Henrico Citizen's 25 most-read articles of 2021
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This year in Henrico County has had a bit of everything – from the ebb and flow of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccinations, to the decisions surrounding a return to school, to development and redevelopment projects countywide, from tragedy (the shocking murder of a girl in the West End) to triumph (a state championship for the Varina High School football team) and much in between.
Below, we take a look back at the 25 most-read articles on HenricoCitizen.com during 2021.
1. Prank finds its way into Henrico School Board meetingSomeone played a prank on the Henrico School Board Aug. 26. We reported it, and then. . . well, let's just say the whole world found out about it pretty quickly. Our original coverage went viral within days, bringing a chuckle to tens of millions of people worldwide as they realized that Eileen Dover and her friends weren't actually planning to stand up and address the board. School Board Chair Roscoe Cooper, III was a good sport following all the unwanted attention and even joked about the prank at the board's next meeting. The brief article on our site has been viewed nearly 210,000 times, while the edited video clip we posted to our YouTube channel has been viewed nearly 1 million times to date and copies of it circulated by others have received more than 50 million views.
2. Henrico Police arrest, charge juvenile in murder of West End student
3. Young girl murdered in Far West End; Henrico Police seeking suspect
Our March 27 articles about the shocking and random murder of a 13-year-old Quioccasin Middle School student Lucia Bremer in the Far West End and subsequent arrest of a 14-year-old suspect were read more than 40,000 times by a community on edge.
4. Short Pump Middle school teacher arrested on 6 sexual assault charges involving a minor
The Sept. 2 arrest in North Carolina of longtime teacher and basketball coach Dean Lakey shocked the community.
5. Henrico School Board member shares offensive Dr. Seuss Facebook post, then deletes and apologizes for it
Then-Henrico School Board Chair Micky Ogburn said she hadn't read the post she shared on Facebook in March, then deleted and apologized for it once she had. She later resigned her position as chair but remains on the board.
6. Glitch in Henrico system allows thousands of ineligible people to register for COVID-19 vaccineAs mass vaccination efforts were getting underway, an error in the way officials notified those who were eligible about how to register ended up allowing thousands of people who weren't yet eligible to register instead. Officials had to notify all members of the latter group.
7. Andy Jenks to leave Henrico Schools
The public face of the public school system announced in late August that he would be leaving Henrico the following month for a similar role at a much small school division in North Carolina, and readers were surprised and disappointed by the news.
8. Book removed from Henrico schools as governor's race center book-banningA novel about an interracial teenage romance was temporarily removed from high school libraries across Henrico County in late October after a woman criticized the book’s sexual content at a Henrico School Board meeting. The New York Times referenced our coverage in a subsequent article spotlighting the Virginia governor's race.
9. Henrico, Richmond open COVID-19 vaccination to all of Phase 1B, plus restaurant workers
10. Virginia Department of Health releases prioritization order for second phase of vaccinations
Our coverage detailing the timing of eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations was read more than 18,000 times by community members.
11. Henrico Schools facing backlash about decision to hold classes MondayFollowing the year's first significant (for this region, anyway) snowfall in late January, Henrico Schools officials closed school buildings Feb. 1 but held classes virtually – a decision that angered some parents and students, who had hoped for a true snow day.
12. Henrico now classified as 'high' transmission area
In early August, as COVID-19 cases began rising again, Henrico moved into the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 'high transmission risk' category.
13. 14-year-old murder suspect denied bondThe suspect charged with killing 13-year-old Lucia Bremer was denied bond in his first court appearance, days after the murder.
14. Henrico's virtual school waitlist grows as uncertainty looms
Parents who thought the school system would implement a mandatory mask policy scrambled to try to enroll their children in the Henrico Virtual Academy in August after the school board voted instead to make masks optional – a decision that subsequently was superseded by a statewide mask mandate for schools.
15. Public asked to report pinesnake sightings in Virginia
The Virginia Tech Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, along with state and federal agencies, began tracking the possibility that pinesnakes – not seen in Virginia in three decades – might be back in the state, and our readers took note.
