The Herald's most read stories in 2022
Dec. 30—It's been a busy news year in Grand Forks. From blizzards and floods to controversy and crime, the Herald website had more than 26 million page views in 2022.
Here's a look back at some of the most well-read stories in the last year.
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The Fufeng controversy was the biggest story of the year in Grand Forks in 2022.
The
proposed corn milling plant
has generated a lot of discussion — both in and out of Grand Forks — and many, many page views.
The Herald has published more than 200 stories, opinion pieces and letters to the editor since November 2021 when the project was first announced; that accounts for more than 250,000 page views.
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The Herald's most read individual story for 2022 was out of McHenry, North Dakota — a small town about 100 miles southwest of Grand Forks —
where a fatal vehicle-pedestrian incident happened early Sunday morning, Sept. 18
. Authorities say the incident was politically motivated, but the defendant says that is inaccurate.
The story garnered more than 94,200 page views with nearly 3 minutes of average read time.
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The next story had more than 61,500 page views and
tells the tale of John Bollingberg
, who shot a mountain lion after successful deer hunt in east-central North Dakota.
The night before Bollingberg shot the big cat, it had been spotted about 100 yards from the mailbox of his home near Hamberg, North Dakota. He didn't give much credence to the report, at first, but after shooting his buck, Bollingberg found the lion's tracks in the snow and began his pursuit.
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Tragedy struck northeast North Dakota when a triple murder-suicide happened on a farm in rural Maza, North Dakota.
The incident left the area shaken. Towner County Sheriff Andy Hillier said his department had never had to deal with anything like that before.
Area farmers later came together to help finish the harvest on the land.
Two of the stories written about the tragedy had more than 91,000 page views combined.
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Herald readers were very interested in outdoors news in 2022.
Another story that garnered more than 78,600 combined page views happened in
rural Eddy County when a land owner
and a hunter had a heated exchange about a property line.
The incident resulted in
charges against both parties
.
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In another tragic incident, the daughter of a Grand Forks County assistant state's attorney went missing in Montana at the end of December 2021.
The search was called off on Jan. 20, after remains were discovered in Sidney, Montana. More than 28,000 people read the story.
The family of Katelynn Berry told a local Montana television station that they would
remember Katelynn for her smile and her laugh.
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In August, UND announced the discovery of partial skeletal remains of dozens of Indigenous ancestors, as well as sacred objects from Indigenous communities, on the university's campus.
The ancestors and other objects were first discovered in the spring, but UND waited to tell the public at the request of tribal leadership.
The story about the press conference UND held on Aug. 31 had more than 24,500 page views.
UND is continuing the process of
repatriation to return the ancestors and objects back to their homes
.
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Business news is important to readers in Grand Forks. From openings and closings to profiles on local mom-n-pop shops, Herald readers spent plenty of time reading business content this year.
That includes news about local Food Network star Molly Yeh opening a new restaurant this year. Bernie's opened in the fall, but was
first announced during a State of East Grand Forks luncheon in April
.
Two of the top performing stories generated nearly 40,000 page views.
—
Stories about UND and a
trademark for the word "NODAK"
brought in readers in December.
It was first reported by Forum Communications columnist Rob Port that NODAK LLC
had previously registered for a trademark for the word "NODAK."
The trademark was originally registered by Brianna Berry — daughter of UND hockey coach Brad Berry, who was also listed as the registered agent of NODAK LLC.
Ultimately,
UND acquired the trademark.
The agreement involved no financial transaction between UND and the LLC and "is believed to be in the best interests of all concerned," the university said.
More than 35,800 people read the stories about the issue.
