Category: News
Community news: Students give back, MLK Day events and Fix-It Fair
Valparaiso University occupational therapy students give back to community
Students in Valparaiso University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions’ (CoNHP) Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) embraced the holiday spirit this year, participating in the Salvation Army of Porter County’s new Adopt-A-Family program. Taking on the needs of two families, the group gathered, wrapped and delivered $1,100 worth of holiday gifts for children and parents. The Adopt-A-Family program helps address the needs of low-income families in times of need, such as during the holiday season. Recipients of program benefits are those who cannot afford new toys, warm clothes or other seasonal items, and range from single-parent households on limited income, to large families where one or both parents are facing emergencies. For more on how to donate or get help from the Salvation Army of Porter County, visit www.salvationarmyusa.org/in/valparaiso/capitol-rd-corps/.
Waste Reduction District accepting committee applications
The Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County is accepting applications to serve on its Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC). Members are appointed annually and meet four to six times a year to devise strategies for improving waste reduction efforts throughout the county. The application period is open until Jan. 2. Apply at PorterCountyRecycling.org. Click on the “About Us” tab, find “Reports and Publications,” then scroll down to the “Citizen’s Advisory Committee” and click on the Application. Email completed applications to info@portercountyrecycling.org.
Purdue Northwest to host 2026 MLK Day events
Purdue University Northwest (PNW) invites the community to join in its celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy with two free programs featuring keynote speakers and opportunities for dialogue. A MLK Day Celebration will take place from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Jan. 15 in Alumni Hall of the Student Union and Library Building on the Hammond campus, 2200 169th St. The keynote speaker will be Shontrai Irving, PNW alumnus and clinical professor of Business Law at PNW. A MLK Day Celebration also will be held from 7:45 to 9:30 a.m. Jan. 19 in the Great Hall Events and Conference Center inside the James B. Dworkin Student Services and Activities complex on PNW’s Westville campus, 1401 S. U.S. 421. The program will include a performance by the Michigan City Krueger Middle School Choir, remarks by PNW Chancellor Kenneth C. Holford and Michigan City Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch, and a keynote address by Kiahna W. Davis. The event will include a free buffet breakfast. For more information on PNW’s MLK Day celebrations, including registration and sponsorship opportunities, visit pnw.edu/mlk-celebration.
Master Gardeners to offer ‘Winter Seed Sowing Workshop’
Join the Lake County Master Gardeners at 10 a.m. Jan. 10 for their “Winter Seed Sowing Workshop” with Dolly Foster. The workshop will take place at the Purdue Cooperative Extension building, 2293 N. Main St., Crown Point. Winter Sowing is a method of starting seeds outdoors in the winter. The workshop will focus on the “milk jug method,” an easy and successful way to start annuals, perennials, veggies, herbs and native seeds. Attendees are asked to bring a 1-gallon plastic jug and seeds to be used in preparing their winter sowing containers. Contact lakecountymastergardeners@gmail.com to reserve a space, or register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdMEe6eEbzuLhtNF1FzJnecY67qyCdvDmCGV_osJPibalvV8Q/viewform.
Waste Reduction District, library to host Fix-It Fair
The Recycling and Waste District of Porter County will host a Fix-It Fair, a community-driven event focused on sustainability and skill-sharing. This free event will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Valparaiso Branch of the Porter County Public Library System, 103 Jefferson St., Valparaiso. The Fix-It Fair is designed to help community members breathe new life into their beloved but broken items, rather than discarding them. Expert volunteers will be on hand to offer free repair services and guidance for a wide variety of items, including, but not limited to: sewing and clothing; jewelry; small appliances; IT troubleshooting and computers; electronics; clocks and lamps; and tools and small furniture. Attendees are asked to register at https://portercountyrecycling.org/fix-it-fairs/ to ensure volunteers are prepared to make appropriate repairs. The Fix-It Fair is free and open to the public, but registration is required. For further information, contact Sarah at sarah@portercountyrecycling.org.
Jackie Chan lleva la antorcha olímpica de Milán-Cortina por las ruinas de Pompeya
Associated Press
POMPEYA, Italia (AP) — El actor Jackie Chan llevó el lunes la antorcha olímpica a través de las ruinas de Pompeya durante el relevo de los Juegos de Invierno de Milán-Cortina.
La ruta del día también pasó por la pintoresca Costa Amalfitana.
El martes, las estrellas del fútbol italiano Fabio Cannavaro y Ciro Ferrara llevarán la antorcha por su natal Nápoles, donde el relevo hará una pausa por Navidad.
En total, el relevo cubrirá 12.000 kilómetros (casi 7.500 millas) y recorrerá las 110 provincias italianas antes de llegar al Estadio San Siro de Milán para la ceremonia de apertura el seis de febrero.
Pompeya, una antigua ciudad romana, fue sepultada por cenizas y lava cuando el Monte Vesubio entró en erupción en el año 79 d.C.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Trump se reúne con asesores de seguridad nacional en medio de tensiones con Venezuela
Por AAMER MADHANI y EMMA BURROWS
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, EE.UU. (AP) — El presidente Donald Trump se reúne con altos funcionarios de seguridad nacional el lunes, en momentos en que la Guardia Costera intensifica los esfuerzos para interceptar petroleros como parte de su campaña de presión contra el presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro.
El secretario de Estado Marco Rubio, el secretario de Defensa Pete Hegseth y el secretario de la Marina John Phelan están programados para unirse a Trump, quien está de vacaciones en su resort Mar-a-Lago, para lo que la Casa Blanca llamó un “anuncio importante”. Trump planea discutir una iniciativa de construcción naval en el evento, según un funcionario de la Casa Blanca que no estaba autorizado para comentar públicamente y habló bajo condición de anonimato.
Sin embargo, la reunión de Trump también se produce en medio de la campaña de presión de cuatro meses sobre el gobierno de Maduro, que comenzó con el propósito declarado de frenar el flujo de drogas ilegales pero se ha convertido en algo más amorfo.
El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Rusia ha comenzado a evacuar a familias de diplomáticos de Venezuela, según un funcionario de inteligencia europeo que habló bajo condición de anonimato para discutir información sensible.
El funcionario dijo a Associated Press que las evacuaciones incluyen mujeres y niños y comenzaron el viernes. El funcionario señaló que el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Rusia está evaluando la situación en Venezuela en “tonos muy sombríos”. La Casa Blanca y el Kremlin no respondieron a solicitudes de comentarios.
En el Caribe, la Guardia Costera de Estados Unidos continuó el lunes por segundo día persiguiendo un petrolero sancionado que la administración Trump describe como parte de una “flota clandestina” que Venezuela está utilizando para evadir sanciones. El petrolero, agregó el funcionario, navega bajo bandera falsa y está bajo orden de incautación judicial de Estados Unidos.
Es el tercer barco perseguido por la Guardia Costera, que el sábado incautó un buque con bandera de Panamá llamado Centuries que, según funcionarios estadounidenses, era parte de la flota clandestina venezolana.
La Guardia Costera, con la asistencia de la Marina, incautó un petrolero sancionado llamado Skipper el 10 de diciembre, también parte de la flota de petroleros que, según Estados Unidos, opera al margen de la ley para mover carga sancionada. Ese barco estaba registrado en Panamá.
Trump, después de esa primera incautación, dijo que Estados Unidos llevaría a cabo un “bloqueo” de Venezuela. Trump ha dicho repetidamente que los días de Maduro en el poder están contados.
La semana pasada, Trump exigió que Venezuela devuelva activos que había incautado a compañías petroleras estadounidenses hace años, justificando nuevamente su anuncio de un “bloqueo” contra los petroleros sancionados que viajan hacia o desde el país sudamericano.
La secretaria de Seguridad Nacional Kristi Noem, cuya agencia supervisa la Guardia Costera, declaró el lunes en una aparición en “Fox & Friends” que los operativos contra los barcos buscan enviar “un mensaje al mundo de que la actividad ilegal en la que participa Maduro no puede continuar, él debe irse, y que defenderemos a nuestra gente”.
Mientras tanto, el Departamento de Defensa, bajo órdenes de Trump, continúa su campaña de ataques a embarcaciones más pequeñas en el Caribe y el Océano Pacífico oriental que, según alega, están transportando drogas a Estados Unidos y más allá.
Al menos 104 personas han sido muerto en 28 ataques conocidos desde principios de septiembre. Los ataques han enfrentado escrutinio por parte de legisladores estadounidenses y activistas de derechos humanos, quienes dicen que la administración ha ofrecido escasas pruebas de que son realmente traficantes de drogas y que los ataques equivalen a ejecuciones extrajudiciales.
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Burrows reportó desde Londres.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Is Patrick Williams on his way to becoming the 11th man for the Chicago Bulls?
ATLANTA — Nearly 15 minutes after the opening tip of Sunday’s win over the Hawks in Atlanta, Patrick Williams strode to the scorers table and began to tug off his black warmup.
Only five minutes and nine seconds remained in the first quarter. Williams was set to become the fifth player to come off the bench for the Chicago Bulls.
For a minute, Williams seemed confident. Self-possessed. In his first offensive possession, he grabbed a pass at the top of the key and barrelled downhill for a layup, rolling the ball off his fingers and over the rim. This isn’t new. The play looked easy. Basketball often looks easy when things are going right for Williams.
But Williams faded in and out of focus during the game. He clung to the perimeter, grabbed a few offensive boards, rimmed out on a shot from behind the arc. Then he sat on the bench for the entire second quarter. Williams earned two more rotations in the second half — less than three minutes apiece — and finished with only four points, all of which were scored in the first quarter.
This isn’t new either. Williams averages 19.8 minutes per game, the ninth-most on the Bulls roster. In the last four games, he fell to the 11th man on the roster, playing only 12.1 minutes per game.
Bulls’ Patrick Williams stands during player introductions before a game against the Warriors on Dec. 7, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Coach Billy Donovan says this isn’t necessarily the end game for Williams. The Bulls are still figuring out how — and when — to employ a double-big lineup, which often pushes backup forwards to the edge of the rotation. But as the Bulls recalibrate around the return of injured players, it’s clear Williams is losing priority in the team’s depth chart.
“At some point, there’s going to have to be a level of sacrifice by everybody,” Donovan said. “I wouldn’t sit there and say that in my mind, okay, he’s just the 11th guy and that’s it. I don’t know what’s going to happen with our team going forward. But I do think Patrick can help.”
And that doesn’t change the reality for the Bulls — that the team’s highest-drafted player in the last 17 years is confined to a minimal role off the bench.
Donovan knows that when assessing a player’s potential, most fans look to the same place: where a guy was picked. That has never worked in Williams’ favor. The forward has carried the weight of the No. 4 pick ever since he was drafted in 2020. For most of that time, that weight has been too heavy.
The 2020 draft wasn’t the splashiest in league history. (Three of that year’s top 10 picks are actually now on the Bulls roster.) Still, a top-five pick is meant to be a caliber of player that can shift the trajectory of an organization’s future. Instead, Williams continues to be a non-factor.
If anything, this season has been a step backward for Williams. He lost his touch from close range, shooting a confounding 44.4% at the rim. His 3-point shooting is still a lone strength, shooting 40.7% from deep to make more shots from behind the arc than at the rim. Otherwise, Williams is a quiet presence waiting in the wings for the Bulls.
“I’ve got to accept Patrick for what he does and how he contributes as a player,” Donovan said. “There’s been moments where he’s really, really, really been effective and then there’s maybe some other moments he hasn’t.”
It’s easy to get your hopes up about Williams. Donovan even says this himself — just looking at his 6-foot-6 frame and his evident strength, it’s hard not to project the image of a future All-Star onto the forward.
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But his output has always been more modest. Williams has never averaged more than 10.2 points per game. His best rebounding season is still his rookie year, when he averaged 4.6 per game. His two-point shooting has only degraded with time.
And after years of attempting to coax, cajole and command a better version of Williams into existence, Donovan wants to embrace the forward for what he can do for the Bulls right now.
“It’s not like I’ve just resigned myself to the fact that he can’t get better,” Donovan said. “I resigned myself to the fact of, here are the things he does well that can impact our team, and I’m going to count on those things and demand those things out of him. But if I want him to put the ball on the floor and create, make a play and go finish and step through and do all this, that may not be him.”
In the short-term, Donovan wants Williams to focus on simple tangibles that fit into the overall ethos of the new Bulls system.
Most of these requests are fundamentals: take open 3-pointers, contest physically on defense, hit the boards hard, shore up his finishing at the rim.
“If he does those things at a high level, he’s a really, really good contributing factor for us,” Donovan said.
Williams did not choose this. He didn’t ask to be drafted fourth overall. He did not set expectations that he’s never been able to fulfill. And five years removed from his draft, the fault in his growth — or lack thereof — still lies first and foremost with the front office that used a rare top-5 pick on an untested role player.
But blame and regret can’t help the Bulls. For now, the only answer for Williams is to perform his role on the Bulls roster, however big or small.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/22/patrick-williams-chicago-bulls-11th-man/
La cultura pop en 2025: Un anillo para Taylor, una KissCam inoportuna y el misterio 6-7
Por JOCELYN NOVECK
Los diccionarios definen cosas. Es su trabajo. Así que cuando dictionary.com proclamó “6-7” como su palabra del año 2025, uno pensaría que la habrían definido.
Pero no. “Todos seguimos tratando de averiguar exactamente qué significa”, nos dijeron sobre esta “cápsula del tiempo lingüística” de este año.
Pero así es como funciona la cultura pop, ¿no? ¿Quién puede explicar por qué los padres solos en sus autos de repente estaban cantando “up up up” de esa canción de “KPop Demon Hunters”? ¿O por qué, en el diagrama de Venn de la cultura pop y la zoología, fue la capibara el que emergió victorioso y amado? Adiós, Moo Deng. Eres adorable, pero tan 2024.
A pesar de nuestras nuevas obsesiones, algunas cosas permanecieron constantes, por supuesto nos referimos a Taylor Swift y Beyoncé. Parece que cada año es más grande para Swift. Pero en 2025, ella le puso un lazo —o un anillo— con Travis Kelce, cuando anunció “tu maestra de inglés y tu profesor de gimnasia se van a casar”. En cuanto a Beyoncé, la diosa musical finalmente ganó ese Grammy al mejor álbum que tanto merecía y, en su gira, presentó una nueva fuerza: su hija, Blue Ivy.
ENERO
Puede que no sean TAYVIS, pero son una pareja encantadora de todos modos: ZENDAYA y TOM HOLLAND están comprometidos. También celebramos a DEMI MOORE, quien ganó un GLOBO DE ORO por su salvaje actuación en “The Substance”. En la librería, los fans se vuelven locos por “ONYX STORM”, la tercera entrega de la serie de “romantasy” de REBECCA YARROS. Una reunión de NIRVANA destaca en FireAid, un evento para recaudar fondos de ayuda tras los incendios forestales de Los Ángeles. En el Abierto de Australia, la estrella del tenis COCO GAUFF lamenta la pérdida temporal de la aplicación TikTok en casa, dibujando un corazón roto en una lente de televisión.
FEBRERO
“¡Saludos!”, dice SAMUEL L. JACKSON, presentando a KENDRICK LAMAR, el primer artista de hip-hop en solitario —y ganador del Pulitzer— en encabezar el espectáculo de medio tiempo del Super Bowl. (P.D. ¿Es esa SERENA WILLIAMS?). En los GRAMMYS, miembros del Departamento de Bomberos de Los Ángeles presentan a BEYONCÉ su trofeo al mejor álbum por “COWBOY CARTER”, la artista más premiada y nominada en la historia de los Grammy se convierte en la primera mujer negra en ganar el premio principal en el siglo XXI. En la era de TikTok, nunca se sabe qué se volverá viral, como esas invitaciones de fiesta escritas a mano por DOUG TURNER, de 87 años, a sus vecinos de Pensilvania, con la línea invaluable: “Habrá comida y bebida, solo trae una sonrisa… 4 p.m., hasta que llegue la policía”.
MARZO
¡Es el mes de los OSCAR! Todos aclaman a “ANORA”, de SEAN BAKER, ambientada en Brooklyn, y a su estrella, MIKEY MADISON. También gana un premio de actuación ADRIEN BRODY por “THE BRUTALIST”, quien debió encontrar otro lugar para poner su chicle. “WICKED”, una favorita del público, se queda sin grandes premios, pero sus estrellas, CYNTHIA ERIVO y ARIANA GRANDE, realizan un número de apertura vibrante. Mientras tanto, el prometedor contendiente de Netflix “EMILIA PÉREZ” gana dos premios, pero ve evaporarse sus posibilidades de mejor película tras un escándalo por antiguos tuits de la estrella KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN.
ABRIL
¡La licuadora! ¡La fruta venenosa! ¡El lagarto! ¡Y SAM ROCKWELL! La tercera temporada de “THE WHITE LOTUS”, ambientada en Tailandia, ciertamente da de qué hablar. KATY PERRY puede desear haber ido a Tailandia en lugar de al espacio exterior: su regreso a la Tierra tras un viaje de 11 minutos en un cohete Blue Origin, la empresa de JEFF BEZOS, es ampliamente ridiculizado —incluso por Wendy’s, que escribe en X: ”¿Podemos enviarla de vuelta?”. En la gira “Cowboy Carter” de BEYONCÉ, ha surgido una estrella: BLUE IVY, de 13 años. En un megacontrato, HAILEY BIEBER vende su marca de cuidado de la piel y maquillaje Rhode por la impresionante suma de 1.000 millones de dólares.
MAYO
¡Una crisis en CANNES! El festival de cine prohíbe la desnudez en la alfombra —¿creen que esto detendrá el fenómeno del “vestido desnudo”? Bonne chance. También en Cannes, TOM CRUISE nuevamente muestra que arriesgará la vida y la integridad física para entretener, esta vez sobre un biplano clásico en “MISIÓN IMPOSIBLE: LA SENTENCIA FINAL”. Al otro lado del océano, la MET GALA centra su atención en la moda masculina y el estilo negro a lo largo de los siglos. “Tomó un minuto”, dice SPIKE LEE. “You belong with me”, canta SWIFT, comprando de nuevo los derechos de sus primeros seis álbumes. Finalmente, surgen los memes del “papa de Chicago”, en honor al primer papa estadounidense, LEÓN XIV. Más adelante este año, revelará su estrategia de WORDLE.
JUNIO
“El mundo los conocerá como estrellas del pop, pero serán mucho más que eso”. Como, quizás, ¿el éxito sorpresa y multigeneracional del verano? “KPOP DEMON HUNTERS” comienza a transmitirse este mes, y en agosto le dará a Netflix una gran victoria en taquilla con sus proyecciones de karaoke. En televisión, es una nueva temporada de amor —“LOVE ISLAND USA”, es decir, que narra los acontecimientos en una villa de lujo en Fiji. Es la portada del álbum que lanzó mil conversaciones: Algunos se ofenden cuando SABRINA CARPENTER ilustra su álbum “MAN’S BEST FRIEND” con una foto de ella en cuatro, y un hombre sosteniendo su cabello. ¿Es ofensivo, una broma intencionada o nada en absoluto? Mientras tanto, la política se cuela en el FESTIVAL DE GLASTONBURY en Gran Bretaña, cuando el dúo de rap-punk BOB VYLAN provoca una investigación policial tras liderar un cántico pidiendo “muerte” al ejército israelí.
JULIO
OASIS comienza la gira del rencuentro ¡y los hermanos GALLAGHER todavía se llevan bien! “SYDNEY SWEENEY tiene grandiosos jeans”, dice el anuncio muy comentado, y American Eagle insiste en que se trata del denim. CBS anuncia que se terminará el programa de STEPHEN COLBERT en mayo de 2026 —una medida que eliminará del aire a uno de los críticos más abiertos del presidente DONALD TRUMP. No podemos dejar atrás julio —aunque al menos a dos personas les hubiera encantado— sin mencionar la saga del COLDPLAY KISSCAM. Finalmente, en seis días, el mundo pierde a tres íconos de los años 80: el ícono de la lucha libre con bigote HULK HOGAN, el padrino del heavy metal OZZY OSBOURNE, y el querido actor de “The Cosby Show”, MALCOLM-JAMAL WARNER.
AGOSTO
Dediquemos toda esta entrada a la mayor “HISTORIA DE AMOR” de la cultura pop —porque, cariño, ¡ella dijo que sí! Los escépticos de TAYLOR-TRAVIS se tragan sus palabras cuando la pareja anuncia su feliz noticia, en lo que está destinado a convertirse en una de las publicaciones más gustadas en la historia de Instagram. Es la culminación de cuento de hadas de un noviazgo que comenzó durante la gira Eras y que durante dos años cautivó a millones en todo el mundo, pero especialmente a los Swifties, la amorosa y ferozmente protectora base de fans de la estrella del pop.
SEPTIEMBRE
Demostrando una vez más que a Hollywood le encantan las historias sobre sí mismo, los EMMYS otorgan premios a la sátira sobre el negocio del cine de SETH ROGEN, “THE STUDIO”. También triunfa “THE PITT”, el drama médico vanguardista protagonizado por el querido veterano de “ER” NOAH WYLE que supera a la poderosa “SEVERANCE”. Quizás la mayor historia de Cenicienta de todas: OWEN COOPER, de 15 años, el ganador más joven de un Emmy en más de 40 años por la desgarradora serie “ADOLESCENCE”. También este mes, los jefes de ABC suspenden momentáneamente a JIMMY KIMMEL por comentarios que enfurecieron a los seguidores del fallecido CHARLIE KIRK. El mundo se despide de ROBERT REDFORD, el ídolo dorado de la pantalla de Hollywood convertido en influyente activista.
OCTUBRE
“Entonces, ¿cómo fue tu octubre?” “Oh, 6-7.” Así es aparentemente como uno debería usar el nuevo término viral —acompañado de ese gesto de palmas hacia arriba. ¿Sabes quién tiene mejores movimientos que eso? BAD BUNNY, quien presenta el estreno de temporada de “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE”. En las actualizaciones de SWIFT, su nuevo álbum “THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL” establece récords de ventas. El impactante ROBO DEL LOUVRE captura la atención mundial, no menos por el extraño y elegantemente vestido desconocido que entra en el marco de un fotógrafo de The Associated Press. Otra pérdida triste: DIANE KEATON, famosa por sus fedoras, chalecos y especialmente “La di da, La di da”.
NOVIEMBRE
¿Estamos al final del camino de ladrillos amarillos? La gira de prensa de “WICKED”, que llegó a todos los confines del universo real y ficticio, concluye con el lanzamiento de la segunda entrega de JON M. CHU, “WICKED: FOR GOOD”. Las críticas son mucho menos, eh, entusiastas esta vez, pero la película desafía la gravedad en la taquilla. Eso no es suficiente para JONATHAN BAILEY, alias FIYERO, nombrado por la revista People como el Hombre Más Sexy. Otro favorito de los fans, ROBERT IRWIN, también está teniendo un muy buen mes: una década después de que su hermana, BINDI, hiciera lo mismo, el hijo del fallecido conservacionista STEVE IRWIN es coronado ganador de “DANCING WITH THE STARS”.
DICIEMBRE
En la carrera por los OSCAR, mientras que algunas películas vieron desvanecer su suerte tras las nominaciones a los GLOBOS DE ORO, el favorito emergente es “ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER”, la saga de resistencia política de padre e hija del director PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON protagonizada por LEONARDO DiCAPRIO y la recién llegada CHASE INFINITI. Su éxito también otorga una victoria a WARNER BROS. en medio de su acuerdo de adquisición de NETFLIX, que ahora enfrenta desafíos antimonopolio y un esfuerzo de adquisición hostil por parte de PARAMOUNT, y está sembrando un temor tras otro de que la naturaleza misma del entretenimiento cambiará.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Silver Just Called The COMEX’s Bluff
Silver Just Called The COMEX’s Bluff
Authored by Matthew Piepenburg via VonGreyerz.gold,
December means many things: A year coming to an end, a time for reflection, a time for looking ahead. A time for family and friends, and of course, a time for holiday belly-expansion.
However, what many may have missed this December is that it was the month the paper markets in silver had yet another near-death experience.
Hiding in Plain Site
As usual, this critical turning point in metals, as well as its neon-flashing signal of a globally debt-sick financial and currency system, went largely unnoticed.
In financial markets, the daily buzz remained forever focused on the usual suspects, from BTC’s massive falls, MicroStrategy’s losing gambit (-59% YTD) and an over-stretched stock market to crude oil’s annual loss or the never-ending deflation/inflation or strong vs. weak DXY debates.
These are, of course, important debates and topics. Most investors understand them, and thus most investors, bull or bear, have an opinion about them. That is why they fill headlines.
Hiding in Intentional Complexity
But often, in fact nearly always, the real and more nuanced signals, as well as market warnings, are deliberately omitted from the Zeitgeist.
This is not only because such signals are a threat to the so-called “experts” behind these failing and corrupted systems, but because, as such, they are made deliberately too complex for Joe Sixpack to see and hence critique.
I’ve written about such intentional obfuscation through intentional complexity before.
And nowhere is this tactic put to better use than in trying to hide the legalized price-fixing masquerading as “hedging” at that oh-so complex beast otherwise known as the COMEX exchange.
For this reason, I’ve tried (as well as warned) for years to make simple sense out of the otherwise senseless COMEX mechanizations used to manipulate the paper price of gold and silver.
If needed, these “simplifications” of the “complex” can be chronologically revisited here, here and here for a re-fresher course.
Making the Complex Simple
For now, however, let’s continue to derive the simple from the complex.
Toward this end, the core theme is very simple and worth repeating: Sovereign nations guilty of unprecedented debt addiction—and hence the currency debasement needed to monetize that addiction—are absolutely terrified of rising gold and silver prices.
This is because rising precious metals are an open middle finger to governments who have grossly and negligently mismanaged the national currencies by which most citizens measure their wealth.
Precious metals naturally rise when paper money, inflated to reduce debt burdens, unnaturally falls in purchasing power.
And when a currency loses its purchasing power, the natives get restless, and the government, fully to blame for the same, gets both nervous and dishonest.
Making the COMEX Simple
That is why the COMEX, in 1974, added futures contracts to allow massive levels of leverage in the hands of a small cabal of bullion banks to conduct equally massive shorts on the gold and silver price each and every day since. This keeps the prices forced down.
The COMEX, in short, was designed for no other reason than to manipulate gold and silver, for gold and silver, promised by the U.S. Constitution as real money, had been taken away from the people in August of 1971.
The cabal responsible for this crime didn’t want this stolen “real money” to outshine the fake paper money that replaced it.
Since 1971, the fall of fiat money’s purchasing power when measured against gold has been greater than 99%.
That was embarrassing, of course, but it was a slow frog boil which the media and even most citizens ignored for decades.
By December of 2025, however, the narrative of a robust USD had lost its credibility for so many reasons detailed elsewhere, but made most obvious by an astronomical, 2025 gold and silver price appreciation driven by global demand which openly preferred real money over the USD and USTs as the new strategic reserve asset.
Today, global central banks hold more physical gold than USTs.
In short, the world has caught on that precious metals preserve their purchasing power infinitely better than credit-based and openly melting paper dollars.
The Greenback, since it was weaponized in 2022, has simply lost its prior hegemony.
Or stated even more simply: Uncle Sam was losing, and hence the COMEX was desperate to save face and buy time for his discredited dollar by attempting to kneecap the precious metals.
But as we’ve warned all year, the COMEX was running out of the needed gold and silver to continue its legalized charades.
A COMEX NDE
Which brings us, at last, to December 12, 2025 and the COMEX’ Near Death Experience (NDE)…
Unnoticed by nearly everyone, a desperate CME board raised the margin requirement (i.e., cost of leverage) for silver futures contracts by 10%, in what could be the first of more to come.
This may sound wonky, perhaps even boring, but its mechanizations and ramifications are very important.
What this crafty, 2:00 AM pre-weekend hike in margins by a so-called “neutral exchange” boiled down to was a deliberate and desperate attempt to force a massive liquidation (i.e., sell-off) in silver.
Thanks to an overnight hike in “buy-in” on that legalized and fixed casino otherwise known as the COMEX, the shadow-banking speculators going long silver at massive turns of leverage were immediately and electronically forced to cover the fee gap or have their positions sold automatically.
Needless to say, at 2:00 AM, covering was nearly impossible, so the sell-off was effectively forced.
Running Out of Control
If this seems crazy, it was. But sadly, the desperate tactic was nothing new. In 1980, a similar and overnight re-pricing of levered contracts took 50% off the silver price due to a massive sell-off in PAPER silver.
By May of 2011, the same tactic successfully crushed the metal when five consecutive margin hikes sent the silver price down in a matter of days from $49 to $33. Thereafter, PAPER silver stayed low for years to come. The COMEX had won.
Since then, similar margin hikes of 10% occurred in February of 2010, followed by an 11% hike in October. In both instances, silver dipped by 1.8% to 3.3% and then rose by 9% and 18% respectively, within 30 days. We saw similar patterns in August of 2020.
The COMEX had lost. Classic shakeouts were followed by major moves to the upside.
On December 12 of this year, unnoticed by most headlines and investors, the same trick failed yet again just as the metal closed at $62.50.
The 10% margin hike this month didn’t shake silver. 67 million ounces of paper silver sold off in minutes, only to be absorbed by purchasers of the physical metal. Less than a week later, silver was at new highs above $66.00.
The reasons why silver (which has seen a >100% upside for the year) prevailed speaks volumes not only about precious metals, but the state of the broken financial system in which we are all trying to navigate.
What Went Wrong in New York?
So why had the COMEX lost more steam in December of 2025?
Despite the exchange’s complex plumbing, the answer is simple, and boils down to this: The demand for physical silver is stronger than the COMEX’s once unstoppable paper market shorts.
In 1980 and 2011, for example, the COMEX vaults still had enough of the actual metals—i.e. a “silver float”—to lever the same.
But as we’ve argued since November of 2024, the metals have been exiting the COMEX at historical levels because, in a world of dying paper currencies, counterparties (i.e., sovereign nations) now want to own the physical metal.
In addition, the industrial bid for a tightly-supplied basket of genuine, physical silver at places as diverse as Samsung or Tesla is much stronger than the paper games played in New York.
These industrial buyers of silver need the metal for circuit boards, photovoltaic panels, e-vehicles and even nuclear reactors.
When they saw last weekend’s attempt by the COMEX to manipulate the price down, rather than get spooked out of the trade (like hedge funds and other speculators), they had standing orders to buy rather than sell the artificial dip.
Industrial bidders also knew that once this physical silver is bought, it is melted into use and never coming back, which means that the silver price (based on tight supply and rising demand) will move higher over time—and thus all the more reason to rejoice rather than panic whenever a CME dip is manufactured in New York.
Rock Now Beats Paper
Tying this altogether, the failed December attempt to create a massive silver sell-off was nothing more than a clearing of the PAPER speculators from the space and major buy signal for the physical metal buyers who now have more power, patience and leverage than an increasingly tapped-out COMEX exchange.
As warned for years, the COMEX is slowly dying because demand for physical metals is outpacing their empty vaults and increasingly impotent paper games.
Or as I stated months ago: “Rock now beats paper.”
The Long Game Wins
Of course, the foregoing but largely ignored trick in the COMEX has larger ramifications for investors playing the long game in physical rather than paper silver.
Those mocked for years as “stackers” will be getting the last laugh over time. Like industrial bidders or sovereign wealth funds who want real rather than paper silver for actual use as well as superior monetary value, physical silver owners don’t have to worry about the paper version of the metal.
They have always known that paper silver is not silver, it’s merely a levered and largely impotent “claim” on silver.
More importantly, the ability of exchanges like the COMEX to beat down physical silver via paper contracts is getting weaker and weaker, which means free price discovery is returning to the metals after decades of legalized COMEX fraud.
Or stated even more simply, COMEX was always about managing (manipulating) the paper price of silver, but the real-world demand for the physical metal represents a massive and now more powerful wall of money.
In a 2025 backdrop of culminating distrust for debt-soaked bonds, currencies and policies, global demand for physical silver—and, of course, physical gold—has outpaced the power and tricks of that COMEX paper tiger in New York.
This, of course, is yet another critical signal in the historically familiar cycles of dying fiat money and rising precious metals.
Keeping It Real
But this does not mean silver or gold will only go up in straight lines from here. Not at all.
Bull markets in metals have seen retracements, even large ones, in the middle of their rising cycles. A Tanking stock market, which is equally inevitable, can also cause temporary pullbacks in precious metals, which no one can time or predict. No one.
But owners of precious metals know this much: Gold and silver store their value better than paper currencies over time. And time is on their side.
A Couple Tricks Left
Nor is the increasingly desperate and openly gasping COMEX out of tricks. It still has a couple up its tattered sleeves.
For example, its next move could be position-limits whereby it will limit the number of silver contracts held by ETFs or family offices who still confuse paper metal with actual metal. Such position limits would induce sell-offs and southern price moves.
But as occurred this month, any such “discount” made in New York would later be bought rather than sold.
The final move we could expect from the COMEX is the most desperate. That is, it could go into liquidation mode, a “nuclear option” by which parties to the COMEX could only be sellers rather than buyers of silver.
In such an extreme scenario, the paper price of silver would, of course, sink.
Silver buyers in such a scenario would likely move to other metals desks in Shanghai or London for fairer pricing, a move which would only make the COMEX even less relevant.
Back to Simple
Ultimately, all these signals and sounds from the once all-powerful COMEX are the signals and sounds of a dying system in not only paper contracts, but so-called “paper money.”
The global financial system, after decades of buying time and unprecedented debt levels with mouse-clicked currencies, is finally hitting its inflection point (or Waterloo Moment) as physical silver and gold rise steadily above the rubble of a broken monetary system led by the home (and central bank) of the world’s weaponized reserve currency.
Silver was simply calling the bluff on a failed system in general and a discredited COMEX in particular.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/22/2025 – 12:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/precious-metals/silver-just-called-comexs-bluff
Column: No Christmas joy for one area eatery
In a season of cheer and charm, there is no joy in one corner of Lake County. A week before Christmas, a popular restaurant closed its doors.
The owners of the Woodfire Tavern at Route 83 and Gilmer Road in Long Grove announced on Dec. 18 on Facebook that they were calling it quits after seven years dishing out meals to a steady stream of customers. The eatery opened six months before the COVID-19 pandemic and survived in a changed landscape.
The coronavirus outbreak was when Gov. JB Pritzker gutted the state’s hospitality industry (with the exception of gaming establishments) by ordering mandatory restaurant closures. For some, the comeback hasn’t materialized as restaurants were among the hardest-hit industries during the pandemic.
“With heavy hearts we announce that Woodfire Tavern will be closing its doors,” the Facebook post said. “We have truly loved serving this community for seven memorable years and hope to see you again one day in a future venture.”
The closure of family-friendly Woodfire is becoming a recurring theme in the region and state as restaurants continue to struggle in a current economy unkind to culinary professionals. That is despite what President Donald Trump boasted about his economic stewardship during his nationwide speech last week.
The National Restaurant Association estimates a 30% failure rate in the restaurant industry, although the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts that number for first-year restaurants at only 17%. Yet, profit margins remain slim, staff turnover is unusually fluid and financial challenges remain from the five-year-old pandemic.
Prior to Woodfire shuttering its doors, Tina’s Italian Café and Bake Shop, which anchored one end of Saratoga Square at Route 21 and Washington Street in Gurnee, closed earlier this month. It was not economic pressures that led owner Tina Tortorici to end her culinary adventure.
She decided it was time to retire after serving Italian sweets, sandwiches and salads since 2001 at the cozy café nestled in a corner of the strip mall, which continues to include several offerings of various cuisines. Tortorici may resurface in the area after some traveling, especially to her native Italy.
The challenges facing the Illinois restaurant industry aren’t just among independent and local, family-owned establishments. Chain eateries, from Outback Steakhouse to Applebee’s to Red Lobster, have closed multiple locations across the state in the past few years.
As Woodfire’s owners posted on Facebook: “Product costs have risen sharply, utility expenses have doubled, rent has increased, and our water-and-sewer costs have surged by an astonishing 247%, totaling nearly $370,000 annually through service from the Preserves and Lake County water and sewer. At the same time, ComEd bills reached a high at $4,500.”
While financial concerns might have been the main reason for Woodfire’s demise, finding employees was also at play, according to owners. “Staffing — finding and retaining quality servers, cooks and support staff — has been increasingly difficult,” they added.
Some may remember the two-story Woodfire, which draws from a customer base in the Mundelein-Lake Zurich-Long Grove-Vernon Hills area, was a roadhouse deli back in the day, complete with an actual smokehouse, which still stands next to busy Route 83. After that, it was turned into Gridley’s Grille, then Pub 83, and eventually into Woodfire.
Once surrounded by truck farms, suburbanization began to encroach on the site in the 1980s and ‘90s. Residential subdivisions sprung up along Gilmer Road and nearby Diamond Lake and Indian Creek roads.
Known for its wide barbecue menu from an in-house smoker, wood-fired pizzas and pub-food cuisine, the restaurant also offered an upstairs venue room for larger events, such as class reunions and family affairs, along with live music in the comfy bar. Video gaming machines were available in the restaurant’s bar area. There were two dog-friendly outdoor patios, which featured local musicians during sunny summer months.
Its loss will be felt by those who found the eatery a local comfort and neighborhood go-to place. The owners also have a sports bar/restaurant in Prospect Heights, Rocky’s American Grill on Milwaukee Avenue, south of Willow Road.
The site is a prime location in an upscale semi-rural area of Lake County. Undoubtedly, another restaurateur will take a gamble and reopen the eatery, perhaps in a new iteration.
That’s what happens in the shifting and at times difficult hospitality industry. Entrepreneurs are always looking to invest in culinary joy.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
sellenews@gmail.com
X @sellenews
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/22/charles-selle-column-woodfire-tavern/
Atmospheric Rivers Pound US West Coast, Raising Bomb Cyclone Threat Ahead Of Christmas
Atmospheric Rivers Pound US West Coast, Raising Bomb Cyclone Threat Ahead Of Christmas
Powerful atmospheric rivers continue to hammer Washington and Northern California, extending into Central California, dumping inches of rain, with some low-elevation areas seeing double-digit totals, while higher elevations are getting buried under heavy snowfall.
Here is this week’s forecast via The Weather Channel:
Atmospheric rivers continue to soak the West, bringing heavy rainfall, gusty winds and mountain snowfall. The latest event is ramping up for Northern and Central California this weekend and is expected to last into the week. Flood watches are in effect through the next several days, where widespread rainfall of 5 to 8 inches is possible through Thursday and isolated totals could near a foot. Cities like Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Francisco could see a month’s worth of rainfall this upcoming week. Mountain snowfall is also possible across the Cascades and the Sierra Nevada.
US Stormwatch founder Colin McCarthy warned that a bomb cyclone could form off the coast of California on Christmas Eve…
A bomb cyclone is likely to develop off the coast of California Christmas Eve that could bring a severe windstorm to Northern California. High Wind Watches have just been issued for the entire Bay Area for wind gusts up to 60 mph, but if more agressive model forecasts pan out wouldn’t be shocked to see 70+ mph in the higher terrain and along the coastline. A very strong cold front with potentially embedded severe thunderstorms will also come ashore late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning in Central/Northern California that could mix very intense 60+ mph wind gusts to the surface. Given strong wind shear, can also not rule out a tornado or two.
A bomb cyclone is likely to develop off the coast of California Christmas Eve that could bring a severe windstorm to Northern California.
High Wind Watches have just been issued for the entire Bay Area for wind gusts up to 60 mph, but if more agressive model forecasts pan out… pic.twitter.com/DWnvkt8KbG
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) December 22, 2025
Meteorologist Brady Harris published a forecast that showed parts of the Nevada Mountain Range this week could receive “more than 8 FEET!”
⚠️ A LUDICROUS amount of Snow is likely in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range this week. Higher elevations could see OVER 100 INCHES of Snow. That’s… more than 8 FEET ❄️
Multiple waves of Heavy Snow will fall as a PARADE OF STORMS slams California , one after another. Storm 1⃣… pic.twitter.com/eAsmTNe4XO
— Brady Harris (@StormCat5_) December 22, 2025
“So far we haven’t had much snow in the Sierra, but that is about to change,” legendary meteorologist Jim Cantore said.
A long week of HEAVY RAIN and HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW for California. The whole state gets it too. Late tomorrow the snow levels begin to drop and those watches will become warnings for 5500 feet on up as a series of high end AR’s (atmospheric river) punches in.
So far we haven’t… pic.twitter.com/ThCZTqVVlh
— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) December 22, 2025
Cantore noted for the rest of the Lower 48 this week…
Meanwhile anomalous warmth dominates a most of the USA till New Year’s Eve Eve as warm ridge builds. Any travel headaches will be restricted to the northern states east of the Rockies in addition to the aforementioned CA issues. Ski Country in New England stays mostly… pic.twitter.com/hDXYieMK2b
— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) December 22, 2025
Related:
Despite warmer weather trends, meteorologist Mark Margavage warned of winter storm threats for the Northeast this week.
Woah that escalated quickly…
the forecasts that were predicting a “Christmas Torch” are going up in flames.
“December to Remember” is back in the cards!
All aboard the snow train!❄️🚂 Choo Choo!#wxtwitter #wxX #PAwx #NYwx #NJwx pic.twitter.com/hwX0uJVIJv
— Mark Margavage (@MeteoMark) December 22, 2025
A December to remember? From polar vortex outbreaks to unseasonably warm weather, Mother Nature appears unpredictable.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/22/2025 – 12:25
Wauconda D118 says it’s addressing budgeting crisis causes; some parents skeptical
As Wauconda Community Unit School District 118’s plans to address a multi-million-dollar budgeting crisis begin to solidify, district leaders are looking ahead, saying they’ve created new safeguards within the budgeting process.
However, some parents worry that broader issues remain and wonder why some of the solutions required a $4.2 million hole to enact.
The Board of Education held its business meeting on Thursday, which was intended to include a report from consulting firm Transformational Business Services regarding its audit of the district’s business office. However, the board stated that a family medical emergency had delayed that presentation until the next Committee of the Whole meeting on Jan. 8.
The district’s budget deficit reduction plan will be approved during the Jan. 15 meeting, according to the district’s website.
Wauconda D118 includes Cotton Creek School, Robert Crown School, Wauconda Grade School, Matthews Middle School, Wauconda Middle School and Wauconda High School. The district is currently under the leadership of interim Co-Superintendents Todd Leden and Brian Wegley, with former Superintendent David Wilm having left last year.
According to a district webpage about the budget deficit reduction plan, during an Aug. 7 meeting regarding the close of last year’s budget, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Cameron Willis, who is responsible for D118’s budget, notified the Board of Education that the 2024-25 budget ended with a $2.5 million deficit.
That deficit “propagated” to the 2025-26 budget, which was approved on Sept. 18 with a $4.2 million deficit.
Wauconda Community Unit School District 118 Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Cameron Willis speaks during a Wauconda D118 board meeting. Willis is resigning, effective next year. (Joe States/Pioneer Press)
Poor budget monitoring
The district has given various reasons for the deficit, including lower-than-anticipated state funding and the loss of federal ESSER COVID funds
While the district had been aware that the federal funds would be ending, additional staff had been added and were not reduced “at the same pace,” a representative said. They also listed a less-than-anticipated amount of state funding. The district said it had received about $300,000 less than anticipated for the 2025-26 school year.
Beyond federal and state revenue issues, other contributing factors listed on the website include out-of-district tuition and out-of-district transportation spending.
In a pair of documents answering various community questions, the district also blamed more systemic issues. It said that a budgeting model “utilized for years” included “a problematic practice” — During the budget drafting process, final actuals were not known, and several areas of the budget were built without actual expenditure data or end-of-year expenses.
The district “did not have a reliable budget monitoring tool in place” to detect issues earlier, it said. D118 said it has since made corrections. Now, the district has monthly budget monitoring reports, and will include in-depth reviews of actual expenditures compared to budget predictions during the budgeting process, among other changes.
Scapegoats and classroom impacts
Willis, who has been described as the one in charge of the district’s budget, has resigned effective June 30. But the budgeting process that is at least partially responsible for the current crisis is not new — Willis said it goes back “many years.”
Several attending parents viewed his resignation as a case of scapegoating, including parent Jen Gomez.
“This was not a one-person mistake,” she said.
Several parents indicated concerns about broader leadership issues being the source of the budgeting issues, arguing that it’s a collaborative process.
While Wegley and Leden are the current co-superintendents of D118, up until last year, it was headed by Wilm. According to his Linkedin account, he started leading the district as superintendent of schools in 2021, and was in charge of the district when the budgeting error first began.
Interim Co-Superintendent Leden said he was aware Wilm had been contacted by the district, but said the district had no formal comment at this time in reference to its former head.
Parent and district teacher Samantha Studer, who emphasized her personal connections with the community during public comments, said she was worried about the negative impact of increased class sizes and other consequences students would feel due to the cuts.
“This is a great community,” she said. “I love being a part of it. I just feel like this has gotten a lot of the community on edge, and it’s just much higher stress overall.”
She also expressed frustration that students and staff would feel the impact of the planned cuts, despite the budget error not being their fault.
“By cutting staff and programs, you are negatively affecting not only staff and students, but also the town,” Studer said. “I truly love Wauconda. I really would love for you to consider this when making any decisions moving forward.”
At the end of the meeting, Board of Education member Vickie Laureys announced she would be resigning from the board to focus on her health. After weeks of lengthy meetings, she encouraged residents to take their energy and interview for the soon-to-open position.
“That’s all I can tell you, if you want to make a difference,” Laureys said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/22/wauconda-d118-budget-mistake/
Administración Trump detiene cinco proyectos eólicos en la costa este
Por MATTHEW DALY
WASHINGTON (AP) — La administración Trump anunció el lunes que está pausando los arrendamientos para cinco proyectos eólicos marinos a lo largo de la Costa Este debido a lo que, según dijo, son riesgos para la seguridad nacional identificados por el Pentágono.
La pausa, efectiva de inmediato, es el último paso que ha tomado la administración para obstaculizar la energía eólica marina en su campaña contra las fuentes de energía renovable. Esto ocurre dos semanas después de que un juez federal anulara la orden ejecutiva del presidente Donald Trump que bloqueaba los proyectos de energía eólica, calificándola de ilegal.
La administración declaró que la pausa dará tiempo al Departamento del Interior, que supervisa la energía eólica marina, para trabajar con el Departamento de Defensa y otras agencias para evaluar las posibles formas de mitigar cualquier riesgo de seguridad que presenten los proyectos.
“El deber principal del gobierno de Estados Unidos es proteger al pueblo estadounidense”, afirmó el secretario del Interior, Doug Burgum, en un comunicado. “La acción de hoy aborda los riesgos emergentes para la seguridad nacional, incluida la rápida evolución de las tecnologías adversarias relevantes y las vulnerabilidades creadas por los proyectos eólicos marinos a gran escala cerca de nuestros centros de población en la costa este”.
El comunicado no detalló los riesgos para la seguridad nacional.
Los defensores de la energía eólica criticaron la medida, calificándola de otro golpe de la administración contra la energía limpia.
La administración indicó que los arrendamientos están pausados para el proyecto Vineyard Wind en construcción en Massachusetts, Revolution Wind en Rhode Island y Connecticut, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, y dos proyectos en Nueva York: Sunrise Wind y Empire Wind.
El Departamento del Interior señaló que informes no clasificados del gobierno han encontrado desde hace tiempo que el movimiento de las enormes palas de las turbinas y las torres altamente reflectantes crean interferencias de radar llamadas “clutter”. El clutter causado por los proyectos eólicos marinos oscurece objetivos móviles legítimos y genera objetivos falsos en las cercanías de los proyectos eólicos, según el Departamento del Interior.
El experto en seguridad nacional y excomandante del USS Cole, Kirk Lippold, sostuvo que los proyectos recibieron permisos “tras años de revisión por parte de agencias estatales y federales”, incluyendo la Guardia Costera, el Centro de Guerra Submarina Naval, la Fuerza Aérea y más.
“El registro muestra que el Departamento de Defensa fue consultado en cada etapa del proceso de permisos”, expresó, argumentando que los proyectos beneficiarían la seguridad nacional porque diversificarían el suministro energético del país.
La acción se produce dos semanas después de que una jueza federal anulara la orden ejecutiva de Trump que bloqueaba los proyectos de energía eólica, diciendo que el esfuerzo por detener prácticamente todos los arrendamientos de parques eólicos en tierras y aguas federales era “arbitrario y caprichoso” y violaba la ley.
La jueza Patti Saris del Distrito de Massachusetts anuló la orden ejecutiva de Trump del 20 de enero que bloqueaba los proyectos de energía eólica y la declaró ilegal.
Saris falló a favor de una coalición de fiscales generales de 17 estados y Washington, D.C., liderada por la fiscal general de Nueva York, Letitia James, que impugnó la orden que pausaba los arrendamientos y permisos para proyectos de energía eólica.
Trump ha sido hostil hacia la energía renovable, particularmente la eólica marina, y prioriza los combustibles fósiles para producir electricidad.
Los defensores de la energía eólica calificaron las acciones de la administración como ilegales y aseguraron que la energía eólica marina proporciona una de las fuentes de energía eléctrica más asequibles y confiables para la red.
“Durante casi un año, la administración Trump ha obstruido imprudentemente el desarrollo de energía limpia y asequible para millones de estadounidenses, justo cuando la necesidad de electricidad del país está aumentando”, aseveró Ted Kelly del Fondo de Defensa Ambiental.
“Ahora la administración está bloqueando nuevamente de manera ilegal la energía limpia y asequible”, manifestó Kelly. “No deberíamos estar saboteando la mayor fuente de energía renovable de Estados Unidos, especialmente cuando necesitamos más electricidad barata y de producción nacional”.
Las acciones de la administración son especialmente equivocadas porque, al mismo tiempo, está apoyando plantas de carbón envejecidas y costosas “que apenas funcionan y contaminan nuestro aire”, afirmó Kelly.
La Conservation Law Foundation, un grupo ambiental con sede en Boston, calificó la pausa como “otro intento fallido de la administración Trump de acabar con la energía eólica marina”, señalando que los tribunales ya han rechazado los argumentos de la administración.
“Intentar nuevamente detener estos proyectos pisotea el Estado de Derecho, amenaza empleos y sabotea deliberadamente una industria crítica que fortalece —no debilita— la seguridad energética de Estados Unidos”, expresó Kate Sinding Daly, vicepresidenta senior de derecho y política en la fundación.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
