Lost Neil Young tape and a $48M crypto crime — yeah, that also happened in 2022
Forgetting some of the interesting news stories of 2022 is easy, given all the drama in the city this year.
For example: news junkies might remember a recent election that wiped out two-thirds of councillors, but forget about the surge of syphilis cases.
Here's a quick reminder of some stories worth remembering.
A teen cyber bandit admitted in court to stealing $48-million worth of cryptocurrency from a California-based Bitcoin pioneer. No more crypto cash - part of the 19-year-old's sentence.
A huge blaze ripped through an east Mountain neighbourhood under construction. No one was injured in the July blaze, but 23 homes were consumed by the fire.
There was no audio in the archives from a 1973 Neil Young concert at Mac. So when a local record store owner was given a nearly 50-year-old tape from the show, he knew he was holding onto something special.
What's cooler than a flaming meteor lighting up the Ontario night sky? A flaming meteor detected pre-impact by the global asteroid warning system.
It turns out that there is some controversy around a famous pose seen on billboards in Hamilton. Real estate agent Rob Golfi is facing a lawsuit from an American realtor alleging that the arms-outstretched pose is not his to use.
Hamilton's wackiest water park was under fire this summer after requiring all visitors to use a public weight scale before they ride the slides. Park visitors were not impressed.
Safety was a reason given for blocking off city hall air vents, a resource for homeless residents to stay warm on cold winter days. Housing advocates were not impressed.
The steel and concrete shell of a failed condo building stands tall near the corner of Cannon Street and James Street North as a reminder of pre-builds gone bad. The Jamesville Lofts bankrupt developer, Areacor, owed nearly $10-million to 21 creditors.
A representative of Hamilton's bus operator promised it wouldn't happen again after 11-year-old Annabelle Williams was booted off the bus. But then it did, two weeks later, by another HSR driver not informed about the city's new free transit for kids program.
Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com