Skokie Patch's Biggest Stories of 2012
Skokie had its share of big stories this 2012, including some that gained national attention. Throughout the week, we'll be sharing some of our biggest stories of the year. To kick things off, this story had more "trick" than "treat."
Our biggest story of the year happened late in the year, when Superintendent Quintin Shepherd decided to ban Halloween at all three of District 69's schools.
"There will be no costumes, no candy bags, no parties," Shepherd told Skokie Patch in October.
The story struck a chord with the community and even gained national notoriety. Following Patch's story, local network news began covering the issue and a video segment even landed on the Huffington Post. There was even a video posted regarding the issue on YouTube.
Much of the outrage from local parents came because the decision was made with no community input whatsoever.
Skokie Patch ran several stories following the ban, and some residents took action. One parent started an online petition and reached more than 460 signatures. In another article, Patch asked its readers what they thought about the ban. More than 350 comments were posted, but moderators had to close the comments section due to numerous violations of terms of service.
In the end, the seven-member District 69 school board backed Superintendent Shepherd's decision to ban the parties during a Nov. 16 board meeting.
Check back tomorrow to see what other stories were among Skokie Patch's most read.
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Eugene Salganik
5:02 pm on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
The best story of 2012 should be the arrival of a new company, FunderHut, in Skokie. FunderHut is a community-oriented crowdfunding website that will bring a lot of publicity to Skokie in the near future. Having added a revolutionary crowdfunding website to our business community, Skokie will earn its place as a high-tech hub of the Midwest region.