CHICAGO — While most "year in review" roundups feature favorite stories from editors and reporters, we decided to rank some of our most popular posts according to ... you!
DNAinfo Chicago's readers were entranced by a crowdsourcing effort gone terribly wrong, the closing of an iconic hot dog joint, the coldest winter in recent memory, violence that consumed parts of the city and more.
Here are 10 of our most-read (and shared) stories of the year. Click here for your neighborhood's year in review.
10) Mom of Teen Killed While Robbing Sergeant: 'Peer Pressure is Winning'
In February, 16-year-old Deonta Mackey was shot and killed while robbing an off-duty Cook County sheriff's sergeant. As his mother, Tonia Stevens, struggled to come to grips with his death, she spoke of a "dark side" that emerged after Deonta survived a brush with meningitis. And she told reporter Erica Demarest of the bad crowd her son fell into.
"It's just sad that peer pressure is winning the streets. It's a lot of negative peer pressure going on," she said.
9) Boy, 13, Charged With Felony For Throwing Snowball at Officer
After a 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged with a felony for throwing a snowball at a police officer, Austin residents told Darryl Holliday the charges went "overboard." The boy was charged with aggravated battery against a police officer, but the charges were later dismissed.
8) Jay Cutler And Kristin Cavallari Give Son No. 2 Trendiest Name in America
When Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and his wife Kristin Cavillari named their baby son Jaxon Wyatt, Mark Konkol said it "could be the most popular, trendy and badass name in America."
The nation's foremost baby name expert weighed in: "[Boy] names with an 'X' in them are hot, hot, hot. They lend a macho vibe to a name," Bruce Lansky said. "That makes Jaxon a cooler, trendier and more macho name."
These days, Bears fans are likely not as interested in Cutler's baby name choices.
7) Polar Vortex Headed for Chicago Next Week, Meteorologists Say
Chicagoans shuddered, or perhaps involuntarily shivered, when news broke in November that the Polar Vortex could be making a comeback.
But after a few frigid fall weeks, things warmed up in December.
6) Rapper "D-Rose" Charged in Murder of 14-Year-Old Boy
A rapper who goes by the name "D-Rose," and is featured in lyrics by Chicago rappers Chief Keef, Cdai and RondoNumbaNine, was charged with killing 14-year-old Venzel Robinson in April.
Ahbir Sardin, 17, was ordered held on $1 million bail.
Rapper Cdai — whose real name is Courtney Ealy, 19 — was charged with murder in the February death of Javan Boyd, a 28-year-old livery driver gunned down on the job in Armour Square, police said. RondoNumbaNine — 17-year-old Clint Massey — also has been charged in that slaying.
5) Chiberia Was Colder Than the South Pole
4) Hot Doug's Announces Closing
It was perhaps the world's most famous hot dog stand, and when Hot Doug's announced it was closing last spring, it kicked off a mourning period that resulted in hours-long lines, and even a tribute dog in Lincoln Park.
3) The Human Ken Doll's Chicago Home
Justin Jedlica is better known as the Human Ken Doll. He's spent tens of thousands of dollars on plastic surgery, sculpting his face and body into what he considers a work of art. Lizzie Schiffman sat down with Jedlica and heard his story firsthand.
He said Chicagoans seem "much more conservative" about plastic surgery than folks in Los Angeles and New York.
"I never have people really who are nasty to me to my face because of my personal plastic surgery, but I don't see it as embraced here yet," he said. "So I think that's something that I need to just vibe out, and be in town a little more often."
Read the whole interview (and watch the video) here.
2) Jackie Robinson West Broke Residency Rules, Suburban League Claims
Chicago's Jackie Robinson West inspired the city when they snagged the U.S. title and headed to the Little League World Series. But when a suburban league filed a complaint with Little League International claiming some JRW players are recruited from the suburbs, DNAinfo's Mark Konkol looked into it. The complaint filed by Evergreen Park league claimed that adults who put the JRW team together cheated to create a "super team" by going outside city boundaries. In his reporting, Konkol found multiple address discrepancies and later reported the map was changed without the needed permission of neighboring leagues that lost territory. Despite the findings, Little League International has said the case is closed.
1) Kickstarter Fail: Artist Raises $51K To Publish Books, Burns Them in Alley
This story was by far the most-read report in 2014. Alisa Hauser wrote of artist John Campbell, who raised $51,000 on Kickstarter to fund a graphic comic book. But he said he ran out of money to ship the books and filmed a video of him burning 127 copies of the book.
Campbell said burning the books was "like a weight lifted off of me."
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