Columbia Missourian's most viewed stories in 2010

COLUMBIA — With 2011 upon us, the Missourian staff went through website analytics to show you the Top 10 most viewed stories of 2010. Here they are:

1. 2 MU students arrested in cotton ball incident  

• March 3
• 47,020 views
• Two MU undergraduates, Sean D. Fitzgerald and Zachary E. Tucker, were arrested on suspicion of second-degree tampering and temporarily suspended from the university. The two students scattered cotton balls in front of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center on campus. (They later pleaded guilty to littering.)

2. Derrick Washington suspended indefinitely from MU football team

• Aug. 26
• 23,377 views
• Derrick Washington was accused of sexual assault and had an order of protection issued against him. He was suspended indefinitely from the MU football team. (Washington has a trial Jan. 20, 2011, and is seeking a change of venue.)

3. Kansas lab looked at synthetic marijuana's effect on brain

• Feb. 17
• 18,313 views
• A substance known as K2 mimics the effects of marijuana but also can cause users to experience increased heart rates, loss of consciousness, paranoia and, occasionally, psychotic episodes. Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, and other legislators hope to ban K2 in Missouri though there is not a large presence of it in mid-Missouri. (Later, it was banned in Missouri.)

4. TODAY’S QUESTION: What do you think about Proposition B?

• Sept. 15
• 11,373 views
• Proposition B aims to prohibit cruel treatment of dogs in large breeding operations and requires proper nourishment, shelter and veterinary care for them. Readers voted on the online survey whether they supported the proposition. (Want to know what happened? Check out top story No. 8.)

5. After an epic Missouri victory, pandemonium in the streets

• Oct. 24
• 11,314 views
• MU Homecoming: Missouri upset Oklahoma, 36-27, the first time in a decade. The crowd rushed the field and flooded the downtown streets of Columbia. Fans gathered outside of Harpo’s to cut the goal post in pieces. (M-I-Z!)

6. UPDATE: Columbia Police Department still dealing with backlash about SWAT raid

• May 10
• 10,390 views
• Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton outlined changes in the way the department uses a SWAT team. The department faced criticism after a video of a drug raid at Jonathan Whitworth’s home was posted on the Internet. The video showed Whitworth’s pit bull, Nola, being shot by a SWAT team of at least eight officers.

7. COMMENTARY: Ten Things you didn't know about Buffalo

• March 19
• 10,005 views
• Buffalo, N.Y., is home to many unique events and traditions, among them the buffalo wing, windshield wipers and the Miss Buffalo Wing pageant. (Some Buffalo residents were not too happy about this article and let us know that vehemently in the comments section. Ouch.)

8. Proposition B passes narrowly

•  Nov. 3
• 8,252 views 
• Proposition B passed with 51 percent of Missouri voters approving and 48.5 percent against. In Boone County, however, the vote was 55.4 percent against and 44.6 percent in favor of Prop B. The proposition adds regulations to existing laws for dog breeders in Missouri. (We're still receiving letters and comments about this one.) 

9. Key witness recants in Ryan Ferguson case

• Feb. 8
• 7,762 views 
• Chuck Erickson said he alone killed Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt. Erickson said his previous confession of him beating Heitholt with a tire tool and Ferguson strangling Heitholt to death was a lie. Erickson now says Ferguson had no idea what he was going to do and tried to stop it at the end. (In early November, Ferguson's legal team planned to file a habeas corpus petition in Cole County before Jan. 1.)

10. Public airs frustrations with Columbia Police at Citizens Review Board Meeting

• May 12
• 7,641 views
• The Citizens Police Review Board heard citizens speak out about the Feb. 11 SWAT raid in which the police shot and killed Jonathan Whitworth’s dog. Citizens expressed their outrage at the incident; others thanked the review board for existing. Others asked the board to be more active in reaching out to citizens who might be intimidated by the police. (Want to serve on the review board? There's an opening. Applications are due by noon Jan. 7 and available on the City Council page of the city's website, gocolumbiamo.com.)

 

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Related Media

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  Proposition B requires the owners of 10 or more female dogs with the intent to breed to give dogs adequate veterinary care, room to stretch their limbs, shelter from the elements and limits breeders to two breeding cycles per every 18 months.
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  Jubilant fans rush the field and carry sections of the goal posts downtown after Missouri beat Oklahoma in its homecoming matchup.
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  Last season, Derrick Washington led the Tigers in rushing for the second straight year.
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  Columbia citizens turned out for the Citizens Police Review Board at Council Chambers in City Hall on May 12. The major topic for the night included citizens reactions and comments about the recent SWAT raid conducted by the Columbia Police Department.
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  Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton answers a reporter's question during a press conference on May 10 at the Columbia Police Department. Burton was discussing the recent incident in which a SWAT entered a Columbia residence while serving a search warrant. SWAT officers shot and killed a pit bull inside the residence. The wife and child of the warrant's defendant were both inside the residence at the time the SWAT team entered.
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  There are no buffaloes in Buffalo, N.Y., only in Africa and Asia. “Buffalo Bill” Cody wasn’t a buffalo-hunter. He was a bison-hunter. But there aren’t any bison in Buffalo, either.
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  Chuck Erickson describes where he says he and Ryan Ferguson were hiding behind a dumpster moments before they allegedly killed Kent Heitholt in the parking lot of the Columbia Daily Tribune. Erickson recanted that testimony in a deposition videotaped Nov. 22, 2009.
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  Marijuana, K2 and other synthetic marijuana variants contain active chemicals that cause psychoactive effects when consumed. They are part of a class of compounds known as cannabinoids. The cannabinoid in marijuana is the naturally occurring delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The Johnson County Crime Lab in Kansas has identified two synthetic cannabinoids in K2: JWH-018 and JWH-073.
  
  Cannabinoids act by binding to two types of nerve receptors known as CB1 and CB2. Both receptors are linked to proteins that regulate neurotransmission.

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