By ERIC MEYER
Staff writer
As the year’s final seconds tick off the clock Thursday night, many in Marion County will breathe a still-mask-covered sigh of relief for the passing of what may have been its worst year in collective memory.
COVID-19 quarantined thousands of residents, sickened hundreds of others, claimed an ever-increasing number of lives, and dominated headlines unlike any issue in recent years.
Still, other topics also were in the news in 2020. Here’s a rundown on the top topics, based on data for the most-read news stories this year:
1. Pandemic
Among the 500 most-read stories in the Marion County Record, Hillsboro Star-Journal, and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin, COVID-19 figured in more than a third of them.