In Illinois, that meant it was time for elections for constitutional statewide offices. There were plenty of people running for the Democratic nomination. Bruce Rauner had a challenge to the Republican nomination for Jeanne Ives. While he made it through that challenge, another right-leaning candidates, Sam McCann, joined the race. Ultimately, J.B. Pritzker claimed victory, quite soon after polls closing.
On the national level in politics, controversy continued to broil over President Donald Trump, and multiple books were released that gave an insider look at the Trump administration. Some of the cabinet-level officials departed, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and more recently the news came of the departure of Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley announced she would be leaving her post, and unlike other administration officials, will do so on good terms.
Great outcry ensued when the Trump administration's actions to address immigration problems led to the separation of children from their parents who were attempting to enter the US through unofficial means. Protest rallies were held in cities across the country, including in Chicago on a hot summer day. Near the end of the year, the federal government went into shutdown mode because of President Trump's insistence on $5 billion funding for a wall on the southern US border, which was one of multiple instances when the federal government went into shutdown.
President Trump had another opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice when Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, and selected Judge Kavanaugh, who was subjected to a brutally withering confirmation process when allegations surfaced he had attempted to assault one of his peers back in his high school days. He survived to be confirmed, after an interesting vote, which almost meant Montana's US Senator Steve Daines would have to fly to Washington, D.C., after walking his daughter down the aisle at her wedding ceremony, but then didn't have to when a Democratic Senator gave a present vote. Some Democratic senators in Republican-leaning states voted no and then were voted out of office in the midterm elections. Those elections delivered quite a varied set of results, with the Democrats making some advanced, but Republicans making advances, too.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jack Douglas in his case that arose when he refused to bake a cake for a homosexual marriage ceremony. But then he had to start up defending himself again after he refused to bake a cake for a customer wanting to celebrate a gender transition.
Locally, in Oak Park, the OPRFHS District 200 Board unanimously made a sweeping change in policy to make accommodations to transgender students, no longer doing so on a case-by-case basis.
High school students throughout the country took action with walkouts after a tragic shooting occurred at Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. There were other tragic shootings, including at a bar in southern California, with terrible wildfires raging nearby, and another at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Two major hurricanes struck the United States, Florence and Michael. There was also major flooding in southwestern India.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jack Douglas in his case that arose when he refused to bake a cake for a homosexual marriage ceremony. But then he had to start up defending himself again after he refused to bake a cake for a customer wanting to celebrate a gender transition.
Locally, in Oak Park, the OPRFHS District 200 Board unanimously made a sweeping change in policy to make accommodations to transgender students, no longer doing so on a case-by-case basis.
High school students throughout the country took action with walkouts after a tragic shooting occurred at Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. There were other tragic shootings, including at a bar in southern California, with terrible wildfires raging nearby, and another at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Two major hurricanes struck the United States, Florence and Michael. There was also major flooding in southwestern India.
Others who departed this life in 2018 include Aretha Franklin, George H.W and Barbara Bush, Billy Graham, Senator John McCain, 4 Chicago police officers, and little Alfie Evans, who died when the British government restricted his ability to get healthcare to address his rare neurological condition.
Across the Irish Sea, a blow was struck against the legal protection for the unborn when Ireland voted to repeal an amendment restricting abortions.
Rescuers worked tirelessly to rescue a soccer team that was trapped inside a cave in Thailand, a story that captured the world's attention.
The eyes of the world turned to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February, with a notable scene of North and South Korean athletes parading into the stadium together.
President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jon-Un met for a summit in Singapore, which was almost entirely called off.
Mexico elected a new president, Andres Manuel Lobrador Lopez.
Canada legalized marijuana nationwide, as also happened in some US states resulting from the midterm elections.
A great scandal erupted when a Pennsylvania grand jury released a report on clergy sexual abuse, and shook the church to its core as Roman Catholics struggled to make sense of the situation. The US bishops met in Baltimore at their annual fall assembly ready to discuss a course of action, but were instructed by the Vatican to wait.
Earlier in the year, before the scandal broke, a documentary came to theaters on Pope Francis.
It was around the same time that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married in May. Much less publicized was the wedding of President George W. Bush's daughter Barbara.
Eyes focused on events in Europe when the world marked 100 years since the armistice that ended World War I.
Far from the Earth, the InSight spacecraft reached Mars in late November, as NASA continues to strive toward new frontiers, just like happened 50 years ago in 1968 as the success of Apollo 8 helped the US inch closer to a moon landing.
The famed Lessons and Carols from the Chapel of King's College in Cambridge has marked 100 years since it started.
And, of course, Illinois marked its Bicentennial this year. So we head off into a new year and forward into a new century in anticipation of the opportunities that will come.
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