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sptimes.com's top stories of the year

Some of the most popular subjects: A husband's plea, a sonic boom, a naked neighbor, a naked nanny.

By ANNE GLOVER
Published December 30, 2005

There's a bit of folklore in newsrooms that essentially cautions, "Go ahead and run what you want on the front page, but don't mess with the comics or crossword page." In other words, what editors sometimes think is most important to their readers turns out not to be.

This list of the 10 most popular stories on the sptimes.com Web site for 2005 might be a case in point. While Janet Jackson was Google's most searched news story, sptimes.com was recording a more unpredictable reality.

1. Schiavo: "Come down, President Bush.' In an interview with Times reporter William R. Levesque, Michael Schiavo, husband of Terri, issues a challenge to the president after Congress intervenes in the right to die case.

2. Sonic booms shake up area. Two Navy F-18 Hornets flying to MacDill Air Force Base set off sonic booms that trigger hundreds of calls to police.

3. Deputies report rampage of naked, shocking behavior. A Citrus County man is arrested after breaking into his neighbors' house and threatening them, shocking himself by sticking his fingers into a lamp socket, threatening a deputy with a metal rod, running naked through his yard and chewing through a cable in a patrol car.

4. Iraq hero joins hallowed group. Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith of Tampa, who died defending his comrades in Iraq, is awarded the Medal of Honor.

5. Video shows police handcuffing 5-year-old. St. Petersburg girl flies into a tantrum at school that was caught on video for all the worldwide Web to see.

6. Wi-Fi cloaks a new breed of intruder. A man is arrested for using his laptop to hack into a St. Petersburg man's wireless network. It's one of the first arrests of its kind in Tampa Bay.

7. Doctor: Autopsy unlikely to end dispute. Medical experts predict what a look at Terri Schiavo's brain will reveal.

8. The odd case of a naked nanny. The life of a beloved babysitter falls apart after she gives in to a 4-year-old's request to take off her clothes.

9. One rare scare. An Eckerd College junior has the presence of mind to snap amazing photos of a lunging shark coming RIGHT AT HER! All ends well when the shark rolls over and expires.

10. Not your average boy band. This preview (by a Times staffer's teenage son) of a Fall Out Boy concert in Ybor City must have gotten linked to the band's MySpace.com page along the way.

[Last modified December 30, 2005, 10:09:36]