If former Gov. Rod Blagojevich reports to prison as scheduled Feb. 16, he could be released in early 2024, after serving the required 85 percent of his 14-year sentence imposed Wednesday. Here’s a look at some other news expected that year:
* The U.S. will elect a new president. If Barack Obama is re-elected in 2012 and is succeeded by another two-term president, the commander in chief chosen in 2024 will be our nation’s 46th, and could be as young as 22 right now.
* Bulls guard Derrick Rose could be finishing the 2023-24 season at 35, an age when Michael Jordan played his last game for the team and by which he had amassed six NBA championships.
* If still alive, former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush will turn 100, as will actresses Doris Day and Lauren Bacall, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch and businessman Lee Iacocca.
* “Saved by the Bell” actors Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen and Lark Voorhies would turn 50.
* A total solar eclipse will occur April 8. The area around Carbondale will make news for experiencing two such eclipses within seven years, the other occurring Aug. 21, 2017.
* The Medicare hospital insurance fund is projected to run out of money, according to a report issued this year by Medicare trustees.
* Fifty-year observances will take place recognizing President Richard Nixon’s resignation, Hank Aaron’s breaking of Babe Ruth’s home run record, the first printing of People magazine and the invention of Rubik’s Cube.
* The Summer Olympics will take place, in a city to be determined. If the International Olympic Committee holds to form, that decision will be announced in 2017. Could it be … Chicago?
— Rob Manker
