2022 in review: The top stories around the Chicago suburbs
There was no shortage of significant stories around the Chicago suburbs in 2022, including the mass shooting at the Independence Day Parade in Highland Park on July 4 that left seven people dead.
Here’s a look at the top Tribune stories from the Chicago suburbs in 2022.
Highland Park officials fight for gun control in wake of mass shooting they say ‘did not define us’
Residents of Highland Park have felt deep pain and grief over the six months since a gunman opened fire, killing seven people and wounding dozens at the city’s annual Fourth of July parade.
As the year winds to a close, the city continues to come to grips with what occurred, how to grieve those lost and what, if anything, should be done to prevent future gun violence, in what is tragically one of the Lake County News-Sun’s top stories of 2022.
>>Read more on this top story of 2022 from the Lake County News-Sun
Lake County officials scrambling for solutions in face of rising homicide numbers
With three mass killings committed within its borders over the past year, Lake County experienced a dramatic increase in homicides in 2022.
As the year came to a close, the coroner’s office had recorded 44 homicides, with 10 pending cases likely to be classified as homicides as well. If that is the case, that would put the county on track for 54 homicides in 2022. Since 2018, the annual number of homicides has been in the 30s, with a previous high of 38 in 2020.
The unsettling homicide numbers made violence one of the Lake County News-Sun’s top stories of 2022.
>>Read more on this top story of 2022 from the Lake County News-Sun
Mayor’s run for governor, casino’s planned move near I-88, police body cameras among top Aurora stories in 2022
It was a busy year in Aurora in 2022, with Mayor Richard Irvin making a run for governor, a number of big development projects in the city, Hollywood Casino announcing a move from downtown to near Interstate 88 and many more stories making headlines.
>>Read the top stories of 2022 in the Aurora area
Assault rifle sales ban, Westlake’s Everest climb, downtown construction work among Naperville’s top stories in 2022
Getting back to normal in Naperville meant 2022 was a time to celebrate major accomplishments, such as the Islamic Center of Naperville’s mosque groundbreaking or Lucy Westlake climbing Mount Everest. It also was the year to bid farewell to a piece of Naperville history in the razing of the Kroehler YMCA.
>>Read the top stories of 2022 in the Naperville area
Humanitarian aid for Ukraine, reaction to abortion ruling, elections among Southland’s top stories in 2022
Reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion ruling, humanitarian aid efforts for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion and politics on the local and national level made headlines in the south and southwest suburbs in 2022.
Parishioners of Catholic churches receiving word of church consolidation and closings, and allegations of police misconduct in suburbs and settlements of significant lawsuits, were also among the major news events.
>>Read the top stories of 2022 in the Southland area
Elected officials step up efforts to keep Lake County’s air and water clean
Efforts to monitor and reduce the amount of ethylene oxide (EtO) spewed into the air in Lake County took a step forward this year, while local officials fought to reduce the danger from coal ash seeping into Lake Michigan contaminating drinking water along the shoreline.
A grant arranged this year by U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, will enable testing for EtO — a known carcinogen — to begin in 2023.
>>Read more on this top story of 2022 from the Lake County News-Sun
Predicted Republican ‘red wave’ creates barely a ripple in Lake County
While predictions of a “red wave” shifting political power from Democrats to Republicans failed to materialize nationally, the “blue wave” which washed over Lake County in 2018 continued in November’s general election.
Between redistricting at the national, state and county levels — as well as what Lake County Democrats Chair Lauren Beth Gash called “quality candidates” — Democrats extended their majorities throughout the county making the election one of the Lake County News-Sun’s top stories of 2022.
>>Read more on this top story of 2022 from the Lake County News-Sun
Most Lake County residents returned to pre-pandemic habits despite fact, ‘COVID-19 ... is not going away’
COVID-19 mitigation efforts like mask wearing, social distancing, frequent hand washing and even receiving a vaccine booster faded away in Lake County over the past year as most people returned to their pre-pandemic habits despite the fact that the virus is still very much around.
Lake County went from a low to moderate risk of COVID-19 community spread in November, and remained there since, as the number of cases rose again making the coronavirus pandemic one of the Lake County News-Sun’s top stories of 2022, as it was the past two years.
>>Read more on this top story of 2022 from the Lake County News-Sun
