​​Inflation, Abortion, Gun Violence, Midterms: 2022’s Top News Stories

Community Corner ​​Inflation, Abortion, Gun Violence, Midterms: 2022’s Top News Stories In a tumultuous year, neighbors all across America pulled together to support each other, whether locally or half a world away. Reply
A heart-shaped balloon flies decorating a memorial site outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 30, 2022, days after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at the school. Nineteen children and two teachers. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
ACROSS AMERICA — Think of 2022 as a year confounding national and international issues — among them inflation and knots in the supply chain, gun violence, the midterm elections and the politics of personal freedoms, and even a war halfway around the world — took up residence in communities across America.
As pandemic restrictions eased in 2022, Americans began to see the full effect of the health emergency that has killed 1.1 million people in the United States alone. The subsequent supply chain disruptions and government fiscal policies allowed inflation to persist at levels not seen in 40 years. To tame it, the Federal Reserve has hoisted its prime interest rate seven times this year, increasing borrowing costs and causing upheaval in local housing markets. Gas prices soared, surpassing the $5 a gallon mark in mid-June. Californians, especially, struggled to fill their tanks, with prices about $1.25 above the national average. Some stations in that state charged $10 for a gallon of gas.
Conservative Court Sends Abortion Back To States President Joe Biden, calling the decision “wrong, extreme and out of touch,” said it was essentially a set of marching orders for Democrats to put personal freedoms on midterm election ballots. After victories for abortion rights ballot measures and candidates, activists said the results showed a roadmap on how to win in future elections. Among the wins: California became the first state in the country to enshrine abortion, contraception and other reproduction rights in the state Constitution with the passage of Proposition 1.
What Caused Fern Hollow Bridge Collapse?
Fern Hollow Bridge Reopens Vehicles rest on a bridge in Pittsburgh following its collapse on Jan. 28, 2022. Rescuers had to rappel nearly 150 feet, while others formed a human chain to help rescue people from a dangling bus. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Culture wars continued.
One prominent example: In Los Angeles, City Councilman Kevin de León has refused calls to resign, including from President Biden, after he and three others became entangled in a racism scandal that shook public trust in city government. The disgraced councilman now faces a recall. The scandal erupted after the release of a recording of an October 2021 conversation between de León and fellow council members Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo, along with Ron Herrera, president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor, that included racist comments and discussions over favorable redistricting — and led to Martinez resigning her council presidency and later her council seat. Councilman Kevin de León Faces Recall We waited to see what would happen after Elon Musk bought Twitter. One answer was to fire half of Twitter’s workers. Another was to suspend an account that tracked his private jet and the accounts of journalists who reported on it. Millions of Twitter users asked Musk to step down in a poll the billionaire created and promised to abide by. He has said he will abide by the poll results, but must take someone “foolish” enough to run the platform that has become increasingly chaotic and confusing under Musk’s leadership.
We dropped in on celebrity trials, including Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation lawsuit ex-wife Amber Heard, and her $100 million counterclaim. Johnny Depp Jury Reaches Verdict
Heard Settles Defamation Case Against Depp Americans remained captivated by the disappearance and death of Gabby Petito, the New York woman who set out on a cross-country van trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in June 2021. Laundrie returned to his Florida home without her in September of that year, and Petito’s body was later found in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. An autopsy showed she had been strangled to death. Laundrie, who committed suicide, confessed in his journal that he had killed Petito, according to the FBI. Among the developments in 2022, Petito’s parents are suing police in Moab, Utah, for $50 million, saying they could have saved their daughter’s life if they had followed their own protocols during a traffic stop spurred by a domestic violence incident weeks before her death. Gabby Petito’s Parents Sue Utah Police For $50M We Cared For One Another Amid all that, we found simple pleasure in 2022 by playing Wordle. We took our chances on the biggest lottery jackpot in U.S. history (a Powerball ticket worth $2 billion was sold in California), and finished the year in a ticket-buying frenzy for a $640 million Mega Millions drawing. We showed our humanity by reaching across the globe to support Ukraine after Russia invaded the sovereign nation on Feb. 24.