A Year in Review: Top LIVE! Stories for 2016

SAN ANGELO, TX – This is that time where everyone begins reminiscing about the past year, and their best and worst moments. Of course, here at San Angelo LIVE!, we are doing the same.

This has been a year of change at LIVE! We expanded our team of aspiring reporters, doubled our daily content and have started to span out our coverage to other West Texas areas. We have also attempted to balance more features and civic stories with what we call carnage (breaking news stories). Despite that, however, our final numbers indicate that our readers in the Concho Valley prefer the crashes and crime over any other category.

According to Google Analytics, we had over 2 million page views, and crime and crashes topped the most viewed list, followed by community/obituaries and football scores.

Overall, the top five stories that our readers flocked to the most this year are as follows:

TGCSO Assists in Arresting ISIS Recruits

On Oct., 14, 2016, LIVE! reported on an important arrest made in our area. The Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office, DPS and FBI agents arrested two individuals suspected of providing material support for ISIS.

The Joint Terrorism Task Force and FBI had previously warned TGCSO to be on the lookout for two men, 35-year-old Jason Michael Ludke of Milwaukee and Yosvany Padilla-Conde, 30, an illegal alien living in Milwaukee.

Ludke was charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support or resources to ISIS, while Padilla-Conde was charged with aiding and abetting. The two were arrested after a long-term investigation.

Previously, LIVE! reported on the issues of ISIS and how West Texans should be aware of them, but we were ridiculed for inspiring sensationalism.

This arrest, however, garnered a lot of attention nationwide, and was also our most read story of the year. It has 80,451 page views up to date.

For more on this story, click here.

West Texas Shocked by Iraan Cheerleader Bus Crash

Many West Texans will not likely forget soon the recent Iraan Cheerleader bus crash that affected so many, and brought out an outpouring of support from other West Texas towns/cities and schools.

On Dec. 3, 2016, LIVE! staff worked together, utilizing the help of reporting by CBS 7 and NewsWest9, to keep readers apprised of a crash involving a bus carrying Iraan cheerleaders, a Buick sedan and an 18-wheeler that occurred at about midnight.

One of the sponsors, Liz Pope, 52, lost her life. Eight victims were also transported to Scenic Mountain Medical Center in Big Spring, some in critical condition.

According to DPS, the female driver of the Buick made an unsafe lane change on I-20 into the path of the 18-wheeler, which caused it to crash into the school bus. DPS officials later reported that alcohol and drugs may have contributed to the crash. Officials obtained a blood sample from the driver of the Buick “for reasonable suspicion.”

Thus far, this story has 63,668 page views.

For the stories on this case, click here, here and here.

A 20-Year-Old Texas State Student’s Body Found Underneath a Bus

The next story to get the most page views did not happen in West Texas, but rather, San Marcos.

On Oct. 29, 2016, the body of 20-year-old Jordin Taylor was found under a bus near the San Marcos River at the Cool River Ranch, which is a music and river-tubing venue.

KXAN, a news source in the area, reported that Guadalupe County Commissioner Jack Shanafelt confirmed the student had died on the Cool River Ranch property at a fraternity party.

That story garnered 48,163 page views overall.

To read more, click here.

Two Teens Shot and Killed in Drive-by Shooting

Since news broke about the drive-by shooting in the 1100 block of 22^nd Street on March 26, 2016, readers have flocked to San Angelo LIVE! for updates on the incident that took the lives of two teens, 17-year-old Juan Guerrero and 16-year-old Zane Lopez.

Guerrero died at the scene, and Lopez later died at Shannon Medical Center.

According to the arrest affidavit in the case, Lopez was the primary part of the plan. Guerrero was possibly at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Overall, San Angelo Police arrested seven people for the shooting, and three of those men, Eric Ramos, 18, Fred Angel Garcia, 17, and Gilberto Reyes, 18 (ages at the time), were arrested and face capital murder charges of multiple persons.

Our story that broke the news comes in fourth with 37,386 page views this year. For the stories on this case, click here, here and here.

A San Angelo Man and His Grandson Drown Near Nasworthy Dam

On the evening of Oct. 21, 2016, San Angelo Police dispatched to the 1800 block of Beaty Road for the report of a drowning.

Later, officials confirmed the deaths of 61-year-old Ronald Strain and his 4-year-old grandson, Braxton Jewel.

At approximately 6:16 p.m. that day, San Angelo’s Public Safety Communications received a call about a possible dead body near Lake Nasworthy’s Spillway.

Lake Officer T. Berrie responded to the location and found the bodies of Strain and Jewel. SAPD explained that evidence at the scene indicated the victims “likely slipped” and fell into the water while attempting to cross the moss-covered rocks.

Strain’s daughter had called SAPD concerned because her father failed to pick her up. She noticed fishing equipment missing from the home and told officials her father and nephew did not know how to swim.

Thus far, this tragic story has 36,638 page views. For more on this incident, click here and here.