There’s plenty of bad news in the world; plenty of good news, for that matter. However, 2024 was particularly generous with headlines that made locals scratch their heads and say, “Did you see that!?” Our readers' No. 1 pick was the news that, after 37 years, Country Fest was rebranding as “Hoofbeat”; we’ll find out next summer if a fest by any other name will sound as sweet. Second place was nabbed by an incident last summer in which an assailant hurled cheese at a vehicle. (As Eau Claire police said at the time, “Throwing cheese is nacho best look, Eau Claire.”) Wrapping up the list is some weather weirdness: The National Weather Service said an unexpected Thanksgiving snowfall was partly caused by a plume of steam from a Menomonie factory. —Tom Giffey