The Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce (BACC) has elected its 2026 Board of Directors.

They will be formally inducted at the BACC Annual Dinner Celebration & Scholarship Fundraiser, which takes place from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. January 29,  at Avante Banquets & Conference Center, 1050 Northwest Hwy., Fox River Grove, according to a news release.

The release said the annual event attracts local business, community, and governmental leaders to raise funds for the BACC Lauren Brown Memorial Scholarship Fund and small business programming. Access to bidding on silent auction items in advance of the event will be available in January 2026. The public is invited to visit www.BarringtonChamber.com for details.

“Established in 1969, BACC has focused on providing value and opportunity, building community partnerships, and creating a prosperous local economy,” BACC President/CEO Suzanne Corr said. “Our BACC Board Members are the cornerstone of our mission.”

The 2026 Board of Directors comprises a cross-section of business leaders representing a diverse range of local businesses, the release stated. BACC Board Members help develop programs and resources to serve the local business community and impact the prosperity of the Barrington area.

2026 Board Members include:

Executive Committee Officers: Robert Finley, Virtue Asset Management – BACC Chairperson; Linda Gump, JOVIE Nannies + Sitters and College Tutors – First Vice Chair; Zach Witt, ilumen Solar – Second Vice Chair; Jon Stickney, Barrington Bank & Trust – Treasurer; Dr. Reinhold Llerena, Ascension Medical Group – Past Chair; Suzanne Corr, BACC President/CEO – Secretary.

Returning Board Members: Linda Fine, Buckley Fine Law; Jennifer Hissa, Greater Chicago Kitchen & Bath; Rob Jones, Huntington National Bank; Kyle Kick, BStrong Together; Brett Koenig, Acrisure; Paul Maloney, KRH Restaurant & Garden; Julie Mayer, Advocate Aurora Health; Ellaine Sambo-Reyther, BMO Wealth Management.

New Board Member for a 3-year term (Ending December 2028): Jen Frey, Buehler YMCA.

Advisory Board Members: Scott Anderson, Village of Barrington; Craig Winkelman, Barrington 220; Mike Dropka, Village of South Barrington; Darice Trout, Harper College; John Christian, Chief, Barrington Fire Department.

BACC recently recognized two retiring Board Members for their passion and commitment to serving the business community: Armen Kholamian, Junk King Barrington, and Bryan McGonigal, McGonigal’s / Long Story Short Pub.

“These individuals have been an integral part of the growth and success of the Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce,” Corr said. “They have devoted hundreds of hours of service to the business community, to volunteering at community events, and to mentoring and assisting other BACC members. We are so grateful for the imprint they have made on BACC.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/barrington-area-chamber-board-directors/ 

Gold Surges As Central Banks Brace For Global Debt Storm

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/26/2025 – 08:00

https://www.zerohedge.com/precious-metals/gold-surges-central-banks-brace-global-debt-storm 

Good morning, Chicago.

When Daphne Labault left her home in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria blew her windows out, her dream was to go back someday.

But her dream was pushed back once already. Her five-year goal to raise enough money for a house in Puerto Rico turned into eight years. The island’s high cost of living, fueled by a wave of tourism, led her to invest the money intended for a house in Puerto Rico — years’ worth of savings — into a cafe, her “little piece of Puerto Rico” in Humboldt Park.

Rising costs on the island that were exacerbated by the hurricane and fueled by a new wave of tourism have led to gentrification and the displacement of many islanders.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Laura Turbay.

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including a look at crime on the CTA, an NBA history lesson from Phil Jackson and Sam Smith and the top 10 performances on Chicago stages this year.

Today’s eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History

Illinois Democratic U.S. Reps. Robin Kelly, from left, and Raja Krishnamoorthi along with Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton discuss issues relevant to their race for the U.S. Senate at IBEW Local 134 in Chicago on Nov. 13, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois Democratic Senate primary race has started slow. But contrasts emerge in bid to replace Dick Durbin.

The top-of-the-ticket Illinois Democratic primary race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat has lurched along in slow motion through much of the fall, its major candidates eclipsed largely by a turbulent political backdrop even as they seek support for a contest less than 90 days away.

Pope Leo XIV waves after delivering the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for ‘to the city and to the world’ ) Christmas’ day blessing from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV urges the faithful on Christmas to shed indifference in the face of suffering

Pope Leo XIV during his first Christmas Day message urged the faithful to shed indifference in the face of those who have lost everything, like in Gaza, those who are in impoverished, like in Yemen, and the many migrants who cross the Mediterranean Sea and the American continent for a better future.

Janice McLee shuffles her position as an unhoused man tries to get passengers’ attentions on a CTA Blue Line train to Forest Park, Dec. 16, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

CTA crime down slightly despite series of high-profile incidents in 2025

Recent cases of violence aboard the system have rattled some riders while also drawing attention from Trump administration officials looking to make a point about crime in Democratic-run cities like Chicago.

But each time someone boards a CTA bus or train, their chances of becoming a victim of or even witnessing any kind of violent crime that results in serious physical harm to a person — a shooting, a murder — is very small, statistics reviewed by the Tribune show.

Abigail, left, and other cows rest and feed on a mixture of ground corn, corn gluten, wheat middlings, cereal grains and other ingredients at Lenkaitis Holsteins Dairy Farm in Campton Hills on Aug. 28, 2025. The Lenakaitis’ 80 Holstein cows are housed in a state-of-the-art barn with technology that ensures productivity and sustainability for both the business and its environmental impact. (Dominic Di Palermo/ Chicago Tribune)

These Illinois dairy and beef farms make raising methane-belching cows part of the climate solution

Illinois is a top agricultural state, generating billions of dollars annually, but even where stalks of corn and acres of soybean vastly outnumber its 400,000 head of cattle, cows raised for beef and dairy account for an outsize portion of the industry’s methane emissions.

A convenience store employee grabs a Powerball lottery ticket for a customer on Dec. 22, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A Powerball player has won a $1.817 billion lottery jackpot

A Powerball player in Arkansas won a $1.817 billion jackpot in Wednesday’s drawing, ending the lottery game’s three-month stretch without a top-prize winner.

Bears offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo pulls during a play in the fourth quarter against the Ravens on Oct. 26, 2025, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

As Ozzy Trapilo follows his father’s legacy, is he the Chicago Bears’ left tackle of the future?

Every step of the way Ozzy Trapilo has followed in his father’s footsteps. First he went to Boston College High School, where his dad also played football. Then he followed Steve’s path down the road to Boston College.

Now he has followed his dad to the NFL too. Last spring the Bears made Trapilo a second-round selection (No. 56) in the NFL draft.

5 things to watch in Sunday night’s Bears-San Francisco 49ers game — plus our Week 17 predictions

Northwestern safety Robert Fitzgerald (6) tackles Michigan running back Bryson Kuzdzal in the fourth quarter Nov. 15, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Northwestern safety Robert Fitzgerald, shaped by dad’s memory, worked his way from scout team to All-Big Ten

Northwestern assistant head coach Harlon Barnett has a long list of nicknames ready to use whenever he addresses or talks about safety Robert Fitzgerald. The Terminator. The World’s Greatest Tackler. The Face of the Big Ten. The Eraser. The General. The Example. Mr. Consistent.

Fitzgerald has given Barnett a lot of reason to talk about him in a breakout season that continues at noon today in Northwestern’s game against Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl on ESPN.

Phil Jackson exits the Ring of Honor ceremony during halftime of a Bulls-Warriors game on Jan. 12, 2024, at the United Center. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Column: Phil Jackson and Sam Smith give an NBA history lesson — including Chicago Bulls dynasty — in new book

The Bulls dynasty ended 27 years ago, but like any good dynasty the stories live on for generations, writes Paul Sullivan.

And several tales from those glory days are retold in the recent book “Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players,” co-written by NBA.com writer Sam Smith and former Bulls coach Phil Jackson.

Sondra Radvanovsky in “Medea” by Lyric Opera of Chicago. (Cory Weaver)

Best of 2025: Top 10 performances on Chicago stages this year

Chicago theater justly is famed for the quality of its actors. But which performances were the best of 2025?

Here is our annual celebration of the top 10 performances of the year. Unlike our Top 10 Theater list, which is confined to productions that originated in Chicago, this separate yearly list also draws from tours, remounts and restagings. Here, in order, are one critic’s views of the best theatrical performances of the Chicago year.

Brother Davaughn Nicholas and Myron Nicholas of Rich Off Creative Minds at Chicago’s Union Station. (Andrii Ivanchenko)

Music-making brothers want their art to be a business venture, calling it Rich Off Creative Minds

“Sometimes you just got to take that leap of faith,” said Myron Nicholas. “And a lot of people, they shy away from it. But what I’ve noticed is the beginning of greatness happens after you take that risk and that leap in any facet of life.”

Nicholas is one half of the musical and creative duo Rich Off Creative Minds, a project he started with his brother, Davaughn Nicholas. Rooted in their love of music (the two are multi-instrumentalists, producers and rappers) and an entrepreneurial mindset, Rich Off Creative Minds is as much a business as it is an artistic pursuit.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/daywatch-dreams-of-moving-back-home/ 

US Launches Strikes Against “Terrorist Scum” In Nigeria

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/26/2025 – 07:30

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-launches-strikes-against-terrorist-scum-nigeria 

KYIV, Ukraine — A meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump will happen “in the near future,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday, signaling progress in talks to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine.

“We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

“A lot can be decided before the New Year,” he added.

Zelenskyy’s announcement came after he said Thursday he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Trump has unleashed a diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.

Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.

In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.

On the ground, one person was killed and three others wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.

Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said it struck a major Russian oil refinery Thursday using British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region. “Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.

Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.

Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple the Ukrainian power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Kyiv officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/ukraine-us-trump-meeting/ 

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. launched a “powerful and deadly” strike against Islamic State forces in Nigeria, after spending weeks accusing the West African country’s government of failing to rein in the persecution of Christians.

In a Christmas evening post on his social media site, Trump did not provide details or mention the extent of the damage caused by the strikes in Sokoto state.

A Defense Department official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss details not made public, said the U.S. worked with Nigeria to carry out the strikes, and that they’d been approved by that country’s government.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the cooperation included exchange of intelligence and strategic coordination in ways “consistent with international law, mutual respect for sovereignty and shared commitments to regional and global security.”

Trump said the airstrikes were launched against Islamic State militants “who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.” Residents and security analysts have said Nigeria’s security crisis affects both Christians, predominant in the south, and Muslims, who are the majority in the north.

“Terrorist violence in any form, whether directed at Christians, Muslims or other communities, remains an affront to Nigeria’s values and to international peace and security,” Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Nigeria is battling multiple armed groups, including at least two affiliated with the Islamic State — an offshoot of the Boko Haram extremist group known as the Islamic State West Africa Province in the northeast, and the less-known Lakurawa group prominent in the northwestern states like Sokoto where the gangs use large swathes of forests connecting states as hideouts.

Security analysts said the target of the U.S. strikes could be the Lakurawa group, which in the last year has increasingly become lethal in the region, often targeting remote communities and security forces.

“Lakurawa is a group that is actually controlling territories in Nigeria, in Sokoto state and in other states like Kebbi,” said Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher at Good Governance Africa. “In the northwest, there has been the incursion of violent extremist groups that are ideologically driven,” he said, blaming the incursion on the near absence of the state and security forces in hot spots.

Nigeria’s government has previously said in response to Trump’s criticisms that people of many faiths, not just Christians, have suffered attacks at the hands of extremists groups.

Trump ordered the Pentagon last month to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria to try and curb the so-called Christian persecution. The State Department recently announced it would restrict visas for Nigerians and their family members involved in killing Christians there.

And the U.S. recently designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act.

Trump said the U.S. defense officials had “executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing” and added that “our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.”

Nigeria’s population of 220 million is split almost equally between Christians and Muslims. The country has long faced insecurity from various fronts including the Boko Haram extremist group, which seeks to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law and has also targeted Muslims it deems not Muslim enough.

But attacks in Nigeria often have varying motives. There are religiously motivated ones targeting both Christians and Muslims, clashes between farmers and herders over dwindling resources, communal rivalries, secessionist groups and ethnic clashes.

The U.S. security footprint has diminished in Africa, where military partnerships have either been scaled down or canceled. U.S. forces likely would have to be drawn from other parts of the world for any larger-scale military intervention in Nigeria.

Trump has nonetheless kept up the pressure as Nigeria faced a series of attacks on schools and churches in violence that experts and residents say targets both Christians and Muslims.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted Thursday night on X: “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end.”

Hegseth said that U.S. military forces are “always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas” and added, “More to come…Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation” before signing off, “Merry Christmas!”

Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed from Washington, and Chinedu Asadu from Abuja, Nigeria.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/trump-us-islamic-state-nigeria/ 

WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. — California, soaked from days of relentless rain and recovering from mudslides in mountain towns, was hit with another powerful storm Christmas Day that led to evacuation warnings and high surf advisories.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in Southern California issued an evacuation warning for Wrightwood, a mountain town about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, a day after rescuing people trapped in cars during a mud slide.

The National Weather Service said waves near the San Francisco Bay Area could reach up to 25 feet Friday.

Statewide, more than 70,000 people were without power Thursday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us.

A day ago, heavy rain and fierce winds were blamed for at least two deaths.

A major storm system moving toward the Midwest and Northeast was expected to interfere with travel, according to the National Weather Service.

A mix of freezing rain and sleet could create icy conditions in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Maryland. Forecasters warned heavy ice could cause outages. Snow was expected to blanket the Northeast early Friday.

Roads in the 5,000-resident California town of Wrightwood were covered in rocks, debris and thick mud on Thursday. With power out, a gas station and coffee shop running on generators were serving as hubs for residents and visitors.

“It’s really a crazy Christmas,” said Jill Jenkins, who was spending the holiday with her 13-year-old grandson, Hunter Lopiccolo.

Lopiccolo said the family almost evacuated the previous day, when water washed away a chunk of their backyard. But they decided to stay and still celebrated the holiday. Lopiccolo got a new snowboard and e-bike.

“We just played card games all night with candles and flashlights,” he said.

Davey Schneider hiked a mile and a half through rain and floodwater up to his shins from his Wrightwood residence Wednesday to rescue cats from his grandfather’s house.

“I wanted to help them out because I wasn’t confident that they were going to live,” Schneider said Thursday. “Fortunately, they all lived. They’re all okay — just a little bit scared.”

Arlene Corte said roads in town turned into rivers, but her house was not damaged.

“It could be a whole lot worse,” she said. “We’re here talking.”

With more rain on the way, more than 150 firefighters were stationed in the area, said San Bernardino County Fire spokesman Shawn Millerick.

“We’re ready,” he said. “It’s all hands on deck at this point.”

A falling tree killed a San Diego man Wednesday, news outlets reported. Farther north, a Sacramento sheriff’s deputy died in what appeared to be a weather-related crash.

Areas along the coast, including Malibu, were under a flood watch until Friday afternoon, and wind and flood advisories were issued for much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The storms were the result of atmospheric rivers carrying massive plumes of moisture from the tropics during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Southern California typically gets half an inch to 1 inch of rain this time of year, but this week many areas could see between 4 and 8 inches, with even more in the mountains, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford said.

More heavy snow was expected in the Sierra Nevada, where gusts created “near white-out conditions” and made mountain pass travel treacherous. Officials said there was a “high” avalanche risk around Lake Tahoe and a winter storm warning was in effect through Friday.

Ski resorts around Lake Tahoe recorded about 1 to 3 feet of snow overnight, said Tyler Salas, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Reno. Forecasters expect to see up to another 3 feet of snow through Friday, Salas said. The area could see 45-mph gusts in low elevation areas and 100-mph winds along mountain ridges.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared emergencies in six counties to allow state assistance.

The state deployed resources and first responders to several coastal and Southern California counties, and the California National Guard was on standby.

Associated Press writers Sophie Austin in Oakland, California, and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/storm-waterlogged-southern-california/ 

Some say it’s an eyesore. Others appeal to its history. Some want to see it repurposed, others call for its demolition.

But before it became a site for public debates, the limestone structure at 4 E. State St. had many lives, according to the city of Geneva: it was a blacksmith shop in the 1840s, a carriage painting shop shortly after the turn of the 20th century and was part of the property of a longstanding Geneva restaurant that operated from the 1930s until it shuttered in 2011.

In more recent years, what remains of the limestone building on the northern edge of the former Mill Race Inn property has been a source of contention in Geneva. Its owner has on several occasions appealed to the city to tear it down, the city has denied its requests, and preservationists have joined the mix in attempts to keep it standing.

Last week, the city’s Historic Preservation Commission unanimously shot down another request by Dave Patzelt, the president of Geneva-based Shodeen Group, to demolish the structure.

Its future remains uncertain, however, as Shodeen has already filed an appeal of the commission’s decision, meaning the Geneva City Council could still override the commission and vote to allow demolition. Discussion at the Dec. 16 meeting also led to a number of calls for redeveloping the property — another matter that’s come before the city in the past.

These debates about the structure at the former Mill Race Inn property in downtown Geneva have been years in the making.

According to the city, the limestone building was first the Alexander Brothers’ Blacksmith Shop in the mid-19th century. Among other things, it later was used as a wagon manufacturing and blacksmithing shop, a cooperage and a carriage painting shop.

The site of the property later was incorporated into an iconic restaurant, the Mill Race Inn.

After almost 80 years, the Mill Race Inn closed in 2011, and the property was eventually acquired by Geneva-based development company Shodeen Group. Demolition of most of the property began in 2016. At the time, city officials said the developer would evaluate the 1840s-era limestone sections to determine if the structure could be considered a historic landmark or be incorporated within any future development of the property.

In 2017, Shodeen looked to demolish the limestone building that had been part of the restaurant property, but the matter was put on hold early in 2018 after a Geneva resident moved to get it designated as a historic landmark.

Later that year, the building got a landmark designation from the city, and preservationists advocated for repurposing the site for another use.

A residential development at the site was considered in 2019, but later rejected by the Geneva City Council.

Fast forward a few years, the Shodeen Family Foundation again requested permission to demolish the building, but it was unanimously shot down by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. Following an appeal by the developer, the City Council affirmed the commission’s decision in 2023.

Later that year, the city cited the property owner for code violations, per documents from the city, and a ruling was made on the case in September 2025 in the city’s favor, requiring that the building be made weather-tight.

Then, in recent months, Shodeen made a request for demolition again. The application by Patzelt claims that the stone structure “stands in the way of” redevelopment goals for the property and that “no positive impacts have been accomplished” in the eight years of discussions regarding the structure. The application asks the city to consider the demolition request on the grounds that the structure “is not in the best interest of the majority of the community.”

At the Dec. 16 meeting Patzelt noted that, previously, part of the hold on the future of the building was to give residents additional time to find something that could be done with the structure.

“I would suggest that, whatever amount of time, that time has passed,” Patzelt said. “It’s been long enough. There’s been several different attempts … whether it’s to find a buyer, to move the structure, to find somebody that is interested in renovating the structure or … using it for some specific use.”

He argued that the cost to repair the structure is in excess of what it’s worth.

“The time has come that we need to make some further decisions on it,” he said.

Several of the commissioners offered their opinions on the request at last week’s meeting, and considered what the future of the property might look like.

Commissioner Jewel Jensen — pointing to the portion of Shodeen’s application related to a failed stakeholder input initiative about the site — suggested that taxpayer-funded efforts to determine the property’s future were not successful because the owner didn’t ultimately submit development plans for approval, has not protected the structure from the elements and has not agreed to work with a study group about the site.

Jensen also noted the fine the owner has incurred from the city, questioning whether the city would have to pay it if the demolition request were to be approved.

Jensen also asked about the ownership, and Patzelt clarified that the property is no longer owned by Shodeen itself, but by the Mill Race Land Company, LLC. Shodeen remains listed as the contractor on the original application for demolition from October.

Some of the response to the request for demolition centered around the criticism that there had been no significant change since the last time Shodeen came to the city asking to tear down the structure.

“I just want to make clear … that nothing has changed since 2023 in August when this commission denied demolition, with the exception of, I’m assuming, additional letters that are in favor of demolition being submitted to the commission,” said Commissioner Kevin Phillips.

Patzelt said he would “admit that there’s maybe no change,” but reiterated that there had been a request for more time, more time had been given, and no solution has since materialized.

Phillips argued that, because that request for additional time didn’t come from the commission, it was “irrelevant” from anything being different from its latest decision in 2023.

“Since that time, Shodeen has done nothing except drag the city into hearings in courts and question the (commission’s) decision, and, in the meantime, has allowed that building to deteriorate such, to the point where, now, maybe many people in … the community view it as an eyesore,” Phillips said. “You’re asking us to approve a demolition that basically is based on an eyesore that you’ve created.”

Patzelt said he doesn’t think much has changed from deterioration.

Commissioner Lisa McManus suggested that there should have been work on a development plan for the property.

“It’s just not a property, right now, that’s in good shape,” she said. “And the reality is that we need, rather than have these conversations about taking the building down, for years we could’ve just presented something … Shodeen could be making money on this property, but yet here we are entertaining another demo request.”

Patzelt said that, to do so, Shodeen would need to know what is to be done with the structure in order to make a redevelopment plan.

And Commissioner Mike Riebe asked whether, if the structure must remain, Shodeen plans to let the property sit as is, rather than develop the site.

Patzelt said they would, and noted that structural engineers have said the walls and footings are not capable of sustaining any additional load, so they couldn’t put an addition on the building.

During the meeting, a number of residents — split between those in favor and those against demolition — also advanced their suggestions about the site and what they hoped would come of it.

Several of those opposed to demolition spoke of their hopes that the site would ultimately be redeveloped.

“If the (commission) were to deny this demolition application, there is an opportunity for the former blacksmith shop to be part of a larger redevelopment at a minimal cost to the property owner,” said Al Watts, the community engagement director of local nonprofit Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley. “Collaboration between the public and the owner with that goal in mind would likely accomplish something the community could be proud of that both honors the legacy of Geneva’s industrial past and stimulates Geneva’s future.”

Alan Leahigh, of Geneva, said Shodeen is bringing forward a “false choice” between keeping the structure or demolition, suggesting that efforts to restore or redevelop the building would be “much more favorably received” by the community.

And Lee Eysturlid, who said he lives across the street from the structure, said whether the building is an “eyesore” is subjective, and criticized the “stonewalling of the process” as setting a precedent for the future. He also spoke about his view on preservation, including what the future of the site could end up as.

“It’s not just the present of the history … that you preserve, but it’s the future of the history you preserve,” Eysturlid said. “And it’s not just the building, it’s the space. And by removing the building, you open this space up to a six-story monolith. And I know that’s not part of the point, but it is the point, because history is also into the future. Otherwise, why are we preserving anything?”

Some individuals from the area felt otherwise, criticizing in particular the impact the deteriorating structure has on the neighborhood and the city’s economic position.

Herb Nachreiner, of Elgin, said that even decades ago, the blacksmith shop “was a piece of junk, and it’s even worse today.” He noted that the site is essentially the gateway to Geneva’s business district, and that businesses “never get a second chance at a first impression.”

“Move on,” Nachreiner said. “We’re beating a dead horse with this building.”

Similarly, Patrice Bertheau, of Geneva, pointed out that there is “no progress being made” on the property, and it is having an impact on “neighborhood pride and economic potential, as it discourages investment and tourism.”

Another nearby resident of the structure, Ed Streibig, said he hopes there will be a sidewalk by the site for safety reasons, and that he is “here looking for progress.”

“When I think about progress, the quickest way to progress seems like demolition,” Streibig said. He suggested taking the stone blocks from the structure and incorporating them into a new structure.

Ultimately, after the public hearing on the proposal for demolition, the commission again considered the possibility, but ultimately landed in opposition to Patzelt’s request.

Riebe said they haven’t gotten a “good faith proposal” for redeveloping the site and suggested that Shodeen has just been “waiting and waiting and waiting to strongarm — whether it’s us or City Council to give in, give them what they want.”

“The differences between the petition … to demo a few years ago versus today is that the property has sat longer,” McManus added.

The commission also considered how it could judge what the consensus from the community is, and Jensen suggested that the owner and community don’t have to be in opposition going forward.

“I believe that we can come to a solution if we do work together on this,” Jensen said.

The commission ultimately unanimously shot down the demolition permit request on Tuesday.

But Patzelt, in an email to The Beacon-News, says an appeal has been filed with the City Council, which the city also confirmed. A city spokesman said the date the council will consider the matter has not yet been determined.

The City Council has the ability to uphold, amend or reverse the commission’s decision, Historic Preservation Commission Chair Paul Zellmer noted at the Dec. 16 meeting.

Per the city, the council must vote on the commission’s determination within 30 calendar days of an appeal being made. A reversal or modification of the commission’s decision requires a two-thirds majority of the aldermen.

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/geneva-commission-again-denies-demolition-request-for-landmarked-structure-at-old-mill-race-inn-site/ 

Terracycle, a recycling company, has opened its largest distribution center in the United States in the former Henry Pratt facility in Aurora, the site of a tragic mass shooting in 2019.

On Feb. 15, 2019, at the Henry Pratt Co. manufacturing plant in Aurora, an employee opened fire during a termination meeting, killing five Pratt employees and wounding five police officers and an employee before he was killed in a shootout with police. Pratt has since moved its operations to Tennessee, and tax records show that it sold the Aurora site to Terracycle for $5.5 million in late 2022.

A ribbon-cutting in October officially marked the newly-renovated building’s grand opening.

Although Terracycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky said he didn’t know about the site’s history until after it was bought, it wouldn’t have concerned him.

“We’re very big on recycling and reusing, and we want to also express that in the buildings we work from,” he said.

Terracycle’s office spaces around the country use upcycled, recycled or reused materials for furniture and decor, according to the company’s website. The fully-renovated office space at the Aurora facility is no different — it even features a Terracycle logo made of recycled materials.

The building, which is located at 401 S. Highland Ave., has had a “transformation,” Operations Manager Krista Voelkel told The Beacon-News during a tour of the facility.

Terracycle has opened its largest distribution center in the country in the former Henry Pratt Co. facility in Aurora. (R. Christian Smith/The Beacon-News)

The facility is now Terracycle’s largest distribution center in the United States, which is also the company’s largest market of the 20 countries it operates in, according to Szaky. He said his company often uses third parties for its operations, but this site is fully owned and operated by Terracycle.

The company’s business model is all about collecting and doing something with waste, Szaky said, but it tries to only take on what traditional garbage companies don’t. Terracycle is known for recycling things that typically aren’t recyclable, including cigarette butts, coffee capsules and toothbrushes, he said.

There’s a “waste crisis,” according to Szaky. For 25 years, he’s had a mission to figure out how to use business to combat the issue, he said.

Aurora Mayor John Laesch, who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, said during a City Council meeting in November that Terracycle’s distribution center was “an excellent repurposing of the Henry Pratt building.” The company is bringing in about 50 jobs from the shop floor to the offices, he said at the time.

A large box full of discarded coffee pods, one of the things Terracycle recycles, sits at the company’s distribution center in Aurora. (R. Christian Smith/The Beacon-News)

“This international, innovative green company understands that everything can be recycled, and they have a plan to do it,” Laesch said in a post about the company on the city of Aurora’s Facebook page.

Terracycle offers a variety of different ways to recycle for individual customers and for businesses. Some come with a cost, but others are completely free through partnerships with companies like Gillette, Takis, Brita, Burt’s Bees and Febreze.

The distribution center in Aurora not only prepares and sends out the boxes customers put their waste into, but it also accepts those boxes back.

The Aurora facility takes in and processes between 500 and 1,000 boxes per day, according to Voelkel. Each gets scanned in so the waste can be tracked throughout the process.

After a general sorting process that groups similar waste materials together, each box is then opened and hand-sorted to check for compliance. After the waste is sorted at the Aurora facility, it is sent to other sites for further processing.

For example, metals are smelted for use in manufacturing, glass is crushed and melted to make new glass products or cement and concrete, rubber is powderized for flooring and organics are composted or used in fertilizer, according to the company’s website.

Plastics are Terracycle’s most commonly-collected material, and those are shredded, sorted, cleaned and then turned into pellets, flakes or powder, the company’s website says.

A display about the recycling of health and nutrition packaging seen at the Aurora facility shows that pellets made from this type of waste can be turned into park benches, garden beds and more.

For Voelkel, it is fulfilling to know that the waste being processed for recycling at the Aurora facility could instead be filling up landfills, she said.

rsmith@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/recycling-company-opens-distribution-center-at-former-henry-pratt-facility-in-aurora/ 

The Chicago Bulls dynasty ended 27 years ago, but like any good dynasty the stories live on for generations.

And several tales from those glory days are retold in the recent book “Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players,” co-written by NBA.com writer Sam Smith and former Bulls coach Phil Jackson.

The book is divided into individual chapters on each of the 75 players, featuring a brief synopsis from Smith followed by a transcription of a conversation about that player between Smith and Jackson.

It’s not a Bulls book, but if you’re an NBA fan at all, you’ll enjoy their takes on the players, the history and some amusing anecdotes along the way.

Like any barroom or barbershop discussion of sports, Smith and Jackson, a couple of old friends and Basketball Hall of Famers, sometimes meander from the player they’re discussing and enter down a rabbit hole. That’s what everyday conversation is like.

The chapter on Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, for instance, includes Jackson’s revelation that the Euro step originally derived from European handball and that former Bulls general manager Jerry Krause “had the offices swept for bugs” to find out who was leaking information to Smith.

“Professional spy team,” Jackson says to Smith. “He assumed someone had to tell you.”

Those who knew Krause and Smith, a former Chicago Tribune colleague and friend, will find that particularly amusing. Tales of Krause’s paranoia are a well-chronicled part of Bulls history, so it’s no shock to hear that a guy nicknamed “The Sleuth” would go to such lengths to try to discover the leaker.

But this was the first time I’ve heard Jackson confirm it, and Smith reveals it really began when he wrote that the Bulls were scouting 7-foot-7 center Gheorghe Mureșan, whom Krause thought would fall to them in the second round of the draft. But Washington picked Mureșan with the 30th pick before the Bulls picked Anthony Reed at No. 41.

Krause became livid that Smith wrote of his interest, and according to Smith he incorrectly deduced that assistant coach Johnny Bach was Smith’s “Deep Throat.”

“Masters of the Game” is full of interesting tidbits like that. There’s Smith getting lost trying to drive Larry Bird to the O’Hare Marriott, and Jackson saying he doesn’t rank players, but if he did, “I have to say, LeBron (James) is not the greatest, maybe not the top-five players?”

There’s also some prescient commentary, as when Jackson says Chris Paul, recently released by the Los Angeles Clippers, “had to be the center of attention, a little bit of the Isiah Thomas thing.”

The Bulls celebrate their sixth NBA title during a rally in Grant Park on June 16, 1998. Seated from left; Toni Kukoč, Ron Harper, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Mayor Richard M. Daley, coach Phil Jackson and Gov. Jim Edgar. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)

There’s nothing earthshaking, though Jackson reveals that Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf asked him three times to come back and coach after he left following the 1997-98 championship season that was chronicled in “The Last Dance” documentary.

“He said, ‘Don’t worry about Jerry (Krause), I can deal with that,’” Jackson says.

Jackson, of course, went on to coach the Los Angeles Lakers, and he says Scottie Pippen, then with the Houston Rockets, asked Jackson to trade for him.

“He said, ‘Come and get me and get me out of here,’” Jackson says. “But the Lakers couldn’t.”

Bull stars Scottie Pippen, from left, Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman head out to the court for the second half during a game against the Bucks on April 16, 1996, at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. (Jim Prisching/Chicago Tribune)

After reading it, I came away wishing the two had spent more time talking about Michael Jordan, Pippen and Dennis Rodman, the three Bulls stars who led the second part of the dynasty that Jackson coached and Smith covered for the Tribune.

But maybe if you’re a Lakers fan you’d want more Kobe and Shaq. All the NBA legends are treated equally, with the notable exception of some stars who get thrown into the same chapter, such as one featuring Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.

Jordan gets five pages — and an apology from Smith for quoting him saying, “Republicans buy sneakers too,” as a rationale for not publicly giving his political views. Jordan addressed the remark in “The Last Dance,” saying: “I do commend Muhammad Ali for standing up for what he believed in. But I never thought of myself as an activist. I thought of myself as a basketball player.”

Smith writes that he was sorry to have included the comment in his book on Jordan, noting, “It was a quip, a joke, to get me off his back when I was trying to make a conversation about politics.” The quote soon became “red meat for the progressive extremists,” Smith recalls.

The conversation on Rodman is also brief, with Jackson telling Smith he spoke with the team before the Bulls’ trade with the San Antonio Spurs to tell them they were getting a “loose cannon” who had carried a gun around in his car in Detroit.

“I said, ‘Rodman is misunderstood,’” Jackson says he told Bulls players. “We really had to take care of him. We had a therapist meet with him.”

Rodman turned out to be a loose cannon who helped the Bulls win three more titles and was arguably the second-most popular player in Bulls history behind Jordan.

Bulls forward Scottie Pippen assists Michael Jordan off the court for a timeout during Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Jazz on June 11, 1997, in Salt Lake City. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)

Pippen gets six pages, but anyone looking for Jackson to answer back at his former player for calling him a racist will be disappointed to see the Zen Master taking the high road.

A few years ago, Pippen, a popular player and former team ambassador, used that description to paint Jackson in a negative light for the famous incident in which Pippen refused to enter a playoff game against the New York Knicks with 1.8 seconds left because the last-second shot was designed to go to Toni Kukoč instead of him. Pippen trashed both Jackson and Jordan in interviews and in his book, which I called his “revenge tour.”

Jackson tells Smith he likes Pippen and had a “good relationship” with him. No grudges here.

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“I had no qualms,” he says of publicly ignoring Pippen’s remarks. “My kids were more upset by his book. They know what that means. Once you use that word there’s no way you take it back, because you can’t retract it; it’s going to be on the back page of something.”

Jackson seems more upset that Pippen also bashed Jordan, basically ending their relationship, and blames Pippen’s adviser for his accusations. “I’m not mad at Scottie,” he says.

Jackson talks about his former Knicks teammate Bill Bradley setting up Zoom calls with teammates on the anniversaries of the Knicks championship teams from the 1970s. Pippen’s outbursts make a similar 1990s Bulls championship reunion unlikely.

“I don’t see that happening with the Bulls, 30th anniversary, 50th anniversary … ” Jackson says.

That’s a sad postscript to the Bulls dynasty, which brought so much joy to Chicago during that decade.

But the stories will live on, even without the reunions. My one wish after reading “Masters of the Game” is that Smith and Jackson write a sequel with a more “Bulls-centric” narrative.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/26/chicago-bulls-dynasty-phil-jackson-book/