2015 News in Review

As usual, when it comes to reflecting back upon the major news stories of the year, it's incredible to think of all that has happened within the course of the calendar year.  Certainly, violence filled the headlines, including terrorist attacks in France, the conflict waged by ISIS, the humanitarian refugee crisis in Europe, numerous mass shootings, and turmoil over police brutality.

There was also a lot of social turmoil:  In June, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that made homosexual marriage legal throughout the United States, overriding the laws of states on marriage.  But it wouldn't be enough to make a courageous Kim Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky, back down and issue marriage licenses to homosexual couples.

Also showing extraordinary courage was David Daleiden, of the Center for Medical Progress, who released a series of videos he had made undercover that exposed Planned Parenthood's harvesting of unborn babies' body parts.  These videos caused quite a stir, and garnered more attention in the media about abortion than usual.  Many tried to downplay these claims, even going so far as to claim the videos were heavily doctored and lied about Planned Parenthood.  Nevertheless, abortion caused a big stir in the mainstream media, and even caused Congress to take action, because there's definitely something to abhor about what Planned Parenthood does.

Congress experienced a change in leadership with John Boehner's resignation, and the election of the brilliant Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House, all this coming months after Republicans won control of the Senate, and thereby both houses of Congress.  Of course, the squabbles continue over budgetary matters and how to address major issues of the day.

Bruce Rauner was inaugurated governor in January, and soon started butting heads with the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly about how to fix the budget mess in Illinois.  We can only wonder how this will ever get resolved.

In local news, in Oak Park, there were municipal elections, with the District 97 race having a crowded field of contenders.  Al Roberts retired as District 97 superintendent as was succeeded by Carol Kelley.  In the realm of education, the PARCC test was administered for the first time, much to the exasperation of many.  I still remember mentioning something about PARCC in my Religious Education class back in March during the testing week, which induced a collective groan among the students.

Elsewhere in local politics, there was some intense discussion over the construction of noise walls along the I-290 corridor in Oak Park, as well as the proposal for a new pool at OPRFHS.  The Oak Park Village Board of Trustees agreed to give Anan Abu-Taleb the title of Mayor, in place of Village Board President.

A notable restaurant in Oak Park, Tasty Dog, closed down, after having been spared from closing years before.  Somehow, they lost all their support this time around.  Pete's Fresh Market opened up in place of the old Dominick's store.  And Pan's grocery store on the 800 South block of Oak Park Avenue became Carnival after it changed owners.

(Notably, many of these stories appeared in The Wednesday Journal, which changed its online article commenting method to now require a Facebook log-in.  So that person Q from Oak Park can no longer so readily conceal his identity.)

More personally for me, Aripo's on Marion Street closed down, as did the wonderful Strongbow Inn of Valparaiso, IN--though I was fortunate to enjoy one last meal at the latter during its last weekend of restaurant operations.

We said goodbye to Cardinal Francis George and Ernie Banks this year.  We welcomed another British royal child, Princess Charlotte, in July.  Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning British monarch on September 9, surpassing Queen Victoria's 63 1/2 years.

The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup again, and the Cubs made a pretty good run in the play-offs toward the World Series, after having been mentioned as the 2015 World Series Champion in Back to the Future II.

The Yellow Line had to be shut down for months because some MWRD maintenance work compromised the stability of a section of track.

Bitterly cold weather followed an enormous snowstorm at the start of February, with a run-of-the-mill summer and a temperate start to this winter, induced by El Niño.  There was also a decided lack of tropical storm activity in the Atlantic basin.

Notable anniversaries included 150 years since the end of the American Civil, or Sectional, War.  Medicare also marked 50 years.  The Americans with Disabilities Act marked its 25 year anniversary.  It was also 25 years since the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope  The New Horizons space craft flew by Pluto, giving us some amazing close-up pictures of Pluto.  And Star Wars made a comeback, smashing box-office records.  What a bang for the close of the year.