Top of the Morning, Jan. 14, 2020

Now playing at our high school Twitter account: 106 GIFs recorded during our Faces of the Winter event.

We uses the entertaining clips — produced by Managing Editor Mike Goebel and distributed by Preps Coordinator Colin Likas — to spotlight the daily achievements of area student-athletes.

“The kids really have taken to the idea and seem to have a ton of fun producing these little video clips, which is what the process is all about,” Likas said. “We’re trying to find even more ways to make these kids feel like stars while they’re in high school, and I think this

is one of the coolest ways in which we’ve been able to accomplish that.”

The plan is to record many more during Faces of the Spring in late March.

At news-gazette.com

Here’s what was trending at our website, which in a seven-day period ending Sunday saw 1,308,555 pageviews:

TOP STORIES

1. Champaign McDonald’s employee accused of stealing $10,500 from deposits

2. Champaign-Urbana makes Trader Joe’s list of locations to consider

3. Bement woman dies in three-vehicle accident south of Monticello

TOP SPORTS STORIES

1. Good Morning, Illini Nation: A different look at Illinois’ NCAA tourney chances

2. Illini ‘not satisfied’ after third straight win moves them to second in Big Ten

3. Instant reaction: Illinois 54, Rutgers 51

TOP PHOTO GALLERIES

1. South Side Elementary renovation

2. Prep boy’s Basketball : Judah vs. Uni High 2020

3. Signing day 2019-2020: Locals headed to college

TOP VIDEOS

1. Illini get significant road win at Wisconsin

2. Crete-Monee vs. Mahomet-Seymour boys’ basketball highlights

3. Crispus Attucks at Urbana boys’ basketball highlights