It was a busy year for news in Butler County and one filled with changes for our communities.

We asked our readers to take a poll on what they believed the top stories of the year were in the county. Readers responded with picks that were similar to our staff’s choices.

In today’s paper, our Year in Review rounds up the biggest news and sports stories of 2019.

Not surprisingly, some of the most widely read stories were ones of a heartbreaking nature — a horrific accident that claimed the life of a young boy at a bus stop — or involved crime — such as the culmination of a case involving a woman’s murder and the burning of her body and another about a couple accused of embezzling more than $1 million from the Butler Health System.

One of the year’s biggest series was filled with strife — communities across the county responded to devastating flooding caused by heavy rainfall that damaged properties, affected crops and cost municipalities large sums of money to respond.

And the loss of Viola’s Market in Evans City — following the 2018 closure of Friedman’s Freshmarkets — contributed to the concept of Butler County becoming a food desert.

But like any year, 2019 wasn’t all doom and gloom.

Cranberry Township supervisors granted approval for the massive MSA Thruway project and, earlier in the year, Butler Health System and Clarion Healthcare System announced plans to merge.

One of our favorite stories of the year involved Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Justin Hendrickson, who returned home from Iraq in 2005 after having lost a leg to an IED explosion.

This year, he and his wife — a brain cancer survivor — received a new house in Harrisville through Homes for Our Troops, a national nonprofit that provides custom homes to injured post-9/11 veterans. The home didn’t cost the Hendricksons a cent, and there is no mortgage on it.

Overall, it was an good year for Butler County.

Census figures show the county is growing, the unemployment rate remained low throughout the year, and the county continues to draw new festivals and events — it was chosen over Savannah, Ga., to host the 2024 Can-Am Police-Fire Games.

We enjoy hearing from our readers, and encourage them in 2020 to contact us about stories taking place in the community. And we look forward to providing coverage of the county’s top stories in the year to come. Happy new year!