LA SERENA, Chile (AP) — The Latest on the solar eclipse passing over Chile and Argentina (all times local):

3:25 p.m.

A solar eclipse is starting to darken the sun over northern...

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A group of children at a Chilean school for the blind used sound and braille Tuesday to experience conditions that resemble a total solar eclipse.

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — While most people were reveling in totality during the 2017 solar eclipse, a small team of local amateur astronomers were hard at work, carefully training their telescopes on the corona of light and plasma visible at the sun's outer edges.

Their hundreds of photographs are now in the hands of researchers at the National Solar Observatory and other institutes, who are using them to study the atmosphere of the sun and its weather.

Selected editorials from Oregon newspapers:

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Corvallis Gazette-Times, Aug. 21, on memories of eclipse enduring a year later:

What a difference a year makes: This week, we're looking at the gray, dark skies around the mid-valley and cursing the smoke created by the region's wildfires.

Homestead National Monument is a National Park Service site dedicated to remembering the Homestead Act of 1862. The Homestead Act gave individuals up to 160 acres of land at no cost if they built a home and lived on the homestead for five years, improving the land through cultivation.

The Homestead Act gave away 10 percent of all land in the U.S. during the 123 years it was in effect. In total, more than 270 million acres of land was distributed under the Homestead Act.

Thousands of visitors last August contributed to Homestead National Monument of America hitting its highest annual attendance on record.

Homestead Park Superintendent Mark Engler said the unofficial count for 2017 was 123,399 visitors, setting a new record and marking the second year ever that attendance has topped six figures.

Last year’s attendance intensified in August, as the total solar eclipse generated international attention for the National Park Service site.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — It wasn't all doom and gloom in 2017. The year was also filled with awe-inspiring moments that united us and warmed the heart.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois Legislature passed a long-overdue state budget this year and people in southern Illinois got to witness a long-awaited total solar eclipse.

Those were among the state's biggest stories in 2017, a year that also saw disturbing violence, changes for some of Illinois' most notable people and more headlines about the Chicago Police Department.

Here are The Associated Press' Top 10 Illinois stories of 2017:

Top 10 local news stories of 2017

Through Dec. 31, the Times-Call will count down the top stories of the year, as selected by the newspaper's editors.

10. Boulder County wowed by total solar eclipse

Scientific data gathered from the first full solar eclipse to stretch from coast to coast in the United States in nearly a century are still being processed, and research papers informed by the celestial spectacle likely will trickle out in academic journals for years to come.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — It wasn't all doom and gloom in 2017. The year was also filled with awe-inspiring moments that united us and warmed the heart.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Nearly 192,000 people traveled to Wyoming to view last summer's total solar eclipse, boosting the state's economy by an estimated $63.5 million, according to an analysis released Monday by the state Tourism Office.

"That's phenomenal when you have all of this new money being pumped into the economy," Diane Shober, executive director of the Wyoming Office of Tourism, said.

A total solar eclipse will take place Aug. 21, and it will be visible in a 60-mile-wide band across the United States, from Oregon to South Carolina.

In this episode of “Get Outta Here,” hosted by AP Travel Editor Beth Harpaz, Associated Press science writer Marcia Dunn tells us everything we need to know about destinations, events, eye protection and more to experience “totality,” as that darkness-in-daylight phenomenon is called.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina wants to shine a light on about how much money last month's total solar eclipse generated for businesses.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports (http://bit.ly/2vZEWxE ) the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism has hired a firm to find out about travelers' planning, preferences and money spent for the eclipse weekend. Agency director Duane Parrish says the results are expected within a couple weeks.

ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Grand Valley State University's Regional Math and Science Center is collecting eclipse glasses for a 2019 total solar eclipse that will be visible from the Pacific Ocean to parts of South America.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina couple is suing online retailer Amazon over what they claim were faulty pairs of eclipse glasses that resulted in eye injuries, headaches and blurry vision.

In court papers filed in federal court this week, Thomas Corey Payne and Kayla Harris of Charleston said they began experiencing the symptoms after viewing the total solar eclipse Aug. 21 using glasses purchased on Amazon.

I sure hope that wherever you were during the solar eclipse last Monday, you enjoyed what you witnessed. I was in Missouri, and despite the fact that this was the second total solar eclipse I've seen in my lifetime, it was so special to share it with my wife and good friends. If the good Lord permits, I plan to see the next total solar eclipse in USA on April 8, 2024, although there'll be many more solar eclipses across the world between now and then. Time to check my frequent flyer miles!

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Monday's total solar eclipse turned out to be a record-breaking event for Grand Teton National Park as people from around the world jammed into the northwest Wyoming park to get a glimpse of the eclipse against a backdrop of scenic mountain peaks.

The weekend before the eclipse and the day of the eclipse resulted in the "busiest weekend in the history of the park," park spokeswoman Denise Germann said Friday.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A college professor in northeast Indiana is collecting solar eclipse glasses in preparation for the total solar eclipse in 2024.

Thousands of eclipse glasses were sold or distributed through schools, public viewing parties, retailers and science museums in Fort Wayne for the Great American Eclipse.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Power companies say electricity demand in Nebraska dropped during the solar eclipse, stumping utilities that had braced for a surge in energy consumption during the event.

JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — A team of Arkansas State University students and professors has partnered with NASA to retrieve solar eclipse data for the space agency.

KATV-TV reports that professors Tillman Kennon and Ross Carroll led a team of at least 50 university students who traveled to Missouri to retrieve the data for Monday's eclipse.

POCATELLO — Thousands of people watched the moon temporarily block the sun on Monday during the 2017 Great American Eclipse, but Lauren Johnson did not because she lying in a Portneuf Medical Center bed giving birth to her daughter, Olivia Rose.

The world welcomed Pocatello residents Laura and Troy’s firstborn child at 12:08 p.m on Monday. Weighing in at 7 pounds 10 ounces, Olivia was born just 35 minutes after the eclipse reached 100 percent totality for those watching in certain areas.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Two teams of scientists from the Illinois State Water Survey have collected weather data during the first coast-to-coast U.S. solar eclipse since 1918 and plan to analyze the findings.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — How do you top the celestial event of a lifetime? By getting engaged, totally.

That's what one South Carolina lawmaker did during Monday's total solar eclipse. State Rep. Micah Caskey, 36, told The Associated Press that he started planning two months ago to pop the question to his girlfriend Erin Harris during the eclipse's totality, when the moon moved directly in front of the sun.

NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) — A Seattle couple became engaged as the solar eclipse reached totality in Oregon.

The Statesman Journal reports (http://stjr.nl/2wvb00Z ) Stephan Baker proposed to his girlfriend Julia DuBois as the sky darkened Monday morning.

DuBois says she cried tears of joy as her boyfriend surprised her with a marriage proposal.

The Latest on the total solar eclipse crossing the U.S., from Oregon to South Carolina (all times EDT):

7:45 p.m.

Authorities say two women watching the eclipse while standing on a sidewalk in Kentucky were struck by a car, and one has died.

State Police Trooper Jody Sims says the car crossed the center line and hit a utility pole and the pedestrians Monday in Hyden, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) southeast of Lexington.

A collective roar of “oohs” and “aahs” swept across UW-Madison’s Memorial Union Terrace about 12:30 pm Monday as the clouds parted to reveal the emerging solar eclipse.

For the next two hours, the nearly 2,200 visitors to the Terrace donned their special glasses to steal a glimpse of the first total solar eclipse since 1979 to traverse the length of the contiguous United States.

“It was amazing,” said Mary Hurley, a campus payroll and benefits specialist.