2019 News and Events in Review

Just as many news outlets and other organizations do, as the calendar year 2019 draws to a close, I think back upon the news and events of this year.

Oak Park news came to my block as my neighbor Susan Buchanan was one of 11 candidates running for 3 seats on the Oak Park Village Board of Trustees.  That reality certainly made for a notable campaign season, sorting through all the candidates.  I went to an election night gathering at her house, and was there when the election results noted her as one of the three victors.  She actually earned the most votes of all the other candidates.

There was also a crowded field of candidates for Chicago mayor.  The February election resulted in a runoff between two African-American women, Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot, and the latter was elected in the April run-off election.  Mayor Lightfoot set about making numerous reforms in Chicago, even proposing drastic measures to address the budgetary problems in Chicago in a speech later in the year.  She wasn't so successful in addressing the concerns of the Chicago Teachers' Union, which resulted in a strike in October.  Right before that happened, she announced an end to overdue fines at Chicago Public Library.

JB Pritzker was inaugurated the governor of Illinois in January.  He hit the ground running to push his agenda through, including a raise in the minimum wage and the legalization of recreational marijuana, the later of which is set to take effect on January 1, 2020.  He also advocated for an increase in access to abortion.  That legislation ended up getting snuck through the General Assembly toward the end of the session by being reworked into legislation that included financial matters.  I remember keeping an eye on the legislation as it worked its way through committee hearings during Memorial Day weekend and filled out witness slips when I got alerted by Illinois Right to Life.

Illinois wasn't the only state to take drastic action to expand abortion services.  The abortion controversy flared up when states like New York passed laws to go so far as to deny protection to babies that survived abortion attempts, partially as a means to protect abortion services should the US Supreme Court reverse the Roe vs. Wade decision, an increased likelihood with President Trump's two Supreme Court nominees' taking seats.  These extreme abortion laws in placed like New York caused the pendulum to swing the other way and states like Alabama pushed back to restrict abortions.

It was a chaotic year for Planned Parenthood.  Leana Wen became its president to succeed Cecile Richards, but Dr. Wen left after only a few months, following comments she made referring to her unborn child.

The US government's shutdown mode continued into 2019 after starting in late December 2018.  It finally ended when President Trump caved to pressure from Congress.  Tucked into the legislation ending the shutdown mode was a provision that made Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore the latest US national park.

Controversy over President Trump's questionable actions culminated in a vote in December by the US House of Representatives to impeach him, with not a single Republican vote.

In February, President Trump had a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in Hanoi.  And then President Trump became the first US president to set foot in North Korean territory when he visited the Joint Security Area at the Demilitarized Zone.

President Trump held a large "Salute to America" rally on July 4.  And on October 1, Jimmy Carter celebrated his birthday and became the oldest living ex-president in US history.

Difficulties in making a Brexit deal led to Theresa May's resignation as British Prime Minister.  She was succeeded by Boris Johnson in July, in the midst of an intense heat wave in western Europe.

In Israel, difficulty in forming a coalition government led to the announcement of another round of elections in 2020.

Owing to his declining health, Japan's Emperor Akihito abdicated, which was an unprecedented move, and his son Naruhito took the throne as Japan's new emperor.  President Trump was the first foreign leader to visit the new emperor.

Roman Catholic leaders gathered in Rome in October for a synod to discuss meeting the pastoral needs of the Amazon region in South America, and to discuss faithful stewardship of Creation.  Indigenous idols were brought into churches, and some individuals took them out and tossed them into the Tiber River, and filmed it, as a way to take a stand against idolatry in the midst of the synod's proceedings, which some said was filled with heresy.

On Holy Monday, the heartbreaking news came out of Paris that the Notre Dame Cathedral was on fire, after having survived centuries of war and turmoil.  An hourslong effort finally doused the blaze, and though the spire was gone, the Cathedral's towers were still standing.  Even with Europe's trend to secularism, there's no doubt that churches like Notre Dame are an important part of its heritage, and are truly treasures for all the world to behold.

Major natural events included a major cold spell throughout the United States in late January, as well as another cold spell in November that wasn't as intense, but still penetrated much of the country.  Hurricane Dorian was a catastrophic storm that devastated the Bahamas before moving up the East Coast of the United States.  And California experienced an earthquake in July, and then large wildfires in October, the latter of which nearly threatened the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley.

Among the departures this year included former Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, actor Albert Finney, author Toni Morrison, former French President Jacques Chirac, and Paul Sirba, Roman Catholic Bishop of Duluth.

Among the anniversaries this year including Sesame Street's 50th.  There were also two significant technological anniversaries: 150 years on May 10 since the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, and 50 years since the first manned moon landing on July 20.  Alabama marked the bicentennial of its statehood on December 14, one of a string of state Bicentennials in the course of about half a decade that gives us much to look back upon as we march into the future.