Cole Kmet isn’t quite sure who his sister, Frankie, is rooting for this weekend. The Chicago Bears tight end didn’t ask.

Ahead of the much-anticipated wild-card playoff game between the Bears and Green Bay Packers on Saturday night at Soldier Field, Frankie Kmet may be one of the few fans whose rooting interest is torn between both sides of the historic rivalry.

Frankie is dating Barrington native Lukas Van Ness, a Packers defensive end. The Kmets grew up in nearby Lake Barrington. Frankie and Van Ness began dating in college at Iowa.

Cole Kmet was already on the Bears when the Packers drafted Van Ness in the first round (No. 13) in 2023. Cole couldn’t help but laugh Tuesday when asked which team his sister is rooting for.

“I don’t talk to her Packers week,” he joked. “So I’ll find out after the game.”

Packers defensive end Lukas van Ness in the second half Dec. 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The Kmet siblings are the children of former Hersey and Purdue defensive lineman Frank Kmet, who had a brief NFL career, including a season on the Bears practice squad in 1993. Their uncle Jeff Zgonina played defensive tackle in the league for 17 years.

The Kmets are an athletic family. Cole’s younger brother Casey played baseball at Notre Dame, and the youngest sibling, Cooper, is a quarterback on the Illinois State team that just reached the FCS national championship game.

Cole, the eldest of the four, played football and baseball at Notre Dame before the Bears made him a second-round draft pick in 2020. As one of the few players on the Bears roster who grew up in the Chicago area, he knows all too well what the Bears-Packers rivalry means in this city.

“To be able to be at home, against Green Bay, it’s going to be a special atmosphere,” he said. “It almost feels like we’ve played these guys five or six times here in the past month. But that will just make the atmosphere and the battle that much more epic.”

Cole was on the losing end of his first nine Bears-Packers games. But the Bears finally snapped the longest streak in the history of the rivalry (11 straight Green Bay wins) in Week 18 last season, and they’ve now won two of the last three after a dramatic overtime win Dec. 20.

While he was joking about not talking to Frankie during Packers week, Cole does tend to keep his interactions with friends and family brief when he’s preparing for a game.

“She did ask for tickets and I just sent her the tickets,” he said. “But I didn’t really respond to anything else besides that.”

Why didn’t she ask Van Ness for tickets? Well, the home team usually gets better seats for family members.

“So I had to help my sister out,” Cole said. “All kidding aside, I usually find that out (who she’s rooting for) after the game. Usually she is just happy to see both of us healthy and all that good sister stuff. But I hope deep down she is rooting for us.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/chicago-bears-cole-kmet-sister-lukas-van-ness/ 

It would seem 2026 is already shaping up to be an exciting year for new businesses coming to Naperville.

Last month, major outdoor retailer L.L.Bean confirmed it would be expanding its footprint in Illinois this fall, and myriad of new businesses are to open this year at the Riverbrook Shopping Center, including Illinois’ first ever 99 Ranch Market, an Asian market known for its hot deli with dim sum and Chinese BBQ.

Here are some other openings to which Naperville residents can look forward.

CAVA at Block 59

Fast, casual Mediterranean restaurant CAVA will open its doors at Block 59 on Monday, Jan. 12, marking its first location in Naperville. The chain, which has hundreds of locations across the country, is a build your own bowl place that also serves wraps, pita and dips.

“Our mission is to bring heart, health and humanity to food, and everything we do at CAVA is grounded in that spirit of generosity, to our guests, our team members, and our community,” Regional Director Gino Carlin said in a news release. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be in Naperville and continue to grow our presence in the area.”

It is the latest addition to the dining and entertainment complex at Aurora Avenue and Route 59, which saw three new restaurants open — Velvet Taco, CRISP & GREEN and Yard House — open in November alone. Earlier in 2025, Piccolo Buco, Stan’s Donuts, First Watch, Cheesecake Factory and Shake Shack opened for business.

The new CAVA location will employ 25 to 40 local people. Daily operating hours are 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Shibam Coffee at 1120 Illinois Route 59 in Naperville on Jan. 6, 2025. (R. Christian Smith/Naperville Sun)

Shibam Coffee

A new Yemeni java shop called Shibam Coffee is expected to open in Naperville sometime in March.

Located at 1120 Route 59, it will join Illinois locations in Glendale Heights and Chicago. The company started as a wholesale coffee retailer a decade ago and expanded into storefronts eight years later. Their first location was in Dearborn, Michigan, and they have since expanded to about 60 locations nationally.

“Shibam is a historical city in Yemen. It’s actually the first skyscraper in the world, and it’s referred to as the ‘Manhattan of the desert,’” Shibam Coffee founder Mansour Sharha said. “All houses within the city were built out of brick mud, and the entire city is gated, and it’s the only city that is historically iconic.”

Sharha, who is from Yemen, said he chose the name Shibam because “coffee is all about our conversation.”

“We create a nice atmosphere, nice ambience, and create a good vibe, and then have the community to really come in and have a good conversation,” he said. “And that’s really what we highlight and bring into each community, so the community could have as many events as they want inside Shibam.”

That’s exactly what he hopes will happen at the 6,000-square-foot Naperville location..

“We’re looking to have a private room for private events, meetings, reservations, people to have good quality family time,” Sharha said. “You are inside a coffee shop. You’re having the experience, but at the same time, you’re not bothered with the noises that you typically get within the coffee shop.”

Patrons can sample everything from pure Yemeni coffee to the chain’s popular Shibam latte, which features two shots of Yemeni coffee, steamed milk and a mix of spices like cardamon, ginger and cinnamon. For non-coffee drinks, the dragon fruit and strawberry acai refreshers are two of their best sellers.

“We bring our own beans directly from Yemen. We roast our own beans, we grind it and we mix it with whatever we need to,” Sharha said.

Slyce of New York, a pizza and gyro restaurant inspired by New York street food, in downtown Naperville on Nov. 13, 2025. (Carolyn Stein/Naperville Sun)

Openings on the horizon

If 2025 was a big year for downtown Naperville, which saw 15 new businesses open, including Avocado Theory, Gorjana, Pronto’s Sandwiches and the reopening of the long-time downtown staple Rosebud, there are more on the way for 2026.

Five new businesses have been announced so far this year, including pizza and gyro restaurant Slyce of New York, located at 215 S. Washington St.

Syed Warsi, owner of Slyce of New York, said the Naperville will location will be the restaurant’s third Illinois spot following Lombard and Skokie. Warsi was born in Queens, New York, but moved to Lombard when he was about 8, he said.

“I grew up here, visited back and forth. All my summers were spent in New York. I got married in New York,” he said.

One thing Warsi noticed growing up in the Chicago area was a lack of New York-style pizzerias.

“What we offer is primarily New York-style pizza alongside New York-style street food, which is chicken and gyro over rice,” he said. “And that’s something that’s extremely popular in New York. It’s on every block, every corner. So we wanted to bring that flavor and that taste and that quality to Chicago as well.”

Slyce of New York offers pizza by the slice, with popular items including their hot pepperoni pizza and “The 53rd,” which includes toppings like gyro, green bell peppers, red onions and white sauce.

“The way we grew up was there was a cart on 53rd and 6th avenues right across the Marriott known as the ‘Halal Guys,’” Warsi said. “It’s kind of like an ode and tribute to them as they’re one of the most popular and original, you could say, street food vendors for chicken and gyro rice. So we have one pizza that’s called “The 53rd,” which is gyro, and then we have one that’s called “The 6th Ave,” which is actually chicken.”

Warsi hopes to open Slyce of New York no later than March. Patrons can expect a nostalgic atmosphere filled with re-runs of old basketball games, he said.

Another business expected to open in the first quarter of the year is Le Macaron at 23 W. Jefferson Ave., Downtown Naperville Alliance Executive Director Katie Wood said.

The French pastry shop founded by mother-daughter duo Rosaie Guillem and Audrey Guillem-Saba, whose aspirations are to introduce Americans to authentic macarons. The company has stores across the country and will open their Naperville location in a space that used to be a Coldstone Creamery.

Other businesses expected to open this year include major fashion retailers Free People and Lilly Pulitzer, both going in at 55 S. Main St. Barry’s Bootcamp is to open this year as well at 50 S. Main St. Opening dates are not yet available, Wood said.

cstein@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/cava-naperville-yemeni-new-york-pizza/ 

Indiana continued its upward graduation rate climb with nearly 92% of 2025 high school seniors earning a diploma, according to results released Monday by the state Department of Education.

State officials said the mark represents a new record, eclipsing the 2024 graduation rate of 90.23%.

It’s also the third consecutive year of increased graduation rates.

The graduation rate of students who didn’t need waivers improved from 87.53% in 2024 to 90.34% in 2025, a 2.81 percentage point improvement.

The state allows students to earn a diploma without completing or passing some graduation requirements if they demonstrate knowledge or skill.

Recently, the state set caps on the percentage of graduation waivers that can be counted toward a school’s graduation rate to lower the reliance on the waivers.

Locally, all nine high schools in Porter County topped the state graduation rate of 91.83%. In Lake County, 12 of 17 schools beat the state average.

The 2025 graduates at Lake Station Edison High posted the biggest traditional school increase, shifting 15 points from 71% in 2024 to 86.14% last year.

Lake Station Edison High Principal Diana Flanagan said: “The increase in our graduation rate reflects a more intentional approach to supporting students early and consistently. By identifying needs sooner, expanding credit recovery, and offering flexible and alternative pathways, we were able to keep more students on track,” she said.

“Most importantly, we shifted our focus toward connection over compliance, maintaining high expectations while building strong relationships and helping students take ownership of their learning. That balance of accountability and support has made a meaningful difference. At the heart of this improvement is truly knowing our students and understanding the barriers they face each day. When students feel seen, supported, and believed in, they rise to meet expectations. When they know you care, they care.”

Gary’s 21st Century Charter School improved more than 18 points from 79% in 2024 to 97.62% last year.

In Porter County, Washington Township posted a 100% graduation rate. Andrean and Illiana Christian, both private schools, also had 100% rates.

Statewide, graduation rates increased for every student population, including:

Black students — from 83.88% in 2024 to 86.90% in 2025.

Hispanic students — from 87.83% to 89.90%.

White students — from 91.89% to 93.36%.

English learners — from 89.48% to 92.38%.

Special education students — from 85.30% 88.05%.

Students receiving free/reduced lunch — from 91.52% to 93.34%.

“As we continue to scale the new Indiana diploma and readiness seals statewide, we will not only strengthen the value of high school and help more students graduate, we will ensure that they are prepared to succeed in whatever path they choose for their future,” said state Secretary of Education Katie Jenner.

The state is preparing new diploma standards that take effect with the Class of 2029 and a new school accountability system.

“While high school graduation marks the end of a student’s K-12 journey, our schools play an essential role in preparing students for all that comes next, whether that’s going to college, starting a career, or joining the military,” said Gov. Mike Braun in the release.

“This strong improvement in our state’s graduation rate shows that when we focus on academic excellence and establish clear, personalized pathways, our students thrive.”

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

2025 Indiana graduation rate*

State: 91.83%

Lake County

2024         2025

Hanover Central 94.3%       96.92%

River Forest         89%          97.64%

Merrillville           94%          92.31%

Lake Central        96%          96.51%

Lowell                   98%          99.19%

Calumet                94%         97.95%

Crown Point         98%         98.77%

East Chicago         89%         90%

Lake Station          71%         86.14%

Gary West Side     65%        59.42%

Griffith                    92%        93.01%

Hammond Central 77%       80.07%

Hammond Morton 74%      75.65%

Highland                   98%      95.30%

Hobart                      90%       94.54%

Munster                   98%       98.07%

Whiting                    97%       92.31%

Porter County

Hebron                      96%      97.78%

Chesterton                98%      99.16%

Morgan Twp.            93%      98.36%

Kouts                          92%      94.12%

Washington Twp.    100%     100%

Boone Grove            100%     97.04%

Wheeler                     98%      98.88%

Portage                       96%       94.07%

Valparaiso                  99%       99.23%

Charter schools

Thea Bowman          95%        71.43%

Gary Lighthouse       85%        82.42%

21st Century              79%        97.62%

HAST                          97%         98.44%

Steel City Acad.        69%          80%

Private

Andrean                    100%     100%

Bishop Noll                 98%      92.97%

Illiana Christian          97%      100%

*Source: Indiana Department of Education

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/indianas-class-of-2025-sets-new-graduation-rate-record/ 

Will County Judge Brian Barrett told Assistant State’s Attorney Dant Foulk Wednesday Foulk to sit down, calling Foulk’s attempt to appeal a ruling, which threatened to halt a case first filed against two New Lenox business owners in 2023, “a wrench thrown into the cogs of justice.”

Barrett said the state cannot file an appeal every time they get a ruling that they do not want, calling the state’s continued delays “devious,” “ridiculous,” “absurd” and an abuse of the law.

The exchange was a part of the final forfeiture case filed in 2023 against Greta Keranen and Jeffrey Regnier, owners of Kee Firearms and Kee Construction in New Lenox.

The defendants’ attorneys have said the case has been repeatedly delayed, and Will County Judge David Carlson, similar to Barrett, expressed frustration in December 2023 when prosecutors submitted records nearly 10 months after the charges were filed.

“At this point, plainly, this is an action of the state to prevent the court from ruling, to prevent the citizens from the United States of America and state of Illinois from proceeding and getting their day in court,” Barrett said Tuesday.

The case before Barrett involves the final two cars the state seized as a part of investigating the New Lenox business owners for money laundering, which prompted a series of criminal and civil cases that have been debated since 2023.

The couple was found not guilty of certain criminal charges in November. Foulk, one of the main county prosecutors on money laundering and civil forfeiture cases, said previously the outcome of the civil cases could have an impact on the interpretation of civil forfeiture law.

Most recently, Barrett ordered the state to return two cars and investment accounts seized by the state as a part of investigations in a related forfeiture case. Will County returned the property, which Regnier claimed were damaged, Dec. 12, after an Illinois Appellate Court denied the state’s attempt to appeal Barrett’s order.

Barrett said previously he hoped to wrap up the final case by Wednesday.

But the trial quickly hit a snare Tuesday after the state brought Paul Yaras with the Illinois Department of Revenue to present expert testimony on the business owners’ tax returns.

Barrett ruled the presentation of the tax returns violated confidentiality provisions in state law that prohibit the disclosure of tax returns by the Revenue Department except as authorized by law. Barrett said the state did not have court order to obtain the records.

Foulk argued the state obtained the records during a previous investigation and said because the state already had them, they could use the records as a part of money laundering investigations on a separate case.

Foulk cited an attorney general opinion from 1978 that stated tax statutes should not prohibit the Department of Revenue from disclosing tax returns to authorized employees of the state’s attorney’s and attorney general’s offices because those records are necessary to carry out their duty to prosecute tax actions.

But Barrett said the opinion was only persuasive and did not apply in every situation.

“The idea that you get to use people’s tax records basically turns it into a surveillance state,” said defense attorney Frank Andreano. “We don’t live in a surveillance state where prosecutors and police can just look through your financial records for any reason they want.”

Following this ruling, Foulk said prosecutors planned to appeal Barrett’s ruling, a move that would postpone the trial.

Foulk argued Barrett was suppressing evidence by preventing the state from presenting certain tax returns and Illinois Department of Revenue testimony.

“We were prepared to go to trial, that’s why our witness was here this morning,” Foulk said.

Barrett told Foulk the documents were not “some ancient document or artifact” that required the appellate’s ruling, and said his decision did not substantially impair the prosecution. He said his ruling was only an enforcement of confidentiality law.

Barrett said while the case may still end up at the appellate court, as the state has consistently appealed his decisions, he asked them to finish this case before doing so.

Keranen, one of the defendants, was questioned by the state Tuesday about the revenue and state of her company, Kee Construction.

The case is scheduled to continue at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 7.

awright@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/will-county-judge-criticism-kee-forfeiture/ 

Following false police reports against State Senators amid the mid-census redistricting at the end of last year, a bill has been filed to hold people who commit doxxing to face criminal charges.

Doxxing is when a person knowingly or intentionally posts information, like an address or phone number, of a targeted person in retaliation. Under Senate Bill 140, authored by State Sen. Vaneta Becker, doxxing will become a Class A misdemeanor and a Level 6 felony if the posting of the personal information results in the targeted person or someone closely connected to the person suffering serious injury or death.

Under the bill, doxxing would become a Level 5 felony if the posting of personal information of a specific person or someone close to the targeted person results in catastrophic injury or death.

Becker, R-Evansville, said in committee Tuesday she filed the bill because of what many State Senators experienced with doxxing and swatting, or false police reports to generate a large law enforcement response, amid the state’s discussion around mid-census redistricting.

In November, Senate Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, announced he would cancel the early December session to take up mid-census redistricting because the chamber did not have the votes to pass the measure.

Two days after the cancellation announcement, President Donald Trump issued a statement on his social media site Truth Social, calling out “RINO” Bray and Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute, “for not wanting to redistrict their state, allowing the United States Congress to perhaps gain two more Republican seats.”

Hours after Trump posted his comment, Goode received a swatting call. After Organization Day, when the Senate voted to reconvene in January, six more State Senators – Dan Dernulc, Spencer Deery, Ric Niemeyer, Kyle Walker, Linda Rogers and Andy Zay – received swatting calls.

The Trump administration asked Republican state leaders to redraw Congressional maps to ensure a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2026 election.

Mid-census redistricting conversations and actions began in August when Texas redrew its Congressional map to give Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. In response, Democratic states, like California, have taken steps to redistrict to gain Democratic seats.

Since August, Trump administration officials have met with Indiana Republican legislators to talk to them about mid-census redistricting.

Ultimately, the Indiana legislature met in early December to take up redistricting. The measure passed the House, in a 57-41 vote, but failed in the Senate with 31 senators voting against and 19 voting in favor.

Committee Chair State Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, said “there is a lot of benefit” to two people who disagree on something having a conversation about it.

“How anybody is 45 years old, living in their mother’s basement, and never having a relationship with anybody and getting on a computer and doing this stuff, swatting on down is the most egregious thing,” Freeman said. “Can we be adults about this?”

If someone disagrees with him, Freeman said they should come to the statehouse to talk to him.

“I am a big boy with broad shoulders. I’m good. I’m not hiding from anybody,” Freeman said.

Zack Stock, legislative counsel for the Indiana Public Defender Council, said the organization is neutral on the bill. While doxxing could be addressed under intimidation, “this is a kind of new thing,” Stock said.

“It’s unacceptable,” Stock said.

Madison West, with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Indianapolis, said the organization supports the bill because antisemitism is on the rise, in part through the use of doxxing.

“Senate Bill 140 is narrowly tailored, protects free speech, and provides an important tool to address this issue,” West said.

Freeman said the bill will be discussed further next week.

akukulka@post-trib.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/indiana-senate-committee-discusses-doxxing-bill-following-threats-to-legislators-amid-midcensus-redistricting-talks/ 

“Are You Not Entertained?” Democrats Announce New Impeachment Games To Draw Midterm Voters

Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/06/2026 – 15:45

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/are-you-not-entertained-democrats-announce-new-impeachment-games-draw-midterm-voters 

The Elgin library district is among many struggling nationally to find new sources for books and other reading materials resulting from the shutdown of Baker & Taylor, the main supplier of reading materials to public libraries.

After an acquisition deal failed, Baker & Taylor began to lay off employees in October, including most of those working at its distribution center in Momence, and expects to fully cease operations this month, according to Publishers Weekly.

“Baker & Taylor was a major, dominant player in the library world. Libraries relied heavily on B&T due to its long legacy, name recognition and its reliability,” said Natalie Kiburg, spokeswoman for the Gail Borden Public Library District in Elgin.

The company provided excellent service and infrastructure solutions that other firms don’t focus on, such as shelf-ready cataloging, processing and standing orders, Kiburg said.

“This helped significantly with industry-wide issues in the library world, such as understaffing and underfunding,” she said,

As the Baker & Taylor shutdown neared, libraries across the nation started seeing huge delays in getting materials, she said. Gail Borden had to prepare desk staff so they could explain to patrons why there were delays in getting some materials and to offer alternate methods for getting items into their hands, she said.

“We turned a logistical hurdle into a conversation, ensuring that our customers knew their requests were not getting ignored and that we were searching for alternate — and faster — ways to get the materials they were requesting, Kiburg said.

Beyond that, Gail Borden now faces challenges in finding new vendors to supply materials, supplementing collection development and doing the cataloging services previously handled by Baker & Taylor, she said.

“Because we are flexible, we were able to quickly scale existing partnerships with suppliers and establish new partnerships,” Kiburg said. “This ensured that the book pipeline remained open and that the interruptions for our customers were kept to a minimum. While we lost a major vendor, we never lost our expertise and our ability to swiftly adapt.”

Steph Nielsen, Gail Borden’s director of collection development, said her team was ahead of the curve and transitioned some staff to handle critical material curation and cataloging.

“By adding a new cataloger and expanding our team’s involvement, we can control much more of our collection in-house, ensuring we aren’t dependent on the stability of an outside company,” Nielsen said.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing, said Robert Moffet, Gail Borden’s division chief of access services. “We haven’t just replaced a vendor,” he said. “We’ve strengthened our own internal infrastructure to better serve our customers.”

Baker & Taylor’s closure is a good reminder that library district staff should be continually monitoring processes and vendors and not relying too heavily on just one company, Kiburg said.

Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/library-books-elgin-borden-shutdown/ 

A factory employing 500 people making 2 million solar panels a year, adjacent to a 125-acre solar field and a 40-acre solar pond generating clean power, may be coming to Waukegan on land once a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site where the Johns Manville plant once sat.

Waukegan and a location in Kansas are the two finalists competing to become the home of Netherlands-based Solarge’s first facility in the U.S., where lightweight solar panels will be made and solar energy generated.

“I think this is the true meaning of rebuilding Waukegan,” Mayor Sam Cunningham said. “This will reverse our environmental legacy and repurpose the future of Waukegan.”

The City Council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the inducement of a developer on Monday at City Hall, enabling local officials to work with Lake County, the state of Illinois and community partners to secure the proposed development.

Michael Castaldo Jr., an attorney with corporation counsel Ottosen DiNolfo Hasenbalg & Castaldo, said at the meeting that the resolution is the next “step toward moving toward a development agreement.”

Derek van der Vorst, an international business advisor with Solarge, said the company hopes to decide between Waukegan and the Kansas site no later than the end of March. Both locations have benefits appealing to Solarge.

Though Vorst said the cost of doing business in Kansas is less than in Waukegan, and Solarge will not have to deal with agencies like the EPA and the Illinois Environmental Agency on Kansas’ greenfield site, Waukegan also has outstanding attributes.

“There are some unique features about the Johns Manville site,” Vorst said. “It’s right on the lake. We’re really excited to be able to take a Superfund site and make it into something that’s very positive. We think we can revitalize an underserved area that has suffered from asbestos and coal power pollution.”

Vorst said Solarge has an option to purchase 280 acres of the former 340-acre Johns Manville site. Of the land, 110 acres would be used to build the factory. It would employ approximately 500 people. A solar field will be created on 110 acres of the property, and the 40-acre pond will also have solar panels generating power.

“The five acres on the lakefront will be for a meeting room for visitors, customers and partners,” he said.

As Solarge has investigated the Waukegan site and the resources around Lake County, Vorst said he has had discussions with people in the business community and educators in the region about the quality of the workforce.

“We’ve had a lot of discussions with Lake County Partners and the College of Lake County about training and recruitment programs,” he said. “We really want to work with local businesses and become an economic contributor to the city, the county and the state.”

With the opening of the Yeoman Creek Solar Farm in November, the area is already producing electric bill savings for Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 and low- to moderate-income individuals. Vorst said he intends to do the same. Solarge would be a much larger facility.

Kevin Considine, the president and CEO of Lake County Partners who was at the meeting, said if Solarge decides on the Waukegan location, it will be a major addition to Waukegan and the economy of Lake County.

“Bringing 500 jobs to downtown Waukegan is huge,” he said after the meeting. “It’s cool they’ll be working with the College of Lake County to train people for these (clean-energy) jobs.”

Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart, who was also at the meeting, said afterward that the board already approved a similar resolution to work on bringing the project to Waukegan. She, too, likes the environmental impact.

“We will be working with the county and state to bring these jobs to Lake County,” she said.

Cunningham said he has already been in communication with Gov. JB Pritzker about the project. They have had telephone conversations.

Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, said the potential use of the Johns Manville site has personal meaning. Her father worked at the factory, lost a leg in an accident and she is certain his health was impacted by the pollution there.

“For me and my family, this would be an amazing transformation for families like mine,” Florian said. “This would be amazing if it could happen.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/waukegan-city-council-solar-farm/ 

Plans by the Crown Point Community Foundation to build a new 4,600-square-foot office building will go forward following action taken Monday.

The Crown Point City Council suspended the rules, upon the initial reading, and gave final approval for a zone change from residential to office services for 6.2 acres at 12410 Marshall Street, property owned by the Crossroads YMCA.

Foundation spokesman Jeff Ban said the organization, which was founded in 1990, has outgrown its location at 115 S. Court St. and needs to expand.

Ban said the present location is “woefully small” and offers only two small office rooms for a staff of six.

In addition, there are no provisions for much-needed private meeting rooms.

According to the foundation’s website, its mission is to enrich the quality of life in South Lake County by:

*Providing financial assistance to fund a broad range of community needs.

*Maximizing charitable gifts by utilizing current tax law.

*Directing resources in a manner tailored to meet donors’ specific needs, managing endowment assets that will meet philanthropic needs.

Ban said the zoning change had been previously approved by the Crown Point Plan Commission.

He deemed the site not appropriate for a residential area but a good fit for their project.

Ban said now that zoning was approved, the construction could begin later this year.

City Councilman Scott Evorik questioned whether land to the south, now owned and used by the Crossroads YMCA, could still be used for outdoor sports play as it is presently.

Ban said there is an agreement with Crossroads YMCA that the parcel will be left alone.

“Our property won’t prevent that from happening,” Ban said.

In other business, the council:

*Unanimously named Joe Sanders, R-5, as the new council president for 2026.

*Named the Guzman family, 210 Northwest St., as the first-place winner of the 2025 Tour of Lights decorations.

*Named the three finalists of the tree decorating, called Christmas on the Square, as: Royal Pools and G2 Landscaping, third place; Cedarhurst Senior Living, second place; and Karing for Kennedy, in memory of Kennedy DiMarco, first place. Some 119 participants took part in the tree decorating, city officials said.

Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/new-community-foundation-building-moves-forward-in-crown-point/ 

The capture of brutal Venezuelan dictator President Nicolás Maduro Moros and his wife Cilia Flores de Maduro by the Delta Force of Army Special Forces represents a spectacular success. The snatch team was the tip of a sizable, specially organized United States combined military and law enforcement task force.

There were no U.S. losses in this thoroughly planned mission, which achieved total surprise and complete success.

The longer-term implications, reverberations and consequences of this daring move are a different matter.

Maduro and his wife are now in federal custody in New York. An indictment unsealed there reiterates longstanding charges, including drug trafficking, conspiracy, and narcoterrorism, but has dropped accusations related to the Cartel de las Olas.

Before unsealing the indictments, the largely general, vague comments of President Donald Trump and senior civilian associates at a Jan. 3 news conference at Trump’s club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, reinforce the uncertainty.

Trump stated the United States will “run” Venezuela, and “fix” the economically devastated oil industry of the nation. In fact, there is no U.S. military, sizable commercial or other significant presence in Venezuela. The Maduro regime remains in place.

Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stood out in the Mar-a-Lago event. He was the one official there who provided specific, detailed information on the highly successful mission, dubbed “Operation Absolute Resolve.”

In a fine military manner, he credited and praised the service personnel involved. Many politicians should, but won’t, learn worthwhile lessons about the value of public deference and praise of subordinates who work every day on the front lines.

The extraordinary success of the mission adds further, particularly persuasive evidence of the wisdom and insight of President Richard Nixon and associates in ending the military draft in January of 1973 and moving to all-volunteer professional forces. The Vietnam War had proven to be a long-term poison in the system of our military, especially the Army.

The long-term recovery has been profound, and Nixon deserves credit, here and in numerous other areas of policy.

The situation with Venezuela’s leaders is evolving and understandably uncertain. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez initially was angry and defiant. However, she sounded more cooperative following a public threat by Trump of possible further action.

Venezuela’s military has recognized Rodriguez’s authority. Under the Constitution, elections are to be held in 30 days, though martial law could overrule. Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged citizens to remain calm and trust the leadership.

Trump at the news conference was rather dismissive of Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, but she is formidable. On Oct. 10, she received the Nobel Peace Prize. She deserves the distinctive honor, personifies courage, and has earned enormous global influence. Trump should be praising her.

In 2024, she was barred from running in the presidential election. Nevertheless, independent outside analysts agreed that the opposition won the balloting. Brutally heavy-handed President Maduro and his corrupt associates brazenly stole yet another presidential election. Opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia found asylum in Spain.

Ms. Machado is a conservative, fundamentally opposed to the Venezuelan regime. She supports the latest U.S. move, clearly trying to position herself for a return home. She has been in exile.

The Maduro regime, since the election, has been exceptionally aggressive in trying to silence dissent.

The greatest U.S. advantage is the profound long-term global trend toward democracy. Earlier, Venezuela was among the few democracies present in Latin America.

Arthur I. Cyr is author of “After the Cold War – American Foreign Policy, Europe and Asia,” NYU Press and Palgrave/Macmillan.

Contact acyr@carthage.edu

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/06/arthur-i-cyr-venezuela-dictator/