The 10 most read stories on CBC Hamilton in 2015
Bad airline behaviour, CHCH, a PS4 tantrum and more
1. Walk Off the Earth singer kicked off flight over crying son
Burlington musician Sarah Blackwood made international headlines this year – though sadly, it wasn't for her music.
In May, Blackwood was kicked off a United Airlines flight heading from San Francisco to Vancouver because her toddler wouldn't stop crying. She was also seven months pregnant at the time.
Hundreds of thousands of people read the story, and many people took to United's Facebook page to denounce the airline's move.
2. NDP candidate Alex Johnstone didn't know what Auschwitz was
While the Liberals storming back to a commanding majority in the House of Commons was the biggest story of the 2015 election, it was an NDP candidate that stole the show in Hamilton.
In apologizing for a seven-year-old Facebook post she had written that made a crude reference to Auschwitz, school board trustee Alex Johnstone said she didn't know what the infamous Nazi death camp was.
The internet exploded, and Johnstone was ridiculed – even making Last Night Tonight with John Oliver.
In the end, she lost in her riding to Liberal Filomena Tassi.
3. CHCH news files for bankruptcy, cancels newscasts
Seemingly out of nowhere, CHCH News cancelled a huge chunk of its news lineup in December while cutting dozens of staff.
Longtime reporter and on-air personality Donna Skelly was among those who have lost their jobs, alongside well-known names such as Matt Hayes, Scott Urquhart and Elise Copps.
CHCH is one of the last independent TV stations in the country. No severance was paid out to employees. "I think it was a despicable way to treat long-serving loyal employees," said Unifor representative Liz Marzari.
4. Spectacular ice boulders form on Niagara Falls
We're in no giant rush to remind you of last winter's ultra-frigid temperatures, but this video of an icy Niagara Falls is still something truly awesome to behold.
- READ MORE: Niagara Falls spectacular ice boulders form
The Niagara River kept flowing below the ice cover, so the falls weren't totally frozen over. But the massive ice buildup near the brink became a tourist magnet for the second straight year, and with good reason.
Still, we're hoping for a milder winter this time around at the expense of this spectacle.
5. Police called as PlayStation 4 tantrum leads to 'out-of-control' son
A Brantford family made headlines in May when a 13-year-old allegedly lost of control and trashed his house after his parents took away his Playstation 4.
His own father had to call police to report that his son was destroying the home with a hammer and a baseball bat, investigators said at the time.
When officers arrived at the family home, they found the parents had locked the boy in the garage in fear of their safety. The boy was trying to get back into the home by smashing the door and locks.
He was arrested and charged with mischief.
6. Police too busy to rescue dog trapped in car during heat alert
A dog spent over an hour panting in a scorching hot car on Stoney Creek Mountain July, but a woman couldn't get police to show up despite repeatedly asking for help.
At the time, Hamilton police said a high volume of higher-priority calls kept officers from the scene – but that didn't stop many from denouncing what happened.
7. Man arrested for pouring syrup on sidewalk
This was a story that launched a thousand puns – a quintessentially Canadian crime.
In June, a 56-year-old man was arrested for mischief for pouring what was believed to have been maple syrup onto a downtown sidewalk.
- READ MORE: Man arrested for pouring syrup on sidewalk
We say, "What was believed to have been maple syrup" because nobody actually tasted it. (And come on, would you?)
City crews had to lay down "absorbent material" to clean up the mess. Cue the pancake jokes.
8. Neil Bantleman, Canadian teacher, found guilty, sentenced to 10 years on Jakarta child sex charges
- READ MORE: Neil Bantleman, Canadian teacher, found guilty, sentenced to 10 years on Jakarta child sex charges
- READ MORE: Christmas with the Bantlemans, from Canada to Jakarta
But then in August, an Indonesian high court overturned an earlier conviction from a district court.
Bantleman's family in Canada hoped to spend Christmas together for the first time in three years, but he isn't able to leave Indonesia while an appeal of the decision to free him remains before the country's supreme court.
9. Sahab Jamshidi, Ancaster man, charged in death of 4-year-old St. Lucia boy
The Bantleman case wasn't the only one Canadians were watching abroad.
Ancaster's Sahab Jamshidi was charged in St. Lucia following the drowning death of a four-year-old boy. He says that he tried to save the boy, denying reports that he took the child on a fatal kitesurfing ride off the coast of the Caribbean island.
Jamshidi's trial started in late November. He faces a charge of causing death by gross negligence or recklessness in the case.
10. Confederate flag has been flying in Dundas for 18 years
The controversial confederate flag has been flying high in the backyard of a Dundas home for 18 years, and it likely won't be going anywhere any time soon.
"It's not a ni---- flag," said the homeowner back in July, who declined to give his name but was identified as Eldon Spinney by neighbours.
U.S. President Barack Obama declared the flag a symbol of racial oppression after a massacre at a African-American church in Charleston, S.C. earlier in the year.