While COVID-19 coverage made up most of the headlines for 2020, other important news also made front pages.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of police sparked protests throughout the United States, including here in Indianapolis. Calls for racial justice, and an end to police brutality and over-policing of African-Americans lead thousands into the streets and ignited the Black Lives Matter movement. However, many of the protests and demonstrations became violent and lead to looting, shootings and riots, and there was pushback, including calling in the National Guard to quell the violence. Others who have died as a result of police excessive force, such as Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, were remembered during the protests. In Indianapolis, the police-action shooting of Dreasjon Reed as he livestreamed his car chase brought protests to the streets of the Circle City, added even more fuel to the fire. An Illinois teenager showed up in Wisconsin with a weapon at a protest in Kenosha, inspired by right-wing rhetoric, and killed two people and critically wounded another. He was lauded as a hero by right-wing leaders.
Demands went up to pull down statues of Confederate leaders throughout the country, including here in Indianapolis, as symbols of racism and oppression. Many came down, but were met with organized resistance from people who felt their history was being “cancelled.”
Everyone knew the 2020 general election would be chaotic, but most didn’t expect the level of crazy that emerged. The Democatic Party fielded as many as 17 before it was narrowed to 10, then to one: Joe Biden. President Donald Trump’s Republican Party marshalled forces behind him, but not all were on board. Due to the pandemic, a record number of Americans voted by mail, bogging down the postal system that was already under strain from all the online shopping people were doing in lockdown. The recently appointed Postmaster General also came under fire for changes made to the system that seemed to further slow the mail. Trump claimed widespread election fraud, although there was no credible evidence of it. It took days to count and recount ballots, but Joe Biden emerged as the victor. Trump’s campaign began an onslaught of legal challenges in swing states. Texas filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court claiming “voting irregularities” in several states, and other Republican-led states concurred — the suit was not heard by the Supreme Court. The Electoral College met and Biden was declared the official President-Elect, and Kamala Harris the Vice President-Elect. Trump continued to claim that the election had been rigged and that he’d won “in a landslide,” despite all evidence to the contrary. The continued claims of fraud and conspiracy theories have ripped the fabric of American democracy.
In December, the President began mulling over extreme ways to take back an election he felt was “stolen” from him. Right-ring pundits started talking about challenging the Electoral College vote in Congress in January, imposing martial law in the swing states, and seizing voting machines they thought were tampered with by global syndicates. None of the plans were enacted.
Christmas morning, an RV packed with explosives went off in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The bomber, a 63-year-old man, died in the explosion. No clear motive for the bombing was revealed.
Environmentally, 2020 was the warmest year on record, breaking the record set in 2019. Brushfires in Australia in late 2019 continued into the summer months (our winter), decimating wildlife and prompting mass evacuations. In the United States, wildfires in California and the Pacific Northwest destroyed forests and neighborhoods. The United States also experienced a large number of hurricanes, with 30 named storms — 13 developed into hurricanes — and in Central America, storm after storm destroyed houses and towns. There were record numbers of cyclones (Pacific hurricanes), and Europe experienced an extended heat wave.
In Indianapolis, the number of homicides broke the old record set in 2019, with over 240 criminal homicides committed during the year. The mayor enacted more restrictive COVID-19 responses, which shuttered many small businesses. The city also experimented with closing off Mass Ave. and Broad Ripple Ave. to allow bars and restaurants to serve more customers outside in hopes of keeping them alive.
Major redevelopment news came late in the year for Indianapolis as Elanco decided to building their headquarters in the former GM Stamping Plant property that has sat vacant after many years. The former Navistar plant on Brookville Rd. will also find a new lease on life, as the Ambrose Group purchased it and plans to build a logistics center on part of the property and sell other parcels to other businesses.
There were many losses this year in the public sphere. In Indiana, we mourned the loss of philanthropist Christel DeHaan, 48th Governor Joe Kernan, Zionsville artists Nancy Noel, car dealer and commercial icon Bob Rohrman, Slippery Noodle owner Hal Yeagy, and Ron Spencer of Indy Theatre on the Square. In Irvington, we lost the two founders of Snips Salon and community leaders Kevin Edwards and Anthony Lineberry, plus business leaders Richard Benson of Massage and Healing Center and Shayne Dye formerly of the Tie Dye Grill. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed. John Lewis, civil rights activist and Representative, passed, as did the Reverend C.T. Vivian, a staunch civil rights fighter. Tom Coburn, former Senator from Oklahoma, died. Former New York City mayor David Dinkins died, “Hidden Figures” real-life genius Katherine Johnson passed away, as did theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson. The man with the “right stuff” test pilot and the first to break the sound barrier General Chuck Yeager went to the heavens. Former president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak passed. U.S. Rep.-Elect from Louisiana Luke Letlow died from COVID-19 weeks before he was to be sworn in.
The sports world went into shock at the untimely death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash. We lost many who graced the silver screen, including Chadwick Boseman, Kirk Douglas, Kelly Preston, Robert Conrad, Max Von Sydow, Brian Dennehy, Irrfan Khan, Wilfrid Brimley, director Sir Alan Parker, Ben Cross, Fred Willard, Ed Byrnes, director Lynn Shelton, Sir Ian Holm, Olivia de Haviland, Ja’Net Dubois, Nick Cordero, Sean Connery, David Prowse, and Ann Reinking. TV stars we lost included multi-talented Regis Philbin, producer Gene Reynolds, sportscaster Phyllis George, Alex Trebek, Ken Osmond, Geoffrey Palmer, Dame Diana Rigg, Kevin Dobson, Terry Jones, Naya Rivera, Carl Reiner, Hugh Downs, Jerry Stiller, Orson Bean, Phyllis George, Lyle Waggoner, Dawn Wells, and John Callahan.
Sports stars we lost included John Andretti, Curly Neal, Al Kaline, Lou Brock, Gale Sayers, Whitey Ford, Fred Dean, Diego Maradona, and Don Shula. Music lost one of the pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll, Little Richard, plus Billy Joe Shaver, Johnny Nash, Eddie Van Halen, Mac Davis, Kenny Rogers, Helen Reddy, Charley Daniels, Vera Lynn, Bonnie Pointer, Betty Wright, Bill Withers, Joe Diffie, and Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio.
Writers who we lost this year included Mary Higgins Clark, Mike Resnick, Clive Cussler, Larry Kramer, Terrence McNally, Pete Hamill, Gail Sheehy, Winston Groom, Buck Henry, Jan Morris, Naomi Long Madgett, John le Carre, and Ben Bova.
Former GE CEO Jack Welch, Frederick Koch, Sumner Redstone, and the president’s brother Robert Trump were some of the bigwigs that passed this year. Designer Pierre Cardin passed in December.
