Category: News
Photos: An inside look at Chicago Cubs spring training
An inside look at the Chicago Cubs from spring training in Mesa, Ariz.
Want the latest Cubs news? Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune to read it all — and sign up for our Cubs Insider newsletter.
Pete Crow-Armstrong walks to home plate before batting practice during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
President Jed Hoyer stands near a practice field during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Manager Craig Counsell signs autographs for fans during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Kevin Alcantara walks to a practice field before warming up during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Pete Crow-Armstrong throws a football with other players before warming up during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Seiya Suzuki looks at his glove during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Cubs manager Craig Counsell talks with Ian Happ during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Matt Shaw and catcher Carson Kelly walk on the field during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Dansby Swanson walks to a practice field before warming up during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Matt Shaw stands with other players before warming up during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Miguel Amaya, center, stands with other players before warming up during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Pete Crow-Armstrong carries a football before warming up with other players during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
From left, Connor Anderson, 11, his mother Molly Anderson, her husband Joe Anderson, and their daughters Callie Anderson, 7, and Crosbee Anderson, 4, watch players practice during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Pete Crow-Armstrong throws a football with other players before warming up during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Dansby Swanson puts his shoes on before warming up during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Players stretch during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Players stretch during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Players stretch during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Cubs equipment sits near a field after practice during spring training at Sloan Park Sunday Feb. 15, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell speaks with members of the press after practice during spring training at Sloan Park Sunday Feb. 15, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
The sun rises before the Cubs first full-squad workout during spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
A baseball sits in a dugout before the Cubs first full-squad workout during spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
The sun rises before the Cubs first full-squad workout during spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Fans wait for autographs from players before the Cubs first full-squad workout during spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts talks with reporters during the Cubs’ first full-squad workout of spring training on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Pitchers warm up during the first day of the Cubs full-squad workout at spring training at Sloan Park Monday Feb. 16, 2026 in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/16/photos-chicago-cubs-spring-training/
Western Springs Circle of Friendship Party brings kids from city, suburbs together to have fun
An effort to promote friendship between young people who may not otherwise have a chance to meet will culminate Saturday at the 30th edition of the Western Springs Circle of Friendship Party.
“I took it over from somebody else in the community,” Charlotte Wegrzyn, director of the event for the last five years, said in a telephone interview. “It’s always handled by a parent with kids in the elementary schools.”
This year’s party for grade school-aged kids will be from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Lyons Township High School’s South Campus in the Corral Activity Center.
The event brings together 85 La Grange area students — most from Western Springs District 101— and 85 students from the Off the Street Club in Chicago will pair up to enjoy activities such as an obstacle course, face painting and grooving to music from a DJ.
Volunteers ranging from junior high students to adults will be there to make sure that each buddy pair is taken care of and the event is operated in the safest way.
“The junior high kids can kind of help the younger kids and help them navigate the party and get to know their new friend,” Wegrzyn said. “It’s kind of an all ages event whether you’re participating or helping. It brings together two communities that would otherwise not meet.”
Wegrzyn said the Off The Street Club, 25 N. Karlov Ave., on the west side of Chicago’s Garfield Park neighborhood, is “Chicago’s oldest Boys and Girls Club that is out there.”
“Their kids don’t have opportunities like ours do,” she said. “It’s giving these kids an opportunity to have an afternoon in a safe environment that’s fun while meeting new kids and introducing them to a little bit of diversity.”
The Chicago club is a nonprofit youth center “offering children in Garfield Park a safe place to laugh, dream, and reach their full potential,” according to its website.
The Circle of Friendship party began in 1996 when several families from Western Springs paired their 10 grade school children from Laidlaw Elementary with 10 from the OTSC to enjoy an afternoon of bowling and pizza. The first few minutes were awkward, but they soon loosened up and had fun.
Participants gather for a game during the 2022 Circle of Friendship Party in Western Springs. The event’s 30th anniversary party is Saturday at Lyons Township South Campus. (Steve Johnston / Pioneer Press)
Encouraged by the first party, the volunteers determined to make it an annual event.
One of the original founders of the event, and a board member at the OTSC, is Western Springs resident Patti Winegar.
“This is our 30th anniversary, so this is a great time to talk about the party,” she said.
Winegar also noted that this was the 125th anniversary of the Boys and Girls Club in Chicago, pointing out that the club was funded entirely by private sources.
“I was working at a big (advertising) agency downtown and we were very involved running the annual holiday luncheon, which is their biggest fundraiser,” she said. “That’s how I got involved. It takes the whole agency working on this luncheon to raise funds for programs. I was just amazed at what these kids had. They had a great gym, they had adult guidance for values, they had tutoring available and eventually computers; but also places to play and have fun and arts and crafts and reading rooms.
“The idea was to get kids off the street and give them a place to be a kid and learn the values to grow into great adults.”
OTSC also has a summer camp in Wheaton, where Winegar said kids can experience “the outdoors and camping and horses and bicycles and hearing crickets at night,” she said.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/16/western-springs-circle-of-friendship/
Logan Paul subasta su carta Pokémon Pikachu Illustrator en un récord de $16,5 millones
NUEVA YORK (AP) — Logan Paul estableció un nuevo récord mundial: el precio de subasta de una tarjeta coleccionable.
La tarjeta Pokémon Pikachu Illustrator del luchador y estrella de las redes sociales, un “Santo Grial” para los coleccionistas, se vendió el lunes por 16,5 millones de dólares en Goldin Auctions luego de 41 días de pujas.
Paul había comprado la tarjeta en 2021 por 5,275 millones de dólares, un récord Guinness en ese momento para una tarjeta Pokémon. Le había añadido un collar de diamantes y un estuche personalizado, y llevó la tarjeta durante su participación en WrestleMania 38 en 2022.
La adjudicadora de Guinness World Records, Sarah Casson, estuvo presente el lunes para el cierre de la subasta, el cual se transmitió en vivo por YouTube, y confirmó que el precio fue un récord no sólo para una tarjeta Pokémon, sino para cualquier tarjeta coleccionable vendida en subasta.
“Dios mío, esto es una locura”, señaló Paul al tiempo que colocaba latarjeta alrededor del cuello del postor ganador, A.J. Scaramucci, un capitalista de riesgo e hijo del exdirector de comunicaciones de la Casa Blanca, Anthony Scaramucci.
La tarjeta fue diseñada por Atsuko Nishida para un concurso de 1998. Se cree que existen sólo unas pocas decenas, y se considera que la de Paul es la única con una calificación de calidad de 10.
___
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigators work with Walmart after identifying suspect’s backpack
Investigators working on the disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother are consulting with Walmart management to develop leads because a backpack the suspect was wearing is sold exclusively at the stores, the Pima County, Arizona, sheriff said Monday.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her Arizona home on Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day. Authorities say her blood was found on the front porch. Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets, but two deadlines for paying have passed.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation released surveillance videos of a masked person wearing a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s front door in Tucson the night she vanished. A porch camera recorded video of a person with a backpack who was wearing a ski mask, long pants, a jacket and gloves.
Pima Count Sheriff Chris Nanos said in a text message to The Associated Press on Monday that the 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack was the only clothing item that has been “definitively identified.”
“This backpack is exclusive to Walmart and we are working with Walmart management to develop further leads,” Nanos said.
The suspect’s clothing “may have been purchased from Walmart but is not exclusively available at Walmart,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Monday. “This remains a possibility only.”
Investigators on Sunday announced that a glove discovered near the Guthrie home has been sent for DNA testing. The FBI said that it received preliminary results Saturday and was awaiting official confirmation. The development comes as law enforcement gathers more potential evidence and as the search for Guthrie’s mother heads into its third week. Authorities previously said they had not identified a suspect.
The FBI said the suspect in the surveillance footage is a man about 5 feet, 9 inches tall with a medium build.
Authorities have expressed concern about Nancy Guthrie’s health because she needs vital daily medicine. She is said to have a pacemaker and have dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/16/nancy-guthrie-kidnapping-walmart/
Epstein-itis
Epstein-itis
Authored by James Howard Kunstler,
“If you tolerate the intolerable, you’re communicating that it’s okay to mistreat you.”
– Aimee Terese on X
Did you think the American zeitgeist – our collective spirit plus our thinking – could not get crazier?
Gird your loins. It’s getting worse by the hour.
The Jeffrey Epstein files suggest that people will do anything and that people will believe anything.
Pizza, hot dogs, white sharks. . . boys, girls, babies, teens, Russian whores. . . celebrities by the score. . . billionaires. . . cannibal orgies. . . vivisection parlors. . . adrenochrome. . . blood. . . dead bodies. . . demon worship. . . a depraved and insane global leadership. . . lemme outa here!
I don’t know what’s real in Epstein and what’s not — but neither do you. What you ought to know is that the colossal inventory of Epstein files is perhaps the greatest instrument of mass mind-fuckery ever seen in the history of Western Civ. How interesting, too, that the deluge of material coincides exactly with the critical capability emergence of Artificial Intelligence as a tool for the manipulation of documentary evidence. And also consider all the years since 2019 that interested parties have had to mess with, destroy, possibly fabricate, and catalog all this stuff.
Apparently, the Woke-Jacobin-Marxist eruption was not enough to destabilize the consensus about reality.
The absurdities you were asked to swallow about all-women-are-women-including-men. . . the police killed George Floyd. . . mostly peaceful riots. . . the vaccine is safe and effective. . . the free-est, fairest elections ever. . . “Joe Biden” is president. . . the border is secure. . . speaking English is white supremacy – did not push America deeply enough into Crazyland.
More was required to completely demolish your sense of an ordered world.
Donald Trump was correct, at least, that releasing the Epstein files would bring on more chaos than clarity and impede the effort to get our country back on the rails with an economic engine based on the production of goods instead of financialized hyper-casino voodoo. Well, now we’re in a maelstrom of innuendo, code-talk, gossip, and redaction, and you can hardly begin to sort it out. The Attorney General of the USA, bless her heart, has already botched the management of this monster.
Epstein’s relations with Israel and its Mossad intel blob, along with his connections to global banking interests, have aroused the zestiest breakout of antipathy to Jews since the SS busied itself loading the crematoriums of Europe. Hatred of Jews is a recurring symptom of civilization distress. But it is also possible that Israel has behaved badly — and it is certain that many political intellectuals are reevaluating the way that nation was established after World War Two. To some degree, Israel has become a paranoid state (though even paranoiacs have real enemies).
Where does that go from here? Thoughtful people are pessimistic. For sure, they resent the money and influence seeded by Israel in the US Congress. They might be concerned as well about all the other interests pounding money into American politics. Grift is everywhere, and everyone can see it now. The looming end of the grift orgy is probably behind the Democratic Party’s current psychotic disposition. Having lost its 20th century base of factory workers, the party has had to work the extreme margins of American life to build a coalition of the feckless, the reckless, the brainless, and the shameless. They have become the party’s wards in a reimagined patronage system even more pernicious than the old one under characters like Boss Tweed and Mayor Richard Daley-the-First of Chicago.
The Democratic Party can’t win elections without rigging them and it’s astonishing that they’ve gotten away with building such sturdy armature of ballot fraud in plain sight with next to zero objection from the supposed guardians in officialdom. The features of it are so arrant that a political class with any sense or dignity would have laughed it straight into the criminal courts — and its perps straight into the penitentiary. The fraud became especially acute with the 2020 and 2022 elections. It is about to be revealed in the troves of evidence extracted lately from Fulton County, GA, and presently from Maricopa County, AZ. These birds are cooked. Not a few people will eventually go to jail over these shenanigans. And meanwhile, the SAVE Act pulsates in the Senate like a lump of kryptonite.
Now, you may realize that a political party based entirely on socially marginal persons — many of them mentally ill — will adopt a roster of ideas and policies that are patently marginal, which is to say, crazy. The party elders are now straining to eliminate some of that. Last week, Barack Obama unloaded on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s botched handling of the state’s epic homeless crisis.
“We should recognize that the average person doesn’t want to have to navigate around a tent city in the middle of downtown,” the ex-president said in an interview with progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen.
Hillary Clinton, dropping in on the Munich Security Conference, said, amazingly, “There is a legitimate reason to have a debate about things like migration. It went too far, it’s been disruptive and destabilizing. . .” before tossing in some Woke word-salad:
“. . . and it needs to be fixed in a humane way with secure borders that don’t torture and kill people and how we’re going to have a strong family structure because it is at the base of civilization.”
Say, what. . . ?
But then, poor Hillary, who can’t help being a Cluster-B psycho, turned up moderating a panel at the same Munich meet-up to take up the issue: “Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights: Fighting the Global Pushback.“
To nail down her point, Hillary brought onstage as the featured speaker, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE), known previously as Tim McBride, a man.
Hillary and Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) at Munich
The insanity is, of course, self-evident.
The take-away from all this. They’re not trying hard enough to get their minds right.
And in the meantime, America and the other nations of Western Civ, must contend with the gigantic trip laid on them that is the Epstein files.
We know the newspapers and cable news channels are hopeless.
Is there anyone or any sense-making institution that can usher us through this nightmare back into the daylight?
Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/16/2026 – 15:30
El dueño de los Mets dice que el club no tendrá capitán mientras él mande
PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida, EE.UU. (AP) — El propietario de los Mets Steve Cohen alabó el lunes el ambiente que se respira en un renovado elenco y afirmó que el equipo de Nueva York nunca tendrá a un capitán a cargo de esa dinámica.
En su primera reunión con reporteros en los entrenamientos de primavera, Coen manifestó que “mientras yo sea el dueño del equipo, nunca habrá un capitán del equipo”.
“Esa fue mi decisión. En mi opinión, el vestuario es único. Y que el vestuario lo resuelva, año tras año”, añadió.
Antes de Navidad, Nueva York se despidió del popular toletero Pete Alonso, del estelar cerrador Edwin Díaz y de otros dos pilares de los Mets, pero sumó al agente libre Bo Bichette y adquirió vía canje al as dominicano Freddy Peralta.
Los Mets afrontan su tercera temporada con el mánager venezolano Carlos Mendoza después de quedarse fuera de los playoffs tras su marcha a la Serie de Campeonato de la Liga Nacional de 2024.
“Acabo de estar en ese vestuario y en la reunión, y percibo una energía que de verdad es emocionante. Son caras nuevas, caras frescas, que creo que a nuestros aficionados les va a encantar ver jugar. Es diferente. Y creo que jugaremos un tipo de béisbol diferente, y eso me parece genial”, señaló Cohen tras el primer entrenamiento con el plantel completo.
Los Yankees, rivales de ciudad, tuvieron a Derek Jeter —conocido simplemente como “El Capitán”— durante las 20 temporadas del miembro del Salón de la Fama. Convertirse en propietario en la misma ciudad no hará cambiar a Cohen, cuya postura también podría evitar que los Mets enfrenten una elección complicada entre dos de sus mayores estrellas, Francisco Lindor y Juan Soto.
“Son mis propias ideas sobre cómo quiero que sea un vestuario”, dijo Cohen. “En mi opinión, cada año el equipo es diferente y hay que dejar que el equipo lo resuelva en el vestuario, en lugar de tener una designación. Tener un capitán en el béisbol no ocurre a menudo. En realidad, es inusual”.
40 años y contando
Los Mets han alternado entre clasificar y no clasificar a los playoffs durante la gestión de Cohen. New York llegó a los playoffs en 2022, luego se quedó fuera en 2023 con un grupo que rindió por debajo de lo esperado y que llevó a desprenderse de los ases Justin Verlander y Max Scherzer en la fecha límite de cambios.
La decepción regresó la temporada pasada después de que los Mets perdieran en seis partidos ante los Dodgers de Los Ángeles en la Serie de Campeonato de la Liga Nacional de 2024. El más reciente campeonato de la Serie Mundial de la franquicia se remonta a 1986.
“¿Sobre no ganar? Sí, me molesta. Me molesta muchísimo. Cada año que pasa, me frustro”, declaró Cohen. “Estoy realmente comprometido con este equipo. Sé cuánto les importa a los aficionados. Sé que estamos celebrando el aniversario 40 de 1986, y eso es demasiado tiempo”.
Situación laboral en el horizonte
Consultado sobre los Dodgers, que gastan a lo grande, Cohen dijo que no tenía problema con su enfoque, y provocó risas entre los reporteros al señalar que el multimillonario gestor de fondos de cobertura también podría gastar mucho.
Cohen tampoco pareció oponerse a un tope salarial, que se perfila como el principal punto de fricción durante las negociaciones del convenio colectivo que podrían poner en riesgo la temporada de 2027.
“Obviamente, estoy escuchando todos los argumentos”, dijo Cohen. “Pero siempre he sido un propietario que pone primero a la liga. Así que estoy escuchando a todas las partes y todavía no he tomado una decisión. Veremos hacia dónde va. A veces pongo los intereses de la liga por encima de mis propios intereses”.
___
Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
U.S., Nippon Steel to reline Gary Works blast furnace this year
U.S. Steel’s Gary Works facility, later this year, will receive its blast furnace reline through Nippon Steel’s investment into the American company.
Some Gary residents and activists are still opposed to the reline, saying they don’t believe it’s the best move environmentally.
The reline for blast furnace #14 will cost $350 million and take 100 days, starting in May and ending in August, according to U.S. Steel. The company plans to supply customers with no interruptions during construction, a spokesperson said in a Monday email.
“For the reline of blast furnace #14, U.S. Steel is working with Nippon Steel to implement technologies to build a high-productivity, energy-efficient furnace that contributes to reducing (carbon dioxide) emissions intensity,” the U.S. Steel statement said. “We remain focused on environmental excellence, regulatory compliance, and being a responsible neighbor in the communities where we operate.”
On Dec. 22, 2025, the U.S. Steel Board of Directors decided to approve funding for the $350 million reline project. Blast furnace #14 is the largest of the four at Gary Works, according to U.S. Steel, and it produces iron for high-strength steel that’s in various products, including cars and buildings.
According to a previous U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Nippon Steel plans to give at least $3.1 billion in capital investments to Gary Works, starting with $400 million in 2025. This year, the company plans to invest $900 million in the facility, followed by $800 million in 2027 and $1.1 billion in 2028.
In September 2025, the board also approved a $200 million investment into the Gary Works’ hot strip mill, which will help “optimize production costs and expand premium product offerings, including heavy gauge line pipe and automotive steel,” according to Post-Tribune archives.
Since Nippon’s interest in relining the blast furnace was announced, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development members have voiced concerns with the move, including unveiling a January study that claimed that Northwest Indiana needs a greener steelmaking process to ensure the industry’s long-term survival.
The organization would prefer the use of direct reduction furnaces, which GARD members claim is more efficient than blast furnaces and could be used to create iron for steelmaking in Northwest Indiana.
According to the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, direct reduction creates sponge iron, which “is produced in a reactor by direct reduction of iron ore in solid form, utilizing natural gas as the reducing agent to produce pellets or briquettes.” Direct reduction cannot create steel.
Direct reduced iron, or sponge iron, is consumed by electric arc furnaces rather than blast furnaces, and instead uses pig iron, which is created at Gary Works. According to U.S. Steel’s website, the company has electric arc furnaces at a facility in Alabama and another in Arkansas.
A U.S. Steel spokesperson previously said GARD’s capital estimate for direct reduction is too low because the plants cannot make steel, and U.S. Steel would have to build a new electric arc furnace-based steel shop “from the ground up.”
In a Monday statement, GARD member Carolyn McCrady continued to voice blast furnace concerns and show support for direct reduction.
“GARD believes that a reline of the #14 blast furnace could be a first step in the transition to substantial modernization investments, ultimately replacing coal-based blast furnaces with more modern and efficient technologies that will ensure the mill’s longevity, increase its efficiency, preserve jobs and reduce pollution,” McCrady said. “No new blast furnace has been built in the U.S. since 1980, and none will likely ever again be built here or elsewhere. In their place, steelmakers have been adopting a new process called direct reduction. Nippon has announced it will invest $3.2 billion in its Gary Works facility. Therefore, we call upon Nippon to use most of the rest of this already allocated money to install a new (direct reduction) furnace at Gary Works that will almost certainly ensure the mill’s long-term survival.”
Ariana Criste, a representative from Industrious Labs, said in an email that her organization is concerned about how pollution conditions would persist in Northwest Indiana.
An October 2024 Industrious Labs report found that coal-based steelmaking contributes to an estimated $13.2 billion in health costs, 892 premature deaths and almost 100,000 lost school and work days annually, according to Post-Tribune archives. The report found that most Gary residents are in the top 10% of U.S. residents most at-risk for developing asthma and at-risk of low life expectancy.
“This spring, Nippon Steel will start construction on a blast furnace reline that keeps Northwest Indiana on coal-based steel for another generation, even as the company invests billions in cleaner steelmaking elsewhere,” Criste said in a statement. “Hoosiers recognize a familiar pattern: long-term decisions about their communities made far from the people who live with the impacts. Gary powered a century of American steel, yet this investment does no more than buy time here while the company builds the future of steelmaking elsewhere, tying workers’ and the region’s future to technology the industry is already moving beyond.”
U.S. Steel addressed the concerns in a Monday statement.
“We recognize that a variety of groups are engaged in conversations about the future of steelmaking,” the statement said. “While many of these organizations are passionate about environmental issues, they may not always have detailed insight into the technical, economic, or operational realities of producing the high‑quality steel grades our customers rely on — work we have been dedicated to since our founding in 1901. We welcome dialogue about emerging technologies, but it is important that discussions are grounded in practical, science‑based assessments of what is feasible today and what is required to meet customer needs while continuing to reduce environmental impact.”
In August 2024, Nippon Steel first announced that it would invest about $300 million in the Gary Works facility, updating the blast furnace and extending its life by about 20 years, according to Post-Tribune archives. Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori later said the company planned to invest $1 billion into Gary Works and nearly $3 billion into union-represented facilities.
In December 2023, Nippon first announced that it planned to buy the American company for $14.9 billion in cash and debt, and committed to keep the U.S. Steel name and Pittsburgh headquarters, according to Post-Tribune archives.
Before he left office, then-President Joe Biden blocked the acquisition after a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States cited national security concerns. In February 2025, President Donald Trump said Nippon would drop its acquisition to make an “investment, rather than a purchase.”
Lake Forest water crews quickly repair water main break on Westleigh Road Friday
A portion of Westleigh Road in Lake Forest was closed for several hours on Feb. 13 after a water main break near the intersection with Wallace Road — the second break reported in the same general area since October.
City crews responded to the break early that morning, and by 7 a.m. an approximately three-quarter mile stretch of Westleigh Road between Wallace and Ridge roads was closed to traffic. The closure remained in place for several hours while repairs were completed and the roadway was restored. Traffic reopened later in the afternoon.
Only two properties immediately adjacent to the break experienced a temporary water service disruption, according to city spokeswoman Dana Olson. Water service for the rest of the community remained stable throughout the incident.
Officials said the affected section is part of a transmission main that does not directly impact the broader distribution system. Because system pressure remained strong during the repair, no precautionary boil order was issued.
By 12:30 p.m., the city reported on its website that the main had been repaired and road restoration work was underway.
Olson wrote in an e-mail the damaged section of pipe was installed around 1949 or 1950 and has experienced some breaks over the past 15 years. She noted that while there is often no single definitive cause for a water main failure, winter temperature swings can lead to ground movement that stresses older pipes.
“This upcoming summer, the city will be analyzing this and other stretches of transmission main pipe to determine which sections need to be replaced,” Olson wrote. She added that the city will also evaluate its booster station to determine whether aging pumps should be replaced to improve system hydraulics.
City officials use multiple factors when deciding which portions of the system’s roughly 166 miles of water mains are replaced each year, with break history being only one consideration.
The city did not issue a communitywide emergency alert. Olson said notifications are typically limited to directly affected properties, but broader notice was shared in this case because of the road closure.
“System pressure remained well above state requirements during the repair,” she wrote. “Boil water orders are issued only when pressure drops to levels that could affect water quality, which did not occur in this case.”
The incident follows another nearby break in October at Westleigh and Waukegan roads that prompted a two-day precautionary boil order. Olson said the two events are not considered part of a developing pattern.
“In this case, the city’s monitoring systems and valves worked exactly as intended, allowing crews to isolate a very small section of main while maintaining normal pressure and service everywhere else,” she wrote. “The October break had broader system impacts. This incident was much more limited and does not indicate an emerging system issue.”
The City Council is scheduled to consider final approval of a 6.75% across-the-board water and sewer rate increase at its Feb. 17 meeting, with part of the additional revenue designated for expanded evaluation of the water system infrastructure.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/16/lake-forest-water-water-main-break-westleigh-road-friday/
Bill Donovan, father of Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan and a star at Boston College, dies at 85
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Bill Donovan, the father of Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan whose own basketball exploits propelled him to the Boston College Hall of Fame, has died. He was 85.
Bill Donovan died Saturday, according to the obituary posted by Williams-Thomas Funeral Home in Gainesville.
A New York native, Donovan captained the Boston College basketball team and graduated in 1962 as the No. 3 scorer in school history. He was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was married to his high school sweetheart, Joan, for 63 years.
They had three kids, including Billy, who helped Providence reach the NCAA Final Four in 1987 as a player and coached Florida to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances in 19 years and back-to-back championships in 2006 and ’07.
Billy Donovan was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September for his college coaching accomplishments. As an NBA coach, he has a 462-393 record in 11 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder (2015-20) and the Bulls (2020-present).
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/16/bill-donovan-father-chicago-bulls-coach-dies/
Review: Remarkable ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ at the Paramount makes you feel for this kid all over again
Suburban teenagers were abundantly represented at pretty packed house for “Dear Evan Hansen” on Sunday afternoon in Aurora, a reminder of the popularity of this famously emotional musical by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul about the high school senior whose mental health issues lead him to propagate an elaborate scheme of high-stakes lies that ends up trapping him in his own deceit.
“Dear Evan Hansen,” which bowed on Broadway in 2016, famously starring Ben Platt, has not been seen in Chicago since the last stop of the national tour in 2022, and with this kind of show, new kids age into the market. Plus, the Paramount Theatre in Aurora offers Broadway levels of spectacle and performance at a very different price point.
Those rows of teens and parents were all there, I’m sure, for the title. Fair enough. But discriminating Chicago-area musical-goers would be well advised to look for the name of the director, Jessica Fisch, when making their choices, especially if the theater involves a schlep.
“Dear Evan Hansen” is superbly wrought here. And it continues Fisch’s remarkable run of shows filled with fresh ideas, including “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” and “Catch Me If You Can” at the Marriott Theatre; I had a conversation with the composer-lyricist Marc Shaiman and he couldn’t stop talking about how Fisch had solved so many of the past structural problems of “Catch Me.”
So she does again with the Paramount’s “Dear Evan Hansen,” and she demonstrably does so through collaboration.
Driving out, I was intrigued to see how Fisch would handle the dated aspects of “Dear Evan Hansen,” a show that was once ahead of its time when it came to sounding an alarm about social media amplifying the behavior of troubled teens, but uses that era’s nomenclature of blogs and texts. In the original production, it’s Facebook posts, not Instagram or TikTok, that form the backdrop. Fisch is stuck with the same book and schemata of the show, of course, but with her designers (most notably, projections designer Anthony Churchill and set designer Andrew Boyce) she subtly updates all of that in a way that better reflects today’s video-driven, teen-hungry technology.
Superfans of this show (you know who you are) really should check out this staging, not least for the eye-poppingly beautiful final orchard scene. But there’s also a most excellent lead performance from Cody Combs in the title role.
I’ve never seen Combs before; his resume says he is from Kentucky and, to be honest, has not done much of anything at this level before, but his Evan is very much his own and far more rooted in pain than I have seen before. That solves another of the show’s central problems — its demand that we empathize with a fabulist who cares not for the harm he inflicts on his community. In order for that to work — and musicals always demand that we care about the name on the marquee, imperfect as they may be — you have to believe that Evan is both good at heart and, being neuroatypical, unable to stop himself once the aggressive algorithms oppress him.
That’s exactly what Combs makes you feel here, allowing the parents in the show, beautifully played by Bri Sudia, Devin DeSantis and Megan McGinnis (making a rare area appearance), to paint a collective picture of impotence, really, not just in the face of Evan’s anxiety but the evils of Big Tech. None of that was as clear in the original production. How could it have been? We know a lot more now about this stuff now than we did in 2016.
Finally, Fisch just somehow always seems to manage to cast in such a way that high-quality singing accompanies truthful and vulnerable acting. You see only the principals on stage although the understudies are singing in the wings: the harmonic work on famed anthemic numbers like “You Will Be Found” and “For Forever” is especially lush and, although partially pre-recorded, indicative of especially excellent craft from musical director Kory Danielson and sound designer Adam Rosenthal.
How great that kids in the western ‘burbs, especially, have such affordable access to theater of this quality. No better date night or road trip.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “Dear Evan Hansen” (4 stars)
When: Through March 22
Where: Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora.
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Tickets: $47-$121 at 630-896-6666 and paramountaurora.org
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/16/review-dear-evan-hansen-paramount/
