With 2016 just around the corner, it's hard not to get excited about what's to come in the New Year. Our collaborative Speaking of Serial podcast with the Idaho Statesman is taking off, NPR Music's Tiny Desk Contest is slated for next month, not to mention the 2016 presidential election.
But before we look forward, we wanted to spend some time looking back at 2015 and the local stories it brought us right here in Idaho. Some KBSX staff favorites include a local man who teaches bird watching to blind people, the rebuilding of Big Creek Lodge in the Payette National Forest and a series on growth in Garden City that encapsulates the tension between progress and the status quo.
What were some of your favorite stories? Here's a list of the top 10 most-viewed stories on BoiseStatePublicRadio.org:
- Idaho Bucket List: The 75 Things All Idahoans Should Try (At Least Once): First published in January of 2014, this story has rolled over to top yet another year with its statewide suggestions for having fun and making memories.
- Parachuting Beavers Into Idaho's Wilderness? Yes, It Really Happened: Before this story, Idaho was known for potatoes and blue turf. Now we can add parachuting beavers to that list. (Even the T-shirts are trending!)
- Amazing Photo Of An Ice Circle On Idaho's Salmon River Makes A Splash On Social Media: These natural phenomena typically form after a river has frozen over and is about to break up, making the Salmon River a perfect conduit for the fascinating water shapes.
- Remember The Parachuting Beavers Story? Now There's Video!: Just when you thought that list of things Idaho is known for couldn't get any stranger, a video of the parachuting beavers surfaces. The film was made decades ago (circa 1950) and went missing until earlier this year.
- Watch Idaho's Redfish Lake Freeze In Seconds In This Cool Timelapse Video: In January of this year, the Sawtooth Interpretive and Historical Society tried their hand at slowing down nature. A timelapse video documents ice creeping across Redfish Lake for days. When the water fully freezes over on December 30, a clear blue sky hosts the sun, illuminating the icy surface.
- Why One Boise Mom Wants To Help The Kids Of The Person Who Ran Over Her Son: A touching interview with Courtney Wyatt, whose son Maximo recently returned home from more than three months in a Utah hospital after being hit by a van.
- Soda Fire Burns Historic Idaho Places, Looters Take Advantage: Idaho's largest fire of 2015 destroyed everything in its path - including 16 cultural sites eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. This post contains a comprehensive list of things destroyed in the fire's blaze.
- WATCH: President Obama's Speech At Boise State University: Boise was the first stop on President Obama's list after his State of the Union Address. Re-watch the speech he gave on middle-class economics at BSU.
- After 'Rebellious' Boise Performance, Video Of Body Positive Activist Goes Viral: When a woman stood half-naked at the Capital City Public Market and asked people to get behind her self-acceptance message, Boise answered her call. "Radical Self-Acceptance" has since gone viral on the internet.
- Idaho's Most Unique Job Is So Unique You May Not Have Heard Of It: This story shed light on the gem state's forest and conservation technicians, what they are and why Idaho has a larger share of them than any other state.
