Year in review: The top stories of 2024

The Laconia Daily Sun’s top stories of the year ran the gamut, covering everything from housing development and health care to breaking news and the introduction of new businesses to the Lakes Region.

There were about 1,000 stories written by The Sun's team of reporters, but 10 topics stood out among them. These are the issues which garnered the most page views online, one indicator of their popularity and appeal to readers, and importance in the community.

Local schools

On the theme of education, the most important story of the year, covered over multiple reports by Adam Drapcho, came by way of former Superintendent Steve Tucker’s decision to step down, eventually handing over the district’s reins to current Superintendent Bob Champlin. 

Public safety

Sun reporters also covered numerous public safety stories, notably Drapcho’s coverage of the arrest of Rebecca Hanson, 39, who was accused of participating in a string of burglaries of downtown businesses including New Hempshire CBD, Local Eatery and Koung Sushi Mart. 

More notable, however, was Drapcho’s coverage of former city planner Dean Trefethen’s charges in Maine. Trefethen was charged with possessing images depicting sexual assaults on children. Trefethen was charged in Sanford, Maine, on March 5, 2024. 

According to an affidavit signed by Samuel Bennett of Sanford police, Laconia police Det. Jonathan Howe alerted Sanford police of possible criminal activity in April 2023, when the city’s anti-virus software brought attention to Trefethen’s laptop. While working to fix the technical problem, IT department staff learned an unauthorized drive was attached to the computer, which violated the city’s policy for acceptable use of work equipment. When an employee opened the drive, they discovered image files with explicit names.

Downtown commercial development 

Much of The Sun’s coverage shed light onto the continued development, particularly of commercial areas, in the city’s downtown. Drapcho’s coverage of an anticipated Italian-American restaurant in the current location of the Laconia Antique Center highlighted entrepreneurs Melissa Darling and Tyler Hooff in their attempt to purchase part of the building and introduce an additional eatery to the area. 

Drapcho also introduced the city to The Flip Side, a restaurant on Main Street which employs individuals with developmental disabilities.

Police drone technology 

Sun reporters told the story of advancements in law enforcement technology, particularly the use of drones, through stories about Ashley Turcotte, a person who went missing from Barnstead in January 2024. Drapcho and Gabriel Perry documented the massive search and rescue effort, led by Barnstead police and involving numerous state and local agencies, and a private company which lent their commercial drones to the search.

In March 2024, police found and identified Turcotte’s remains less than 1 mile away from where she was last seen.

Housing

The state’s shortage of housing remained a major driver of the news and Sun reporters covered the story exhaustively. Drapcho, on April 11, documented a proposed 50-unit development on Union Avenue at the site of the former Friendly’s restaurant. 

Owners of T-Bones Great American Eatery and Cactus Jack's are planning to construct a five-story apartment building on the adjacent lot, a portion of which is deed-restricted as “workforce housing” for 35 years. The city’s planning board approved the developer’s condominium plan in October. That property, purchased by Great NH Restaurants owner and CEO Tom Boucher and his business partner, Bill Greiner, was home to Friendly’s until it closed in 2019.

Perry chronicled a peculiar attempt at fraud permeating the Lakes Region real estate market in February. Scammers posed as the owners of vacant properties and contacted agents in order to sell to unsuspecting buyers. 

Election

Sun reporters Drapcho, Perry and Daniel Sarch covered the 2024 elections exhaustively throughout the Lakes Region, capping off the coverage the week after the Nov. 5 General Election. Documenting Granite State politics provides a study in patience on its own, but an incident at Paugus Bay Pub proved of particular interest to readers. 

Governor-Elect Kelly Ayotte (R) spoke to supporters at the pub in the Weirs on Aug. 28, along with numerous local candidates for county and state office. During the delivery of her remarks, Ayotte was repeatedly interrupted by another candidate for governor, Frank Staples, who was eventually asked to leave by organizers of the private event.

Road fatalities 

An unfortunate recurring theme in The Sun’s coverage was a rash of fatal accidents along New Hampshire’s roadways. Drapcho, Sarch and Perry documented numerous fatal accidents over the course of the year, including the death of Elm Street Elementary School student Aria Enciso, 8, one of five victims of traffic accidents over a single weekend in July 2024.

At Leavitt Park, scores attended a candlelight vigil in her memory. Those who were there heard remarks from Tucker, Mayor Andrew Hosmer, members of Enciso’s family and friends of her parents.

Several serious motorcycle accidents were also documented, including the death of former Meredith police officer Bart Merrill, 62. Sarch reported Merrill’s cause of death was significant trauma sustained in the accident.

The accident, which occurred June 2, 2024, in the south end of Laconia, involved Merrill on his motorcycle and a truck, and occurred just one week before the 101st iteration of Laconia Motorcycle Week. 

And in Meredith, Drapcho reported one teenager died and four others were seriously injured in the aftermath of an accident on Route 3 on March 24, 2024. Hannah Chaignot, 18, died in the collision. Three of the four people injured who were rushed to hospitals were later flown to trauma centers in Boston.

Reader engagement 

Outside of the letters section, readers were engaged with sharing stories reported by The Daily Sun, especially on timely topics. Drapcho reported a Gilford woman, Andrea Keon, had gone missing the morning of Nov. 11, 2024. Gilford police initially asked the public to provide any information they might have regarding Keon’s whereabouts. Less than 24 hours later, police said she had been found. Sun readers shared that story quickly after receiving the breaking news alert through email or social media. It was shared so rapidly it made it into the list of top stories for the year.

Health care

Written by Perry and published on Oct. 1, 2024, a story about the firing of three local doctors shone a spotlight on access to health care in the Lakes Region, as well as an examination of the number of medical providers compared to the demand for services.

Businesses, old and new

And Drapcho and Sarch reported extensively on the business environment in the Lakes Region. Drapcho’s coverage of DOX restaurant opening a second location in the Weirs proved one of the newspaper’s most popular stories of the year, but his coverage of the unanticipated closure of the Weirs Drive-In Theatre may have sounded more loudly through the area. 

For the first time in 70 years, there were no movies at the drive-in during the summer of 2024. Owner Pat Baldi told Drapcho she didn’t have the energy to run the business for another season. The property, which had been on the market for several years, is 12.62 acres and was listed at $4.9 million at the time of publication on April 29, 2024. 

The drive-in opened in 1949, and Baldi and her late husband Larry purchased it in 1974. 

Sarch’s coverage of a Dairy Queen, owned and operated by father-son duo John and Christopher Hanson in Tilton, also proved popular among readers. That restaurant, which serves iced cream, reopened in February 2024.