THE VALLEY — Mayor David Cassetti losing his re-election bid to Democrat Frank Tyszka was the top local story of 2025, according to a Valley Indy reader poll.
The Cassetti story was the top vote-getter in the poll, receiving 45.1 percent of the vote.
Derby celebrating its 350th birthday came in second, with 22.7 percent of the vote.
Third place went to a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking story that has been in the news for several years. A jury found Jose Morales guilty of the 2019 murder of Christine Holloway of Ansonia. It received 7.9 percent of the vote. Click here to give information to the FBI on the whereabouts of Vanessa Morales, who has been missing since Thanksgiving 2019.
The fourth story chosen by readers was the emergency work performed by the state on the Route 8 bridge between Derby and Shelton, which caused traffic jams galore. It received 5.4 percent of the vote
Clocking in at no. five: Joseph DiMartino re-elected to a second term as Derby mayor, which received 2.8 percent of the vote.
Exactly 277 people voted in the poll, which was not scientific.