Last year was a gem for newsworthy stories from January through December, and 2025 will undoubtedly yield another prolific year of content.
We looked back at 2024 to see which LWC stories interested you the most. As in most previous years, original content topped the list, followed by stories that we produced on some of the biggest news items of the year. This year, however, had two themes emerge: Water and rail.
Counting down from 10, here are the most-read stories reported by LWC from 2024.
10. Calgary water use rising; no indication of pipe failure before the break – 11,097 reads
This was one of many stories written this year on the Bearspaw water feeder main break, which is sure to yield more content in 2025. This story was written a week after the initial June 5, 2024 break. It’s one of three stories in our top 10 on the water main break.
9. Four days of water supply once Calgary begins Bearspaw feeder main repairs – 11,764 reads
Once the Bearspaw water feeder main repairs began, the City of Calgary’s water distribution folks said that if current water use continued, it meant that the city had about four days of storage before running reservoirs dry.
8. Province delivers new Green Line plan for Calgary – 11,855 reads
It was quite the year for Calgary’s Green Line, another topic that provided multiple stories for LWC. The most popular, however, is the story on the southeast Calgary transit plan delivered by the province. This topic will undoubtedly deliver more headlines, even as early as January 2025.
7. Calgary committee rejects rule changes for RV parking on driveways – 12,262 reads
Last February, Calgary city councillors rejected plans to make changes to how citizens could store recreational vehicles on their driveways. At that time, a request was made to come back with an altered plan. That was approved late in 2024.
6. Calgary narrows down feeder main break on one of its biggest pipes – 12,984 reads
This story was delivered at the height of the response to the Bearspaw water feeder main break, when the City of Calgary said they’d found the location of the initial break and had begun digging up the area to inspect the damage.
5. Thousands of illegal signs pulled from Calgary roads after bylaw changes – 13,836 reads
After the City of Calgary made changes to the business unit responsible for dealing with illegally placed road and boulevard signs, thousands of them were picked up this year. That was welcome news for residents in northeast Calgary, according to Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal.
4. Calgary CFO Carla Male and the director of corporate planning relieved of duties – 18,839 reads
This was a good, old-fashioned scoop by LWC this year, as Editor Darren Krause was able to nail down details on Chief Financial Officer Carla Male’s dismissal. It happened right before Calgary deliberated the mid-cycle budget adjustment, and few details around the timing of the dismissal are known.
3. The best beer in the world can be found in Calgary, for the third year in a row – 28,672 reads
Since the craft brewing renaissance in Calgary, some of the world’s best beers, aided by some of the highest quality hops and barley, have been made right here at home. Last year was no different, as Village Brewery took home top honours for two of its offerings.
2. Taps shut off: Calgary lake communities can’t top up with water after May 31 – 31,022 reads
Thousands of Calgarians live in the city’s lake communities, and this year the City of Calgary put restrictions around when and how those lakes could be topped up with city water. It ended up being particularly poignant as Calgary dealt with the water shortage due to the Bearspaw break.
- Calgary to Banff rail group says it will foot route construction costs if the province builds an airport-to-downtown track – 40,873 reads
Rail gave Calgary several stories this year, with the confluence of the Green Line saga, the province’s master rail plan, and the outside private groups interested in tapping into the rail market with high-speed rail between Banff and Calgary, or between Calgary and Edmonton.
