Here at the Insider, we pay attention to what our dear readers click on, and we try to provide what you want without resorting to "10 cats that look like Kardashians."
So with the end of 2015 approaching, we are taking a trip down memory lane at the most-clicked posts of our most-clicked year ever -- by a long shot. (We showed off our least-clicked gems on Friday.)
Here they are in descending order:
5. MGM's pitch for a $1B casino in metro Atlanta
Casino and entertainment giant MGM Resorts International is pitching a $1 billion gambling complex for downtown Atlanta that backers say would funnel tens of millions of dollars into the HOPE scholarship. But first it would have to overcome stiff opposition in the General Assembly and the governor's office.
In which Bluestein and Trubey combine for a casino scoop that kicked off months of stories on gambling.
4. Sandblasting the Confederate faces off Stone Mountain? Yeah right.
"It is time for Georgia and other Southern states to end the glorification of slavery and white supremacy paid for and maintained with the taxes of all its citizens," reads the chapter's release. "NAACP Atlanta chapter is calling for the immediate removal of all Confederate Memorial Monuments maintained by the state of Georgia using taxpayer money."
Extra research would have paid off here. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association, which operates the park, is self-supporting. Nonetheless, the discussion was bound to take this turn as Georgia wrestles with its Confederate legacy after the shooting deaths of nine black worshippers in Charleston by a suspected white supremacist.
Ah, the summer of the Confederacy. It seems like just yesterday.
3. Jimmy Carter: 'I have cancer'
"Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body. I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Healthcare. A more complete public statement will be made when facts are known, possibly next week."
Last week, the Carter Center had disclosed the the former president had undergone elective surgery to "remove a small mass in his liver." No further details were offered at the time.
This globally covered tale had a happy reversal when Carter announced this month he is cancer free.
2. Medical marijuana is now legal in Georgia
House Bill 1, which took effect immediately, makes it legal for people who suffer from cancer, sickle cell disease and other illnesses to possess up to 20 ounces of cannabis oil if a physician signs off. The state estimates hundreds of thousands of residents could be eligible for the drug, and at least 17 Georgia families have had to temporarily move to places like Colorado where the cannabis oil is legal.
The biggest obstacle for those patients remains how they'll obtain the oil. It's illegal to cultivate marijuana in Georgia, which means families have to trek to Colorado and other states that have legalized the drug for medical purposes. That makes travel a tricky prospect, since most states, as well as the federal government, make possessing the drug a crime.
Would it shock you to learn this post continues to get a lot of traffic via Google?
1. Georgia officials: KKK using adopt-a-highway program to advance 'Klan Country'
Georgia's image, of course, is also on the minds of state attorneys. There's increased scrutiny of remnants of the Confederacy after the shooting deaths of nine black worshippers by a gunman suspected of wanting to incite a race war.
"Erecting an [Adopt-A-Highway] Program sign with the KKK's name on it would have the effect of erecting a sign announcing that 'the State of Georgia has declared this area Klan Country,'" the state's legal brief read. "Such a statement is absurd and would date this state back decades."
KKK + Georgia + Reddit = viral.
Bonus: That time when Donald Trump saved a Georgia farm
Trump has been a man of last resort before. Right here in Georgia, in fact. And if his Republican presidential machine doesn't seize upon the tale in the next few weeks, as he and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas battle for Southern votes, then someone in the Trump campaign will be guilty of gross incompetence.
It happened in 1986, in the midst of the worst farm crisis since the Great Depression. In Burke County, on Georgia's eastern border, farm after farm was folding.
This Galloway column is one of our most recent posts, and it quickly skyrocketed to the top of the charts. And The Donald is partly to thank: He posted the link to his Facebook page, speeding the ascent.
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