Residents will see increases in their property tax bills next year as several units of government move to raise their respective levies.

The Lake Bluff Library, all three local public school districts, and the Lake Bluff Park District are poised to approve levy hikes.

One of the largest increases is from the Lake Bluff Library, which will raise its property tax levy by 9% over last year, according to Library Director Natalie Starosta. She said minimal levy increases in past years have left the library with a depleted capital fund.

“I wish we didn’t have to do that, but because we don’t have that capital fund built up and we have so many things in the facility that haven’t been addressed on an ongoing basis, we are having to do some catch-up work,” Starosta said in an interview.

She noted that the Scranton Avenue building needs repairs, specifically pointing to an aging HVAC system and insulation issues.

“We are trying to plan for those things and start working on those improvements rather than pushing them down the road,” she said.

The library accounts for about 3 % of the typical Lake Bluff property tax bill, according to Village Finance Director Bettina O’Connell. (The village issues the levy for the library.) She said residents should expect a combined increase of $134.45 for the village and library on a home valued at $850,000. Village trustees approved the final levy for both entities at their Dec. 8 meeting, Village Administrator Drew Irvin said.

Meanwhile, all three local school districts are also moving toward increases.

The Lake Forest District 67 board, which oversees the elementary schools, passed a tentative levy increase of roughly 4 % at its November meeting. That, coupled with new life-safety debt issuance, will translate into an additional approximate $315 for a property valued at $1 million, according to spokeswoman Melissa Oakley.

A vote for final approval was scheduled for Dec. 16.

The Lake Forest High School District 115 board approved a tentative levy increase of just over 3 % last month, which officials said would add about $127.05 to the bill for a property valued at $1 million. A vote on final approval was set for Dec. 11. LFHS represents 28.5 % of the total property tax bill, while District 67 accounts for about 26 percent, according to school officials.

In Lake Bluff District 65, the school board is scheduled to vote Dec. 16 on a proposed 3.4 % levy increase, Finance Director Jay Kahn said. He said the hike would add about $140 to the tax bill for a $600,000 home. The district’s two-school elementary system represents roughly 40 % of the overall tax bill, Kahn said.

At the Lake Bluff Park District, commissioners were scheduled to vote Dec. 15 on a nearly three percent levy increase, Executive Director John Bealer said. The increase would add about $11.19 to the taxes on an $850,000 home. The Park District makes up 7 % of the total property tax bill.

Lake Forest is one of the few North Shore communities where parks fall under city oversight rather than a separate park district.

The City of Lake Forest approved its final levy at its Dec. 1 meeting.

Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/lake-bluff-property-tax-levy-increases/ 

The Lake Ridge School Board named one of its own as the district’s next superintendent on Monday.

Calumet New Tech Principal Christopher Bajmakovich, who’s also a 1992 Calumet High graduate, will assume the superintendent’s post Jan. 1.

He agreed to a three-year contract with an annual salary of $150,000. No one spoke during the public hearing on the contract.

“I always knew I wanted to work at Calumet, to be a teacher or administrator, but superintendent; this is humbling,” Bajmakovich said.

Interim Superintendent Gilbert Crimmins will assist Bajmakovich prep for his new duties in the coming weeks.

Crimmins joined the district six months ago following the abrupt resignation of long-time school chief Sharon Johnson-Shirley in July. Johnson-Shirley, who headed the district for 19 years, didn’t send her retirement notice to the school board until mid-June.

Records revealed she accepted a settlement approved by the school board that provided her one year’s salary or $180,670. She also received a $65,666 severance payment and other benefits, bringing the settlement total to $322,880.

Bajmakovich joined the district 12 years ago and served as Calumet High assistant principal for six years before becoming principal six years ago.

Board president Kimberly Osteen said the search drew 13 applicants and she described it as a difficult process.

She said Bajmakovich was the only one who made specific recommendations on the district’s finances.

“We are excited to work with you,” Osteen said. “You were the only one who said what we needed to look at in our finances line by line. That stuck with us.”

Financial challenges lay ahead for the district, especially keeping its operations fund solvent with the expected impact from a new property tax relief law.

“We all know we have a long road ahead of us to make our schools better,” Bajmakovich said after his appointment. “It will be an uphill battle, but we’re Warriors,” he said referring to the high school’s nickname.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/lake-ridge-elevates-principal-to-top-post/ 

Por DÁNICA COTO

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Decenas de personas en la capital de Haití han muerto en un enfrentamiento entre una poderosa coalición de pandillas y un grupo de hombres armados que aparentemente se separó de ella, con 10 niños entre las víctimas, informó el martes un grupo local de derechos humanos.

Entre los muertos se encontraba Dèdè, uno de los más prominentes pandilleros en el barrio marginal de Bel-Air en Puerto Príncipe. Fue decapitado, mientras que el poderoso pandillero Kempes Sanon, un ex policía, resultó herido, según el Comité para la Paz y el Desarrollo.

No se sabe cuán grave era la herida de Sanon, aunque muchos temen que el ataque que comenzó en los últimos días desate aún más violencia en una ciudad ya controlada en un 90% por pandillas.

Sanon ha sido destronado mientras recibe tratamiento por sus heridas por dos hombres que se hacen llamar Jamesly y Ti Gason, según el grupo de derechos humanos.

El ataque en curso es inusual porque un gran número de pandillas se unieron en septiembre de 2023 y anunciaron la formación de Viv Ansanm, o “Vivir Juntos”, una coalición que llevó a una disminución de la violencia ya que los grupos armados acordaron no pelear más entre ellos.

Antes del ataque, Sanon y su pandilla formaban parte de la coalición Viv Ansanm, que Estados Unidos ha designado como una organización terrorista extranjera.

Hasta ahora, el grupo de derechos humanos ha contabilizado al menos 49 personas asesinadas, quemadas y mutiladas desde el lunes. Entre ellas hay 19 miembros de pandillas, 10 niños reclutados por esas bandas y un hombre de unos 60 años que fue alcanzado por una bala perdida.

Diecinueve mujeres, cuyas parejas eran miembros de pandillas, también fueron ejecutadas por la banda Krache Dife mientras buscaban atención médica para los hombres en una clínica, reportó el grupo.

Se cree que Krache Dife, que significa “Escupir Fuego”, sigue siendo un aliado de Sanon y un miembro de la coalición de pandillas Viv Ansanm.

La cifra de muertes podría aumentar ya que el ataque continúa y ninguna autoridad o grupo de derechos humanos ha podido acceder al área.

En un informe reciente, las Naciones Unidas señalaron que Sanon, el líder de la pandilla herido, “ha jugado un papel significativo en la consolidación del poder de las pandillas en Puerto Príncipe, particularmente a través de su participación en la alianza Viv Ansanm, que ha lanzado ataques coordinados para expandir los territorios controlados por pandillas”.

“Sanon también mantiene una red de individuos dentro de instituciones gubernamentales, incluidas agencias de seguridad, lo que le permite evadir el arresto y facilitar sus actividades criminales”, afirmó el informe de la ONU.

Cientos de civiles se están refugiando en sus lugares mientras el ataque continúa, con creciente preocupación sobre su capacidad para obtener alimentos y otros bienes básicos.

El hambre ya estaba aumentando en los barrios marginales de Haití antes del ataque, con más de la mitad de los casi 12 millones de habitantes del país experimentando niveles de hambre de crisis o peores.

El ataque podría desestabilizar aún más a Haití mientras se prepara para las elecciones generales del próximo año, con el gobierno de transición del país supuesto a dimitir a principios de febrero.

___________________________________

Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/decenas-mueren-en-enfrentamiento-con-pandillas-en-hait/ 

Indoctrination Starts Early: New Book Tells 5-Year-Olds Abortion Is A ‘Superpower’

Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/09/2025 – 13:20

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/indoctrination-starts-early-new-book-tells-5-year-olds-abortion-superpower 

Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed into law a ban on federal agents making certain arrests near courthouses and easing a path for individuals to sue if they think their rights were violated during civil immigration arrests, capping off months of resistance to the Trump administration’s sometimes-violent enforcement crackdown in Chicago and the suburbs.

“We know that this new set of laws can’t mitigate all of the harm,” Pritzker said at a bill signing ceremony in La Villita Community Church in Little Village, “but it gives us new protective tools and is a symbol of our shared action against those terrorizing our communities and our state.”

Lawmakers passed the package of immigration tweaks in October, shortly after President Donald Trump administration’s immigration enforcement hit a fever pitch in the Chicago area.

Under the new law, individuals will be better able to sue federal officers for knowingly violating the Illinois or U.S. constitutions during civil immigration enforcement actions. It also codifies a zone around courthouses where people involved in court proceedings are exempt from civil arrest.

The legislation came together in collaboration with House lawmakers, the state attorney general’s office and the governor’s office, Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park, who was a key sponsor of the bill, said in October.

While Pritzker and lawmakers have used their bully pulpits to push back against the Trump administration’s deportation efforts — and some legislators at times took an activist role themselves this fall — the statehouse has little formal role in setting immigration policy.

As a sign of lawmakers’ frustration with federal agents’ tactics, damages under the lawsuit provision could increase for several reasons. They include whether the defendant wore a mask, used crowd control equipment like tear gas, failed to identify themselves as a law enforcement officer, used a vehicle without an Illinois license plate, or did not turn on a necessary body camera — all behaviors advocates and Democratic lawmakers have accused immigration agents of doing since the start of Operation Midway Blitz under the Trump administration.

“This law sends the message that if you abuse the law, there are consequences,” Harmon said Tuesday.

When lawmakers discussed the legislation at General Assembly hearings, representatives from local law enforcement pushed back on the provision for a private right of action for constitutional violations, citing concerns that local officers could be swept up.

In October, Harmon said the bill was imperfect and acknowledged it could be challenged in court, but he said state and local lawmakers felt compelled to act.

In addition to the provisions on courts and private actions, the bill also asks hospitals, day care centers and higher education institutions to put policies on the books about how they would respond to the presence of federal immigration agents, following incidents of ICE activity at or near some of those locations across the Chicago area.

The package signed this week doesn’t include a ban on masks for federal officers, as California enacted, or any expansion of Illinois’ existing law, the TRUST Act, that generally bans local law enforcement from cooperating on civil immigration actions.

The governor, who is considered a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2028, still has not yet signed several high-profile bills that the General Assembly passed during its short fall session, including legislation that would permit doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives.

Pritzker last week told reporters that he still hadn’t made a decision on the so-called “right-to-die” legislation, though he said it had come up briefly in his recent meeting with Pope Leo XIV.

“It’s actually something that I brought up, and we didn’t have a conversation about it,” Pritzker said. The issue arose as Pritzker and the Chicago-born pope were “acknowledging that there may be things that we disagree about,” the governor added.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/jb-pritzker-illinois-immigration-law/ 

A vacancy on the CTA’s board of directors could give Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson a chance to exert some control over the transit agency’s future — months before control over the CTA’s board is wrested away from the mayor for good. 

Michele Lee, a disability advocate who was appointed to the CTA board by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2022, is leaving the board. 

Lee told the Tribune on Tuesday that she was stepping down because she had moved outside of the CTA’s service area — to Scottsdale, Arizona. The CTA’s website noted there was a mayoral vacancy on the board. 

Lee’s departure presents an opportunity for Johnson to exert some mayoral control over the transit agency before governance reforms mandated by the state’s new transit funding legislation take effect in the middle of next year. 

Crucially, an additional ally on the CTA board could help Johnson secure enough votes to install a pick of his choice to head the agency, which has been operating without a permanent leader for almost a year following the departure of embattled former president Dorval Carter.

Historically, the Chicago mayor has selected a pick for CTA president who is then approved by vote of the agency’s board. 

Currently, the CTA board is staffed by four mayoral appointees and three gubernatorial appointees. But under the new paradigm mandated by the state legislature, the mayor will get three board picks while the governor and Cook County Board president will each get two — effectively taking away the mayor’s majority control of the board. 

The legislation also requires that the board of the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority oversight body give its “advice and consent” for any CTA president appointment, and that NITA’s executive director and the chair of its board be included in the search process, further diluting the mayor’s control over the agency’s leadership. Only a quarter of the new NITA board members will be appointed by Chicago’s mayor. 

Cassio Mendoza, a spokesperson for Johnson, did not respond to a question about whether the mayor had an appointment in mind for the vacant board seat. 

The mayor’s office could feel some pressure to appoint a representative for the disability community to the vacancy left by Lee, a disability rights advocate and herself a wheelchair user. 

Lee told the Tribune that she loved Chicago and the CTA — but that it was easier for her to get around in Scottsdale, where snowy sidewalks don’t keep her trapped in her apartment after bad bouts of winter weather. 

Earlier this year, Lee became a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the city, alleging it has failed to keep sidewalks and curb ramps accessible to people with disabilities. 

Michele Lee at the corner of Ohio and Fairbanks in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood, Sept. 10, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

She said she hoped whomever replaced her on the CTA board would be a member of the disability community, a regular CTA rider and someone who would advocate for accessibility issues on the system.  

The mayor’s office also did not say when or whether Johnson planned to finally nominate a permanent leader to helm the agency, which is currently led on an interim basis by Nora Leerhsen, Carter’s former chief of staff. 

Leerhsen has become popular with local transit advocates, but she so far has not received a nod from the mayor’s office to take on the top job on a permanent basis. 

Though it presents an opening for the mayor, the newly vacant board seat is no guarantee Johnson will get his way when it comes to permanent CTA leadership. 

All current CTA board members’ terms — including any person Johnson appoints to fill the Lee vacancy — will expire in September, soon after the new transit bill takes effect, assuming it is signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker. Board members will then need to be reappointed in accordance with the new state requirements.

But before they lose their jobs, the existing CTA board could approve a mayoral nominee for CTA head. That executive would not automatically lose their job when the transit legislation takes effect, confirmed State Sen. Ram Villivalam, a Democrat from Chicago who was one of the key architects of the legislation. 

The board could, however, choose to appoint someone else, according to Villivalam. 

Even under the current paradigm, Johnson has struggled to exert mayoral control over the CTA.

Until now, the mayor had only had the chance to appoint two out of seven CTA board members. The other two mayoral appointees, including Lee, were Lightfoot’s picks. 

Furthermore, Johnson’s own appointees have not always followed his lead: One of them, Roberto Requejo, was among the board members who appeared to rebuff the mayor’s attempt earlier this year to install his former Chief Operating Officer, John Roberson, as CTA president. 

Johnson, under pressure from transit advocates who were calling for a full national search for a new CTA leader, never took Roberson’s appointment to the CTA board for approval, a sign that he wasn’t confident he could get the appointment approved. 

The saga reached a boiling point when Ald. David Moore, 17th, showed up to a CTA board meeting to vouch for Roberson, his former chief of staff, and admonished members to “work with the mayor that put you here.” 

“Don’t be a backbiting snake,” Moore said. 

At the time, Lee was not among the board members who appeared to publicly push back against the plan to appoint Roberson. 

But when asked Tuesday if she would have voted to approve him, she said, “I’m glad it didn’t come to it.” 

Lee said she would support a national search for a new CTA leader that would include interim president Leerhsen. “I have a lot of confidence in her,” Lee said. 

And she said she didn’t feel it necessary for the mayor to rush a CTA leadership appointment through before the transit boards turn over next year. Doing so, she said “might create more unnecessary uncertainty” for the transit agency, which only recently emerged from the threat of a major looming fiscal crisis. 

For his part, Johnson has maintained that losing control over the CTA is a worthwhile price to pay in exchange for funding that saved it from catastrophic cuts. The new law that mandates governance reforms will also provide around $1.5 billion a year to save regional public transit from drastic cuts — and, ideally, help improve it. 

“I mean, I’m not a fascist. I don’t know what to tell you,” Johnson said in a sit-down with the Tribune this fall. “The most important thing is they have a system that’s funded. … I don’t sit around counting the status of how much power is concentrated in one seat.”

Chicago Tribune’s Alice Yin contributed.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/cta-board-vacancy-brandon-johnson/ 

Elgin’s Daddy Daughter dances to be held Feb. 6-7

Tickets go on sale Wednesday for Elgin’s Daddy Daughter Dances, which will be held Friday, Feb. 6, and Saturday, Feb. 7,  in the Heritage Ballroom at the Centre of Elgin, 100 Symphony Way.

This year’s theme is inspired by the “Toy Story” movies, according to a news release. The immersive environment will feature music, dancing, interactive games, character appearances and special toy giveaways. Ticket price includes a full dinner, and each guest will take home a dessert and a goodie bag.

The event will be held from scheduled for 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. For pricing and tickets, go to hemmens.org/tickets.

Elgin holding event on accessible streets, sidewalks

Elgin will hold a second drop-in public meeting on its accessible streets and sidewalks plan from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11, at the Centre of Elgin, 100 Symphony Way.

Attendees will be able to review proposed projects, share feedback on priority routes and offer recommendations to help shape the plan’s next steps, according to a news release.

Elgin’s plan, launched in early 2025, supports long-term improvements that make public rights-of-way safer and more accessible. The project is funded by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and will help the city meet federal requirements under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A survey is also available so residents can rank the proposed projects to help guide staff in preparing recommendations for future improvements.

The survey is open through Thursday, Dec. 25, at www.surveyhero.com/c/Elgin-ADA-projects. It’s also available, along with additional project information, at engage.elginil.gov/ada-transition-plan.

Seminar on handling grief during the holidays planned

The Kane County Health Department will present “Heading Into the Holiday Season: Holding Space for Grief” from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12, online through Zoom.

The free presentation led by Alison Still, a licensed clinical professional counselor, will provide a trauma-informed look at how to navigate the holiday season with compassion and resilience, according to a health department newsletter. It will explore emotional exhaustion, the impact of collective stress, and practical ways to hold space for yourself and others during times of overwhelm.

Participants will learn ways to recognize stress responses, set boundaries and cultivate new, meaningful traditions.

To register to attend, go to us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/CBu_8UtWRkya1IVlAGpzkw#/registration.

Hanover Township’s annual Cookies and Cocoa with Santa will be held Friday, Dec. 12, at the Izaak Walton Youth Center in Elgin. (Hanover Township)

Cookies and Cocoa with Santa at Izaak Walton Youth Center

Hanover Township’s Cookies and Cocoa with Santa will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, at the Izaak Walton Youth Center, 899 Jay St., Elgin.

Attendees will decorate cookies, create holiday crafts and can take photos with Santa, according to a news release The event is free and registration is not required.

For more information, call 630-483-5799 or email info@hanover-township.org.

Wildlife and Wine fundraiser set for Randall Oaks Zoo

Wildlife and Wine, a fundraiser for Randall Oaks Zoo, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, at the West Dundee zoo, 1180 N. Randall Road.

Instructors will guide attendees in the step-by-step creation of paintings inspired by zoo animals, according to the Dundee Township Park District website. All art materials will be provided, with wine is supplied by Cooper’s Hawk in Algonquin. Water and soda also will be available.

Admission is $50. To register and for more information, go to www.dtpd.org/calendar/events/wildlife—wine.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/daughter-daddy-zoo-fundraiser-santa-hanover/ 

Solid 10Y Auction Sees Jump In Foreign Demand, Prices On The Screws

Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/09/2025 – 13:17

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/solid-10y-auction-sees-jump-foreign-demand-prices-screws 

Indiana’s redistricting bill advanced out of the Senate Elections Committee Monday evening in a 6-3 vote, with one Republican voting against the bill.

House Bill 1032, which addresses mid-census redistricting and gives Republicans an advantage in all nine congressional districts, passed with three Republicans on the committee saying they wanted to advance the bill for consideration by the full Senate. The proposed map, which was released last week, splits up the current First District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, into two and the Seventh District, currently held by U.S. Rep. André Carson, into four.

Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, tearfully expressed his opposition to the bill because he said he wouldn’t be intimidated by the swatting call he received when Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said his chamber didn’t have the votes to pass it.

“I will not normalize that kind of behavior,” Walker said. “I fear for this institution. I fear for the state of Indiana, and I fear for all states, if we allow intimidation and threats to become the norm.”

Committee Chair Senator Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, said he supports the bill because while “political gerrymandering is uncomfortable,” Indiana should act because Democratic states have been redistricting to their advantage.

“This is a very small part that we can play in rebalancing the scales on a national basis,” Gaskill said.

State Senators Stacey Donato, Linda Rogers and Greg Goode all said they voted in favor of the bill so that it can be discussed by the full Senate.

“I take the importance of listening very seriously and will continue to listen with an open mind,” Goode, R-Terre Haute, said in a statement after the vote. Goode and Rogers were two of at least nine Senators who received swatting calls and threats.

Donato, R-Logansport, and Rogers, R-Granger, said they may change their votes when the Senate takes up the measure.

Democratic Senators Fady Qaddoura and J.D. Ford presented four amendments to the bill, including creating a nonpartisan advisory board to conduct redistricting and for the proposed map to be discussed in public hearings in each district before legislative approval. Each of the amendments failed.

Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said he has many concerns with House Bill 1032, including the cracking of minority communities, which dilutes their voices. The bill blurs the lines of separation of power between the legislature and the courts by not allowing county-level judges to issue injunctions that would block the map from going into effect, he said. The bill states that any challenges to the new maps will be heard by the state’s Supreme Court.

“It’s a direct indication that we’re going to shove it through,” Qaddoura said. “We already have gerrymandered maps in Indiana that give more than 70% to Republicans.”

Ford, D-Indianapolis, said Indiana was taking up mid-census redistricting because of one person: President Donald Trump. Mid-census redistricting has been an issue across the country ever since Trump asked leaders in Texas to redistrict its Congressional map to give Republicans five more seats in late summer, he said.

“We have the opportunity here today to not pass the buck anymore. We can put an end to this partisan gerrymandering. We can allow our folks to elect their elected officials and not the other way around,” Ford said.

Passing the maps out of committee sets “a very dangerous precedent,” Ford said.

“This is an invitation to endless political instability and a waste of precious state resources,” Ford said.

During the Senate Elections Committee Monday, 127 people signed up to testify on the bill for more than three hours. The majority of people testified in opposition to the bill, but 18 people testified in favor of the bill.

Advocates of the bill pointed to Democratic states like California and Illinois where they say political leaders have conducted partisan redistricting for years. Those against the bill stated Indiana shouldn’t take up the measure because it was requested by Trump and because the map dilutes the minority vote.

Indiana Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Tallian said in a statement after the vote that democracy only works when voters believe that elections matter.

“The Indiana General Assembly has rules: redistricting happens every 10 years. These rules are not obstacles. They are safety nets. Upholding the rules is not an act of weakness, it is an act of responsibility, maintaining the integrity of the process,” Tallian said.

House Bill 1032 passed the House Friday in a 57-41 vote, with 12 Republicans joining all Democrats present in voting against the bill. For the Northwest Indiana House delegation, all Democrats voted against the bill and all Republicans voted in favor of the bill.

Ahead of the House vote, House Speaker Todd Huston said states across the country are conducting mid-census redistricting, Huston said, which means Indiana should address the issue as well.

“This is the place we are right now. This is our time to act,” Huston, R-Fishers, said. “This is a challenging issue, one none of us took lightly. Not one of us didn’t have long, thoughtful, meaningful conversations about it.”

The Senate has been a hurdle to Indiana’s mid-census redistricting efforts after Senate leadership stated in October that the chamber doesn’t have the votes to pass new maps.

Gov. Mike Braun called for a special session to address redistricting after months of overtures by Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance. The Trump administration has asked Republican-led states to undertake mid-census redistricting to maintain the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In response to Trump’s request, Texas conducted mid-census redistricting to give Republicans five more seats, to which California responded with voter-approved redistricting to create five more Democratic-leaning seats.

Ahead of Organization Day, Nov. 18, Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said the Senate didn’t have the votes to pass new maps and canceled the Senate’s December session.

In response to Bray’s announcement, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, calling out Bray and Goode “for not wanting to redistrict their state, allowing the United States Congress to perhaps gain two more Republican seats.”

Hours after Trump posted his comment, Goode received a false swatting call. After Organization Day, when the Senate voted to reconvene in January, at least nine more state senators — Dan Dernulc, Spencer Deery, Rick Niemeyer, Kyle Walker, Greg Walker, Linda Rogers, Andy Zay, Ron Alting, Mike Bohacek — received swatting calls.

The threats moved Bray to call the Senate into session on Dec. 8, following the Dec. 1 start of the House session.

House Bill 1032, authored by State Rep. Ben Smaltz, would allow the legislature to amend congressional districts “at a time other than the first regular session of the general assembly convening immediately following the United States decennial census.”

The bill states that the current Congressional Districts won’t expire before Nov. 3, 2026.

During a House committee hearing last week, Smaltz, R-Auburn, said Indiana is taking up mid-census redistricting because of that action across the country. The map was drawn by the National Republican Redistricting Trust using data from the last three presidential elections and the last two Indiana U.S. Senator, Secretary of State and attorney general elections, Smaltz said.

“These maps were drawn for political purposes and advantage,” Smaltz said.

akukulka@post-trib.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/indiana-redistricting-bill-advances-out-of-senate-elections-committee/ 

As Russia Makes More Gains In East, Trump Concedes “At Some Point, Size Will Win”

Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/09/2025 – 13:05

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-makes-more-gains-east-trump-concedes-some-point-size-will-win