Category: News
Matthew Siemer, who ran and expanded Chicago mobile health care nonprofit, dies at 43
Matthew Siemer was the longtime executive director of Mobile Care Chicago, a nonprofit group that operates four mobile health care units that serve lower-income areas in the region.
Mobile Care Chicago’s free medical units focus mostly on dental care and asthma — a topic that hit home for Siemer, who battled asthma himself.
“He genuinely cared about others — especially, but not only those less fortunate. As someone who had asthma, he empathized with young patients and their families,” said Mobile Care Chicago’s board Chairman Robert Gordon. “But his passionate dedication to their well-being went far beyond mere empathy. He truly loved them, and it showed in everything that he believed in and everything that he did.”
A Rogers Park resident, Siemer, 43, died Dec. 13 of injuries sustained in a seven-vehicle crash on Interstate Highway 57 in downstate Coles County. His wife, Alicia Jean “A.J.” Barks, was also in the car and died Dec. 20 of injuries from the crash.
A St. Louis-area native, Matthew Alan Siemer worked during high school at the St. Louis County Public Library at Prairie Commons.
He then attended St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley for two years before transferring in 2003 to Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. Siemer earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and literature from Truman State University in 2006.
After college, Siemer moved to New York City to work for a nonprofit called Bread for the City. He then moved to North Carolina, where he got a master’s degree in philosophy from Duke University in 2010.
Matthew Siemer and his wife, Alicia Jean “A.J.” Barks, died of injuries sustained in a seven-vehicle crash on Interstate Highway 57 in downstate Coles County. (Curtis Bozif)
Siemer and his wife moved to Chicago in 2010 to be closer to family. Two years later, he began volunteering for Mobile Care Chicago. Soon afterward, he was hired full time and began serving as the group’s development and program manager.
In 2018, Siemer became Mobile Care Chicago’s executive director.
Kamari Thompson, the organization’s associate executive director, joined Mobile Care Chicago a few months after Siemer and recalled his “very, very special way of making everybody feel welcome and making everybody feel like they were a friend of his.”
“We’re constantly up against deadlines to do this and do that, but anytime you needed to ask Matt a question … he was never too busy to lend a hand and help,” she said. “Anybody who comes to Mobile Care will see us in communal spaces, where we talk across the table. Matt would position himself right in the middle — as busy as he was, he was never too busy to be in the thick of things. The accessibility to Matt was amazing — that was one of the things that made everyone feel like he was their friend and made everyone feel like they had his support.”
Thompson said Siemer’s strong character was infectious and that “he had such a huge impact on the organization that you can still feel.”
“It’s reflective of that leadership that he led with and instilled in all of us,” she said. “As an organization, Matt empowered every one of us to be good at our job and to actually operate from a place of compassion. He empowered all of us to fully embody all of our pillars of service — compassion, collaboration and community.”
In the time that Siemer worked at Mobile Care Chicago, the organization increased its number of mobile medical units, which are converted RVs, from one to four.
“When Matt became executive director, the organization was struggling financially,” Gordon said. “After just a few years, he was able to turn it into a successful and growing nonprofit with a dedicated staff serving thousands of children. His vision was to bring free health care to people who needed it, directly to where they lived. But unlike many visionaries, he was able to bring that vision to life.”
Chicago visual artist and critic Curtis Bozif, a close friend since high school and a neighbor in Rogers Park, called Siemer “incredibly sensitive and deeply thoughtful.”
“He had little patience for sanctimoniousness and scoffed at religious and political hypocrisy,” Bozif said. “He and (his wife) A.J. practiced generosity like someone might practice a musical instrument, working at it and becoming better over time until their sharing became effortless, until it became their profession — both of them running nonprofit groups — their calling in life.”
Barks, Siemer’s wife, was the interim executive director of the Chicago Women’s Health Center, a nonprofit that provides free or low-cost health care and health education to women, trans people and young people.
Outside of work, Siemer enjoyed reading, writing short fiction, playing games, tossing a Frisbee and cooking, Bozif said. He also adored spending time with his two dogs.
Siemer is survived by his parents, Mark and Pamela; and three sisters, Maggie, Missy and Marcia.
A joint Mass for Siemer and Barks will take place Monday in Florissant, Missouri.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/13/matthew-siemer-mobile-care-chicago/
Bill adding Porter, LaPorte counties to gun crime task force advances committee
Porter and LaPorte counties would like to join the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force, but legislators signaled a potential uphill battle as the bill allowing it has been assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee unanimously passed Tuesday Senate Bill 148, authored by State Senators Rodney Pol Jr. and Aaron Freeman, which would add Porter and LaPorte counties to the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force.
The task force was created during the 2021 legislative session and there are currently 10 counties on the task force. Lake County was added to the task force during the 2025 legislative session.
Pol, D-Chesterton, said the task force “has had some phenomenal achievements that they’ve been able to accomplish in their short time.”
The task force has been able to confiscate hundreds of guns, and nearly 200 of the confiscated guns were Glock switch guns, which are Glock guns with a switch device that makes them machine pistols, Pol said.
“The coordination, collaboration here in central Indiana starting in Marion County and the donut counties has been nothing short of incredible, how they have been able to attack violent crime, particularly involving illegal guns and drugs,” Pol said.
Law enforcement officials have seen “a pipeline” of illegal guns from Chicago to Northwest Indiana to central Indiana, Pol said.
“Crime doesn’t have borders. Guns don’t have borders,” Pol said.
Initially, the bill increased the number of executive board members from seven to eight for a quorum and established that in the event of a tie vote, the way the chairperson voted prevails, as long as five members vote the same way.
Freeman, R-Indianapolis, amended the bill to state a majority of the board establishes a quorum and returned to the bill’s original language of four members voting the same way, along with the chair, to break a tie.
Porter County Sheriff Jeffrey Balon told the committee Tuesday that the department supports the bill.
“Porter County is 100% in favor of joining the task force. I think it makes sense. It’s going to help keep our communities safe,” Balon said.
Porter County Sheriff Jeff Balon. (Porter County Sheriff’s Department)
Balon said the LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd couldn’t make it to the statehouse Tuesday. But, Balon said Boyd told him to share with the committee that Boyd “is on board as well.”
Fishers Police Department Chief Ed Gebhart testified that Fishers was one of the founding members of the task force. In 2025, the task force seized 349 illegal guns in Marion County, which led to 293 state charges and 28 federal charges, Gebhart said.
In Fishers, 555 illegal guns have been seized since the task force was established in 2021, Gebhart said.
“The success kind of speaks for itself,” Gebhart said.
Gebhart said he supports Senate Bill 148 because when the task force was established, it was with the notion that it would expand throughout the state. But, it’s important that the state fund the addition of two more counties, he said.
“We, as a task force, cannot support bringing on these agencies with the current budget that’s set forth now,” Gebhart said.
Freeman said sending a bill to appropriations “is not the place to go right now” because it’s not a budget year.
“Please don’t take offense. We’ll keep working on it. We’ll do everything we can. Senator Pol’s not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere. We’ll keep doing this,” Freeman said.
The committee voted 9-0 on the bill and it was assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
akukulka@post-trib.com
Trump Says Tech Giants Must Bear Cost Of Data Center Electricity, As Microsoft Joins OpenAI In Demanding Subsidies
Trump Says Tech Giants Must Bear Cost Of Data Center Electricity, As Microsoft Joins OpenAI In Demanding Subsidies
We have been warning about this for months…
In one year, this will be the most popular chart on this site pic.twitter.com/h93gWXMoNL
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 11, 2025
… and months….
between exploding electricity bills and lack of jobs for grads, a new luddite revolution is coming – they will be burning down data centers within a year
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 25, 2025
… and now that even the deep state spies at the WaPo finally catching on…
5 months later https://t.co/reP3n5lhfp pic.twitter.com/5Lg5pPiXl4
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 6, 2026
… the future finally caught up to the present, and last week we noted that according to Bloomberg soaring retail electricity prices have become a political issue in several US states, especially in PJM, the Mid-Atlantic regional grid, which as we discussed recently, is woefully under-energized.
“eight out of the 13 US regional power markets are already at or below critical spare capacity levels.” – Goldman https://t.co/YYAGUukfwR pic.twitter.com/eU4XPFAMrp
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 23, 2025
As Bloomberg said, paraphrasing us 5 months ago, “Power prices emerged as a a major campaign theme in off-year elections in New Jersey and Virginia in 2025, and will play a big role in 2026’s upcoming national midterms and state elections.”
This is just the start: as we discussed over a month ago, data center power demand could reach a staggering 106 GW in 2035. For context, the US had about 25 GW of operating data centers in 2024 (according to Bloom Energy). Which means that unless all these data centers somehow find “behind the meter” sources of collocated power, electric bills will, pardon the pun, go nuclear.
A July report from the Department of Energy estimated an additional 100 GW of new peak capacity is needed by 2030, of which 50 GW is attributable to data centers. Those facilities could account for as much as 12% of peak demand by 2028, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Bloomberg’s conclusion: “Affordability politics have mixed implications for climate (renewables are cheap, but some programs expensive), and for data centers, which take the blame for rising prices.”
Overnight, Trump’s staff appears to have read our post again, and in a late night post on Truth Social, the president – addressing American voter concerns about rising electricity prices – said his administration had been in talks with one of the largest energy hogs, Microsoft, to ensure that consumers “don’t pick up the tab” for enormous data centers.
In a Truth Social post, he added that while the data centers “are key” to the artificial intelligence boom, the “big Technology Companies who build them must ‘pay their own way.’”
He said that Microsoft would make “major changes,” but was not specific.
A few hours later, on Tuesday morning, Microsoft unveiled an initiative to curb water usage at its US data centers and limit the impact on the general population from surging in power prices.
Microsoft said it will pay utility rates high enough to cover its power costs and work with local utilities to expand supply when needed for its data centers. It also pledged to replenish more water than its data centers consume, saying it would start publishing water-use information for each data center region in the U.S., along with its progress on replenishment.
“Especially when tech companies are so profitable, it’s both unfair and politically unrealistic for our industry to ask the public to shoulder added electricity costs for AI,” Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said in a statement.
The company said on Tuesday that as part of its investment in Wisconsin, it is supporting a new rate structure that would prevent data center power costs from being passed on to consumers. Microsoft will also train local residents to fill construction and maintenance jobs at its data centers, as well as provide AI literacy training to communities.
Political leaders across the U.S. are urging a rapid expansion of data-center capacity and new power production to keep the country competitive in AI. However, local communities are voicing concerns over how the power-hungry facilities will impact their utility bills and use land, water and other natural resources in the region.
But before you get the false impression that Microsoft is actually doing something out of the goodness of its heart and is not seeking the highest possible IRR, last night Microsoft made its true intentions clear when it warned that US AI groups are being outpaced by Chinese rivals in the battle for users outside the west, as China combines low-cost “open” models with hefty state subsidies to gain an edge.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, told the FT that the rapid adoption of Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek’s technology in emerging markets such as Africa underscores the competition American firms face around the world.
“We have to recognize that right now, unlike a year ago, China has an open-source model, and increasingly more than one, that is competitive,” he said. “They benefit from subsidization by the Chinese government. They benefit from subsidies that enable [them] to basically undercut American companies based on price.”
Translation: the US has to subsidize its own AI companies (such as Microsoft wink wink) if it wants to defeat China in the new arms race.
And while first OpenAI and now Microsoft are begging for US subsidizes and, eventually, bailouts of their AI businesses, China has already overtaken the US in the global market for so-called “open” AI models, which are often free to use, modify and integrate by developers. And, after a few years when instead of competing with China on the merits of technology the US hyperscalers are hoping for the US to eliminate Chinese competition, we fully expect China to overtake the US in closed models as well.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/13/2026 – 15:25
Afternoon Briefing: Chicago video gambling legalization in flux
Good afternoon, Chicago.
Chicago’s new plan to legalize video gambling terminals — finally passed last month as part of the 2026 budget after years of debate — is not a done deal as Mayor Brandon Johnson and key aldermen say negotiations must continue.
The ongoing discussions between Johnson’s administration and aldermen over the gambling terminals mark the first major efforts to amend the budget passed by the City Council against the mayor’s wishes in late December.
Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
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Afternoon shadows encroach on a residential tower in the 1200 block of South Prairie Avenue on Nov. 7, 2024, where Caitlin Tracey was found dead in a stairwell in Chicago last year. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago man charged with throwing ex-wife Caitlin Tracey down stairs in a Loop high-rise to be held pending murder trial
By the time Adam Beckerink walked into a Cook County courtroom to face charges in Caitlin Tracey’s homicide, it had been more than a year since Chicago police found Tracey dead with her foot severed in a high-rise located at 1201 S. Prairie Ave. Read more here.
More top news stories:
Ex-ComEd CEO convicted in scheme to bribe Madigan joins onetime colleagues in federal prison
Volunteers clean up at Beyond Borders Cafe after driver fleeing police crashes into building
Jackson Square Mall, 112 E. Burlington Ave., would be demolished as part of a proposal for a 39-unit residential building on the site in La Grange. (Hank Beckman/Pioneer Press)
La Grange OKs demolition of historic Jackson Square building for condo development
Over persistent community opposition, the La Grange board of trustees unanimously approved a 5-story, 39-unit condo complex on the site of the Jackson Square Antique Mall building at 112 E. Burlington Ave. Read more here.
More top business stories:
AbbVie reaches deal with Trump administration on drug prices in exchange for tariff relief
As Chicago Harbor Lock faces federal cuts, Illinois senators push for more funding
Fans stand while it snows as players warm up before the Chicago Bears play the Green Bay Packers in an NFC wild-card game at Soldier Field on Jan. 10, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Bears ask fans what they think about a new northwest Indiana stadium
The Bears sent a survey to season ticket-holders yesterday asking what fans would pay for various seats, from general admission to suites, at a new enclosed stadium in the Hoosier State. Read more here.
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How can the Bears disrupt Matthew Stafford? 5 questions before the divisional-round game.
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Rabia Amin, right, an attorney, and Nooraan Amin, a mathematics and architecture student, on Jan. 8, 2026, at Best Sub #2, a long-standing shop in Humboldt Park owned by their father, Asif Amin Cheema, who was deported to Pakistan after being detained by Border Patrol agents in September. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
After their patriarch was deported to Pakistan, family vows to keep beloved Humboldt Park sub shop open
Asif Amin Cheema, owner of Best Sub #2, was deported to Pakistan on the first day of the new year, leaving behind a beloved customer base and a business he had started from scratch in 2003. Read more here.
More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories:
McDonald’s faces class-action fraud lawsuit claiming lack of ‘actual rib meat’ in McRib
Lake Forest/Lake Bluff native is artistic director of a theater, directs a play, will act in another play later this year
People in the community run from clouds of tear gas deployed by federal agents after federal immigration officers crashed into a vehicle in south Minneapolis, Jan. 12, 2026. (Jamie Kelter Davis/The New York Times)
3 prosecutors quit after push to investigate ICE shooting victim’s widow
Three Minnesota federal prosecutors resigned over the U.S. Justice Department’s push to investigate the widow of a woman killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and its reluctance to investigate the shooter, according to people with knowledge of their decision. Read more here.
More top stories from around the world:
People inside Iran describe heavy security and scattered damage in first calls to outside world
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SBA Investigating $1.2 Trillion On Payments As Part Of Fraud Probe: Loeffler
SBA Investigating $1.2 Trillion On Payments As Part Of Fraud Probe: Loeffler
Authored by Travis Gilmore and Jen Jekielek via The Epoch Times,
Federal officials are reviewing approximately $1.2 trillion in payouts to root out fraudsters, according to Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA).
“Federal contracting and the fraud that happens within it in Washington, D.C., around these programs are probably the worst kept secret in Washington,” Loeffler said during an interview with “American Thought Leaders” host Jan Jekielek.
She highlighted patterns of fraud impacting the government, including the widespread abuse of the SBA’s 8(a) business development programs that offer funding for small businesses, including education and child care organizations, revealed in Minnesota
“It’s a huge cost to the American people when these programs are defrauded,” Loeffler said. “So, we have a whole path, we’re cracking down on that.”
An investigation looking back 15 years will include audits—the first in the program’s 45-year history, according to the administrator.
Approximately 7,000 borrowers—representing about $400 million in fraudulent payouts—were suspended in Minnesota last year.
Fraud Spread Nationwide
Officials will next use the investigative framework “to go state by state” and identify illegitimate payouts that were “very much driven during COVID,” she said.
Businesses asked to reduce operations—or shut down entirely, in some instances—were negatively impacted during the pandemic, which Loeffler said necessitated federal intervention.
“It was devastating, and would have been even more devastating had that federal assistance not come out,” she said. “And most small businesses were legitimate and used it for good, kept their employees on the payroll, and made a huge difference locally.”
Others saw the influx of federal benefits as a chance to reap rewards, which, combined with limited oversight, led to widespread abuse of the program, she said.
“There’s a certain group of actors that saw opportunity in disaster and defrauded the government,” Loeffler said. “What we know now is they come back to the trough.”
President Joe Biden’s administration forgave thousands of loans that were flagged as potentially fraudulent, she noted.
“They were not ever further investigated,” Loeffler said. “Those cases were closed; those loans were being forgiven.”
Federal investigators are now reviewing each loan to determine if further action is warranted.
“No more sweeping this under the rug,” Loeffler said. “We’re going to hold people accountable.”
Cross-Agency Cooperation
Fraud affects agencies across the federal government, with administrators from the Departments of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and Health and Human Services, among others, increasing audits and review practices. Leaders are coordinating efforts to better identify problem areas and solutions.
Contracts for social and economic benefit programs funding 4,300 organizations are under scrutiny after improper payouts were discovered, according to the administrator.
“There’s a lot of fraud in those programs,” Loeffler said.
The SBA sent letters to individuals associated with the organizations last year, with responses due back this month. Anyone who fails to provide financial details and other requested information will face penalties.
“We are going to remove them from the program, and we are not going to operate programs that traffic in abuse, waste, and fraud, and we’re not going to traffic in DEI,” Loeffler said, referencing the diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that President Donald Trump has outlawed through executive action.
Investigating Debanking
Officials are also looking into debanking practices—where individuals and businesses are forced out of financial institutions for ideological or political purposes.
“We understand that debanking is a real thing in this country,” Loeffler said, highlighting SBA efforts to investigate the issue, with approximately 5,000 letters sent inquiring for more information.
Trump and Loeffler were among many other individuals who had accounts forcibly closed in recent years, she noted.
“There’s discriminatory actions that are being taken,” Loeffler said. “To use the banking system to be a choke point for disfavored political people is abjectly wrong, and the president is reversing that.”
Supporting Small Businesses
The SBA was founded in 1953 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to guide small business development by providing access to capital through guarantees to lenders, consulting services, and opportunities to procure government contracts.
Loeffler said the Biden administration deprioritized the agency while overseeing a change in workforce logistics that saw approximately 90 percent of employees working from home.
“Well, particularly in the last four years, the SBA was dormant,” she said. “So sadly, our main street job creators saw a complete absence of the SBA.”
Trump’s focus on America first and reshoring manufacturing are an abrupt shift from prior administrations’ agendas, she said.
“Small businesses are really refueling our onshoring renaissance, along with President Trump’s policies,” Loeffler said.
Under her leadership, she said the agency is committed to guiding Congress toward deregulation and pro-business legislation.
“We’re here to empower the private sector and make sure that we’re getting out of the way, but yet making sure that they have the capital and the regulatory environment to build,” Loeffler said.
Humble Beginnings
A fourth-generation small farmer from Illinois, Loeffler’s path to Cabinet official started in the field at 8 years old.
The first college graduate from her family, she worked as a waitress in high school and college before launching her career as a financial analyst.
“I felt like, based on my financial acumen, I wanted to bring that to Washington, because I saw it completely absent when I was in the private sector, and being regulated and being told what we could and couldn’t do by people who didn’t know our business, didn’t understand free enterprise or fair markets or transparency or reporting or accountability,” Loeffler said.
“So that’s what I went to Washington to do, because I knew that as a farm kid, I owed it to every other young person who didn’t believe that the federal government understood them, that they had someone up there fighting for them.”
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/13/2026 – 15:05
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/sba-investigating-12-trillion-payments-part-fraud-probe-loeffler
Munster names new special education leader
The Munster School Board hired Brianne Oliver Monday as director of Exceptional Achievers.
School officials said she has a strong background in special education, psychology, and educational leadership.
Oliver, a lifelong Highland resident, is presently special education coordinator at Community Consolidated School District 146 in Tinley Park, Illinois.
She begins her new job in Munster Jan. 19.
“As an educational leader, I believe in empowering all partners in a child’s education to actively support each student in recognizing their strengths, reaching their potential, and becoming the best version of themselves,” Oliver said in a statement.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Indiana University Northwest in 2002.
She continued her studies at Valparaiso University, where she received a master’s degree in education with psychological foundations and an education specialist degree in school psychology.
She served as a school psychologist for six years at Homewood (Illinois) District 153.
She received additional training at Governor’s State University, studying educational administration. She holds a professional educator’s license in both Indiana and Illinois, with endorsements as a school psychologist, building-level administrator, and director of special education.
She also served as principal at St. John the Evangelist Catholic school in St. John from 2016 to 2019.
“Our team is excited to have her here at the School Town of Munster because we know she will challenge the status quo and she will be a tremendous leader for our students and teachers,” said School Town of Munster Superintendent Michael Hicks.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/13/munster-names-new-special-education-leader/
BTS anuncia su primera gira mundial tras cumplir servicio militar obligatorio
Por MARIA SHERMAN
El regreso de BTS está cerca.
El septeto de K-pop ha anunciado una gira mundial para 2026 – 2027, comenzará en Corea del Sur en abril y seguirá hasta marzo de 2027 con más de 70 fechas en Asia, América del Norte, América del Sur, Australia y Europa.
Estas serán las primeras presentaciones principales del grupo desde su gira Permission to Dance on Stage de 2021–22.
Habrá una preventa el 22 y 23 de enero para los titulares de la Membresía ARMY que se registren en Weverse, una plataforma de fans en línea propiedad de la compañía de gestión de BTS, HYBE. Una venta general para todas las regiones seguirá el 24 de enero.
La noticia llega unas semanas después de que la compañía de entretenimiento BigHit Music revelara que BTS regresará a la música el 20 de marzo, tras una pausa de casi cuatro años. Esto se debe a que los siete miembros de BTS — RM, Jin, Jimin, V, Suga, Jung Kook y j-hope — tuvieron que completar el servicio militar obligatorio de Corea del Sur.
El rapero Suga fue el último miembro del grupo en ser liberado de sus deberes como agente de servicio social, una alternativa al servicio militar que, según se informa, eligió debido a una lesión en el hombro. Eso fue en junio de 2025.
Los otros seis, RM, V, Jimin, Jung Kook, Jin y j-hope, sirvieron en el ejército.
A continuación, las fechas completas de la gira:
Gira Mundial de BTS 2026
9 de abril, 11-12 de abril — Goyang, Corea del Sur
17-18 de abril – Tokio
25-26 de abril — Tampa, Florida
2-3 de mayo — El Paso, Texas
7 de mayo, 9-10 de mayo — Ciudad de México
16-17 de mayo — Stanford, California
23-24 de mayo, 27 de mayo — Las Vegas
12-13 de junio — Busan, Corea del Sur
26-27 de junio — Madrid
1-2 de julio — Bruselas
6-7 de julio — Londres
11-12 de julio — Múnich
17-18 de julio — París
1-2 de agosto — East Rutherford, Nueva Jersey
5-6 de agosto — Foxborough, Massachusetts
10-11 de agosto — Baltimore
15-16 de agosto — Arlington, Texas
22-23 de agosto — Toronto
27-28 de agosto — Chicago
1-2 de septiembre, 5-6 de septiembre — Los Ángeles
2-3 de octubre — Bogotá, Colombia
9-10 de octubre — Lima, Perú
16-17 de octubre — Santiago, Chile
23-24 de octubre — Buenos Aires, Argentina
28 de octubre, 30-31 de octubre — São Paulo
19 de noviembre, 21-22 de noviembre — Kaohsiung, Taiwán
3 de diciembre, 5-6 de diciembre — Bangkok
12-13 de diciembre — Kuala Lumpur, Malasia
17 de diciembre, 19-20 de diciembre, 22 de diciembre — Singapur
26-27 de diciembre — Yakarta
Gira Mundial de BTS 2027
12-13 de febrero — Melbourne, Australia
20-21 de febrero — Sídney
4 de marzo, 6-7 de marzo — Hong Kong
13-14 de marzo — Manila, Filipinas
Hinsdale Middle School students deliver ‘wish list’ gifts to sister school in North Riverside
The Hinsdale Middle School Student Council recently partnered with a sister school from Komarek Elementary District 94 in North Riverside to bring gifts to some families who have children attending school there.
The initiative was part of the District 181 Sister Schools program, which fosters collaboration and partnership with other schools in the area. Through this program, HMS students and their families took on the task of shopping for the wish list items provided by the families from the partnering district.
“With this partnership, we met on Zoom with leaders from Komarek, where we asked them to identify students and families with the greatest need,” Hinsdale Middle School Principal Cory Burke said. “This year, it was mostly military families, but non-military families were also included.”
This marked the fourth year in which the Hinsdale students have provided holiday gifts to Kamarek families, but the idea of providing holiday gifts for other schools goes back further.
Burke said District 181 Superintendent Hector Garcia began creating connections eight years ago with leaders from other districts to collaborate on projects.
“We established partnerships which have continued to grow over the years,” she said. “This annual event is a deeply meaningful project for the HMS community, allowing students to learn the value of service and giving back. By providing special items for the families, the students are helping to make the holidays brighter for those who serve our country and their loved ones.”
This year, HMS families received wish-lists from nine Komarek families and shared those so that students could sign up to provide specific gifts on the list.
“This gave people plenty of time to shop for the items and bring them to the main office at HMS,” Burke said.
Burke, school secretary Jeanine Halverson, and Student Council teacher/sponsor Emma Doyle traveled in December with 12 students from the Student Council to bring gifts to Komarek.
“The students helped bring in gifts and place them on tables for Komarek families to receive their gifts,” Burke said, adding that each box was labeled by Halverson so that families could quickly find their items.
Burke said the option to get gifts for Komarek families was provided to the entire HMS student body and to parents. The 12 students who went to deliver the gifts represented about half of the Student Council.
“We want our students to have empathy and compassion for others through events like this,” Burke said. “Our students felt good helping others and recognized their service had an immediate impact on lots of people.”
And participating in providing gifts to some families at Komarek was a very positive experience for HMS students who were involved.
“Honestly, seeing all the little kids and how excited they were was the best part,” said eighth grader Kate Sanderson. “Watching a little girl ride her bike was a moment that stood out to me. It reminded me why it is important to bring joy into other people’s lives”
Fellow eighth grader Peter Shaplin also felt good about the experience and mentioned watching the little girl ride her new bike as a highlight.
“I enjoyed the part where we got to see the families and actually give the gifts to them,” he said. “We got to show how grateful we really are for what we have and to give that feeling to others.”
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Naperville News Digest: Naperville park pavilions now available to rent in spring; respiratory illnesses rising in DuPage, health department says
Naperville park pavilions now available to rent in spring
Applications are being taken now from residents who want to rent a Naperville Park District pavilion for the spring season, which runs from April 1 through May 31.
Nonresidents can apply starting at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 15.
Pavilions and picnic spaces are available at several parks, including the DuPage River Park Pavilion, Frontier Sports Complex-East Pavilion, Knoch Knolls Frank J. Rus Pavilion and the Lower Grove, Riverwalk Grand Pavilion, Seager Park Pavilion and Wolf’s Crossing Community Park Pavilion.
Pavilion rentals must be made at least three weeks in advance and renters must be at least 21 years old.
For more information, go to www.napervilleparks.org/pavilionrentals.
Respiratory illnesses rising in DuPage: health department
The DuPage County Health Department has issued a warning that respiratory illnesses are on the rise and is urging residents to take proper precautions.
Influenza, or the flu, is at a high level and increasing, a department news release said. COVID-19 activity is moderate and increasing and RSV is low but also increasing.
A higher number of emergency department visits have been observed compared to this time last year. As of Friday, 51 DuPage County residents had been admitted to intensive care units due for flu-related illness and complications and there have been three deaths, the release said.
Less than a third of DuPage County residents are vaccinated against influenza, said Adam Forker, executive director of the DuPage County Health Department.
Flu shots are still available. They reduce the risk of severe illness and help keep people out of the hospital, the health department said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/13/naperville-pavilions-rent-flu-dupage/
2026 Will Be Breakout Year For Autonomous Driving And Humanoid Robots; Deutsche Bank
2026 Will Be Breakout Year For Autonomous Driving And Humanoid Robots; Deutsche Bank
In a note out this week, analysts from Deutsche Bank led by Edison Yu said the global auto and mobility industry is entering a pivotal transition year, with 2026 shaping up as a major inflection point for both autonomous driving and humanoid robotics following the CES technology conference in Las Vegas.
“We attended CES in Las Vegas last week and sensed a meaningful surge in enthusiasm and relevance,” the analysts wrote. “Vehicle autonomy (robotaxi + consumer L4), and most notably, humanoids took center stage at the show, illustrating the spread of AI to the physical world.”
They said they expect self-driving vehicles to move beyond pilot programs and into full-scale commercial deployment, while humanoid robots transition from research labs into early real-world use. “Overall, we predict 2026 is a year where self-driving cars increasingly transition from testing/validation to scaling, and humanoids move from lab experiments to small deployments.”
The analysts highlighted the emergence of a new humanoid robotics supply chain, with traditional automotive suppliers repositioning themselves to serve what could become a massive new market. “While early innings, we see suppliers trying to pivot toward the humanoid supply chain in hopes of enabling large volumes in the future.”
Nvidia continues to dominate the computing backbone of this ecosystem. “Nvidia continues to be the dominant onboard processor seemingly due to performance and ease-of-use,” the team wrote, noting that most major humanoid developers are relying on Nvidia’s Jetson Orin and Thor platforms.
They also described a major shift in how robots are trained, away from rigid programming toward systems capable of reasoning through complex tasks. “There is a concerted move away from ‘pre-programmed’ or ‘scripted’ actions toward vision-language-action (VLA) where the robot ‘reasons’ its way through a variety of tasks.”
Commercial deployment of humanoids is initially focused on narrow, task-specific roles. “In the near term, we think the ‘general purpose’ humanoid is mostly being funneled into specific use cases to prove commercial viability before truly going into the home,” the analysts said.
Cost reduction will be driven by scale. “Increasing volume to improve overhead absorption was cited as the main cost driver,” the report noted, adding that one company on the tour has already reduced unit costs from $200,000 to $100,000, with a roadmap toward $50,000 as volumes rise.
On autonomous driving, the analysts said robotaxi programs are now entering a new phase of momentum. “With Tesla launching Robotaxi in 2025, we expect further commercial momentum from multiple players in 2026,” they wrote, citing expansion efforts by Waymo, Amazon’s Zoox, and partnerships involving Mobileye, Volkswagen, Uber and others.
They also pointed to Nvidia’s new autonomous driving platform as potentially transformative. Nvidia is “attempting to make it easier for automakers to deploy high level capabilities at scale” by providing both the “brain” and the “skull” of autonomous systems, reducing the need for automakers to build full AI stacks from scratch.
Among suppliers, the team said companies such as Aptiv and Visteon are entering critical execution years as they roll out next-generation AI-powered vehicle systems. In the case of Visteon, the company is “effectively democratizing the software-defined vehicle,” extending advanced computing and connectivity features into lower-cost vehicles and emerging markets.
Taken together, the analysts concluded that CES 2026 marked a turning point for the industry, with artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous driving shifting decisively from experimentation into early commercialization.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/13/2026 – 14:45
