Category: News
Pat Fitzgerald’s hiring as Michigan State football coach is official: ‘We will restore tradition’
Michigan State announced Monday that it has hired Pat Fitzgerald to be its new football coach.
The hiring comes a day after the Spartans fired coach Jonathan Smith, who went 9-15 over two seasons. Fitzgerald, who coached Northwestern for 17 seasons, will be introduced at a news conference at 2 p.m. Tuesday in East Lansing, Mich.
Fitzgerald immediately emerged as a serious candidate Sunday when the job came open, and the sides talked Monday to finalize the deal, which a source said is for five years.
“Pat Fitzgerald is widely recognized as an exceptional football coach, whose teams play with extreme toughness and grit, demonstrate continual improvement and maximize potential,” Michigan State athletic director J Batt said in a statement.
“Pat is an excellent fit for Michigan State football, as he understands the Big Ten, has great relationships throughout the Midwest and embodies the values on which our program was built. His incredible passion will resonate throughout the program, connecting with all members of our Spartan community, including student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni and donors.”
Fitzgerald, an All-America linebacker at Northwestern in the 1990s, went 110-101 with 10 bowl appearances and two Big Ten West titles as the Wildcats coach. He was the 2018 Big Ten Coach of the Year and the 2020 Dodd Trophy Coach of the Year.
But his Northwestern tenure ended in July 2023 amid a team hazing scandal.
The university said at the time that 11 current or former football players had acknowledged hazing that included “forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature.” Northwestern initially suspended Fitzgerald but then fired him.
Fitzgerald filed a $130 million lawsuit against the university for breach of contract, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The sides settled the lawsuit in August. In a statement after the settlement, Northwestern said its investigation did not find that Fitzgerald directed or condoned hazing.
Eight other schools had contacted Fitzgerald’s representatives about their coaching vacancies this fall, but he landed at Michigan State.
“This is a program with a deep and storied tradition, a passionate fan base and a commitment to excellence that extends far beyond the football field,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “What excited me most about this opportunity was the vision for what Michigan State can be for years to come.
“We will restore tradition, and I’m eager to earn the trust of our players, alumni and fans while competing at the highest level.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/01/michigan-state-hires-pat-fitzgerald/
Wheaton-based ‘buffer’ ETF firm Innovator sells to Goldman Sachs for $2 billion
In what may be the ultimate Wall Street meets Main Street story, Goldman Sachs has agreed to buy Wheaton-based Innovator Capital Management, an 8-year-old ETF investment firm, for $2 billion.
Founded in 2017, Innovator offers everyday investors a portfolio of exchange-traded funds that include options to buffer downside risk while capping gains to provide a less expensive and more accessible alternative to traditional hedge funds or annuities.
Innovator, which pioneered the defined outcome ETF model, has caught on quickly, drawing nearly $30 billion in assets under management as of November, according to the company.
“Most investors are not investing a lot of money in the stock market because they are unwilling to take the downside risk,” said Graham Day, chief investment officer at Innovator since its inception. “This is a tool to get and keep people invested.”
Located in the west suburbs of Chicago about 900 miles west of the New York-Connecticut nexus of hedge fund firms, Innovator has been making inroads with its groundbreaking ETF model, which has become a fast-growing platform to manage investment risk in volatile economic times.
Investors range from institutions such as universities to retirees looking to minimize the downside while still benefitting from potentially higher returns in equities — even with a cap — than in cash or bonds.
A signature offering, the Power Buffer ETF (ticker symbol PDEC), protects against the first 15% of downside losses over the next year, with a capped gain of 13.14% on the upside. Investors also pay a relatively low 0.79% management fee to Innovator.
“Once they understand they can invest in the S&P 500 and have known levels of downside protection, it gets them over the hump,” Day said. “The fact that we’re putting it in an ETF wrapper makes it a lot more accessible.”
Goldman Sachs will pay about $2 billion in cash and equity for Innovator, subject to performance targets, with the deal expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval.
Innovator’s 60 employees are expected to join Goldman Sachs and continue to operate their ETF business from the company’s downtown Wheaton headquarters.
The acquisition is also expected to significantly bolster Goldman’s own ETF offerings.
“Innovator’s reputation for innovation and leadership in defined outcome solutions complements our mission to enhance the client experience with sophisticated strategies that seek to deliver targeted, defined outcomes for investors,” David Solomon, chair and CEO of Goldman Sachs, said in a news release.
Occupying an office building emblazoned with its name on Front Street in Wheaton, Innovator has quietly been doing big business in the quaint county seat of DuPage County, perhaps best known as the academic launching pad for evangelist Billy Graham, who attended Wheaton College.
Innovator was founded by Bruce Bond and John Southard, who have turned Wheaton into something of an ETF mecca. The pair previously launched PowerShares — the longtime home of the QQQ, the enormous NASDAQ-100 ETF now owned by Invesco — in Wheaton in 2003.
Bond and Southard sold PowerShares for $60 million in 2006 but found their way back to exchange-traded funds with the 2017 launch of Innovator, billed as the world’s first Defined Outcome Buffer ETF.
Incorporating options as downside protection, they packaged their equity investments in a simple ETF, creating an alternative investment platform that caught fire with financial advisers, retirees and even institutions by offering lower costs and more defined risks than hedge funds, as well as tax efficiencies.
Innovator has since spawned competitors in the buffer ETF space, but as first movers, the company has seen enormous growth — from zero to nearly $30 billion in assets under management — since its launch.
Bond and Southard will likewise see a big return on their own sweat equity with the $2 billion sale of Innovator to Goldman Sachs.
“This transaction is a pivotal milestone for our business,” Bond said in a news release.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/01/goldman-sachs-innovator-capital-management/
La Grange resident donates towering blue spruce for Holiday Tree
Diane Novak, a 25-year resident of La Grange had a beautiful Colorado blue spruce in her front yard, towering over her neighbor’s two-story house.
But in recent years, it had grown too close to another tree on her property, prompting her to consider what to do with it.
So she decided to share her beloved tree with the village, offering it to serve as La Grange’s 2025 Holiday Tree.
“It was here when I bought the house and it was very little, at the most maybe 6 to 8 feet tall,” she said late last month as she watched workers from A&B Tree Service trim the tree before cutting it down.
“Gradually, but then it seemed overnight, it got so big and I realized it wasn’t healthy for the tree. This (other) tree’s going into it, it’s listing over this way. The bottom is already into my evergreens.”
Realizing she couldn’t maintain the tree any longer, Novak contacted La Grange Village Hall to see if the village could use it as this year’s Holiday Tree.
While at first village officials weren’t sure they could use the tree, officials later asked if she was still open to giving it up.
“I know I’m doing the right thing for the tree and the village,” she said. “I’m so thrilled that everybody will be able to enjoy the beauty of this tree.”
Having a Holiday Tree donated by a resident is a longstanding tradition in La Grange, so each year Public Works officials scan the village for trees that would be suitable to serve as the holiday tree.
The family of the late Fred McSwine Sr., a former La Grange village employee, donated their 15-foot pine tree for the 2023 official Holiday Tree.
Workers from A&B Tree Service prepare to remove a large blue spruce tree from La Grange resident Diane Novak’s yard to serve as the village’s 2025 Holiday Tree. (Hank Beckman/Pioneer Press)
McSwine was motivated to plant the tree in 1999 in honor of the 12 students and one teacher that perished in the school shooting in Columbine, Colorado.
“A neighbor told me that your dad was so upset when that happened, he told her he was going to get a tree and plant it,” McSwine’s daughter Shirley said then. “He was so upset he didn’t know what to do.”
A 30-foot blue spruce donated by Regina McClinton and Freddie Dickerson became the 2020 Holiday Tree after the village requested it.
Being built in 1903, their Corner Stone House at 140 S. Washington St. is one of the oldest structures in La Grange. It is also one of 172 buildings in Illinois that is LEED certified, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.
In 2019, the Hill family donated their 30-foot blue spruce.
“The day my daughter Wendy was born, my dad planted this tree,” Robin Hill said at the time. “Last year she noted that it was getting a little big for the front yard.”
The Hills were so attached to the tree that they moved it from their previous home on Madison Avenue to where they lived on South Catherine Avenue.
They took pictures of Wendy next to the tree every year on her birthday, and began decorating it with Christmas ornaments when the tree got big enough about 17 years ago.
The lights for the tree will go on at 5 p.m. Dec. 6, when Santa arrives to flip the switch. Other activities that day will include trolley rides, a kiddie petting zoo and letters to Santa at the Stone Avenue Train Station.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/01/lagrange-resident-donates-holiday-tree/
Trump Backs Hegseth In Rejecting WaPo Claim Of “Kill Everybody” Policy On Drug Boats
Trump Backs Hegseth In Rejecting WaPo Claim Of “Kill Everybody” Policy On Drug Boats
A big Washington Post report issued Friday detailed allegations that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” aboard an alleged drug boat in September.
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken directive, according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation,” the WaPo report reads. “The order was to kill everybody,” it quotes a Pentagon official as saying.
After that, “A missile screamed off the Trinidad coast, striking the vessel and igniting a blaze from bow to stern. For minutes, commanders watched the boat burning on a live drone feed. As the smoke cleared, they got a jolt: Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck.“
From there, Hegseth’s ‘kill them all’ order was followed through with. “The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack — the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s war on suspected drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere — ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water,” the Post wrote based on its sources.
President Trump on Sunday addressed the allegations, which the report present as tantamount to ‘unlawful orders’ and a war crime, as he traveled back to Washington D.C. after the Thanksgiving weekend. Some Congressional leaders, mostly Democrats, have expressed outrage and vowed to look into the apparently standing orders.
Trump in his response declared that he has complete confidence in Hegseth in the top Pentagon post. While Trump said that he personally would have ordered a second strike on the boat, he explained, “I don’t know anything about it. He said he did not say that, and I believe him, 100 percent.”
“He said he didn’t do it. He said he never said that,” Trump emphasized when asked specifically about the second strike. “He said he didn’t do it, so I don’t have to make that decision.” According to more from Trump’s response:
“Number one, I don’t know that that happened,” Trump said, when asked whether a hypothetical second strike would be illegal. “And Pete said he did not want them — he didn’t even know what people were talking about. So, we’ll look at, we’ll look into it.”
“But no, I wouldn’t have wanted that, not a second strike,” he continued. “The first strike was very lethal, it was fine, and if there were two people around. But Pete said that didn’t happen. I have great confidence in him.”
A reporter asked the president if he was “saying there’s no second strike.” “I don’t know,” Trump responded. “I’m going to find out about it. But Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.”
Trump was asked “would you be OK if he did do it?”
Reporter: Can you talk a little bit about the strikes and controversy around Hegseth—
Trump: I don’t know anything about it. He said he did not say that.
Reporter: You don’t know if there was a second strike to kill the two men
Trump: He said he didn’t do it
Reporter: Would… pic.twitter.com/JvxUvnaeQJ
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 30, 2025
This is after Hegseth late in the day Friday had blasted the “fake news” Washington Post report, calling the series of strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats “lawful”. If Hegseth and Trump as commander-in-chief were to actually say they gave an order to “kill everybody” – such an order could open them up to international legal action related to war crimes, as it would be tantamount to openly admitting to giving orders to pursue extrajudicial killings. This is also given that any survivors of an initial strike would not be a threat, and they would likely be unarmed.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/01/2025 – 18:00
Expertos explican qué dice la ley sobre matar a sobrevivientes de un bote atacado
Por BEN FINLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lanzar un segundo ataque contra los sobrevivientes de un ataque inicial contra una lancha que supuestamente transportaba drogas sería un crimen, señalan especialistas en derecho.
No importa si Estados Unidos está en “conflicto armado” con cárteles de las drogas, como afirma el gobierno de Donald Trump. Un ataque fatal de este tipo habría violado las leyes de tiempo de paz y las que rigen el conflicto armado, afirman los expertos.
“No puedo imaginar que alguien, sin importar las circunstancias, crea que es apropiado matar a personas que se aferran a un bote en el agua”, comentó Michael Schmitt, exabogado de la Fuerza Aérea y profesor emérito del Colegio de Guerra Naval de Estados Unidos. “Eso es claramente ilegal”.
La Casa Blanca confirmó el lunes que el ejército estadounidense lanzó un segundo ataque en septiembre contra una embarcación que supuestamente llevaba drogas frente a la costa de Venezuela, e insistió en que se hizo “en defensa propia” y de acuerdo con las leyes de conflicto armado.
Un reporte de prensa sobre ese ataque generó un nuevo nivel de escrutinio por parte de los legisladores estadounidenses, y se sumó a un creciente debate sobre si los militares pueden negarse a seguir órdenes ilegales, lo que algunos legisladores demócratas alentaron recientemente.
Esto es lo que se debe saber sobre los ataques de Estados Unidos contra lanchas en el mar Caribe y el océano Pacífico, y las leyes de conflicto armado:
El reporte que desató el debate
The Washington Post reportó la semana pasada que el secretario de Defensa de Estados Unidos, Pete Hegseth, emitió una orden verbal para “matar a todos” los tripulantes de un bote que fue atacado por el ejército estadounidense el 2 de septiembre, la primera embarcación atacada en lo que el gobierno de Trump llama una campaña antidrogas, la cual suma 20 ataques conocidos y más de 80 muertos.
Dos hombres sobrevivieron a ese primer ataque y se aferraban a los restos del navío, informó el periódico. El comandante a cargo de la operación, el almirante Frank M. Bradley, ordenó un segundo ataque para cumplir con las instrucciones de Hegseth, lo que mató a los dos sobrevivientes, para sumar 11 muertos en total, según el reporte.
Hegseth calificó el reporte de “noticia falsa” en redes sociales, y según él los ataques contra los botes “cumplen con la ley de conflicto armado, y han sido aprobados por los mejores abogados militares y civiles, en toda la cadena de mando”.
Trump dijo el domingo que su gobierno “investigará”, pero agregó que “yo no habría querido eso, no un segundo ataque”. Señaló que Hegseth le dijo “que no ordenó la muerte de esos dos hombres”.
La portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Karoline Leavitt, dijo a los periodistas el lunes que Bradley había ordenado el segundo ataque y que hacerlo “estaba bien dentro de su autoridad”. Negó que Hegseth dijera que no dejaran sobrevivientes.
El gobierno de Trump alega que tales ataques son necesarios para frenar el flujo de drogas hacia Estados Unidos, y afirmó que Estados Unidos está involucrado en un “conflicto armado” con los cárteles del narcotráfico, similar a la guerra contra Al Qaeda tras los ataques del 11 de septiembre.
Lo que permite la ley durante un conflicto armado
Un segundo ataque que matara a sobrevivientes habría sido ilegal bajo cualquier circunstancia, conflicto armado o no, señaló Schmitt.
Añadió que no cree que Estados Unidos esté en un conflicto armado legítimo con los cárteles de drogas, lo cual, indicó, requeriría que éstos estuvieran cometiendo un alto nivel de violencia contra el país.
Un ejemplo serían las batallas de Colombia con el grupo rebelde FARC.
“Pero eso no es porque estuvieran vendiendo drogas que estaban matando gente”, dijo Schmitt. “Es porque estaban usando la fuerza contra el gobierno con el propósito de realizar sus actividades de narcotráfico con impunidad”.
Si Estados Unidos no está en un conflicto armado, eso significa que violó la ley internacional de derechos humanos, que rige cómo los países tratan a los individuos, incluidas las ejecuciones extrajudiciales, dijo Schmitt.
“Sólo puedes usar fuerza letal en circunstancias donde hay una amenaza inminente —inminente como ya, en este instante— para la vida o de una lesión realmente grave”, indicó Schmitt. “Y ese no era el caso”.
La amenaza legal que enfrentan los militares estadounidenses
Brian Finucane, asesor sénior del International Crisis Group y exabogado del Departamento de Estado, coincidió en que Estados Unidos no está en un conflicto armado con los cárteles del narcotráfico.
“El término para un homicidio premeditado fuera de un conflicto armado es asesinato”, dijo Finucane, agregando que el personal militar estadounidense podría ser procesado en los tribunales estadounidenses.
“El asesinato en alta mar es un crimen”, señaló. “La conspiración para cometer asesinato fuera de Estados Unidos es un crimen. Y bajo el Código Uniforme de Justicia Militar, el artículo 118 tipifica el asesinato como un delito”.
Schmitt dijo que, incluso dentro de un conflicto armado, el ejército habría violado la ley si matara a sobrevivientes, calificándolo de crimen de guerra.
“Ha sido claro durante más de un siglo que no se puede declarar lo que se llama ‘sin cuartel’, no tomar prisioneros, matar a todos”, señaló Schmitt. Incluso al atacar un buque de guerra enemigo que deja sobrevivientes, “no puedes atacarlos a menos que todavía te sigan disparando”.
Lo que ha dicho el Congreso sobre lo que viene
Los líderes de las comisiones de Servicios Armados tanto de la Cámara de Representantes como del Senado han abierto investigaciones.
El senador republicano Roger Wicker, presidente de dicha comisión en el Senado, y el demócrata de mayor rango en la misma, el senador Jack Reed, dijeron en un comunicado el viernes por la noche que la comisión “realizará una supervisión rigurosa para determinar los hechos relacionados con estas circunstancias”.
La preocupación por el segundo ataque surge después de que un grupo de legisladores demócratas, todos veteranos de las fuerzas armadas y de la comunidad de inteligencia, publicaron un video el mes pasado en el que piden a los miembros del ejército estadounidense desafiar “órdenes ilegales”.
Entre ellos estaba el senador demócrata Mark Kelly, ex piloto de combate de la Marina, quien ha cuestionado enfáticamente el uso del ejército para atacar a lanchas que supuestamente transportan drogas. El Pentágono dice que está investigando a Kelly por posibles violaciones de la ley militar relacionadas con el video.
Kelly dijo el domingo en “Meet the Press” de NBC que debe haber una investigación sobre el reporte del ataque que mató a sobrevivientes, y reiteró que los militares estadounidenses no tienen que seguir órdenes ilegales.
“Si recibiera una orden del secretario de Defensa de matar a todos, diría respetuosamente: ‘No voy a cumplir esa orden’”, afirmó Schmitt.
___
El periodista de The Associated Press Konstantin Toropin contribuyó a este despacho. ___
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
4 things we learned from the Chicago Bears, including why the NFC lead ‘doesn’t mean anything’
Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson was back to wearing a shirt Monday — please see his viral locker-room video — but he still was riding the emotional high of Friday’s 24-15 upset of the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles, at least for one more day.
“Just really proud of how the group came out and competed,” he told reporters via Zoom. “They played hard for 60 minutes. That was evident on the tape in all three phases.
“It was good for the whole city to get that win. That was a big one for us.”
The win staked the Bears to a 9-3 record, a five-game winning streak and first place in the NFC after 13 weeks, and it also changed a lot of outside perspectives of the Bears from “lucky” to “legitimate.”
But the time to celebrate ended Monday.
It’s Green Bay Packers week — the first of two in a three-week span — and there’s no room to lose focus.
“We’ve got some good veteran leadership,” Johnson said. “There’s no question in my mind that they won’t let the fact that we’ve won nine games go to anybody’s head. We have not achieved anything yet.
“The season’s far from over. The job is not done. You can say it any number of ways.”
Here are four things we learned Monday.
1. Kings for a day (or a week) is a hollow crown.
The Bears can claim to be kings of the NFC hill for at least this week, thanks to their upset of the Eagles coupled with the Los Angeles Rams’ 31-28 defeat at the hands of the Carolina Panthers.
At Halas Hall, the reaction amounted to “so what?”
“Doesn’t mean anything,” Johnson said. “There’s five games left. We’ve got a long way to go. We have not been guaranteed a spot in the tournament yet. We have to earn that right.
“And the only way you can earn that right is by finding a way to win the next game. That’s where our sole focus is.”
That was the emphasis during Monday morning meetings. Truth be told, the Bears hold the tiebreaker because their 6-2 conference record is better than the Rams’ 4-3 mark. But the Rams blow the Bears away in strength of schedule (.551 to .378), conference net points (56-11) and overall net points (124-6).
The Rams’ remaining schedule (including the Arizona Cardinals twice and the Atlanta Falcons) looks softer than what lies ahead for the Bears (the Packers twice, the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions).
So the focus is on the Bears securing a playoff spot for the first time since 2020.
“We’re at nine wins,” Johnson said. “I think this year you’re probably going to have to get to 11 to make it in the tournament. That’s what we need to do. We’ve got to get there first.
“We’ve got to find a way to get there, and the only way to do that is to find a way to be 1-0 this week.”
2. Week 14 will be ‘packed’ with drama.
Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards tackles Packers quarterback Malik Willis during the fourth quarter Jan. 5, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Any game against the Packers is high stakes in Chicago, but a loss Sunday at Lambeau Field would cost the Bears the lead in the conference and the NFC North in one fell swoop.
You don’t have to tell tight end Cole Kmet, one of the longest-tenured Bears and a Lake Barrington native, what this rivalry means.
“Growing up here in Chicago, it’s a game that obviously I watched year in and year out,” he said. “Being in the area, you do get a lot of Chicago fans but also a lot of people who ventured down from Wisconsin and are Green Bay fans here in the Chicagoland area. It sparks a lot of family debate and a lot of spirited debate between those people.”
It’s fun for him but it also gets personal. His sister, Frankie Kmet, is the girlfriend of Packers defensive end Lukas Van Ness.
“Look, my best friend, who was in my wedding, is a big Packer fan,” Kmet said with a laugh. “He still won’t wear my damn jersey. Just out of the country. He’ll wear it out of the country.”
Kmet, who’s in his sixth season, has faced the Packers 10 times in his career and has experienced victory only once: a 24-22 win last Jan. 5 at Lambeau Field in which Packers quarterback Jordan Love and running back Josh Jacobs gave way to Malik Willis and Emmanuel Wilson in the second quarter.
Before that the Bears had lost 11 straight to the Packers and the previous eight at Lambeau Field. Their last previous victory at Lambeau had been on Thanksgiving in 2015.
In 210 games dating to 1921 (including one postseason meeting), the Packers lead the series 108-96-6.
“It’s one of those (rivalries) that lives in NFL history,” Johnson said. “It goes back for a long time. Two of the most winning franchises in the NFL. I think that continues to be the case. It’s a big one.”
It’s unlikely everyone will have the same emotional investment, especially with several Bears being rookies or newcomers to the rivalry. Johnson said that’s where Chairman George McCaskey steps in.
“I do know that George is going to talk with our rookies today,” he said. “We do rookie programming every week with those guys, and it just so happened to be on the docket today where he’s going to touch on the rivalry a little bit.
“Our players will be well-informed of what that’s about. The guys that have been here certainly know and they understand, but we have a number of new faces, so they’ll know by the end of the week.”
Johnson planted the seed from the outset — or more like added nuclear fuel to the fire — when he said in January that “I kind of enjoyed beating (Packers coach) Matt LaFleur twice a year” as Lions offensive coordinator.
“We loved that,” defensive end Austin Booker said. “That’s a head coach that we all love playing for. He has a great mindset, just like us. A killer mindset, just like us.”
3. The Eagles defense experienced ‘motion’ sickness.
Bears running back D’Andre Swift runs the ball against the Eagles in the first quarter Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The Eagles allowed the Bears to rush for 281 yards, the ninth-most they’ve allowed in their history, tied with another game against the Bears on Oct. 13, 1935.
The last time Philadelphia gave up at least 281 yards on the ground was Nov. 22, 2015, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gained 283.
“They were able to run the ball on us,” Eagles safety Reed Blankenship said after the Black Friday game. “They could do what they wanted with it, honestly. I hate to say that.”
Johnson called 47 running plays (to 36 pass attempts), which gained 6 yards a pop. He said players and coaches on the sideline were urging him to run.
“I hear our O-line coach (Dan Roushar) harping a little bit, ‘Run the damn ball,’” Johnson said. “I hear it, I feel it, I see it, so as a play caller you try to adjust.”
Kmet said of the running scheme, “You get a healthy dose of our wide zone stuff and gap-scheme stuff.”
Players watch Johnson get fired up about the running game and it “trickles to everybody in the room,” Kmet said, and gets everyone to buy into their roles.
Related Articles
Why did Chicago Bears’ Ben Johnson go shirtless? ‘Anytime you get a chance to feed a city, you want to do it.’
NFL division races tighten after surprises and upsets — and Chicago Bears own the NFC’s top seed now
Minnesota Vikings get shut out for 1st time in 18 years, falling 26-0 to Seattle Seahawks
Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl run: Don Pierson’s game-by-game breakdown from the ‘most memorable season’
Column: Shirtless Ben Johnson is exactly what Chicago needed on a snowy holiday weekend
“Not only the offensive line and backs but tight ends, receivers — it really makes everyone want to be involved in it and really be on the details about it,” he said. “So it’s a creative, fun run scheme to be part of, but at the end of the day it is predicated off physicality and finish. At the core, that’s what football is.”
The offensive line bullied the Eagles front to open big lanes, and D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai ran through them with power and showed off cutback moves.
All the Bears’ motion and misdirection kept the Eagles guessing and forced defenders to be “good with your eyes,” defensive end Jaelan Phillips said.
“That’s kind of the point of the misdirection is to confuse you, and if your eyes aren’t good, they’re going to catch you a step off and good backs like that are going to capitalize on us,” he said. “They did a good job and we didn’t do good enough.”
Kmet added: “When you’ve got all the moving parts, whether it’s receivers in motion, tight ends in motion, shifts pre-snap, it really confuses the defense as to where to put their eyes and really tests their assignments as to where they need to be. So it makes it really difficult for those guys.
“If you cause just a little bit of hesitation, especially with how we’re coming off the football, it makes it hard for those defenders to engage and really recognize where the run scheme’s going. … If you really dive into our tape, it’s a fun run tape to watch.”
4. Cole Kmet’s touchdown was worth another watch.
Bears tight end Cole Kmet makes a touchdown reception ahead of Eagles safety Reed Blankenship in the fourth quarter Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Caleb Williams’ 28-yard pass to Kmet, who beat Blankenship to the end zone, gave the Bears a 24-9 lead with 6:26 left in the fourth quarter.
“I was about to consider a check-down (to Swift) and I looked up, I had space and time,” Williams said. “There was a defender starting to chase Swift. I ended up looking up, peeked up, saw Cole and gave him a good ball and let him go make a play.”
Williams lofted the ball in just the right spot despite the wind whipping at Lincoln Financial Field.
“In that fourth quarter (Williams) got a good feel for how to throw it in the wind, and, I mean, it was blowing for sure,” Kmet said. “A lot of gusts up there, especially when the ball was hanging up.
“(I) felt myself kind of pop there on the corner. Didn’t know if Caleb would get to me. Most quarterbacks would just probably throw it to the back and take the first down, but Caleb was kind of big-game hunting there and threw it up and spun the ball well enough for it to cut through the wind, even though he put some air underneath it and it was a perfect throw.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/01/chicago-bears-ben-johnson-cole-kmet-nfc-lead/
Former Chicago inspector general has no remorse after fine for leaking report on botched implosion
The Chicago Board of Ethics fined former Inspector General Joe Ferguson $5,000 for sharing a confidential report that blasted the city’s handling of a botched implosion that left Little Village coated in dust, city records show.
But despite the hefty fine, which the board issued last month and announced Friday, Ferguson is making no apologies for shedding light on the failed April 2020 demolition of the old Crawford coal-fired power plant’s massive smokestack.
“I have no regrets,” he wrote in a statement Monday. “This community, long subject to environmental injustice, deserved access to the truth.”
The report pinned the failure of the implosion that enveloped Little Village in dust and debris on the city for not following established regulations and a “multi-agency breakdown.” The sharp criticism authored by Ferguson was first sent to then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot in September 2021, but faced public scrutiny only in February 2023, just two weeks before Lightfoot lost in a mayoral primary election.
Lightfoot’s administration refused calls to release the report for over a year, weathering community demands, a City Council resolution and even pushback from Ferguson himself.
The Board of Ethics determined Ferguson shared the confidential report with two media outlets after he had stepped down from the office, according to records. Ferguson obtained the report from the Office of the Inspector General after he had left office, the board wrote.
The Crawford coal-fired power plant on April 12, 2020, where a large smokestack was imploded the day before that coated the neighborhood in a cloud of dust. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Ferguson, now head of the Civic Federation, paid the fine instead of challenging the board’s ruling, records show.
“City government has an obligation to protect its people from this kind of harm and it failed miserably in doing so,” he said. “So, if given the choice, I would do it again as City officials must be held to the highest standards of transparency and accountability in serving its most vulnerable of citizens.”
A year later, the report continued to spark outcry from Little Village community organizers when Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed Marlene Hopkins, found negligent in the document for her role in the botched implosion, to lead the Department of Buildings.
The city fined the company behind the implosion, Northbrook-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners, and its contractors $68,000 and ceased all implosions for six months after the incident. A federal judge last year approved a $12.25 million deal to settle a class-action lawsuit against Hilco.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/01/former-chicago-inspector-general-fined-botched-implosion/
US Navy Drops Constellation-Class Frigate Program
US Navy Drops Constellation-Class Frigate Program
Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times,
The U.S. Navy is pulling the plug on a new series of Constellation-class frigates, although construction will continue on the first two ships in the program.
Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan announced his decision to cancel the program in a video message on Nov. 25.
“My job as secretary of the Navy is to be a responsible steward of the trust and resources the American people place in us, delivering modern, lethal, and reliable platforms that strengthen readiness and give our war fighters every advantage to deter, fight, and win,” Phelan said.
The move comes as the U.S. Navy’s shipbuilding efforts are falling behind China’s.
According to a March congressional report, the size of the U.S. fleet has ranged between 270 and 300 battle force ships since the early 2000s, despite a force-structure goal that calls for 355 battle force ships. China’s navy, by contrast, is expected to reach 395 ships by the end of 2025.
Phelan said the decision to cancel the Constellation-class frigates will be his first major public action to reshape the Department of the Navy.
Frigates are generally considered the smallest surface combatants, behind the medium-sized destroyers and larger cruisers.
Plans for the Constellation-class guided-missile frigate called for a warship with 32 vertical launch systems, capable of firing a variety of missiles, including Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and air-defense missiles. These frigates would also be equipped with 16 additional missile launch canisters.
Fincantieri Marinette Marine won the contract to design and build the Constellation-class frigates in 2020.
The Navy originally planned for 20 ships in the Constellation frigate program. Before the cancellation decision, the service had six frigates under contract, with two under construction.
Phelan said the Navy had reached an agreement with industry partners to cancel four Constellation-class frigates that had not yet begun construction. Construction on the first two ships in the class will continue, for now.
“We greatly value the shipbuilders of Wisconsin and Michigan,” the Navy secretary said. “While work continues on the first two ships, those ships remain under review as we work through this strategic shift. Keeping this critical workforce employed and the yard viable for future Navy shipbuilding is of foremost concern.”
In a statement addressing the changes to the Constellation-class frigate program, Fincantieri said it is expecting new shipbuilding orders from the Navy, guaranteeing work for Fincantieri employees.
“Entering into the future and in alignment with the Group’s industrial capabilities and potential, Fincantieri will support the U.S. Navy, as it redefines strategic choices in the Small Surface Combatants segment, manned or unmanned,” the shipbuilder said.
John Phelan at a Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing in Washington on Feb. 27, 2025. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Frigate Program Faced Growing Concerns
In his video address announcing the decision, Phelan did not offer a specific reason why the Navy is canceling the Constellation-class frigate program. However, the program had faced mounting concerns over costs, construction delays, and whether the final product would be the right design.
A March report by the Congressional Research Service noted that the first frigate of the class, to be named USS Constellation, already faced an estimated three-year delay.
The design for the Constellation-class was based on an earlier design Fincantieri had prepared for European navies, known as the Frigate European Multi-Mission (FREMM) design. The March congressional report noted the Constellation-class design at one point had 85 percent commonality with the FREMM parent design but that alterations to the Constellation design had reduced that commonality to less than 15 percent.
Congressional researchers also highlighted disagreements over the number of vertical launch missile silos the new frigates would carry.
The March report noted that the original plan for the new frigates calls for a ship that’s about three-quarters of the size of the current Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyers, while only carrying about a third as many missile silos as the destroyers. On the other hand, the March report noted that concepts for expanding the number of missile silos on the frigates from 32 to 48 would increase the cost per ship by between 1.3 and 2.2 percent.
Other shipbuilding projects have challenged the Navy in recent years.
In the 1990s, the Navy began pursuing a new class of stealthy destroyers, eventually settling on the Zumwalt-class destroyer. The program was originally set to include 32 ships, but the Navy truncated the class to just three ships in 2008, amid ballooning cost projections.
Crew members of the USS Sioux City, a Freedom-class littoral combat ship, gather before the ship’s commissioning ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on Nov. 17, 2018. Patrick Semansky, File/AP Photo
The Navy also began a Littoral Combat Ship program in the 2000s, based on two different designs, known respectively as Freedom-class and Independence-class vessels. A 2019 Congressional Research Service report noted that the littoral combat ship program has been troubled by cost overruns, design and construction issues, and questions about the survivability of the vessels in a combat scenario.
Although the first Littoral Combat Ships began construction in 2005, several have already entered early retirement.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/01/2025 – 17:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/military/us-navy-drops-constellation-class-frigate-program
Luigi Mangione’s Lawyers Are Trying To Get His Case Thrown Out
Luigi Mangione’s Lawyers Are Trying To Get His Case Thrown Out
Luigi Mangione, accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last December, is entering a crucial week-long pretrial hearing in New York state court.
The hearing will focus on whether the evidence collected against him was obtained legally and if his statements to police violated his constitutional rights.
Mangione’s defense is pushing hard to have key evidence, including a red notebook described by authorities as a “manifesto,” tossed out, arguing the items were seized after an illegal search and that he was interrogated without Miranda warnings.
“The hearing could last at least a week. Marc Agnifilo, one of Mangione’s attorneys, said he expects prosecutors to call as many as 28 witnesses — including some from Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was apprehended last December at a McDonald’s restaurant days after the shooting,” reports NBC News.
“The proceedings are set to be divided into two sections. Both will focus on whether any evidence or statements were obtained illegally and should be excluded from trial.”
Judge Gregory Carro is overseeing the two-stage pretrial process:
In the first part, known as a Mapp hearing, Carro will hear testimony and arguments before deciding whether the police had a legal right to obtain physical evidence.
In the second, known as a Huntley hearing, Carro will review evidence before ruling whether statements Mangione made to law enforcement were coerced or obtained in violation of his rights.
Carro’s rulings will determine the extent of evidence the prosecution can present at trial, and could potentially make or break the case against Mangione.
Karen Agnifilo, another Mangione attorney, said the defense is not expecting a third section known as a Mosley hearing, which focuses on whether a non-eyewitness can testify about whether a person in a video or photo is Mangione.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to nine state charges and four separate federal counts, the latter carrying the possibility of the death penalty.
The defense claims police conducted a warrantless search of Mangione’s backpack at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was arrested days after the shooting.
They argue this search violated the Fourth Amendment, making any evidence recovered—including a 3D-printed ghost gun, fake IDs, ammunition, and his writings—inadmissible.
They also contend that officers failed to promptly read Mangione his Miranda rights, questioned him without informing him of his right to remain silent, and thereby violated his Fifth Amendment protections. The defense attorney Karen Agnifolo stressed the prejudice caused by the “manifesto” label and improper police procedures in detaining and interrogating Mangione.
“Law enforcement has methodically and purposefully trampled his constitutional rights by interrogating him without Miranda warnings in violation of the Fifth Amendment and illegally searching his property without a warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment,” Agnifilo claimed in a statement.
Prosecutors claim Mangione planned the attack by traveling to New York, stalking Thompson, and killing him. Ammunition at the scene was engraved with words like “delay,” “deny,” and “depose,” reflecting grievances against the healthcare industry found in Mangione’s writings. Surveillance footage, including a viral shooting video, captured Mangione’s movements before and after the assassination. The prosecution intends to use this evidence to secure a conviction in what is expected to be a high-profile trial.
Mangione became something of a celebrity on the political left after his capture. Saturday Night Live’s audience even applauded at the mere mention of him. Back in February, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins casually shared Mangione’s legal defense site on social media. In June, a musical about Mangione opened in San Francisco.
The coming days will reveal whether prosecutors can keep their case intact or whether the defense’s sweeping claims of constitutional abuse gain traction, but the stakes stretch far beyond the courtroom.
The hearings will show if a man embraced by the left will be held accountable for the execution-style killing that stunned the country last year.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/01/2025 – 17:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/luigi-mangiones-lawyers-are-trying-get-his-case-thrown-out
Unusually heavy snowfall over the weekend kept Aurora streets division working around the clock
Unusually heavy snowfall over the weekend kept Aurora’s streets division working around the clock to keep roads clear.
Saturday’s winter storm dumped six to nearly nine inches of snow on the Aurora area, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Doom. That amount of snowfall often happens every or every-other winter season, but not usually this early in the season, he said.
The snow came from a “really strong, quickly-evolving storm system” that came through the Midwest, right through “the heart of Chicagoland,” Doom told The Beacon-News. The storm system was “loaded with moisture,” he said, and was on the right track to dump all this snow over the area.
“We were sort of ground zero for the highest snow, here and southern Wisconsin,” Doom said.
The snowfall broke records in Chicago as the 8.4 inches recorded to have fallen at O’Hare International Airport on Saturday is the largest amount ever on a single calendar day in the city in November.
And the storm dumped the most snow Aurora has seen fall over such a short period of time in six or seven years, city Superintendent of Streets Adrian Perez said.
“Historically, it’s been pretty light,” he said. “We really haven’t seen this much snowfall in quite some time.”
Considering the city’s streets division is relatively “green,” with a lot of turnover and veterans retiring, staff did a “fantastic job” clearing the city’s roads over the weekend, according to Perez. Although it might have taken a little bit longer than expected, he said, the division hit its goal of getting done on Sunday.
Streets division staff worked mandatory 12-hour shifts over the weekend, with work starting at 3 a.m. on Saturday and finishing at around 5 p.m. on Sunday, Perez said. Other city divisions within the Public Works Department also helped out, he said.
“Every person that we had available was running routes,” Perez said.
Throughout the snowfall, staff worked to make sure primary roads stayed as clear as possible, especially heading into Sunday morning, according to Perez. And even before the snow started to fall, he said, workers were out salting those primary roadways to prepare.
Another snow-removal service offered by the city of Aurora, which shovels the walkways and driveways of seniors and those with disabilities, also sprung into action because of the winter storm over the weekend. Aurora Senior and Disability Services Manager Katrina Boatright said 230 homes were serviced by 50 “Snow Angel” volunteers and two contractors through the “Operation Senior Shovel” program.
The storm didn’t impact the Fox Valley Park District’s programming, and its facilities are operating under regular hours, per a district spokesperson. Preparation for the snowstorm started as early as Wednesday, with efforts focused around its four community centers — the Vaughan Athletic Center, Prisco and Eola community centers, and the Copley Boxing and Training Center — plus the Cole Center Administrative Office.
“Our top priority is always the safety of our residents,” Melissa Harrison, assistant director of park operations, said in a statement. “When winter weather approaches, our crews move quickly to treat surfaces and clear our community centers first, ensuring the places people rely on most remain safe, accessible and ready to serve.”
The park district’s snow removal crews worked staggered shifts from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, a district spokesperson said. Monday was spent clearing other sites and preparing for more forecasted snow.
It was also snowing on Monday afternoon, which the National Weather Service forecasted would be about one to three inches in total. Some snow showers are also forecast for Wednesday, which will come along a cold front, according to a post on the National Weather Service Chicago’s Facebook page.
Doom told the Chicago Tribune that the area might see a bit more snow this winter than in recent years, but that a single snow like the one Saturday does not necessarily mean more snow this season. Last year, the Chicago area saw just 17.6 inches of snow, less than the typically-expected 38.4 inches, the Tribune has reported.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
