Online readers determine their own top stories

Today's paper is full of evaluations of the top stories of 2005. They are important stories. They are compelling stories. But you and I know there is often another list. It is the list of the stories people really want to read about.

Often they are not the same.

I know because I know what stories many of you sought out - and sometimes returned to again and again - on our newspaper's Web site, augustachronicle.com.

As counted by the computer, the headlines of the top stories - month by month - of 2005 were:

JANUARY: "Officers evacuate area near train wreck"

This latest news of the Graniteville train derailment and the fatal chemical leak it caused was truly a major news event of the past year and decade.

FEBRUARY: "Children spot dead body"

A missing Columbia County man's body is found behind a Wrightsboro Road day-care center.

MARCH: "Car accident kills 2 women, injures 3"

A woman and her personal caretaker are killed in a two-car wreck at the entrance to the Pepperidge neighborhood in south Augusta.

APRIL: "Plane lands on Washington Road"

(What golf tournament?)

MAY: "Williams is guilty on all 17 charges"

Former state Rep. Robin Williams and others face punishment.

JUNE: "Man is accused of wife assault"

Police said an Augusta man they arrested hit his wife in the head with a hammer because she drank their last can of beer. Deputies found the hammer on the floor of the home, the report states.

This story beat out the guilty verdict for former state Sen. Charles Walker.

JULY: "Wreck on I-20 kills three college students"

Again, a tragedy connects with many online readers.

AUGUST: "Dog chews baby's foot; mom charged"

Sounds like a supermarket tabloid exclusive.

SEPTEMBER: "Panicked motorists crowd gas stations"

You have to wonder why people would spend a long time and pay extra for gas, then go home and read about it on their computers.

OCTOBER: "Police make arrests in Augusta shooting"

Two military men stationed at Fort Gordon are arrested for a fatal shooting late at night in a bad part of town.

NOVEMBER: "Car recovered after shootings"

Breaking news on November's early morning shootings and car-jacking outside North Augusta.

DECEMBER: "Tire blows up in man's face"

Mr. Walker's 10-year prison sentence can't compete with a terrible accident.

Put them all together and you get a varied list of the stories online readers really wanted to read in 2005.