A Most Tumultuous Year: Taking A Look Back At Chicago In 2021

CHICAGO — In 2021, restaurants reopened and schools returned to in-person learning, but not without a fight. And those weren't the only battles fought in the city this past year.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, Illinois' most powerful politician, resigned amid an ongoing federal corruption probe that has not resulted in charges against him.

Chicago Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, the grandson and nephew of two Chicago mayors, got indicted and plans to fight bank fraud charges with a scatterbrain defense.

Juries convicted R. Kelly and Jussie Smollett on felony charges.

The Bears announced plans to move to the suburbs — and got "owned" by Aaron Rodgers.

Murders, shootings, carjackings and downtown smash-and-grab robberies spiked.

I had to badger my parents into getting coronavirus vaccinations.

My grandmother died of coronavirus complications.

Sure, there were silver linings: The Chicago Sky won the WNBA championship. Lollapalooza made a late-summer comeback. The White Sox won the American League Central Division.

But all the while, the coronavirus crisis maintained its stranglehold on city life during a most tumultuous year.

And that's just some news highlights that captivated Chicago in 2021. Here a few more:

Puerto Rico Swimsuit Selfie Is A Lesson On Chicago Teachers Union:

Then-Chicago Teachers Union executive board member Sarah Chambers gained unwanted attention for posting a cheesecake selfie poolside in Puerto Rico — a COVID-19 hot spot at the time that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says everybody should avoid — on the same day she decried the dangers of in-person teaching in socially distant classrooms.

Trolls Wrongly Accused Retired Firefighter Of Capitol Riot Murder:

A week after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Twitter trolls wrongly accused retired Chicago firefighter David Quintavalle of fatally injuring U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick with a fire extinguisher during the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill.

In tweets and phone calls, trolls called Quintavalle a "terrorist" and made death threats against him. They targeted the wrong guy.

Quintavalle was grocery shopping at a suburban Aldi and made a home-cooked supper of steak and lobster to celebrate his wife's birthday with their Chicago police officer son while rioters breached the Capitol.

Catholic Church Clears Father Pfleger Of Sex Abuse Allegations:

Two brothers accused activist priest the Rev. Michael Pfleger of sexually abusing them during sleepovers at church rectories in the 1970s.

Pfleger, who denied the allegations, was temporarily removed from St. Sabina Catholic Church.

Parishioners rallied in his defense, and a Catholic Church review board cleared Pfleger of the decades-old child sexual abuse claims.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot intentionally created a media stir by refusing sit for one-on-one interviews with white journalists to mark her second anniversary as Chicago's boss.

As a man of Polish-and-Italian descent with decades of experience covering three Chicago mayors, dozens of crooked aldermen and the slimiest political operatives, I was outraged — by all the journalists whining about it.

Tribune Shareholders Say Sale To Newspaper 'Destroyer' Finalized:

A hedge fund dubbed a "destroyer of newspapers" purchased Tribune Publishing, owner of some of the nation's largest newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune.

The deal led to a mass exodus of veteran reporters, editors and columnists.

Lightfoot Names First Black Woman Chicago Fire Commissioner:

Annette Nance-Holt became the first Black woman fire commissioner in the city's 162-year history.

"There were no role models who looked like me, and so I never thought that becoming a firefighter, which was my dream, would be a possibility for me. As fire commissioner, I intend to show the next generation of young Black women that they, too, can achieve any and everything they set their minds and hearts to," Nance-Holt said.

In June, there were signs that we soon would break free of the coronavirus crisis's grip on life as we know it.

For the first time since July, Chicago's emergency travel order allowed folks to visit other states without being required to undergo mandatory quarantine or have a negative coronavirus test result.

Californians Want To Know What The Heck Is Going On In Chicago:

Shortly after the travel restrictions were loosened, my trusty navigator and I loaded up the truck with a stowaway, Nelson the dog, and embarked on a 12,300-mile summer storytelling tour of America.

When we met folks in a state that was literally on fire, overrun with urban homeless encampments and had a governor on the cusp of being recalled, and they found out I was an interloping reporter from Chicago, they forgot about their own problems.

In California, the coffee shop barista in San Clemente, college football coach in Santa Maria and grocery store teller in Dublin all wanted to know: "What the hell is going on in your city?"

We arrived home just in time to see the ugly fence separating my neighbors from the historic Pullman clock tower's grounds finally vanish before the grand opening of the Pullman National Monument visitor center — $35 million in renovations complete with manicured parkland, interactive exhibits and a gift shop where you can buy Pullman stickers, Pullman magnets and toy Pullman trains.

And too many things that didn't change.

President Joe Biden knew plenty of reasons that certain people, like me, believe Rahm Emanuel is bad for America. Still, he dropped "The Rahm" on Japan, and U.S. Senate Republicans helped confirm Chicago's mayor as America's ambassador to Japan.

Some good came from it: Rahm is moving 6,000 miles away — for a few years, at least.

Chicago Shooting Victim Reflects On 'Crazy Thing' That Happened:

The 25-year-old data scientist grew up in Naperville. He went to college in Alabama and moved here for a good job crunching financial data.

In October, he got caught in the crossfire of a rolling shootout and took a bullet in the buttocks while riding a Divvy bike near the West Loop.

I asked Kory if getting shot in Chicago changed his perspective on living in the city.

"People ask if I'm going to move out of the city. I really don't think so. I don't feel unsafe in my everyday life, even though maybe my experience says the opposite. When you live in the city, you have some more inherent dangers than living in the suburbs, maybe. But the trade-offs are worth it," he said.

Kory said he didn't want to sound cliché, but he feels just "lucky to be here." Alive. And in Chicago.

"I've got to take advantage of that," he said, "and live life while I can."

Maybe, after a tumultuous 2021, we all can relate to that.

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docuseries on CNN and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary "16 Shots."

Read More From Mark Konkol:

• 'Lightfoot Effect' Looms Over Cops Facing Police Board Dismissal

• Ken Griffin Exposes Crack In Pritzker Campaign: Chicago Violence

• Chicago Gets Starring Role In Kevin Garnett Showtime Documentary

• Judge Denied His Own Proposal To Rule On All Vax-Mandate Cases

• Culver's Opens As New Kind Of Landmark Welcoming Folks To Pullman

This article originally appeared on the Chicago Patch