Looking Back: Biggest Arlington Stories of 2012 (January through March)

2012 brought a mix of hyperlocal news and regionally-relevant events on both Clarendon-Courthouse-Rosslyn Patch and what is now Arlington Patch throughout the year.

Here, we begin rounding up the most-read stories on both sites throughout 2012.

January — The year started out rough for Arlington County Board candidate Melissa Bondi, who had trouble paying both federal and local taxes. Ultimately Libby Garvey won the Democratic caucus and went on to serve on the county board. Police also spent much of New Year's weekend searching for a missing teenage couple, who were later found in Fairfax County.

February — February's most-read story was about a man who was found dead in a parking lot in Rosslyn. February brought Mardi Gras to Clarendon. And, forward-thinking lovers took interest in our local ideas for Valentine's Day gifts, too.

March — Patch talked to an Arlington man who would be affected by the soon-to-be-enacted "conscience clause" in March. A month later, Virginia became only the second state with such a clause, which allows private child-placement agencies to deny services to prospective parents if they felt the placement would go against their written moral or religious beliefs. On a lighter note, one reader's open letter to Trader Joe's asking the store to install Wi-Fi drew a lot of attention.

We'll continue our roundup all through Saturday, and recap everything on Sunday.