Here are the news stories readers came to us for in 2021 to learn more

Here are the news articles that readers most turned to in 2021 on thegazette.com — The Gazette’s website — and the order they were read:

1. MMA fighter facing child porn charges kills self In Linn County Jail

Travis Jon Fulton, 44, of Parkersburg, who went by “The Ironman” on the MMA fighting circuit, was identified as the inmate who about 4 a.m. July 10 was found unresponsive in a dormitory-style cell at the Linn County Jail, where he was being held on federal charges.

2. Derecho anniversary: Satellite images show how derecho changed Eastern Iowa landscape

For the Aug. 10, 2021, report of the storm’s one-year anniversary, John McGlothlen of The Gazette pieced together satellite images that showed the before and after of the 2020 storm.

3. News graphic: Do you qualify for a COVID-19 vaccine in Iowa? Check out our chart to find out

Early on in Iowa’s roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine, a state task force identified what population — for instance, police officers and firefighters — would get the shot before the vaccine was offered more broadly to the public. The Gazette’s Katie Brumbeloe created a graphic to help people understand if and when they qualify for the vaccine.

4. Iowa City native ‘fighting for his life’ after being shot as he drove

Discovered the night of Oct. 7 with a gunshot wound in a crashed car, Marine Gabriel Heefner is “fighting for his life” in intensive care, his father said, while Iowa City police continue to investigate the shooting that later was described as a man shooting at squirrels but hitting the Marine instead.

5. West High senior creates color-changing sutures to detect infection

In January, Grace King of The Gazette introduced Iowa City West High School student Dasia Taylor, who was creating surgical sutures that change color to let patients know if a wound is infected.

6. If you are trying to get the COVID vaccine, you should follow this Iowa City man's Twitter account

In March, Brian Finley of Iowa City created the @IAVaccineAlerts Twitter page, which automatically tweets out available appointments at Iowa retail pharmacies. Michaela Ramm of The Gazette introduced him to readers.

7. Armed security at Casey’s in Iowa City’s South Side raises concerns

Casey’s General Stores’ use of armed security at an Iowa City store serving a relatively large Black population is raising questions about what message that sends and concerns about the safety of patrons, John Steppe of The Gazette wrote about the issue in a May article.

8. If I have allergies, should I be worried about the COVID-19 vaccine?

As the vaccine reaches more Americans, officials are finding these kinds of extreme reactions are extremely rare. But this has still left some wondering about their own risk, according to questions from readers sent to the newspaper, Michaela Ramm of The Gazette noted in January.

9. Cedar Rapids police: Teen stabbed parents to death to ‘take charge of his life’

Ethan Alexander Orton, 17, found by officers soaked in blood outside the house, told authorities he had slashed his parents to death. He said he stabbed them both, according to a criminal complaint, but then turned to an ax when his mother was still alive. Arrested on October, the trial is on hold while state psychiatric doctors can determine if he’s suffering from a mental disorder.

10. ‘Multiple’ people shot at a residence in northeast Cedar Rapids, police say

Later, Cedar Rapids police revealed that Alexander Ken Jackson, 20, murdered his parents and sisters in their home in June. A prosecutor told a court that the college student’s account that awoke to the sound of gunfire and struggled over a rifle with a masked intruder is a transparent lie. He has yet to stand tried.

11. Gov. Kim Reynolds lifting Iowa mask rules, limits on businesses and gatherings starting Sunday

That announcement, made by Gov. Kim Reynolds, lifted Iowa's partial face mask mandate, public health restrictions on businesses and limits on public gatherings effective with the Super Bowl.

12. Nicole Poole Franklin pleads guilty to hate crimes for running down children in Des Moines

In a case that brought national headlines to Iowa, the woman pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes for intentionally driving her vehicle into two children in 2019 because she thought one was Mexican and the other was a member of the Islamic State group.

13. Iowa man arrested, charged with taking part in U.S. Capitol riot

Shortly after the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek said officers assisted the FBI in arresting Doug Jensen, 41, at his home in the south side.

14. Iowa governor signs 'constitutional carry' into law

Gov. Kim Reynolds in April signed into law a contentious measure eliminating a requirement that Iowans obtain a permit to acquire or carry a handgun, a longtime proposed to gun right activists.

15. Food stamp benefits increase for six months

With a Des Moines food bank striving to keep up with surging demand during the pandemic as his backdrop, Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, announced in March that federal benefits for people on SNAP — food stamps — will increase through September.

16. Cedar Rapids agrees to pay $8 million settlement to Jerime Mitchell

A day before a lawsuit asserting a white police officer recklessly shot and paralyzed a Black motorist in 2016 was to go to trial, an insurance carrier for the city of Cedar Rapids agreed in April to pay motorist Jerime Mitchell and his wife $8 million.

17. Fact Checker: Hinson says Biden, Harris haven’t been to the U.S. border. Is she right?

A May Fact Checker asked the question: Was U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson right when he said neither President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala had been to the U.S.-Mexico border? (Spoiler alert: Hinson was right that Biden and Harris haven’t been to visit the border region since they came into office.)

18. Cedar Rapids triple homicide suspect Alex Jackson to be held on $3 million cash bond

In June, a judge ordered that Alex Johnson — accused of murdering his parents and sisters in their northeast Cedar Rapids home — be held on the large sum.

19. Cedar Rapids man says he entered U.S. Capitol with mob but was not violent: 'That is not who I am'

Leo Kelly of Cedar Rapids told James Q. Lynch of The Gazette that he was in the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots. Last week, Kelly pleaded not guilty to seven charges — one count each of obstruction of an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; entering and remaining on the floor of Congress; entering and remaining in certain rooms in the Capitol Building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.

20. What we know about Iowa's COVID vaccine plan: Who's eligible, where to get it and more answers

Back in January, state public health officials say they will begin to vaccinate the next priority group of Iowans against the novel coronavirus by Feb. 1, shifting from front-line health care workers to other populations that face high risk for exposure.

21. Magnet for danger, Cedar Rapids house alarms neighbors

Cedar Rapids officials and neighbors in March point to one address as a magnet for the neighborhood mayhem: a rental house at 2307 Bever Ave. SE. “Believe me, I share the neighbors’ frustration and understand their fear,” said Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman. “This is how one house, how an incident of shots fired, can impact a neighborhood and have a negative impact on everyone. They shouldn’t have to face it. They deserve and are entitled to live in a quiet neighborhood.”

22. Origins of COVID-19 vaccines can be traced to University of Iowa research

Back in the early 2000s, in an unassuming lab at the heart of the University of Iowa Health Care campus, researchers Stanley Perlman and Paul McCray embarked on the low-profile work of making a genetically-modified mouse capable of contracting SARS — a severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by a coronavirus spreading at the time. Their work, Vanessa Miller of The Gazette reported, helped led to the first COVID-19 vaccine.

23. Iowans 65 to 74 will have to wait longer for COVID vaccine under state's plan

Back in January, state officials announced that older adults, those with underlying medical conditions and certain essential workers could receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the beginning of next month.

24. Cyclist hit Wednesday in Coralville dies

Police later reveal that the 16-year-old driver in the April crash that killed Andrew Pavlovec, 36, of North Liberty, was speeding and using social media at the time of the fatal collision.

25. Ex-Iowa football player entered U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, home raided by FBI

Siaka Massaquoi, a former Iowa football player from 2000 to 2001, had his North Hollywood home raided by the FBI in June. He had posted videos from inside the riot at the U.S. Capitol on social media.