The top 10 most-read Herald stories of the year

Published 6:30 am Thursday, January 1, 2026

EVERETT — As 2025 comes to a close, The Daily Herald took a moment to look back at the hundreds of stories we covered across Snohomish County. From businesses making their debut to stories of homemade creativity, we gathered the top 10 articles readers clicked on this year.

Here are the 10 most-read Herald stories of 2025.

1: Dick’s Drive-In announces opening date for Everett location (May 21)

Readers were eager for news on the soon-to-come arrival of the Seattle-area hamburger chain, Dick’s Drive-In, as it planned to open a location in south Everett.

The location — the chain’s 10th and the second in Snohomish County — opened on June 12 after construction began late in 2024. The opening ceremony featured speeches from politicians, performances from school bands and attendees wearing burger-themed shoes.

2: Providence Everett plans to reduce certified nursing assistants (June 4)

Officials at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett told staff members in May that they would reduce the number of certified nursing assistants on staff at the hospital.

Providence Swedish eventually gave layoff notices to more than 100 nursing assistants at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, as part of layoffs that amounted to 600 full-time positions across seven states. The medical groups cited inflation, proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, delayed payments from insurers and high labor costs as reasons for the cuts.

3: Officials: SnoCo Commuters should prepare for major I-5 construction (June 11)

Construction on the Revive I-5 project, which began work on critical repairs to the Ship Canal Bridge in Seattle, kicked off in June.

The work reduced the number of open lanes on the busy highway for weeks and at points, closed northbound I-5 entirely. Before that construction work began, officials told commuters who drove into downtown Seattle that they should consider taking alternate routes or using public transit.

Construction on the Revive I-5 project will continue in 2026.

4: Snohomish officials tell man to remove makeshift pathway (Aug. 26)

Steve Nagy spent three years building a makeshift path to help pedestrians navigate past a ditch along Bickford Avenue in Snohomish. City officials, however, told him to remove the wooden path as it violated city codes that govern the construction of walkways along the right-of-way.

The wooden pathway has been removed.

5: Snohomish County police scanners to go dark to public (May 5)

As part of a five-year-long, $72 million emergency communication overhaul, radio communications for police in Snohomish County were encrypted, blocking public access to real-time scanner traffic.

Officials said the move would improve coverage, safety and reliability for first responders across the county. Others, however, had concerns over a perceived lack of transparency.

6: Lake Stevens parents arrested in child sex abuse, bestiality case (April 21)

A man and woman were arrested in Lake Stevens on suspicion of child sexual abuse and bestiality involving their 4-year-old daughter, police said. Law enforcement officials said at the time that the child was found and taken to safety.

The woman was charged in federal court in May with one count of production of child pornography. She pleaded not guilty, court records show. A trial is scheduled to take place in August 2026.

Prosecutors did not file charges against the man as there was no credible evidence he was complicit or involved with the criminal acts allegedly committed by the woman, wrote Michael Held, chief of staff at the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office, in an email Monday.

7: Everett man builds B-17 replica in his garage (Sept. 27)

Thatcher Johnson spent three years working in his north Everett garage to build a meticulous, homemade replica of a B-17 cockpit, made from building materials collected from local hardware stores. He sourced real B-17 plans from anonymous sources online and watched archival footage of workers constructing the planes in the 1940s to get clues as to how to assemble it.

On Monday, Johnson said he continues to work on the replica almost daily. He still has tasks to get done, including fabricating and installing the windows, finishing electrical features, installing a door and adding a final coat of paint.

Johnson expects to be done with the replica within a few weeks. He will donate the finished cockpit to the Pasco Aviation Museum in southeastern Washington.

8: Boeing starts production of first 777X Freighter (July 22)

In July, Boeing started production of a new freighter plane, the 777-X after it had been delayed for years. Officials touted the new freighter as the world’s largest twin-engine cargo plane, with a larger payload and lower operating costs than the previous 777 model.

The first plane is expected to be delivered in 2028, Boeing officials said in July.

9: When Boeing expects to start production of 737 MAX 10 plane in Everett (Sept. 27)

Boeing’s CEO, Kelly Ortberg, announced during an earnings call that the aerospace giant would begin producing the 737 Max 10 after the Federal Aviation Administration certifies it, likely in 2026.

10: Former Everett bar owner sentenced to at least 109 years in prison (July 22)

A judge sentenced Christian Sayre, 39, the former owner of the Anchor Pub in Everett, to at least 109 years in prison after he was accused of drugging and assaulting a number of women over nearly 10 years. Juries — in four separate trials — convicted Sayre of 16 felony counts, including third-degree rape of a child, possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, second-degree rape and indecent liberties. The sentence came more than three years after Everett police first arrested Sayre.

He is now imprisoned at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.