Top Ten Local News Stories of 2020 — Round One 1-5

We're not going to rank them 1-10, but here's the first round of some of, or at least, the biggest stories of 2020.

Not all of them have to do with COVID, some did, some not. Some were truly local, others were the local effect from COVID or other events. With that in mind, here we go.

• NO Dust Devils Baseball.Thousands were crushed when the Northwest League, along with all of Minor League Baseball, announced June 30 that the Tri City Dust Devils would not have a season. It was due to begin a few weeks earlier, but was delayed. Then MiLB and MLB announced, no minor leagues. GESA Stadium sat empty for the first time in it's history during the season. CLICK HERE for the story.
• Unruly Protesters Block Traffic, Hit vehicles on Clearwater in Kennewick.  In the wake of the George Floyd death there were a lot of protests around the nation, and there were a number here in Tri-Cities. But the most unruly was in Kennewick June 6th. Not only did protesters run through and block traffic, hit cars with signs, they also laid down in the turn lanes, blocking vehicles from entering the Winco Foods parking lot. Turns out the protest organizers did NOT have a permit. CLICK HERE for the story.
• Local Social Justice Leader ID'd as Driver in Drive By Protest Assault. A fellow named Brandon Jones made headlines in June and July for his social activism with BLM affiliated groups, even appearing in a press conference with Kennewick Police Chief Ken Hohenberg. He praised the agency and officers for being willing to talk and work with him and other 'social justice' leaders. But as the summer wore on, he became the 'front man' for a growing number of uneasy protests. Then in late September he was ID'd as being the driver of the getaway vehicle following an assault on a Trump rally supporter in Kennewick. Police have been looking for him since, and following that incident, marches and other social justice activity in our area has dried up completely. CLICK HERE for the story.
• Pasco Police Firefight with Gang Murder Suspects in Alleyway.  May 17th Pasco Police were involved in a firefight with two wanted murder suspects. The two were accused of a fatal shooting several weeks earlier, then a carjacking a few days later. May 17 officers surrounded a home where the two were located. When they attempted to leave, they began running and shooting at Officers. Body camera footage was released in August showing the dramatic shootout. One suspect was fatally shot, the other wounded. CLICK HERE for the story.
• Two Richland High students die from Suicide 8 months apart.  One of the tragic events was directly linked to the isolation and stress from the school lockdowns. Christian Robbins died April 27th, after battling emotional issues, and another student died over the weekend of December 12-13. No word if the second student was also from similar issues, but the mental stress and trauma endured by area school students was apparent during the COVID school closures.