Mortgage fraud scandal is top story in reader poll

The ongoing mortgage fraud scandal (see related story) was chosen as the top local story of 2009 by a non-scientific poll on the Times-Gazette web site.

In fact, among 11 specific choices and "other," more than half of the 302 participants in the poll chose the mortgage fraud story.

The mortgage fraud scandal had placed second in the annual rating of the top 10 stories by the T-G staff, although the mathematics of how the two ratings were conducted played a part in the different outcomes. Because of the limitations of web site polling software, web readers only had the option of selecting their single top story. The T-G staff poll, by comparison, was the result of each participant ranking his or her 10 top stories in order. If only first-place votes had been counted in the T-G staff poll, the mortgage fraud story would have topped it as well.

The T-G staff selected the flume collapse on North Main Street as the top news story of 2009.

Here is how readers voted in the non-scientific web site poll:

What do you think was the top local story of 2009?

1) Mortgage fraud scheme: 54.3 percent, 164 votes, placed #2 in T-G staff ranking

2) Flooding causes flume collapse: 10.6 percent, 32 votes, placed #1 in T-G staff ranking

3) Continued unemployment: 9.6 percent, 29 votes, placed #5 in T-G staff ranking

4) Craig gone as city manager: 6.6 percent, 20 votes, placed #3 in T-G staff ranking

5) Elementary school realignment: 5.0 percent, 15 votes, placed #8 in T-G staff ranking

6) Marsh elected state representative: 3.6 percent, 11 votes, placed #4 in T-G staff ranking

7) Guard unit activated: 3.3 percent, 10 votes, placed #9 in T-G staff ranking

8) Bank manager pleads guilty: 2.3 percent, 7 votes, placed #11 in T-G staff ranking

9) Bypass work begins: 1.7 percent, 5 votes, placed #6 in T-G staff ranking

10-tie) Horse industry regulatory issues: 1.3 percent, 4 votes, placed #7 in T-G staff ranking

10-tie) Other: 1.3 percent, 4 votes

12) Tracy, Evans seek House seat: 0.3 percent, 1 vote, placed #10 in T-G staff ranking

Among the stories cited by those who chose "other" were:

* Three local baseball players were drafted by the major leagues.

* Wartrace referred the liquor by the drink issue to the state.

Another commenter mentioned Newell Rubbermaid's decision to move Sharpie production to Manchester, but that was actually covered as part of one of the existing story choices: local unemployment.

Voluntary, self-selected web site polls are considered non-scientific because there is no way to confirm that those who choose to participate represent a true cross-section of the target population.