You voted, and North Bay’s “Story of the Year” is by a landslide, the scandal involving Mayor Peter Chirico’s misuse of a City corporate credit card to buy $17,000 worth of personal items. Voting in the poll is now closed.

Of the 1,119 total votes cast, the Chirico story picked up 587 votes, or 52.5 per cent.

See: Chirico violated the Code of Conduct, says Integrity Commissioner on Mayor’s spending

The vote wasn’t even close, reflecting the intense public interest the story has generated during this City’s 100th anniversary.

The long-awaited Integrity Commissioner’s report into Mayor Chirico’s use of a corporate credit card found the Mayor breached the City’s Code of Conduct in relation to more than $5,500 in expenses.

The case has been under investigation by the OPP for six months with no apparent end in sight.

A distant second was “Massive storm hits Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park and surrounding communities”  with a distant 138 votes of 12.3 per cent.

Tied for third was Hospital layoffs and wait times at North Bay Regional Hospital  and PFAS cleanup in North Bay to top $140M, plus $105 million ‘forever chemical’ class action lawsuit. 

Each story garnered 67 votes or 6 per cent of the votes.

See the complete list of nominated stories here: The Top news story of 2025? What do you think?