Human Race

Diagnosed

“I have Parkinson’s, and I am at peace,” announced Wayne Grudem on Dec. 22 on the desiringGod.org website. Grudem is professor of theology and biblical studies at Phoenix Seminary, in Phoenix, Ariz., general editor of the ESV Study Bible, and the author of 20 books, including a prominent systematic theology. Grudem wrote that he is experiencing diminished fine-motor control, and a neurologist confirmed the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease on Dec. 18. He hopes to finish two current writing projects and plans to continue teaching as long as he is able. He and his wife Margaret, he wrote, “feel a deep peace from the Lord about this. King David said to the Lord, ‘My times are in your hand’ (Psalm 31:15), and I truly feel that way.”

Died

Vonette Bright, who co-founded Campus Crusade for Christ (now called Cru) with her late husband Bill Bright, died on Dec. 23 of complications from acute leukemia. The Brights were married in 1948 and launched Campus Crusade in 1951 at UCLA. Vonette Bright also served as a chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force and founded the radio ministry Women Today International. She was 89.

Captured

Authorities on Dec. 28 captured “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch, a Texan who violated his probation by fleeing to Mexico. Couch had first made headlines when a judge gave him a light sentence, 10 years’ probation, after he had killed four pedestrians in a drunk driving accident in 2013. The judge had agreed with a psychologist who said Couch’s pampered upbringing led to his reckless decisions. Couch, now 18, will likely face jail time for breaking his probation when he fled the country in early December with his mother. Authorities found the two in Puerto Vallarta, a resort city on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

Threatened

Employers and landlords in New York City are facing a new threat: The city’s Commission on Human Rights issued rules in December that impose fines of up to $250,000 on property owners who “misgender” employees or tenants. Employers and “covered entities,” according to the regulation, must “use an individual’s preferred name, pronoun and title (e.g., Ms./Mrs.) regardless of the individual’s sex assigned at birth, anatomy, gender, medical history, appearance, or the sex indicated on the individual’s identification.” The rule points out that some may wish to be known as “ze” or “hir.” The rule also opens up single-sex bathrooms to transgender persons of the opposite sex.

Died

Nine-time Grammy Award–winning singer Natalie Cole died on Dec. 31 of congestive heart failure. Cole, 65, had described herself as “an ex-drug addict” who had fought addiction to heroin, cocaine, and alcohol in the 1980s, and friends say she had many ongoing health problems from those battles. Cole sang on a Christmas album with her father, jazz legend Nat King Cole, when she was 6, and she began performing when she was 11. Her hits include “This Will Be,” “Someone That I Used to Love,” “Our Love,” and “Unforgettable,” a 1991 duet with her late father (using his recorded voice).

Died

Meadowlark Lemon, superstar basketball player with the Harlem Globetrotters and the “Clown Prince of Basketball,” died on Dec. 27 in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 83. Lemon joined the Globetrotters, known for their theatrics and staged shenanigans on the court, in 1954 after serving in the Army. He quickly became the most popular of the team’s players/showmen, famous for his long-distance hook shots and no-look passes, and he was the star of the Globetrotters for 24 years. The late Wilt Chamberlain, who played one year with the Globetrotters before joining the NBA, once called Lemon “the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I’ve ever seen.”

Died

Actor Wayne Rogers, best known as Army doctor Trapper John McIntyre on the sitcom M*A*S*H in the 1970s, died on Dec. 31 at age 82 of complications from pneumonia. Rogers left the cast of M*A*S*H in 1975, unhappy with the growing role of co-star Alan Alda. Rogers continued to work in television, earning a Golden Globe nomination for his role in the sitcom House Calls but never achieving another hit on the scale of M*A*S*H. A Navy veteran and Princeton University graduate, Rogers later became a successful money manager and investor.

Expelled

Urologist Paul Church in December lost his final appeal to continue practicing medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston. The hospital had expelled Church, a member of BIDMC’s medical staff for 28 years, because of his vocal opposition to the hospital’s endorsement of LGBT activities. Church said the hospital should not publicly support such events as Boston’s Gay Pride Parade both because of the diversity of moral and religious beliefs of staff members and because homosexual behaviors lead to higher risks of serious diseases like HIV/AIDS and anal cancer. “It’s like a baby food company sponsoring an abortion company,” Church told WORLD. “Or like having a cigarette advertisement on a medical journal. It makes no sense!” No patient has ever lodged a complaint against Church.

Occupied

A peaceful rally in support of Oregon ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son Steven, whom courts sentenced to five years in prison for setting fires on government land, changed tone when about a dozen of the protesters took over an unoccupied federal building on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. The occupiers, armed and led by Morman and militiaman Ammon Bundy, made two demands: that the government release the Hammonds and surrender control of the Malheur National Forest. “We’re planning on staying here for years,” Ammon Bundy told CNN. “Absolutely.”

By the numbers

368 | The number of all-purpose yards gained by Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey in the team’s 45-16 Rose Bowl victory over Iowa on Jan. 1. The total is a Rose Bowl record.

$136,927 | The amount in fines paid by Aaron and Melissa Klein, former owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, to the Oregon government on Dec. 28 for having refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding in 2013.

$11 billion | The North American box office tally for the year 2015, a new record, according to the film tracking firm Rentrak.