The year that was 2019

How does one rank the top stories from an entire year? Are calculations made in terms of long-term health, dollars spent, numbers of people affected? What about long-term historical effects, or maybe Facebook clicks?

No matter what metric you choose, 2019 was an eventful year in Carlton County, with elected and appointed officials making changes, kids smoking again and building moves that will stand for generations to come.

Rather than ranking our top stories of 2019, we chose to place them in a roughly chronological order. Remember that although a decision might have been made at a certain po...