CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It has been quite the year, across the nation and here in the Coastal Bend. From COVID-19 vaccines to crime, here are the 10 most read local online stories of 2021.
The 10th most read story on kiiitv.com in 2021 was a historic jury award to a family that lost loved ones due to a drunk driving accident. The jury found that a local bar was guilty of overserving the man who caused the accident. $301 billion was awarded to the family.
Though the Coastal Bend was spared any major effects from what shortly became Hurricane Nicholas, the threat of a possible storm caused school districts to temporarily close their doors. It was the ninth most read article this year.
Vaccines were just beginning to roll out for medical workers at the beginning of this year. One woman in Robstown reported experiencing immediate facial numbness after receiving a vaccine, but quickly recovered. Dr. Salim Surani said only a handful of people out of millions experienced minor problems with the vaccine at the time, and advised people to take a COVID-19 vaccine because the reward completely outweighs the risk of having a minor reaction.
A community was shocked in September when a teen allegedly killed his family before committing suicide. The tragic story was the seventh most read article this year.
2021 has been the second full year of COVID-19. As vaccines became more available, many people had questions about when they could get the shot. It was our sixth most read story of 2021.
Six people died after a two-car crash in Mathis, Texas, in January 2021. According to DPS the driver of a Toyota Camry with one driver and three passengers was traveling southbound in the northbound lane on IH-37. A driver of a Dodge Grand Caravan and four passengers were traveling north on IH-37, “when the Toyota struck the Dodge van head-on in the left lane.” It was the fifth most read story of 2021.
We spoke with the Corpus Christi Police Department and they explained the act caught on camera is Public Lewdness, which according to Penal Code 2107, is defined as engaging in a sex act and to be reckless about whether a person watching would be offended.
Officials said it's not illegal to record this act because it was not done in a private setting. However, police said Public Lewdness is a Class A Misdemeanor, which comes with a possible fine or up to two years in jail. This was the fourth most read story of 2021.
Who can forget the February freeze of 2021, and the power outages that came along with it? Our second most read story of 2021 was an article providing power outage updates. Up to 441,000 American Electric Power Texas customers in the Coastal Bend went without power, some for longer periods of time than others.
According to our data, people paid attention to the daily COVID-19 numbers for our area. Our second most read online story was the daily COVID-19 update for cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the area.
And the top online story for the Coastal Bend in 2021 was...
Yes, you read that right. Local resident Chris Cremeen said he wanted to record a video to demonstrate how large fish are cleaned, but was shocked when he opened the 11-foot long, over 400 pound shark, and found the remains of a sea turtle and a dolphin inside.
RELATED: Actor Ashton Kutcher surprises teachers at Cunningham Middle School when he jumps into their Zoom
Want to send us a news tip?
Put your name and contact information below so we can get in touch with you about your story should we have questions or need more information. We realize some stories are sensitive in nature. Let us know if you'd like to remain anonymous.
If you do not have a photo/video to submit, just click "OK" to skip that prompt.