away from a drug treatment center in Miami on February 24. They said she was an excellent middle school student, but had a drug addiction.
8. U.S. Dept. of State says no comment on jailed Lamb of God singer
Randy Blythe spent more than a month imprisoned in the Czech Republic, and as a result his band had to cancel tour. American fans were frustrated and befuddled by the Czech justice system.
It was a high-profile case for numerous reasons, and many questions went unanswered.
CBS 6 contacted the U.S. Department of State, who could not answer the specific question, “Were U.S. authorities contacted by Czech police?”
The question still looms in the air as to how the band never knew that a fan had died and that the death was under investigation. Blythe’s has since been formally indicted on manslaughter charges, and will return to the Czech Republic for trial in Febuary.
Read more, here.
9. VIRAL VIDEO: “Celebrity” creates scene inside Virginia mall
It started off as a social experiment, but it’s ended as one of the year’s most watched and talked about viral videos.
Thomas Cramer, 24, of Richmond, and his friends at production group chill hill media created a social experiment video earlier this year at MacArthur Center mall in Norfolk.
They wanted to see how shoppers reacted if they believed there was a celebrity in the mall. So Cramer, who is also an actor, and a team of about 10 people created the scene in which three or four people would “recognize” the “celebrity.”
If you missed this one, check out how celebrity crazed our culture is, here.
10. Parents: Older brother set fire that took 2-year-old’s life
Cecil Yates tried multiple times to save his two-year-old daughter from their burning trailer home in Petersburg, but the smoke and flames were just too much. Also igniting fierce pain in the family is that the fire was caused by their own son.
The boy’s parents said he set the fire because voices told him to do so. The son was sent to Tuckers Mental Institution and was not charged.
Read morehere.
***Not to be forgotten, our most viewed story this year was actually from last year, when Justin Timberlake kept his word and escorted U.S. Marine Cpl. Kelsey De Santis to her unit’s annual Marine Corps ball, held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
