After years of financial turmoil, Hawthorne Race Course filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Chicago on Friday in an effort to restructure the 135-year-old institution’s debt, save dozens of jobs and, in the long run, rescue the state’s dying horse racing industry.

With the filing, Hawthorne is seeking to reorganize, ultimately intending to attract a buyer or investor willing to recapitalize the company and restart operations, according to a news release from a public affairs firm representing the racecourse.

“This is a difficult day,” Hawthorne President and CEO Tim Carey said in a statement. Yet, he continued, “filing for reorganization is the right thing to do for the Illinois horsemen and for our employees and their families.”

The filing comes after the Illinois Racing Board suspended Hawthorne’s harness racing license due to its financial difficulties. The track in west suburban Stickney was unable to open the first weekend of the year because it failed to get surety bonds.

Meanwhile, despite ongoing strain, course officials a month ago, again, said they were close to a financing deal for a new casino, an option that has long been on the table for the track.

Carey, in backing Hawthorne’s bankruptcy filings, pointed to the fraught “racino” venture, alongside its attempt to “continue its struggling operation while also supporting the entire horseracing industry in Northern Illinois,” per Friday’s release.

Since Churchill Downs Inc. outraged the racing world by closing Arlington International Racecourse in 2021, Hawthorne has been the only place to race in the Chicago area. That meant thoroughbred and harness racing have had to share the track, taking turns with each style of racing. That requires a costly and time-consuming change of the track surface each time, and leaves each type of racing out of action for months at a time.

The track was scheduled to switch from harness racing to thoroughbred racing in March. Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association board President Chris Block, at an Illinois Racing Board meeting last month, said his greatest fear would be that they would start the meet only for Hawthorne to go bankrupt and close. That, he said, would be a “catastrophe,” because it would be too late for owners to race elsewhere this year.

The thoroughbred association reported a significant decline in betting at Hawthorne in 2025, to $51 million, down from a handle of nearly $90 million in 2024, mostly from a drop in out-of-state simulcast betting and a reduction in purses from nearly $11 million to $8 million.

Hawthorne also temporarily halted its off-track betting on the Kentucky Derby last year after a dispute over payments to Churchill Downs Inc.

As for the racino, when state lawmakers expanded gambling in 2019, they gave Hawthorne the exclusive opportunity to open a brick-and-mortar parlor at its track, and another racino in the south suburbs, with veto power over any other proposal in the area.

What’s followed has been six years of failed promises to bring the proposal to fruition. In response to Hawthorne’s failure to open a racino, the state Senate in November gave bipartisan support for a bill to rescind Hawthorne’s veto power and to allow a new track in downstate Decatur as well. The House may take up that bill in its current session.

Filing for bankruptcy became necessary as Hawthorne’s relationship with its lender and other creditors eroded, which led to a series of setbacks — including the inability to continue the harness racing season.

At last month’s board meeting, Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association Executive Director Tony Somone said the group had been contacted by 66 people regarding more than $582,000 in bounced checks.

“This money … is how we pay our bills,” Somone said. “Not only the feed man and the vet but how we pay our mortgages, how we make our car payments. This is what we use to live on.”

In addition, Somone claimed that Hawthorne owes the horse operators almost $700,000 in racing entry fees and a state grant that the track keeps in an account for the horsemen.

“It’s not Hawthorne’s money,” he said. “It is the horsemen’s money.”

Reorganization will focus on maximizing recovery to the company’s creditors, as well as paying accrued purses to the Illinois horsemen and payroll to track employees. Carey said Hawthorne employs over 250 people, with its longest-tenured employees having spent 52 years at the track.

Hawthorne hopes to appear in federal bankruptcy court in Chicago next week to secure debtor-in-possession financing to fund its restructuring.

The Tribune’s Bob McCoppin contributed.

tkenny@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/27/hawthorne-race-course-files-for-bankruptcy/ 

The City of Hammond has canceled a proposed pedestrian bridge in its Hessville neighborhood after the railroad that said it would cover a grant match changed its mind.

Progress on the design of the pedestrian bridge is halted immediately, Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. said in a release Thursday. The scuttling of this project does not impact the construction of the Governor’s Parkway bridge, however, which is “fully funded and awaiting construction.”

“With reduced gaming revenue and the eventual effect of SEA 1 resulting in an expected significant revenue shortfall, we simply don’t have the funds available to pay for the Grand Avenue pedestrian bridge,” McDermott said in the release. “Governors Parkway remains a viable alternative for crossing the line in Hessville.”

The bridge was conceived to solve the problem of kids hopping over stopped trains while trying to get to school, as reported by investigative news outlet ProPublica in 2023. The railroad, Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern, said it would fund the project “100%” and encouraged the city to apply for a Railroad Crossing Elimination grant, McDermott said. The railroad then agreed to pay for the bridge at Grand Avenue’s design.

The city received $7.7 million in RCE money, the release said, of which it then would need to come up with a $2.6 million match that it assumed Norfolk Southern would cover. Norfolk Southern, however, has declined to do so.

“In 2023, I received a call from then CEO of Norfolk Southern, Alan Shaw, offering his total and complete financial support for a new pedestrian bridge,” McDermott said in the release. “Norfolk Southern is not willing to pay for the local match and that’s their prerogative. The City of Hammond, however, has different pressing priorities and does not believe spending nearly $3 million of city dollars on this project is in the best interest of the city.

“Not using city dollars for the pedestrian bridge was the only way to get this built. Without 100% funding, we cannot continue with this project.”

Opponents of the bridge were thrilled to hear that it’s now a nonstarter, in part because the first design renderings would’ve seen two houses taken out to accommodate it, said Terry Steagall, a Highland resident who works with Save Briar East Woods group.

“I know that the Federal Highway Administration still has 400 comments to go through about it, and that’s not supposed to be done until April now,” Steagall said Thursday. “The best solution would’ve been to have a bridge just over Grand Avenue, but the railroad not doing what it said it would just further goes to show that billionaire companies are not good neighbors.”

Ken Rosek, a Hessville resident who heads up Save Briar East, pointed out that another bridge, the Governors Parkway Bridge that McDermott says is still going to be built and will solve the railroad safety issue. His group, however, showed that Governors Parkway Bridge would destroy the woods and dune and swale in the area while not solving the public safety issue.

“The public safety issue was a ruse to get a bridge through the woods and have the feds and state pay for it. Then, eventually, they would develop it,” Rosek said. “That was in the INDOT Grant Application. Then all hell broke loose when the mayor finally admitted the bridge did not solve the public safety issue. We showed everyone that the Governors Bridge was too far away from Grand to solve the problem because it meant an up to two-mile walk for kids to get to the other side of the tracks.

“When they finally showed a rendering of the design, everyone in town could see it the mayor’s claims were false. That was when they came up with the pedestrian bridge and two bridges within half a mile of each other.”

Following that ProPublica article, representatives from Norfolk Southern, Indiana Harbor Belt, Hammond, the Federal Railroad Administration and the School City of Hammond met to discuss problems with the railroad’s protocol of stopping trains in Hessville, the city’s release said. Eventually, Norfolk Southern enacted a Bulletin keeping stopped trains out of Hessville unless there was an operational problem or mechanical defect that prevented trains from continuing into Chicago.

Additionally, if trains were to be stopped for more than 40 minutes, the railroad promised to de-couple trains at Grand to allow pedestrians and motor vehicles to move freely at Grand Avenue, the release said.

“For now. We have to hope that the railroad complies with the Bulletin, or we will once again engage the FRA to put pressure on the railroad to comply with these requirements in an effort to reduce stopped trains,” City of Hammond Engineer Dean Button said in the release.

Governors Parkway Bridge is scheduled to be bid by INDOT in July 2027 with a completion date of Fall 2028, according to the release.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/27/lack-of-railroad-grant-match-dooms-hammond-pedestrian-bridge/ 

Por STEPHEN GROVES

WASHINGTON (AP) — El expresidente estadounidense Bill Clinton les dijo el viernes a legisladores que “no hizo nada malo” en su relación con Jeffrey Epstein y que no vio indicios de los abusos sexuales que éste cometió, mientras enfrentaba un interrogatorio de horas sobre sus vínculos de hace más de dos décadas con el desacreditado financiero.

“No vi nada y no hice nada malo”, manifestó el exmandatario demócrata en una declaración inicial que compartió en redes sociales al principio de la sesión.

La declaración a puerta cerrada en Chappaqua, Nueva York, representa la primera vez que se obliga a un expresidente a testificar ante el Congreso. Ocurrió un día después de que la esposa de Clinton, la exsecretaria de Estado Hillary Clinton, compareciera ante legisladores para efectuar su propia declaración.

Bill Clinton tampoco ha sido acusado de haber cometido irregularidades. Aun así, los legisladores lidian con la cuestión sobre cuál es la imagen internacional de la rendición de cuentas en Estados Unidos, en un momento en que hombres de todo el mundo han sido destituidos de sus altos cargos por mantener sus vínculos con Epstein después de que éste se declarara culpable en 2008 de cargos estatales en Florida por solicitar prostitución a una menor de edad.

“Hombres —y mujeres, por cierto— de gran poder y gran riqueza de diversas partes del mundo han podido salirse con la suya con muchos crímenes atroces y no han rendido cuentas, y ni siquiera han tenido que responder preguntas”, declaró el representante republicano James Comer, presidente de la Comisión de Supervisión de la Cámara de Representantes, antes de que comenzara la declaración de Bill Clinton.

Hillary Clinton les dijo a los legisladores el jueves que no estaba enterada de cómo Epstein había abusado sexualmente de niñas menores de edad, y que no recordaba siquiera haberlo conocido. Pero Bill Clinton tendrá que responder preguntas sobre una relación bien documentada con Epstein y con su exnovia Ghislaine Maxwell, aunque haya sido a finales de la década de 1990 y principios de la de 2000.

En su declaración inicial, Bill Clinton señaló que probablemente a menudo le diría a la comisión que no recordaba los detalles específicos de hechos ocurridos hace más de 20 años. Pero también manifestó certeza de que no había presenciado señales de los abusos cometidos por Epstein.

Durante un receso tras dos horas de preguntas, legisladores demócratas dijeron que Bill Clinton había intentado responder cada pregunta y que no había invocado su derecho de la Quinta Enmienda a no autoincriminarse.

Aun así, los republicanos disfrutaban la oportunidad de examinar al expresidente demócrata en una sesión bajo juramento.

“Nadie está acusando a nadie de haber cometido irregularidades, pero creo que el pueblo estadounidense tiene muchas preguntas”, comentó Comer.

Los republicanos por fin tienen la oportunidad de interrogar a Bill Clinton

Los republicanos han querido interrogar a Bill Clinton sobre Epstein desde hace años, especialmente a medida que surgieron teorías conspirativas tras el suicidio de Epstein en 2019 en una celda de una cárcel de Nueva York mientras enfrentaba cargos de tráfico sexual.

Esas exhortaciones alcanzaron un punto álgido a finales del año pasado, cuando varias fotos del expresidente aparecieron en la primera publicación del Departamento de Justicia de archivos del caso sobre Epstein y Maxwell, una socialité británica que fue declarada culpable de tráfico sexual en diciembre de 2021, pero sostiene que es inocente. Bill Clinton fue fotografiado en un avión sentado junto a una mujer, cuyo rostro está censurado, con el brazo alrededor de ella. Otra foto mostraba a Clinton y Maxwell en una piscina con otra persona cuyo rostro estaba censurado.

Epstein también visitó la Casa Blanca varias veces durante la presidencia de Clinton, y más tarde ambos realizaron varios viajes internacionales juntos por la labor humanitaria que realizaban. Comer alegó que el comité ha reunido pruebas de que Epstein visitó la Casa Blanca 17 veces y que Bill Clinton voló en el avión de Epstein 27 veces.

Legisladores demócratas dijeron que también le plantearon preguntas difíciles a Bill Clinton sobre su relación con Epstein y Maxwell.

“Sólo estamos aquí porque él lo ocultó de todos tan bien durante tanto tiempo”, expresó Bill Clinton en su declaración inicial. “Y para cuando salió a la luz con su declaración de culpabilidad en 2008, yo ya hacía mucho que había dejado de relacionarme con él”.

Comer se comprometió a interrogar exhaustivamente al expresidente, y señaló que Hillary Clinton había delegado repetidamente las preguntas sobre Epstein a su esposo.

Bill Clinton arremetió contra Comer por convocar a su esposa ante la comisión, diciéndole que “incluirla simplemente no estuvo bien”.

La comisión trabaja para publicar rápidamente una transcripción y una grabación en video de la declaración de ella.

¿Se ha establecido un precedente?

Los demócratas, que han respaldado el impulso para que Bill Clinton proporcione respuestas, sostienen que esto establece un precedente que también debería aplicarse al presidente Donald Trump, un republicano que tuvo su propia relación con Epstein.

“Creo que el presidente Trump tiene que dar la cara, presentarse ante esta comisión y responder las preguntas, y dejar de decir que esta investigación es un engaño”, manifestó el representante Robert Garcia, el principal demócrata de la comisión.

Comer rechazó esa idea, y señaló que Trump ha respondido preguntas de la prensa sobre Epstein.

Trump manifestó pesar el viernes por el hecho de que Bill Clinton se viera obligado a testificar. “Me cae bien Bill Clinton, y no me gusta verlo obligado a declarar”, les dijo a los reporteros mientras salía de la Casa Blanca rumbo a Corpus Christi, Texas.

Los demócratas también piden la renuncia del secretario de Comercio de Trump, Howard Lutnick. Él fue vecino de Epstein durante mucho tiempo en la ciudad de Nueva York, pero dijo en un podcast que rompió lazos con Epstein tras un recorrido de la casa de Epstein en 2005 que fue perturbador para Lutnick y su esposa.

La divulgación de los archivos del caso mostró que Lutnick en realidad tuvo dos encuentros con Epstein años después. Asistió a un evento en 2011 en la casa de Epstein, y en 2012 su familia almorzó con Epstein en su isla privada.

“Debería ser retirado del cargo y, como mínimo, debería comparecer ante la comisión”, declaró Garcia sobre Lutnick.

La representante republicana Nancy Mace interrogó a Hillary Clinton sobre la relación de Lutnick con Epstein durante la declaración del jueves. El viernes por la mañana, Mace se sumó a las exhortaciones para que el secretario de Comercio comparezca ante la comisión.

“Creo que tendremos los votos para convocarlo”, manifestó el representante demócrata Ro Khanna.

___

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

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/27/bill-clinton-dice-que-no-hizo-nada-malo-con-epstein-ante-interrogatorio-sobre-su-relacin/ 

This week’s feather-quill-in-hand question comes from reader Karen Evers Stanley of Rensselaer, Indiana.

“I have in my cookbook collection your ‘Further From the Farm’ Vol. 3 cookbook from 2010 and on page 131 there is mention of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Rensselaer, owned by Harold and Harriet Evers — my parents,” Karen wrote.

“I love this book with the memories and recipes. I work as a volunteer for the Rensselaer Urban Forestry Council. It has become my passion to increase our urban canopy. Our group has planted more than 1,000 trees. I would like to do a cookbook which I would call ‘Tree to Table’ to educate the public on how trees contribute to our food supply and nutrition. We are a non-for-profit organization. I would be sincerely grateful if you could give me some tips on how to tackle this project. Thank you for your many columns and cookbooks throughout the decades.”

Thank you for your note, Karen. As I mentioned in previous columns and cookbooks, your parents’ restaurant is a fond family memory of my own youth.

My mom Peggy and her family are originally from Jasper County, around the Wheatfield and Rensselaer area. Growing up, we had often eaten at this Kentucky Fried Chicken in Rensselaer while visiting my mom’s mother, our Grandma Green, or visiting my older sister Pam while she attended St. Joseph’s Catholic College from 1984 to 1988. Karen’s parents’ KFC restaurant, which opened in 1971, has a particular distinction since it was the first of these restaurant franchises to open in this part of the Hoosier state. Drop by today and you’ll see it still features lots of memorabilia and photos of the Everses with Col. Sanders.

As for writing and publishing a cookbook, it’s become a peckish (in every definition of that term) project launch in 2026, even for established public personalities, restaurant owners and chefs. In a world where so many recipes are floating about, available with just a few computer keyboard strokes, it has become more challenging to get publishing houses to greenlight a proposed cookbook or any book project.

Col. Harland Sanders, much like popcorn king Orville Redenbacher, found celebrity status late in life, in his mid-70s, and was also tied to product-name branding. He was greeted with star honors in 1967 by Mickey Mouse, Pluto and Alice in Wonderland at Disneyland in California. (Photo courtesy of KFC Archive)

For my four published hardcover cookbooks in my series, they were released between the years of 2004 to 2019 and all with the same Washington state publisher, Pediment Press, working originally with owner Brad Fenison for the first three books and then his son Chris Fenison for the last book.

My association under the umbrella of my publishing flagship newspapers was certainly key to my books getting published, since the publisher knew of my established readership of two decades.

The fear factors today range from recent (now annual) wildfires, especially those in California and Canada, sending the cost of lumber and paper sky-high, coupled with a diminished attention span of younger generations, who are also the same consumers who lean toward free online content rather than an expectation of having to pay for bound content.

Karen, this doesn’t mean your idea to publish a cookbook can’t happen. In recent years, authors, including novice hopefuls, have successfully written and published books and cookbooks by using “an independent book publisher,” the latter of which often utilizes a paperback format.

Some grant writing for financial backing or underwriting might be necessary to assist you in your inaugural book endeavor, Karen, but never be discouraged from trying out your proposed venture.

It’s never too late, as evidenced during some of my travels in Tennessee in 2009, when my mother, Peggy, and I made a quick detour to tiny Corbin, Kentucky, to see the original eatery where Col. Sanders began selling and marketing his famed Kentucky Fried Chicken. When visiting the Sanders’ Cafe, which offered free tours while still existing as a fully operational KFC for dining, we walked through what was a recreation of the colonel’s office and his first kitchen, including all the original dishes, pots, cutting board and furnishings.

Remember that Sanders, who died at age 90 in 1980, was born and raised a Hoosier in Henryville, Indiana. His business fame and celebrity status came late in life, building his brand of a secret flavor recipe “of 11 herbs and spices” to make “finger lickin’ good chicken.”

In 1964, still an unknown identity to most of our country, with perhaps the exception of the southern states and part of the Midwest, Col. Sanders, at age 74, was one of the “everyday citizen” contestants of the CBS panel game show “I’ve Got A Secret” with host Garry Moore. Holding a check made out for $2 million in his hand, Col. Sanders announced he had just sold his chicken restaurant franchise chain of more than 1,000 restaurants to a larger corporation.

But that was not his “secret” that needed to be guessed correctly by the game show’s celebrity panel of Bill Cullen, Henry Morgan, Bess Myerson and East Chicago’s own plucky blonde claim-to-fame, Betsy Palmer.

Col. Sanders’ secret that he whispered in the ear of Moore and displayed for the audience to see: “I started my restaurant chain business at age 65 about 10 years ago by using my first social security check, which was for $105.”

Today, Col. Sanders’ name and brand identity are internationally known. His fried chicken and restaurants are especially popular in Japan, where there are more than 4,000 statues of the man in white in praise of his fowl recipe. He credited his use of a pressure cooker as one of the reasons his original fried chicken recipe was hailed as so delicious. He said he used his $105 initial “retirement check” for travel to take samples of his fried chicken around the south and Midwest to encourage gas station grills and small diners to purchase his recipe and franchise idea.

One of the most ironic interchanges of Col. Sanders and the celebrity panel during his 1964 appearance on “I’ve Got A Secret” is the panelists’ (especially Henry Morgan with backing from host Moore) universal agreement and insistence that Col. Sanders, clad in his traditional white suit and string tie, along with walking stick and his signature white whiskers and black, horn-rimmed glasses, had a perfect look to be a brand spokesman for commercials. Dry-witted Henry Morgan suggested, “You’d look great on a (liquor) bottle label because you could sell me anything.”

While Col. Sanders’ fried chicken recipe is still top secret, I do have his delicious recipe for “Lemon Sponge Pie” as printed in a tiny keepsake booklet that was a promotional giveaway at his restaurants a half century ago. It’s a refreshing dessert finale after enjoying his fried chicken with all the fixins’.

Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is a weekly radio show host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at PhilPotempa@gmail.com or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.

Colonel Sanders’ Lemon Sponge Pie

Makes 8 serving slices

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons butter

1 1/4 cups milk

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs, beaten separately

Pinch of salt

1/3 cup lemon juice

Grated rind of 2 lemons

Cream, butter and flour

Add other ingredients (beat)

DIRECTIONS

1. Have butter room temperature– cream butter and sugar thoroughly and fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

2. Pour into unbaked 9-inch crust and bake slowly in 350-degree oven for 15 minutes.

3. Reduce to 300 degrees until tests done, about 45 minutes.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/27/from-the-farm-col-sanders-and-cookbook-publishing-question-are-fun-fowl-topics/ 

About 15 Loyola Academy students were ejected from a Feb. 24 girls’ basketball playoff game after a referee heard someone in the Loyola spectator section shout a remark that Evanston Township High School officials later described as “racist and dehumanizing.”

The incident occurred in the fourth quarter of the IHSA sectional girls’ varsity basketball game between Loyola, a Catholic high school in Wilmette, and Evanston Township High School. The game was played at Maine South High School in Park Ridge, according to Maine Township High School District 207 spokesman Brett Clark.

Clark said referees heard the comment come from a section in which many Loyola student spectators were seated but could not identify the individual who made it. Officials then removed roughly 15 people seated in that section, and the Maine South athletic director escorted them from the building.

“When we are hosting either other schools or when we are hosting games with our students, we expect our crowds — as well as visiting crowds — to be respectful,” Clark said.

In a statement, Loyola said it was aware of the incident and identified the remark.

“During the game, a Loyola student shouted ‘Chewbacca’ while an Evanston player was shooting a free throw late in the game,” the statement read. “The remark was inappropriate and disrespectful. Language that is harmful or demeaning to the dignity of another person has no place in our community.

“Such behavior is contrary to everything Loyola Academy stands for. Rooted in the Catholic, Jesuit tradition, our mission calls us to form young women and men who lead with integrity, exercise sound judgment and demonstrate respect for others in every setting.”

Evanston Township High School also released a statement calling the comment “racist and dehumanizing” and thanking Illinois High School Association and Maine South officials for their response.

“The ETHS Athletic Department has been in contact with the Loyola Academy Athletic Department, and we are aligned in our commitment to addressing this incident, ensuring accountability and continued education, and creating an environment where all participants can compete with respect and belonging,” the statement said. “ETHS is a proudly diverse school community. We are unwavering in our commitment to protecting our students, confronting racism whenever it occurs, and upholding standards of inclusion and sportsmanship within the Central Suburban League, IHSA and beyond.”

On Feb. 26, Loyola President Rev. Gregory J. Ostdiek visited ETHS to apologize for the incident.

“The meeting was constructive and focused on our shared responsibility to uphold the dignity of all students, address harm and ensure accountability and education,” ETHS spokeswoman Reine Hanna wrote in an email.

The term “Chewbacca” refers to a fictional character from the Star Wars movies who was a “Wookiee” — a tall, ape-like humanoid creature with dark-colored fur. Although the remark itself is not an inherent slur, aiming it at or using it to describe a person can evoke dehumanizing racial stereotypes.

The comparison echoes a similar racial slur from three weeks ago, directed at former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. In a portion of a 62-second video, briefly posted and later removed from President Trump’s Truth Social Account, the Obamas are depicted as dancing apes.

The New York Times later reported that Trump said he only witnessed the beginning of the video and was not responsible for posting it. Trump later refused to apologize for the post.

“The depiction of Mr. and Mrs. Obama as apes perpetuates a racist trope, historically used by slave traders and segregationists to dehumanize Black people and justify lynchings,” the New York Times wrote.

Loyola went on to win the Feb. 24 game 41-24. The team returned to Maine South on Feb. 26 to face the Hawks and won 48-32. Clark, the Maine South spokesman, said that game was played without incident.

Claire Murphy contributed to this story.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/27/loyola-students-racist-slur-basketball-game/ 

Por COLLIN BINKLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) — El Pentágono prohibirá que miembros de las fuerzas armadas asistan a Columbia, Yale, Brown y otras universidades a partir del próximo año escolar, parte de una campaña para cortar lazos con instituciones a las que el secretario de Defensa, Pete Hegseth, calificó como “fábricas de resentimiento antiestadounidense”.

Hegseth anunció la medida el viernes en un video publicado en redes sociales, tres semanas después de que afirmó que las fuerzas armadas estaban cortando lazos con la Universidad de Harvard. Sin aportar pruebas, Hegseth sostuvo que estas instituciones se han convertido en “caldos de cultivo de adoctrinamiento tóxico” que socavan los valores militares.

“Durante décadas, la Ivy League y otras instituciones similares se han atiborrado de un fondo fiduciario de dólares de los contribuyentes estadounidenses, sólo para convertirse en fábricas de resentimiento antiestadounidense y desprecio por lo militar”, declaró. “Han reemplazado el estudio de la victoria y el realismo pragmático por la promoción de la ideología progresista y la debilidad”.

Hegseth señaló, sin entrar en detalles, que la prohibición se aplica a Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Yale, el Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts y “muchas otras”. Pidió la “cancelación por completo y de inmediato de toda asistencia del Departamento de Guerra”, aunque no estaba claro con qué amplitud se aplicaría.

El Pentágono no respondió de momento a un mensaje en busca de más detalles.

Al viernes, Columbia, Brown, el MIT y Harvard seguían figurando como instituciones elegibles en una base de datos del Pentágono para su programa de Asistencia de Matrícula, el cual cubre el costo total de la matrícula para el personal en servicio activo. Harvard tuvo 39 participantes en 2023, según los datos más recientes, mientras que Columbia tuvo nueve y el MIT tuvo dos.

La medida anterior contra Harvard tiene como objetivo impedir que miembros de las fuerzas armadas asistan a educación militar profesional a nivel posgrado, becas y programas de certificación, según un comunicado difundido en su momento. Aún hay dudas sobre si se aplica a programas como el del Cuerpo de Entrenamiento de Oficiales de Reserva de Harvard.

Harvard ha ofrecido una serie de programas de desarrollo profesional y un pequeño número de programas de grado adaptados al Pentágono. El año pasado, creó una nueva maestría en administración pública para miembros de las fuerzas armadas en servicio activo y veteranos. Hegseth obtuvo una maestría en Harvard, pero devolvió simbólicamente su título en un segmento de Fox News en 2022.

Las fuerzas armadas ofrecen a sus oficiales diversas oportunidades para obtener educación de posgrado, tanto en colegios de guerra administrados por el ejército como en instituciones civiles como Harvard.

Campus de la Ivy League han sido un blanco predilecto del presidente Donald Trump, quien los acusa de estar invadidos por ideología progresista (“woke”). Su gobierno ha recortado miles de millones de dólares en financiamiento para investigación y ha intentado imponer otras sanciones contra las universidades, a menudo como parte de investigaciones relacionadas con acusaciones de que las autoridades escolares toleraron el antisemitismo en el campus.

El anuncio de Hegseth es una reprimenda a las universidades que, en los últimos meses, parecían haber alcanzado una tregua con el gobierno federal. Columbia y Brown fueron algunas de las primeras universidades en firmar acuerdos con la Casa Blanca, accediendo a una serie de exigencias para que se les restablecieran fondos federales.

Harvard no cede a esas exigencias y alega en demandas que el gobierno está tomando represalias ilegales contra la universidad por rechazar sus posturas ideológicas. Trump dijo el año pasado que estaba a días de alcanzar un acuerdo con Harvard, pero las negociaciones parecen haber colapsado. El mandatario señaló hace unas semanas que Harvard debe pagar 1.000 millones de dólares al gobierno como parte de cualquier acuerdo, el doble de lo que había exigido anteriormente.

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La cobertura educativa de The Associated Press recibe apoyo financiero de múltiples fundaciones privadas. La AP es la única responsable de todo el contenido. Consulte las normas de AP para trabajar con filantropías, una lista de patrocinadores y las áreas de cobertura financiadas en AP.org.

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

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/27/pentgono-cortar-lazos-con-columbia-yale-y-otras-universidades-a-las-que-acusa-de-progresistas/ 

WOLVERHAMPTON, Inglaterra (AP) — João Gomes anotó su primer gol de la temporada en la Liga Premier y Rodrigo Gomes añadió un segundo en el tiempo de descuento para darle al colista Wolverhampton una sorprendente victoria 2-0 sobre el Aston Villa, que venía en alza, el viernes.

Fue apenas el segundo triunfo en la liga para un club que sigue a seis puntos de distancia en el fondo de la tabla y que casi con seguridad descenderá.

El resultado fue un duro golpe para las aspiraciones del Villa de clasificarse a la Liga de Campeones y una bofetada para el entrenador Unai Emery, que buscaba registrar su victoria número 100 al mando del club de Birmingham.

Ambos equipos tuvieron dificultades en una deslucida primera mitad, pero los Wolves tomaron la iniciativa a los 16 minutos del segundo tiempo, cuando Gomes les dio una inesperada ventaja.

Adam Armstrong amortiguó con habilidad un pase largo, dejándolo justo en la trayectoria de Gomes que llegaba en carrera, y su remate, ejecutado de manera soberbia, no le dio ninguna opción a Emiliano Martínez.

El Villa se fue al ataque a medida que avanzaba el partido y quedó expuesto en el tiempo de descuento, cuando los Wolves duplicaron su ventaja en un contragolpe, con Rodrigo Gomes como autor del daño.

El Villa ha ganado solo uno de sus últimos cinco partidos de liga. El resultado lo deja a 10 puntos del líder Arsenal y a cinco del segundo, Manchester City, tras haber disputado un partido más que ambos.

Sus próximos dos encuentros serán contra los clubes que están inmediatamente por debajo de él en la tabla: Chelsea y Manchester United.

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

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/27/el-colista-wolverhampton-sorprende-2-0-al-aston-villa-en-molineux/ 

Far-right influencer Nick Fuentes has written an apology letter to the woman he was accused of pepper-spraying more than a year ago as she attempted to ring the doorbell of his west suburban home. 

Fuentes appeared virtually on Zoom at a court hearing, held at the Maywood Courthouse Friday, where Cook County Judge Celestia Mays allowed Marla Rose to read the apology letter to herself but not out loud. She also couldn’t keep a copy.

Rose told the Tribune later that it was about three or four short paragraphs and, to her, seemed not heartfelt and “pretty boilerplate.” The apology said something to the effect of “I apologize for overreacting to your uninvited visit,” she said. 

“I’m not expecting a marching band or confetti to fall out of the sky or anything like that,” Rose said. “But an apology is something that’s not withdrawn from you … The fact that they put it out and clawed it back, I don’t believe that they’re interested in truly showing remorse.”  

Fuentes’ attorney, Robert Rascia, declined to go into the specifics of the apology letter after the hearing. He said, however, that it’s a “simple misdemeanor battery case that this woman has blown totally out of proportion because Mr. Fuentes is a person of some notoriety.” 

“I don’t think he did anything other people would not have done when you repeatedly attack someone at their home,” he said. 

In response, Rose said Fuentes has been “coddled” by the criminal justice system. She said Fuentes was the one who did something illegal and “all I’m seeking is justice.” 

Fuentes had agreed to a deferred prosecution deal for the battery misdemeanor charge, which means he’ll have no criminal conviction if he follows the conditions. He’s required to apologize to Rose, pay about $635 in restitution, take an anger management course and complete 75 hours of community service. 

Rose was given a money order for the restitution Friday. Rascia said at the hearing that Fuentes is working on completing the community service. 

Friday’s hearing follows more than a year of back-and-forth in the courts. Rose approached Fuentes’ Berwyn home in November 2024 days after his address leaked widely online. Fuentes, an incendiary online creator known for his racist and antisemitic comments, posted “Your body, My choice. Forever” on X following Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. 

In a still from video, far-right streamer Nick Fuentes appears to pepper-spray Marla Rose out his door in Berwyn. (Marla Rose)

Rose, a self-described progressive, told the Tribune she wanted to see if the rumors of prank deliveries at Fuentes’ home were true. She alleged he opened the door before she could ring the bell, pepper-sprayed her and screamed an expletive. He then grabbed her phone and took it into the house, she said. 

Fuentes was charged with battery in December. He and Rose were ordered not to have contact with each other. 

Just a couple of weeks later, Berwyn cops shot and killed a man near Fuentes’ home who was wanted for triple homicide in central Illinois. John Lyons, 24, of Westchester, drove nearly 150 miles to Fuentes’ house, carrying what appeared to be a pistol and crossbow, after authorities believe he killed his college roommate and the roommate’s mom and sister. 

Why Lyons drove to Berwyn after the time of the shooting, or why he allegedly went to Fuentes’ residence, wasn’t detailed in police records.

“I will now have to uproot my life and relocate,” Fuentes said at the time. “While I can handle whatever comes to my front door, it is irresponsible to expect my neighbors with young families to share that burden.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/27/nick-fuentes-apologizes/