Though popularity may be no guarantee of quality, it’s interesting to see which kinds of stories attract our readers’ attention. Now, we’re sharing some of our Google Analytics data so you can join us in mulling it over.
This is a list of The Cordova Times’s most clicked stories for 2019. It excludes letters to the editor, life announcements and other non-news articles, as well as visits to the homepage.
1. Missing hunter found deceased, by Zachary Snowdon Smith
Oct. 13, 2019
The hunt for Neil Durco was certainly one of the most bittersweet stories to emerge from Cordova during the past year. Searches for the missing hiker went on for six days before Durco was found deceased in the Chugach Mountains. This is probably the story on which I’ve received the most verbal feedback from readers.
2. Confusion over unannounced cruise ship visit, by Zachary Snowdon Smith
Sept. 1, 2019
When the cruise ship Le Soléal appeared in Orca Inlet, the Cordova Chamber of Commerce scrambled to meet a surprise influx of tourists. Cordova port officials said they’d received no advance warning from cruise line Ponant, whereas Ponant insisted that the visit had been confirmed ahead of time. Le Soléal’s visitors were welcome, however unexpected.
3. The latest: 1 passenger dead in Unalaska plane accident, by Zachary Snowdon Smith
Oct. 17, 2019
Throughout the evening of Oct. 18, this story developed from a minor aviation mishap to a crash that left one passenger dead and several injured, including a Cordova Jr./Sr. High School student who had a piece of metal embedded in his leg. Contradictory reports emerging from an event unfolding far from Cordova made this a tricky story to research.
4. 4 rescued as fire consumes F/V Skadi, by Zachary Snowdon Smith
July 1, 2019
Just a few days after I stepped off a flight from Australia, this became my first story for The Cordova Times. Thanks to the vigorous support of more experienced staff members, I managed to avoid completely botching it. The Skadi fire was one of several significant nautical accidents that occurred during the summer of 2019.
5. Coast Guard confirms serious problems with channel 16, by Margaret Bauman
Nov. 2, 2019
In mid-October, the Coast Guard announced that severe radio outages had been detected throughout Southeast Alaska — but, by that time, it had already become almost common knowledge among commercial fishermen. Topicality and a hint of scandal made this one of our most-shared stories of the year.
6. Search for missing person suspended after explosion, fire at Whittier dock, by Margaret Bauman
July 8, 2019
Barely a week after the Skadi fire, a barge and a 99-foot fishing vessel docked in Whittier burned and sank. It later emerged that Cordova resident Aaron Parker had died in the blaze. Parker, who had signed up as a stage carpenter with Stage of the Tide’s production of “Mamma Mia!,” was memorialized during the Dec. 7-8 production.
7. Charges filed in deadly SUV crash, by Zachary Snowdon Smith
Oct. 15, 2019
This brief story emerged almost entirely from the pages of court and police documents. The vehicle rollover occurred one day after Neil Durco went missing and 10 days before the crash of Alaska Airlines flight 3296. “Bad things come in threes,” as several people remarked to me at the time.
8. Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore leaves Cordova, by Emily Mesner
Feb. 15, 2019
When the USCG Sycamore left Cordova on Feb. 9, 2019, residents bid farewell not just to the men and women aboard it, but to the vessel itself. Lush descriptive language by Emily Mesner helped make this story more than a mere news bulletin. Seven months later, a new ship, the USCGC Fir, would put down roots in Cordova.
9. Shellhorn: I have seen the enemy, and he is us, by Dick Shellhorn
Feb. 22, 2019
Like any good episode of Cordova Chronicles, this article takes a half-dozen wildly disparate subjects — Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget cuts, the Bolshevik Revolution and the comic strip “Pogo” — and manages to tie them together. Dick Shellhorn delivers a few wry jabs at Dunleavy, while also chiding the average Alaskan for expecting a full suite of state services while also receiving a PFD check and exemption from state sales tax. As Cordova’s city government tightens its belt, this column is still urgently relevant.
10. Cordova woman becomes 99th Alaska Native to earn PhD, by Jane Spencer
Oct. 27, 2019
This feature by freelance writer Jane Spencer profiles newly minted postdoctoral fellow Jen Rose Smith. This article drew readers’ eyes by tying the experiences of an individual community member to broader Native issues.
