Category: News
Teachers in River Forest threaten strike amid contract talks stalemate
The River Forest Education Association says it is taking steps to prepare for a teachers strike, citing District 90’s unwillingness to continue negotiations.
The announcement comes after officials for the River Forest elementary school district initiated the public posting process, in which it will send its last, best and final offer to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. The union also will have to file its final offer with the state board.
The RFEA, which represents more than 140 teachers and licensed staff, began negotiations with the district in April. Its previous contract with the district expired on Aug. 15. Since negotiations started, both sides have met nearly 20 times, many of those with a mediator.
In November, union members voted down proposed contract terms offered by the district.
“We are frustrated and disheartened by the district’s lack of compromise at the bargaining table to resolve the issues that led to a failed ratification vote of the tentative agreement we reached on Nov. 10,” RFEA co-president Cindy Crannell said in a statement.
Crannel and co-president Lauren Baiocchi said the union met with the district twice after the failed contract vote to address concerns teachers raised but made no progress.
The union would have to take a vote authorizing a strike and notify the district in advance. A strike vote has not yet been scheduled by the union. No additional bargaining sessions have been scheduled.
Teachers at Tuesday’s School Board meeting lobbied for higher pay and told board members the lengthy negotiations have affected teacher morale.
Union officials have noted the district has a cash reserve that would cover operations for 460 days. They also note that District 90 teachers, on average, make less than their counterparts in neighboring districts.
According to the 2025 Illinois State Report Card, the average teacher salary in District 90 is $77,679 – about $816 less than the state average.
Teachers at Tuesday’s School Board meeting noted they make less than their counterparts in neighboring districts. In Oak Park Elementary School District 97, for example, the average teacher salary is $89,346, according to state data.
However, District 90 Superintendent Ed Condon said the terms the union and district negotiated in November were the “most generous, by far” of any contracts the district has agreed to in the last 20 years.
“The RFEA has been very effective in securing numerous and increasingly generous terms in (recent) sessions,” he said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Some of the highlights of the proposed contract that was rejected included a 7% increase in the first year of the contract, increase in the district’s contribution toward health insurance, additional retirement benefits and more inclusive language regarding FMLA, bereavement and sick leave, Condon said.
“The district remains committed to finding a solution in partnership with our teachers to compensate them fairly while demonstrating financial stewardship, supporting both the current and future success of our students and school community,” the district said in a written statement Wednesday.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/river-forest-teachers-threaten-strike/
Gary council suspends consideration of wet processing system ordinance
After some resident opposition, the Gary Common Council suspended consideration of an ordinance that would allow for a wet processing system in the city’s Aetna neighborhood.
Council Vice President Darren Washington made the motion, and it was unanimously approved. Councilwoman Mary Brown, D-3rd, was absent from Tuesday night’s meeting.
The ordinance would give Reconstruct Aggregates, Inc. a special use permit for the facility on 4900-5200 E. 15th Ave. in Gary. The proposal previously received a favorable recommendation from the Gary Board of Zoning Appeals at a Nov. 13, 2025, public hearing.
The council’s planning and development committee previously looked at the ordinance during a Jan. 14 meeting.
According to the ordinance, the wet processing system would use water-based machinery to clean and sort soils, and remove dust and other materials. The recycled soils will be reused for local construction, which can reduce landfill waste, truck traffic and dependence on rural quarries.
The system would be allowed to run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, according to Post-Tribune archives. Operators would have to obtain permits from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Site operators would also have to submit a formal drainage and runoff control plan to Gary’s city engineer.
Multiple Gary residents talked about the ordinance during Tuesday’s public comment.
Charles Alexander, a 43-year resident of Gary, said he opposes the wet processing system. He believes the development will hinder the Aetna neighborhood.
“We don’t need something that’s going to make our city — especially Aetna, which is revitalizing — any worse than it is,” Alexander said. “There’s no way that a sand recycling company can come into our community, be that close to our residents and recycle that sand.”
Dorreen Carey, president of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, also opposed the ordinance during public comment. She thanked Washington for listening to residents and asking for more information about the wet processing system.
“We really need to know what type of material is being brought in, how the truck traffic will impact the community and whether the material will be allowed to accumulate on this property,” Carey said.
During the planning and development committee meeting, residents expressed concerns with city truck traffic because of the facility, and Carey asked for a traffic study. Scott Yahne, Reconstruct Aggregates’ attorney, said the facility can process 100 to 250 tons per hour, which he believes equals between five and 10 trucks per hour, according to Post-Tribune archives.
Yahne also said he doesn’t expect noise or dust to be an issue for neighbors. Residents were still concerned that the facility would be built near a residential area because of public health and potential soil contaminants.
“There’s been very little talk about the condition of the soil when it comes in,” Carolyn McCrady, GARD member, previously said, “and I think that’s really important because we don’t know what they’re doing to cleanse it.”
Fraud Is ‘Fundamental’ Part Of Child Transgender Medical Field
Fraud Is ‘Fundamental’ Part Of Child Transgender Medical Field
Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times,
One of the architects of the Health and Human Services (HHS) review of medical interventions for pediatric gender dysphoria said in a recent interview that fraud is an integral part of the transgender medical field.
Nearly a year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to protect “children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” Leor Sapir, who assembled a team of experts to produce the HHS review, emphasized that doctors relying on unproven gender-affirming guidelines are misleading patients.
Sapir, an HHS report author and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told The Epoch Times there is no solid evidence that puberty blockers, hormones, or surgery benefit children who reject their sexual identity, but that evidence exists that these procedures can cause harm.
The 409-page HHS report states that psychotherapy, rather than unproven medical interventions, has greater benefits for children with gender dysphoria, reinforcing the need for evidence-based approaches.
“Fraud is not just a feature, or, I should say, it’s not just something that happens in this field. It’s almost fundamental to the field itself,” Sapir said during an interview with American Thought Leader host Jan Jekielek that aired Jan. 15.
Sapir said that doctors and organizations often rely on guidelines from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which he describes as an activist group that presents itself as a medical organization. The group is key in influencing current practice.
WPATH doesn’t advocate for mental health assessments and helps make sure that the procedures are covered by insurance, he said.
An Alabama lawsuit involving WPATH disclosed internal documents indicating that WPATH withheld negative findings about treatments for transitioning children, he added.
Groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, WPATH, and The Endocrine Society cite one another’s guidelines as evidence that the treatments are safe, he said.
In part, support for medically transitioning children came about because it was framed as a civil rights matter, according to the report. Additionally, this led many in the medical community to neglect the evidence against it and to curtail debate.
Medical organizations often formed specialized committees to recommend protocols for treating gender dysphoric children. For example, some committees focused on LGBT issues and, according to the report, members’ careers depend on supporting pediatric transitioning.
The HHS report, titled “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices,” was originally released in May 2025. While it received many positive peer reviews in November 2025, it also received backlash from those supporting medical intervention for gender dysphoria.
Sapir noted that the HHS review is unique because it is the first to address the ethics of medically transitioning children and to critique the language that inaccurately describes the procedures.
“It seems so intuitively obvious that this is ultimately an ethical debate,” he said.
Ethical considerations include an examination of the risks and benefits of treatment and the idea of patient autonomy, which allows the patient to choose whether to have a procedure.
The report situates medical ethics within a historical context, referencing the Hippocratic Oath and the principle of “do no harm.”
One potential harm is that children with gender dysphoria often later identify as gay, so they are disproportionately impacted by transitioning.
“We know, based on research, that a significant portion of these kids, if not socially and medically transitioned, will actually come out to be gay later on in life,” Sapir said.
Medical ethics has shifted toward informed consent, strengthening protections for patients against unwanted medical interventions. But the doctor still has an obligation to protect and promote patient health, especially when it comes to children, according to the HHS report.
“Patients don’t get to demand treatments from doctors. Doctors have a professional, ethical obligation to only prescribe things that are more likely than not to benefit their patients and not likely to harm them,” Sapir said. “But in the context of gender medicine, the principle of autonomy has been reinterpreted to mean the doctors have to give patients what they want.”
The very idea that children, some as young as 8 or 9, are mature enough to understand the consequences of puberty blockers and medical transition is called into question in the report. Medical providers “often fail” to inform patients that there’s no strong evidence that the procedures benefit those with gender dysphoria.
The report noted that language has “distorted the clinical picture” in pediatric gender medicine. Therefore, doctors should use language that is accurate and not misleading.
Terms such as “gender-affirming care” were also called into question by the report. The procedure of removing breasts in physically healthy females is referred to in euphemisms such as “gender-affirming chest surgery” or “top surgery” rather than a mastectomy.
Likewise, phrases such as “sex assigned at birth” used in the industry imply that sex is determined subjectively rather than biologically.
“The American Psychological Association style guide, for example, classifies ‘birth sex’ and ‘natal sex’ as ‘disparaging terms’” because they imply that sex cannot be changed, according to the report.
The test used to determine if a child is transgender is to ask the child, the report says. Children know who they are, according to advocates of the gender-affirmation model.
“There is a conscious, deliberate, systemic effort in the field of pediatric gender medicine to treat children, even children who are not even in puberty, as if they’re mature adults,” Sapir said.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/21/2026 – 17:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/fraud-fundamental-part-child-transgender-medical-field
More than 20 Chicago chefs and restaurants are 2026 James Beard Award semifinalists
The James Beard Foundation announced its 2026 Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists on Wednesday and nearly two dozen Chicago chefs, restaurants and bars are in the running for a coveted nomination.
The awards, marking their 36th year, are among the most prestigious in the U.S. culinary industry, often referred to as the Oscars of the food world.
“For four decades, the Foundation has recognized culinary excellence while championing the independent chefs and restaurants that are vital to our communities, economy and culture. It is an honor to celebrate the 2026 semifinalists, whose work reflects the incredible dynamism, talent and achievement defining our industry today,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation.
Chicago has semifinalists in almost every major category this year, including nine for Best Chef: Great Lakes, a tier once again seeing strong representation. However, the city did not have any semifinalists in the categories of Outstanding Bakery, Best New Bar or Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service.
Recently awarded two Michelin stars, Kasama — whose chefs Genie Kwon and Tim Flores won a 2023 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes — is up for Outstanding Restaurant, along with EL Ideas in Chicago’s Douglass Park neighborhood.
Semifinalist nods for the Outstanding Chef category include Diana Dávila of Mi Tocaya Antojería and Zachary Engel of Galit.
Diana Dávila, executive chef and owner at Mi Tocaya Antojería, Oct. 24, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky and chef Joe Frillman at Daisies in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, May 10, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Meanwhile, Daisies, from chef Joe Frillman and pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky, is a semifinalist for Outstanding Hospitality.
Chicago has two contenders for Best New Restaurant: River North’s Nic & Junior’s, which opened last May, and Nadu, the latest from chef Sujan Sarkar of the Michelin-starred Indienne.
At Nadu, Sarkar and chef Sanchit Sahu’s menu celebrates regional India and how food varies from coast to coast, embracing the complexity of Indian flavors while maintaining an effortless introduction for those unfamiliar with the cuisine. Meanwhile, Nic & Junior’s is blurring the line between a neighborhood restaurant and a fine dining one with its hand-made pastas and Italian fare, but with bold Brazilian flavors. Chef Junior Borges was a James Beard Award semifinalist in 2023.
Once again, Chicago continues to see strong representation in the Best Chef: Great Lakes regional category, which highlights chefs from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. This year’s Chicago semifinalists are Thai Dang of HaiSous; Danny Espinoza of Santa Masa Tamalería; Christopher Jung and Erling Wu-Bower of Maxwells Trading; Mari Katsumura and Adam Sindler of SHŌ; Nick Kleutsch and James Sanders of Sanders BBQ Supply Co.; Rishi Kumar and Zubair Mohajir of Mirra; Ben Lustbader and Sarah Mispagel of Loaf Lounge; Norman Fenton of Cariño and Jacob Potashnick of Feld.
Chef and owner Norman Fenton finishes plating orders in his restaurant Cariño on Aug. 29, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Chef and owner Jake Potashnick, center, goes over the evening’s details with his staff before dinner service at Feld, 2018 W. Chicago Ave., Nov. 20, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Many of this year’s semifinalists have received other accolades in recent years. In 2025, Cariño retained its Michelin star for its creative, Latin-inspired tasting menu and taco omakase. Feld also earned its first Michelin Star in 2025 and a Michelin Green Star for sustainability for Potashnick’s farm-focused, tasting menu concept.
And in last year’s Tribune Critic’s Choice Food Awards, critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu named Sanders BBQ Supply Co. Chicago’s Best Barbecue Restaurant. Maxwells Trading won high praise and was named Best New Restaurant for its “deeply delicious, Asian-influenced and intimately American experience.”
At last year’s James Beard Awards, Noah Sandoval of Oriole took home the Best Chef: Great Lakes award, while Kumiko won for Outstanding Bar. The South Side institution Lem’s Bar-B-Q was also named an “America’s Classic.”
Restaurant and Chef nominees will be announced on March 31, and winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Bailey Sullivan, executive chef at Monteverde, July 8, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Full list of Chicago’s Beard semifinalists:
Outstanding Restaurateur: Frank Callero, Joe Flamm and Steven Zaleski, Day Off Group (Rose Mary, il Carciofo and BLVD Steakhouse)
Outstanding Chef: Diana Dávila, Mi Tocaya Antojería; Zachary Engel, Galit
Outstanding Restaurant: Kasama; EL Ideas
Emerging Chef: Nicolai Mlodinow, Class Act; Bailey Sullivan, Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio
Best New Restaurant: Nadu; Nic & Junior’s
Outstanding Pastry Chef/Baker: Courtney Kenyon-Snider, Obélix
Outstanding Hospitality Daisies
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Brasero
Outstanding Bar: Hopleaf Bar
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: Christopher Marty, Best Intentions
Best Chef Great Lakes: Thai Dang, HaiSous; Danny Espinoza, Santa Masa Tamalería; Norman Fenton, Cariño; Christopher Jung and Erling Wu-Bower, Maxwells Trading; Mari Katsumura and Adam Sindler, SHŌ; Nick Kleutsch and James Sanders, Sanders BBQ Supply Co.; Rishi Kumar and Zubair Mohajir, Mirra; Ben Lustbader and Sarah Mispagel, Loaf Lounge; Jacob Potashnick, Feld
Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/james-beard-chicago-semifinalists-2026/
Around the Southland: Area students showcase art, create silent films, more
Stagg students showcase art at McCord Gallery
Art by students at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Hills can be viewed through Jan. 24 at McCord Gallery & Cultural Center, 9602 W. Creek Road in Palos Park.
An artist reception is planned for 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 23 at the gallery, which is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 4 .m. Saturdays. The show began Jan. 12.
Paintings, drawings, multimedia work, ceramics, jewelry and other types of art are showcased in the exhibit. The reception and exhibition are free. Information is at 708-671-0648.
Students’ silent movies star in film festival
Students from 12 high schools will screen their original motion pictures during the ninth annual Student Silent Film Festival, which starts at 6:45 p.m. Jan. 28 at Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave. in Downers Grove.
Competitors and their film titles include area high schools “Witch’s Game” by Hillcrest, “The Silence Between Us” by Homewood-Flossmoor, “King of Hearts” by Neuqua Valley, “Final Deal” by Oak Forest, “Missing” by Tinley Park and “The Master Deck” by Lyons Township.
A panel made up of industry professionals from arts education and entertainment will evaluate the movies. Three winners will be chosen based on cinematography, technical editing, lighting and narrative development.
The movies tell their stories without voices or sound effects. They will be accompanied by live music by Derek Berg, a professional pianist, on the SilentFilmtronic 2000, which uses samples of instruments from classic synthesizers.
Tickets to the festival, which is open to the public, cost $20 in advance at www.studentsilentfilmfestival.org. Tickets at the door cost $25.
The event was founded in 2017 by animator and entrepreneur Ed Newmann, of Hinsdale, Lyons Township High School teacher and LTF station manager Bill Allan, of La Grange, and Clarendon Hills Music Academy CEO Derek Berg, of Clarendon Hills.
Green Hills library event offers tips to job seekers
Job Jumpstart Lab take place at 2 p.m. Jan. 27 in the first-floor meeting room of the Green Hills Public library, 10331 S. Interlochen Drive in Palos Hills.
Attendees can “supercharge” their job search with tricks and tips on topics such as cover letters and job boards, resumes and LinkedIn. It’s aimed at those 18 and older. Sign up at greenhillslibrary.org or by calling 708-598-8446, Ext. 120.
Dot Foods gives boost to area pantries
Provision Market in Monee was among six area food pantries receiving a portion of a $36,000 donation of food and other necessities given by Dog Foods’ Chicago distribution center in University Park. (Dot Foods)
Six area food pantries were blessed recently to receive a share in $36,000 of donated foods and other necessities by Dot Foods’ Chicago distribution center in University Park.
Each food pantry chose items from the company’s inventory list to best meet its needs, and Dot employees helped pantry staff and volunteers with the donated items at the sites. As part of its charitable work, the company donates to local food pantries throughout the year via its Neighbor to Neighbor program, which began in 2014.
Receiving the recent donations were Helping hands Food Pantry, 102 N. First St. in Peotone; Provision market, 5430 W. Main St. in Monee; Living Springs Community CHurch Food Pantry, 19051 S. Halsted St. in Glenwood; Cornerstone COmmunity Development, 943 E. Lincoln Highway in Ford Heights, Faith Movers Church/Faith Mart Food Pantry, 425 Exchange St. in Crete; and St. John’s More Than Meals Food Pantry, 1131 School St. in St. John, Ind.
Thorn Creek Nature Center offers birding class
Those interested in learning about birds are invited to join a six-week class from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays, Jan. 25 through March 1, at Thorn Creek Nature Center, 247 Monee Road in Park Forest.
Master birder Sue Zelek will talk about a specific group of birds each week, detailing the markings, habits, songs and key shapes of local birds. The program, sponsored by the Thorn Creek Audubon Society, is for those 11 and older and costs $50 per person, which includes a field guide and short walks after a presentation in the center, which is accessible to people with disabilities.
Registration is required; call or text 708-747-6320 or email thorn_creek@att.net. The center is open noon to 4 p.m. Fridays but trails are open from sunrise to sunset every day all year.
Ballet company interprets classic tale at Orland Park library
The Orland Park Library will host a performance of Sandra Cisneros’ classic “The House on Mango Street” with Ballet 5:8’s Second Company at 1 p.m. Jan. 31 at 14921 S. Ravinia Ave.
The free show features music, narrative and expressive dance to share a journey of belonging and hope. “Through dance, audiences will experience the emotional depth and poetic beauty of Cisneros’ iconic coming-of-age story,” a news release shared.
The event is possible thanks to an National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant awarded tin partnership with Arts Midwest to Ballet 5:8, a Latino-and ALAANA-led, women-led professional ballet company based in Chicago’s south suburbs founded in 2012. It srves more than 400 students each year with campuses in Orland Park and Chicago’s Beverly and Lakeview neighborhoods.
Register at orlandpark.librarycalendar.com/events or call 708-428-5205.
Worth Township Hall hosts job, resource fair
A job and resource fair is set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 29 at the gymnasium at Worth Township Hall, 11601 S. Pulaski Road in Alsip.
The event will feature people from industries such as construction, IT, retail administration, health care, transportation and warehousing and logistics, as well as social services and career resources.
It’s presented by Reps. Rick Ryan, D-Evergreen Park, as well as Democratic Reps. Michael Crawford, and Mary Gil; Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago; Worth Township Supervisor Patricia Joan Murphy; and the YWCA.
Send news to communitynews@southtownstar.com.
Bell-to-bell cell phone ban passes Indiana Senate
A split state Senate voted 28-19 Tuesday to advance a bill establishing a “bell to bell” student cell phone ban despite skepticism at its enforcement capabilities and safety concerns.
The author of Senate Bill 78, Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, said it would require some tweaks as the bill advances to the House for consideration.
Homewood-Flossmoor District 233 installed locked boxes in classrooms for students’ cell phones at the beginning of this school year. (District 233)
School districts would have two enforcement options — “safe storage” at school, leaving phones “inaccessible throughout the school day,” or a “no device” policy, banning students from bringing phones to school.
The safe storage provision drew questioning from senators after Raatz designated a locker as a safe storage option.
Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, said parents and students communicate differently today than in the past. She called the bill “premature.”
She asked how a school could discipline a student who talked to a parent while their phone was stored in their locker during the day.
Student cellphones are collected into a box in a classroom at Disney II Magnet School in Chicago, March 13, 2025. The school implemented a policy last year that gave students the option to place their device in a phone locker or keep their phones in their backpacks. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
“If a school says it’s fine, then why have the policy? Students will know it’s not a policy that’s enforced…. “There’s no teeth to it.”
Eleven Republicans, including Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, joined eight Democrats in opposing the bill.
Raatz said the Intent of the measure was to let schools decide how to implement the “no device” policy during the school day. He said schools would establish the punishment if the policy was violated.
Yet, senators pointed out some elementary schools don’t have lockers — they have cubbies — so storage could be a problem.
Raatz said that would be one of the issues taken up by the House.
Like many speakers, Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said he agreed the phones represented a distraction during the school day.
Yet, Qaddoura said phones should be available for students to use for educational purposes. He offered that amendment, and it passed by a voice vote last week, drawing a lengthy discussion among Republicans.
Senators later removed the amendment.
Qaddoura said storage could also be costly for schools with higher enrollments.
“I have one high school with 3,800 students… I was hoping on second reading we would fix the implementation issue he called “an unfunded mandate.”
Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, said she represents 15 small rural districts and several enforced a “no cell phone” policy during instructional time.
Leising, who voted against the bill, said she talked with students who told her they relied on their phones to alert their parents to changes in their extracurricular schedules and they liked having them for safety reasons.
Lawmakers passed a law last year banning students from using phones during school instruction, but it allows them during passing periods and lunch breaks.
Instead of a new law, Leising said they should address ways to fix the law in place.
Raatz said data shows academic outcomes improve when devices aren’t allowed during the day.
The bill will be sponsored by Rep. Jake Teshka, R-North Liberty, as it moves to the House.
Meanwhile, the House Education committee approved a lengthy education deregulation bill on Wednesday by a 10-1 vote.
Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, was the lone dissenter to House Bill 1004. He offered several amendments that were defeated.
Sen. Robert Behning, the bill’s author and chairman of the education committee, said the bill’s intent was to reduce burdensome rules on educators and shift other regulations into more appropriate jurisdictions.
One amendment solved the bill’s biggest criticism — the removal of a mandate requiring defibrillators and cardiac emergency plans in schools, a law just passed last year.
The amendment struck the language.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter at the Post-Tribune.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/bell-to-bell-cell-phone-ban-passes-indiana-senate/
Naperville News Digest: Send Valentine’s balloons to DuPage Care Center residents; Park district hosting new ‘Glow in the Snow’ event
Send Valentine’s balloons to DuPage Care Center residents
Community members can send balloons and Valentine wishes to residents of the DuPage Care Center in Wheaton as part of an annual Valentine’s Day fundraiser.
Heart-shaped helium balloons are being sold for $5 to line the corridors and decorate rooms at the center, officials said. They will be delivered to residents by volunteers and staff, a news release said.
In past years, the public sent nearly 1,000 balloons to help the residents celebrate holiday and brighten their day, officials said.
Donations will be accepted until Feb. 11 at the DuPage Care Center Foundation’s website, www.dpccfoundation.org.
Proceeds will go to the Resident Recreation Fund, which provides programs and activities for those living at the center, which offers long- and short-term rehabilitative services to DuPage County residents.
For more information, contact Alyssa Nowak at 630-784-4472 or alyssa.nowak@dupagecounty.gov.
Park district hosting new ‘Glow in the Snow’ event
Naperville Park District’s new winter event, Glow in the Snow, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at Central Park, 104 E. Benton Ave.
Attendees can walk through a trail of festive lights, participate in winter-themed activities, take part in a scavenger hunt, learn about snow-loving creatures, take pictures and enjoy hot cocoa, a news release from the park district said.
Members of the Naperville Astronomical Association will provide telescopes through which guests can look at the moon or Jupiter, weather permitting.
The event is free and will be held with or without snow on the ground, the park district said.
For more information, go to www.napervilleparks.org/glowinthesnow.
Free Silver CPR classes, which will be taught by Naperville Fire Department paramedics, are available for seniors on Feb. 18 at the A. George and Patricia Pradel Safety Town in Naperville. (Naperville Senior Task Force)
Silver CPR sessions for seniors to be held Feb. 18
The Naperville Senior Task Force is sponsoring free Silver CPR classes, which will be taught by Naperville Fire Department paramedics.
Sessions will be held at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, at the A. George and Patricia Pradel Safety Town of Naperville, 1320 Aurora Ave. Space is limited to 30 people per class.
Participants will learn about basic CPR, how to use an automatic external defibrillator and how to intervene if someone is choking.
For more information, email silvercpr2026@gmail.com.
Residents can also follow the senior task force on Facebook or go to www.naperville.il.us/seniortaskforce for information on the group’s events.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/naperville-balloons-center-cpr-seniors-glow/
Hit Broadway comedy ‘Oh, Mary!’ is coming to Chicago in 2027
The hit Broadway comedy “Oh, Mary!” is coming to Chicago in 2027.
A touring production will play at the CIBC Theatre (18 W. Monroe St.), although Loop theater owner Broadway in Chicago has not yet announced dates or when tickets will go on sale.
“Oh, Mary!” is a dark comedy about an unhinged and miserable Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. It was written by Cole Escola, who starred as Mary when the play first opened on Broadway in summer 2024. Nominated for five Tony Awards, it won best actor for Escola (the first nonbinary winner in the category) and best direction for Sam Pinkleton.
“Pretty much everything in this show is hilarious,” wrote the Tribune’s Chris Jones in his review of the New York production at the Lyceum Theatre, where it continues to play through July 5. “The massed forces of the Confederacy are no match for Cole Escola’s chaotic version of Mary Todd Lincoln, a wild-eyed wannabe cabaret star marinated in whisky, paint thinner and self-delusion.”
The first North American tour, announced Tuesday, has only been scheduled so far for Hartford, Connecticut, and Las Vegas in the fall. Casting for the tour also has yet to be announced, but is unlikely to include Escola. Unusually for a touring Broadway show, the running time is a short 80 minutes, no intermission.
dgeorge@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/oh-mary-coming-chicago/
Trump Right About Arctic Security, NATO’s Rutte Says
Trump Right About Arctic Security, NATO’s Rutte Says
In what could have been the starting gun of Trump’s de-escalation, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the US President was right about security in the Arctic.
“When it comes to the Arctic, I think President Trump is right. Other leaders in NATO are right. We need to defend the Arctic,” the former Dutch prime minister said. “We know that the sea lanes are opening up.”
Rutte said that China and Russia were becoming increasingly active in the Arctic Circle, and acknowledged that this posed a problem for the alliance.
“There are eight countries bordering on the Arctic. Seven are members of NATO. That’s Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, and the U.S.,” Rutte said.
“And there’s only one country bordering on the Arctic outside NATO, and that’s Russia. And I would argue there is a ninth country, which is China, which is increasingly active in the Arctic region. So, President Trump and other leaders are right, we have to do more there, we have to protect the Arctic.”
Furthermore, as Guy Birchall reports for The Epoch Times, Rutte also praised Trump for upping the contributions from many NATO member states to the alliance’s budget.
“Do you really think that without Donald Trump, eight big economies in Europe, including Spain, Italy, and Belgium, Canada, by the way, also outside Europe, would have come to 2 percent in 2025 when they were only on 1.5 percent at the beginning of the year?” Rutte said.
“No way. Without Donald Trump, this would never have happened. They are all on 2 percent now.”
NATO’s Rutte:
I know many of you criticize Trump. But do you really think that, without Trump, eight big economies in Europe—including Spain, Italy, and Belgium—and Canada would have reached the two-percent defense spending target in 2025?
At the beginning of the year, they… pic.twitter.com/KVmv0J6hXO
— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 21, 2026
Rutte’s comments about NATO’s presence in the Arctic come as Trump’s stated ambition of annexing Greenland has driven a wedge between Washington and European allies.
Before departing for the summit, Trump expressed confidence that NATO and the United States would reach a deal on the Arctic island that benefits all parties.
“I think that we will work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and where we’re going to be very happy,” Trump said during a Jan. 20 White House press conference.
“We need it for national security and even world security. It’s very important.”
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance tour the U.S. military’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on March 28, 2025. Jim Watson/AP
During his speech in Davos, the president ruled out taking the island by force but remained forthright in his insistence that the United States must acquire the territory.
“People thought I would use force, but I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” Trump said.
“We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it. They have a choice: They can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we will remember.”
Trump also said that Denmark promised to spend “over $200 million to strengthen Greenland’s defenses” and that it has “spent less than 1 percent of that.”
He was referring to a 2019 commitment from the Danish government, made during his first presidency, when the idea of the United States taking control of the territory was first raised.
Copenhagen has not disputed that the implementation of that commitment has been slow.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/21/2026 – 17:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-right-about-arctic-security-natos-rutte-says
Schererville daughter’s addiction was a ‘war’ they ‘lost,’ father says
Timothy Anderson told a court Wednesday he was “shaking like a leaf” and was reluctant to speak of his grief over his daughter Sara’s overdose death.
“We fought a war and we lost it,” he said.
Yancy D. Craig, 65, of Kankakee and Dolton, Illinois, was charged with selling fentanyl to Sara Anderson, 25, of Schererville, the day before her March 20, 2021, death, court records allege.
“Can I come by real quick n (sic) get a 40. Of boy (heroin),” Anderson texted him, according to court documents.
Craig was not sentenced Wednesday.
Judge Samuel Cappas reset the hearing for Feb. 6 after Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Dafoe alleged that a witness said in a deposition that Craig sold drugs even after Sara’s death.
Defense lawyer Andrea Bonds hotly contested the accusation – saying it wasn’t anywhere in the case’s discovery, i.e. evidence file.
The deposition’s transcript will be ordered to see if it would impact his final sentence.
Throughout the hearing, both Anderson and Craig’s sister shared how their families got trapped for years by drug addiction.
Early in the hearing, Timothy Anderson told the court his daughter became addicted after her “first boyfriend” gave her drugs in the Lake Central marching band.
They sent her to rehab – setting off a cycle of rehab and relapse.
Before her death, she was doing better, he said, with a “decent job” and a son, Drako.
Her final relapse came out of “nowhere.” The night before, they went to Teibel’s, which was unusual. They never would have gone if they knew it was her last night alive.
Anderson died of a fentanyl overdose, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
Her parents told police they later found a plastic sandwich bag with an “off-white powdery substance” under a potted plant they suspected was heroin, charges allege.
Her father found her body.
“She was not destined to a life of addiction,” he said. “She was poisoned. It says that on her death certificate.”
After her death, he accepted an invitation to meet with DEA agents. For him, the real purpose for being there soon appeared to be something very different.
They wanted to “show their (young) agents what a broken person looks like,” he told the court.
When he found her body, he “got a life sentence.”
Sheila Carter, Craig’s sister, spoke of her and her brother’s struggles.
“My heart goes out to you,” she said, noting she lost her husband to addiction.
She had been clean for nearly 30 years, her brother for 15.
At one point, years back, when her brother was suffering from withdrawal symptoms, she gave him heroin, she said.
She asked for “mercy,” saying a jail sentence would devastate their elderly mother.
Do you know if those drugs you gave him had fentanyl, Dafoe asked.
“Drugs don’t have ingredients on the package,” Carter replied.
Federal data released Jan. 14 showed that overdose deaths have been falling for more than two years — the longest drop in decades — but also that the decline was slowing, according to the Associated Press.
Overdose deaths began steadily climbing in the 1990s with overdoses involving opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths from heroin and — more recently — illicit fentanyl. Deaths peaked at nearly 110,000 in 2022, fell a little in 2023 and then plummeted 27% in 2024, to around 80,000. That was the largest one-year decline ever recorded.
The new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data runs through August 2025 and represents the first update of monthly provisional drug overdose deaths since the federal government shutdown.
An estimated 73,000 people died from overdoses in the 12 months that ended August 2025, down about 21% from the 92,000 in the previous 12-month period.
About 48 million people in the United States struggle with drug or alcohol abuse, according to the New York Times.
The Associated Press contributed.
mcolias-pete@post-trib.com
