Bleh. That’s the best word I can use to describe this year’s Top 10 stories for 2024 out of Lincoln County.

As the guy responsible for assembling it, I’ll tell you plainly I don’t like it. Not a bit.

But hey, as I’ve said thousands of times, I don’t make the news, I just report it.

And this year’s top stories are … well … bleh.

First, I’ll concede choosing the “top” stories is an inexact art at best. I try to apply a little science as well by using some assigning some criteria to what makes a story “top” worthy: how unique is the story, how much did it capture the public’s attention when first published, how much lasting impact does it have and how significant is it.

With that in mind, I settled on the Hailey Zenk story as the county’s number one, but I wasn’t happy about it.

Due to several recent events, including her arrest for violating her probation, an unsuccessful bond reduction request and subsequent release and hiring of a high-profile attorney, I realize the public is growing tired of this story.

Guess what, so am I. But that recency bias doesn’t make any of the other top stories any more compelling or worthy.

Our number two story, the recent arrest of six individuals on murder charges for the death of a baby certainly scored high on the unique chart as it was the first of its kind. Never before in the county’s history has a child died due to exposure to opioids.

However, when it came to public interest and a lasting impact on the community, regrettably the Zenk story significantly outscores it.

The county getting scammed out of $150,000 is also highly unique and did create some understandable public backlash but again, there won’t be any long term impact. No one is getting fired, or arrested, and the people who are ultimately responsible aren’t up for re-election for a while.

We do have a couple construction projects that I could make a case for, especially the diamond interchange on Highway 47: lots of public interest, the first of its kind in Lincoln County, it solves a major traffic problem and it will have an immense long-term impact. As I write that, I’m wondering again why I didn’t choose that as the top story.

The answer? It’s boring. At the end of the day, it’s a construction project and not one for a new public building, or even an extra lane on a major highway. It’s a roundabout on steroids.

Another unique and long-term impactful construction project is the solar farm north of Highway 47. Again, it’s one of the first in the county and it’s going to have a major long-term impact, between providing clean energy, jobs and taxes.

And while there was some public angst surrounding the project, I’m not sure there is a more boring construction project than a field full of glorified mirrors.

Which unfortunately brings me back to the well-told story and courtroom drama surrounding Hailey Zenk.

The story certainly took a twist with her hiring of the famed Joel Schwartz. The timing of the hiring is important. He wasn’t hired to defend her against the DWI allegations. He was hired in response to the alleged probation violation associated with the tampering of an alcohol monitoring system.

Zenk’s family have asserted the monitoring bracelet malfunctioned, causing the tampering report. Hiring an attorney of Schwartz’s nature indicates to me we may be seeing a full-fledged attack on the bracelet and monitoring system at the Feb. 7 probation revocation hearing.

Regardless of how that turns out though, I certainly can’t envision the outcome being the top story for 2025.

Gregory Orear is the Publisher of the Lincoln County Journal, Elsberry Democrat and Troy Free Press. He can be contacted at gorear@cherryroadmedia.com.