By Erin Smith
As we prepare to ring in the New Year, we pause to take a look back at the year 2018. The year proved to have many challenges as well as many inspirational moments. Below we present our Top 15 News Stories of 2018.
Below are the top 15 news stories our readers found interesting.
Our number one story for the year 2018 was “DEA, Sheriff’s Office presence at Anderson’s Drug Store.” Agents with the DEA arrived at Anderson’s Drug Store in Elizabethtown in August to perform an audit.
You can read the story here:
https://bladencounty.org/dea-sheriffs-office-presence-at-andersons-drug-store/
Our second place story regards the arrival of a new restaurant in Elizabethtown. The announcement that Bojangles will be coming to the lot which formerly was occupied by Cape Fear Bar-B-Que and Chicken on S. Polar Street in Elizabethtown.
You can read the story here:
https://bladencounty.org/its-official-new-restaurant-coming-to-elizabethtown/
Coming in third place is a tragic story about a motor vehicle crash on Sweet Home Church Road.
You can read the story here:
https://bladencounty.org/two-killed-in-sweethome-church-road-crash/
Our fourth place story for the year features a Bladen County magistrate who was arrested in Robeson County.
Read more here:
https://bladencounty.org/bladen-county-magistrate-arrested-by-robeson-county-sheriffs-office/
Coming in as our fifth place story, was a story about the recent hog farm lawsuits. A federal judge apologized in court for not being fair.
You can read more at:
https://bladencounty.org/judge-apologizes-for-not-being-fair-in-hog-industry- lawsuit/
In sixth place, a discussion by the Bladen County Commissioners regarding roadside deer hunting drew a huge crowd. 
Read more about what happened at the meeting here:
https://bladencounty.org/standing-room-only-crowd-gathers-for-discussion-on-roadside-deer-hunting/
In seventh place, a second tragedy made headlines when two separate motor vehicle crashes resulted in fatalities.
Read more at:
https://bladencounty.org/two-crashes-in-bladen-county-lead-to-three-fatalities/
In eighth place, a traffic crash in April also resulted in a fatality.
Read more at:
https://bladencounty.org/thursday-morning-crash-results-in-fatality/
The ninth place story offered safety tips for how women can avoid becoming a victim of human trafficking. Human trafficking is a real problem and a threat to young women everywhere.
The safety tips can be found here:
In 10th place, candidates worked to earn your votes, our election night results were of interest to many readers.
Review the election results here:
https://bladencounty.org/bladen-county-election-results/
In 11th place, residents were being urged to complete preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Florence. Bladen County went under a State of Emergency.
Read more here:
In 12th place, in April a jury pronounced Shanika Mitchell guilty of murder for the shooting death of Darrell Council.
You can read more about the case here:
https://bladencounty.org/jury-finds-shanika-mitchell-guilty-of-murder/
In 13th place, with the booming opioid crisis. Many law enforcement agencies have been busy trying to stem the flow of opioid prescription medication being sold on the streets. In Tabor City, a former Elizabethtown doctor was arrested in an effort to crack down on opioids.
You can learn more about the arrest here:
https://bladencounty.org/former-elizabethtown-doctor-arrested-as-part-of-opioid- crackdown/
In 14th place, an Elizabethtown man was arrested on arson charges in January.
Read more about that story here:
https://bladencounty.org/elizabethtown-man-wanted-on-arson-charge-arrested/
In 15th place, one story that continues to generate interest for our readers is one we wrote in March 2015 about a Kirby van traveling from door-to-door. 
You can read the story here:
https://bladencounty.org/be-aware-kirby-van-is-not-trying-to-sell-vacuums/
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