GOODBYE, 2023: This year’s 10 most-commented WSB stories

Time for the only year-end look back that we publish every year – the 10 WSB stories that drew the most reader comments. Not necessarily the most-read stories or the most-important stories, but this is one thing our publishing system allows us to objectively quantify. So, with hours remaining in 2023, here’s this year’s countdown:

#10 – LINCOLN PARK COURT-CONVERSION OPPONENTS RALLY, PLOT STRATEGY
October 21, 2023 – 190 comments
If you are a frequent reader, you won’t be surprised to see that the uproar over Seattle Parks’ plan to build pickleball courts on a paved pad that once held tennis courts has multiple spots on this year’s list. As of now, the plan remains on hold, at least until warm-weather season.

#9 – COUNCILMEMBER HERBOLD ASKS PARKS TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON PICKLEBALL PLAN
October 27, 2023 – 198 comments
They did, sort of – an online briefing about West Seattle projects including this one.

#8 – DEMONSTRATION ON WESTBOUND WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE
December 29, 2023 – 200 comments (so far)
A few cars stopped traffic on the bridge, briefly, and people inside them waved Palestinian flags out the window. The minutes-long demonstration touched off a days-long discussion.

#7 – WORKERS RETURN TO LINCOLN PARK COURT-CONVERSION SITE, WITH POLICE
October 23, 2023 – 225 comments
Back to the park pickleball plan.

#6 – OPPONENT KEEPING VIGIL AT PICKLEBALL SITE; CITY TO ESTABLISH ‘WORK ZONE’
October 17, 2023 – 249 comments
For a while, city crews were under orders to push ahead with the plan.

#5 – SEATTLE PARKS SAYS IT’S ‘PAUSING PROJECT CONSTRUCTION FOR TWO WEEKS’
October 31, 2023 – 254 comments
This was the most-commented pickleball-related story. The “two-week pause” has so far lasted two months.

#4 – MAN SHOT AND KILLED NEAR WHALE TAIL PARK
May 13, 2023 – 295 comments
To date, no arrest has been announced in the shooting death of 25-year-old Davonte Sanchez.

#3 – 2 DRIVERS TO HOSPITAL AFTER COLLISION ON ALKI AVENUE PUSHES 1 CAR INTO THE WATER
July 16, 2023 – 311 comments
A man slammed his car into Madison Kelly‘s car so hard that she and her car were pushed over the seawall and into Elliott Bay; bystanders pulled her out. She spent many weeks in the hospital/rehab. To date, the driver who hit her has not been charged.

#2 – HERE’S WHAT THE PICKETING OUTSIDE THE ADMIRAL THEATER IS ABOUT
November 10, 2023 – 320 comments
Some current and former workers at West Seattle’s only movie theater announced they were going on strike. They picketed off and on for some days afterward; the theater remained open.

#1 – FIREWORKS OFF BAINBRIDGE ISLAND STARTLE THOUSANDS
September 16, 2023 – 337 comments
A huge Fourth-of-July-quality fireworks show off the west side of Puget Sound was heard around the region. To date, no official confirmation of who it was for, but The Seattle Times followed the trail quite a distance.

PREVIOUS YEARS: Here are our previous most-commented-stories lists, going back to 2011:

2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011

(Image by starline on Freepik)

Local December 31, 2023 (8:19 pm)

Favorite post of the year

Odd son December 31, 2023 (8:31 pm)

Half were about pickleball 🤦‍♂️

937 December 31, 2023 (8:38 pm)

5 about pickleball.

Pickleball.

Embarassing

nopicklesinlincolnplease January 1, 2024 (8:30 pm)

Clearly you don’t understand the issue and why it is a hot button. Instead of being critical – what if you noticed how important the park is to people of this neighborhood and do want you can to support your neighbors and their need for quiet, green spaces? Not everyone has a yard.
- 937 January 2, 2024 (6:12 am)
  
  I don’t care or care for “pickleball” – there are plenty of unused tennis courts around these parts. Use them.
  
  What I DO care about is crime. Families feeling unsafe. Seattle just had its highest murder year. I care about high taxes and homelessness everywhere I look. I care about NOTHING being done about it. over a BILLION spent and zero accountability from anyone (let alone the “so called” 4th estate)
  
  But mention a stupid paddle game and the outrage rings to the highest level. Got a bunch of fiddlers here – watching rome burn.
  
  It really is peak Seattle.
  - whattheheck January 2, 2024 (11:49 am)
    
    You can combat crime and conserve green spaces at the same time. Also, most of the time, the two are correlated. This isn’t either/or.
    - 937 January 2, 2024 (12:21 pm)
      
      I’d rather focus be on serious issues.
      
      Not frivolous ones.
      
      Yes you could do both – but since law and order and safety are not being focused on – I thought I’d point out the disparity.
    - Hmmmmmm January 3, 2024 (2:36 pm)
      
      How is converting a decommission tennis court concrete slab into a functioning court + ADA pathways impacting “green space?” The footprint is there. One could argue this is helping people be out in green space even more.IMO this who ordeal has been misplaced, overstepping, and — frankly — ignorant “activism.”

Alki resident December 31, 2023 (8:39 pm)

Here’s to pickleball 2024, Happy New Year!

ML December 31, 2023 (9:09 pm)

I love with all we have going on in the world that pickleball manages to elicit such passionate commentary in our beloved west seattle blog. The Onion has nothing on the west seattle pickleball saga (have they picked it up yet?).

whyyougottabesomean January 1, 2024 (8:25 pm)

How dismissive you are to your neighbors who appreciate and need the sanctuary of the park – and heartbroken by Parks efforts to steamroll ridiculously unneeded and expensive courts into the center of the park. Many folks cope with ‘all that is going on in the world’ with their daily walks in the quiet of this park. Maybe you could work on developing some empathy in the year to come.
- Incorrect January 3, 2024 (2:39 pm)
  
  It’s objectively not the “center of the park.” It’s on an existing concrete asset nestled next to other sports fields.

Pickleheads December 31, 2023 (9:18 pm)

Year of the pickleHeads

1994 December 31, 2023 (10:00 pm)

More pickleball, please.

mygoodness January 1, 2024 (8:26 pm)

anywhere but Lincoln Park.

Drew December 31, 2023 (10:19 pm)

Thank you WSB for keeping us informed. We’re lucky to have such great local journalism. Happy New Year!

Admiral December 31, 2023 (10:30 pm)

As we prepare to fully descend into fascism in 2024 it’s nice to know we care about the important things like pickleball and rich people fireworks.

Alki resident January 1, 2024 (12:09 am)

Comedy
- justthinking January 1, 2024 (8:27 pm)
  
  No one posted more comments on pickleball stories than you, Alki Resident. So, thank you for the comedy.
Keenan January 1, 2024 (10:21 am)

Those two things are unironically important to this community and it’s telling you can’t see how they’re both directly related to same anti-democratic, authoritarian backsliding happening all over this country,

In one case, you had a group of rich entitled people creating an enormous amounts of noise pollution, unannounced, that disturbed this entire neighborhood and their pets for a good hour. It sounded like a war zone, and it’s a disgrace that it took a Seattle Times investigation to get to unmask the perpetrators (who were never fined, of course).

In the other case, you have an appointed bureaucrat from California running the Seattle Parks Department who tried to permanently alter a quiet natural area in our most beloved public park without any public input. Whatever your personal feelings on pickleball, the fact is that’s it’s controversial for its noise pollution and there are dozens of better places in West Seattle for pickleball courts than that particular section of Lincoln Park.

Loud, public, vocal community activism is, in fact, the best weapon we have against creeping authoritarianism and I hope those voices remains strong and ever-vigilant in 2024.
- Alki resident January 1, 2024 (3:11 pm)
  
  See you at the pickleball court at LP. The park that has multiple noisy areas to it❤️.
- What????? January 3, 2024 (2:40 pm)
  
  You make many claims, with little evidence.

Rosey December 31, 2023 (10:37 pm)

Me, reacting to this post of the top 10 most commented stories, “Gosh people sure do have some uh, opinions about pickleball courts.”

WSDAD December 31, 2023 (10:42 pm)

Thanks for all the great reporting. Maybe I should start playing pickleball in 2024, or maybe not.

Zachisgreat December 31, 2023 (11:17 pm)

Thank you, WSB!!

Ray December 31, 2023 (11:45 pm)

Wasn’t it determined the fireworks off Bainbridge were actually just enthusiastic games of pickleball reverberating in the sound?

wscommuter January 1, 2024 (8:14 am)

For the win …

Morgan Graham December 31, 2023 (11:47 pm)

Come on folks, let’s get this story at #10 at least. We just need 177 more comments in before midnight:)

ALKId January 1, 2024 (12:27 am)

Any updates on Madison Kelly?

WSB January 1, 2024 (12:47 am)

Not beyond what’s on the GoFundMe page to which we linked, aside from a TV station quoting a relative in September as saying she was continuing her recovery at home.
Jay January 1, 2024 (2:00 am)

It’s so upsetting that the guy gets away without even a blemish on his record. Was he allowed to stay anonymous? Does anyone have his name?
- WSB January 1, 2024 (11:34 am)
  
  The fact he hasn’t been charged doesn’t mean he WON’T be charged. Among other possible reasons, the state toxicology lab is still way backed up last I heard. I’ve seen some cases charged a year later. The driver in the bridge crash that killed two people last year was charged three months later (and is still in jail awaiting trial).

Odd son January 1, 2024 (2:49 am)

I’m really curious about what happened to James Price.

Where’s Jim? January 1, 2024 (11:04 am)

Me too. I think about him often.

KayK January 1, 2024 (8:37 am)

Happy New Year!

Anonymous January 1, 2024 (8:41 am)

I’m not surprised the pickleball story got such a big response. Alot of people around here hate the idea of pickleball courts going up in the middle of Lincoln Park. I am a little surprised that WSB didn’t publish an article about the ugly perimeter fence surrounding the proposed courts getting knocked down by vandals last week. That would have gotten at least another 200 – 300 responses. Pass the popcorn.

WSB January 1, 2024 (11:21 am)

A couple people sent photos of the fence down but whether it was knocked down, fell down, taken down, no idea, and I wasn’t able to contact Parks during the between-holidays week. This week, everybody’s back in the office.

Fiona PR January 1, 2024 (11:55 am)

Thank you WSB for all the posts and the hours of approving all of these comments! You do our neighborhood an extraordinary service. I took friends to lunch at La Chingona (because I saw your posts). While chatting my friend that lives by Children’s, quoted the WS Blog! When we asked why he read WSB, he said if there’s just a blurb in the ST, he knows he’ll get a much better story with you. You’ve come a long way since that first time I looked up why that helicopter was overhead, on the new anonymous blog! Happy New Year Tracy and Patrick!

Wseattleite January 1, 2024 (12:42 pm)

Thank you for what you do WSB. Happy New Year!

Joe January 1, 2024 (1:35 pm)

Any updates on the wrong-way driver that killed those two teens on the bridge back in March? Was the driver ever convicted? Thanks WSB for all the work you do to keep us informed.

WSB January 1, 2024 (2:04 pm)

Still in jail, case making its way through court system.

CarDriver January 1, 2024 (4:03 pm)

WSB. Putting you on the spot. In all the years you’ve covered WS what story surprised you the most with how many comments were made .

WSB January 1, 2024 (4:45 pm)

The all-time comment leader – the stimulus-payment card mention. For some reason, people around the country found it.
- miws January 1, 2024 (6:42 pm)
  
  I was trying to locate the “most commented on story of all time” a few weeks ago, but I think I was thinking it was related to COVID vaccines when they first came out and used those search parameters, instead of stimulus. Here’s a link.https://westseattleblog.com/2021/01/fyi-your-federal-check-might-arrive-as-a-debit-card/
- K January 1, 2024 (6:55 pm)
  
  That thread is such a fascinating time capsule. Did anyone ever take the time to see if all 50 states were represented in the comments?
  - WSB January 1, 2024 (7:43 pm)
    
    Not all IPs check to precise location so that would’ve been difficult…
    - K January 1, 2024 (7:53 pm)
      
      I meant sifting through the comments, since so many people identified “I’m in Illinois/NC/NY/Utah” etc. I started to keep track because I (like so many people) still had some extra time on my hands at that point in the pandemic, but failed to keep up to the end. There is a good swath of the US represented for sure, though!

Sorry, comment time is over.