Our top stories of the year

Listen to this article

What a year it was in the South Delta.

We’ve had some really big stories and events in 2019, and we thought it would be fun to take a look back at the year that was and highlight some of our top stories of the year.

Let’s start with No. 5 and work our way up to number one:

No. 5 was the story of Victoria Darden and the Finish the Pumps team being denied a booth at the Mississippi Wildlife Foundation’s annual Extravaganza at the beginning of August. That decision created a firestorm of social media attention, and it led to several vendors pulling out of the event. As a result, the future of the Extravaganza is in question. The Finish the Pumps team, though, received national attention as a result of this story. The hashtag #finishthepumps became well known across social media, and Victoria Darden became a name synonymous with the Great Backwater Flood of 2019. U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith made the pump project her cause, and the federal budget for 2020 includes language and funds that indicate the pumps may actually be installed to finish a project nearly 40 years in the making.

Victoria Darden at Flood Fest 2019, August 17.

We are particularly proud of breaking this story and the impact it had on helping those affected by the Great Backwater Flood of 2019.

No. 4

This story was all about a picture. Jacob’s Ladder Learning Center had their annual prom, and one man stole the show. Sharp dressed man Matt McKay and his Spiderman suit dominated, making him a viral sensation. The reach on this story included hundreds of comments congratulating Matt, his family and the good people at Jacob’s Ladder.

Matt McKay, sharp dressed man.The power of love, positive thinking and a fine looking man in a suit.

No. 3

The No. 3 story was about a manhunt in Warren County.  Two fugitives rammed a deputy’s patrol car, fled from him and took refuge in the woods near the Timberlane sub-division in southern Warren County, prompting a manhunt. The Vicksburg Daily News was on scene to do a report on the story. We were at least a quarter mile from where the main manhunt was taking place doing our reporting when the fugitives walked out of the woods directly into the view of our camera. Then, they disappeared again. They were captured the next day after eluding law enforcement throughout the night.

A captured fugitive.

No. 2

The second most viewed story of the year was about the tornado that struck Vicksburg on April 13, 2019. The Vicksburg Daily News was reporting on the storm and its intensity from the south parking garage downtown when the funnel cloud formed and touched down. We went to the scene of the damage and were the first to report from there. Our video of the damage near Kroger was our one of our most viewed videos ever.

Three people, one of them an infant, survived the tornado in this small bathroom. When the ceiling flew away and water started pouring in, they moved to another location.

No. 1

The number one story of the year is …coming soon!