Category: News
Lyons Township choir’s carols draw Santa to La Grange for tree lighting
Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived at Village Hall in downtown La Grange a little late on Saturday, leading several thousand revelers to wonder if they would show up to light up the La Grange Village Holiday Tree.
“We’re waiting to hear from Santa,” La Grange Business Association President Stephanie Posey told the crowd as the appointed lighting time of 5:30 came and went. “Let’s look around. Do we see Santa anywhere? I don’t hear him, and I don’t hear Mrs. Clause.”
When the crowd made it clear that Santa was nowhere in sight, Posey called an audible.
“I wonder if we start singing some Christmas Carols, maybe that would get them here,” she said, after which the Lyons Township High School Madrigal Choir repeated their renditions of “Jingle Bells,” and “Silent Night.”
That did the trick and the Clauses arrived by fire truck, and flipped the switch to light the tree at exactly 5:47 p.m., signaling the official beginning of the 34th Annual La Grange Holiday Walk.
“La Grange is awesome,” Santa told the crowd. “And you know what helps make it awesome? Our firefighters and our police department and all the different services for our community. We’ve got a small-town feel with some fantastic stores, a lot of great shopping, and the Hometown Holiday Walk is going to be really special.”
Mrs. Claus told the crowd “keep it kind and keep it jolly. Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday!”
Coming on the heels of the Nov. 29 Small Business Saturday flash sale, the Holiday Walk is the central event of La Grange’s Hometown Holidays, and it included much more than just the lighting of the Holiday Tree.
There was also the Great Light Display, a 12-foot tall nutcracker and candy canes.
Santa was available for photo ops on his sleigh and took gift requests from children in the Village Hall auditorium. Kids also could drop off letters to Santa at the Stone Avenue train station, while Olaf and Queen Elsa from “Frozen” were hanging out at the La Grange Road station.
Children play Saturday near a light display during the 2025 La Grange Holiday Walk in downtown La Grange. (Hank Beckman/Pioneer Press)
A kiddie train behind Palmer Place transported youngsters, who could also take advantage of pony rides and a petting zoo.
Other Village officials joined in the festivities.
“I love the Holiday Walk a lot,” said Charity Jones, La Grange’s community development director. “It’s the centerpiece of the holiday season for La Grange and it’s a wonderful celebration of community and our businesses all coming together to just enjoy the spirit of the season.”
Denise Oros, owner of Linnea Jewelers and sponsor of the Great Light Display, said the event was “a fabulous attraction for many, many people.”
“I mean, look at this,” she said, pointing to the enormous crowd gathered at La Grange Road and Harris Avenue.
La Grange residents Al and Kathie Gress attended with their 4-year-old granddaughter Katie, who was at the tree lighting for the second time.
“We live here and we always brought our kids,” Kathie said.
The village’s holiday tree is lit up Saturday during the 2025 La Grange Holiday Walk in downtown La Grange. (Hank Beckman/Pioneer Press)
Local photographer Kristina Joseph was there with her sister, niece, and father.
“I feel great and very festive,” she said. “I’ve got my family here, the lights are on and Santa’s here.”
Joseph’s niece, 9-year-old Vivian, said she looked forward to the Holiday Walk every year, as did her mom, Nina Makovski.
“This has been a tradition,” Makovski said. “We moved back here from California in 2017 when Vivian was only 8 years old and we’ve been coming here ever since. We have never missed a year, so it’s very special to our family.”
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/lagrange-holiday-walk-tree-lit/
Goldman Reminds Clients Where Travel & Leisure Cracked First Ahead Of 2008 Crisis
Goldman Reminds Clients Where Travel & Leisure Cracked First Ahead Of 2008 Crisis
Goldman analysts led by Lizzie Dove examined how different segments within travel and leisure reacted to, and ultimately recovered from, the 2008-09 recession. Her analysis offers a valuable framework for identifying where consumer stress tends to appear first inside the travel space and whether today’s warning signs in a K-shaped, bifurcated consumer landscape warrant closer scrutiny.
Buried in the middle of Dove’s note on the cruise industry is an infographic showing that the downturn in the cruise industry tends to be late-cycle, whereas pullbacks in gambling, airlines, and hotels typically materialize much earlier – and right before the cycle begins to turn down.
Dove pointed back to the GFC crisis, where early in the downturn Vegas and airlines cracked first:
Vegas gambling revenue starts falling as early as Feb–Mar 2008
Airlines (enplanements) show declines by mid-2008
Then hotel demand dried up in mid-cycle:
US RevPAR drops mid- to late-2008
Followed by the late-cycle downturn in the cruise industry:
Cruise net yields don’t hit peak decline until mid-2009
They don’t return to growth until mid-2010
So there was a full 18 to 24 months lag versus the late-cycle cruise downturn and the early-cycle pullback in Vegas and airlines.
Why highlight this consumer behavior right now?
Because the current K-shaped recovery and bifurcated spending environment are flashing early warning signs. Las Vegas trends are already pointing lower, yet airlines are still holding up, and baby boomers continue booking Caribbean cruise-line trips.
Track these consumer trends through early 2026 to see whether weakness spreads more broadly across the travel industry. If airline demand begins to fall, it will provide a much clearer indication that economic softness is widening. And if that’s the case, Powell better be open to more rate cuts.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already communicated that tailwinds for working-class consumers will begin to materialize sometime in the first quarter.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/09/2025 – 15:00
Commissioners divided over plans to build Hindu temple in Elgin
A revised proposal for a Hindu temple will head to the Elgin City Council without a recommendation from the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, members of which were divided on project.
Umlya Mataji Sastha Chicago Midwest revised the size of the project, scaling back the original 231,000-square-foot structure and 125-foot spire at 890 Galt Blvd., off Lake Street, to an 86,000-square-foot temple with a 90-foot-tall spire.
They also eliminated plans for a recreation center and 33 townhomes on the 34.2-acre site, leaving 21 acres of open space.
In June, commissioners rejected the original version of the development as being too large, echoing the sentiments of residents, who also cited concerns about safety, noise and traffic. City approval for a planned development and a preliminary subdivision plat is required for the plan to move forward.
Three commissioners — Jordan Wildermuth, Karin Jones and Ignacio Gasca — liked the new plan and voted for council approval. But three others, Sam Olson, Nancy Abuali and Debra Vruble, voted against it.
“I agree with everyone here. You have done a great job with the petition and making it doable for our community,” Commissioner Sam Olson said. But, that said, the area is “way too dangerous” and it’s his opinion that no development be approved there until the Illinois Department of Transportation makes changes to Lake Street/Route 20, he said.
But Wildermuth and Jones said they believed the temple met the city’s requirements.
“I want to compliment you on the revision,” Jones said. “It’s obvious you heard what was being said (by neighbors). It’s a very thoughtful resubmission.”
Peter Bazos, an Elgin attorney representing Umlya Mataji Sastha, said congregation members working with the city since 2023 have revised the plan multiple times.
Bazos said he told temple’s leaders in June that they could move forward to the council with a negative review from the commission, but they told him, “‘No, let’s listen to what we heard. Let’s go back and see if we can’t redraw our project,’” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a petitioner voluntarily reduce the scope of their project as much as this.”
The newest version has many of the changes staff and neighbors recommended, he said.
“Some (of the changes) we took the initiative to make ourselves,” Bazos said. “We think we’ve met all the standards. This religious institution is entitled to a fair resolution.”
Neighbors, however, did not agree and asked the commission to vote against the application.
Jessica Astrug said the proposed development doesn’t adhere to the city’s comprehensive plan, which states new development should maintain the character of surrounding areas. She presented an AI image of an average two-story home alongside a 90-foot-tall spire, saying it is obvious to her that such the structure doesn’t fit in with the neighborhood.
A site isn’t suitable just because a developer wants it to be, Astrug said.
“If we approach a rezoning that contradicts the comprehensive plan, we send a clear message that our planning policies don’t matter and any neighborhood can be changed by ad hoc requests, creating a new precedent for all new proposals. It’s not good government. It’s not fair to residents,” she said.
Many people spoke about how danagerous Route 20, and that adding more traffic will make it worse.
Attorney Paul Ochmanek, representing the Oak Ridge Homeowner’s Association, said residents are worried about the scale, traffic and noise. While the scope of the project was reduced, other issues — namely traffic — weren’t addressed.
Daily prayers held in the morning and evening draw an attendance of about 430 total. Hindu New Year will draw about 965 people to the temple, according to city documents.
On high attendance days, the temple will have a traffic management plan to help move vehicles through the property, documents said. Temple officials will work with the Elgin Police Department.
A study submitted as part of the project found the surrounding roadways “can absorb the additional traffic and will continue to function within acceptable, designed ranges.”
Ochmanek said he believed that study was flawed and outdated.
Umlya Mataji Sastha has other hurdles to overcome before construction can begin. In 1966, Cook County Circuit Court issued a decree limiting development on the property so temple leaders must petition the court to either vacate or amend the decree.
“That’s where I think the ultimate decision lies, with the consent decree,” Wildermuth said.
The city council will make a decision on approval of the plans at a future meeting. If approved, the temple will need to come back to the city for final plat approval.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/hindu-temple-elgin-commission-recommendation/
Brasil endurece castigos a quienes cometan violencia de género
Por ELÉONORE HUGHES
RÍO DE JANEIRO (AP) — El presidente brasileño Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promulgó una ley que refuerza las medidas de protección para las mujeres que son víctimas de violencia de género, un movimiento bien recibido por activistas feministas, aunque también exigen más fondos para la prevención.
La introducción de la ley llega en un momento de indignación en Brasil por los casos récord de violencia contra las mujeres y una serie de incidentes de alto perfil que conmocionaron al país y provocaron manifestaciones generalizadas el domingo.
La ley, publicada en el diario oficial de Brasil el lunes, permite a los jueces tomar medidas para proteger a las víctimas, como suspender o restringir la posesión de armas, retirar al agresor del hogar de la víctima y prohibir el contacto con la víctima.
Las personas que deben seguir las medidas de protección ahora también estarán obligadas a usar un monitor de tobillo. Las víctimas serían notificadas a través de un dispositivo de seguridad si el agresor se acerca a ellas.
La legislación también aumenta las penas por violación de niños menores de 14 años a un máximo de 18 años, en lugar de 15. Si un menor de edad es violado y asesinado, el criminal ahora pasará entre 20 y 40 años tras las rejas, en lugar de 12 a 30 años.
La exsenadora Margareth Buzetti, del partido de centroderecha Progresistas, fue la autora de la ley que el Senado aprobó en noviembre.
Rachel Ripani, una de las organizadoras de las protestas del domingo, que según ella tuvieron lugar en 90 ciudades brasileñas, elogió la firma de la ley.
“Es muy positivo, pero también es una señal importante de cómo estas leyes terminan siendo relegadas a un segundo plano sin presión pública”, dijo a The Associated Press.
Violencia filmada
La semana pasada, Ripani convocó manifestaciones tras una serie de casos que mostraron una crueldad particular. Señaló el caso de Taynara Souza Santos, quien fue atropellada por su exnovio y atrapada por el coche, que la arrastró sobre el concreto durante un kilómetro (0,6 millas). Las lesiones de la mujer de 31 años fueron tan graves que le amputaron las piernas. Las imágenes del incidente se volvieron virales.
En otro caso impactante, la profesora de inglés Catarina Kasten fue violada y asesinada por estrangulamiento en un sendero junto a una playa cuando se dirigía a una clase de natación, el 21 de noviembre en la ciudad sureña de Florianópolis.
Y el 28 de noviembre, un trabajador administrativo de una escuela en Río de Janeiro disparó a dos de sus colegas femeninas. La hermana de una de las víctimas, Alline de Souza Pedrotti, dijo que él no aceptaba tener jefas mujeres.
A principios de este año, un video de una mujer siendo golpeada más de 60 veces por su novio en un ascensor también se volvió viral. Posteriormente, se sometió a una cirugía de reconstrucción facial.
“Esta violencia está siendo filmada y vista”, declaró Ripani. “La gente lo ve y se pregunta por qué no hay castigo”.
Más de una de cada tres mujeres en Brasil fue víctima de violencia sexual o de género a lo largo de un año, según un informe de 2025 del Foro Brasileño de Seguridad Pública, el número más alto desde que comenzaron los registros en 2017.
Hace una década, Brasil aprobó una ley que reconoce el crimen de feminicidio, definido como la muerte de una mujer en el ámbito doméstico o como resultado del desprecio hacia las mujeres.
El año pasado, 1.492 mujeres fueron víctimas de feminicidio, el número más alto desde que se introdujo la ley en 2015, según el Foro Brasileño de Seguridad Pública.
Eficiencia cuestionada
En octubre de 2024, Lula promulgó una ley que estipula que aquellos condenados por feminicidio enfrentarán una sentencia de entre 20 y 40 años, en lugar de entre 12 y 30 años.
Isadora Vianna, socióloga de la Universidad Estatal de Río de Janeiro, observó que las penas más severas para los autores de violencia sexual contra mujeres y niños son populares tanto entre progresistas como conservadores, pero que los estudios indican que son ineficaces para prevenir los crímenes.
En cuanto a las víctimas infantiles, llevar a cabo clases de educación sexual en la escuela y proponer un espacio para que los niños hablen sería mucho más efectivo, dijo.
“Pero avanzar en este tema es muy difícil porque el debate legislativo está guiado por valores morales en lugar de estudios técnicos”, afirmó.
Tatianny Araújo, activista por los derechos de las mujeres y miembro de un grupo de derechos al aborto, indicó que la prioridad debería ser las políticas preventivas, como un aumento en los presupuestos para combatir la violencia sexual y la capacitación del poder judicial, los trabajadores de la salud y los servicios sociales que entran en contacto con las víctimas.
“Ningún cambio penal tendrá éxito, porque debajo todavía tenemos la misma estructura sexista, misógina y racista que nos daña, viola y mata”, expresó.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Opositores a la redistribución de distritos en Missouri presentan petición de referéndum
Por DAVID A. LIEB
JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri, EE.UU. (AP) — Los opositores al nuevo mapa parlamentario de Missouri presentaron el martes miles de firmas de petición para solicitar un referéndum estatal sobre un plan de redistribución de distritos respaldado por el presidente Donald Trump como parte de su esfuerzo por mantener una escasa mayoría republicana en las elecciones del próximo año.
Los organizadores de la campaña de peticiones dijeron que entregaron más de 300.000 firmas a la oficina del secretario de estado, muchas más de las aproximadamente 110.000 necesarias para suspender la entrada en vigor de los nuevos distritos de la Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos hasta que se pueda realizar una votación pública en algún momento del próximo año.
Las votaciones de referéndum en Missouri se programan automáticamente para las elecciones de noviembre, a menos que la Asamblea General apruebe una fecha anticipada durante su sesión regular que comienza en enero. El período de presentación de candidaturas en Missouri se extiende del 24 de febrero al 31 de marzo, pero los distritos aún pueden cambiarse después de la fecha límite, como ocurrió cuando la Asamblea Legislativa aprobó los distritos por última vez en 2022.
Las firmas también deben ser verificadas formalmente por las autoridades electorales locales y el secretario de estado, el republicano Denny Hoskins, quien ha argumentado que el referéndum es inconstitucional. Pero si las firmas se mantienen, el referéndum podría crear un importante obstáculo para los republicanos, que esperan que los nuevos distritos les ayuden a ganar, en las elecciones de noviembre, un escaño que actualmente está en manos de los demócratas en el área de Kansas City.
“Al final del día, (las firmas) tendrán que ser contadas, y la gente va a votar al respecto”, afirmó Richard von Glahn, director ejecutivo de People Not Politicians, que patrocinó la campaña del referéndum.
La redistribución de distritos generalmente ocurre una vez cada década, después de cada censo. Pero los partidos políticos nacionales están enfrascados en una inusual batalla de redistribución de distritos a mitad de la década después de que Trump instara a los estados gobernados por republicanos a remodelar los distritos de votación de la Cámara a su favor. El presidente republicano trata de evitar la tendencia histórica de que el partido del mandatario pierda escaños en las elecciones intermedias.
Cada escaño en la Cámara podría ser crucial, ya que los demócratas necesitan una ganancia neta de solo tres escaños para adquirir el control de la Cámara y obstaculizar la agenda de Trump.
La redistribución de distritos se extiende por los estados
Texas fue el primer estado en responder al llamado de Trump al aprobar un nuevo mapa parlamentario que podría ayudar a los republicanos a ganar cinco escaños adicionales. La Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos despejó el camino la semana pasada para que los nuevos distritos se utilicen en las elecciones de 2026.
Los republicanos podrían ganar un escaño cada uno según los nuevos mapas aprobados en Missouri y Carolina del Norte y tener una mejor oportunidad de apropiarse de dos escaños más según un nuevo mapa parlamentario de Ohio. En Indiana, los senadores estudian esta semana una propuesta que también podría ayudar a los republicanos a ganar dos escaños adicionales.
Los demócratas obtuvieron una victoria en California, donde los votantes aprobaron en noviembre un nuevo mapa parlamentario trazado por demócratas que podría ayudar al partido a ganar cinco escaños adicionales. Los demócratas podrían obtener un escaño en Utah según los nuevos distritos parlamentarios impuestos por un juez.
Pero los republicanos han impugnado en los tribunales las medidas de ambos estados. Y los legisladores de Utah se reúnen en una sesión especial el martes para considerar la posibilidad de retrasar la fecha límite de presentación de candidaturas para dar más tiempo para presentar la impugnación legal.
Los demócratas de Virginia también han dado un primer paso hacia la redistribución de distritos a mitad de la década, y se esperan votos adicionales en el nuevo año.
El referéndum de Missouri desata una intensa batalla
People Not Politicians ha recaudado alrededor de 5 millones de dólares, provenientes principalmente de organizaciones fuera del estado que se oponen al nuevo mapa. Los grupos alineados con los republicanos a nivel nacional han respondido con más de 2 millones de dólares para un comité que apoya el nuevo mapa.
Los republicanos han intentado frustrar el referéndum de numerosas maneras.
Las organizaciones que apoyan la redistribución de distritos republicana han intentado pagar a las personas hasta 30.000 dólares para que dejen de reunir firmas de peticiones, según una demanda presentada por Advanced Micro Targeting Inc., una empresa contratada por People Not Politicians.
Hoskins, el secretario de estado, sostiene que no puede contar legalmente alrededor de 100.000 firmas de peticiones reunidas en el lapso de un mes entre la aprobación legislativa del proyecto de ley de redistribución de distritos y su aprobación del formato de la petición de referéndum, sino que solo puede contar aquellas reunidas después de eso.
Hoskins también escribió un resumen de la boleta donde se indica que el nuevo mapa “deroga el plan parlamentario manipulado existente de Missouri… y refleja mejor los patrones de votación a nivel estatal”. Eso es lo opuesto a lo que los partidarios del referéndum sostienen que hace, y People Not Politicians ha impugnado esa redacción en los tribunales.
Mientras tanto, la fiscal general republicana Catherine Hanaway presentó una demanda federal en nombre de Hoskins y la Asamblea General donde afirma que la legislación de redistribución de distritos parlamentarios no puede estar sujeta a un referéndum. Aunque un juez federal desestimó esa demanda el lunes, señaló que Hoskins tiene “el poder de declarar inconstitucional la petición él mismo”, lo que probablemente desencadenaría un nuevo caso judicial.
El esfuerzo de restricción de Missouri ya ha desatado una intensa batalla judicial. Las demandas de los opositores impugnan la legalidad de la proclamación de sesión especial del gobernador republicano Mike Kehoe, afirman que la redistribución de distritos a mitad de la década no está permitida según la constitución de Missouri y alegan que los nuevos distritos infringen los requisitos de ser compactos, contiguos y equitativamente poblados.
Ha pasado más de un siglo desde que Missouri celebró por última vez un referéndum sobre un plan de redistribución de distritos parlamentarios. En 1922, los distritos de la Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos aprobados por la legislatura liderada por republicanos fueron derrotados por casi el 62% del voto estatal.
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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.
Review: ‘Gaslight’ by Northlight Theatre is more Ibsen than Agatha Christie
The combination of the title “Gaslight,” the demands of the season and the demographics of the loyal audience at Northlight Theatre probably suggests to most people a wheezing holiday whodunnit in Skokie, something like Agatha Christie or a show in the theatrical vein of “Only Murders in the Building.”
But “Gaslight” really is not that at all, especially as directed by Jessica Thebus.
The play, originally known as “Gas Light,” was penned by Patrick Hamilton, who also wrote the play “Rope,” which was notably turned into an Alfred Hitchcock movie. After morphing into “Gaslight,” the 1938 work became a movie, a much lauded film directed by George Cukor and starring Ingrid Bergman. It certainly qualifies as a thriller, replete with a dodgy police inspector and various secrets hidden in its single, upper-middle-class setting in the 1880s, as the married couple of Jack and Bella Manningham drive each other bananas under the titular illumination. The pair have two servants, one seemingly a matronly rock, the other a sexually adventurous maverick, and they add to the intrigue, as does the arrival of a detective, apparently from London, who tells Mrs. Manningham that her husband may in fact be something other than she believes.
So all of that is familiar territory. But Hamilton, whose script was adapted and Americanized in 2023 by the prodigious writer Steven Dietz, was a very skilled scribe, not so much a writer of fictive crime procedurals but a lover of psychological drama who based his work very much in the affiliated domains of marriage, intimacy and power. Dietz’s contemporary version of the play plays up those matters.
But what’s striking here is the veracity of Jessica Thebus’ production, stocked with skilled actors. Larry Grimm, who plays the patriarch more like Henrik Ibsen’s creepily condescending Torvald in “A Doll’s House,” which starts to make the case that “Gaslight” has more to do with turn-of-the-century naturalism than, say, “Murder on the Orient Express.” In that same vein, Cheyenne Casebier, a newcomer to town who I don’t believe I have seen work before, turns Bella into a Nora-like figure, whose insecurities and uncertainties are exploited by her husband so that she starts to question her own sanity. The effect of this approach from two very craftful actors is that the stakes rise far higher than in your traditional seasonal attraction.
Lawrence Grimm and Cheyenne Casebier in “Gaslight” by Northlight Theatre in Skokie. (Michael Brosilow)
Then there’s the intriguingly named Sergeant Rough, who Timothy Edward Kane turns into a figure of exuberant confidence but always questionable veracity, dangling you along as you try to figure out if he is who he claims to be.
Put all that together with Kathy Scambiatterra and Janyce Caraballo as the two housekeepers, so to speak, and everything bops along quite deliciously. This is quite the live-wire crew.
You would think this very much a traditional proscenium play but Collette Pollard’s very clever and self-aware set, one of the best in quite some time at this theater, allows Thebus to take more of a sculpted approach, and that only adds to our vistas into marital tensions and pain. Although intermittently amusing, this is an admirably tense show, both in the thriller sense and in the psychological sense. Some juice with your goose, so to speak.
“Gaslight” is very much my favorite of all Northlight’s recent holiday shows; its gassier predecessors have been anxious to please, whereas this combination of Hamilton, Dietz and Thebus offers much more of a flickering study of humans under pressure.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “Gaslight” (3.5 stars)
When: Through Jan. 4
Where: Northlight Theatre at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie
Running time: 2 hours
Tickets: $24-$98 at 847-673-6300 and northlighttheatre.org
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/review-gaslight-northlight-theatre/
Clinton-Appointed Federal Judge Tosses Trump’s Order Halting Wind Energy Projects
Clinton-Appointed Federal Judge Tosses Trump’s Order Halting Wind Energy Projects
Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,
A federal judge on Dec. 8 vacated President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order that halted federal permitting and leasing for wind energy projects, saying it violated U.S. law.
U.S. District Judge Patti Saris of the District of Massachusetts ruled in favor of a coalition of state attorneys general from 17 states and the District of Columbia, which argued that federal efforts to halt authorization for wind energy projects violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the agencies failed to provide reasoned explanations for their actions.
Trump’s order directs federal agencies to halt approvals and leasing for all new offshore wind power projects pending a comprehensive review.
In a 47-page ruling, Saris stated that the order’s indefinite suspension of wind energy project authorizations violates a statutory requirement that agencies proceed to conclude matters “within a reasonable time.”
“No permits have [been] issued since the wind order was promulgated, and the agency defendants acknowledge that they will not issue any permits at least until they complete the comprehensive assessment, for which there is no timeline,” the judge stated. “That action is contrary to law.”
The judge also noted that federal agencies failed to provide “a reasoned explanation” for halting wind project authorizations, even as they were carrying out the president’s directive.
“Given that the wind order constitutes a change of course from decades of agencies’ issuing (or denying) permits related to wind energy projects, the agency defendants were required, at minimum, to ‘provide a reasoned explanation for the change’ and to ‘display awareness that (they were) changing position.’ They failed to do so,” Saris stated.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, part of the coalition in the lawsuit, hailed the ruling as a “critical victory” for the states.
“Massachusetts has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into offshore wind, and today, we successfully protected those important investments from the Trump Administration’s unlawful order,” Campbell said in a statement.
New York Attorney General Letitia James welcomed the ruling and said there is a need to develop more energy sources, including wind energy, amid rising costs.
“I am grateful the court stepped in to block the administration’s reckless and unlawful crusade against clean energy,” she added.
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers defended Trump’s directive, saying that offshore wind projects were given “unfair, preferential treatment” under the Biden administration while other energy sources faced burdensome regulations.
“President Trump has ended Joe Biden’s war on American energy and unleashed America’s energy dominance to protect our economic and national security,” Rogers said in a statement.
Trump has pushed to increase U.S. use of fuel and coal energy sources in a move to reduce reliance on foreign supply. On July 7, Trump signed an executive order to end federal subsidies for wind and solar energy projects, citing their unreliability and dependence on foreign-controlled supply chains.
The order states that such renewable energy sources are expensive, compromise the nation’s electric grid, and threaten national security. It instructs the Interior Department to review and eliminate regulations that give preferential treatment to wind and solar projects.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/09/2025 – 14:40
Trump amenaza con retirar fondos a transporte de Chicago tras ataque con fuego a mujer
Por TODD RICHMOND
La administración del presidente Donald Trump está amenazando con retirar fondos federales para el transporte público en Chicago a menos que la ciudad refuerce la seguridad después de que un hombre supuestamente prendiera fuego a una mujer dentro de un tren en noviembre.
La oficina del gobernador JB Pritzker respondió el martes diciendo que Trump está politizando “una tragedia atroz” sin hacer nada para dar seguridad a las comunidades de Illinois.
El administrador de la Autoridad Federal de Tránsito, Marc Molinaro, envió una carta el lunes a Pritzker y al alcalde Brandon Johnson exigiendo que la Autoridad de Tránsito de Chicago desarrolle e implemente un plan de seguridad actualizado para el 19 de diciembre. La carta no solicitó cambios específicos.
La demanda surge después de que un hombre que viajaba en un tren de cercanías de la Línea Azul el 17 de noviembre rociara a la pasajera Bethany MaGee con gasolina mientras ella estaba sentada de espaldas a él, según documentos judiciales. Luego la persiguió por el vagón del tren y le prendió fuego. El hombre se bajó del tren en la siguiente parada en el centro de Chicago y se alejó mientras MaGee, de 26 años, salía tambaleándose y caía al suelo. Sufrió quemaduras graves, pero sobrevivió.
La policía arrestó a Lawrence Reed, de 50 años, de Chicago, a la mañana siguiente. Los fiscales federales lo acusaron de cometer un ataque terrorista, lo que conlleva una sentencia máxima de cadena perpetua. Los registros judiciales en línea no mencionan un abogado para él.
La información proporcionada a The Associated Press por el Tribunal de Circuito del Condado de Cook muestra más de 60 casos penales presentados contra Reed desde 1993, que van desde infracciones de tráfico, violación de morada y posesión de drogas hasta cargos más graves que involucran comportamiento violento, incluidos al menos 15 casos de agresión y al menos dos casos de incendio premeditado.
En el momento del ataque en el tren, Reed estaba bajo monitoreo electrónico en un caso activo de agresión. Las autoridades dicen que golpeó a un trabajador social de un hospital en la cara en agosto.
La oficina del juez principal del condado de Cook señaló que la ley estatal im pone límites estrictos para negarle la libertad a una persona previo al juicio.
Molinaro declaró en su carta que era “inconcebible” que Reed fuera liberado en el caso de agresión y que el ataque a MaGee refleja “fallas sistémicas tanto en el liderazgo como en la rendición de cuentas a todos los niveles que no pueden ser toleradas”.
“No aceptaré el brutal asalto a una mujer inocente de 26 años como un costo inevitable de proporcionar transporte público”, escribió.
La oficina de Pritzker indicó en un correo electrónico a The Associated Press el martes que Illinois está formando una comisión para combatir el crimen violento en el transporte público, y que si Trump realmente quiere reducir el crimen, debería liberar fondos para desplegar más agentes federales en el estado.
Al ser consultados para hacer comentarios, los funcionarios de la agencia de transporte de Chicago respondieron con un correo electrónico diciendo que la agencia había recibido la carta y “responderá dentro del plazo solicitado”. El correo electrónico no dio más detalles. La AP dejó un mensaje con la alcaldía el martes.
Trump y sus allegados suelen criticar a ciudades que tienen alcaldes demócratas, acusándolas de estar plagadas de crimen a pesar de cifras según las cuales el hampa en realidad disminuyó después de subir brevemente durante la pandemia.
La administración anunció en octubre que estaba reteniendo 2.100 millones de dólares para proyectos de infraestructura en Chicago, incluidos los planes de expansión para el tren de cercanías de la Línea Roja. El proyecto habría establecido paradas en algunos de los barrios más pobres de la ciudad. Los funcionarios de presupuesto de la Casa Blanca dijeron entonces que querían asegurarse de que los fondos no se movieran a través de contratos basados en raza. La administración retuvo 18.000 millones para infraestructura en Nueva York la misma semana.
Pritzker ha sido durante mucho tiempo uno de los críticos más fuertes de Trump. La represión del presidente sobre los inmigrantes en Chicago solo ha intensificado las tensiones. Pritzker ha resistido el despliegue de la Guardia Nacional de Trump, y Trump recientemente insultó al gobernador, llamándolo “un gordo asqueroso”.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Border Patrol agent charged with robbing, raping women in Chicago suburbs in 2022
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent has been charged in a federal indictment with robbing and raping women in Chicago’s suburbs in 2022, including at least one at gunpoint.
Luis Uribe, 44, was charged in a 12-page indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday with ten counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
Uribe, of the far northwest suburb of Pinegree Grove, was arrested Tuesday morning and appeared hours later before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, where his attorney entered a not guilty plea to all counts.
Dressed in a white polo shirt and black pants and wearing a beard, Uribe answered “yes ma’am” when the judge asked if he understood his rights, but he otherwise said very little in court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Shih moved to have Uribe held without bond pending trial as both a danger to the community and a flight risk. He also said he’d be filing a written memo later Tuesday detailing the reasons for detention.
Uribe’s court-appointed attorney said she’ll seek a bond, likely through the posting of property as collateral.
Hotaling set a detention hearing for Monday afternoon.
The indictment alleged Uribe was acting under his official capacity when he committed a series of robberies, sexual assaults, and attempted sexual assaults against four women in Schaumburg and Naperville. The charges do not allege he was on duty at the time of the incidents.
The conduct allegedly took place between February and October of 2022, well before this year’s “Operation Midway Blitz.” It was not clear whether Uribe took part in that federal effort.
The Department of Homeland Security had no immediate comment on the case.
Uribe allegedly raped and robbed two of the women. He also robbed two other women and attempted to sexually assault them, the indictment alleged.
If convicted Uribe faces a mandatory minimum seven years in federal prison and a maximum of life.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/border-patrol-agent-charged-raping-women/
Mayor Brandon Johnson tweaks head tax plan to target bigger companies, opponents balk
Mayor Brandon Johnson proposed a new version of his head tax Tuesday, altering the controversial measure to target bigger businesses for more money per employee as he seeks to get backing from enough aldermen to pass his budget before the end of the year.
Johnson is now pushing a $33-per-employee monthly tax on companies with over 500 Chicago employees. He included in his initial 2026 budget a $21-per-employee tax on companies with over 100 employees, but has been unable to get a City Council majority to agree to it.
By making the change, Johnson hopes to win over on-the-fence aldermen who feared the tax’s previous iteration would harm smaller neighborhood businesses. City Council majorities repeatedly rejected the old proposal in official votes and petitions.
“We are not talking about your local retail shops. We are not talking about mom-and-pop restaurants,” Johnson said as he introduced the change at a news conference Tuesday morning.
The head tax debate has proven to be City Hall’s most contentious as the mayor and aldermen work to land a budget before a critical end-of-year deadline.
The aldermen most ardently opposed to the head tax stood their ground later Tuesday, arguing the mayor’s changes did nothing to address their concern that the measure will harm economic growth.
Southwest Side Ald. Matt O’Shea called the mayor’s change “the latest gimmick” during a City Hall news conference, marking the second day in a row of dueling media appearances for Johnson and his opponents.
It “takes an already harmful idea and makes it even more burdensome for Chicago businesses and workers,” O’Shea, 19th, argued.
Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, argued Johnson’s proposal would push away businesses capable of moving elsewhere or relying on remote work. Such a shift would shrink Chicago’s downtown commercial property tax base and ultimately place a greater tax burden on homeowners, he argued.
Johnson is failing to build consensus and only wants a “bare” majority, Reilly said.
“I think it’s for him less about the revenue now than it is about trying to take a chunk out of the hide of Chicago’s business community,” Reilly said.
A bloc of 26 aldermen signed a letter to Johnson proposing alternative budget ideas last month. Johnson Monday dared them to move ahead with a vote, suggesting the majority of signatories to the letter won’t translate into a majority of council votes for the package.
But while the group Tuesday said they were willing to push forward their plan to replace the head tax with hiked liquor taxes and higher garbage fees, among other changes, they would not commit to a timeline on when they would introduce and attempt to vote on legislation.
Instead, they argued it is Johnson’s responsibility to come back to the bargaining table.
“We want the mayor to sit down with us. We want the mayor to engage, to govern, to lead,” O’Shea said. “The question is, does the mayor have the votes?”
Mayor Brandon Johnson walks into a room to discuss his proposed budget on Dec. 8, 2025, at Chicago City Hall. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
For his part, Johnson said he is “ready to go now” on a vote, though he shared no information to suggest his new proposal had suddenly won over enough aldermen to move ahead.
“I believe that the budget that I presented was ready to go,” he said. “It’s not like much has changed. We’re really discussing one particular component of the budget, which I understand there’s a strong desire to protect the largest corporations and the ultra-wealthy.”
Progressive aldermen critical to any Johnson budget majority have said they take issue with other parts of the mayor’s budget, such as his plans to trim a previously planned advanced pension payment and to borrow money to pay for police settlements and firefighter backpay. The letter the council majority signed also suggested changing the payment and borrowing plans.
Johnson said the new version of the head tax would bring in $82 million. His team used data last updated over a decade ago — before former Mayor Rahm Emanuel ended a previous Chicago head tax — to make its projections, according to policy chief Jung Yoon.
The new plan would tax around 207,000 jobs in Chicago, according to an analysis by the Tribune.
But the cost of the reinstated levy would pale in comparison to the tax breaks that large corporations have gotten from President Donald Trump, Johnson argued. He said around 175 companies would be affected and listed corporate behemoths to drive his point: J.P. Morgan, Accenture, CitiGroup, Walmart, T-Mobile, Mondelēz.
“$30 a month is not going to change their bottom line. What they prioritize is a talent pool, which Chicago certainly has.” he said. “It worked in Chicago, and we know that it can work again.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/mayor-brandon-johnson-head-tax-bigger-companies/
