The coronavirus pandemic, protests over the police killing of George Floyd, the Blue Ridge fire, lockdowns, and the closing of schools rocked the Chino Valley and the rest of the nation during this extraordinary year.
The devastation was matched by the goodness of residents who helped school children cope with social isolation, collected food and items for those hit hardest by the pandemic, and rallied around frontline healthcare workers.
Barely had the year begun when the coronavirus pandemic originating in Wuhan, China spread across the globe resulting in 334,000 deaths in the United States by the end of the year.
There were 11 deaths in Chino Hills and 70 in Chino, with 26 of those at the California Institution for Men in Chino and one at the California Institution for Women.
Coadjutor Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino, Calif., is seen in this 2017 file photo. He succeeds Bishop Gerald R. Barnes who submitted his resignation to Pope Francis Dec. 28, 2020. Bishop Barnes is 75, the age at which canon law requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope. (CNS photo/Sam Lucero, The Compass) Dec. 30, 2020 Catholic News Service WASHINGTON – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino, California, and Coadjutor Bishop Alberto Rojas immediately succeeds him. Bishop Barnes has headed the diocese since 1996. In June, he turned 75, the age at which canon law requires bishops to turn their resignation into the pope.