Category: News
Recepción de TD de Tristan Wirfs y defensa ayudan a Buccaneers en victoria 20-17 ante Cardinals
TAMPA, Florida, EE.UU. (AP) — Baker Mayfield lanzó un pase de touchdown de dos yardas al tackle izquierdo Tristan Wirfs, la defensa de Tampa Bay se mantuvo firme en los últimos dos minutos y los Buccaneers vencieron el domingo 20-17 a los Cardinals de Arizona para romper una racha de tres derrotas consecutivas.
Mayfield, quien comenzó después de no jugar la segunda mitad de la derrota 34-7 ante los Rams debido a una lesión en el hombro izquierdo, lanzó para 194 yardas y corrió para 27. Los Buccaneers (7-5) lideran la división Sur de la NFL.
Jacoby Brissett, de titular por su séptima ocasión en lugar de Kyler Murray, lanzó un pase ancho incompleto en cuarta y dos desde la yarda 17 de los Cardinals con menos de un minuto restante.
Arizona (3-9) ha perdido cuatro seguidos y nueve de 10.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Purdy lidera a 49ers en victoria 26-8 sobre Browns arruinando debut de Sanders en casa
Por JOE REEDY
CLEVELAND (AP) — Brock Purdy corrió para un touchdown y pasó para otro en la segunda mitad, y los 49ers de San Francisco arruinaron el primer inicio en casa de Shedeur Sanders al derrotar el domingo 26-8 a los Browns de Cleveland.
Cleveland tomó una ventaja de 8-7 al final del segundo cuarto cuando Sanders se conectó con Harold Fannin para un touchdown de 34 yardas y la carrera de Quinshon Judkins añadió la conversión de dos puntos. Pero San Francisco (9-4) anotó los siguientes 19 puntos en su tercera victoria consecutiva.
Los tres touchdowns de San Francisco vinieron en jugadas cortas: dos como resultado de recuperar balones perdidos y otro después de un regreso de despeje de 66 yardas por Skyy Moore.
Purdy completó 16 de 29 para 168 yardas. Corrió dos yardas en una jugada personal en el tercer cuarto y luego lanzó un pase de touchdown de siete yardas a Jauan Jennings en el cuarto cuarto.
La estrella de San Francisco, Christian McCaffrey, terminó con 74 yardas totales (53 por tierra, 21 por recepción) y un touchdown, con la mayoría de sus yardas en la segunda mitad.
Sanders completó 16 de 25 pases para 149 yardas y un touchdown para Cleveland (3-9). Fue capturado tres veces. Judkins tuvo 91 yardas por tierra en 23 acarreos.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
LSU lures Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss — a virtual lock for the College Football Playoff
Lane Kiffin left his one-loss Mississippi team to become the coach at LSU on Sunday, taking over a program that has won national titles under three of its previous four coaches while saying he would have stayed to coach the Rebels in the postseason had he been allowed to.
The move comes two days after No. 6 Ole Miss’ victory over Mississippi State in the annual Egg Bowl rivalry game that all but guaranteed the Rebels a College Football Playoff berth when the bracket is announced Dec. 7.
“I was hoping to complete a historic six-season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs, capitalizing on the team’s incredible success and their commitment to finish strong,” Kiffin wrote in a social media post.
He said Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter denied his request “despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance.”
“Unfortunately, that means Friday’s Egg Bowl was my last game coaching the Rebels,” he added.
Ole Miss promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding to succeed Kiffin. A former Ole Miss player, Golding is in his third season on the Rebels staff after five years as a top defensive assistant at Alabama.
“Coach Kiffin and I met yesterday, and he informed us that he is accepting the head coaching position at another school,” Carter said. “For our program to begin preparing for its future — both the short and long term — he will be stepping away from the team immediately.”
LSU trumpeted its new hire, with athletic director Verge Ausberry calling Kiffin the best coach in the country.
“Lane is a proven winner who has thrived in an era of college athletics that requires coaches to adapt and innovate,” he said. “His passion, creativity and authenticity make him the ideal leader to guide LSU into the future and consistently position us among the sport’s elite.”
Kiffin’s decision played out for days, contributing to an already busy hiring cycle that saw several moves earlier Sunday, including three in the SEC alone. While players have transferred away from playoff-bound teams, a coach leaving a team that is 11-1 and all but certain to make the playoff is something new.
Kiffin and Carter had agreed last week that a decision had to be made this weekend as negotiations dragged on. Carter could not afford to wait until after critical recruiting periods in December and transfer periods in January had passed before starting his coaching search. The CFP begins Dec. 19, the semifinals don’t occur until Jan. 8-9 and the final is Jan. 19.
Kiffin is considered one of the top offensive coaches in college football. He went 55-19 in six seasons at Ole Miss, success that made him a target of several major programs seeking new coaches. Kiffin also was pursued by Florida, which fired coach Billy Napier a week before LSU cut ties with Brian Kelly.
The lure of LSU
While LSU offered Kiffin a raise over his current $9 million annual salary, the decision presumably was about more than money.
LSU has a championship brand in multiple sports; state-of-the-art facilities; a rabid, regional fan following; and a legendary, historic home football venue in Tiger Stadium (nicknamed Death Valley), which towers over the banks of the Mississippi River and holds 102,000 spectators — 38,000 more than Mississippi’s Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The lone football coach of LSU’s last four who did not win a national championship was Kelly. He was fired in late October during his fourth season, a seismic development that also led then-athletic director Scott Woodward to resign under pressure from Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.
Ausberry — a Louisiana native, former Tigers football player and longtime LSU administrator — led a search for a new coach that focused primarily on Kiffin. LSU reportedly offered Kiffin $90 million in salary over seven years and pledged to ensure the football program has ample financial backing to pay players.
Kiffin has overseen one of the most successful stints in Ole Miss history, arguably exceeded by only Johnny Vaught, whose 25 seasons at Ole Miss included a six-year period from 1957 through 1962 during which his teams went a combined 57-6.
LSU is 247-84 with three national championships since the 2000 season, which was Nick Saban’s first with the Tigers. Saban won his national title at LSU in the 2003 season and went 48-16 in five years before leaving to coach in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins.
Les Miles, hired in 2005, went 114-34 with a national title in 2007. Ed Orgeron, who succeeded Miles during the 2016 season, went 51-20, highlighted by his 15-0, national-title-winning campaign in 2019. Kelly, who was in the midst of a 10-year contract worth about $100 million at LSU, went 34-14 with the Tigers.
Kiffin’s rise
Kiffin, son of the late NFL and college defensive coach Monte Kiffin, played quarterback in college at Fresno State. He got his first head coaching job at any level in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders in 2007 but was fired just four games into his second season.
He took his first college head coaching job at Tennessee in 2009 and left after one season to take over at USC, where he was fired five games into his fourth season. He returned to coaching in 2017 with Florida Atlantic, spending three seasons there before Ole Miss lured him to Oxford in 2020.
Kiffin has said he adopted the mantra of striving to “do things better than they’ve ever been done before” from one of his mentors, Pete Carroll, under whom Kiffin served as an assistant at USC from 2001 to 2006.
“I am incredibly honored to have the opportunity to lead the storied LSU football program,” Kiffin said. “From national championships to iconic players, LSU is synonymous with excellence and is among the most powerful brands in all of sports.”
No coach has ever won multiple national championships at LSU. Kiffin will be the next to try.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/30/lsu-lane-kiffin-ole-miss/
Trump Pushes To Reopen California Coast To Offshore Drilling
Trump Pushes To Reopen California Coast To Offshore Drilling
Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com,
A draft federal plan proposes six offshore lease sales along the California coast, reversing decades of restrictions introduced after the 1969 Santa Barbara spill.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, coastal states, and environmental groups vow legal and political resistance, calling the plan dangerous and “dead on arrival.”
The proposal also includes new leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, likely sparking pushback from Florida Republicans and adding to nationwide opposition.
New oil and gas drilling could commence in California if President Donald Trump gets his way, as the U.S. federal government continues to support a “Drill, baby, drill” approach to fossil fuel production.
In November, the Trump administration plans to allow new oil and gas drilling off the California coast, according to a draft plan shared with the Washington Post. This would be the first time in several decades that new exploration operations were permitted. The document outlines a plan for six offshore lease sales along the California coastline, as well as the expansion of drilling into the eastern Gulf of Mexico, between 2027 and 2030.
It is thought that the Interior Department could announce a formal proposal as early as this week. Any new drilling is expected to be centred around the Santa Barbara County region, where limited drilling is already taking place.
A major oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969 prompted the government to bring an end to new leasing off the Pacific Coast, as well as limit existing drilling operations. Previous governments have continued to restrict drilling in the Californian waters, which extend three miles from the shoreline, due to concerns over beach pollution and the potential negative impact on tourism.
Pete Stauffer, the ocean protection manager of the Surfrider Foundation, stated, “Offshore drilling is highly unpopular across the country and will increase the likelihood of yet another destructive oil spill off our coasts. Surfrider Foundation’s chapter network will fight this proposal vigorously to protect all US coastlines from the unnecessary risks involved with new offshore drilling.”
The plan would also require Trump to approve new oil and gas leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, a body of water that the President renamed the Gulf of America in January. This would likely lead to pushback from Republicans in Florida who have been opposed to new drilling since the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster of 2010.
Meanwhile, in June, South Carolina governor Henry McMaster wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in which he stated that South Carolina’s coastline was “one of the most pristine in the country, and offshore drilling is simply not in its best interest.”
Despite efforts by the Trump administration to open nearly all U.S. coastal waters to drilling earlier this year, the Interior Department ultimately decided to introduce a moratorium on drilling off Florida, Georgia and South Carolina through 2032 following pressure from Republicans in the southeast of the country.
The position of oil and gas companies on conducting drilling in California waters is not yet clear, although developing new projects in the state would require a significant investment in supporting infrastructure, compared to other already developed regions of the United States. Analysts do not expect oil and gas companies to have much interest in the area due to the lack of infrastructure, as well as the widespread regional opposition to new drilling.
During this month’s COP30 climate summit in Brazil, California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, told reporters that any plan to carry out new drilling in the region would be “dead on arrival” in California. Newsom also said that the state would “absolutely” challenge the plan in court once it was finalised. This reflects his historic stance on new drilling. In June, Newsom addressed the Interior Department in a letter stressing California’s “continued opposition” to additional fossil fuel development.
Newsom, a long-time supporter of the U.S. green transition, attended the climate summit in Trump’s absence, after the Trump administration said that no high-level U.S. representatives would go to UN climate talks. During a ministerial meeting, Newsom said, “I’m very mindful that the Trump administration has abandoned any sense of duty, responsibility, or leadership as it relates to the issues that bring us all here together… It’s an abomination. It’s a disgrace.”
In response to news of the anticipated drilling proposal, Newsom said that it was “remarkable” that Trump did not call for drilling near his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago.
“He didn’t promote it off the coast of Florida,” stated Newsom. “That says everything about Donald Trump.”
In California, Texas-based oil company Sable Offshore has shown interest in reactivating three drilling rigs in federal waters off Santa Barbara that have sat unused since an oil spill in 2015. In May, Sable began producing oil at one of the rigs under an existing lease. However, following the move, California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, sued Sable Offshore, accusing the firm of illegally discharging waste into local waterways.
Although there has been no formal proposal for drilling in California, reports of plans for new exploration have prompted widespread pushback from state officials. The state governments of California, Florida and South Carolina have all shown opposition to new offshore oil exploration, meaning the federal government can expect a fight to get any new projects off the ground in those regions.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 11/30/2025 – 16:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/trump-pushes-reopen-california-coast-offshore-drilling
President Donald Trump commutes prison sentence for former private equity executive David Gentile
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of former investment manager David Gentile, who was convicted of defrauding investors — the latest in a series of clemency actions Trump has taken in white-collar criminal cases.
Gentile had reported to prison on Nov. 14, just days before Trump commuted his sentence, according to a White House official who requested anonymity to provide details of the clemency action. Gentile had been the CEO and co-founder of GPB Capital, which had raised $1.6 billion in capital to acquire companies in the auto, retail, health care and housing sectors.
He had been sentenced to seven years in prison after an August 2024 conviction for his role in what the Justice Department at the time described as a scheme to defraud more than 10,000 investors by misrepresenting the performance of three private equity funds.
But the White House official said GPB Capital had disclosed to investors in 2015 that their capital might go to pay dividends to other investors, which the White House said undercut claims that the company had engaged in a “Ponzi” scheme in which new investments are used to reimburse previous investors.
The government has agreed to no restitution in the criminal case, though various civil cases are handling repayments and damages to investors.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/30/trump-commutes-prison-sentence-david-gentile/
IDEM to host public meeting for Project Maize air permit
As development looks to move forward with a data center in Michigan City, Ashley Williams encourages her fellow residents to voice concerns with the project.
“No matter what, we will get the word out, and we’ll ensure that folks know that this is happening,” said Williams, Michigan City resident and executive director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana. “We have a very short timeline to bring people out. It’s already such a daunting time to engage people, but we are going to do the best that we can.”
On Dec. 9, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management will hold a public meeting at Michigan City High School regarding a new source construction draft air permit for Project Maize, which will be at 402 Royal Road. The meeting will start at 6 p.m. and will end at 9 p.m., or when all comments have been heard.
The permit is listed for Lavender Fields Holdings LLC, which Williams and other residents believe is a shell corporation for Google.
Before construction and operation can begin, the company must receive the permit from IDEM, according to the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
At the meeting, IDEM staff will describe the air permit and answer questions from the public. It will not include a formal presentation, and attendees will be able to ask questions, make statements and discuss air pollution concerns.
Williams asked IDEM to extend the public comment period by 60 days, reschedule the Dec. 9 meeting, and hold a public meeting and hearing during the extended 60-day comment period.
An IDEM official said in a Wednesday email to the Post-Tribune that it will not postpone the Dec. 9 meeting, and a Dec. 15 deadline for written comment remains in place.
“IDEM is obligated to complete its work to process applications within regulatory timeframes and issue permits, provided the applicant demonstrates that construction and operation of the proposed facility will meet all applicable state and federal regulations,” Natalie Rodriguez, the state agency’s external relations director, said in the email.
Others in Michigan City have also asked for an extension, Williams said.
“My understanding is that it’s sort of been crickets from IDEM,” she added. “Most of their staff, at least a good portion of them, seem to be out for the holiday, which just reaffirms our request and that this is not a good time for us in the community to have to respond to this permit, organize and ensure that enough folks are showing up and meaningfully engaging.”
The department is required to provide a review period of no less than 30 days, which has already been extended to accommodate the Dec. 9 meeting, IDEM said to Williams in an email, which was provided to the Post-Tribune.
Just Transition NWI executive director Ashley Williams (center) and Michigan City resident Eileen Mark (right) along with a union picket watch a cement truck leave the construction site on Royal Road. Just Transition NWI activists are launching an accountability campaign alongside Michigan City residents to make sure developers are held accountable for environmental and public health harms. Work continues at a Phoenix Investors construction site of a data center in Michigan City on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (John Smierciak/for the Post-Tribune)
“IDEM is blatantly choosing Big Tech over the people that they have repeatedly failed to serve,” Williams said in an email Wednesday. “They are scrooging our communities during this holiday season. Shame on IDEM. Shame on Google, Lavender Fields Holdings LLC, and Phoenix Investors, who intend to install 70 polluting diesel generators in our community with no pollution controls. A one-day extension is egregious, and Michigan City won’t stand for this.”
According to the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the site would have 66 diesel-fired critical emergency generators “that would have no control device to limit emissions and would exhaust outdoors.” It would also have “insignificant activities,” which include two diesel-fired site entrance emergency generators, two diesel-fired fire pump emergency generators, and 70 belly tanks with a “maximum storage capacity of 5,373 gallons to store fuel with no control devices.”
The Environmental Law and Policy Center also said the permit would allow the operator to emit about 245 tons of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide per year.
The operator also agreed to an annual cap on pollution with the emergency generators, but that would allow them to avoid more rigorous reporting.
“It really depends on how accurate they’re reporting,” Williams said. “Tracking and reporting how many hours the generator will run without proper reporting to IDEM and monitoring, the limit is unenforceable.”
Williams also believes the permit does a poor job at explaining federal air pollution standards that apply to generators, which have no limit on how long they can run during a declared emergency.
“They’re simply listing the regulation numbers, which is not enough for the public, company or regulators to clearly understand the rules,” Williams said. “It creates confusion, non-compliance and further gaps.”
Williams is concerned that the development will continue to bring pollution to Michigan City, and she believes the permit must do a better job at limiting the amount released once the data center is in operation.
“We believe this is just the beginning,” Williams said. “This is just phase one. We think they’re going to back through the door and say, ‘Oh no, we want two times, three times, five times more generators.’ … We need to ensure that we are slamming that door closed and say, ‘No, that is not happening anymore.’”
Phoenix Investors, owner of 402 Royal Road, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The end user for the data center has yet to be announced, but Williams and other residents suspect it will be Google.
In September, the Michigan City Common Council passed four resolutions that would allow the construction of a more than $800 million data center at 402 Royal Road, according to Post-Tribune archives.
In July, Michigan City Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch said in a statement that her administration and council members entered into non-disclosure agreements to review the concept in a confidential executive session, and no formal agreement was reached at the time.
Resolutions provided multiple tax abatements, designated the area as an economic revitalization area and approved a taxpayer agreement for Project Maize, also known as the data center development.
According to Local 150, Project Maize has received $42 million in tax incentives through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and the lead contractors have hired workers from Wisconsin, Ohio and Alabama, which the union opposes. Local politicians have also expressed concerns that the project has hired out-of-state workers instead of union and local workers.
Kelley Smith, an administrator for the Michigan City Mayor’s Office, previously told the Post-Tribune that Project Maize is a private project and the city isn’t involved with the construction. Smith said Nelson Deuitch is supportive of the local workforce, and other unions are working at the site, including Local 210 plumbers, Local 1485 carpenters and Local 531 electricians, according to Post-Tribune archives.
“Neither the mayor nor any other city official can decide who gets hired to work at Project Maize,” Smith previously said. “The city does not have the authority to tell any private developer building a private project that they must fire their current workers and give those jobs to local people.”
Williams and other members of JTNWI have expressed concerns with labor and the environmental impacts of Project Maize for months. JTNWI started an accountability campaign after IDEM, on Oct. 9, cited Phoenix Investors with a violation letter at the data center site, according to Post-Tribune archives.
According to the violation, IDEM found trichloroethylene, or TCE, at the site, which the National Cancer Institute defines as a “volatile, colorless liquid organic chemical” that can be found in the air, water and soil, and has been linked to cancer, kidney disease, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and cardiac defects.
“Good-faith development helps communities work together,” Williams previously told the Post-Tribune. “Bad-faith development has neighbors looking over their shoulders. … Phoenix has demonstrated that it is not a good neighbor and must continue to be held accountable for its actions and those of the project’s suspected end user, Google.”
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/30/idem-to-host-public-meeting-for-project-maize-air-permit/
Is Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Investigation Turning Into A Rolling Coup?
Is Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Investigation Turning Into A Rolling Coup?
Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,
Zelensky might be next after Yermak was just taken down unless he complies with Trump’s demands for peace, in which case it’s not unforeseeable that he too could be formally implicated in this scandal as the catalyst for a US-backed regime change carried out in collusion with his domestic allies.
Zelensky’s warmongering grey cardinal Andrey Yermak, who formally serves as his Chief of Staff, submitted his resignation after his apartment was raided as part of the investigation into Ukraine’s $100 million energy graft scandal. Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik believes that he was fired, however, to protect Zelensky as the walls close in on him amidst this investigation. Whatever the truth may be, Miroshnik might be onto something, which will be elaborated on throughout this analysis.
It was earlier assessed that “Ukraine’s Corruption Scandal Might Pave The Way For Peace If It Takes Yermak Down” since “his downfall could undo the already shaky alliance between the armed forces, the oligarchs, the secret police, and parliament that keeps Zelensky in power.” Zelensky held off on getting rid of him for that reason, which emboldened Yermak to declare on his behalf that Ukraine won’t cede any territory to Russia, thus spoiling one of the main proposals in the US’ draft peace framework.
Shortly thereafter, Yermak’s apartment was raided with the participation of the two US-funded entities leading this graft investigation, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). Had Zelensky accepted the principles contained in the aforesaid framework, particularly the 26th one about how “all parties involved in this conflict will receive amnesty for their actions during the war”, Yermak might have been able to ride off into the sunset.
Instead, Yermak whispered in Zelensky’s ear to play tough with Trump and reject the US’ draft peace framework, after which the US let the anti-corruption bodies that it funds proceed with their investigation. Trump could have stopped it right then and there before it predictably took Yermak down had Zelensky at the very least publicly agreed to the draft’s concession for ceding Donbass. Yermak’s career and his entire legacy in Ukrainians’ eyes were therefore destroyed by his warmongering.
Next up might come Zelensky’s if he doesn’t comply with Trump’s demands. Without his grey cardinal maintaining the already shaky alliance that keeps him in power, he’s now more politically vulnerable than ever, the obvious realization of which could see some of his allies make power moves against him in the coming future. For instance, US-encouraged defections from the ruling party could lead to him losing control of the Rada, which might be leveraged by the US to remove him if he remains obstinate to peace.
In parallel, the US might threaten the corrupt oligarchs that they’ll be caught in the dragnet too unless they get their parliamentary proxies to go along with the rolling regime change against Zelensky, which could also see the US ordering the secret police to allow opposition protests against Zelensky.
The armed forces’ role would be limited to disobeying Zelensky if he orders them to break up these protests, and as a reward, their beloved Valery Zaluzhny could replace Zelensky on the throne when all is said and done.
Yermak’s resignation/firing set this scenario sequence into motion, but it could be maximally catalyzed by NABU-SAPO formally making it known that Zelensky is under investigation, which the US might authorize it to do (including through a raid) if he doesn’t soon comply with Trump’s demands. In retrospect, Zelensky’s efforts over the summer to subordinate NABU-SAPO were aimed at averting this, but they failed and Trump is now using these anti-corruption bodies to finally coerce him into peace.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 11/30/2025 – 15:10
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraines-anti-corruption-investigation-turning-rolling-coup
‘Zootopia 2’ roars to record-setting global box office with $556M opening
“Zootopia 2” had a roaring, record-setting opening at the box office.
The animal city sequel from the Walt Disney Company brought in $96 million in North America over the weekend, earned $156 million over the five-day Thanksgiving frame, and scored a staggering $556 million globally since its Wednesday opening, according to studio estimates Sunday.
That made it the highest international opening ever for an animated movie, the fourth highest global debut of any kind, and the top international opener of 2025.
“Wicked: For Good” stayed aloft in its second weekend for Universal Pictures, earning another $62.8 million domestically over the weekend for a North American total of $270.4 million. The second half of the “Wicked” saga has brought in $393 million internationally.
The pair of sequels combined to make the Thanksgiving weekend a glimmering exception to an otherwise dark year at movie theaters.
“Zootopia 2” arrives almost a decade after the original, a hit that outpaced expectations and had a March domestic opening of $75 million.
Like the first, it features the duo of bunny cop Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and small-time hustler fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman).
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Zootopia 2,” $96.8 million.
2. “Wicked: For Good,” $62.8 million.
3. “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” $7 million.
4. “Predator: Badlands,” $4.8 million.
5. “The Running Man,” $3.7 million.
6. “Eternity,” $3.2 million.
7. “Rental Family,” $2.1 million.
8. “Hamnet,” $880,000.
9. “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” $810,000.
10. “Nuremberg,” $749,325.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/30/zootopia-2-box-office/
Lawmakers voice support for congressional reviews of President Donald Trump’s military strikes on boats
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of a Sept. 2 attack.
The lawmakers said they did not know whether last week’s Washington Post report was true, and some Republicans were skeptical, but they said attacking survivors of an initial missile strike poses serious legal concerns.
“This rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, when asked about a follow-up strike aimed at people no long able to fight, said Congress does not have information that happened. He noted that leaders of the Armed Services Committee in both the House and Senate have opened investigations.
“Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious and I agree that that would be an illegal act,” Turner said.
Turner said there are concerns in Congress about the attacks on vessels that the Trump administration says are transporting drugs, but the allegations regarding the Sept. 2 attack “is completely outside anything that has been discussed with Congress and there is an ongoing investigation.”
The comments from lawmakers during news show appearance come as the administration escalates a campaign to combat drug trafficking into the U.S. On Saturday, Republican President Donald Trump said the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered as “closed in its entirety,” an assertion that raised more questions about the U.S. pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Maduro’s government accused Trump of making a ”colonial threat” and seeking to undermine the South American country’s sovereignty.
After the Post’s report, Hegseth said Friday on X that “fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.”
“Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict—and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command,” Hegseth wrote.
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and its top Democrat, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, said in a joint statement late Friday that the committee “will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
That was followed Saturday with the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, and ranking Democratic member, Washington Rep. Adam Smith, issuing a joint statement saying the panel was committed to “providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean.”
“We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question,” Rogers and Smith said, referring to U.S. Southern Command.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., asked about the Sept. 2 attack, said Hegseth deserves a chance to present his side.
“We should get to the truth. I don’t think he would be foolish enough to make this decision to say, kill everybody, kill the survivors because that’s a clear violation of the law of war,” Bacon said. “So, I’m very suspicious that he would’ve done something like that because it would go against common sense.”
Kaine and Turner appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” and Bacon was on ABC’s “This Week.”
Leaves continue to plague South Shore Line with gooey residue
Gooey leaves on the rails have caused the South Shore Line’s on-time performance to plummet in November, leaving railroad officials scrambling for additional ways to address the problem.
Assistant Chief Transportation Officer Sara Krga said the railroad is doing better than last year, 88 wheels damaged by slipping last November compared to 28 so far this month.
“Last year at this time, we really struggled through the leaf season,” President and General Manager Michael Noland said.
Krga walked the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District board through ways the railroad is trying to lessen the impact.
“It’s a really a phenomenon that’s primarily, not exclusively, limited to our single-level cars,” Noland said.
Bilevel cars are heavier and are not affected as much as single-level cars, Krga said. Single-level trains are running at 65 mph vs. 79 mph for the bilevel cars, slowing to 45 mph for flag stops so the trains can stop in time if there’s a rider waiting.
When a wheel slips and slides, it develops a flat spot. When that happens, federal rules require the train speed to be limited to 10 mph, Noland said, so another train has to be brought in to finish the route while the train with the damaged wheel limps back to the shop to be repaired.
The railroad is getting better at recovery times, Noland said, but wants to get even better.
“We took a lot of information from last year and really tried to get ahead of it this year,” Krga said, including a lot of ride-alongs with the engineers.”
This year, the railroad purchased a brush affixed to the front of a train to scrub off leaf and oil residue.
The South Shore Line’s counterpart in Boston has a special schedule for leaf season, which is something that might be done here next year, Noland said. “We’re not unique in running into leaf spots.”
Another possibility is to drop a ton of money into a laser train to burn off the leaf residue on the rails. Or the railroad could use a high-powered water sprayer on the front of the train, effectively power-washing the rails.
Among the comments Noland has received is, “You guys have been running for 108 years, why are you just seeing this now?” It’s because of the Double Track NWI project allowing more trains to run and on a tighter schedule. “We’re running to the full capacity of the RR, and this is one of the byproducts we’ve identified,” Noland said.
Although on-time performance has plummeted this month, ridership and ticket numbers are improving over last year, Director of Strategic Planning and Grants Kelly Wenger said.
“Overall, I think, we’re looking very good, very strong,” she said.
Fares increased on July 1 for the first time in years. Despite the increase, ticket sales are up 19.2% over last year, Wenger said.
Revenue is up 30.5%, she said, with digital sales accounting for nearly 93% of total sales.
Ridership is up 16.5% over 2024, including a 20.9% increase on weekends.
“It’s a really nice increase, this year over last year. It’s a really strong recovery year for us,” Wenger said.
One statistic she’s tracking is the number of bikes on trains in winter months. So far this year, 9,118 riders have taken bikes on trains compared to 6,338 in all of 2024. Last winter, 302 hardy souls took bikes on the train in February.
Getting bikes on trains is easier now, with two slots for bikes on every car so people can get on and off faster, Wenger said.
Noland took time to express pride in the South Shore Line’s planned start of the Monon Corridor – formerly known as the West Lake Corridor – route in March.
New starts usually start slow and build up service as demand increases, but this one is different. “We have always said that WL starts out with five trips in the morning and five trips coming back,” Noland said.
In addition, the railroad is adding a two-car shuttle train to take riders from Munster/Dyer to Hammond so riders can board trains along the traditional route, now called the Lakeshore Corridor, Noland said.
The railroad will have full off-peak and weekend service on the Monon Corridor route, too, he said.
A schedule for the Monon Corridor route has been posted on the South Shore Line website so riders can make plans for child care and whatever other adjustments they need to ride the new service when the trains begin operating.
“We’re excited to get this piece of info out to the public,” Noland said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
