Burlington

Burlington’s top news stories of 2017

This aerial shot from July 12 captures the flooding of the Fox River along Congress Street in Burlington where many of the homes had water in the basement and onto first level. (Photo courtesy of Rich Koehnke)

Flood dominates a year marked by triumph, tragedy

By Ed Nadolski

Editor in Chief

What started as a seemingly normal thunderstorm on a Tuesday evening in July turned out to be anything but that. Over the next 12 hours or so, the rain continued to pound the area in waves of deluge, leaving a high mark for floodwater, damage and long-lasting impact on the Burlington area.

It comes as little surprise, then, that the epic flood of 2017 also established a high water mark for news in the past year. It was the runaway winner as the top news story of 2017 as determined by the staff of the Burlington Standard Press.

Perhaps it’s appropriate that an event now often described as epic prevailed in a year of such great tragedy and triumph.

2017 was a year that saw the deaths of three popular students in a fiery crash on a rural road and the untimely death due to complications of diabetes of a Burlington police officer, who was the city’s new canine handler. Legendary Burlington High School football coach and athletic director Don Dalton also died in 2017.

However, 2017 was also a year of victory: A grieving mother saw a bill signed into law that could help alleviate the suffering of children like her late daughter; a new retailer helped revive a moribund shopping center; and a high school’s volleyball team lifted spirits with a state championship performance.

To see the full rundown of the top 20 stories of 2017, pick up a copy of the Dec. 28 Burlington Standard Press. Over the next week, the top five stories of the year will appear here.

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