The Item is taking a look back at 2017 and the most-read stories of the year.
While many readers were caught up in reports about crime, the most popular story of the year was about a property that was once home to fiberglass cows, and some of the juiciest sizzling steaks in the state.
AvalonBay Communities purchased the former Hilltop Steak House site in Saugus and unveiled plans for a $100 million development in January. Developers recently broke ground that will yield 280 apartments, shops, and at least one restaurant, 110 Grill.
Lynn saw a dramatic increase in the murder rate in 2017 with a dozen homicides. That’s the most since 1994, when there were 14 killings, according to the Lynn Police Department. Records from the FBI confirm this has been the second-bloodiest year in the city since they began keeping records in 1960.
The number doesn’t include the death of Vanessa MacCormack, a mother and Lynn teacher who was allegedly brutally murdered by her husband Andrew MacCormack in their Revere home. Andrew MacCormack is facing charges of first-degree murder.
The third-most-popular story of the year came after a scandal at the White Rose Coffee House led to the Central Square shop unplugging the coffee pots and closing its doors.
Sophie CK, the 23-year-old daughter of shop owner Kato Mele, started a firestorm when she vowed on her personal Facebook page never to allow a “Coffee with a Cop” event to take place at her family’s establishment.
Mele apologized for what she called the reprehensible affront, distasteful, biased and hateful remarks made by her daughter on Facebook in a letter to Lynn Police. But the damage was already done. She closed the business so she could “stop being harrassed.”
Did you hear Market Basket opened up in Lynn? If not, you must be living under a rock. The store opening was one of our top stories of the year. The completion of the $30 million project created 460 jobs, and 80 percent of the people who were hired are from Lynn.
The store opening was packaged with a reconfiguration of Magrane Square that includes a new rotary and traffic signals.
Almost as popular of a store opening was the Popeyes Louisiana Chicken on Boston Street. And if you don’t believe us, you obviously didn’t try to pass by it when the long-anticipated restaurant finally started serving up some fried chicken. Dozens of customers staked their place in line at the front door and cars wrapped around the parking lot, just waiting for the opening in October.
Speaking of hungry mouths, a dead shark washed up from the Pines River in Revere in September, drawing crowds who took photos and plucked teeth from the creature’s fearsome grin.
Not only did two teenage babysitters put a crying baby in a refrigerator in August, but they recorded themselves doing it and posted it on social media. The two Swampscott girls are facing charges of child endangerment and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
During the summer months, the owner of the Four Winds Pub & Grill on Sluice Pond put a controversial message on the diners’ tab.
At the bottom of the check, under the 6.25 percent meals tax, was the recently-enacted local option tax of 0.75 percent, or 75 cents on a $100 bill, which was labeled: Lynn fiscal irresponsibility tariff.
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy opposed the measure. But her veto was overridden by the City Council, and members didn’t find the line humorous.
Plank by plank, the Ship Restaurant floating along the horizon of Route 1 was demolished in August. Plans for redevelopment include a 2,500-square-foot freestanding branch building for East Boston Savings Bank, 7,500 square-feet of retail space, and a 2,500-square-foot drive-up restaurant and coffee shop, expected to be completed in 2018.
