Category: News
Bids for new Portage middle school well under budget
Building the new Aylesworth Middle School will cost far less than original estimates, the Portage Township School Board was told Monday.
Bids awarded Monday brought the total construction cost to $57.4 million. In August 2024, the school’s estimated cost was $86 million.
“We got really favorable bids and great results for you tonight,” Fanning Howey Principal and Project Manager Michael Schipp said.
Bids were opened Dec. 3 in the district’s board room.
“This room on Dec. 3 was packed. It was standing room only. You had absolutely incredible participation,” Skillman Construction Vice President Dion Katsouros said.
Across 15 categories, there was an average of four bids per category, for a total of 62 bids.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were procurement issues.
“Now, you’re fortunate enough to secure materials” with long lead times so materials are ready when needed, Katsouros said.
Superintendent Amanda Alaniz said after the meeting that with the bids so low, the district might be able use some of the extra bond money to redo HVAC systems in some of the elementary schools.
Schipp walked the board through a presentation on the new school, which will replace Willowcreek Middle School.
“We’re all about ‘education anywhere’ learning opportunities,” he said. “We were challenged by Dr. Alaniz and her leadership team.”
That includes a commons area where students can work in teams or individually on projects. “We have exterior learning areas as well,” he said, including two secured courtyards.
“We have some unique opportunities with concessions and the student store,” Schipp said, with access to the outdoors from the cafeteria.
“We set up the palette. It’s up to the great teachers you have to take advantage of that,” he said. “Everything’s been well designed with regard to your leadership input.”
That meant Schipp pushed his engineers to condense the space for mechanical equipment to provide more teaching spaces. “Dr. Alaniz kept telling us more teaching spaces,” Schipp said.
Two full-sized basketball courts in the gym can be divided by a net between them. The gym will be able to seat about 1,000 people.
Four locker rooms will be north of the gym.
The eighth grade wing will have access to an outside patio.
The music area will have risers built in. “I envision walking through this building on our dedication and your fantastic choir that you heard tonight are standing right there on those risers singing,” Schipp said.
The Portage High School Choraliers performed a few holiday songs as well as “Happy Birthday” to Alaniz at Monday’s meeting.
School Board President Andy Maletta asked if the school would include an homage to the “jungle hall” at Willowcreek. “It is something that people are talking about. I know we’re not building another jungle hall,” he said.
The “jungle hall,” as former students dubbed it, featured plants in a very humid setting inside Willowcreek.
At the new middle school, the courtyards will serve that purpose, allowing students to see native plants, Alaniz said. The courtyards will allow teachers to give students some time outdoors, the same as elementary students and at what will become Fegely Intermediate School, she said.
“It’s going to be a unique spin on it, the 21st century version of jungle hall,” Alaniz said.
The courtyards will have an ornamental fence and a locking gate, Schipp said. The courtyard needs an exit for safety reasons. “We know there’s not going to be a fire in a courtyard,” he said, but other emergencies might require a quick retreat.
Security is an important consideration throughout the campus.
“We’ve actually zoned the buildings,” Schipp said, so units can be locked down. The building is designed so the seventh and eighth graders will have separate pods, though they will share common areas like the music room.
There will be no keys for the staff. All the doors will have access controls. “The doors are essentially locked all the time,” Schipp said. “Any space that the teachers have access to will have those control points.”
Visitors will walk into a vestibule and get buzzed into the reception area in the administrative offices, then will have to be buzzed in to access the rest of the building. Creating multiple levels and layers of security is vital, Schipp said. His team has met with state police to discuss what’s best for that type of security.
“The idea is you create barriers along the way,” he said. “It’s all about preventing them from getting through that door in 60 seconds.”
An office off the main hall in the center of the building is planned for school resource officers to improve their accessibility.
Cameras will be placed throughout the building and in the courtyards.
“We took a great deal of time to talk about lines of sight,” Associate Superintendent Michael Stephens said. That’s important for security as well as supervision.
Parking areas will be brightly lit, so there won’t be a place to hide in shadows, he said.
Schipp got permission from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance from city codes to allow the school to not have any islands with plantings in the parking lot, which makes it easier for visibility as well as plowing the lot.
“Arborvitae doesn’t necessarily provide a safe environment,” Katsouros said, so municipalities are more understanding now.
“We ended up with nine variances, and they all were approved,” Schipp said. The city’s requirements were more intended for businesses than schools, he said.
Aylesworth Middle School will be the district’s first new school since Portage High School was built in 1979.
“There’s been a significant amount of opportunity to enhance the variance learning experiences for students without jeopardizing safety and security,” Alaniz said.
The new middle school will slightly overlap Aylesworth Elementary School, just west of Willowcreek Middle School. The elementary school will be razed at the end of the school year to clear the way for the new school to be built. Classes will continue to be held at Willowcreek while its replacement is under construction.
“We’ve got to provide as little disruption as possible,” Katsouros said, considering classes will be held in a building just 30 feet away.
The new football stadium will overlap the existing middle school’s footprint, so the arena can’t be constructed until students are shifted to the new school so the old school can be razed.
Plans call for the new school to be ready for use during the 2028-29 school year with the rest of the project completed by May 2029, Katsouros said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/16/bids-for-new-portage-middle-school-well-under-budget/
JB Pritzker signs transit bill that should avert major service cuts, but cautions that ‘transformation’ takes time
Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday celebrated his enactment of a new law that advocates say will avert catastrophic service cuts on Chicago’s public transit systems and make the region’s trains and buses safer and more reliable — even as he acknowledged “transformation takes a little bit of time.”
“Far from heading toward the abyss, as some predicted, we are on the verge of delivering a world-class transportation network,” Pritzker said, flanked by dozens of transit officials, advocates, legislators and labor leaders in Union Station.
The legislation signed Tuesday, which state lawmakers approved in October after months of negotiations and several failed legislative attempts, will provide about $1.5 billion annually for regional transportation from a diversion of the motor fuel sales tax, an increase to a sales tax in the Chicago region and interest from the state’s road fund. The new law also raises tolls on the Illinois Tollway by 45 cents.
The new funding is intended to avert a major fiscal crisis that loomed over the CTA, Metra and Pace — and provide enough extra money for the transit agencies to make significant improvements to service, advocates say.
Pritzker said riders can expect funding increases, and eventually, a “world-class system.” But that will take more than a year to accomplish, he said.
The transit legislation does not take effect until June and requires significant restructuring of the boards that govern the CTA, Metra and Pace.
“There is an immediate endeavor to upgrade the service and make sure that we’re providing safer rides for people on transit over the coming year” as the new oversight structure is implemented, Pritzker said. “Then the system is beginning to truly transform. It just isn’t something that can happen overnight.”
After the state legislature passed the measure in late October, all three transit agencies approved 2026 budgets without fare increases or service cuts.
But questions remain about how soon the agencies will be able to implement the more significant service increases they hope to achieve with their new funding.
The Regional Transportation Authority, the body that currently oversees the CTA, Metra and Pace, and which will be replaced next year by the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, has not yet decided how to divvy up a portion of the new revenue expected next year — about $319 million — between the three transit agencies.
At the CTA, for instance, the agency hopes to boost service, such as by running Orange Line trains 24 hours a day. But those types of improvements depend on receiving an additional allocation of funds, CTA officials have said.
At a CTA board meeting last month, board Chair Lester Barclay cautioned against counting too many chickens before they’re hatched.
“The public thinks that we got a lot of money to do a lot of these creative things,” Barclay said in November. “And I don’t think that’s quite the case. This is our wish list, this is what we hope will happen. But it’s subject to RTA.”
The RTA has said it is waiting to allocate the funds “to ensure prudent financial management and compliance” with the requirements of the new transit legislation.
“RTA will collaborate with CTA, Metra, and Pace in early 2026 to plan for rider-focused enhancements that can be implemented as the new funding begins to arrive later in the year,” the agency said in a November memo.
After Tuesday’s news conference, state Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, one of the key architects of the transit legislation, said she thinks it would be possible for the CTA to implement a service improvement such as 24-hour Orange Line service next year.
“It’s that funding that makes the commitment to better service and more reliable and more frequent service possible,” said Delgado, a Democrat from Chicago.
Gov. JB Pritzker answers questions after signing the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act, a state transit funding and reform bill, at Union Station on Dec. 16, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
The largest chunks of funding come from diverting $860 million in revenue from the state sales tax on motor fuel purchases and $200 million from the interest earned on the state’s road fund for mass transit uses. That money typically goes toward road construction projects. The sales tax on motor fuel purchases is separate from the state’s 48-cent-per-gallon gas tax.
An additional $400 million would come from authorizing an increase of 0.25 percentage points to the tax issued by the RTA for Chicago’s six-county area on other purchases.
In addition to the 45-cent-per-toll hike for passenger vehicles on Illinois State Toll Highway Authority roads, the new law called for increasing tolls for commercial vehicles by 30%. Tolls could continue to increase in subsequent years through inflation-based increases, according to the law.
The revenue from the toll hike would generate $750 million to $1 billion annually and would be put back into the tollway and not used directly for mass transit, supporters said.
The move was intended to offset the money being diverted from highway projects.
Watch: Deranged Karen Melts Down At Target Employee Wearing Charlie Kirk ‘FREEDOM’ Shirt
Watch: Deranged Karen Melts Down At Target Employee Wearing Charlie Kirk ‘FREEDOM’ Shirt
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
In a stunning display of leftist intolerance, an elderly Target employee found herself on the receiving end of a heated confrontation simply for wearing a shirt honoring conservative icon Charlie Kirk.
The incident, captured on video and shared widely on social media, underscores how the mere sight of patriotic apparel can send so called ‘progressives’ into a frenzy, even in the most mundane settings like a retail store.
The video shows the worker calmly going about her duties in the clothing section, her red “FREEDOM” shirt emblazoned with an American flag sleeve and Kirk’s name. But peace was short-lived as a woman approached, launching into a foul mouthed tirade that reeks of the kind of unhinged rhetoric that’s become all too common from the left.
🚨BREAKING: Deranged Liberal woman HURRASSES an elder Target employee for wearing a Charlie Kirk “FREEDOM” shirt in the store.
LIBERAL: “Are you stupid? You support a racist.”
EMPLOYEE: “He is NOT a racist—have a nice day.”
Liberals are triggered over the rights this… pic.twitter.com/GALFtl3h8E
— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) December 16, 2025
“Are you f***ing stupid? You support a racist?” the woman snarled at the employee, her voice dripping with disdain.
Unfazed, the Target worker explained she was free to wear any red shirt of her choosing and responded with grace: “He is NOT a racist—that’s your opinion, have a nice day.”
The employee continues folding clothes and pushing her cart, embodying the quiet dignity that leftists seem intent on stamping out. The harasser’s words, promising “this is going to be taken above your f***ing head,” echo the knee-jerk accusations often hurled at anyone daring to support freedom.
The simple act of wearing merchandise tied to Kirk was enough to provoke outright harassment. It’s a stark reminder that for some on the left, freedom of expression only applies when it aligns with their worldview.
Liberals champion diversity and inclusion, yet they can’t tolerate a differing opinion expressed through a t-shirt. This woman didn’t just disagree; she harassed a senior citizen at her workplace, potentially violating store policies on customer conduct. If the roles were reversed—say, a conservative berating someone in a BLM shirt—the media would erupt in outrage, labeling it hate speech. But when it’s a leftist doing the bullying, it’s crickets from the fake news media.
This episode exposes the fragility of progressive tolerance. Triggered by symbols of freedom, they lash out, revealing their discomfort with the very rights that allow them to spew such venom.
Charlie Kirk built his movement on empowering young people to think critically and reject agendas that erode national sovereignty. His assassination was a blow to that cause, but incidents like this only fuel the resolve of patriots to carry on his work.
Leftists, emboldened by years of unchecked cultural dominance, now feel entitled to police personal expression in public spaces. But as the employee demonstrated, standing firm with poise is the best rebuke.
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/16/2025 – 15:20
Afternoon Briefing: Tinley Park police commander charged with domestic battery
Good afternoon, Chicago.
Tinley Park police Cmdr. Patrick St. John, 54, was charged with domestic battery and violating an order of protection Friday, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office. St. John turned himself in at about 6:15 a.m. Friday and resigned later that day. His retirement will be effective Dec. 19. St. John has been on leave for the past several weeks, said Tinley Park Village Manager Pat Carr.
Sheriff’s detectives said St. John violated an order of protection by trying to contact the victim through a third party. Detectives also said St. John had previously assaulted the victim, according to a sheriff’s office statement.
Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
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U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino is confronted by residents and protesters during an immigration operation in Little Village on Dec. 16, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino back in Chicago as agents make arrests in Cicero and on city’s Southwest Side
Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and dozens of his federal immigration agents returned in force across Chicago and the suburbs this morning, reportedly making arrests in supermarket parking lots and at tamale stands while threatening tear gas on angry residents who confronted them. Read more here.
More top news stories:
Aldermen turn to bag tax, ads on bridge houses to try to balance budget
William J. Bauer, ‘sage’ Chicago-based 7th Circuit judge and US attorney, dies at 99
Mike Malinin of the Goo Goo Dolls performs at Lifestyle Communities Pavilion on Aug. 2, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio. (Amy Harris/Invision)
Former Goo Goo Dolls drummer Mike Malinin purchased $1.5M home in Winnetka
Mike Malinin, drummer for the rock band the Goo Goo Dolls for almost two decades, and his wife, Krista, paid $1.54 million for a four-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot house in Winnetka. Read more here.
More top business stories:
Skokie rejects plan for downtown 6-story building, citing financial concerns
Norbert Holtkamp to serve as new director of Fermilab in Batavia starting in January
Chicago Bulls forward Jalen Smith, left, blocks the shot of Charlotte Hornets guard KJ Simpson during the second half of a game in Charlotte, N.C., Dec. 12, 2025. (Nell Redmond/AP)
Chicago basketball report: Angel Reese on ‘young and turnt’ Team USA — and Bulls’ numbers tell a bleak story
Team USA is taking on a new look with young stars such as Angel Reese joining the senior team. Local college teams are facing the ups and downs of the season, while the Chicago Bulls face a crucial home-and-away series this weekend. Read more here.
More top sports stories:
IHSA to expand football playoffs to 384 teams across eight classes
Mike White, who coached Illinois’ 1983 football team to the Rose Bowl, dies at 89
Author Becky Spratford at the La Grange Public Library, Dec. 9, 2025, in La Grange. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Chicagoan of the Year in Books: If you’re into horror, thank the librarian Becky Spratford
Becky Spratford is a Chicago librarian who’s spent her career tirelessly nudging horror literature into the American mainstream. Read more here.
More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories:
Bill Kurtis’ memoir allows the longtime Chicago anchorman and journalist to show public another role — author
Updated ‘Nutcracker’ featuring ‘big city flair’ to be performed in Batavia
A security guard outside Rob Reiner’s residence, Dec. 15, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (Caroline Brehman/AP)
Killings of Rob Reiner and his wife stun Hollywood as son skips court appearance for medical reasons
Los Angeles police are set to present a case to prosecutors following Nick Reiner’s arrest in the killings of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, which stunned their communities in Hollywood and Democratic politics, where both were widely beloved. Read more here.
More top stories from around the world:
Police fan out to Providence schools to calm worries with the Brown University shooter still loose
Pete Hegseth says he won’t publicly release video of boat that killed survivors in the Caribbean
Waukegan officials continue discussions about a location for a new police station
One part of Waukegan’s police station, adjacent to City Hall, was built in 1935, and the other portion was erected beside it 60 years ago. They were connected to each other. Neither resembles what a 21st-century law enforcement facility should look like.
Discussions about building a new police station have continued for several months as potential locations were considered. Mayor Sam Cunningham said the city does not have enough vacant land to place one.
City officials are in discussions with the owners of 5.6 acres of now vacant land at 200 North Green Bay Road, where a onetime Ramada Inn was abandoned in 2018 by its then owners and a complete demolition was completed in July. Police Chief Edgar Navarro likes the location.
Storage facilities at the Waukegan Police Station are aging as the city considers a new building. (Photo courtesy of the City of Waukegan)
“It’s centrally located in the city with easy access in all directions at Green Bay (Road) and Washington Street,” Navarro said. “It’s just about equidistant for dispatch in all directions. We’ll build it with our community in mind.”
The Waukegan City Council voted unanimously on Monday at City Hall to hold additional discussions on the possible purchase of the former Ramada Inn property at 7 p.m. on Jan. 20 at City Hall, pending satisfactory discussions with the property owners.
“If we can make a deal which is satisfactory to the city and its taxpayers, we see 200 North Green Bay as a possible location for a new police station,” Cunningham said after Monday’s meeting.
While Navarro said no plans are being drawn until a location is certain, he has a vision of what he wants to see in a new building. It is not dependent on any particular location. Along with the usual furnishings of a police station, he wants to see a community room.
“It will be large enough for community meetings,” Navarro said. “The aldermen can meet there. It will be a place where we can have all types of community events. There is no set plan yet. We are waiting until we have a site for the building.”
Along with the community room, Navarro said some needs can be better met in a new, state-of-the-art police station. A room reserved for officer wellness is a must as well as a training room and a room for police lineups. Space for officers to take a break is also important.
“We don’t have any of that now,” he said.
Josh May, Cunningham’s chief of staff, said modernization is a must.
“We have a 20th Century building, and we need to have one for the 21st Century,” May said.
Narrow hallways are part of the aging Waukegan Police Station as the city considers building a new one. (Photo courtesy of the City of Waukegan)
With a consensus among the council members, a new police station is needed, Cunningham said there will be an effort to find the right location — either at Green Bay and Washington or another spot — to build it. It may remove a property from the tax rolls, but the city has no land to place it.
“It’s needed in our community as we rebuild Waukegan,” Cunningham said. “We all agree it’s a necessity. It’s something we need to do for our residents, our businesses and our business partners.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/16/waukegan-city-council-new-police-station/
Ousmane Dembélé y Aitana Bonmatí nombrados mejores jugadores en premios FIFA
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Ousmane Dembélé y Aitana Bonmatí fueron consagrados el martes como los mejores futbolistas de 2025 en los premios de la FIFA, sumando a su colección de premios después de ganar también el Balón de Oro masculino y femenino este año.
Dembélé fue la estrella del Paris Saint-Germain en la conquista de su primer título de la Liga de Campeones y Bonmatí se destacó para España y Barcelona.
Los premios de la FIFA son votados por los capitanes de los equipos nacionales, entrenadores, medios de comunicación y aficionados de todo el mundo.
Dos campeones europeos ganaron los premios de entrenador: Sarina Wiegman llevó a Inglaterra a su segundo título consecutivo de la Eurocopa Femenina en Suiza, venciendo a España en la final, y Luis Enrique llevó al PSG a los títulos de la Liga de Campeones y la liga de Francia.
Los cuatro premios principales tuvieron el mismo cuadro de honor que los premios del Balón de Oro presentados en septiembre en París.
La FIFA organizó sus premios anuales Best en una cena privada en Doha un día antes del partido del PSG contra Flamengo, el recién coronado campeón de Sudamérica, en la final de la Copa Intercontinental el miércoles.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Miles protestan contra líder eslovaco por cierre de oficina de protección de denunciantes
BRATISLAVA, Eslovaquia (AP) — Miles de personas se manifestaron en toda Eslovaquia el martes para protestar contra las últimas medidas del gobierno del primer ministro populista Robert Fico para desmantelar una oficina independiente que protege a quienes denuncian corrupción y otras actividades delictivas.
Las manifestaciones tuvieron lugar en 10 comunidades, incluida la capital, Bratislava, donde los manifestantes en la Plaza de la Libertad tenían un mensaje para Fico: “Renuncia, renuncia”.
Fico ha sido durante mucho tiempo una figura divisiva en Eslovaquia y la gente se manifiesta a menudo para protestar contra sus políticas prorrusas y otras.
Esta vez, la gente se enfureció después de que los legisladores en el Parlamento leales a Fico aprobaran un plan para cancelar la Oficina de Protección de Denunciantes la semana pasada a pesar de las respuestas críticas a tal medida tanto en el país como en el extranjero.
En otro paso controvertido, votaron para prohibir el uso de pruebas obtenidas de sospechosos que cooperaron con las autoridades policiales a cambio de una sentencia reducida. Dichas pruebas tampoco pueden ser utilizadas si mintieron en cualquier otro caso.
Una pancarta en la multitud decía: “El gobierno de Fico ayuda a la mafia”.
Michal Šimečka, líder del partido opositor Progresista Eslovaquia que organizó la manifestación, dijo a la multitud: “Eslovaquia es el único país donde el gobierno aprueba leyes para facilitar la vida a los criminales y la mafia”.
“Vergüenza, vergüenza”, coreaba la gente.
La oposición acusó que los cambios estaban diseñados para ayudar a un aliado prominente de Fico, el vicepresidente del Parlamento Tibor Gašpar, quien debería enfrentar un juicio por cargos de establecer un grupo criminal.
Los manifestantes pidieron al presidente Peter Pellegrini, usualmente un aliado de Fico, que vetara los cambios. Pellegrini tiene que firmar la legislación para que se convierta en ley, pero el gobierno tiene la mayoría para anularlo.
Los críticos de Fico afirman que bajo su gobierno, Eslovaquia está siguiendo la dirección de Hungría bajo el primer ministro Viktor Orbán.
László Gubík, líder de la Alianza Húngara, un partido que representa a la minoría húngara de 450.000 personas en Eslovaquia, se unió por primera vez a la protesta antigubernamental.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
New Kane County satellite office opens Wednesday in Elgin
The opening of the Kane County clerk’s new satellite office in Elgin — a location that eliminates the need for area residents to trek to the county government center in Geneva for services — will be celebrated Wednesday with a ribbon-cutting event.
“We’re going to have full services there,” Kane County Clerk John “Jack” Cunningham said. “Elgin (residents) can get marriage licenses, passports and everything that’s in our office in Geneva.”
The clerk’s office is responsible for handling a variety services, including elections, tax extensions, passport applications, and vital records like birth, death, and marriage/civil union certificates.
Located at 2170 Point Blvd., the office’s hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays. The grand opening will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
The accessibility of the office from Route 20, Randall Road and Interstate 90 makes the location ideal, Cunningham said.
“The location will not only be convenient for Elgin residents but for all of the county’s northwest municipalities and villages, including Del Webb communities for those 55 and older,” he said.
Kane County purchased the 46,093-square-foot building last year for $2.8 million. It will not only serve as a satellite office for the clerk’s office but for the Kane County Health Department and Kane County Court Services, which provides probation, pretrial and diagnostic services for the 16th Judicial Circuit Court.
John Emerson, director of vital records for the Kane County clerk’s office, prepares Tuesday for the new Elgin satellite office’s grand opening Wednesday. (Gloria Casas/The Courier-News)
Health department officials plan to offer behavioral health and clinical services for northern Kane County residents.
“It’s going to serve a lot of people,” Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain said. “I think it will provide better services for the northern part of the county.”
Cunningham credited Kaptain with being the driving force behind bringing the satellite location to Elgin. He and Kaptain have been discussing the idea for more than 10 years, he said.
“I talked to him about the fact that Elgin had one of the fastest-growing senior populations in the county at that time and how it was hard to get people down to Geneva,” Kaptain said.
The county agreed, but opted to open its first satellite office in Aurora instead.
“The city of Aurora argued it was the second-largest city in the state of Illinois,” Cunningham said. Since the clerk’s office was taking over the Aurora Election Commission, it made sense to have an office there, he said.
But Kaptain didn’t let the idea go, he said.
“I think the momentum shifted a little bit in the last year or so, and they decided to purchase property,” the mayor said. “I think some people saw that the northern part of Kane County has a lot of voters now. I think that was part of the mix. We have more people to serve.”
When the Kane County seat was created, Geneva was situated in the middle, Kaptain said. But the two largest population centers ended up being on either end of the county, he said.
Geneva is 12 miles from Elgin, and that can be a long driver for older residents, Kaptain said.
“I think it will provide better service for the northern part of the county,” he said.
Cunningham said his office had broad support from the Kane County Board when he broached the topic.
The Aurora satellite location costs about $178,000 a year to run, he said, and he expects the Elgin office to cost about the same. “It’s well worth it,” he said.
He added that he is hoping to persuade Kane County Treasurer Chris Lauzen to allow property owners to pay their taxes there at some point in the future.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/16/kane-satellite-office-elgin-opening/
USDA Must Give States More Time To Implement Food Stamp Restrictions: Judge
USDA Must Give States More Time To Implement Food Stamp Restrictions: Judge
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must extend a deadline for states to implement new immigration-related eligibility restrictions on food stamps, a federal judge ruled on Dec. 15.
U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai, during a hearing in Eugene, Oregon, issued an injunction requiring the USDA to extend the expiration date of a grace period for the states to comply with the new restrictions on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
The deadline was Nov. 1. It is now April 9, 2026. A written order has not been released yet.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Donald Trump over the summer, states had to stop letting certain immigrants, including those with deportation hold orders and refugees who are not legal residents, receive food stamps from SNAP, the USDA said in an Oct. 31 memorandum.
The USDA also stated at the time that lawful permanent residents, or green card holders, would only be eligible for SNAP after a 5-year waiting period.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia sued over the guidance. They said that the guidance wrongly required a waiting period for all green card holders, even though another federal law allows a variety of permanent residents, including people who are blind or disabled, to receive SNAP without a waiting period.
Kasubhai said on Dec. 15 that the guidance contributed to “confusion” that impeded states’ ability to implement the new restrictions.
The USDA said it never intended for its guidance to go beyond the new immigration-related eligibility restrictions set forth in the law, and a lawyer for the Department of Justice told the judge that reflected a “misunderstanding” by the states.
On Dec. 9, the USDA issued revised guidance on implementing the new rules, stating that some permanent residents, including refugees, do not need to wait five years to receive food stamps.
The states also said in a motion for a preliminary injunction that if the judge did not block the guidance, he should extend the compliance deadline to March 1, 2026.
Kasubhai said that the updated guidance corrected the USDA’s previous position, which he said ran counter to the One Big Beautiful Act. Later in the hearing, he said the deadline for compliance was illegal, contrary to past practice, and would expose the states’ budgets to irreparable harm if not extended.
“The inability to provide compliance in the time period in which they were forced to by virtue of the guidance contributed to an erosion of trust,” Kasubhai said.
A USDA spokesperson declined to comment in an email to The Epoch Times.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, said in a statement that the ruling “allows Oregon to keep administering SNAP without fear of being punished for following the law.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/16/2025 – 14:45
Familias en Gaza luchan por recuperarse tras días de lluvias torrenciales que dejaron 12 muertos
Por WAFAA SHURAFA
DEIR AL-BALAH, Franja de Gaza (AP) — Los palestinos en Gaza luchaban el martes por recuperarse de las lluvias torrenciales que azotaron el enclave durante días, inundaron campamentos para desplazados, derrumbaron edificios gravemente dañados por la guerra y dejaron al menos 12 muertos, entre ellos, un bebé de dos semanas.
El aguacero, en el que cayeron más de 150 mililitros (9 pulgadas) de lluvia en algunas partes de Gaza durante la última semana, convirtió los caminos de tierra en lodo e inundó tiendas en campamentos para personas desplazadas.
El Ministerio de Salud de Gaza, que forma parte del gobierno dirigido por Hamás, dijo el martes que el bebé de dos semanas murió de hipotermia como resultado del clima. El bebé fue llevado al hospital hace unos días y trasladado a cuidados intensivos, pero falleció el lunes.
En la Ciudad de Gaza, un hombre murió el martes después de que una casa dañada durante los ataques israelíes se viniera abajo debido a las fuertes lluvias, según el Hospital Shifa.
Miembros de la familia al-Hosari dijeron que 30 personas vivían en el edificio, pero solo nueve estaban en casa cuando colapsó. El hombre que murió era un trabajador que había venido a reparar las paredes, dijeron. Cinco personas resultaron heridas.
El Ministerio de Salud dijo que las diez personas restantes fallecieron la semana pasada, también por el derrumbe de edificios debido a la lluvia y los fuertes vientos.
Los trabajadores de emergencia advirtieron a las personas que no se congregaran en edificios dañados debido al riesgo de derrumbe, aunque gran parte del territorio ha sido reducido a escombros, por lo que hay pocos lugares para escapar de la lluvia. En julio, el Centro de Satélites de las Naciones Unidas estimó que casi el 80% de los edificios en Gaza han sido destruidos o dañados.
“Cuando escuchamos las noticias de que hay una tormenta, toda nuestra vida cambia, comenzamos a pensar en dónde quedarnos, a dónde ir, dónde poner nuestros colchones y mantas, y dónde mantener a nuestros hijos seguros y abrigados”. afirmó Mohammed Gharableh, un padre desplazado de la ciudad sureña de Rafah.
“En cada tormenta como esta, el agua penetra en nuestras tiendas, y nuestros colchones y mantas se empapan”, agregó.
En Israel, las áreas cercanas a Gaza recibieron de 60 mm a 160 mm (2 a 6 pulgadas) de lluvia en la última semana, según el Servicio Meteorológico de Israel, lo cual, en algunos casos, es más del doble de la cantidad promedio de lluvia para esta época del año.
Los grupos de ayuda dicen que, a pesar de dos meses de alto el fuego, no ha llegado suficiente material de refugio a Gaza para ayudar a los palestinos a enfrentar el invierno. Las cifras del Ejército israelí publicadas recientemente sugieren que no se ha cumplido con la estipulación del alto el fuego de permitir la entrada de 600 camiones de ayuda a Gaza al día, aunque Israel pone en duda ese hallazgo.
La gran mayoría de los dos millones de personas en Gaza han sido desplazadas, y la mayoría vive en vastos campamentos de tiendas que se extienden a lo largo de la costa, o se instalan entre los cascos de edificios dañados. Los edificios carecen de infraestructura adecuada para inundaciones y las personas usan fosas sépticas cavadas cerca de las tiendas como baños.
El organismo militar israelí encargado de coordinar la ayuda a Gaza, llamado COGAT, dijo que cerca de 270.000 tiendas y lonas han ingresado a Gaza en los últimos meses, así como artículos de invierno, equipos de refugio y suministros de saneamiento.
Pero algunos grupos de ayuda desmintieron las cifras y dijeron que se necesitan desesperadamente más suministros, especialmente artículos de invierno.
Shelter Cluster, una coalición internacional de proveedores de ayuda liderada por el Consejo Noruego para Refugiados, dijo la semana pasada que ha rastreado solo 68,000 tiendas que han ingresado a Gaza a través de la ONU, organizaciones no gubernamentales y varios países. Muchas de ellas no están aisladas adecuadamente para el invierno, afirma.
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La periodista de The Associated Press Melanie Lidman contribuyó a este informe desde Jerusalén.
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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.
