Category: News
NIPSCO bill credits from data center could begin in 2027
NiSource’s new GenCo subsidiary is a novel development. “As far as we know, we may be the first in the country that have kind of come up with this solution,” NIPSCO President Vince Parisi said.
GenCo was set up as a way to supply power to major power consumers like data centers without affecting other customers’ rates. That includes at least 2.3 gigawatts, up to 3 gigawatts, of additional power for data centers.
Amazon Web Services’ plan for a $15 billion data center investment, including in Hobart, puts a sharp focus on NIPSCO’s ability to feed that power-hungry beast.
“We’re in pretty advanced discussions” for other data centers, too, Parisi said.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is making up rules as it goes along for how to treat this novel entity, Parisi said. That includes not needing rate cases and a few other regulations that don’t seem to apply to GenCo the way they would to NIPSCO. GenCo exists only to generate electricity, not to serve customers.
The IURC will examine the books to keep tabs on accounting and other GenCo functions.
GenCo allows NIPSCO to separate the cost for serving large customers from its core customers, Parisi said. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved a large rate increase for NIPSCO’s electric customers earlier this year.
For NIPSCO customers, one of the promises made is $1 billion coming back to them as bill credits.
NIPSCO wants to start these monthly bill credits in 2027, growing to about $79 per month in 2032 for a residential electric customer, with the amount adjusted every six months for the remainder of the 15-year contract with GenCo.
Vince Parisi (NIPSCO/provided)
“We haven’t spent a lot of time on this,” Parisi said, but GenCo will be a natural gas customer as well. “There is a gas benefit, but that will be a little bit down the road,” he said.
Ashley Williams, executive director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana, is among the skeptics. “History has shown us we cannot trust NIPSCO to manage this AI data center boom. We are highly skeptical of the NIPSCO GenCo and Amazon agreement,” she said.
“Customers are being asked to rely on a utility that already charges the highest rates in the state, is under investigation for billing discrepancies, and is steadily revealing its true priorities: profiting from this boom, abandoning its renewable energy commitments, and locking us into a fossil-fueled past,” she said.
“Right now, NIPSCO is making a complete 180, pivoting to build new dirty gas plants specifically to power these data centers, while simultaneously seeking federal extensions to delay cleaning up its toxic coal ash waste,” Williams said.
“This is a monopoly utility whose duty is to generate profit for shareholders, not to protect ratepayers. It’s time we demand accountability from GenCo and decision-makers, not acquiesce,” she said.
Parisi offered counterarguments in support of the data centers. “Arm yourself with the actual facts. The data is out there,” he said. “I think the data centers are doing a better job now of telling their story.”
“The water usage now is significantly less than what’s out in the public,” Parisi said. “We see this as being really good for Indiana and Northwest Indiana in particular.”
“They’re good community actors. They support local organizations and schools. They want to be part of those communities,” he said.
“It’s not too often that we say you’ll have all this benefit and no cost to the customer. It’s almost too hard to wrap your mind around,” Parisi said.
NIPSCO is continuing the push to move from coal-fired power plants to other sources, including natural gas and renewables like wind and solar.
The coal-fired Michigan City Generating Station, often mistaken for a nuclear power plant because of its distinctive cooling tower, is still set to be decommissioned at the end of 2028, Parisi said.
NIPSCO is due to draft a new integrated resource plan in 2027. That plan outlines how NIPSCO will meet demand over the next 10 to 20 years.
The utility is converting its Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield into a natural gas power plant as part of its plan to provide energy for data centers, including the $15 billion Amazon Web Services said it is investing in Northwest Indiana, including Hobart.
In addition, NIPSCO is investing heavily in battery storage to have power ready when it’s needed, Parisi said. The gold standard in the industry is four hours of storage, but the technology is improving rapidly, so eight hours of storage isn’t unheard of now.
The distance between the customer and the source of electricity is a factor because some electricity is lost along the way through the transmission lines.
“For the most part, they can kind of be anywhere,” he said.
“Everything we do, we do through MISO,” or Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which controls the electrical grid here, Parisi said.
NIPSCO will provide power to the grid, which will in turn serve customers. GenCo will insulate existing customers from the extra capacity needed to serve data centers and other future power-hungry industries.
“They all seem to want to go fast. We’ve got to put the capacity in place to make that work,” Parisi said.
“We’ll invest between $6 billion and $7 billion. We’ll have 2,000 jobs that we’ll have over the next five, six, seven years as we construct all this for just the one data center,” he said.
The Indiana General Assembly this year enacted a law authored by state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, to pave the way for small nuclear reactors to be built. NIPSCO doesn’t currently have plans to build any, but Parisi noted some of NiSource’s employees have a nuclear energy background.
A NIPSCO team is internally exploring options, following up on a commitment to Gov. Mike Braun to research and review options. A Purdue University team is also looking into it.
“It’s certainly something we’ll explore,” but it needs to be cost-effective, Parisi said, and won’t happen in the near future.
Power plants that burn natural gas offer reliability and, while not clean energy, are cleaner than coal-fired plants. Northwest Indiana is situated well for them, Parisi said, with several major interstate pipelines crisscrossing NIPSCO territory.
This is a significant moment in NIPSCO history. Parisi said he’s still getting used to talking about energy in gigawatts rather than megawatts.
“I’m just generally excited about this opportunity to serve our customers,” he said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/24/nipsco-bill-credits-from-data-center-could-begin-in-2027/
Naperville News Digest: Forest preserve district holding January hiking events; Naperville residents graduate, make college academic lists
Forest preserve district holding January hiking events
The Forest Preserve District of Will County is planning two upcoming hikes in the Naperville area so residents can enjoy the outdoors this winter.
Residents can join the Forest Preserve Trail Club at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6, at Whalon Lake on Royce Road, just west of Route 53 in Naperville, to walk its 1.6-mile loop.
Participants should enter the preserve from Royce Road and follow the access drive until it ends in the parking lot at the southwest edge of the lake. The meeting spot will be the Lakeside Shelter.
The walking club is open to all ages and free to attend. No registration is required.
The Trail Club, a winter walking series that promotes fitness and community, runs from January to March and meets at different forest preserves each month. Participants who attend three walks this season will earn a Trail Club sticker.
The forest preserve district will also host a short, guided hike at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 11, at the Hidden Oaks Nature Center, 419 Trout Farm Road, Bolingbrook. It will include discussion about birds that stay or migrate through Will County during the winter and how participants can attract winter birds to their yards.
The free event is open to anyone 10 years or older. Registration is required by Saturday, Jan. 10.
For more information, go to www.reconnectwithnature.org.
Naperville residents graduate, make college academic lists
The following Naperville residents have completed college/university degrees or have been named to their school’s dean’s list, honor roll or similar academic achievement list.
GRADUATES
University of Wisconsin-Madison: Hannan Ahmad, master’s degree, Mechanical Engineering; Jalal Bandealy, bachelor’s degree, Civil Engineering; Kaley Gasior, bachelor’s degree, Mathematics; Yifan Zhou, bachelors’s degree, Economics.
Marquette University in Milwaukee: Dimi Bonoris, bachelors’s degree, Nursing; Joanna Gao, master’s degree, Physician Assistant Studies; Anthonia Jeje, master’s degree, Nursing.
Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa: Christopher Orenczak, bachelor’s degree, General Science.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Charles Bernard, bachelor’s degree, Engineering.
National University of Health Sciences in Lombard: Hunter Clarke, Doctor of Chiropractic; Marie-Ange Ogoudou, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine.
ACADEMIC LISTS
Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa: Michael Mcintyre.
Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa: Alexia McIntyre.
Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais: Cassidy Hastings and Lillian James.
Belmont University in Nashville: Cooper Chu, Michele Dause, Anna Buescher, Colby Van Gelderen, Shelby Littel, Shivam Patnaik, Danielle Hanson, Rylee Ruscitti, Adelyn Haeger.
Northwestern University in Evanston: Omar M. Coleman.
Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Reagan Kreamer.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater: Cosmo Champion, Courtney Gaither, Dylan Higgins, Angela Hirsch, Aria Patel, Evelyn Schmidt, Carter Sessa, Bella Thompson.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/24/naperville-whalon-hikes-residents-graduate-deans/
Federal Judge Bars Trump Admin’s Funding Cuts To Sanctuary States
Federal Judge Bars Trump Admin’s Funding Cuts To Sanctuary States
Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A federal judge in Rhode Island has blocked the Trump administration’s plan to divert Homeland Security funding from states that fail to assist with certain federal immigration efforts.
U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy’s ruling on Monday sided with a coalition of 12 attorneys general that sued the administration this year after being informed that several states would receive reduced federal grants as a result of their sanctuary jurisdiction statuses.
The order affects funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which had cut more than $233 million from Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. These funds are part of a $1 billion program tied to risk assessments and primarily go to local law enforcement and emergency services.
The group of a dozen attorneys general included those from California, Illinois, and New Jersey, who all wanted to participate in challenging the legality of the Trump administration’s policy.
In her 48-page ruling, McElroy ruled that the government’s funding decisions wrongly took into consideration states’ positions on immigration enforcement.
“What else could defendants’ decisions to cut funding to specific counterterrorism programming by conspicuous round numbered amounts—including by slashing off the millions-place digits of awarded sums—be if not arbitrary and capricious? Neither a law degree nor a degree in mathematics is required to deduce that no plausible, rational formula could produce this result,” McElroy wrote.
The judge then ordered DHS to reinstate the previously announced funding allocations to the plaintiff states.
“Defendants’ wanton abuse of their role in federal grant administration is particularly troublesome given the fact that they have been entrusted with a most solemn duty: safeguarding our nation and its citizens,” McElroy wrote. “While the intricacies of administrative law and the terms and conditions on federal grants may seem abstract to some, the funding at issue here supports vital counterterrorism and law enforcement programs.”
McElroy highlighted the recent Brown University attack, where a man killed two students and injured nine others, as an instance where the $1 billion federal program would be crucial in responding to such a tragedy.
“To hold hostage funding for programs like these based solely on what appear to be defendants’ political whims is unconscionable and, at least here, unlawful,” the Rhode Island-based judge stated in her ruling.
DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said the department will fight the order.
“This judicial sabotage threatens the safety of our states, counties, towns, and weakens the entire nation,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “We will fight to restore these critical reforms and protect American lives.”
The White House did not return a request for comment.
The lawsuit dates back to September, when 11 states and the District of Columbia took aim at the administration’s directive to slash funds to sanctuary areas, arguing it violated federal law and was meant to coerce compliance with immigration policies.
A federal judge permanently blocked DHS in October from withholding $34 million for New York City’s transportation security due to its sanctuary status, calling the action “arbitrary, capricious, and a blatant violation of the law.”
An August ruling barred funding blocks to 34 cities and counties over sanctuary policies, extending injunctions against immigration-related grant conditions.
In April, a judge blocked Trump’s broader defunding efforts against sanctuary cities such as San Francisco and Santa Clara, California, following suits against executive orders.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/24/2025 – 12:05
Winfield councilman adopts former K-9 but donor dispute remains
A K-9 named Rak is officially no longer a member of the Winfield Police Department and is reportedly living with Winfield Town Councilman Tim Clayton and his family.
The Winfield Town Council on Tuesday approved a request from Winfield Town Marshal Robert Byrd that Rak be administratively removed from the town’s police department membership ranks.
The council, with Clayton abstaining, also approved transferring the ownership of Rak to the Clayton family.
“Of note is that the police department does not have any personnel or training records for Rak, probably because they were maintained by Rak’s police handler who is no longer a member of the department,” Byrd said to the council.
Rak’s police handler was Sgt. Stephen Garpow, who had been on paid administrative leave but resigned from the Winfield Police Department late last year and took the dog with him to the southern part of the state, town officials said.
Earlier this year, Rak was brought back to Winfield and taken by officials to the Hobart Animal Clinic where he was housed for one and a half months.
He was then taken in by the Clayton family where he has remained for the last eight months or so, town officials said.
Byrd said that Rak’s long-term separation from both the police department and his handler, coupled with Rak and his handler’s lack of continuous K-9 training and certifications, disqualified them both from conducting police narcotics investigations and making arrests.
If the need for a K-9 arises in Winfield, the town’s department will call upon its law enforcement partners from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, Crown Point, and the Merrillville police departments for immediate assistance, Byrd said.
Winfield Town Attorney David Austgen said Clayton and his family took on the care of and responsibility of Rak after he became injured while housed in an area clinic.
“The record should reflect that for the past eight months plus or minus Rak has been well trained, well cared for and well preserved,” Austgen said.
Clayton said he and his family have taken on the care of Rak and have been responsible for all his expenses since he came under their care.
“We were told to bring him back and then he sat there,” Clayton said, in reference to the clinic.
Clayton said he visited Rak, after he had been taken to the Hobart Animal Clinic earlier this year by town officials and it was there that the dog had injured his own tail which had to be amputated
He said officials at the clinic agreed Rak should be removed and so he took him home.
Hobart Animal Clinic officials could not comment on whether Rak had been a patient or stayed there due to privacy laws that apply to animals.
Clayton said he and his family have been criticized on social media, particularly by a non-Winfield resident and former town employee who was scheduled to speak under public comment.
“I want to call off the blatant allegations…This dog is well cared for and well loved,” Clayton said.
He said Rak is not malnourished but is rather a happy and healthy addition to his family.
“This dog eats everything,” he said.
Michael Green, the Crown Point resident who had requested to speak, said work restraints kept him from attending the meeting but he did have questions about Rak including the dog’s condition and why the Clayton family was the one that took him in.
Green denied he was harassing Clayton or his family or anyone on the town council, but rather he just wanted some answers.
“You’re allowed to criticize public figures and the town’s Facebook forum is a public forum,” Green said.
Town Councilman David Anderson, R-at-large, said after the meeting, it was K-9 donor Marie Buckingham who is at fault for the town keeping Rak in the Hobart Animal Clinic as long as they did.
Anderson said town officials had contacted Buckingham after the dog was returned to the area, from where the dog’s former trainer had taken him, but she said she didn’t want him but only the money she had invested in him.
“They all lied to you,” said Buckingham, when reached after the town council meeting.
She denied she asked town officials for money and never once was she offered the return of Rak.
“They refused to tell me where Rak was,” Buckingham said.
If the town had returned Rak to her, she said she would have donated him to a police department in Porter County that needed a K-9.
Buckingham, a Lakes of the Four Seasons resident, donated Rak to the police department at a Winfield Town Council meeting nearly four years ago in honor of her son, Ryan Adam Kelly, after he was hit from behind by an impaired truck driver on Nov. 19, 2010, while driving to work. He died six days later after spending nearly a week in a coma.
Buckingham subsequently founded VOID Inc., or Victims of Impaired Driving, the Ryan Adam Kelly Foundation, early on after her son’s death.
She hoped that Rak, a trained black Labrador retriever, would be able to serve with the police department for 10 years or more instead of the 18 months he served.
“They (town officials) have mentally and physically destroyed the dog. He had an 8-10 year career ahead of him and they destroyed that,” she said.
Buckingham said she was able to obtain a 75-page medical report on Rak when he was taken to the Hobart Animal Clinic for care by Clayton and family members, and the dog’s condition sounded far from healthy earlier in the year.
She said the report from the clinic shows Rak’s tail had to be amputated twice. He also suffered behavioral problems, ear infections, an E. coli infection and was malnourished.
“He (Rak) never had any of those issues before that,” she said.
Buckingham believes town officials haven’t been above board with her when it comes to answering questions about Rak’s whereabouts.
She also believes town officials have mischaracterized her and the purposes of her foundation in a Winfield Town Facebook statement posted earlier this summer, referring to her as “one of the numerous donors.”
The town statement provided a history of what had taken place within the police department, including that of Rak’s handler, Garpow, who was placed on leave at about the same time as former Town Marshal Dan Ball.
Both resigned late last year.
The town’s online statement read, in part:
“In the intervening period, one of the numerous donors who helped raise funds to contribute to the initiative of adding a K-9 began posting online that she was Rak’s owner prompting the town council to reach out to investigate what she meant by the statement.”
“The donor also stated that she wanted Rak returned to her and believed that she was entitled to $16,000 by virtue of her donation efforts, the frustration she faced by the former officers and the purported contract,” the town’s statement read in part.
Buckingham said reference to her as one of the donors was not accurate.
“Rak belongs to my foundation. He was dedicated and not donated,” said Buckingham, pointing to a copy of the Jan. 25, 2022, Winfield Town Council minutes, which stated: “49 percent of Rak belongs to the Winfield Police Department and 51 percent belongs to Marie to ensure that Rak will stay to serve Winfield.”
Winfield town officials have refuted her ownership claim in the statement posted on their website: “As of this date, no contract has been found or presented either in town records or by the donor to support her request for a return of the donation made to the K-9 fund.”
Since the Jan. 28 Winfield Town Council, when Buckingham inquired about the dog’s whereabouts and threatened possible legal action, communications have been between Brett Galvan, Buckingham’s attorney, and town officials, including the town’s attorney.
In a statement, Galvan said: “Ms. Buckingham worked tirelessly, without any interest or personal or monetary gain, to provide a tribute for her late son. The stress this has put on her and her family is tremendous and uncalled for. One minute the town was open and eager to resolve this issue and the next minute it was silent.”
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Strong 7Y Treasury Sale Sends Yields To Session Low In Final 2025 Auction
Strong 7Y Treasury Sale Sends Yields To Session Low In Final 2025 Auction
After two poor, disappointing coupon auctions earlier this week, when global yields were surging thanks to the circus that is Japan, we have come to the final note auction of the year, and yes… this one was not quite as bad.
The sale of $44BN in 7Y notes priced at a high yield of 3.930%, up from 3.781% in November and the highest since July. That said, the auction stopped through the 3.933% When Issued by 0.3bps, and followed 4 consecutive tailing auctions.
The bid to cover was 2.509, up from 2.459 last month and the highest since July, if just below the six-auction average of 2.520.
Unlike the week’s previous coupon auctions, which saw a slide in foreign demand, the internals were stronger and Indirects took down 59.04%, up from 56.65% and the highest since August’s 77.5%. And with Directs rising to 31.6%, just shy of a record high, Dealers were left with just 9.34%, the lowest since July.
Overall, this was a stronger auction than the subpar fare observed earlier this week, which is handy since this was also the final auction of the year, helping push yields down to session lows. Of course, we now have an entirely new year to look forward to and with an onslaught of deficit-funding debt on deck, far more ugly auctions on deck.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/24/2025 – 11:57
Gary politicians hosts annual Spirit of Christmas gift giveaway
For about 10 years, Kim Britton has volunteered to give away Christmas gifts, and she has no plans to stop soon.
“I really love the cause,” the Crown Point resident said. “I really love to serve God’s people, so I’ll take any opportunity I get to serve the community. I just love doing stuff like this.”
On Tuesday, state Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, and Councilman Dwight Williams, D-6th, hosted the 37th annual Spirit of Christmas Giveaway at the Calumet Township Multipurpose Center, 1900 W. 41st Ave. The event had more than 700 gifts available on Tuesday, Smith said.
Gifts are available for people of all ages, and they receive a ticket with their gender and age range to bring to their respective table. Volunteers also give snacks to participants during the giveaway.
“I feel like there are so many people out there who could use the help, and you just never know their situation,” Britton said. “This time of year can be really difficult for families because it’s Christmas, and sometimes people don’t have the money to get as many gifts as they would like to. So, they can come here and get a chance to put an extra gift under the tree.”
Smith begins to buy presents the day after Christmas, he said Tuesday.
Volunteer Breann Jackson, 5, holds out a toy to a child as she distributes gifts during the annual Spirit of Christmas gift giveaway on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Kyle Telechan/for the Post-Tribune)
“I’m shopping the whole year for sales,” Smith said. “The first year we did this, it was expensive for us because we bought everything right before Christmas. So, now I start buying stuff on the 26th of December when it’s on sale.”
As a state representative, Smith sees himself as a public servant, and that’s why he thinks giving back is important, especially this time of year. His Christian faith also guides his desire to continue the gift giveaway.
“When people come out to get their gifts, it’s just really rewarding,” Smith said. “I found that Christmas is the loneliest time of year for some people … and we want them to know that there are some people in this world that care about them, especially when they might not feel like it.”
The Calumet Township Multipurpose Center is in Gary’s Sixth District, which Williams represents. He believes it’s important to give back to the community and be present for the people he represents.
Volunteer Kim Britton, of Crown Point, smiles as she distributes gifts to children during the annual Spirit of Christmas gift giveaway on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Kyle Telechan/for the Post-Tribune)
“It’s a good time,” Williams said. “It’s good to know that people want to give back this time of the year and help out their neighbors. … It’s important to give back to the community, during Christmas and any other day, because we have a lot of people living here struggling to stay in their homes and pay their bills on top of everything else this time of year.”
Williams’ favorite part of the gift giveaway is watching children pick out their gifts.
Proselia Walker, a Gary resident, attended the giveaway with two of her grandsons, 4-year-old Keilan Clark and 6-year-old Kamari Johnson. This was Walker’s first year at the giveaway, and she said she brought her grandsons so they could see how the Gary community cares for them.
Walker also said it’s exciting to spend time with her grandchildren and watch them take their time and pick gifts.
Gift recipient Godly Dukes, 1, lies on a newly-acquired stuffed animal during the annual Spirit of Christmas gift giveaway on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Kyle Telechan/for the Post-Tribune)
“They always do what they want to do,” she said. “I was trying to get Kamari to get a coat because I know it’ll be helpful for his mom, but he wanted to look at the toys.”
Walker is thankful for Smith and Williams and how they give back to Gary. She believes that she’ll be back with her grandchildren in the future.
“It’s amazing,” Walker said. “And it’s a blessing because not everybody has a heart to want to give back. (A lot of people) are about take, take, take, not give, give, give, and that hurts the people who need help.”
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
One person dead, three injured in Crown Point wreck
One person died and three people were injured after a multi-vehicle wreck late Tuesday afternoon in Crown Point, police said.
Information on the identity of the person who died is pending notification of family by the Lake County Coroner’s Office, according to Crown Point Police.
Around 5:36 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, the Crown Point police and fire departments responded to a serious crash in the 11200 block of Broadway, according to a post on the police department’s Facebook page.
According to a preliminary investigation, a 2010 Chevy Silverado was traveling southbound on Broadway when the driver crossed into the northbound lanes and collided head-on with a 2014 Mercedes-Benz SUV, police said.
After the initial impact, the SUV spun around and hit a 1994 GMC truck that was also headed southbound. As the accident was unfolding, a 2023 Dodge Charger was traveling northbound behind the SUV.
In an effort to avoid the crash, the driver of the Dodge Charger changed lanes and collided with the spinning Chevy Silverado.
Three people involved sustained non-life-threatening injuries. All involved in the incident were transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
The driver of the Chevy Silverado suffered serious, life-threatening injuries and was transported to Franciscan Health Crown Point, police said. The driver was pronounced dead at the hospital. The motorist’s identity is pending notification by the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
The Crown Point Emergency Management Agency also responded to the scene. The South Lake County Crash Reconstruction Team is investigating.
Police did not release additional information Wednesday morning.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/24/one-person-dead-three-injured-in-crown-point-wreck/
El enfrentamiento Lions-Vikings pierde brillo, pero Detroit aún tiene esperanzas de playoffs
Por DAVE CAMPBELL
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Los Lions de Detroit no pueden ganar la División Norte de la Conferencia Nacional después de haber obtenido los dos últimos títulos. Los Vikings de Minnesota fueron eliminados de la contienda por los playoffs antes de saltar al campo de juego hace dos semanas.
Las 29 victorias que estos rivales de división combinaron la temporada pasada son ahora un recuerdo lejano, el último ejemplo de cuán rápidamente pueden cambiar las rumbos de los equipos en la NFL de un año a otro.
Los Lions y los Vikings eran un emparejamiento natural para uno de los tres juegos destacados de la liga que se transmiten en el Día de Navidad, con ofensivas de alto puntaje y mucho poder estelar, pero las películas navideñas podrían hacer que este juego retroceda un poco en la cola para algunos suscriptores de Netflix, dado el estado actual de los dos equipos. El enfrentamiento anterior del jueves entre los Cowboys de Dallas y los Commanders de Washington parece ser una decepción aún mayor, con ambos rivales del Este de la NFC eliminados de la contienda por los playoffs.
Los Lions, al menos, tienen una oportunidad de regresar a la postemporada, aunque necesitan ayuda para conseguirlo.
El plan es “simple”: vencer a Minnesota el jueves y a Chicago la próxima semana y que Green Bay pierda sus últimos dos juegos, contra Baltimore el sábado y en Minnesota en la semana 18.
Después de llegar al juego de campeonato de la Conferencia Nacional para la temporada 2023 y registrar un récord de franquicia de 15 victorias la campaña pasada, los Lions (8-7) están en problemas después de perder en casa ante Pittsburgh la semana pasada, lo que marcó su primera racha de dos derrotas consecutivas en más de tres años.
“No hemos tenido esa sensación. Ahora se está acercando a nosotros”, dijo el quarterback Jared Goff. “Tenemos que encontrar una manera”.
Los Vikings recurren a Brosmer nuevamente
El novato no reclutado Max Brosmer se ha estado preparando en esta semana acortada para su segunda titularidad como quarterback de los Vikings (7-8), otro desarrollo inesperado en esta temporada accidentada.
Brosmer recibió una asignación muy difícil en su primer inicio de carrera el 30 de noviembre en Seattle contra una de las mejores defensivas de la NFL, con J.J. McCarthy fuera por una conmoción cerebral y Carson Wentz fuera por el año tras una cirugía de hombro. Brosmer lanzó cuatro intercepciones en una derrota 26-0 ante los Seahawks, que fue la primera blanqueada para los Vikings en 18 años.
Esta vez, con McCarthy no disponible debido a una fractura en su mano de lanzar, Brosmer jugará en casa contra una defensa mucho más vulnerable, con la experiencia invaluable de Seattle grabada en su mente.
Con tres titulares en su secundaria en la reserva de lesionados, incluidos los safeties estrellas Brian Branch y Kerby Joseph, la defensiav de los Lions se ha desmoronado. Permitió a los Steelers tres touchdowns diferentes de 45 yardas la semana pasada, dos por tierra y uno por pase.
Los Lions luchan por correr el balón
El ataque terrestre que impulsó el éxito de Detroit en las dos temporadas anteriores ha decaído este año. La línea ofensiva perdió dos titulares de 2024 que no fueron reemplazados adecuadamente, y las lesiones han tenido a los miembros del grupo de esta temporada entrando y saliendo de la alineación.
Jahmyr Gibbs y David Montgomery, como resultado, no han sido tan productivos, y las jugadas de engaño que Goff maneja tan bien tampoco ha sido tan efectivas.
La semana pasada, los Lions lograron solo 15 yardas por tierra, su total más bajo desde 2016. Están 0-6 esta temporada cuando no alcanzan las 100 yardas por tierra, incluida la derrota del 2 de noviembre en casa ante Minnesota.
“Es muy difícil controlar cualquier cosa si no puedes controlar el juego terrestre”, dijo el entrenador Dan Campbell.
Los Lions se reencuentran con una racha de derrotas
Los Lions habían ganado 15 veces consecutivas después de una derrota para igualar la racha más larga de la liga con Denver (1984 a 1988) y Baltimore (2009 a 2012), según datos de Sportradar, hasta que su remontada tardía se quedó corta en el final salvaje de la semana pasada contra Pittsburgh.
Esta es la primera vez que Detroit pierde juegos consecutivos desde que comenzó 1-6 en 2022 durante la segunda temporada de Campbell.
Las estrellas se apagan para los Vikings
Los Vikings fueron uno de los únicos tres equipos que no tuvieron al menos una selección para el Pro Bowl, solo la tercera vez en la historia de la franquicia que eso sucede, después de 1983 y 2014. La temporada pasada, los Vikings tuvieron siete jugadores honrados mientras ganaban 14 juegos.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Column: No one is buying the Bears’ Indiana stadium gambit
There was a holiday hootenanny on Chicago’s lakefront when the Bears bested long-time rival the Green Bay Packers in a thrilling overtime victory on Saturday night. The spectacular win meant the team clinched a spot in the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2020.
Orange-and-blue pride has swept the region. But like a lingering hangover, there remains that stadium-search buzzkill.
Kevin Warren, the Bears’ president and chief executive officer, certainly made no friends among fans or influenced Illinois lawmakers when he tossed out the possibility last week that the team might, maybe, consider moving to northwest Indiana.
Nobody believes that scenario, despite the announcement this week that the Kansas City Chiefs, in a similar situation to the Bears, are actually moving to Kansas.
Bears fans should be familiar with the shifting plans the Monsters of the Midway have spread across conference room tables at Halas Hall in Lake Forest:
First, Soldier Field, where the team’s lease runs through 2033, was proposed as home to a fancy new $3.2 billion lakefront stadium.
Then, the former Arlington Park Racetrack in Arlington Heights, which the McCaskey family purchased in 2023 for nearly $200 million, surfaced as a new Bears den. The site off Northwest Highway and Route 53, was/is going to be turned into a $5 billion, mixed-use development with a 60,000-seat domed stadium.
Now comes the threat of jumping the border into Indiana, which currently has a professional football team, the Indianapolis Colts. Some may remember the Colts were the gems of their former Baltimore home before a sneaky middle-of-the-night run in 1984 from Charm City to the Hoosier State.
In a letter to season ticket holders, Warren spelled out that although Arlington Heights is the preferred site, the team is exploring “other viable alternatives,” including a nebulous and unspecified northwest Indiana location. Prompting this latest plan is the team’s concern over the stated needs for property-tax breaks and infrastructure help from the state of Illinois and lawmakers’ cavalier attitude toward the Bears’ proposals.
Surely, if the team were serious about going to Indiana, officials there would be asked to pony up state funding to help build what would be a mammoth undertaking. If you’ve driven Indiana roads, the state isn’t exactly known for its sterling infrastructure.
One site not being mentioned by Bears’ honchos as viable is the lakefront property offered by former Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor during the team’s early stadium search. The land on the city’s north Lake Michigan shoreline is definitely dead in the water, if it ever was floating. Also sunk appear to be sites in Aurora, Naperville and a few south Cook County suburbs.
Some may remember New York City’s pro football teams faced a similar stadium dilemma. They ended up in a multi-use stadium in New Jersey. Don’t think that movable option to another state is on the table for the Bears.
What remains on the table, however, is that Halas Hall in Conway Park, off Route 60, which has been the headquarters for the team since 1997, will stay in Lake Forest, according to a News-Sun front-page story this week by Daniel Dorfman, quoting a team vice president.
That alone is a clue the Bears will continue to be an Illinois team in a state where it was founded in Decatur in 1919 as the Staleys. By 1920, “Papa Bear” George Halas, one of the founders of the National Football League, moved the team from Downstate and changed the name to the Chicago Bears. The rest is history.
Lake Forest has been a nexus for the Bears since the team began practicing in the city, near Lake Forest College, in 1975. The first Halas Hall was built adjacent to the college in 1979. Plenty of team officials and players live in Lake County.
While the Bears flip-flop over stadium plans, officials of the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football Conference have settled on a domed stadium near Olathe, Kansas, a suburb southeast of Kansas City, Missouri. That comes less than a week after the Bears’ Indiana gambit.
The new Chiefs stadium in a mixed-use district is planned to be completed in time for the 2031 season and would cost an estimated $3 billion, with Kansas picking up about 60% of the cost for the project. The plans are similar to what the Bears have proposed.
The Chiefs currently play in Arrowhead Stadium, their home since 1972, in the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, Missouri. The team’s lease goes through the 2030 season at the stadium, the oldest in the AFC, which underwent $20 million in renovations in order to host World Cup games next summer.
According to Kansas City media outlets, voters on the Missouri side rejected a boost in the sales tax which would have funded improvements to Arrowhead Stadium, located near the intersection of two interstates and help finance a new stadium for the baseball Royals.
The debate over the new stadium will continue in the new year. It’s time to bear down and not hibernate for the two remaining games and the coming postseason.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor, and editor.
sellenews@gmail.com
X @sellenews
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/24/selle-column-chicago-bears-stadium/
Federal Judge Upholds New York’s Driver’s Licenses For Illegals
Federal Judge Upholds New York’s Driver’s Licenses For Illegals
Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the Trump administration’s challenge to New York’s Green Light Law, upholding the state’s issuance of driver’s licenses to individuals without requiring proof of legal U.S. residency.
U.S. District Judge Anne M. Nardacci (Biden) in Albany determined that the Trump administration, which challenged the law under President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration laws, failed to back its claims that the state law usurps federal law or that it unlawfully regulates or unlawfully discriminates against the federal government.
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit against the state over the law in February, naming Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, as defendants.
“As I said from the start, our laws protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe,” James said in a statement on Dec. 19. “I will always stand up for New Yorkers and the rule of law.”
Nardacci stated that her job was not to evaluate the desirability of the Green Light Law as a policy matter. Rather, she said in a 23-page opinion, it was to assess whether the Trump administration’s arguments established that the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which grants federal laws precedence over state laws.
The administration, she wrote, has “failed to state such a claim.”
The Green Light Law was framed as improving public safety on the roads, as people without licenses sometimes drove without one or without having passed a road test. The state also makes it easier for holders of such licenses to get auto insurance in an attempt to minimize accidents involving uninsured drivers.
Under the law, people without a valid Social Security number can submit alternative forms of ID, such as valid passports and driver’s licenses issued in other countries. Applicants must still obtain a permit and pass a road test to qualify for a “standard driver’s license.” The program does not apply to commercial driver’s licenses.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit sought to strike down the law as “a frontal assault on the federal immigration laws, and the federal authorities that administer them.”
It noted a provision that requires the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles commissioner to notify people who are in the country illegally when a federal immigration agency has requested their information.
In 2020, during Trump’s first term, his administration sought to push New York into changing the law by preventing anyone from the state from enrolling in trusted traveler programs.
Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo offered to restore limited federal access to driving records, but stated he would not allow immigration agents to see lists of people who applied for the special licenses available to immigrants who couldn’t prove legal residency in the country. The administration restored New Yorkers’ access to the trusted traveler program after a short-lived legal battle.
In the lawsuit thrown out Tuesday, the administration contended that it would be simpler to enforce federal immigration priorities if federal authorities had unhindered access to New York’s driver data. Nardacci, agreeing with a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in a county clerk’s prior challenge to the law, stated that such information “remains available to federal immigration authorities” via a lawful court order or judicial warrant.
In December 2019, former ICE acting director Tom Homan, now Trump’s border Czar, called the law an “enticement” that minimizes the illegality of illegal immigration by providing benefits.
“There’s absolutely no reason to give a privilege of a driver’s license to someone who is here in violation of the law,” Homan stated.
In February 2020, a New York sheriff said the law hinders human trafficking investigations by restricting DMV data sharing with federal agents.
“So, if Border Patrol came and said, ‘Hey, we want to look through your records because we’re looking for this guy,’ I can’t share our investigation with them if it has DMV data,” Wayne County Sheriff Barry Virts said.
That same month, the Department of Homeland Security banned New Yorkers from enrolling in trusted traveler programs, with acting Secretary Chad Wolf citing the law’s barriers to DMV data access as the reason.
New York responded with a lawsuit, alleging the ban was punitive and harmed residents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/24/2025 – 11:25
