The difficulty wasn’t in finding the five top news stories of 2013 – the challenge was in picking just five.
Like Tuesday’s edition where the News Bulletin’s newsroom chose five newsmakers who left their mark on 2013, the team brought several options for which stories had the most impact. In choosing these five stories – Nanaimo school district’s 10-year-facilities plan, the conference centre hotel, the failed Boat Basin deal, the Duke Point incinerator and the Colliery dams – we focused on those that have consequences for the community beyond 2013.
Education, especially in the south end, will change forever with school closures; the conference centre hotel will bring upwards of 70,000 Chinese tourists annually; the marina still needs renovation; an incinerator could provide new industry to Nanaimo, or drive away tourism; risk at the Colliery dam still needs to be dealt with, and no cost limit has yet been set to do so.
As we ring in 2014, we can’t help but wonder how many of these stories will be on our top five list next year – and what new ones will be added in the meantime.