Zika Virus

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel warning on Jan. 15 for all people traveling to locations where the Zika virus transmission were ongoing. These include Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

The most severe effects of Zika are in pregnant women; babies born from infected mothers were born with microcephaly, a disorder where the head of the baby grows much smaller than normal. Zika spread to the U.S., with officials confirming the first local spreading of the Zika virus in the U.S. through infected mosquitoes in Florida on July 28.

Flint, Michigan

President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency over the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, on Jan. 16. The Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency order on Jan. 21 deteriming that “the City of Flint’s and the State of Michigan’s responses to the drinking water crisis in Flint have been inadequate and that these failures continue.” 

Over the next four months children were treated and the city’s 8,000 lead service lines and public water fixtures were replaced. Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby, state officials at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and Michael Glasgow, Flint laboratory water quality supervisor, face criminal charges.

Brexit

The decision to for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union was made on June 23 with a referendum vote, a vote in which everyone of voting age can participate. With more than 30 million people voting across the UK, a 71.8 percent turnout, “leave” won by 52 percent to 48 percent.  The process of “Brexiting” is ongoing with the new Prime Minister Theresa May intending to trigger the process by March 2017, meaning they will be expected to be out of the EU by summer 2019. 

UA Presidential

President Ann Weaver Hart announced over email on June 10 that she would not be renewing her presidency after her contract ends in 2018. Earlier in the year she accepted a position with the DeVry Education Group, spurring a petition calling for her to step down from the group’s board. The Arizona Board of Regents created the UA Presidential Search Advisory Committee comprised of 27 education and industry leaders to find the next UA president.

Olympics

From Aug. 5 to Aug. 21, more than 10,000 athletes from 207 countries flew to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The U.S. took home the most medals with 121 medals—46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze. Next was China with 70 medals and then Great Britain with 67 medals. Twenty-seven new records were set, such as Katie Ledecky’s world record in the 800-meter swim.

People were skeptical whether Rio was the best place for the Olympics with Brazil’s Zika outbreak and the polluted water. Swimmer Ryan Lochte claimed he was robbed at a gas station, but he vastly exaggerated the incident and was suspended from competing for 10 months.

OSIRIS-REx

OSIRIS-REx took to the sky on Sept. 8, launching out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, and started making its way toward the asteroid Bennu. It is scheduled to arrive in August 2018, where it will make a map of the surface and then collect samples in July 2020. It will head home in March 2021 and will arrive on Sept. 24, 2023. The mission will cost $800 million, not including the rocket.

Brother Dean

Brother Dean Saxton was arrested and charged with assault after kicking Mackenzie Brandt, a freshman criminal justice major, in the chest in front of the administration building on Sept. 20. Saxton was wearing a purple shirt with the word “homo” crossed out in red and was preaching against homosexuality. When Brandt approached him to tell him what he was saying was wrong, he kicked her. The cops were called, and at 12:30 p.m. Saxton was patted down and placed in a police car. The University of Arizona Police Department issued an exclusionary order banning Saxton from campus for a year, per university policy.

Cubs Win

It took 108 years, but the Chicago Cubs finally ended their World Series drought, winning 8-7 against the Cleveland Indians on Nov. 2. The game lasted almost five hours that included a blown four-run lead, a 17-minute rain delay and a tied game that ran into the 10th inning. 

Presidential Election

Donald Trump was elected president on Nov. 8, winning 289 electoral college votes compared to 218 for Hillary Clinton. Trump will be the first president to enter the White House with no executive political, diplomatic or military experience. At 70, he is also the oldest president to be sworn in during his first term. His election sparked riots and protest marches, including a march on the UA on Nov. 14.

Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro died at age 90 on Nov. 25 after serving as Cuba’s maximum leader for nearly half a century, a longer time in power than any other living national leader except Queen Elizabeth II. He directed the defense of the country during the Bay of Pigs invasion and continued the Communist revolution even when he fell ill in 2006.

Dakota Access Pipeline

Environmental and Native American groups stood together to protest the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline with protests. The Pipeline would carry 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day from North Dakota to Illinois. It cut through sacred spots of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and the construction ripped up prayer sites and culturally significant artifacts. On Dec. 4, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit for construction for the pipeline under the Missouri River, halting the project.

Follow Rocky Baier on Twitter.