2025 year in review: The Laconia Daily Sun's top stories

LACONIA — The Laconia Daily Sun’s most-read stories of the last year covered topics from education and public safety to court news, legislation and famed local events. The stories that topped the list in 2025, measured by online page views, focused on 10 local topics.

April Fool's

The most-read content of the year came from the April 1, 2025, edition of "The Laconia Nightly Moon." A story given a byline of Adam Writeswell described the fictional renaming of Lake Winnipesaukee to Cyberlake by President Donald Trump. 

The Cyberlake story, though fake, garnered attention from readers near and far, and duped a good number of them. According to that story, other landmarks in the vicinity of the lake would also be renamed, other than the White Mountains and The Broads. 

Another popular feature, also written by Writeswell, described the upcoming rebranding of Laconia Motorcycle Week to Train Week after more than 100 years of the famous summer event. This, like many other articles published on April 1, was in jest.

Education 

News of Laconia Middle School Principal Aaron Hayward being abruptly placed on administrative leave in October took a top spot for stories most widely read online. 

Hayward was placed on administrative leave pending internal review in October, and was reinstated to the job a week later. Reporters at The Sun also covered extensively the school district’s search for a new superintendent in the wake of former Superintendent Bob Champlin’s resignation for personal reasons. Interim Superintendent Amy Hinds leads the district today. The search continues, and applications are due Jan. 9.

Road safety

Reporter Bob Martin covered numerous car wrecks throughout the Lakes Region in 2025, which were among the top stories read stories online. 

A crash in Gilford in September killed two people and seriously injured another, and Goffstown driver Anthony J. Summers, 32, faces felony charges. 

In November on the Gilford Bypass, a wreck left two more people dead in a three-vehicle crash, where two others were injured.

Courts and justice

Daily Sun reporters wrote about a number of high-profile court cases in 2025. 

In October, this writer reported Jaxen Cole, 21, of Gilford, was the first person in New Hampshire indicted under a new law prohibiting deepfake fraud. The case is headed to trial in Belknap County Superior Court. 

This reporter also covered the trial and eventual conviction of Hassan Sapry, of Laconia, for the 2019 murder of Wilfred Guzman Sr. in a Blueberry Lane apartment. Sapry was sentenced to life in prison.

Motorcycle Week

Laconia Motorcycle Week keeps the staff busy at The Sun, with reporters and photographers scrambling each year to document the renowned event that takes place mostly in and around Weirs Beach each June. Stories about the event were popular among online readers.

This reporter wrote about two fatal motorcycle accidents on Thursday night and Friday morning during Laconia Motorcycle Week, one in Weirs Beach, and another in Barnstead.

The event schedule itself was also widely read online. The event brings thousands of riders and spectators to the area to engage in revelry seen only at motorcycle rallies like the city's, Daytona Beach, and Sturgis. Mayor Charlie St. Clair is executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association. 

State legislation

A story written by this reporter regarding the end of annual vehicle inspections in New Hampshire was widely read, according to website statistics.

The requirement for vehicle inspections in New Hampshire is set to expire at the end of January, after a bill to that effect passed and was signed into law last year. At least one lawsuit has been filed against abolishing the practice.

Business transitions

Stories about local businesses made the top list of popular stories last year. 

Paige Darrah, reporting as a freelance writer, wrote in October about Funspot, an arcade located in the Weirs. The popular local spot is now operated by Dave Lawton, 58, after the death of founder Bob Lawton, four years earlier. 

Freelance reporter Janice Beetle wrote in September that the property housing the former Surf Coaster USA water park, on White Oaks Road, also in the Weirs, was sold to Edgewater Development Group, eight years after it shuttered its doors. The developer has several condo projects happening in the same area, although they haven't yet shared their plans for the land.

Both stories chronicled the ins-and-outs of well-known, generational family businesses and, interestingly, were written by stringers rather than staff. The Lakes Region is large, and the staff at The Laconia Daily Sun is small. The newspaper relies on freelance reporters and photographers, at times, to get to stories that may otherwise be missed — and this reporter appreciates it.

Crime

Readers were engaged with stories about violent crime in the Lakes Region in 2025. As a cynical adage in the newspaper business goes, “if it bleeds, it leads.” 

This reporter wrote about charges against a man accused in the brutal assault of two elderly residents in Belmont in October. The prosecution of Nathaniel Kay, 42, is being handled by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. 

And former reporter Adam Drapcho covered allegations of incest and beastiality levied against a Campton resident, Christopher G. Adams, 51, in January. 

Volunteers and activism

Stories about activism and volunteering in the Lakes Region topped many others in interest from readers.

At the end of October, this reporter wrote the Diocese of Manchester had stopped restoration efforts at St. Joseph Church, located in downtown Laconia. The property would instead be sold, church leaders said.

That news ended a years-long effort spearheaded by a local group to restore the old church. It was, at one point, intended to be repurposed as a columbarium, which is a place for cremated remains.

And a proposal to demolish the old Harris Family Furniture building along Union Avenue, to make way for space for the new owner, adjacent Irwin Motors, garnered engagement among readers. That building has since been destroyed. 

Lake health 

And reporting about the health of Lake Winnipesaukee, among other lakes, was on readers' minders in 2025. 

Among lake stories, Lake Opechee captured the top spot — a story reported by this reporter in July informed readers Opechee Point was free of swimming advisories going into a busy summer weekend. 

Each week in the summer, The Laconia Daily Sun summarizes cyanobacteria and other bacteria advisories on Lakes Region waterbodies, so readers know where it is and isn’t safe to swim.