Category: News
Shiffrin gana el eslalon en los Olímpicos; Klaebo logra 10º oro récord y Canadá vence en prórroga
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italia (AP) — La redención, por fin, para Mikaela Shiffrin en los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno.
La superestrella estadounidense realizó dos bajadas dominantes para ganar el eslalon femenino el miércoles por un enorme margen de 1,50 segundos, poniendo fin a una racha de ocho pruebas olímpicas consecutivas sin medalla para quien es, posiblemente, la mejor esquiadora alpina de todos los tiempos.
Fue el mayor margen de victoria en cualquier prueba olímpica de esquí alpino desde 1998 y el tercero más amplio en el eslalon femenino, la disciplina que ganó con apenas 18 años, con rostro de debutante, en Sochi en 2014.
Tras sumar oro y plata a su colección en Pyeongchang en 2018, Shiffrin se fue 0 de 6 en Beijing en 2022 y no logró medalla ni en la combinada por equipos ni en el eslalon gigante en Cortina.
Shiffrin se convirtió en la primera esquiadora estadounidense en ganar tres oros alpinos.
Canadá necesita prórroga para vencer a Chequia
Canadá evitó lo que habría sido una sorprendente eliminación en cuartos de final en los Juegos Olímpicos al remontar para vencer 4-3 a Chequia en la prórroga. Nick Suzuki empató con un desvío cuando faltaban 3:27, y Mitch Marner anotó en el tiempo extra.
Canadá se vio abajo en el marcador cuando restaban 7:42, después de que Ondrej Palat anotara en un contraataque con superioridad numérica tras un pase de Martin Necas. El gol desató una celebración desenfrenada en el banquillo checo y entre los aficionados, pero duró poco.
Que Canadá siquiera siga en el torneo es motivo de gran preocupación tras perder a Sidney Crosby por lesión a los cinco minutos del segundo periodo. La pierna derecha de Crosby pareció ceder mientras se preparaba para el contacto del recio defensor checo Radko Gudas.
Klaebo prolonga su racha dorada
La racha dorada de Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo continuó, ya que la estrella noruega del esquí de fondo aseguró su quinto oro en estos Juegos —y un récord de 10 en total— al ganar el sprint por equipos masculino.
Klaebo contuvo el desafío de Estados Unidos para mejorar su propio récord, compitiendo junto a Einar Hedegart para imponerse en 18 minutos, 28,9 segundos.
Los estadounidenses Ben Ogden y Gus Schumacher quedaron a 1,4 segundos para la plata, mientras que los italianos Elia Barp y Federico Pellegrino complacieron al público local al llevarse el bronce.
Suecia ganó el oro en el sprint por equipos femenino.
Oro en slopestyle para el chino Su Yiming
Su Yiming, de China, ganó la medalla de oro en slopestyle de snowboard masculino.
Su sumó la cuarta medalla de su carrera y la segunda de estos Juegos en su cumpleaños número 22.
Taiga Hasegawa, de Japón, se llevó la plata y el estadounidense Jake Canter se quedó con el bronce.
La primera de las tres bajadas de Su, con la que obtuvo 82,41 puntos, resultó suficiente después de que ningún rival pudiera superar esa puntuación.
Fue el primer oro de China en los Juegos de Milán-Cortina.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Las memorias de Gisèle Pelicot se publican en 22 idiomas y dan esperanza a sobrevivientes
Por SYLVIE CORBET
PARÍS (AP) — Las memorias de Gisèle Pelicot se publicaron esta semana en 22 idiomas en todo el mundo. Comparten detalles del horror que vivió y envían un poderoso mensaje de esperanza y apoyo a las víctimas de abuso sexual.
Pelicot manifestó al canal nacional francés France 5 la semana pasada, antes de la publicación de su libro, “Un hymne à la vie” (“Un himno a la vida. Mi historia”): “Quería que mi historia ayudara a otras personas”.
Pelicot relató su historia de supervivencia en el libro y en su primera serie de entrevistas desde el histórico juicio de 2024 que la convirtió en un ícono mundial contra la violencia sexual y envió a prisión a su esposo, quien la drogaba para que otros hombres pudieran agredirla.
“Hoy estoy mejor, y este libro me permitió hacer una reflexión personal, hacer balance de mi vida”, comentó. “Tuve que intentar reconstruirme sobre este campo de ruinas. Hoy soy una mujer que se mantiene firme”.
Pelicot señaló que su libro busca transmitir “un mensaje de esperanza a todas las mujeres que están atravesando un periodo muy complicado en sus vidas”.
El caso, estremecedor —y la decisión de Pelicot de renunciar al anonimato y hablar públicamente—, provocó un ajuste de cuentas sobre la cultura de la violación en Francia y más allá, mientras su dignidad y fortaleza impresionaban a muchas personas en todo el mundo.
La superestrella de la gimnasia y campeona olímpica Simone Biles, también sobreviviente de abuso sexual, rindió homenaje a Pelicot en un mensaje difundido por la BBC.
“Gisèle le ha demostrado al mundo que no son las víctimas de abuso sexual quienes deben sentir vergüenza: son los agresores”, señaló Biles. “Al renunciar a su anonimato y negarse a sentir vergüenza, Gisèle abre el camino para que otras víctimas se animen a hablar”.
En la librería Des Femmes (Mujeres) de París, varias lectoras estaban ansiosas por comprar el libro de Pelicot el día de su publicación.
“Quiero leerlo”, dijo Cécile Megueulle, quien admira a Pelicot. “Pero me digo que leerlo será… en realidad un poco aterrador. El hecho de no estar en su lugar, pero poder ver el otro lado del espejo, cómo lo vivió y cómo logró, no sé si se puede decir así, salir adelante”.
Selma Memic, una abogada de Ginebra, Suiza, expresó: “El caso era conocido como el ‘caso Pelicot’… y ahora vamos a oír hablar de ‘Gisèle’. Así que quizá eso es lo que busco. ¿Quién es Gisèle? ¿Qué siente? ¿Cómo mira hacia atrás (el juicio)?”.
En diciembre de 2024, el exesposo de Pelicot, Dominique Pelicot, y otros 50 hombres fueron declarados culpables de agredirla sexualmente entre 2011 y 2020 mientras ella estaba bajo sumisión química. Él fue condenado a 20 años de prisión, mientras que los demás acusados recibieron penas de entre tres y 15 años.
Posteriormente, un tribunal de apelaciones aumentó la condena impuesta a Husamettin Dogan, un obrero de la construcción que fue el único acusado que impugnó su condena.
Dominique Pelicot, con quien Gisèle Pelicot estuvo casada durante casi 50 años, reconoció que durante años mezcló sedantes en su comida y bebida para poder violarla e invitar a otros hombres a hacer lo mismo.
El juicio, sin precedentes, expuso cómo la pornografía en internet, las salas de chat y nociones distorsionadas del consentimiento pueden alimentar la violencia sexual.
Francia aprobó una ley en octubre pasado que define la violación y otras agresiones sexuales como cualquier acto sexual sin consentimiento a raíz del caso Pelicot, sumándose a muchos otros países europeos que tienen leyes similares basadas en el consentimiento, entre ellos la vecina Alemania, Bélgica y España. Hasta entonces, la violación en la legislación francesa se definía como penetración o sexo oral mediante “violencia, coacción, amenaza o sorpresa”.
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Los periodistas de AP Catherine Gaschka y Oleg Cetinic contribuyeron a esta nota.
Aplazan medio año la apertura del Etihad Park del New York City FC hasta el verano de 2027
NUEVA YORK (AP) — La inauguración del Etihad Park del New York City FC se ha pospuesto medio semestre, hasta el inicio del calendario 2027-28 de la MLS.
Cuando el equipo inició las obras en diciembre de 2024 para el recinto de 25.000 asientos, adyacente al estadio de béisbol Citi Field de los Mets de Nueva York, NYCFC indicó que el estadio abriría para la temporada 2027. Ahora se prevé que la apertura sea en el verano de 2027, cuando la MLS cambie su calendario a uno de verano a primavera para alinearse con la mayoría de las ligas europeas.
En la temporada de transición abreviada de la liga en 2027, cada equipo de la MLS disputará un calendario de temporada regular de 14 partidos, seguido de los playoffs. NYCFC seguirá jugando la mayoría de sus partidos como local esa temporada en el Yankee Stadium y el Citi Field.
Desde que debutó en 2015, NYCFC ha disputado sus partidos como local principalmente en esos recintos, además de algunos en la sede del rival New York Red Bulls en Harrison, Nueva Jersey, y en el Rentschler Field en East Hartford, Connecticut.
El nuevo estadio será una de las sedes de los partidos del fútbol de los Juegos Olímpicos de Los Ángeles 2028.
El propietario mayoritario del equipo de la MLS es City Football Group, la empresa matriz del Manchester City de Inglaterra. El estadio del equipo de la Liga Premier pasó a llamarse Etihad Stadium en julio de 2011.
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Deportes: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Chicago weather: Officials warn of very dry and windy conditions after last night’s ‘dusty rain’
Weather officials warned of very dry and windy conditions Wednesday afternoon hours after “dusty rain” from overnight showers left mud splatters on cars parked outside across the Chicago region.
Officials Wednesday issued a red flag warning, which means conditions will be very dry and windy as the afternoon moves forward, making the area ripe for brush fire spread. The combination of warm, dry and windy will cause fine fuels to dry up by early afternoon, National Weather Service officials said.
The warning includes Cook, DuPage, Will, Kankakee and Lake counties until 8 p.m.
Southwest winds are expected to blow between 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph, official said. With humidity as low as 20 percent, any fire that develops will catch and spread quickly so outdoor burning is not recommended.
Earlier, showers that began Tuesday night left .05 to .15 inch of rain across northeastern Illinois. The raindrops were embedded with dust from extensive blowing dust and wildfire smoke and ash from strong winds and extreme fire conditions in central and southern plains, weather officials said.
“(T)he result being ‘dusty rain’ and needing a trip to the car wash,” the National Weather Service Chicago said on X.
Current conditions at O’Hare International Airport are a few clouds and breezy at 61 degrees. Farther south at Midway Airport, conditions are fair at 62 degrees. While high temperatures are expected to reach the low 60s, overnight temperatures are expected in the low 40s.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/18/red-flag-warning-2/
Tinley Park Board to seek a court order against residents for alleged unsafe property
The Tinley Park Village Board voted Tuesday to take legal action against several residents who officials allege are violating several codes, living with 19 dogs, a dead turtle, feces and rodents in an unsafe condition.
The board asked attorneys to seek a court order authorizing the repair of the alleged “dangerous” building on the east side of the village.
Michael Coleman, community development director, said the village’s intention is not for the building to be demolished but repaired and cleaned for the elderly residents who live there and have “debilitating” health concerns.
He said the residents’ daughter and grandson live in the house and that he has tried to work with them. But he said they have not remediated two code violations, even though he gave them 60 days to do so, have not shown up in court and have had physical confrontations with code enforcement officers.
Coleman said when he visited the property, fleas were flying around his head even as he stood six feet from the door.
“You’re breathing that in, it’s all very, it’s bad,” he said. “I felt bad for them because it’s like you got, they’re grandparents, they can’t move around.”
Coleman said there is no structural problem with the home, but the issues is the condition of its floors, its walls and the animals.
He said body camera footage from officers responding to a non-emergency call in the home revealed the depth of the issues inside the property. He said neither he, nor any code enforcement officers, can enter the home under local law.
One code violation prohibits residents from having more than three animals and two additional animals up to three months of age in one household.
While he said two animals were retrieved out of the house with the help of a Cook County animal control officer along with the Public Works Department and code enforcement inspectors, the rest of the dogs remain.
He said the residents recently had a new litter of puppies, which will soon grow out of that three-month exception.
Coleman also said the 25-foot accessibility ramp at the house is over the right of way and blocks a public works water main. He said his staff is being more lenient on this issue, as its the only way for the grandmother to access the house.
He said he asked the residents to reconfigure the ramp when the weather gets better and place it on their property, instead of the right of way.
Olivia DeVivo, one of the neighbors living next to the property under fire from the village, said Wednesday the residents have threatened, harassed and sworn at her and her husband multiple times.
She said the residents backed into the side of her house, which she said the residents fixed after a few months.
She also said the residents’ dogs often leave their property and charge her on her own property while she is on the front porch or even taking out the recycling.
“It’s scary, it’s scary to even think about taking my garbage out when its dark out because I don’t know if they’re outside,” she said.
As a first time homeowner, she said it’s is frustrating to pay $9,000 in property taxes every year and for these alleged issues to continue for so long, ever since they moved onto the property in July 2023.
She said she would like village officials to penalize the residents and hold them accountable, even evict them if necessary. She said it is not fair if the residents are continuously given fines that they do not pay.
Coleman said village officials recently issued several fines against the residents, but he said if the property is remediated, the fines will be removed.
“I have no intentions of hurting them this way, I just want to get the house cleaned for the elderly residents living in there,” he said.
Coleman said the residents agreed to remediate the property when the issues first came up, but that was months ago, he said, and the property has not been improved.
Trustee Ken Shaw said he would like village officials to take the issue as far as needed to make sure the property is fully remediated. He also requested clarity on what the village is legally authorized to do about the situation.
“While it’s important for us to respect the rights of the residents here in town, I want to make sure we’re not missing something because we’re tiptoeing,” he said.
Trustee Michael Mueller said he was concerned about keeping the property maintained, even if it is remediated.
“Is this throwing good money at a bad situation,” he said. “I’m all for cleaning it up and helping out, but I don’t know what other recourses we have, but we should be looking at something else because it’s not going to stay clean.”
Shaw also said that dealing with the situation is not only about the safety of residents in the situation, but also to help establish protocols for the village to better respond to similar situations.
“Fortunately we’re not having these every day of the week, but I fear that they may increase,” he said.
awright@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/18/tinley-park-court-action-against-residents/
Senadores de EEUU visitan puerto clave de Ucrania y piden nuevas sanciones contra Rusia
Por STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — Una delegación de senadores de Estados Unidos regresaba el miércoles de un viaje a Ucrania, con la esperanza de impulsar acciones en el Congreso para una serie de sanciones destinadas a asfixiar económicamente a Moscú y presionar al presidente Vladímir Putin para que haga concesiones clave en las conversaciones de paz.
Fue la primera vez que senadores estadounidenses visitaban Odesa, la tercera ciudad más poblada de Ucrania y un puerto del mar Negro que es crucial para la economía y que ha sido un objetivo particular de Rusia desde que comenzó la guerra hace casi cuatro años. Los senadores demócratas Jeanne Shaheen, Chris Coons, Richard Blumenthal y Sheldon Whitehouse realizaron el viaje. El senador republicano Thom Tillis había planeado sumarse, pero no pudo hacerlo por motivos personales.
“Una de las cosas que escuchamos en cada lugar donde nos detuvimos hoy fue que el pueblo de Ucrania quiere un acuerdo de paz, pero quiere un acuerdo de paz que preserve su soberanía, que reconozca la importancia de la integridad de Ucrania”, dijo Shaheen en una llamada telefónica con periodistas.
La visita y el impulso para que el Congreso aborde sanciones contra Rusia llegan en un momento crucial del conflicto. Delegaciones de ambas partes también se reunían en Suiza durante dos días de conversaciones mediadas por Estados Unidos, pero ninguna de las partes parecía lista para ceder en asuntos clave, como el territorio y las futuras garantías de seguridad. Los senadores esperaban que las sanciones pudieran presionar a Putin para llegar a un acuerdo de paz, ya que Estados Unidos ha fijado como plazo el mes de junio.
“Literalmente, nadie cree que Rusia actúe de buena fe en las negociaciones con nuestro gobierno y con los ucranianos. Y por eso la presión se vuelve clave”, afirmó Whitehouse.
Aun así, la legislación para imponer duras sanciones a Rusia ha estado paralizada en el Congreso durante meses.
Los senadores han propuesto diferentes medidas de sanciones, como un amplio proyecto de ley que permitiría que el gobierno de Trump imponga aranceles y sanciones secundarias a los países que compren petróleo, gas, uranio y otras exportaciones de Moscú, que son cruciales para financiar al ejército ruso. El Comité de Relaciones Exteriores del Senado también ha impulsado una serie de proyectos de ley más específicos que sancionarían los esfuerzos de China por apoyar al ejército ruso, permitirían incautar activos rusos congelados y perseguirían lo que se conoce como la “flota en la sombra” de petroleros que Moscú utiliza para eludir las sanciones vigentes.
El senador republicano Lindsey Graham, quien ha copatrocinado la amplia legislación de sanciones y aranceles del Senado, también difundió un comunicado durante la Conferencia de Seguridad de Múnich este fin de semana en el que señaló que el líder de la mayoría del Senado, John Thune, se había comprometido a poner a consideración el proyecto de ley de sanciones una vez que cuente claramente con los 60 votos necesarios para avanzar en el Senado.
“Esta legislación cambiará las reglas del juego”, sostuvo Graham. “El presidente Trump la ha respaldado. Es hora de votar”.
Blumenthal, quien copatrocinó ese proyecto de ley junto con Graham, también indicó que existe apoyo bipartidista para la legislación, a la que calificó como un “mazazo muy duro de sanciones y aranceles”, pero también observó que “necesitamos resolver algunos de los detalles que aún quedan”. Los demócratas, y un puñado de republicanos, se han opuesto a la campaña de Trump para imponer aranceles en todo el mundo con el objetivo de alcanzar acuerdos comerciales e impulsar la fabricación en Estados Unidos.
En la Cámara de Representantes, un grupo bipartidista de legisladores, encabezado por el representante republicano Brian Fitzpatrick, también propuso sanciones que apuntarían a la industria de defensa de Rusia, su sistema financiero y sus exportaciones de petróleo, que han ayudado a sostener el esfuerzo bélico.
En un proyecto de ley separado, encabezado por el principal demócrata en el Comité de Asuntos Exteriores de la Cámara de Representantes, el representante Gregory Meeks, se reforzaría el apoyo militar de Estados Unidos a Ucrania en 8.000 millones de dólares. Actualmente, los demócratas necesitan a un republicano más para respaldar un esfuerzo destinado a forzar una votación sobre ese proyecto de ley.
Una vez que regresen a Estados Unidos, los senadores detallarán la manera en que empresas de Estados Unidos con sede en Ucrania han sido atacadas por Rusia. Los demócratas también esperan aumentar la presión sobre Trump para que envíe más armas de Estados Unidos a Ucrania. “Putin entiende las armas, no las palabras”, afirmó Blumenthal.
Aun así, los legisladores pronto volverán a un Washington donde el gobierno de Trump se muestra ambivalente respecto de sus compromisos a largo plazo para garantizar la paz en Ucrania, así como en Europa. Por ahora, al menos, se sintieron alentados por las conversaciones con sus homólogos europeos y colegas republicanos.
“Nosotros y los senadores republicanos que estuvieron con nosotros en Múnich hablamos con una sola voz sobre nuestra determinación de seguir apoyando a Ucrania”, señaló Coons.
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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.
Three Key Constraints That Could Derail The Data Center Buildout Story
Three Key Constraints That Could Derail The Data Center Buildout Story
The data center investment macro story centers on hyperscalers such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon Web Services, whose massive cloud computing services are becoming the backbone for AI workloads, including ChatGPT and others. However, as we’ve previously noted, the data center buildout has run into supply-chain snarls, including memory chip shortages, power-grid constraints, and even a shortage of turbine blades for natural-gas generators.
The data center boom powering the AI revolution is certaintly impressive to watch unfold, but it won’t be a straight line from here as the US attempts to hold the number one spot in the global AI race. Challenges are mounting, and the latest coverage on this comes from a conversation Goldman analyst Brian Singer had with Mark Monroe, a former principal engineer in Microsoft’s Datacenter Advanced Development Group, who warned that data center buildouts face three major headwinds.
Here’s a recap of the conversation between Singer and Monroe, which focused on three key constraints: power, water, and labor.
1. Energy: Power remains the most critical near-term constraint for data center deployment, while flexible load management and Behind-the-Meter solutions could help close the power gap. While cloud and AI inference workloads generally require proximity to end-users — creating power shortages in these congested markets — AI training workloads are location-agnostic and migrating to remote areas with available power. Grid conditioning or flexible load management for data centers during peak electricity consumption could unlock significant capacity. A Duke University study suggested that 76 GW of new load (10% of US aggregate peak demand) could be integrated if data centers accepted average annual load curtailment of 0.25% (99.75% up time) and 98 GW added for curtailment of 0.5% (99.5% up time). While this could potentially unlock ~100 GW of capacity, Mr. Monroe notes that adoption: (a) is hindered by the industry’s inherent risk aversion of cycling IT equipment off and on; and (b) may require stronger financial or regulatory incentives.
Behind-the-Meter power is a costly and likely temporary bridge to initial grid gaps. While a single digit percentage of data centers in the pipeline have BTM requests, Mr. Monroe highlighted this can still be significant for power demand given these are typically larger data centers. Primarily deploying natural gas simple cycle generators, onsite power solutions cost 5x-20x more than grid power. However, Mr. Monroe highlighted that deploying BTM solutions to push forward data center startups can be an economically viable choice given the immense profitability of large scale AI data centers. According to Mr. Monroe, data centers deploying BTM power ultimately aim to connect to the grid eventually over three years, while either relocating to other data centers, integrating and selling power back into the grid, or retiring BTM assets.
2. Water: Community, regulatory and chip advancement pressures likely to shift the industry towards more water-efficient cooling technologies coming at significant energy costs. The industry is seeing a shift from the traditional water-intensive evaporative approaches towards more waterless designs, especially among hyperscalers, as community, regulatory and technological pressure mounts. According to Mr. Monroe, the shift towards closed-loop and waterless cooling systems is likely to raise Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) from best-in-class levels of 1.08 to 1.35-1.40, representing a 35%-40% energy overhead versus 8% in evaporative systems. Although innovations such as direct-to-chip liquid cooling and higher-temperature water cooling could enable more efficient heat transfer in more geographic locations, co-location data centers are likely to remain committed to chiller-based designs given their diverse customer base and need to commit to cooling architecture early in construction. Regardless of any diminishing share of overall data center cooling solutions, according to Mr. Monroe the demand for chillers is expected to continue to see a material increase over the next decade, driven by overall growth in data center capacity.
3. Labor: Skilled labor shortage could become the next gating factor for data center deployment. Data centers are differentiated from generic industrial buildings by the specialized electrical and mechanical systems required, making electricians and pipefitters critical to the continued data center build out. According to Mr. Monroe, the skilled labor shortage represents the next major constraint after power. Industry organizations, in collaboration with technical universities and colleges, are actively developing training programs to address this gap, while attempting to reach students as early as middle school to make skilled trades more attractive career paths. We estimate the US will require >500,000 net new workers across manufacturing, construction, ops & maintenance, and transmission and distribution to deploy all the power to meet demand by 2030.
Related coverage:
Goldman Warns DRAM Shortage Not The Only Bottleneck In AI Data Center Buildouts
Goldman: Local Resistance Against Data Centers “Are Not Slowing Development”
Behind The $500 Billion Data Center Boom: Here’s Who Makes All The Key Components
Looking ahead, the key question is whether the U.S. can sustain a largely uninterrupted surge in data center capex, given how much these buildouts are now embedded in both the macro narrative and tech valuations. The investment thesis assumes that continued buildout translates into measurable productivity gains and, in turn, a multi-year uplift in growth. Overall, the execution risk boils down to critical inputs and infrastructure, including core components, grid access, and related supply chain bottlenecks, which could slow buildouts and stymie overly optimistic expectations.
To bypass these ground-based constraints, that’s why the narrative of data centers in space has emerged.
Professional subscribers can see the full note on our new Marketdesk.ai portal.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/18/2026 – 15:25
https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/three-key-constraints-could-derail-data-center-buildout-story
Afternoon Briefing: Illinois judge rules boneless wings are still wings
Good afternoon, Chicago.
In an opinion heavy on chicken puns, a district court judge ruled that the boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings could indeed be called wings. The order, in a lawsuit filed by a Chicago man in 2023, was dripping with skepticism at the claims that the chain was misleading consumers about its boneless wings.
Judge John J. Tharp Jr., of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, dismissed the claim by Aimen Halim, saying it “has no meat on its bones.”
Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
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Gov. JB Pritzker arrives for his annual State of the State and budget address on Feb. 18, 2026, at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
In State of the State address, Gov. JB Pritzker pitches affordability and Illinois resilience to Trump
With an eye toward this election year and possibly the next, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker used his State of the State and budget address to outline a message of resistance to President Donald Trump and the need to push affordability against the economic moves of his White House. Read more here.
More top news stories:
Trump administration’s latest funding threat: $128 million withheld in highway dollars
Lewis University moves in-person classes online at Oak Brook campus due to nearby ICE office
Cook County board president candidates tussle over budgets, taxes, Trump
Cars line up at a recently opened Dutch Bros Coffee in Upland, California, on April 29, 2024. A drive-thru Dutch Bros Coffee may be coming to Oswego. (John Plessel/The Sun Newspaper, SCNG)
Oswego panel in favor of project featuring drive-thru Dutch Bros Coffee
The Oswego Planning and Zoning Commission recently recommended approval of a request to annex and rezone property for a proposed development near the intersection of Route 34 and Ogden Falls Boulevard that would include a Dutch Bros drive-thru coffee shop. Read more here.
More top business stories:
Lilly Pulitzer store now open in Naperville with Free People and Ruth’s Chris Steak House coming soon
General Mills lowers sales, profit outlook as stressed consumers spend less
Bears passing game coordinator Press Taylor talks during a media availability event at Halas Hall on April 17, 2025, in Lake Forest. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)
Who is Press Taylor? Meet the Chicago Bears’ new offensive coordinator.
Press Taylor spent the 2025 season as the team’s passing game coordinator. He will assume the role left vacant after former offensive coordinator Declan Doyle left to take the same job with the Baltimore Ravens. Read more here.
More top sports stories:
Chicago Bears Q&A: Could Cole Kmet be on the trading block? Is Bradley Chubb worth a serious look?
Thomas Hammock leaving Northern Illinois after 7 seasons for assistant job with Seattle Seahawks
Hana Berger Moran shows LeRoy “Pete” Petersohn of Aurora some of the scars from her three weeks inside Mauthausen concentration camp when the two were reunited in 2005 during the 60th anniversary of the death camp’s liberation. Petersohn died in 2010. His story of being one of the first to liberate the concentration camp was told on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, on the TV show “60 Minutes” on CBS. (Brian Petersohn)
Column: World War II death camp liberator from Aurora featured on ’60 Minutes’
LeRoy “Pete” Petersohn carried a lifetime of trauma from his experiences in World War II. As a medic in Gen. Patton’s Third Army, he saw horror on the battlefield and was himself injured in the Battle of the Bulge when his Jeep was hit by German artillery. Read more here.
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Gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin poses with a flag after the medal ceremony following the women’s slalom at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre on Feb. 18, 2026, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. (Ezra Shaw/Getty)
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Family of Rev. Jesse Jackson honors legacy of civil rights icon, with funeral arrangements underway
Born in the throes of Jim Crow, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. “quickly became maladjusted to injustice. On the field of his life, his shoes were well-worn. His uniform, dirty with the stripes of imperfection as he did his best to live up to his Christian calling.”
Those were the words of Jackson’s son, Yusef, speaking about his father’s legacy on the steps of the family home in the Jackson Park Highlands Wednesday morning. All of Jackson’s children were on site sharing thanks for the prayers and support the family has received since Rev. Jackson, a mainstay in the Civil Rights Movement and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, died “peacefully” and “surrounded by his family” Tuesday at 84. His health had been in decline for years due to progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disorder.
A titan of civil rights: Remembering Rev. Jesse L. Jackson
Flowers and balloons rested in front of the Jackson home, similar to that of those left at Rainbow PUSH headquarters Tuesday. Numerous people came out to park their cars to take pictures of the bunting being placed atop.
Wednesday, Rev. Jackson’s work and mission were remembered by his children Yusef, Jonathan, Jesse Jr., Santita, and Ashley Jackson. Jacqueline Jackson was not in attendance, per Jesse, but will be in Chicago in the not-too-distant future. Each spoke, sharing memories of their dad, some trying to hold back tears as they articulated what it meant to lose a parent who led “the extraordinary life that he lived.”
For Santita, Rev. Jackson was daddy, a man who took fatherhood very seriously. And unlike others lost to violence in the cause for Civil Rights — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X, all of whom died in their 30s — her father got to be a part of their lives for a lifetime.
“Every opportunity we had, my siblings can attest to this, we always said I love you,” she said. “Always tell people that you love, that you love them. When he was in his moment of need, he didn’t need to hear that from us, he felt it and we felt it from him because he never hesitated to tell us and show us that he loved us.”
“God gave may father some extra innings and his death did not come without warning to us, yet we’re still painfully unprepared emotionally,” Yusef said. He said what sustained his life in the last days was not his desire for more life but more service. It’s the wisdom that informs that service that his children tried to extract in the moments they had with Rev. Jackson, to make sure they were prepared to continue the work going forward.
“He had a godly calling and an assignment from Dr. King, which he never wavered from throughout his life,” Santita said. “There is no one who has been more faithful to the mission of Dr. Martin Luther King than Jesse Louis Jackson Sr.”
“We his family and the many others touched by him, inspired by him, are left obligated to continue his work to make our nation a better place for all through the techniques, tools, and platforms he championed and left us to use,” Yusef said.
A Baptist minister born in South Carolina, Jackson was a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who participated in the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, marches. He continued the fight for social justice and civil rights through the coalition and campaigned twice unsuccessfully for president. He stepped down as the president of Rainbow/PUSH in 2023. Yusef will take the reins of the organization going forward. He expressed his want of patience, temperance, and courage to serve that his father impelled upon the family.
Tributes from across the city and country poured in Tuesday, from all walks of life. Neighbors and friends remembered him for his “generous” personality, while local politicians said he was an inspiration. Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson ordered public buildings across the city and state to fly flags at half-staff. Jackson Jr. said his mother will be making some requests of the governor and the mayor to remember the legacy of Jesse Jackson and the work he’s done for the city and state.
U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson reminded people that his father was a long-distance runner in the fight for freedom and dignity. He thanked him for being “a champion runner for justice,” and added that the fight must be taken up by another generation.
“It’s a continuous fight, as we see the rollbacks of our rights he’s fought so hard for are now being challenged,” he said. “We will continue to fight.”
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Ashley said that Gen Z and Millennials have the responsibility to remain in discourse with one another. “If we’re not in proximity with one another, we can’t solve the nation’s crises,” she said. “I speak on behalf of Dad that we’re urgently called to continue discourse and remain in conversation because our proximity is what is going to keep us moving forward in this time.”
Details on homegoing events are still vague, but visitation at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters was shared. More will be announced in the coming days. To that end, Jesse Jackson Jr. said everyone of all political leanings are welcome to attend the services because his life “is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American.” But he asked that attendees be respectful.
“Dad would have wanted us to have a great meeting to discuss our differences, to find ways of moving forward and moving together,” he said. “If his life becomes a turning point in our national political discourse — Amen.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/18/rev-jesse-jackson-family-funeral/
Cook County board president candidates tussle over budgets, taxes, Trump
Democratic candidates for Cook County Board president used their first televised debate to take swings at each other over President Donald Trump, tax fights and the decades-old Chicago parking meter deal.
Four-term incumbent President Toni Preckwinkle and challenger Ald. Brendan Reilly highlighted their differing approaches in the Tuesday night debate to the office that oversees the 17-member county board, forest preserves, and budgets for the county’s massive health system, courts and jail.
Preckwinkle, a Hyde Park progressive who leads the county’s Democratic Party, repeatedly tried to steer the conversation to her efforts to fight back against Trump. Reilly, a business-backed, more conservative-leaning Democrat, hammered on problems with the county’s technology upgrade and Preckwinkle’s ties to Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The Fox 32 debate moderated by Paris Schutz devolved into testy exchanges and overlapping arguments as Reilly’s acerbic style pushed Preckwinkle off her typically measured script.
She attacked Reilly for having a “longstanding relationship with” Trump, and ripped the alderman for what she said was his failure to call out the president’s targeting of Democratic strongholds and his federal funding reductions for health care, child care, and food stamps.
By the end of the debate, Preckwinkle’s criticism prompted Reilly to pull a photo from a folder showing him standing onstage in October behind Gov. JB Pritzker while the governor excoriated Trump’s ICE operation as evidence of his opposition to the federal incursion. “I’ll stand up to Donald Trump at least as effectively as Toni,” Reilly said.
Reilly was silent when she, the mayor and governor fought Trump’s efforts to cut funding over local sanctuary policies, Preckwinkle said. When immigration agents were “snatching people, kidnapping people without due process, sending them to detention centers around the country, and in foreign gulags, he didn’t say anything either,” she said.
Preckwinkle said he also tried to weaken the city’s sanctuary protections, a reference to a failed 2025 ordinance Reilly supported that he said would have allowed Chicago police to cooperate with immigration authorities to arrest accused “murderers, rapists, gang bangers, child sex offenders.”
“I’m not sure why my opponent wants to see these people walking around our streets,” Reilly added.
If the ordinance passed, “Operation Midway Blitz” might not have included such aggressive sweeps, he said. Reilly has said he wants to abolish “Trump’s ICE,” and revert it back to the way it operated a decade ago.
Preckwinkle said she wants to “eliminate ICE and start over,” and said those accused but not convicted of violent crimes deserve constitutional protections regardless of immigration status.
Reilly has taken a more tough on crime tack than Preckwinkle, elevating the case of a woman critically injured when she was lit on fire on the CTA Blue Line. The accused attacker was on electronic monitoring at the time, Reilly noted, signaling the need for reforms.
The attack was a “horrific, terrible tragedy” and she supports planned tweaks to electronic monitoring under new Chief Judge Charles Beach, Preckwinkle said. But leaders shouldn’t backpedal on criminal justice reforms. Murders are down 50% over the last four years across the county, and in areas where local government funded violence prevention and reduction, shootings are down 60%, she said.
Accusations of a long relationship with Trump are “bogus,” Reilly said. He said he paid forward a 2010 donation from the then-hotelier to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Planned Parenthood of Illinois.
Reilly repeatedly turned the debate back to the costly contract to upgrade the county’s property tax technology.
“Eleven years later, it still doesn’t work and there are real consequences for this,” he said, referring to an estimated $122 million in lost investment and borrowing costs borne by school and library districts because of late bills and distributions.
Earlier Tuesday, Preckwinkle announced tax bills and revenues would arrive on time this spring. At the debate, she defended the upgrade as a complex and urgent one past leaders refused to tackle. Their contractor, Tyler Technologies, was the only firm that all of the separately elected property tax officials agreed could do the job, she said, after both an open bidding process and a re-evaluation after the company blew several deadlines. Tyler has defended its work throughout.
“We will now have a property tax system that is transparent and timely,” she said. There are still dozens of outstanding upgrades, however, and Tyler’s contract is likely to be extended in the coming weeks.
Reilly pledged a full review of the contract if he ultimately wins, expressing skepticism about a smooth spring bill rollout and predicting school districts would hike property taxes to cover their losses.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, left, and Ald. Brendan Reilly prepare for a debate moderated by Paris Schutz, right, in the primary race for the next term of Cook County Board President on Feb. 17, 2026. The debate took place at WFLD-Ch. 32. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Reilly also repeatedly blamed Preckwinkle for the political rise of Mayor Johnson, kicking off another heated back-and-forth about city and county finances. Preckwinkle noted Reilly supported this year’s city budget, which included roughly half a billion dollars in tax or fee hikes.
“It was (Johnson’s) failure in leadership that required us to pull together and pass an imperfect budget,” Reilly said.
Preckwinkle declined to endorse Johnson for another mayoral term. “I’m focused on the county board race,” and Reilly should be too, she said.
While Preckwinkle has improved the county’s bond ratings, pension funding and reserves without fine or fee hikes in recent years, Reilly sought to remind voters of the major exceptions. Preckwinkle pushed through a sales tax hike in 2015 as a pension and infrastructure funding fix and backed the 2017 sweetened beverage tax, which was quickly overturned after a constituent revolt.
When Preckwinkle countered that the county hadn’t raised property taxes in 15 year, Reilly interjected, “Tie. Breaking. Vote. To Raise. The Soda Tax.”
The two even argued about the 2008 parking meter deal, one of the city’s biggest financial blunders. Preckwinkle, then 4th Ward alderman, was one of just five council members to vote against it. Reilly said he was “hoodwinked” into a yes vote by former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s team.
“Unlike you, Toni, I can actually admit when I made a mistake,” he said.
Preckwinkle said she’d warned the city should have raised parking rates on its own. “It was a bad idea no matter what.”
