Two employees of Rosati’s Pizza at 322 E. Wilson St. in Batavia, along with the driver, were taken to the hospital after a vehicle crashed into the restaurant on Christmas Eve, police said.

A preliminary investigation indicates that a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a 77-year-old man arrived at the restaurant to pick up a food order at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to a press release from the Batavia Police Department.

After picking up his order, the man began to leave the parking lot, the release said. The man said he had mechanical issues with the gear shifter and mistakenly put the vehicle in drive, crashing the vehicle into the front of the business, according to the police.

It is believed that the driver may have been experiencing a medical issue at the time of the crash, police said.

The crash caused significant damage to the business, requiring a board up service to secure the building, according to the release.

Two employees were injured during the crash and were transported to an area hospital with non-life- threatening injuries, police said. The driver of the vehicle was also transported to the hospital for medical care.

Witnesses to the crash are asked to contact the Batavia Police Department at 630-454-2500.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/two-employees-driver-taken-to-hospital-after-vehicle-crashes-into-batavia-pizza-parlor-police-say/ 

When the ball drops on New Year’s Eve in New York City, it will sparkle in red, white and blue, ushering in 2026 and kicking off months of celebrations for the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday.

New Year’s Eve 2025: Our 20 from ‘Rockin’ downtown fireworks to the concerts and dance parties

The patriotic touches at this year’s Times Square gathering, including a second confetti drop, will offer an early glimpse of what’s ahead: hundreds of events and programs, big and small, planned nationwide to mark the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“I’m telling you right now, whatever you’re imagining, it’s going to be much more than that,” said America250 Chair Rosie Rios, who oversees the bipartisan commission created by Congress in 2016 to organize the semiquincentennial anniversary. “It’s going to be one for the ages, the most inspirational celebration this country and maybe the world has ever seen.”

Rios and her group worked with the Times Square Alliance business district and One Times Square, the building from where the ball is dropped, to make the changes to this year’s ceremonies. They’re also planning a second ball drop July 3, the eve of the nation’s birthday, “in the same beautiful style that Times Square knows how to do it,” Rios said.

It will mark the first time in 120 years there will be ball drop in Times Square that doesn’t occur on New Year’s Eve, she said.

A New Year’s Eve ball was first dropped in Times Square in 1907. Built by a young immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr, the 700-pound (318-kilogram), 5-foot- (1.5-meter-) diameter ball was made of iron and wood and featured 100 25-watt light bulbs. Last year, the Constellation Ball, the ninth and largest version, was unveiled. It measured about 12 feet (3.7 meters) in diameter and weighs nearly 12,000 pounds (5,400 kilograms).

The only years no ball drop occurred were 1942 and 1943, when the city instituted a nightly “dimout” during World War II to protect itself from attacks. Crowds instead celebrated the new year with a moment of silence followed by chimes rung from the base of One Times Square.

‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ will broadcast live from downtown Chicago this year

This year, the stroke of midnight will also mark the official launch of America Gives, a national service initiative created by America250. Organizers hope to make 2026 the largest year of volunteer hours ever aggregated in the country.

On the following day, America250 will participate in the New Years Day Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, with a float themed “Soaring Onward Together for 250 Years.” It will feature three larger-than-life bald eagles representing the country’s past, present and future.

“We want to ring in this new year from sea to shining sea. What better way to think about it than going from New York to California,” Rios said. “This has to be community-driven, this has be grassroots. We’re going from Guam to Alaska, from Fairbanks to Philadelphia, and everything in between.”

President Donald Trump has also announced the “Freedom 250” initiative to coordinate additional events for the 250th anniversary.

Rios said she sees the wide range of celebrations and programs planned for the coming months, from large fireworks displays and statewide potluck suppers to student contests and citizen oral histories, as an opportunity to unite a politically divided nation.

“If we can find something for everyone … having those menus of options that people can pick and choose how they want to participate,” she said. “That’s how we’re going to get to engaging 350 million Americans.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/times-square-patriotic-ball-drop/ 

Joe Biden’s Family Christmas Photo Is So Awkward And Wrong

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/26/2025 – 09:40

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/joe-bidens-family-christmas-photo-so-awkward-and-wrong 

Peace Deal On Horizon? Trump & Zelensky To Meet Sunday

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/26/2025 – 09:15

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/peace-deal-horizon-trump-zelensky-meet-sunday 

The Detroit Lions are staying home for the playoffs, the Green Bay Packers are in the postseason and only one spot remains open in the NFC.

A dismal performance in a 23-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day eliminated the Lions (8-8) and allowed the Packers (9-5-1) to clinch at least a wild-card berth.

The Packers join the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles (10-5), Seattle Seahawks (12-3), Chicago Bears (11-4), San Francisco 49ers (11-4) and Los Angeles Rams (11-4). The Carolina Panthers (8-7) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8) are battling for the final NFC playoff spot.

The Denver Broncos’ 20-13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night moved the Broncos (13-3) closer to securing the AFC West and the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

The New England Patriots (12-3), Jacksonville Jaguars (11-4), Los Angeles Chargers (11-4) and Buffalo Bills (11-4) also have clinched playoff spots. The Houston Texans (10-5), Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6), Indianapolis Colts (8-7) and Baltimore Ravens (7-8) are fighting for the last two AFC spots.

The opening game of the NFL’s holiday tripleheader had no impact on the playoffs. Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Commanders 30-23.

With 10 days remaining in the regular season, only the Eagles have locked up a division title. Eleven of the 14 playoff spots have been secured, and six teams are in the race for the last three.

Here’s an updated playoff picture:

AFC East

The Patriots clinch with a win over the New York Jets and a loss or tie by the Bills, or a tie against the Jets and a loss by the Bills.
The Bills would clinch with victories over the Eagles and Jets and a Patriots loss to either the Jets or Miami Dolphins.

AFC North

The Steelers clinch with a win or tie against the Cleveland Browns or if the Ravens lose or tie against the Packers on Saturday night.
The Ravens would clinch if the Steelers lose to the Browns and they beat the Packers and Steelers in the final two games.

AFC South

The Jaguars clinch with a win over the Colts and a loss or tie by the Texans, or a tie against the Colts and a loss by the Texans.
The Texans need a win or tie over the Chargers or a loss or tie by the Colts to clinch a playoff spot. The Texans can win the division with victories over the Chargers and Colts and one loss by the Jaguars against the Colts or Tennessee Titans.
The Colts can’t win the division. They need the Texans to lose to the Chargers on Saturday to stay alive. Then they have to beat the Jaguars on Sunday and the Texans next week to earn a wild-card spot.

AFC West

The Broncos clinch if the Chargers lose or tie against the Texans. They also can secure the AFC’s No. 1 seed this weekend if the Jaguars, Chargers and Bills lose or tie and the Patriots lose.

NFC East

The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles became the first team in two decades to win this division in consecutive seasons. They’ll be the NFC’s No. 2, 3 or 4 seed.

NFC North

The Bears clinch with a win over the 49ers, a loss by the Packers or if both teams tie.
The Packers have to win their final two games against the Ravens and Vikings and the Bears would have go 0-2 or 0-1-1 for Green Bay to win the division.

NFC South

The Panthers clinch with a win over the Seahawks and a loss or tie by the Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers clinch with victories over the Dolphins and Panthers in the final two games.

NFC West

The Seahawks clinch the division with a victory over the Panthers and a loss or tie by both the Rams and 49ers, or a tie against the Panthers and losses by the Rams and 49ers.
The 49ers would clinch the division and the No. 1 seed if they beat the Bears and Seahawks in their final two games at home.
The Rams still have a path to the division crown but must finish with a better record than both the Seahawks and 49ers.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/nfl-playoff-picture-week-17/ 

The holiday season will soon come to a close, but the busiest time of the year for product returns is just beginning.

The National Retail Federation estimates 17% of holiday purchases will be sent back this year. More retailers are reporting extended return windows and increased holiday staff to handle the rush this year.

A major driver for returns is uncertainty. When we buy for other people, finding what they want is a bit of a guessing game. Online purchases have higher return rates because finding the right size and color is tough when you’re just staring at images on screens.

“Clothing and footwear, as you can imagine, because fit is such an important criteria, they have higher rates of returns,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer at Blue Yonder, which sells software designed to improve companies’ supply chain management.

Returns come with an environmental cost, but there’s a lot consumers and companies are doing to minimize it.

The impact of returns

If a company sells a thing, it’s probably packaged in plastic. Plastic is made from oil, and oil production releases emissions that warm the planet. If that thing is bought online, it’s put on a plane or a train or a truck that usually uses oil-based fuel.

If you buy a thing and return it, it goes through most or all of that all over again.

And once those products are back with the retailer, they may be sent along to a refurbisher, liquidator, recycler or landfill. All these steps require more travel, packaging and energy, ultimately translating to more emissions. Joseph Sarkis, who teaches supply chain management at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, estimates that returning an item increases its impact on the planet by 25% to 30%.

Roughly a third of the time, those returns don’t make their way to another consumer. Because frequently, it’s not worth reselling.

If, for example, you get a phone, but you send it back because you don’t like the color, the seller has to pay for the fuel and equipment to get the phone back, and then has to pay for the labor to assess whether it has been damaged since leaving the facility.

“It can be quite expensive,” said Sarkis. “And if you send it out to a new customer and the phone is bad, imagine the reputational hit you’ll get. You’ll get another return and you’ll lose a customer who’s unhappy with the product or material. So the companies are hesitant to take that chance.”

Something as expensive as a phone might get sold to a secondary or refurbishment market. But that $6 silicone spatula you got off Amazon? Probably not worth it. Plus, some stuff — think a bathing suit or a bra — is less attractive to customers if there’s a chance it’s been resold. The companies know that.

And that’s where the costs of returns are more than just environmental — and consumers wind up paying. Even free returns aren’t really free.

“Refurbishment, inspection, repackaging, all of these things get factored into the retail price,” said Christopher Faires, assistant professor of logistics and supply chain management at Georgia Southern University.

What consumers can do about it

If you want to reduce the impact of your returns, the first move is to increase their chances of resale. Be careful not to damage it, and reuse the packaging to send it back, said Cardiff University logistics and operations management lecturer Danni Zhang.

If you have to return something, do it quickly. That ugly Christmas sweater you got at the white elephant office party has a much better chance of selling on Dec. 20 than it does on Jan. 5. Zhang said it’s not worth the cost to the company to store that sweater once it’s gone out of season.

Another tip: in-person shopping is better than online because purchases get returned less often, and in-person returns are better, too — because those items get resold more often. Zhang said it reduces landfill waste. Sarkis said it reduces emissions because companies with brick-and-mortar locations spread out across the country and closer to consumers thus move restocked goods shorter distances.

“If I can return in-store, then I definitely will,” Zhang said. “The managers can put that stuff back to the market as soon as possible.”

Obviously the best thing consumers can do is minimize returns. Many shoppers engage in “bracketing behavior,” or buying multiple sizes of the same item, keeping what fits, and returning the rest.

“This behavior of bringing the dressing room to our homes is not sustainable,” said Faires.

If you’re buying for someone else, you can also consider taking the guesswork out of the equation and going for a gift card.

“I know we do really want to pick up something really nice to express our love for our friends or our family. But if we are more sustainable, probably the gift card will be much better than just purchasing the product,” Zhang said.

What businesses can do about it

Sarkis wants to see companies provide more information in product descriptions about the environmental impact of returning an item, or how much of the purchase price factors in return costs.

“But I don’t know if they want to send a negative message,” he said. “If you’re telling someone to stop something because of negative results, that’s not going to sell.”

Sarkis and Zhang both say charging for returns would help. Already Amazon is requiring customers pay in certain situations.

On the tech side, Blue Yonder’s recent acquisition of Optoro, a company that provides a return management system for retailers and brands, uses a software to quickly assess the condition of returned products and route them to stores that are most likely to resell them.

“Having that process be more digitized, you can quickly assess the condition and put it back into inventory,” said van Gendt. “So that’s a big way to just avoid landfill and also all of the carbon emissions that are associated with that.”

Clothing is returned most often. Many sizes do not reflect specific measurements, like women’s dresses, so they vary a lot between brands. Zhang said better sizing could help reduce the need for returns. On top of that, Sarkis said more 3D imaging and virtual reality programs could help customers be more accurate with their purchases, saving some returns.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/holiday-gift-returns-landfill/ 

LONDON — Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel took aim at U.S. President Donald Trump as he warned Thursday about the rise of fascism in an address to U.K. viewers dubbed “The Alternative Christmas Message.”

The message, aired on Channel 4 on Christmas day, reflected on the impact from the second term in office for Trump, who Kimmel said acts like he’s a king.

“From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year,” he said. “Tyranny is booming over here.”

The channel began a tradition of airing an alternative Christmas message in 1993, as a counterpart to the British monarch’s annual televised address to the nation. Channel 4 said the message is often a thought-provoking and personal reflection pertinent to the events of the year.

The comedian has skewered Trump since returning to the air after ABC indefinitely suspended the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show in September following criticism of comments the host made over the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel made remarks in reference to the reaction to Kirk’s shooting suggesting that many Trump supporters were trying to capitalize on the death.

Trump celebrated the suspension of the veteran late-night comic and his frequent critic, calling it “great news for America.” He also called for other late night hosts to be fired.

The incident, one of Trump’s many disputes and legal battles waged with the media, drew widespread concerns about freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Hundreds of leading Hollywood stars and others in the entertainment industry urged Americans to “fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.” The show returned to the air less than a week later.

Kimmel told the U.K. audience that a Christmas miracle had happened in September when millions of people — some who hated his show — had spoken up for free speech.

“We won, the president lost, and now I’m back on the air every night giving the most powerful politician on earth a right and richly deserved bollocking,” he said.

Channel 4 previously invited whistle-blower Edward Snowden and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to deliver the alternative Christmas message.

Kimmel, who said he didn’t expect Brits to know who he was, warned that silencing critics is not just something that happens in Russia or North Korea.

Despite the split that led to the American Revolution 250 years ago, he said the two nations still shared a special relationship and urged the U.K. not to give up on the U.S. as it was “going through a bit of a wobble right now.”

“Here in the United States right now, we are both figuratively and literally tearing down the structures of our democracy from the free press to science to medicine to judicial independence to the actual White House itself,” Kimmel said, in reference to demolition of the building’s East Wing. “We are a right mess, and we know this is also affecting you, and I just wanted to say sorry.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/jimmy-kimmel-alternative-christmas-message-britain/ 

The following items were taken from Naperville police reports and press releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt:

A 40-year-old man from Naperville was arrested on charges of improper lane usage, improper lighting, driving with expired license plates, driving on a suspended license and driving on a registration suspended for non-insurance at 7:20 p.m. Dec. 19 in the 700 block of Royal St. George Drive.
A 22-year-old woman from Naperville was arrested on one count of retail theft, one count of retail theft exceeding $300 with prior conviction and two counts of retail theft not exceeding $300 at 1:53 p.m. Dec. 20 in the 100 block of South Main Street.
A 63-year-old man from Chicago was arrested on three counts of burglary and one count of possession of a controlled substance at 1:34 p.m. Dec. 20 in the 100 block of West Jefferson Avenue.
A 62-year-old man from Wilmette was arrested on charges of improper turn at an intersection, improper lane usage, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving without insurance at 12:23 a.m. Dec. 21 at South River Road and West Jefferson Avenue.
A 29-year-old woman from Naperville was arrested on a charge of driving on a suspended license at 2:31 a.m. Dec. 21 at 75th Street and South Route 59.
A 36-year-old woman from Chicago was arrested on charges of driving while using an electronic communication device, improper lighting and driving under the influence of alcohol at 3:09 a.m. Dec. 21 in the 1800 block of Freedom Drive.
A 31-year-old man from Naperville was arrested on a warrant and on a charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia at 3:55 p.m. Dec. 21 in the 1800 block of West Diehl Road.
A 29-year-old man from Naperville was arrested on a warrant and on a charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia at 9:29 p.m. Dec. 21 in the 100 block of East Ogden Avenue.
An 18-year-old woman from Peoria was arrested on charges of burglary and retail theft exceeding $300 at 1:20 p.m. Dec. 22 in the 1300 block of 3rd Avenue in Rock Island.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/naperville-police-arrests-blotter-december-6/ 

S&P Futures Trade At Record High As Precious Metal Surge Accelerates

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/26/2025 – 08:53

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/sp-futures-trade-record-high-precious-metal-surge-accelerates 

China Sanctions 20 US Defense Firms, Issues ‘Red Line’ Warning Over Record Taiwan Arms Deal

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/26/2025 – 08:25

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/china-sanctions-us-defense-firms-executives-over-record-taiwan-arms-sales-red-line