Mayan Doomsday, Recent Fire Make Top 5 Stories of 2012

Although Lincoln Park Patch only launched in September, it's clear readers in the neighborhood were craving local news. 

Between the Mayan "doomsday" being a flop to the Twisted Lizard serving up its final margarita, this is a list of the top five most-read articles on your local Patch in 2012.

1. 12/21/12: ‘Mayan Doomsday’ Draws to End Without Incident

OK, Dec. 21, 2012 is over and if you’re reading this, you already are aware the world has not ended. Certainly it’s chilly outside, we survived Thursday’s snow, there’s still Christmas shopping and wrapping to be done. If this were a movie, we could call it Apocalypse How? 

In short, it was the worst Armageddon, ever — well, except when the real one comes. That probably would be worse. Read more here.

2. 

Chicago police and fire crews were called to 2626 N. Lakeview Ave. around 3:30 p.m. Oct. 25 after an alarm signaled a fire in the building, according to firefighters on the scene. The building is one and a half blocks south of the corner of Diversey Parkway and Sheridan Road. 

The blaze happened on the 24th floor, and it was under control by 4 p.m. Read more here.

3. Lincoln Park Death Investigation: Officials Suspect 'No Foul Play'

The Lincoln Park death of a suburban man early Nov. 18 remained under investigation on the afternoon of Nov. 19, though a spokeswoman for the alderman's office said there was no evidence of foul play.

Timothy Gallagher, 21, of the 1000 block of Hawthorne Drive in Crystal Lake, was pronounced dead at the scene in an alley of the 400 block of West Fullerton Parkway early Sunday morning. 

Those in the Chicago Police Department's News Affairs Office said police responded at 5:16 a.m., when they got a call about a "man down" in that area. Gallagher, who had suffered head trauma, was dead on arrival, they said. Stay with Patch in the coming week for an update on this story. For more on the original story, follow this link.

4. FBI: Prison Escapee Caught in Lincoln Park; Cellmate Still at Large

Authorities captured one of the two convicted bank robbers who escaped from a downtown prison earlier this week, the FBI reports.

Joseph "Jose" Banks, 37, was arrested Dec. 20 around 11:30 p.m. in the 2300 block of North Bosworth Street, near North Ashland and West Fullerton avenues in Lincoln Park by members of the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force and the Chicago Police Department, an FBI press release stated. Read more here.

5. 

Emergency responders were called around 4 p.m. to a Christmas Eve fire in Lincoln Park.

The street surrounding the blaze, which ignited in a mixed-use building at 2632 N. Lincoln Ave., remained blocked off around 4:30 p.m. Dec. 24 between North Seminary and North Sheffield avenues. The Body Work & Massage Source is on the first floor of the structure and two apartment units are above it, said Mark Fiorito, a DePaul University law student who is a tenant in one of those apartments. Read more here.