I keep a close eye on the news stations at this time of year to join them as they look back upon the big stories that happened in the calendar year drawing to a close. It's interesting how many of these stories I forgot happened earlier within the calendar year as I view their compilations of the stories.
There were a lot of major stories that I feel were almost overdone by the media: the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight, the escalating situation in Ukraine (which was tied in with the crash of a Malaysia Airlines flight), the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson and the ensuing unrest, and the Ebola virus. As for the last headline, I was almost amused to see coverage of the growing Ebola threat diminish in mid to late October as the midterm elections neared.
The elections were a more noteworthy matter for me, despite the media over-hyping them as usual, because of my personal experiences with meeting candidates closer to Election Day. It was quite something to see the Republican Party win control of the US Senate, and to see Bruce Rauner elected. It looked like it would be a close election in the Illinois gubernatorial race for a while, but given the state of affairs in Illinois and the tactics of the Rauner campaign, his comfortable victory margin doesn't surprise me too much. I still retain my sense of cautious optimism, knowing that even with these victories, these officials elect have important, tough work ahead come January 2015 when the new terms start.
In the wake of reeling--if you will--from these Republican victories, President Obama took major actions later in the year, when he issued an executive order on immigration reform, and then, nearly a month later, announced normalizing relations with Cuba. (He told the story of an Oak Park resident during his State of the Union Address in late January.)
Also on the government scene was the Supreme Court's decision on the case of Hobby Lobby's fight against the HHS mandate. It was so good that the company owner's constitutional rights to exercise their religious views were protected, and that they won't be forced to cover abortion-inducing drugs. Yet my elation is tempered by the reality that this decision was made on the basis of a technicality, and much work must be done to more fully secure the conscience rights of the American people, especially in business activities.
On the matter of standing up for rights, Malala Yousafzai, who became an international advocate for female education after having been attacked by the Taliban, won the Nobel Peace Prize. Unfortunately, it seems the Taliban massacred students at a Pakistan school in retaliation. Other extremists kidnapped school students in Nigeria, and the ISIS group rose up threateningly in the Middle East, driven by Islam extremism.
On the matter of religion, in September came the announcement that Pope Francis had appointed Blase Cupich, Bishop of Spokane, to succeed Cardinal George as Archbishop of Chicago, with Archbishop Cupich's Installation Mass on November 18. This was definitely one of the most exciting news event of the year for me, coming in the calendar year after Pope Francis's election. This came months after a bleak new prognosis of Cardinal George's cancer situation, at which point he urged the Vatican to expedite the process of selecting his successor. In the wake of this development, Cardinal George had to miss one of the biggest church events ever: the dual canonizations of Popes Saints John XXIII and John Paul II on April 27. It was meaningful for me to take in the canonization of a Pope I had gotten to know in my own lifetime.
Also very noteworthy for me was the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. What an opening ceremony they put on! And how notable that Oak Parker Emery Lehman participated, although I didn't get the chance to view him in action, nor did I get to view the one winter sport that intrigues me the most, curling, because I lacked access to the airings on cable stations. Despite not winning any medals, it seems he performed in more stellar fashion than many of the professional sports teams in Chicago, namely the two animalistically-related ones, the Cubs and the Bears. On the other hand, Chicago reveled in the titles the Jackie Robinson West team won at the Little League World Series.
The world also remembered the 100th Anniversary of the start of World War I, aware from this vantage point in history of how much the order of societies and nations changed as a result. Closer to home, the United States marked the Bicentennial of the "The Star-Spangled Banner", which Francis Scott Key wrote after the inspiring sight of the American flag flying to declare the US victory at the Battle at Fort McHenry. The state of Nevada marked 150 years of statehood, which came in the midst of raging war at that time.
Speaking of raging and fires, even closer to home were fires that caused some significant disruptions. In September, an employee started a fire at an Aurora FAA facility that disrupted airline operations in the greater Chicago/Northeast Illinois area. Then, on November 11, workers handling a tank with gas caused a fiery explosion at the Turano garage in southern Oak Park, disrupting traffic on Roosevelt Road and cutting off power to hundreds of nearby homes for a few hours, including mine.
Just months after a runaway train crashed at the other end of the line near Oak Park, in March, a CTA Blue Line train jumped the tracks at the terminus O'Hare Airport station and crashed into the escalators in the early morning hours after the train operator dozed off. Also in transit news, the CTA completed its rollout of the Ventra transit system, which is generally overcoming most of the problems that initially plagued it. I got my own Ventra card in February, just days before starting to use public transit regularly to commute to work, leaving behind the CTA Chicago Card.
We said goodbye to some important individuals in 2014, including Jane Byrne, Chicago's only female mayor who successfully took on the political machine in Chicago in a great political upset. And how shocked I was when I heard the news that Judy Baar Topinka had passed away, after having won a second term as Illinois State Comptroller. On the entertainment scene, actor Robin Williams and child star actress Shirley Temple Black both passed away. And very recently, Al Piemonte departed from us, whose face was an institution in the business of car sales, familiar from all those ads for Al Piemonte Ford at 25th and North Avenue.
It was an intersection in Oak Park that made headlines when plans proceeded ahead for the development at Lake and Forest. The parking garage was finally torn down, long after the building came down that once stood by it that housed the Original Pancake House and a grocery store, among other businesses, leaving a large empty lot. While we await the completion of the building there, we in Oak Park have new businesses to patronize in the downtown Oak Park area, including Red Mango and Lou Malnati's.
The weather made big headlines, especially at the beginning of the year with the extreme cold that permeated much of the nation. Normal activities, like schools and commerce, were majorly impacted by two bouts of subzero temperatures in the Chicagoland area. The impacts reached far south, where the Atlanta Metro Area experienced a snow/ice event that shut everything down, stranding motorists on roads and students at school.
But it was a different story on the West Coast, where temperatures were well above normal, even all the way up into Alaska, which was part of the reason why the bitter Arctic cold permeated so far south. Furthermore, much of the globe during those winter months experienced above average temperatures--even Sochi, Russia, experienced spring-like conditions during the Winter Olympics. Later, in November, a major lake-effect snow event accumulated foot upon foot of snowfall in narrow bands in the area of Buffalo, NY. In the Chicago area, a cold November was followed by a more temperate December, which is set to tie a record for the least snowy December in Chicago recorded weather history, having only a trace of snowfall, not to mention the lack of sunshine.
The wintry cold earlier in the year persisted, held at bay in a reservoir over Lake Michigan for weeks, keeping temperatures quite cool into April. Then came a wet June, followed by a rather dry, and not so hot July and August. And meanwhile, the Atlantic basin remained relatively quiet, with few tropical systems forming.
Keeping an eye on the weather, Al Roker went on a marathon effort and set a world record for the longest TV weather broadcast, 34 hours. And Julia Collins, resident of Chicago suburb Kenilworth, IL, won 20 straight games on Jeopardy!, the most ever for a female contestant, and a string only exceeded by the famed Ken Jennings.
I guess we've been going on a marathon pace of sorts reviewing all that's happened this year, and I'm certain I've forgotten a few other events. But now that 2014 is headed into the books, history shall take it from here as we look upon these events from its lens.
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