The city of Geneva is again considering a bond referendum question meant to help it pay for a new police station, which may be put to voters in the March 17, 2026, election.

The possibility of selling bonds to construct new public safety facilities is not new in Geneva — the city had initially planned to put the question to voters last April, but pulled it from the ballot in January after discovering a calculation error that would have doubled the projected property tax payment.

Now, the Geneva City Council is again considering a referendum — with a particular emphasis on constructing a new police station for the city.

Geneva’s current police station is located just off the Fox River at 20 Police Plaza. At a City Council Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, City Administrator Alex Voigt said that the current building had previously housed the police department, fire department and Tri-Com Central Dispatch, but the latter two entities have since gotten their own facilities.

Discussing the city’s need for the new station, Voigt explained that the “profession of policing has changed so substantially over the past five years,” pointing to investments in equipment and technology that require additional space. That’s in addition to training requirements, which the current facility “just does not accommodate,” she said.

The new police station is one of the projects in a major facilities overhaul the city has been planning for over a year. City staff has previously pointed to issues like a lack of office space, flooding, sewer back-ups and a partial roof collapse at the police station.

As a result, the city has been weighing the construction of a new, 45,000-square-foot police station on a city-owned property adjacent to the Public Works site on South Street.

Now, almost a year after the initial bond referendum was pulled off the April ballot, the council has picked the idea back up.

In recent discussions, the council has also been weighing a switch to a home rule form of government, which could also be brought to voters in an upcoming election via referendum — though it’s not expected to be on the March ballot.

An Illinois municipality with a population greater than 25,000 automatically receives home rule status, according to the state constitution. Communities with a population lower than 25,000 can become home rule units by putting the matter to voters.

Geneva’s population currently stands at a little over 21,000, per the most recent available U.S. Census Bureau figures.

Being a home rule municipality allows local governments more flexibility in lawmaking, as the Illinois constitution allows them to essentially exercise any power not specifically limited by the state.

The city has also been in talks for some time about whether to switch to home rule.

City staff previously explained that having this authority would allow it to issue bonds for each of its facility improvement projects separately and over time, instead of having to rely on a single referendum to borrow all of the money upfront. It would also allow them to access new streams of revenue, like business licenses and impact fees on new development, and to have broader powers around economic development, according to past reporting.

Both were being considered by the council as options for the March ballot, but the council has since landed on pursuing only the bond referendum for public safety facilities in the coming election — but planning for a vote on home rule by 2028.

At a meeting of the council’s Committee of the Whole in early November, Voigt presented the two referendum options. The presentation notes that while a bond referendum would fund the new police station project, it wouldn’t create a source of funding for other facility projects the city intends to undertake in the future. Home rule, on the other hand, allows the city to generate funds not limited to just that project and generally opens up more options for the city, according to Voigt’s presentation.

But the council was divided on the right pathway forward.

At the November meeting, Ald. Anaïs Bowring noted the possibility of having both questions on the ballot, but said she has become “increasingly skeptical that that would be a wise move.” She said she thinks it makes the city “look uncertain about the right path forward” and makes educating voters about the measure more difficult.

Ald. Larry Furnish added that the home rule referendum was going to be “a long shot,” and Ald. Brad Kosirog said the city “need(s) to stick to business” and pursue the bond referendum, but said he wasn’t opposed to pursuing home rule in the future.

Ald. Amy Mayer added that there was “no question” that the council was on board with the police station bond referendum, but whether to switch to home rule is not unanimous.

However, Mayer noted that she thinks voters expect the city to “be able to act in ways that are enabled by home rule.” So, she said, educating voters on home rule could be “a much better endeavor” than “continually … having to tell people that we can’t do things that they would like us to do because we’re not home rule.”

Ald. William Malecki noted that home rule is “not just … for funding mechanism(s) for your city,” and suggested putting the bond referendum on the March ballot, and educating the public on home rule between now and the election in November 2026.

But Ald. Martha Paschke said staggering the two referendums would mean educating the public twice on the issues. In favor of the home rule idea, she cautioned that pursuing a bond referendum doesn’t give the city a path to “really, solidly plan for all of the other things that need to be fixed down the road,” and said that approach would be “incredibly short-sighted.”

“I think we need to trust that the public can be open to learning, and we need to be committed to helping teach the public,” Paschke said.

The council then addressed the matter again at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, where it  recommended approval of language for a bond referendum in March to fund the public safety facilities improvements.

At that meeting, Bowring indicated her concerns with the bond measure, although she said she supports the new police facility.

“I feel like my job on this council is to think about the entire city, not just one department,” Bowring said. “And I’m concerned that at this point, we don’t have a clear enough plan for how to achieve the rest of the needed investments in our facilities that are part of the plan that we have all agreed to.”

She suggested the council wait and talk with the community and put one of the measures on a future ballot.

Mayer, on the other hand, noted that the police facility “just doesn’t serve the police well anymore” and said the city should go to a referendum to fund the new station “as soon as possible.” She said she supports home rule, but suggested the city address that separately.

“I think there’s that urgency now to move forward and that certainty,” Ald. Jeff Palmquist added, “and I think that that starts with the police station and the bond referendum.”

Ald. Mark Reinecke said there’s “many good things to be said” about home rule, but questioned whether a measure on it would succeed in March.

But Paschke took a different approach, in favor of putting the question of home rule to voters in November.

“I believe our task here is to set the best policy for the city and to trust the consultants and the staff to do the work,” Paschke said. “And I think a lot of the questioning and doubting and the fear around the idea of home rule gets really down to the tarmac about whether consultants can educate the public about home rule and the flexibility that it gives us to pay for these facilities improvements.”

Bowring questioned why council members in support of a bond referendum in March think it will pass, saying the dollar amount is one the city is “pretty sure” residents are “not comfortable with” in terms of property taxes.

Kilburg responded that since the police station has been a topic of consideration for some time, many voters would likely identify it as a priority.

“We can only dance on this issue so long,” he said. “And then we look ridiculous if we don’t come forward with a referendum in the spring.”

Kilburg then proposed another pathway: putting a non-binding advisory question on the March ballot about whether residents want Geneva to become a home rule municipality.

Malecki said it wouldn’t give the city enough time for education efforts, and Bowring said she felt the idea was “really in bad faith” for the same reason.

Kilburg defended the suggestion, calling his idea “a compromise,” but Mayer said an advisory question would distract from a bond initiative.

Ultimately, after considerable discussion, Mayer asked the council to consider the bond referendum for the police station — with a set amount of roughly $59 million, on the top end of estimates for the project. The upper-range estimate would enable the project to include an indoor firing range and indoor parking for all vehicles at the station, officials have said.

A police car sits parked outside the Geneva police station at 20 Police Plaza on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (David Sharos/For The Beacon-News)

Voigt clarified that the bond language indicates that the money can be spent on public safety, so any excess funds could be used on other public safety projects, like Fire Station 2 on the city’s west side, which has been identified as a priority for the city.

Paschke clarified that the anticipated annual property tax increase on an average home would be about $272 if the referendum question was approved, and Kosirog clarified that that number referred to the property tax amount for a $350,000 house.

The Committee of the Whole ultimately moved forward the bond referendum proposal, with Paschke and Bowring voting against it. That matter is set to come to the City Council for final approval at a meeting in December. The city must select a referendum question by Dec. 29, according to Voigt, for it to be included on the March ballot.

As for the city’s home rule plans, the Committee of the Whole voted on Monday in support of a draft resolution initiating education efforts on the issue, but the council again debated the timeline for a future referendum.

Paschke said putting a home rule referendum on the ballot one year after the bond referendum is “way too soon,” and Ald. Richard Marks said that while he supported an education push on home rule, he wanted some flexibility as to when they ultimately decide to put the issue to voters.

Kosirog said the “spirit” of the measure they were discussing is education, and that the council would, through the education process, “decide whether (home rule is) a good idea at a later time.”

The draft resolution initially stated that the City Council schedules a vote on home rule no later than the April 6, 2027, election, but the council ultimately opted to change the language to say they would put the home rule question to voters no later than the 2028 general election.

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/geneva-bond-referendum-police-station-home-rule/ 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Steve Cropper, the lean, soulful guitarist and songwriter who helped anchor the celebrated Memphis backing band Booker T. and the M.G.’s at Stax Records and co-wrote the classics “Green Onions,” “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” and “In the Midnight Hour,” has died. He was 84.

Pat Mitchell Worley, president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, said Cropper’s family told her that Cropper died on Wednesday in Nashville. The foundation operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, located at the site of the former Stax Records, where Cropper worked for years.

The guitarist, songwriter and record producer was not known for flashy playing, but his spare, catchy licks and solid rhythm chops helped define Memphis soul music. His very name was immortalized in the 1967 smash “Soul Man,” recorded by Sam & Dave. Midway, singer Sam Moore calls out “Play it, Steve!” as Cropper pulls off a characteristically tight, ringing riff, a slide sound that Cropper used a Zippo lighter to create. The exchange was reenacted in the late 1970s when Cropper joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act “The Blues Brothers” and played on their hit cover of “Soul Man.”

Cropper was born near Dora, Missouri, but moved with his family to Memphis when he was 9 and got his first mail-order guitar at age 14, according to his website, playitsteve.com. Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed and Chet Atkins were among his early influences.

Cropper was a Stax artist before the label was even called Stax, which Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton had founded as Satellite Records in 1957. In the early 1960s, Satellite signed up Cropper and his instrumental band the Royals Spades. The band soon changed its name to the Mar-Keys and had a hit with the funky “Last Night.” Satellite soon was renamed Stax; a California label with the same name had threatened legal action.

At Stax, some of the Mar-Keys became the label’s horn section while Cropper and other Mar-Keys eventually formed Booker T. and the MG’s. Featuring Cropper, keyboard player Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn and drummer Al Jackson, Booker T. and the M.G.’s were known for their hit instrumentals “Green Onions,” “Hang ‘Em High” and “Time Is Tight,” and backed Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and other artists. The racially integrated band, a rarity in its day, was so admired that even non-Stax artists recorded with them, notably Wilson Pickett.

In the mid-1960s, Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler brought Pickett to Memphis to work with the Stax musicians. During a 2015 gathering with the National Music Publishers Association, Cropper acknowledged he had never heard of Pickett before working with him. He found some gospel recordings by Pickett, was taken by the line “I’ll see my Jesus in the midnight hour” and with a slight change helped write a secular standard.

“The man up there has been forgiving me for this ever since!” he said.

Cropper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of Booker T. and the M.G.’s. The same year, Cropper, Dunn and Jones were part of the house band for an all-star tribute at Madison Square Garden to Bob Dylan, with other performers including Neil Young, George Harrison and Stevie Wonder. (Al Jackson died in 1975, Dunn in 2012).

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Cropper 39th on its 100 Greatest Guitarists list, calling him “the secret ingredient in some of the greatest rock and soul songs.”

He played guitar on hits by Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett and many others, but was especially close to Redding. In an interview on his website, Cropper recalled collaborating on “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay,” completed shortly before Redding’s death in a December 1967 plane crash and a No. 1 hit in 1968.

The brooding, folkish ballad was a departure from Redding’s signature soul sound and a bittersweet reflection on his triumphant appearance a few months earlier at the Monterey Pop Festival. Cropper would remember adding the final touches on the recording while still grieving for Redding.

“We had been looking for the crossover song,” he said. “This song, we knew we had it.”

Cropper was in the 1980 movie “The Blues Brothers” and its follow-up, “Blues Brothers 2000,” portraying “The Colonel” in the Blues Brothers band. In real life, he toured with them.

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in New York City, and two years later received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/steve-cropper-booker-t-and-the-mgs-dead/ 

Gary Police are asking residents to come forward if they think their stuff or kitchen appliances were stolen by an apparent U-Haul truck burglary ring.

Eight people – Timothy Crawford, Paul C. Sparrow III, Tyrone Mims, Calvin Collier, Yokeca Mitchell, Olana Weatherspoon, Tyaunniah C. Wade and Imani Guider – have been charged with Level 6 felony residential entry and misdemeanor criminal trespass.

Officers responded Nov. 28 to the 4900 block of Maryland Street for a burglary. A person told them multiple things, like kitchen appliances, were gone.

Police officers in Gary’s Real Time Crime Center – which tracks license plate data – found the U-Haul on the 800 block of E. 36th Avenue. All eight people were arrested inside the home. The homeowner didn’t know who they were.

Another man with them fled. Police found multiple stolen items in the home and truck.

“The Gary Police Department is actively investigating multiple burglaries throughout the city that may be connected to these individuals,” according to a police social media post.

Anyone with information can call detectives at 219-881-1209.

mcolias@post-trib.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/gary-police-want-residents-to-come-forward-if-burglary-ring-stole-items/ 

Por STEVE DOUGLAS

Arsenal restableció su ventaja de cinco puntos en la Liga Premier al vencer el miércoles 2-0 a Brentford, a pesar de prescindir de varios titulares debido a lesiones o rotaciones.

Mikel Merino cabeceó un centro de Ben White a los 11 minutos para inaugurar el marcador. Fueron dos de los suplentes que salieron desde el vamos por Arsenal, que no contó con sus defensas centrales titulares Gabriel Magalhaes y William Saliba por culpa de lesiones. Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber y Eberechi Eze arrancaron en el banquillo.

Saka ingresó como sustituto y añadió el segundo tanto de la noche en el tiempo de descuento. Su disparo cruzó la línea después de ser desviado por el portero Caoimhín Kelleher.

La profundidad del equipo de Arsenal es tal esta temporada que el equipo de Mikel Arteta puede soportar tantas ausencias y aún así mantenerse fuerte en la carrera por el título. Los Gunners buscan su primer campeonato de liga desde 2004.

Manchester City es el rival más cercano de Arsenal en este momento y el martes ganó a domicilio 5-4 ante Fulham.

En otros partidos el miércoles, el colista Wolverhampton sigue sin ganar esta campaña después de perder 1-0 en casa ante Nottingham Forest. Después de 14 jornadas, los Wolves apenas suman dos puntos.solo tiene dos puntos.

Aston Villa remontó un 2-0 en contra para ganar 4-3 en Brighton. Con su cuarta victoria consecutiva, el equipo de Unai Emery se afianzó entre los cuatro primeros. Ollie Watkins anotó dos veces para el Villa.

Crystal Palace venció 1-0 a Burnley gracias al gol del lateral colombiano Daniel Muñoz.

Más tarde, Liverpool recibía a Sunderland y Chelsea visitaba a Leeds.

___

Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/arsenal-vence-2-0-a-brentford-y-restablece-ventaja-de-cinco-puntos-como-lder-de-la-premier/ 

Watch: MSNBC Worries Trump Will “Make America White Again”

Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/03/2025 – 17:00

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-msnbc-worries-trump-will-make-america-white-again 

Matas Buzelis needed to do less.

He felt it within the first month of the season. In his first season with the Chicago Bulls, Buzelis became accustomed to lengthy game days. He typically arrived at the United Center or a road arena at 3 p.m., barely three hours after the team bus returned to the hotel from morning shootaround. His pregame rituals took four hours.

That worked for a 20-year-old rookie still trying to inch his way into the rotation. But this season — as a starter averaging 28.3 minutes per game — those extra hours on the court took their toll. Even the Bulls player development staff began to urge Buzelis to slow things down.

So midway through November, Buzelis popped into the office of coach Billy Donovan to fix his pregame routine. The pair took the problem to Donovan’s whiteboard, writing out each step of Buzelis’ game-day ritual.

Donovan suggested that Buzelis arrive at the arena at 5 p.m. — two hours before tipoff — like the rest of the starting group. He cut out pregame sprints and drills that might weigh his legs down in the fourth quarter, streamlining the schedule to focus mainly on shooting.

It wasn’t a long or particularly life-changing meeting. But those minutes spent tweaking the forward’s routine reflected a belief held by both Donovan and Buzelis — every aspect of an athlete’s day can be perfected with the right attention.

“I’m trying to learn every day,” Buzelis said. “Every day you have a chance to learn something new. That’s what I’m trying to do. That’s part of basketball. Life, even. How to control on the court, how to control off the court. It all means something. That’s how you build a consistent life.”

Buzelis always has been a guy who didn’t want to take a single day off. He knows this isn’t realistic. From a young age, his father, Aidas — a former physiotherapist for the Lithuanian national team — drilled him on the importance of rest and recovery. But Buzelis can’t help it. He never wants to go a day without playing basketball.

He’s working on it. On an off day Sunday in Orlando, Fla., Buzelis tried to unplug. He took a nap, wandered around the hotel, threw on a movie in his room while eating lunch.

It worked well enough. For a bit. But sooner or later, his mind drifted back to basketball. The latest film session detailing the mistakes of the last three losses on the road. Highlights from the games he missed while on the court himself. Questions about his progression. Am I making the right reads on offense? How am I going to elevate as a defender? When am I going to make the next jump?

Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) is fouled by Pistons forward Tobias Harris during the first quarter of the home opener Oct. 22, 2025, at the United Center. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Things still haven’t clicked fully into place for Buzelis. Not quite. His rookie season was a success — despite barely playing before January, he ultimately won a starting role and earned a Second Team All-Rookie nod in the process.

This year came with heftier responsibilities. Buzelis is the X factor in an otherwise aimless season for the Bulls. Whether they were riding high from a 5-0 start or mired in a 1-5 slump entering Wednesday’s home game against the Brooklyn Nets, the general outlook for remained the same: This team’s ability to compete in the Eastern Conference will depend on how much (and how quickly) Buzelis grows.

Buzelis is still waiting to reach that next level. He averaged 13.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 blocks in his first 20 games this season — almost identical numbers from his 31 starts in the final stretch of his rookie year.

It’s nothing to worry about. Yet. The kid still looks solid as he adapts to his role as one of the top players on the Bulls roster. And as he balances his eagerness to grow into a star, Buzelis still believes patience is his greatest strength in Year 2.

“I know it will happen,” Buzelis told the Tribune. “I don’t know when, but I know how. It will happen.”

It’s easy to get the wrong read on Buzelis.

On the surface, the 21-year-old might seem almost concerningly carefree, a common pitfall for players his age. He carries himself with an affable goofiness, skips and sashays through TikTok dances, terrorizes teammates during their walk-off interviews on CHSN. But this easygoing veneer obscures a vein of intense self-awareness.

Buzelis is serious about being an NBA player. He devotes significant thought to his habits, to his relationship with the media. Some players struggle with the foundational basics of diet and rest in their first handful of NBA seasons. (Queue up the oft-repeated story of Patrick Williams eating a whole plate of chicken parmesan barely an hour before a game as a rookie.) Not Buzelis, who spent most of the last year choking down protein shakes in an effort to add muscle to his slender frame.

None of it is perfect. Buzelis is still prone to frustration and mistakes and moments of detached attention. Still, it’s this meticulous interest in his weaknesses that made a strong impression on Donovan from his early weeks working with the forward.

Bulls forward Matas Buzelis goes up for a dunk during a preseason game against the Timberwolves on Oct. 16, 2025, at the United Center. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

This is why Donovan never has been concerned about leaning into Buzelis after every mistake. Sure, the kid can practically jump over the basketball hoop. But Donovan wants Buzelis to be more than his talent. More than the brush-your-chin-on-the-rim, whip-the-ball-in-a-windmill, flex-for-the-camera dunks. More than the emphatic blocks and full-court sprints that often get clipped together in any Buzelis highlight reel.

“You have to understand that your talent is being neutralized,” Donovan said. “They’re all good players up here. And he’s really talented — I’m not saying that he’s not — but what you don’t want to do is have your talent be your curse.”

Buzelis is at his best when he cuts without the ball in his hands, but it’s a challenge at times to assert that strength in the blueprint of the Bulls offense. His 3-point-shooting efficiency dropped with a higher volume as a starter, averaging 34.4% on 4.7 attempts per game. His handles have improved, but not enough to dodge past the league’s best perimeter defenders with consistency.

Fans might want him to shoot more 3s or take more defenders off the dribble. But Buzelis is wary about forcing bad shots or learning bad habits. He also knows Donovan won’t hesitate to yank him off the court over an ill-advised decision. This is a careful dynamic the coach battles to maintain — encouraging Buzelis to be himself while enforcing strict expectations.

Buzelis gets it. He doesn’t want to be defined as a dunker or an athlete. His greatest goal is to be known as a hooper — pure, through and through — a designation that will come only with a complete game on both sides of the ball. But even on defense, he’s still learning not to chase the highlights.

Buzelis leads the Bulls in blocks — already logging 30 on the season, the 10th-most in the league and fifth-most for a non-center. But Donovan wants him to readjust his perception of rim protection, shifting focus toward deflecting and affecting shots rather than always going for the knockout punch.

Bulls forward Matas Buzelis dunks the ball during a preseason game against the Timberwolves on Oct. 16, 2025, at the United Center. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

“The highlights just come,” Buzelis said. “Obviously I’m God-gifted with athleticism, so that’s just going to come naturally. But it’s the little things you’ve got to see — the charges, being in the fill, communicating on defense. But I’m also a basketball player. I know how to play the game. I don’t need much flashiness.”

In the early minutes of Monday’s second quarter against the Orlando Magic, Buzelis looked a little lost.

This still happens more often than he would like. Sometimes, Buzelis gets stuck on the pace of the game, watching the current pass him by rather than dictating his own game flow. In November, he went on a seven-game streak of scoring 13 points or fewer. And for a brief stretch of Sunday’s game in Orlando, Buzelis found himself caught up again.

Nikola Vučević noticed. So as the Bulls settled into their half-court offense, the center cleared out to the corner, threading his fingers together above his head before jerking his arms outward to simulate cracking an egg open. It wasn’t a formal play call. Vučević describes it more as a safety valve, a mechanism to open up the floor and encourage a player to call his own shot.

As Buzelis gathered the ball at the top of the key, Vučević’s eyes flashed between the forward and the yawning canyon of space directly in front of the rim, beaming a wordless message to the younger player: The paint is open. Go do your thing.

Buzelis didn’t need much encouragement. The forward sprang into his drive, tucking his shoulder into Tristan Da Silva and leveraging his off-arm to carve a tightrope trajectory toward the low block. His first step was just quick enough to trap the Brazilian on his hip, his reach just lengthy enough to scoop the ball over his defender’s arms.

The ball snapped through the net. The whistle blew to signal an and-one foul. In the corner, Vučević pumped his fist. And as the pair’s paths crossed on their way back to the other rim, the center slapped his palm on Buzelis’ chest in another silent reassurance: That’s it. Now do it again.

“He can do those things,” Vučević said. “All of it, he can do. It’s just a matter of how we get him there.”

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The offensive side of the game has been hard this season. If Buzelis thinks about it, that might be an understatement. The forward cites how he routinely receives the toughest defender — or the second-best, depending if Coby White is on the court — an opponent can offer. Teams know how to scheme against Buzelis, employing the worst of their length and strength to keep him uncomfortable around the rim.

Buzelis expected this adjustment. And some nights, he figures it out — like in Orlando, where he had 21 points and four assists without turning the ball over once. But Buzelis is still figuring out how to crack the newfound attention of becoming an NBA starter.

“It’s crazy,” Buzelis said. “But that’s what comes with it and that’s how I’m going to grow. If you don’t have an X on your back, how will you get better?”

In his second season, Buzelis is defined by his fixation on consistency. It’s why he nitpicks his routine. It’s why he regularly seeks out advice from mental coaches and veterans around the league. And — Buzelis believes — it’s why he will be great. One day.

Buzelis just needs that one day to come. He’s not idle. He’s following the plan. And even on the off nights, he believes — has to believe — that this diligence will be rewarded.

“Waiting is the right word to use,” Buzelis said. “It’s all just part of the process. No one can predict it. There’s always going to be ups and downs. You’re not always going to shine in the limelight. But you continue to work, you continue to get better. That’s what I’m doing.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/matas-buzelis-chicago-bulls-year-2/ 

Por RONALD BLUM

NUEVA YORK (AP) — Una cifra récord de 64 naciones estará en el sorteo del Mundial el viernes, más del 30% de los miembros de la FIFA. Los jerarcas líderes del fútbol insisten en que un torneo más amplio es mejor.

La FIFA amplió su máxima cita de 32 equipos a 48. Se han determinado 42 de las plazas previo a un sorteo en el que se extraerán bolas que representan a las naciones de cuatro bombos. Serán distribuidos a grupos tomando en cuenta que ninguno tenga más de un equipo de la misma confederación. Esa directriz también incluye a las seis plazas que se definirán entre 22 equipos en marzo de 2026 mediante la repesca de la UEFA o del repechaje intercontinental en México.

Se disputarán 104 partidos en lugar de 64 en un Mundial que se inaugurará el 11 de junio en la Ciudad de México y culminará el 19 de julio en las afueras de Nueva York. Se jugará en 16 sedes en toda América del Norte. Setenta y ocho partidos se jugarán en 11 estadios de la NFL, incluidos todos desde los cuartos de final en adelante, y 13 en México y Canadá.

La final será en el MetLife Stadium en East Rutherford, Nueva Jersey, donde habrá un espectáculo de medio tiempo por primera vez.

Además de los 12 ganadores de grupo y los escoltas, los ocho mejores terceros avanzan a una nueva ronda de dieciseisavos de final. El campeón del Mundial jugará ocho partidos.

Liderada por el capitán Lionel Messi, quien cumplirá 39 años durante el torneo, Argentina busca convertirse en la primera nación en repetir como campeona desde Brasil en 1958 y 1962. Se espera que Messi y el portugués Cristiano Ronaldo, de 40 años, fijarán un récord de seis participaciones en los mundiales.

Al menos cuatro países se han clasificado por primera vez. Cabo Verde (68 en el ranking), Curazao (82), Jordania (66) y Uzbekistán (50) se han clasificado por primera vez y cuatro equipos en los playoffs podrían convertirse en debutantes: Albania (63), Kosovo (80), Nueva Caledonia (149) y Surinam (123).

Curazao, un territorio autónomo de aproximadamente 156.000 personas dentro del reino de los Países Bajos, es la nación más pequeña por población que se clasifica.

Haití está en el torneo por primera vez desde 1974. Austria, Noruega y Escocia lo hacen por primera vez desde 1998.

“Estoy un poco preocupado. Hablamos de ello cuando se expandió de 24 que iba a dejar a algunos equipos que entraron en el Mundial que no estaban del todo al nivel, y ahora expandiéndolo a 48 creo que estás viendo algunos equipos que realmente van a sufrir”, comentó Kasey Keller, ex arquero de la selección de Estados Unidos y ahora analista de ESPN.

Los precios de las entradas para el Mundial están estableciendo récords. La FIFA ha establecido precios iniciales récord de hasta 6.730 dólares por una entrada junto con hasta 175 por un lugar de estacionamiento y 73.200 por un paquete de hospitalidad, en comparación con 25 a 475 dólares para el torneo de 1994 en Estados Unidos.

Casi dos millones de entradas de lo que se espera que sean más de seis millones se han vendido, dijo el organismo rector.

A los titulares de entradas que requieren visas para ingresar a Estados Unidos se les ha prometido prioridad en la programación de citas por parte del gobierno de Estados Unidos.

Las altas temperaturas podrían ser un problema en algunos lugares de Estados Unidos. Un factor clave podría ser si los equipos acaben asignados en estadios al aire libre donde el calor del verano podría ser un factor. Sólo cuatro de las 11 sedes del Mundial en Estados Unidos tienen techos, incluyendo uno que no está controlado por temperatura.

En el Mundial de Clubes de este año en Estados Unidos, seis partidos se retrasaron por el clima durante un total de ocho horas y 29 minutos.

“Me interesará cuando sepamos los equipos, quién está jugando en lugares con clima controlado en interiores más que al aire libre, porque creo que hay una diferencia significativa y obviamente una posible ventaja competitiva”, señaló Alexi Lalas, otro ex mundialista estadounidense y analista principal de Fox.

Los horarios de inicio se anunciarán el sábado. La temperatura promedio al mediodía durante los últimos 30 años en East Rutherford el 19 de julio es de 28 grados centígrados (84 grados F) con un índice de 32 centígrados (91 F) de sensación térmica, según AccuWeather.

Elemento político

El sorteo del Mundial de 1994 en Las Vegas contó con actuaciones de Stevie Wonder, Barry Manilow, James Brown y Vanessa Williams, además del comediante Robin Williams, quien llamó a la pantalla del sorteo “el tablero de juego más grande del mundo” y gritó “¡Bingo!” cuando Grecia salió de un bombo.

Este sorteo parece ser más parecido a la ceremonia de diciembre de 2017 en Moscú, inaugurada por el presidente de Rusia, Vladimir Putin.

Después de negociar para celebrar el evento de este mes en Las Vegas, la FIFA lo llevó al Centro Kennedy para las Artes Escénicas, tomado este año por el presidente Donald Trump y sus seguidores. Se espera que Trump, quien se mezcló entre los jugadores de Chelsea en la premiación después de la final del Mundial de Clubes el verano pasado, esté en el sorteo junto con la presidenta de México, Claudia Sheinbaum, y el primer ministro de Canadá, Mark Carney.

Las estrellas retiradas Tom Brady de la NFL, Shaquille O’Neal de la NBA y Wayne Gretzky de la NHL junto con Aaron Judge, tres veces MVP en el béisbol de las Grandes Ligas, estarán en el escenario para el sorteo, que será dirigido por Rio Ferdinand, el ex capitán de la selección de Inglaterra, con la presentadora Samantha Johnson.

Brady, O’Neal y Judge son estadounidenses y Gretzky es canadiense, pero no hay un representante deportivo mexicano.

La modelo Heidi Klum co-presenta el viernes junto con los actores Kevin Hart y Danny Ramírez, y el entretenimiento incluye a Nicole Scherzinger, Andrea Bocelli y Robbie Williams. The Village People interpretará “Y.M.C.A.”, el tema favorito de Trump, y la FIFA otorgará su propio premio de paz, probablemente a Trump. Eli Manning, ex estrella de la NFL, será el anfitrión de la alfombra roja.

___

Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/el-sorteo-del-mundial-suele-ser-un-espectculo-la-fifa-apuesta-por-algo-ms-grande/ 

Hammond man gets 8 years for being ‘drug runner’

A Hammond man was sentenced to eight years in federal prison Wednesday after he admitted he was a drug runner.

Fernando Porras Jr., 64, pleaded guilty in August to distributing methamphetamine and cocaine.

He will also serve four years on supervised release after prison.

In court filings, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Toth wrote Porras assisted co-defendant Deandre Johnson with drug buys in Dolton, Illinois, and later in Gary from May 2023 to March 2024.

Porras got probation for a 1983 drug conviction. He spent 12 years in prison for a 1998 LSD dealing conviction. After the 1990s, he racked up nearly a dozen smaller misdemeanor cases ranging from “low-level drug offenses” to check deception, Toth wrote.

Defense lawyer Matthew Soliday wrote that his client attempted to stay out of major trouble with the law for decades. After Porras’ son died in 2021, he lost his job and apartment, and he “began to spiral,” he wrote.

Merrillville man charged with beating woman

A Merrillville man is charged after allegedly breaking back into his girlfriend’s home, breaking her nose and rupturing her eardrum while their 6-month-old infant was sleeping.

Joseph Sanders, 25, is charged with aggravated battery, two counts of criminal confinement, three counts of domestic battery and one count of intimidation.

He is in custody, held without bail.

The victim told Merrillville Police they were having an argument about their relationship and he accused her of cheating before he left for an hour. He later returned and threw a shovel through a front window to break into the home, then beat her.

Indianapolis man charged in drunken U-Haul crash

An Indianapolis man is facing charges after allegedly driving drunk and crashing a U-Haul truck into another vehicle.

Darryl Stockard, 66, is charged with two felony counts and two misdemeanor counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

He hasn’t been apprehended. When arrested, he is ordered held on a $2,000 cash bond.

Merrillville Police responded Sept. 30 around 5 p.m. to the intersection of U.S. 30 and Cleveland Place.

There, Stockard was in a U-Haul truck. His “speech” and “movements” were slow and officers noted his pupils were dilated.

After the other driver provided their information, they let that vehicle go.

When they asked Stockard to step out, he stumbled out of the vehicle. A breathalyzer showed he was over the legal limit for alcohol.

A witness said the U-Haul was swerving in and out of lanes and breaking randomly before crashing into the other car. Stockard appeared to stumble to the other vehicle, charges state.

Records show he had two operating a vehicle while intoxicated convictions dating back to 1990 and 2021.

mcolias@post-trib.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/court-news-drug-sentencing-domestic-battery-charges-and-drunken-crash/ 

Por FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (AP) — La mandataria mexicana Claudia Sheinbaum envió el miércoles al Senado una terna de candidatas para fiscal general conformada por una exdirectora de la estatal petrolera, una exfiscal y la exconsultora jurídica de la Presidencia, quien figura como favorita para dirigir el Ministerio Público.

El anuncio de las postulaciones se da a casi una semana después de la controversial renuncia del exfiscal Alejandro Gertz Manero, quien dejó el 28 de noviembre el cargo tras aceptar el ofrecimiento de una embajada que le hizo Sheinbaum que aún no ha concretado.

La presidenta del Senado, la oficialista Laura Itzel Castillo Juárez, indicó el miércoles en su cuenta de X que recibió un escrito de Sheinbaum con la propuesta de tres candidatas para fiscal general integrada por: la abogada Ernestina Godoy, exconsultora jurídica de la Presidencia quien asumió la semana pasada de manera interina el Ministerio Público federal; la abogada y académica Luz María Zarza Delgado, exdirectora jurídica de Petróleo Mexicanos (Pemex); y la abogada Maribel Bojorges Beltrán, excoordinadora general de Investigación Territorial de la fiscalía capitalina.

Pasado el mediodía, el Senado, controlado por el oficialismo, inició la sesión para la elección de la nueva fiscal general.

Durante su conferencia matutina Sheinbaum defendió sus tres candidatas asegurando que “es tiempo de mujeres”, pero no mencionó los nombres. La terna surgió de una lista de diez candidatos que preseleccionó una comisión del Senado que envió la víspera al Ejecutivo.

Desde la oposición se levantaron voces contra el proceso de elección de la nueva fiscal general. El senador Manuel Añorve Baños, del tradicional Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), dijo a un medio local que “no hubo reglas claras ni transparencia” en la selección de los aspirantes.

Por su parte, el senador Clemente Castañeda, del partido minoritario Movimiento Ciudadano, expresó que “no hay duda” de que Godoy será la próxima fiscal porque “es una decisión tomada por la presidenta, por la mayoría (oficialista).

Las candidatas

Godoy dejó a finales de la semana pasada la Consejería Jurídica de la Presidencia, la cual ocupó desde octubre del año pasado tras la llegada al gobierno de Sheinbaum, para asumir de manera interina el Ministerio Público luego de que Gertz Manero la nombró fiscalía especial de Control Competencia poco antes de renunciar.

La abogada, de 70 años, es una estrecha colaboradora de la mandataria desde los tiempos en los que ella estuvo frente a la alcaldía de la Ciudad de México (2018-2023) y Godoy dirigió la fiscalía capitalina.

Previo a encabezar la Fiscalía de la Ciudad de México, Godoy ejerció entre 2012 y 2018 como diputada federal y del Congreso capitalino.

Ante las críticas que hicieron algunos opositores sobre su cercanía al partido gobernante Morena, Godoy expresó la semana pasada que asumiría la Fiscalía General con la convicción de “servir al pueblo de México con ética, firmeza y profundo sentido de justicia”.

La abogada Bojorges Beltrán también es cercana a Godoy, ya que trabajó como coordinadora general de Investigación Territorial en la Fiscalía de la Ciudad de México. También se desempeñó como abogada investigadora en la Embajada de Estados Unidos entre 2012-2015, según un portal de transparencia de la fiscalía capitalina.

Zarza Delgado es una abogada y profesora de materias jurídicas en varias universidades locales con más de dos décadas de actividad académica. El año pasado compitió en las elecciones judiciales para el cargo de ministra de la Suprema Corte de Justicia que no logró.

Entre 2019-2024 fue directora jurídica de Pemex y un año antes ejerció como subdirectora de Consultoría Jurídica de la petrolera estatal. También trabajó en la gobernación y el Congreso del Estado de México y fue magistrada en el Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo del Estado de México (2006-2008) y en el Tribunal Electoral de esa entidad (2009-2012).

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/sheinbaum-propone-terna-para-fiscal-de-mxico-entre-las-postuladas-est-su-exconsultora-jurdica/