Category: News
La intensidad de Wembanyama desde el salto inicial abona al nuevo formato del Juego de Estrellas
Por BETH HARRIS
INGLEWOOD, California, EE.UU. (AP) — Victor Wembanyama aportó energía desde el salto inicial del Juego de Estrellas de la NBA, y resultó contagiosa.
Algunos atribuían a la estrella de los Spurs de San Antonio, de 2,26 metros, el haber hecho más para salvar el espectáculo de mitad de temporada en apenas unos minutos que cualquier cosa que la liga haya hecho en años.
“Fue una muy buena muestra de baloncesto. Mejor que el año pasado, en mi opinión. Fue divertido”, comentó Wembanyama.
Wembanyama había llegado confiado en que marcar el tono con intensidad competitiva haría la diferencia en la 75ma edición anual del espectáculo de la liga, celebrada el domingo en el Intuit Dome, el estadio de un año de antigüedad de los Clippers de Los Ángeles.
“Si compartes esa energía, la gente siente que tiene la responsabilidad de devolvértela”, señaló el francés.
Este año la liga presentó otro formato nuevo. Dos equipos de jugadores de Estados Unidos y un equipo de jugadores internacionales compitieron en un torneo todos contra todos compuesto por tres partidos de 12 minutos, todos con finales emocionantes. Los dos mejores equipos por récord avanzaron al partido por el título.
“Me gustó. No estaría en contra de este formato en el futuro, y tampoco estaría en contra del Este contra Oeste tradicional”, afirmó Wembanyama.
El equipo Estrellas de EE.UU. venció al las Barras 47-21 para llevarse el campeonato, con Anthony Edwards ganando los honores de Jugador Más Valioso.
El exjugador de los Spurs Manu Ginóbili escribió en X que fue el “Juego de Estrellas de la NBA más divertido en muuucho tiempo”.
“Siento que después de hoy creo que todos pueden ver que la competencia está ahí, y creo que todos la trajimos hoy y con un sentido de esfuerzo. Espero que los aficionados y todos ustedes lo aprecien”, expresó el jugador del equipo del Reso del Mundo Karl-Anthony Towns.
El primer Juego de Estrellas, en 1951, debutó con un formato de Este contra Oeste que continuó hasta 2018, cuando fue reemplazado por un draft de jugadores, en el que los más votados de ese año actuaron como capitanes y eligieron a sus equipos del grupo de titulares disponibles, sin importar la conferencia.
Eso duró hasta 2024, cuando el Este contra Oeste regresó por un año.
El año pasado, en San Francisco, el juego se disputó con formato de torneo, con tres equipos de ocho jugadores y un cuarto equipo de estrellas emergentes. Los partidos se jugaron a 40 puntos para decidir a un ganador.
El próximo año está previsto un formato de Estados Unidos contra el Resto del Mundo para el juego en Phoenix.
El alero de los Portland Trail Blazers Deni Avdija, que es de Israel y jugó con el equipo del Mundo, calificó el cambio más reciente como un formato divertido.
“La gente está a punto de entender que es divertido ver el Juego de Estrellas. Va a ser un poco más competitivo, intentar traerlo de vuelta”, comentó.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Petro pide un pacto en Colombia para definir salario vital y llama a movilizaciones
Associated Press
BOGOTÁ (AP) — El presidente colombiano Gustavo Petro llamó el domingo a un consenso nacional con el sector empresarial y los trabajadores para fijar un salario vital transitorio, tal como dispuso el Consejo de Estado después de que ordenó la suspensión provisional del determinado por su gobierno a finales del año pasado.
El mandatario emitió un mensaje presidencial la noche del domingo en el que convocó a una pesa de consenso a partir del lunes donde “se puede hacer un pacto”.
Al empresariado, “quiero invitarlos al pacto por la vida. El pacto por la vida no es solamente un salario vital, (es) dignidad para el trabajador, salario con dignidad”, subrayó.
El Consejo de Estado de Colombia —máximo tribunal de la administración pública— pospuso provisionalmente el viernes el decreto oficial que fijó el salario vital para 2026 con el ajuste más alto de los últimos años, un incremento del 23% respecto al año anterior.
El decreto recibió varias demandas y críticas del sector empresarial por cuadruplicar la inflación anual de 2025, impactando los costos que deberán asumir las pequeñas y medianas empresas, señalaron.
“Podemos poner otra vez (el tema) en discusión con el empresariado, con el movimiento obrero y determinar si estamos en lo cierto o no y si es necesario cambiar alguno de los porcentajes”, afirmó el gobernante colombiano.
El presidente adelantó que también solicitarán una aclaración sobre la decisión al Consejo y pidió al pueblo movilizarse en defensa del salario vital. Aseguró que cuenta con argumentos jurídicos y técnicos para sustentar la medida, pero el dilema “se resuelve también con la fuerza del pueblo trabajador … no se puede perder esta enorme conquista histórica”, concluyó.
La suspensión del máximo tribunal es provisional en lo que se analiza un pronunciamiento definitivo sobre la legalidad de la norma. En tanto, dio al gobierno un plazo de ocho días para expedir un nuevo salario transitorio que tome en cuenta la productividad, la inflación, el crecimiento del producto interno bruto y la protección al trabajo.
Analistas consideran que la decisión del Consejo representa un golpe a la política social que enarbola el presidente de izquierda de cara a las próximas elecciones en mayo.
FBI: ADN recuperado de un guante cerca de la casa de Guthrie parece coincidir con el del sospechoso
Por JACQUES BILLEAUD
Un guante que fue localizado a unos tres kilómetros (dos millas) de la casa de la madre de la conductora del programa “Today”, Savannah Guthrie, parece coincidir con los que llevaba puestos una persona enmascarada que se presentó a la puerta principal de la residencia de Tucson la noche en que ella desapareció, informó el FBI el domingo.
El guante, descubierto en un campo a un costado del camino, fue enviado para análisis de ADN. El FBI indicó en un comunicado que la noche del sábado recibió resultados preliminares y está a la espera de una confirmación oficial. El avance se produce mientras las fuerzas del orden reúnen más evidencias a medida que la búsqueda de la madre de Guthrie entra en su tercera semana. Las autoridades habían dicho previamente que no habían identificado a ningún sospechoso.
Savannah Guthrie publicó el domingo un video en Instagram en el que hizo un llamado a quien haya secuestrado a su madre o a cualquier persona que sepa dónde está retenida.
“Nunca es demasiado tarde para hacer lo correcto”, dijo Guthrie. “Y aquí estamos. Y creemos en la bondad esencial de cada ser humano, que nunca es demasiado tarde”.
Nancy Guthrie, de 84 años, fue vista por última vez en su casa de Arizona el 31 de enero y fue reportada como desaparecida al día siguiente. Las autoridades dicen que encontraron rastros de su sangre en el porche delantero. Se enviaron supuestas notas de rescate a medios de comunicación, pero ya vencieron dos plazos para el pago.
El hallazgo se dio a conocer días después de que los investigadores difundieron videos de vigilancia en los que se ve a la persona enmascarada fuera de la puerta principal de la casa de Guthrie. Una cámara del porche grabó a una persona con un pasamontañas, pantalones largos, chaqueta, guantes y una mochila.
El FBI señaló el jueves que esa persona es sospechosa del crimen. La describió como un hombre de aproximadamente 1,75 metros de estatura y complexión mediana. La agencia señaló que llevaba una mochila “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” de 25 litros.
Agentes policiales cerraron el viernes un camino ubicado a unos 3,2 kilómetros (dos millas) de la casa de Guthrie, como parte de la investigación. Una serie de vehículos de la policía del condado y del FBI, incluidos vehículos de criminalística, pasaron por el retén.
Los investigadores también marcaron y remolcaron el viernes una camioneta Range Rover desde el estacionamiento de un restaurante cercano. Más tarde, la policía del condado indicó que la actividad formaba parte de la investigación sobre Guthrie, pero que no se realizaron arrestos.
Agentes de la policía del condado detuvieron el martes a una persona en el sur de Tucson para ser interrogada. Las autoridades no dijeron qué los llevó a detener al hombre, pero confirmaron que fue liberado posteriormente. Ese mismo día, agentes de la policía del condado y del FBI realizaron un registro autorizado por un tribunal en Rio Rico, a aproximadamente una hora en auto al sur de la ciudad.
Las autoridades han manifestado preocupación por la salud de Nancy Guthrie, quien debe tomar medicamentos a diario. Se dice que tiene un marcapasos y que ha lidiado con problemas de presión arterial alta y afecciones cardíacas, según el audio de un operador de la policía del condado.
Al inicio de la investigación, las autoridades habían señalado que habían recolectado ADN en la propiedad de Nancy Guthrie que no pertenece a Guthrie ni a personas en contacto cercano con ella. Los investigadores trabajan para identificar a quién corresponde.
El FBI también ha dicho que se encontraron aproximadamente 16 guantes en distintos puntos cerca de la casa, la mayoría de los cuales eran guantes de los equipos de búsqueda que habían sido desechados.
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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.
After Years Of Border Crisis, Small Texas Town ‘Back To Mayberry’
After Years Of Border Crisis, Small Texas Town ‘Back To Mayberry’
Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
BRACKETTVILLE, Texas—The chaos caused by millions of illegal immigrants flooding across the southwest border under the Biden administration left scars on this border town.
Samira Bouaou; Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times
The constant high-speed chases, buzzing helicopters, screaming emergency sirens, hurried school lockdowns, torn barbed-wire fences, and decomposing bodies on ranches and along the Rio Grande all took their toll on Texas towns near the Mexican border.
The border crisis drained resources and changed the lifestyle of Brackettville, a little town with two traffic light intersections in Kinney County. Residents of the county and beyond said the madness stopped almost overnight after President Donald Trump took office.
Now they say the chaos of illegal immigration has just moved into the country’s interior to places that include Minnesota.
Illegal border crossings plummeted to record lows after Trump took office. In fiscal year 2025, Customs and Border Protection reported 443,000 encounters at the southwest border with Mexico.
In 2024, that number stood at a little less than 2.5 million.
‘Back to Mayberry’
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe estimated that 30,000 to 40,000 people per year moved through the county in 2022 and 2023.
Images of illegal immigrants were caught on game cameras meant to give ranchers photos of deer and wildlife on their property, which allowed Coe to estimate the traffic.
“If we hadn’t stepped up when we did in the way we did—I think it would totally destroy the county, had the wave of illegal immigrants continued,” he told The Epoch Times.
Brackettville sits north of the Border Patrol checkpoint on U.S. Route 57 past Eagle Pass and west of the Uvalde checkpoint, making it an ideal location for gotaways, or illegal immigrants who evade capture.
“It’s really a geographical thing with the checkpoint locations to some degree,” Brent Smith, Kinney County attorney, told The Epoch Times.
The area attracted state and national attention as a hot spot for high-speed chases involving smugglers during the border crisis.
The depth of the problem along the smuggling corridor was the subject of an Epoch Times documentary: “Gotaways: The Hidden Border Crisis.”
But now, ranchers are not spending all their time repairing fences, picking up dumpsters full of discarded water bottles and clothing, or worrying about who might walk out of the brush.
They no longer have to black out their windows in fear that the light will attract unwanted nighttime visitors. Families are once again accompanying hunters to their deer leases, Smith said.
“So, it’s kind of back to Mayberry,” Coe told The Epoch Times, referring to the idyllic small town featured in the 1960s TV series “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Matt Benacci, a school board member for Brackett Independent School District, said life has returned to normal at the district’s K–12 campuses as well.
School lockdowns have all but stopped, he told The Epoch Times.
During the border crisis, schools would sometimes have to lock down two times per day because of smugglers bailing out of vehicles and running on foot through the town, he said.
A car of gotaways once jumped the curb onto school grounds and the occupants fled, and one illegal immigrant tried the gym doors to get inside the school, he said.
Brackett Independent School District placed giant stones along the perimeter of its schools to serve as barricades to protect against future incidents.
Those kinds of chases turned deadly for residents because it sapped their town’s resources.
Smith recalls two instances during the mass migration in which Kinney County residents suffered life-threatening medical emergencies when their resources were dispatched to crashes involving smugglers.
“If we have, like, a huge crash or pursuit, 20 miles, 25 miles north of town, all of our resources are out there,” he said.
If an ambulance had been available on a fateful day in 2024, perhaps Benacci’s mother might still be alive.
“I try not to dwell on it because the only thing you can do is get really angry,” Benacci said, his voice breaking, eyes pricking with tears.
Gloria Benacci, who was in her 70s, died two years ago after suffering a stroke, he said.
The local ambulance crew was not available because it was responding to a deadly crash involving illegal immigrants. Likewise, rescue helicopters were tied up, he recalled.
State troopers chased a vehicle containing a U.S. citizen and several illegal immigrants in early March 2024. The vehicle rolled over, throwing people from the truck. Four died.
With local emergency services tied up, an ambulance from Uvalde, about 40 miles away, was dispatched for Benacci’s mother and arrived in about an hour.
It took another couple of hours to get her to a hospital in San Antonio. She never recovered the ability to breathe on her own, he said, and she passed away on March 13, 2024.
“Once an ambulance is dispatched out there to something like that, you can’t divert them to something else,” he said, referring to the illegal immigrant crash.
Larger border cities were not spared, either.
In Eagle Pass, Fire Chief Manuel Mello said his department received as many as six calls per day for drownings along the Rio Grande in 2022. In 2025, the number dropped to about six for the entire year, he said.
Now, emergency calls to the Rio Grande and those involving foreign nationals have dropped by 95 percent, he said.
“Once the new administration came in, things started to slow down significantly,” he said. “We were getting calls almost every day to the river’s edge, and right now, I don’t think we’ve had one call in the last two, three months.”
Things were so bad for a while that he had a designated crew just for responding to calls to the river’s edge. It would get multiple calls and, at times, get overwhelmed, he said.
People trying to ride the trains into the United States often incurred horrific injuries or death, he said. Many had their limbs crushed or amputated in the doors that would slide shut as the train moved.
“We were seeing a lot of amputations, a lot of decapitations, a lot of injuries,” he said.
Mass migration strained the entire medical system, he said. Emergency medical services and the hospital system were overwhelmed, according to him.
“There was a point where we were waiting 45 minutes to an hour outside, waiting for a bed,” he said. “So right now, I guess my guys are breathing a little easier.”
Border Scars
Wanda Selby, 88, said she no longer feels the need to carry her Smith and Wesson .38 revolver when she goes on walks with her dog, Lady.
“They’re just not coming through like they were,” she told The Epoch Times as she ambled among the towering live oaks in Red Bridge Park.
Selby told The Epoch Times that in 2022, she decided to forgo her frequent walks alone after striking up a conversation with a young Texas highway patrolman.
He was parked along a rural road near a friend’s ranch where she liked to walk. The lawman told her that a .38 would not help her because human smugglers, or coyotes, working for the Mexican cartels carried AK-47s.
“‘You don’t want to let anybody know you have a gun, because they have a bigger gun,’” she recalled him saying.
She opted to walk in her neighborhood afterward.
In 2022 and 2023, it was common to hear helicopters buzzing overhead in her neighborhood. Sometimes illegal immigrants on the run would come onto people’s porches, she recalled.
Border Patrol agents and state troopers frequently combed her neighborhood.
“It was a nightmare down here,” she said. “[Former President Joe] Biden, he didn’t just let them in—he welcomed murderers, drug dealers, anybody that wanted to come in. They were not vetted at the border.”
Damage to Ranches
Ben Binnion, 39, is a wildlife biologist who manages thousands of acres of ranchland outside of Eagle Pass across from the Mexican border.
Beginning in 2021, the ranch became a superhighway for human traffickers, suffering at least $350,000 in damages, he said.
Many illegal immigrants would walk around the checkpoint east of Eagle Pass, with some using Farm Road 481, which is near the ranch, to head north.
Read the rest here…
Tyler Durden
Sun, 02/15/2026 – 21:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/after-years-border-crisis-small-texas-town-back-mayberry
¿Aún de élite? Harper a disgusto con su evaluación de 2025 de parte de Dombrowski
Associated Press
CLEARWATER, Florida, EE.UU. (AP) — El primera base de los Filis de Filadelfia, Bryce Harper, afirmó el domingo que “todavía le parece algo alocado” que el presidente de operaciones de béisbol, Dave Dombrowski, sugiriera en octubre que el dos veces Jugador Más Valioso de la Liga Nacional quizá ya no sea un jugador de élite.
Harper señaló que no se sintió motivado por los comentarios de Dombrowski. Agregó que no entendía por qué Dombrowski hizo pública su evaluación de la temporada y la postemporada de Harper.
“No me motivo con ese tipo de cosas; para mí fue algo alocado toda la situación de que eso pasara. Creo que lo más importante para mí fue que cuando nos reunimos por primera vez con esta organización dijeron: ‘Siempre vamos a mantener las cosas dentro de casa y esperamos que tú hagas lo mismo’, así que cuando eso no ocurrió, como que me descolocó un poco, así que no sé. Supongo que es parte de esto. Fue una situación algo alocada”, dijo Harper a los reporteros.
El OPS de .844 de Harper fue el más bajo desde 2016, y su promedio de .261 fue el peor desde 2019. Harper, de 33 años, tiene seis temporadas restantes de su contrato de 330 millones de dólares por 13 años. Conectó 27 jonrones e impulsó 75 carreras en la temporada regular de 2025 y se fue de 15-3 sin carreras impulsadas en la derrota de los Filis en cuatro juegos ante los Dodgers en la Serie Divisional de la Liga Nacional.
Los números de Harper llevaron a Dombrowski a concluir que fue una buena temporada, pero por debajo de sus niveles de MVP de 2015 con Washington y de 2021 con los Filis.
“¿Puede volver a subir al siguiente nivel? Realmente no sé la respuesta. Él es quien lo va a determinar más que nada. No creo que esté satisfecho con el año que tuvo. De nuevo, no fue un mal año. Pero cuando pienso en Bryce Harper, piensas en élite, piensas en uno de los 10 mejores jugadores del béisbol, y no creo que encajara en esa categoría”, señaló Dombrowski tras la temporada pasada.
Una lesión en la muñeca obligó a Harper a perderse un mes. Aun así, coincidió en que su producción no estuvo a la altura de sus estándares.
“Obviamente, no tuve el año que quería. Obviamente, no tuve la postemporada que quería. Mis números no estaban donde debían estar. Lo sé y no necesito que me motiven para ser grandioso en mi carrera ni nada más. Así que eso simplemente no es un factor de motivación para mí. Que Dave saliera a decir esas cosas, todavía me parece algo alocado”, señaló Harper.
Harper tiene un promedio de bateo de .280 con 363 jonrones en 14 temporadas en las Grandes Ligas, incluidas siete con los Filis. Si se toma en cuenta el tiempo que se perdió por la lesión en la muñeca, su producción la temporada pasada no fue un descenso drástico respecto a su campaña de 2024, cuando terminó sexto en la votación al MVP de la Liga Nacional tras batear para .280 con 30 jonrones y 87 carreras impulsadas, además de conseguir su cuarto premio Silver Slugger y ser seleccionado a su octavo Juego de Estrellas.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
After an ‘extremely frustrating’ season, Chicago Cubs left-hander Jordan Wicks looks make an impact
MESA, Ariz. — Five years after the Chicago Cubs made him their top pick in the draft, left-hander Jordan Wicks is trying to solidify a consistent role in the majors.
Wicks, 26, begins spring training as part of the starting pitching depth mix that the Cubs expect to rely on over the course of the season. His big-league opportunities were limited last year, ultimately appearing in only eight games, all out of the bullpen, and finishing with only 14 1/3 innings for the Cubs.
Wicks remains confident he can be an important part of the Cubs’ pitching staff this year after an “extremely frustrating” 2025 season.
“You want to compete, and you want to compete in a big way, but it’s definitely tough to kind of balance what you want for your own career and being a part of the team because at the end of the day, you’ve got to do what’s best for your family while also helping the team win,” Wicks told the Tribune on Sunday. “And it’s definitely a difficult balance because I love my teammates, love the coaching staff.
“Sometimes, me and the organization don’t really see eye to eye on some things, which is sometimes difficult to deal with, but the people that you work with on a day-to-day basis really make being here special.”
Some of those feelings of frustration stem from what Wicks described to the Tribune as “a lot of miscommunication” early on last season about what his role would be, feeling he had been sprung into the bullpen and that created a tough situation as he had never pitched out of the ’pen before.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Jordan Wicks meets catcher Carson Kelly after they allowed an Arizona Diamondbacks run in the 10th inning on Sunday, April 20, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The Cubs initially used him in relief in early July, tossing at least three innings in both appearances. They later utilized Wicks in back-to-back one-inning outings in late August before again bringing him back in late September, when he threw four shutout frames between two appearances.
“Sometimes what you get told and what ends up happening don’t always line up, and I do think I’m a big-league starter, I think I’m a big-league caliber starter and obviously part of being on a good team is you can get backlogged a little bit,” Wicks said. “It obviously leads into this year, just kind of not really knowing what’s going to be ahead. But I think having that (relief) experience is going to be good for me because now I feel completely comfortable if they call me and go, ‘hey, we need you to pitch out of the bullpen in these spots,’ I’m going to be OK with that.”
Going into the season, Wicks would love a chance to make the team in a bullpen role, explaining that’s where he sees the biggest opportunity. He would rather be part of the Cubs’ bullpen and then build up to a starter’s workload if they needed him to start at some point in-season, though he didn’t sound optimistic that the Cubs will let him do that.
“I want to be in Chicago and whatever role that looks like I will conform to that role and figure it out,” Wicks said. “You don’t play this game to want to pitch in Iowa just because you could start. You want to pitch in Chicago and contribute in any role that you can. And that’s what I’m trying to push this year is to show them that, hey, I can do everything.”
As camp gets underway, Wicks said pitching coach Tommy Hottovy has been “awesome” in directly conveying to him that the Cubs just want him to try to be his best and not worry about a role. Hottovy knows that’s easier said than done.
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“Anytime you’re not where you want to be, there’s frustration, and he should want to be a big leaguer every single day,” Hottovy said Sunday to the Tribune. “But we also are having a better team every single year and other guys are also trying to get better, and I think sometimes guys get lost in what they’re doing versus where everybody else is. I think he understands that if he takes care of what he can do, he’s going to be a really good pitcher.
“A lot of things that happen organizationally, from a player standpoint and from a coach standpoint, are out of our control. So the way I try to view guys in Jordan’s situation is, what can we control? That is first and foremost. And if you can lay your head down at the end of the night, and you’ve put in the work of the things that you can control and taking care of what you have to take care of, things are going to work out.”
Hottovy was encouraged by Wicks’ uptick in velocity last year and the adjustments he made while starting at Triple-A Iowa and how he performed in shorter bursts out of the bullpen. Wicks started throwing a harder slider during the last month of the season with better, more consistent results. He’s been encouraged by how the pitch already looks in spring training and hopes it will get more hitters off his changeup, the key weapon in his repertoire. Throwing more curveballs for strikes is a focal point too.
Although the rotation is essentially set for the start of the season, barring any injuries over the next six weeks, Wicks is among the pitchers the Cubs expect to count on at some point this year.
“It’s supposed to be hard to crack the roster and crack a pitching cemented spot, we’re supposed to make it hard and if you want to have big goals, it’s got to be hard as well,” manager Craig Counsell said Sunday. “And that’s where we’re at with Jordan, that’s where we’re at with Ben (Brown). And so their job is to get themselves into the best possible place, their best versions of themselves. We’re confident that makes them contributors when we need it, and that little bit remains to be seen.
“There’s always going to be some spots in the bullpen that we have some places to go and performance can change our mind there, absolutely.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/15/chicago-cubs-spring-training-jordan-wicks/
After judge’s ruling, Illinois recruit Liam Kelly wins IHSA sectional title for Mount Carmel. ‘Extra special.’
Mount Carmel’s Liam Kelly never imagined he would be sitting in a downtown courtroom two days before the sectional with the fate of his high school career in the hands of a judge.
That was the situation after Kelly, a reigning state champion and Illinois recruit, wasn’t allowed to compete on Jan. 31 in the Class 3A Morton Regional due to a skin condition.
Kelly’s father, Michael, filed suit against the Illinois High School Association in an attempt to get his son reinstated for the sectional. It all put Liam in a spotlight he never sought.
“We went downtown to the Daley Center, all the way up to the top,” Kelly said. “It was a big deal. I come out of the courtroom and cameras are in my face. It felt like I was OJ Simpson or something.
“I was like, ‘It’s just a mark on my skin.’”
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Alison Conlon ruled in favor of the Kelly family, granting a temporary restraining order that allowed Liam to compete in the Hinsdale Central Sectional.
Mount Carmel’s Liam Kelly, left, takes down Montini’s Santino Tenuta during the 165-pound final of the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional in Hinsdale on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (Steve Johnston / Daily Southtown)
Kelly took full advantage, rolling to the sectional title at 165 pounds on Saturday in Hinsdale.
“This whole tournament felt extra special,” Kelly said. “The last couple weeks, it’s been a lot, for sure. I’ve just been taking it day by day and talking with my coaches and my parents and brothers just about how to get through this.
“I’ve definitely grown a lot in the last few weeks, and it just feels great to be back out here.”
Kelly was one of five Mount Carmel wrestlers — including runner-up Justin Williamson (144) — who advanced to the state meet, which begins Thursday at the State Farm Center in Champaign.
Mount Carmel’s Justin Williamson, left, battles against Marmion’s Zach Stewart in the 150-pound match at the Class 3A Marmion Dual Team Sectional in Aurora on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2026. (Troy Stolt / Daily Southtown)
Marist produced six state qualifiers, including a champion in Ethan Sonne (157) and runners-up Elio Gil (106), Axel Rodriguez (138) and Tommy Fidler (150). Sandburg’s Brady Ritter (157) and Brother Rice’s Dan Costello (215) also finished second.
Kelly, meanwhile, said he’s had a condition called granuloma annulare since freshman year. He has a doctor’s note saying it isn’t contagious and previously has always been allowed to wrestle.
“It just kind of pops up, on and off, and then goes away for a bit,” Kelly said. “Doctors don’t know how to get rid of it, but it’s completely harmless.”
After the ruling at Morton, Kelly’s season was out of his hands. But he never stopped working.
Mount Carmel’s Liam Kelly, left, defends against an escape by Montini’s Santino Tenuta during the 165-pound final of the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional in Hinsdale on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (Steve Johnston / Daily Southtown)
“There was just an anxiety of wondering, ‘Am I going to wrestle or not?’” Kelly said. “But coach Alex (Tsirtsis) is great. He got me in the right mindset of going to practice every day and getting better. I didn’t take any time off because I was thinking I was done or anything.
“I just kept getting better. That’s my mindset through anything. I just want to get better.”
Kelly (30-2) won all five of his sectional matches either by technical fall or major decision, including a 16-5 major decision over Montini’s Santino Tenuta in the finals.
Tsirtsis was impressed with how Kelly was able to keep himself in the right mindset throughout the whole ordeal.
“We even talked about it the day of regionals,” Tsirtsis said. “We told him, ‘We feel like we have a good case to get you back in the tournament, so you have to approach every day like you’re going to wrestle in the sectional.’
Mount Carmel’s Liam Kelly, left, tries to take down Montini’s Santino Tenuta during the 165-pound final of the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional in Hinsdale on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (Steve Johnston / Daily Southtown)
“He did exactly that, not only getting himself ready but helping his teammates get ready, too.”
Williamson provided confirmation of that aspect.
“He was upset at first, but he stayed with a positive mindset,” Williamson said of Kelly. “He’s my practice partner and he helped me train. We were hoping to get to state together, which we are now, and hopefully win it together.”
Regardless of what happens in Champaign, Kelly is making the trip with a deep appreciation for being there.
“I have a gratefulness just to be out here,” Kelly said. “I feel literally blessed. I have such a great support system. They did everything they possibly could for me and it just means the world.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/15/liam-kelly-mount-carmel-ihsa-wrestling/
Donald Trump says Board of Peace will unveil $5 billion in Gaza reconstruction pledges at inaugural meeting
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump said Sunday that members of his newly created Board of Peace have pledged $5 billion toward rebuilding war-ravaged Gaza and will commit thousands of personnel to international stabilization and police forces for the territory.
The pledges will be formally announced when board members gather in Washington on Thursday for their first meeting, he said.
“The Board of Peace will prove to be the most consequential International Body in History, and it is my honor to serve as its Chairman,” Trump said in a social media posting announcing the pledges.
He did not detail which member nations were making the pledges for reconstruction or would contribute personnel to the stabilization force. But Indonesia’s military said Sunday that up to 8,000 of its troops are expected to be ready by the end of June for a potential deployment to Gaza as part of a humanitarian and peace mission. It’s the first firm commitment that the Republican president has received.
Rebuilding the Palestinian territory will be a daunting endeavor. The United Nations, World Bank and European Union estimate that reconstruction of the territory will cost $70 billion. Few places in the Gaza Strip were left unscathed by more than two years of Israeli bombardment.
The ceasefire deal calls for an armed international stabilization force to keep security and ensure the disarming of the fighter Hamas group, a key demand of Israel. Thus far, few countries have expressed interest in taking part in the proposed force.
The Oct. 10 U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than 2-year war between Israel and Hamas. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones.
It is not clear how many of the more than 20 members of the Board of Peace will attend the first meeting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held White House talks with Trump last week, is not expected to be there.
Trump’s new board was first seen as a mechanism focused on ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. But it has taken shape with his ambition for a far broader mandate of resolving global crises and appears to be the latest U.S. effort to sidestep the United Nations as Trump aims to reset the post-World War II international order.
Many of America’s top allies in Europe and elsewhere have declined to join what they suspect may be an attempt to rival the Security Council.
Trump also confirmed that Thursday’s meeting will take place at the U.S. Institute of Peace, which the State Department announced in December it was remaining the Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace.
The building is the subject of litigation brought by former employees and executives of the nonprofit think tank after the Republican administration seized the facility last year and fired almost all the institute’s staff.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/15/trump-board-of-peace-gaza-reconstruction/
“You Ought To Be In Jail”: Senator Unloads On Minnesota AG Ellison Over Fraud Scandal
“You Ought To Be In Jail”: Senator Unloads On Minnesota AG Ellison Over Fraud Scandal
During a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing this week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) confronted Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. The Missouri Republican exposed Ellison’s ties to the Feeding Our Future scandal, where fraudsters stole $250 million in federal child nutrition funds.
Hawley didn’t hold back, charging the Democrat with protecting fraudsters who funneled cash to terrorists and traffickers, as well as Ellison’s own campaign coffers, and telling him he “ought to be in jail.”
THERE IT IS 🚨 Official Hearing where Senator Josh Hawley confronts Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison about meeting with and taking campaign donations from Somali fraudsters stealing billions
He personally called and BLOCKED THE INVESTIGATIONS
Josh Hawley “Are you… pic.twitter.com/i40Ow5V9Zz
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) February 12, 2026
Hawley opened the confrontation by spotlighting $10,000 in campaign donations Ellison pocketed from players in the Feeding Our Future mess, which the New York Post broke last year, detailing how the money flowed in right after a December 11, 2021, meeting at Ellison’s office.
Ellison repeatedly denied it, calling it a false statement. But Hawley read directly from the meeting transcript, where money was discussed repeatedly.
An audio recording of that meeting revealed that Ellison met with members of the Somali community who were later convicted in the scandal. In the recording, the individuals ask Ellison for help securing funding before discussing campaign donations.
“The only way that we can protect what we have is by inserting ourselves into the political arena,” a man is heard saying on the audio.
“Putting our votes where it needs to be. But most importantly, putting our dollars in the right place. And supporting candidates that will fight to protect our interests.”
“That’s right,” Ellison replied.
Ellison accepted $10,000 in campaign contributions from the fraudsters mere days later, as did his son, Minneapolis councilman Jeremiah Ellison.
Hawley proceeded to read from that recording, quoting Ellison’s own words back to him.
“Send me the names of all these folks who are investigating them,” Ellison said. He promised to call the Education Department and ask what was going on. “I already have my team working on this,” he told them, according to the transcript. “What day should we get together to discuss it again?”
Ellison pledged repeatedly to help them fight the investigators.
“You have my attention. I’m concerned about this,” he said. “Let’s go fight these people.”
“Why’d you do it? Was it worth it?” Hawley asked.
“This is what accountability looks like, of which you’ve had none,” Hawley countered.
“You helped fraudsters defraud your state and this government of $9 billion, and you got a fat campaign contribution out of it. You ought to be indicted. That’s the truth.”
Ellison shot back hard. He denied the donations flat-out: “a lie” and “No donations came.” He insisted, “You’re completely wrong. … I did not see anybody.” Hawley countered with video proof of their nearly hour-long sit-down—easy to find online. Ellison dismissed Hawley’s quotes as “cherry-picked.”
As the exchange got heated, Ellison repeatedly talked over Hawley, which the senator didn’t appreciate. “It’s my hearing, pal,” he snapped.
“Don’t call me ‘pal,’” Ellison shot back.
“Well, I should call you a prisoner because you ought to be in jail.”
He demanded resignation. Ellison flipped it: “I was thinking the same thing about you.”
Hawley didn’t stop there. He brought up testimony from the previous day showing where the fraudulent money went: to terrorist groups, transnational criminal organizations, drug trafficking, and child trafficking. “You took $10,000 and helped them do it,” he said. Ellison kept denying everything, but Hawley had receipts.
He cited a Minnesota Star Tribune report that Partners in Nutrition raised concerns with the attorney general’s office in 2018 and 2019, but Ellison did nothing. The New York Post reported that Ellison accepted campaign donations from individuals linked to the fraud after meeting with them.
“You’ve been right at the center of this fraud thing from the beginning, and you’ve enabled it,” Hawley said. “You should resign.”
Ellison shot back, “And, sir, you should resign. I was thinking the same thing about you.”
Tyler Durden
Sun, 02/15/2026 – 20:25
Klint Kubiak avanza rápido para completar su cuerpo de entrenadores con los Raiders
Por MARK ANDERSON
HENDERSON, Nevada, EE.UU. (AP) — El nuevo entrenador de los Raiders de Las Vegas, Klint Kubiak, no perdió tiempo en elegir a sus coordinadores ofensivo y defensivo desde que fue contratado hace menos de una semana.
El entrenador de la línea defensiva de los Raiders y coordinador del juego terrestre, Rob Leonard, fue ascendido oficialmente a coordinador defensivo el domingo.
Andrew Janocko, coach de quarterbacks de los Seahawks, seguirá a Kubiak desde Seattle para ser el coordinador ofensivo, informó el domingo una persona con conocimiento del proceso de contratación.
La persona habló con The Associated Press bajo condición de anonimato respecto a Janocko porque esa contratación no ha sido anunciada.
Kubiak hizo lo mismo que los dos entrenadores anteriores de Las Vegas al elegir a un coordinador defensivo: buscar dentro del propio staff de entrenadores. Leonard fue el entrenador de la línea defensiva las últimas tres temporadas y en 2025 sumó el título de coordinador del juego terrestre bajo el entonces head coach Pete Carroll.
Al mantener a Leonard, Kubiak también podría estar buscando una manera de recomponer la relación con la estrella cazamariscales Maxx Crosby.
En cuanto a Leonard, de 38 años, los Raiders permitieron 3,9 yardas por acarreo la temporada pasada, empatados en el segundo lugar de la NFL. También fueron terceros en tacleadas para pérdida, con 105.
Janocko, de 37 años, recibirá un ascenso con su llegada a los Raiders. Él y Kubiak formaron parte del staff de los Seahawks, con Kubiak desempeñándose como el encargado de mandar las jugadas del equipo de Seattle que ganó el Super Bowl.
Janocko trabajó directamente con el quarterback de los Seahawks, Sam Darnold, esta temporada pasada.
Darnold completó el 67,7% de sus pases para 4.048 yardas, con 25 touchdowns y 14 intercepciones. Seleccionado tercero en general por los New York Jets en 2018, Darnold fue considerado un fracaso hasta que llevó a Minnesota a una temporada de 14 victorias en 2024. Luego llegó otra temporada de 14 victorias con los Seahawks que culminó con Darnold levantando el Trofeo Lombardi.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
