For some, 2018 was a year of positive changes and powerful statements.
For others, it was a year filled with mounting frustrations, discontentment and heartache.
Regardless of where one might fall in assessing the year’s events, few can question the impact it has had, both in the present day and for generations to come.
The year began with the #MeToo movement continuing to pick up steam, within the entertainment industry and beyond. Numerous actors, politicians and others found themselves embroiled in controversy, as women across the country came forward with claims ranging from sexual harassment to sexual assault.
Among the high-profile cases that made headlines in 2018 was the trial of comedian Bill Cosby. He was convicted on three counts of sexual assault and sentenced in September to serve 3-10 years in prison.
Henry County mourned the first of two losses in its law-enforcement community in 2018. On February 9, Locust Grove Police Officer Chase Maddox was killed, and two Henry County Sheriff’s deputies wounded, while serving a warrant. The incident occurred just days before the birth of Maddox’s second child, and resulted in an outpouring of support for the officer’s family from the local community.
Just five days later, tragedy struck when a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., killing 17 people and wounding 17 others. Authorities subsequently arrested Nikolas Cruz, a former student at the school, and charged him with 17 counts of murder in the case.
In March, prominent Henry County attorney A.J. “Buddy” Welch Jr., 73, died when his ATV was hit by a train in Butts County. Welch, of the Smith Welch Webb & White law firm in McDonough, represented clients including the Henry County Water Authority, the City of Locust Grove and the Henry County Board of Education.
In the spring of 2018, people all over the world waited in anticipation for the wedding of British Prince Harry to American actress Meghan Markle. As the royal nuptials loomed, a documentary film crew uncovered several families in Henry County and surrounding areas who are related to Markle.
Soon afterward, the Genealogical Society of Henry and Clayton Counties informed the stunned members of those families of their connection to Markle. She and Prince Harry were married on May 19.
Severe weather wreaked havoc on much of the southeast in 2018, most notably in the form of Hurricanes Florence and Michael. In September, Florence soaked the Carolinas, killing more than 40 people and causing millions of dollars in damage, according to the Associated Press.
In October, Hurricane Michael decimated parts of Florida, with winds in excess of 150 miles per hour. The AP reports that “entire blocks of homes” were destroyed in the Category 4 storm, the effects of which continued to be felt through the remainder of the year.
One of the year’s biggest national stories centered on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to succeed retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. The nomination brought to light a number of accusations of sexual misconduct from several women, in the weeks leading up to a vote in the U.S. Senate.
Following a lengthy nomination process, Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Court in October.
The 2018 midterm election cycle brought with it a few surprises in Henry County. Democrats carried more votes in every statewide race in the November elections – a feat which had not been achieved in more than 20 years.
In a long-anticipated referendum vote, residents struck down a bid to create a new city of Eagle’s Landing.
In December, the county faced the loss of another law-enforcement veteran. Henry County Police Officer Michael Smith was shot in the face Dec. 6 at a dentist’s office on Jonesboro Road in McDonough, during a scuffle with 53-year-old Dimaggio McNelly, who died at the scene. Smith died from his injuries on December 18.
