A fallen bridge, a serial sex abuser, a Taco Bell drama. These were your top stories
Which stories clicked with you the most in 2018?
We looked into our data and got some answers.
You read about politics. And you read about crime. Also, about sports. And about tragedy. Lots of tragedy.
You have wide interests about your community and your state. And you like a good mystery.
Want a peek into your reading preferences this year? Here it is.
Now, presenting the Top 10 most-read South Florida stories on MiamiHerald.com in 2018:
1. How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime
A decade before #MeToo, a multimillionaire sex offender from Florida got the ultimate break. Jeffrey Epstein avoided a lifetime sentence for underage human and sex trafficking and abuse. Learn how the deal drafted by then prosecutor Alexander Acosta and Epstein’s defense team made the charges go away.
2. The victims of the Douglas High mass shooting
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office released the names of the 17 people killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Earlier, relatives and friends of the victims took to social media to mourn and honor the people they lost.
3. Clerk tells lottery winner his prize is only $5. She picked the wrong man to scam, cops say
A Fort Myers Winn-Dixie Liquors store clerk was arrested and charged with larceny grand theft after telling an undercover agent for the Florida Lottery Commission his $600 winning lottery ticket was only worth $5. She kept the ticket.
4. Concerned about gun posts, dad turns in son’s phones. Cops find something else.
Miami-Dade Schools police arrested an 18-year-old student at Dr. Michael Krop High in Northeast Miami-Dade after he posted pictures with guns on Instagram and Snapchat. A review of his phone revealed a child-porn video, police said.
5. Missing man last seen at a nightclub is found behind a wall at Archdiocese of Miami
Miami Shores police found Jeremiah Chavez, the 28-year-old Orlando man missing since a visit to Club Space with friends. Chavez posted a Snapchat video and called his sister asking for help because he was being chased.
6. ‘This is Hialeah!’ Taco Bell employee refuses to help client who doesn’t speak Spanish
An employee of a Taco Bell in Hialeah refused to take the order of a customer who did not speak Spanish, claiming that no one spoke English at the restaurant.
7. Watch this judge brutally berate a woman in a wheelchair. The woman died. The judge has quit
A judge in Broward County gave a fierce tongue-lashing to a woman in a wheelchair who came before her on a misdemeanor charge. The woman died three days later.
8. FIU pedestrian bridge collapses days after installation; police say multiple deaths
A pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed just days after crews had dropped an elevated 950-ton span in place on a signature project that was intended to give Florida International University students a safe route across a busy roadway.
9. Miami Hurricanes receiver Ahmmon Richards’ football career is over
A star UM receiver has ended his career because of a serious injury.
10. Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum shocks Democratic rivals, wins nomination for governor
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum surged late to overcome the big-spending campaigns of his main rivals Jeff Greene, Philip Levine and Gwen Graham to win the Democratic nomination for Florida governor against Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis.
This story was originally published December 18, 2018 at 7:40 AM.