Poll results: Big Island Now readers pick clear winner for top 2024 story. Do you know what it is?

The poll results are in.

Big Island Now asked readers what they thought was the top story for 2024, and it was the new developments in a case that happened in 1991.

Of the 1,118 votes that were cast, the story about the Dana Ireland murder garnered 387.

 Thirty-three years ago, Ireland was raped and murdered in Puna. In July, Hawai‘i Island police announced that new DNA evidence identified a new suspect. But court documents said that suspect is “presumably dead by suicide,” after giving police a sample of his DNA.

The new evidence, identified in 2017, excluded Albert “Ian” Schweitzer who spent more than two decades in prison after being convicted in 2000 for Ireland’s murder. He was exonerated on Jan. 24, 2023, by Hilo Circuit Court Judge Peter Kubota.

On Instagram, a user called 1andonlysun wrote: “I say definitely the Dana Ireland case. Those turn of events was a huge shocker to anybody who remembers that story. Those three young boys went to prison for nothing for over half of their lives. Hilo HPD detectives really screwed up on that one.”

In the poll, there was a near-tie for second. Kimo Alameda defeating incumbent Mitch Roth in the Hawai‘i County mayoral race captured 143 votes, while news about the county’s short-term rental regulations came in third with 129.

The Hawai‘i County Council made changes to the short-term rental regulations that allows for more ʻohana housing on the Big Island. Bill 123 allows for up to three ʻohana units to be built on a single lot as long as it’s within a zoning district that allows those structures.

Alameda campaigned on issues that included public safety, mental health and affordable housing. When he took his oath as the new mayor on Dec. 2, hundreds cheered and gave him a standing ovation at the Outrigger Resort’s Kaleiopapa Convention Center in Keauhou.

“Because of you today, I’m your mayor of Moku o Keawe (traditional name of the Big Island),” said Alameda.

A commenter online indicated that Donald Trump’s win in the presidential election was the top story of 2024. “It is a great thing!”

The poll results:

• Suspect identified by DNA evidence in Dana Ireland murder case: 387 (34%)
• Kimo Alameda defeats incumbent Mitch Roth for Hawai‘i County mayor: 143 (12%)
• Changes in short-term rental regulations: 129 (11%)
• Jaggar Museum torn down in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park: 115 (10%)
• Merger between Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines: 109 (9%)
• Ka‘ū community bands together to rally against proposed resort in Punalu‘u: 86 (7%)
• Passage of stiffer criminal penalties in vicious dog cases: 46 (4%)
• Traveling Vietnam Wall comes to Big Island for the first time: 41 (3%)
• Other. What was the top story in your opinion? 37 (3%)
• Long-time Big Island politician Rep. Mark Nakashima dies: 25 (2%)