Category: News
Tracking the Chicago Bears in NFL free agency: Special teams standout Daniel Hardy signed to 2-year deal
The busiest week on the NFL’s offseason calendar is upon us.
The free-agent negotiating period opens at 11 a.m. Monday, and free agency officially begins at 3 p.m. Wednesday with the start of the 2026 league year. At that point, any contracts negotiated or trades agreed to can become official.
The Chicago Bears were busy in free agency the last three years as general manager Ryan Poles signed such players as Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, D’Andre Swift, Grady Jarrett, Drew Dalman and Dayo Odeyingbo.
The Bears might not be quite as active this time around, but they have given themselves some salary-cap flexibility with moves made ahead of free agency. First, Dalman made the surprising decision to retire. Then the Bears traded wide receiver DJ Moore, released Edmunds and traded for center Garrett Bradbury.
In all, those moves leave the Bears with a new starting center and approximately $27 million of available salary-cap space heading into free agency. Top positions of need include safety, linebacker, defensive line and left tackle.
Here’s the latest Bears news in free agency.
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Sunday: Bears sign Daniel Hardy to two-year contract
It’s no surprise that when the Bears needed an onside kick recovery in the Week 16 rally to stun the Green Bay Packers, they kicked to the side of the formation with Josh Blackwell and Daniel Hardy.
Blackwell has been one of the team’s best special teams players for several seasons and Hardy has emerged as a similarly valuable performer in that phase.
So, it wasn’t a surprise when the Bears reached an agreement with Hardy on a $5 million, two-year contract Sunday night, preventing him from leaving in free agency.
Hardy led the Bears with 19 tackles on special teams last season and he provides more than just production for special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. He’s a matchup problem for opponents because he’s the rare defensive end — 6-foot-2, 255 pounds — who can play in the open field on special teams.
Hardy was a restricted free agent and while the Bears didn’t want to tender him at $3.52 million for one season, they did want him back. A two-year deal is just what Blackwell got when he was in the same position a year ago.
The Bears experimented a little with having Hardy play as a strong-side linebacker and, late in the season, he did a little moonlighting on offense as a fullback. But his primary role is on special teams and even with a tighter salary cap situation this season, the Bears are showing they don’t want to cut major corners when it comes to a unit that performed well in 2025.
Friday: Bears trade for C Garrett Bradbury
The Bears agreed to trade a 2027 fifth-round draft pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for center Garrett Bradbury, per multiple reports. Bradbury immediately fills the void left by Dalman’s retirement.
A seven-year veteran, Bradbury has started 105 games in his NFL career. He spent six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings before signing with the Patriots in free agency a year ago.
Bradbury has played in all 17 games during each of the past two seasons. He also has familiarity playing with Bears All-Pro Joe Thuney. The two were college teammates at N.C. State.
The trade cannot become official until 3 p.m. Wednesday, but it filled a major need for the Bears before free agency even began.
Thursday: Bears release LB Tremaine Edmunds
Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds celebrates with teammates after making an interception in the fourth quarter against the Bengals on Nov. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
The Bears are set to release linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, a league source confirmed to the Tribune. Doing so will save $15 million against the salary cap in 2026.
Edmunds played three seasons with the Bears, appearing in 45 games and totaling nine interceptions, two forced fumbles and 335 tackles. The Bears originally signed him to a four-year, $72 million contract in March 2023. At an $18 million average annual value, that made him the third-highest-paid linebacker in the NFL last season.
Releasing Edmunds in conjunction with the DJ Moore trade and Drew Dalman’s retirement freed up more than $40 million in cap space. Before those moves, the Bears were about $7 million over the cap, so they head into free agency with about $33 million to spend.
The Bears previously allowed Edmunds to seek a trade, but it doesn’t appear that a trade partner ever emerged. He will become a free agent immediately.
Thursday: Bears agree to trade WR DJ Moore to Bills
Bears wide receiver DJ Moore makes the game-winning touchdown catch in overtime against the Packers on Dec. 20, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
The Bears will send wide receiver DJ Moore and a 2026 fifth-round draft pick to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick once trades can become official Wednesday, according to multiple national reports.
It’s an abrupt ending to Moore’s three-year tenure in Chicago that began with a 1,364-yard season in 2023 after the Bears acquired him from the Carolina Panthers as part of a package for the No. 1 pick. Moore signed a four-year, $110 million extension the next summer that kicks in this year, and he was due to cost $28.5 million against the 2026 salary cap.
Trading him will save the Bears about $16.5 million against the cap.
March 3: Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman retires at 27
Bears center Drew Dalman snaps the ball to Caleb Williams against the Eagles on Nov. 28, 2025, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
One year after signing a three-year, $42 million contract with the Bears, center Drew Dalman informed the team he is retiring. Dalman was a centerpiece on the retooled offensive line, one of three additions the team made on the interior last year.
He and guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson started every game last season, with Dalman and Thuney making the Pro Bowl — Dalman’s first selection. All three remained under contract for 2026 before Dalman’s surprising decision.
His retirement vaults center up the list of needs for the Bears, who already were looking for solutions at left tackle with Ozzy Trapilo expected to be sidelined for most of next season.
Feb. 25: Bears allow LB Tremaine Edmunds to seek a trade
Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds celebrates an interception against the Cowboys on Sept. 21, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The Bears gave linebacker Tremaine Edmunds permission to seek a trade during the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. If no trade partner emerges, the assumption is the Bears will release Edmunds and save $15 million against the salary cap.
Edmunds signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the Bears in 2023 and has one year remaining on that deal. He has appeared in 45 regular-season games for the Bears and has nine interceptions.
Feb. 19: Bears release LB Amen Ogbongbemiga
Bears linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga celebrates after a tackle in the second quarter against the Steelers on Nov. 23, 2025, at Soldier Field. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
The Bears started clearing salary-cap space by terminating the contract of linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga. The move created $2.07 million in cap space.
A core special teams player, Ogbongbemiga re-signed with the Bears last offseason on a two-year, $5 million deal and was set to earn up to $2.25 million in 2026. He was arguably their most consistent special teams player in 2024.
Which Bears players are hitting free agency?
Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright and safety Kevin Byard III (31) celebrate after Wright recovered a fumble by Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart on Nov. 9, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
A number of Bears defensive backs are hitting the free-agent market, including all four of their safeties.
All-Pro safety Kevin Byard III likely will have the biggest market. He led the NFL with seven interceptions last year and was a leader on the defense. The Bears signed Byard to a two-year, $15 million contract in 2024, and he could have a robust market after his big season, despite the fact he’ll be 33 when next season begins.
Other players hitting free agency include safeties Jaquan Brisker, Jonathan Owens and Elijah Hicks, cornerbacks Nahshon Wright and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, linebacker D’Marco Jackson, defensive end Dominique Robinson and defensive tackle Andrew Billings.
Wright was a surprise difference-maker in 2025 after signing a one-year, $1.1 million deal with the Bears in April. He wound up emerging as a starter and totaled five interceptions and three fumble recoveries, making the Pro Bowl as an alternate and likely earning himself a big raise.
On the offense, tackle Braxton Jones and wide receivers Olamide Zaccheaus and Devin Duvernay are among the players due to be free agents. Jones started 44 games at left tackle over four years but lost his starting spot last season.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/08/chicago-bears-nfl-free-agency-tracker/
Victory Gardens announces new interim artistic director
Victory Gardens Theater, which has mostly been quiet since a 2022 dispute erupted around the dismissal of its former artistic director, Ken-Matt Martin, says it has hired an interim artistic director as well as “reimagined artistic vision.”
The new hire is Edward Torres, a well-respected Chicago actor and the former artistic director of Chicago’s Teatro Vista Productions. Torres was the director of the most recent Victory Gardens production, the Chicago premiere of David Mamet’s “Henry Johnson” roughly a year ago. Among Torres’ past hits was the 2009 Victory Gardens production of “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” by Kristoffer Diaz.
The Victory Gardens board of directors, which owns and operates the historic but currently under-utilized Biograph Theatre (2433 N. Lincoln Ave.) in Lincoln Park, also said that it has hired Archana Vaidya as interim executive director. Vaidya’s background primarily has been in environmental and nonprofit consulting, although she also has been involved with South Asian theater groups in the Chicago area.
Victory Gardens also said it had articulated a new vision: “New work. Boldly.” And it said that its mission would now be defined as: “Victory Gardens Theater serves as a sanctuary for fearless artistic exchange, producing new work that ignites the imagination and challenges the mind.”
The first endeavor under this new branding will be a March 21 staged reading of “An Ocean Away” by the Belarusian playwright Andrei Kureichik, billed as a “chorus of real Ukrainian and diaspora stories revealing the cost of war and the fierce human will to survive, remember, and rebuild.”
Along with Torres, the cast of mostly familiar Chicago theater names will include Angelina Davila, Marilyn Dodds Frank, Kris Downing, Arina Ermakova, Michael Milligan, Iliana Raykovski, Yasen Peyankov, Kaz Qutab and Lusia Strus. Kureichik is currently a Neubauer Fellow and doctoral student at the University of Chicago. He has been an outspoken dissident voice against the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/08/victory-gardens-artistic-director/
Toluca golea en casa 3-1 a Ciudad Juárez para mantenerse como el único invicto en la Liga MX
Associated Press
TOLUCA, México (AP) — Helinho, Antonio Briseño y Paulinho convirtieron las dianas durante el complemento con las que el bicampeón Toluca goleó en casa 3-1 a Ciudad Juárez el domingo, para extender su marcha invicta en el torneo Clausura de la Liga MX.
El brasileño Helinho hizo bueno el cobro de un penal a los 54 minutos, después de que el árbitro Luis Enrique Santander recurrió a la repetición de video para valorar un jalón en el área del colombiano Moisés Mosquera sobre Briseño.
El defensor escarlata Briseño amplió a los 70 con un cabezazo picado, a centro de una falta de Sebastián Córdova.
El brasileño Guilherme Castilho recortó por el conjunto fronterizo de inmediato tras aceptar la segunda diana, a los 71, con un remate arriba desde el corazón del área, a una diagonal precisa de Rodolfo Pizarro desde la línea final.
Paulinho, vigente triple campeón de goleo de la Liga MX, consumó su sexta diana del campeonato durante el octavo minuto del descuento, al hacer un remate exquisito a un pase de Marcel Ruiz, al poner el pie para que el balón saliera un poco bombeado y superara al arquero Sebastián Jurado.
El árbitro Santander recibió una segunda llamada desde la sala del VAR para valorar un pisotón del defensa escarlata Diego Zaragoza sobre José Luis Rodríguez a los 60; después de varios minutos de deliberación, no avaló la acción como una falta.
Los Diablos Rojos son el único equipo del campeonato sin derrota, para estar en la 2da posición con 24 unidades, una por detrás del líder Cruz Azul.
Los escarlatas hilvanaron con este triunfo 21 jornadas de liga sin derrota, desde la última que sufrieron ante Cruz Azul por 1-0 en la 6ta jornada del Apertura 2025.
Ciudad Juárez quedó fuera de zona de liguilla en la 12da posición con 10 unidades.
El estratega argentino Antonio Mohamed dispuso de varias rotaciones por el Toluca, pensando en el duelo del miércoles de visita ante el San Diego FC de la MLS, en el partido de ida de la Copa de Campeones de la Concacaf.
Pese a no contar con varios titulares fundamentales de inicio como el propio Paulinho, el Toluca generó las mejores opciones antes del descanso.
Franco Rosi mandó un remate de cabeza al fondo de la portería en la recta final de la primera mitad; sin embargo, no valió al marcarse una falta del ariete uruguayo para poder hacer el impacto.
El estelar mediocampista Alexis Vega tuvo sus primeros minutos en el campeonato por los Diablos Rojos, luego de superar la lesión en la rodilla derecha que lo afectó desde la campaña pasada.
El atacante escarlata estuvo cerca de estrenarse como goleador durante el tercero de los minutos del descuento, al hacer una jugada de calidad para sacar un disparo que apenas pasó a un lado de la portería.
El último partido en el que Vega tuvo minutos fue en el que entró de cambio durante de vuelta de la final del torneo Apertura 2025 ante Tigres, en el que le tocó marcar el último penal, en la 12va tanda, que le dio el título a los Diablos Rojos.
La jornada concluirá más tarde con el juego Tijuana vs. Santos.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Conscientious Objector Group: Phone ‘Ringing Off Hook’ As Huge Mobilization Underway
Conscientious Objector Group: Phone ‘Ringing Off Hook’ As Huge Mobilization Underway
An 80-year-old nonprofit that advises conscientious objectors says its phone is “ringing off the hook” as American service members who object to the US-and-Israel-initiated war on Iran are seeking guidance on how to avoid being a part of it. Ominously, the group’s executive director says the breadth of force mobilization is much like the run-up to the ground invasion of Iraq.
“Phone has been ringing off the hook,” wrote Center on Conscience & War executive director Mike Prysner on X. “A LOT more units have just been activated for deployment than the public knows about.” Founded in 1940, the Center on Conscience and War provides guidance to military service members pursuing a conscientious objector (CO) status or a discharge. The group also opposes military conscription.
Service members: If you agree Trump’s war on Iran is wrong, you don’t have to participate. We can help you explore your options. Call 1-800-379-2679 pic.twitter.com/LOAA7k9ElX
— Center on Conscience & War (@CCW4COs) February 28, 2026
In a post on the group’s account, the Center said it received a call from someone who is on deployment orders and who “reports widespread opposition to Iran War within their unit…In particular, they conveyed disgust at the US massacre of the girls’ school as well as the attack on the Iranian frigate in international waters.”
The US military is reportedly responsible for killing some 150 schoolgirls in Minab, Iran during the opening of the war. In another incident, a US Navy submarine torpedoed an Iranian ship that was departing a largely ceremonial naval event in India that involved 18 countries. Compounding the controversy over sinking a lightly-armed vessel 2,000 miles from the war theater, the Americans apparently left surviving sailors to drown in a violation of the Geneva Convention — that is, a war crime. At least 87 died.
Under US military policy, CO status is defined as “a firm, fixed, and sincere objection to participation in war in any form or the bearing of arms, by reason of religious training and/or belief.” That would seemingly exclude service members who stand ready to defend America, but who view the war on Iran as an amoral enterprise being carried out solely to advance Israel’s agenda in the region.
I just spoke with the mother of a service member in this unit. They were given one last call home before having to turn in their phones. He told his mom the were going “boots on the ground” tonight. pic.twitter.com/3OCupSfp9Q
— Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) March 7, 2026
However, the group helps service members pursue other avenues for opting out of the latest US regime-change war in the Middle East. For example, in a Friday night post, the Center said service members who are in their first year in any branch “can *easily* get out just by reporting ‘failure to adapt’…The evidence bar is low.”
Prysner, who took on the executive director role on March 1, joined the US Army shortly before 9/11, and was part of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After discharging, he became an activist against the war. He said what he’s hearing from callers indicates a major mobilization on par with the final weeks before the catastrophic invasion of Iraq:
I was part of the buildup to invasion of Iraq. What I’ve heard today from troops & families is so reminiscent of Feb-Mar ‘03. Doesn’t prove the US is invading, but that they are definitely preparing to. Will they? Probably weighing many factors… and our resistance is one of them
— Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) March 7, 2026
Prysner also said the mother of a service member in a deployed unit relayed a disturbing account from her son: His commander attempted to build enthusiasm for the mission by saying it would bring about the second coming of Jesus Christ. That account parallels those publicized earlier this week by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. As described by ZeroHedge contributor blueapples, just a few days into the new war, MRFF had already received more than 100 complaints from troops in 40 units who said leaders were pushing theological rationalizations for war on Iran. One commander allegedly said Trump has been “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.”
Some ZeroHedge readers may know Prysner as the filmmaker who has collaborated with journalist Abby Martin on the Empire Files, a series of documentaries and videos that include “Gaza Fights For Freedom,” which profiled the 2018 Great March of Return, a protest that saw Palestinians who approached the Israeli border wall shot by IDF snipers — with 62 slaughtered on a single day.
Prysner just became the Center’s executive director on March 1 — one day after Israel and the United States initiated an unprovoked war on Iran. “With the first US dead in another immoral war, more troops will be questioning their role,” said Prysner at the time. “Our job is to find them, defend them, and help them come home.”
Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/08/2026 – 21:30
Herro anota 25, Adebayo logra hito y Heat vence 121-110 a Pistons para su cuarta victoria al hilo
Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) — Tyler Herro anotó 25 puntos, Bam Adebayo sumó 24 para superar la marca de 10.000 puntos en su carrera, y el Heat de Miami venció a Detroit 121-110 la noche del domingo para ampliar a cuatro partidos la peor racha de derrotas de la temporada de los Pistons.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. aportó 19 puntos y siete asistencias para Miami (36-29), que ha ganado cinco seguidos e igualó su mejor registro de la campaña al colocarse siete juegos por encima de .500. El Heat sigue sin contar con Norman Powell (ingle) y Nikola Jovic (espalda), y Andrew Wiggins (dedo del pie) también quedó fuera.
Adebayo —quien además añadió nueve rebotes y seis asistencias— llegó a la noche a 23 puntos de ese hito anotador. Él y Dwyane Wade son los únicos jugadores con 10.000 puntos con el uniforme del Heat.
Cade Cunningham terminó con 26 puntos y 10 asistencias, y Jalen Duren anotó 24 para los Pistons, cuya ventaja en la Conferencia Este se redujo a 2 1/2 juegos sobre Boston.
Detroit perdía por 25 en la primera mitad —la mayor desventaja de los Pistons antes del descanso esta temporada—. La ventaja de Miami era de 18 al final del primer cuarto y el Heat mantuvo una diferencia de dos dígitos durante los últimos 38:27.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Barrett anota 31, su máximo de la temporada, y supera 8.000 puntos en paliza de Raptors a Mavericks
Associated Press
TORONTO (AP) — RJ Barrett anotó 31 puntos el domingo, su máximo de la temporada, Scottie Barnes sumó 17 y los Raptors de Toronto vencieron 122-92 a los Mavericks de Dallas, que atraviesan dificultades.
Jakob Poeltl aportó 16 puntos y 10 rebotes, y Sandro Mamukelashvili encestó 13 puntos, mientras los Raptors rompieron una racha de cuatro derrotas consecutivas ante Dallas.
Daniel Gafford registró 21 puntos y 11 rebotes, su máximo de la temporada, Cooper Flagg anotó 17 puntos y Brandon Williams agregó 16, pero los Mavericks, en mala racha, perdieron su séptimo partido seguido y el 17mo de 19.
Brandon Ingram y Ja’Kobe Walter anotaron 11 puntos cada uno, e Immanuel Quickley y Gradey Dick terminaron con 10, mientras Toronto ganó por primera vez en cinco partidos en casa.
Barrett superó los 8.000 puntos en su carrera, convirtiéndose en el octavo jugador canadiense en alcanzar ese hito.
Flagg encestó 7 de 17 en su tercer partido desde que regresó tras una ausencia de ocho juegos causada por un esguince en el pie izquierdo. Capturó ocho rebotes y repartió seis asistencias.
Gafford acertó 10 de 10 en tiros de campo y convirtió su único intento de tiro libre.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Overtime goal pushes the Dallas Stars past the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3
DALLAS — Defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored 22 seconds into overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
Second in the Western Conference, the Stars are 11-0-1 in their last 12.
Young Chicago star Connor Bedard forced the extra period by scoring with 1:20 left in regulation with the Hawks playing with an extra skater.
Mavrik Bourque had a goal and an assist for Dallas. Nathan Bastian and Justin Hryckowian also scored, and Casey DeSmith made 12 saves.
Tyler Bertuzzi and rookie defenseman Sam Rinzel also scored for Chicago, and Arvid Söderblom stopped 28 shots. The Hawks are 2-7-4 in their last 13.
The Stars turned a 2-1 deficit going into the third period into a 3-2 lead on Bourque’s goal 42 seconds in and Hryckowian’s power-play goal at 9:40.
Troy Murray, Chicago Blackhawks great and longtime team broadcaster, dies at 63
The Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the first period on a deflection by Bertuzzi at 6:59 and Rinzel’s blast from the slot less than two minutes later. Bastian scored Dallas’ first goal late in the period.
Söderblom made consecutive starts for the first time this season with No. 1 Hawks goalie Spencer Knight sidelined with an illness.
Hawks rookie forward Oliver Moore left midway through the first period after three shifts with an undisclosed injury when sliding into the end boards seconds after assisting on Rinzel’s goal.
Dallas improved to 6-12-4 when trailing after two periods, while Chicago dropped to 15-3-2 when leading after two.
Up next
Hawks: Complete a back-to-back hosting Utah on Monday night to begin a home-and-home with the Mammoth.
Stars: Host Vegas on Tuesday night in the third game of a six-game homestand.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/08/chicago-blackhawks-dallas-stars-overtime/
Tinley Irish Parade salutes veterans as nation’s 250th birthday approaches
Nick Suleyman drove his motorcycle Sunday afternoon down Oak Park Avenue in Tinley Park.
Tens of thousands of people who were at the village’s 26th annual Irish Parade cheered him. Some yelled “Thank you!”
The 76-year-old Monee resident, who heads up area veterans groups, noticed that it was a far cry from when he served in the Air Force in the Vietnam war from 1968-1972.
The reception back then? Some Americans resented American military personnel fighting that war.
“I was called a ‘baby killer,’ and I was spit at,” Suleyman said. “I was yelled at. I was ignored.
“When we came back from the service, we were told ‘don’t wear your uniform.’”
Tinley Park Veterans Commission Chairman Doug Rasmussen said he knew a Vietnam vet who had dog feces thrown on him.
But those days are long gone.
Air Force Veteran Nick Suleyman rides Sunday during the 26th Tinley Park Irish Parade. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)
This year’s Irish Parade spotlighted the United States’ 250th birthday and veterans served as the grand marshal. Members of VFW Post 2791 and the Tinley Park Veterans Commission led the parade, which also featured the USS Chicago Base Submarine Veterans.
“Certainly, we should honor our vets no matter what war it was,” Tinley Park Village Trustee Bill Brady said. “This is the 250th anniversary of our country and if it wasn’t for them we would all be speaking with British accents.”
“The veterans should always be put first for what they did,” Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz said. “If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have the freedom that we all enjoy today in the United States.”
The Chicago Stockyard Kilty Band plays Sunday during the Tinley Park Irish Parade. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)
Suleyman said after the way the Vietnam vets were treated, he and his generation of miliary people were not going to allow that part of history to repeat itself.
“We said ‘never again,’” he said. “With the conflicts that have taken place since then, we made sure that every veteran who served in a war or a conflict came home and was celebrated.”
Suleyman, who is an honor guard commander and commander of the American Veterans Motorcycle Riders Association, is happy veterans are appreciated more in light of the 250th celebration.
“This year is going to be amazing,” he said. “The recognition of a country and of a people and government … it’s hard to put into words.
“We’ve been through a lot. We’ve been through a number of wars. We’ve been through our own Civil War. We’ve gone through our own dissent and we are going through our own dissent again.”
Meanwhile, the 60-degree weather brought out people in droves. The village didn’t have attendance figures but it usually hopes for a 40,000 person turnout.
James Navarro, second row left, and members of his family get excited Sunday for the start of the Tinley Park Irish Parade. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)
Tinley Park resident James Navarro was in a group of eight family members plus a dog they called Benjamin O’Shamrock. Some of the last names in the group included Collins, Schultz and Conte.
“I’m mostly Italian but I’m 25% Irish, just like Henry Hill from ‘Goodfellas,’ so I can still come out and celebrate,” Navarro said. “It’s a great time. We love seeing all of the floats and it’s just a great spectacle that Tinley Park puts on.”
The group has met at the parade for nine years, according to Navarro. Thanks to children, the group has grown.
“We used to live right behind St. George,” Andy Collins said. “We would walk to the parade. We didn’t have as many people then as we do now.”
And weather, even cold, windy and snowy weather, would not curb their enthusiasm.
“The weather would never stop us,” Navarro said. “It only motivates us.”
Tinley Park Veterans Commission Chairman Doug Rasmussen is festive and fired up Sunday during the Tinley Park Irish Parade. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)
The Gilbert family of Tinley Park also make it a tradition to come to the parade.
Chris Gilbert had his 4-year-old daughter, Callahan, hoisted on his shoulders so she could have a better look at the action.
“Our family has been coming out a long time, 15 years maybe?” Chris Gilbert said. “Rain or shine, we’re here. We like it because it’s good family fun.”
The village is not done celebrating.
From 7-10 p.m. each night until March 17, Tinley Park will put on a St. Patrick’s Day light show every hour at Harmony Square in the downtown area.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/08/tinley-park-irish-parade-salutes-veterans/
The Oil Island That Could Break Iran
The Oil Island That Could Break Iran
Authored by Scott Walden via E&E News,
One of President Donald Trump’s most potent moves for crippling the Iranian regime may involve seizing a tiny island where gazelles run free near oil infrastructure.
The 5-mile strip of land known as Kharg Island is home to Iran’s most important oil facility, an export terminal in the Persian Gulf that handles up to 90 percent of the nation’s crude. It’s a cornerstone of Iran’s economy and a major source of revenue for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a pillar of the regime that experts say could put down the kind of public uprising that Trump has called for.
If Trump intends to intensify pressure on Iran outside of missile strikes and bombings, seizing Kharg Island would deprive the regime of a key funding source for controlling the population, said Michael Rubin, a senior Pentagon adviser on Iran and Iraq in the George W. Bush administration. He said he has been communicating with White House officials about the strategic importance of the island.
“If they can’t sell their own oil, they can’t make payroll,” said Rubin, who is now a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
“No matter how much we bomb, there’s not going to be regime change until we fracture the Revolutionary Guard, and if this can be a fairly nonviolent way of doing it, all the better,” he added.
Oil is the lifeblood of the Revolutionary Guard. About half of the nation’s $50 billion oil industry is controlled by the force, Reuters has reported. That includes a ghost fleet of oil tankers that take its sanctioned crude abroad, mostly to China.
Rubin, who has been in contact with administration officials about seizing Kharg, said his recommendations have been circulated within the National Security Council. He believes Trump is relying on a small circle of advisers, and it’s not clear if they’re aware of the island’s strategic importance, Rubin said.
“If they themselves aren’t familiar with Kharg, then it doesn’t matter what the State Department desk or the CIA knows about Iran,” he said. “It’s not going to percolate up.”
Neither the White House nor the National Security Council responded to requests for comment.
In the weeks before the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks, Iran ramped up oil production at Kharg.
The facility’s output was pushed to almost record levels, at about 4 million barrels per day, according to Kpler, an energy industry data firm. That marked an explosive increase from its baseline of about 1.5 million barrels a day. Iran hasn’t exported that much oil since 2018, when Trump reimposed nuclear sanctions on the country, the firm found.
American and Israeli forces have tried to avoid striking Iran’s oil infrastructure, according to a former Trump energy adviser who was granted anonymity to talk about current discussions.
“If the goal is to transition quickly to a new government, we would not want to destroy that infrastructure,” said the former official, who argued that seizing Kharg so early in the campaign carries risks to American forces.
“They are inflicting problems on themselves anyway,” the adviser said, referring to Iran.
“Once their missile and drone threats have been neutralized, then perhaps.”
PHOTO OF THE DAY: China is still getting (some of) its oil.
Nine days into the war, Iran continues loading oil supertankers from Kharg Island.
Tehran has sent some of them across the Strait of Hormuz into the high seas wihthout any problem.
Photo @CopernicusEU March 7th 2026 pic.twitter.com/uzSkzntOOB
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 8, 2026
Kharg Island has long been viewed by Iran’s opponents as a vulnerability for the regime.
During the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, then-President Jimmy Carter was advised that seizing Kharg could provide leverage against the regime. He chose not to act. His successor, President Ronald Reagan, destroyed other offshore export facilities in the 1980s when Iran mined the Straits of Hormuz. He left Kharg untouched. Then, the oil terminal was partially destroyed by Iraqi forces during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, but it was quickly rebuilt.
It’s unlikely that American or Israeli forces would intentionally damage Kharg, said Ellen Wald, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. She argued that it could trigger a wave of Iranian retaliation against energy infrastructure across the region, driving up oil prices worldwide.
“As long as Iran has the ability to get oil out, it’s not going to try to take that ability away from anyone else, because it knows that once it does that, its oil infrastructure will get destroyed,” Wald said. “It’s sort of this mutually assured destruction, so nobody will do anything.”
Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/08/2026 – 20:55
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/oil-island-could-break-iran
Tarik Skubal reconsidera su plan para el Clásico Mundial tras un emotivo inicio con EE.UU.
Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) — Tarik Skubal está pensando en volver a lanzar para Estados Unidos en el Clásico Mundial de Béisbol después de que el as de los Tigres de Detroit había planeado previamente hacer solo una apertura.
Su mentalidad cambió después de que abrió por Estados Unidos en una victoria 9-1 sobre Gran Bretaña la noche del sábado.
“No esperaba que este tipo de emociones me atravesaran la mente ni que mis pensamientos fueran distintos. Estaba bastante comprometido con hacer una apertura y volver al campamento. Las cosas han cambiado, obviamente. Por eso voy a tener algunas conversaciones e intentar definir un plan para mí. Pero sí, tampoco lo sé en un sentido u otro”, dijo Skubal a los reporteros.
Skubal, quien ha ganado los últimos dos premios Cy Young de la Liga Americana, comentó que estaba hablando de la situación con su agente, Scott Boras, y con los Tigres. Pero el zurdo, que puede convertirse en agente libre después de esta temporada y se espera que consiga un contrato enorme el próximo invierno, añadió que “no está en el estado mental adecuado para tomar una decisión ahora mismo”.
Skubal dijo el mes pasado que haría solo una apertura en el CMB sin importar hasta dónde avanzara el equipo de Estados Unidos, porque quería mantenerse en un régimen regular de entrenamientos de primavera y prepararse para el día inaugural principalmente con los Tigres.
El mánager de Detroit, A.J. Hinch, dijo el domingo en Florida que habló brevemente con Skubal la noche del sábado.
“No creo que se haya determinado nada. Creo que está increíblemente emocionado por la experiencia. Es un momento difícil que pesa mucho sobre los jugadores porque quieren hacerlo todo”, señaló Hinch según MLB.com.
Hinch indicó que planeaban tener más conversaciones al respecto pronto.
“Acordamos volver a hablar cuando las cosas se calmaran un poco y él hubiera dormido bien. Se despertará y hoy tendrá un buen día de trabajo”, explico Hinch.
Skubal añadió que la situación ha creado “una de las decisiones más difíciles que he tomado en mi carrera hasta ahora”.
También manifestó su agradecimiento por el apoyo del equipo de Estados Unidos, haga lo que haga.
“Han sido sumamente solidarios con todo. Entienden perfectamente lo que está pasando con mi situación — es única. He tenido estas conversaciones con gente, y en su mayoría, han sido extremadamente solidarios con que yo esté aquí en primer lugar. Y les tengo muchísimo respeto por eso. Pero es difícil. Cuando estás en estos ambientes y tienes este equipo, cuesta alejarse de eso”, expresó Skubal.
Skubal permitió un jonrón de Nate Eaton en su primer lanzamiento la noche del sábado, pero después de eso solo concedió un sencillo, mientras ponchaba a cinco en tres entradas. Estados Unidos mejoró a 2-0 con la victoria y enfrenta a México la noche del lunes, con el vigente ganador del Cy Young de la Liga Nacional, Paul Skenes, en la lomita.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
