Category: News
3 Detained, 1 Rumored Suicide As SWAT Team Swarms Home Near Guthrie’s House
3 Detained, 1 Rumored Suicide As SWAT Team Swarms Home Near Guthrie’s House
In a dramatic Friday night development in a case that’s garnered enormous public interest, three people were detained as a SWAT team executed search warrants connected to the abduction of the mother of NBC “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie — and a neighbor claims another person shot himself in the head. Action unfolded at two locations — both of them only about two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson residence. As this is written, police have yet to reveal details.
A Pima County sheriff’s deputy mans a roadblock near a home that was the focus of a search warrant (Perry Vandell / The Republic)
The neighbor’s unconfirmed claim of a suicide was first reported by News4 Tucson. Two men and one of their mothers were detained. So far, it’s unclear if any of those three are considered suspects. A police source cautioned Fox News that “technically everyone is detained” when a search warrant is executed, and said Friday’s action was prompted by a tip to police. A spokeswoman for the Pima County Sheriff’s department confirmed the operation was related to Guthrie’s Feb. 1 abduction. Before SWAT went into action, Fox News observed a single-engine, Pima County Sheriff’s surveillance plan circling the area.
Police vehicles were used to block nearby intersections near a targeted house in a neighborhood that azcentral describes as “very similar” to Guthrie’s. “Because this is a joint investigation, at the request of the FBI — no additional information is currently available,” Pima County Sheriff’s Department said on X. Reporters observed a long procession of police and civilian vehicles proceeding toward the house, including a forensics vehicle.
The search warrant was executed at a home about two miles from that of Nancy Guthrie (via New York Times)
While two locations were searched, details are still fuzzy. Azcentral reported that, near midnight, a second house just a half-mile away was raided. However, the New York Times reported secondary sheriff and FBI activity not at a home, but at the parking lot of a Culver’s restaurant, with investigators photographing a gray Range Rover, and shining flashlights into its interior. Fox News reports that a man associated with a search warrant was detained after a traffic stop at Culver’s.
Video taken at the Culver’s location showed deputies holding up a cloth to block onlookers’ view of them as they seemingly removed something from the vehicle. The Range Rover cannot be readily identified in the video, but the New York Times reported the same activity:
🇺🇸 NANCY GUTHRIE CASE: WHAT WERE POLICE HIDING BEHIND THAT SHEET?
Officers were seen holding up a sheet while appearing to pull something from a Range Rover linked to search warrants in the Nancy Guthrie case.
Authorities haven’t confirmed what was recovered, but it doesn’t… https://t.co/MoZyfok9DM pic.twitter.com/lGnAhUwdeo
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 14, 2026
After Guthrie’s disappearance on Feb 1, police found an ominous trail of blood that seemingly indicated the 84-year-old had been violently removed from her home. On Tuesday, authorities released footage from a Nest camera showing an armed person wearing a jacket, gloves, pants and carrying a backpack. The person can be seen obstructing the camera before walking into the front yard, and then returning to the front door with a small flashlight in their mouth before attempting to cover the camera with what appears to be foliage.
After analyzing the footage, the FBI released a description of the suspect, saying it’s a man of average build and roughly 5’9″ to 5’10” tall. Investigators say the video shows him carrying a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack. Earlier this week, police detained a man, but Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators concluded he was not involved in the abduction.
On Friday, police said they’d found DNA at Guthrie’s house which they couldn’t link to known visitors. “DNA other than Nancy Guthrie’s and those in close contact to her has been collected from the property,” the department told People. “Investigators are working to identify who it belongs to. We are not disclosing where that DNA was located.”
Range Rover photographed by authorities now being towed pic.twitter.com/HIvFFgcm8W
— Intel Point Alert (@IntelPointAlert) February 14, 2026
As the days since Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance have turned into weeks, worries about her health have been mounting. She has a pacemaker, cardiac problems, high blood pressure, chronic pain, major mobility limitations and requires many medications to manage her conditions. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” Savannah Guthrie said in a Feb 7 video message. “This is the only way we will have peace.”
Tyler Durden
Sat, 02/14/2026 – 09:20
Canada warned as cheating allegations and curse words fly in curling controversy at Winter Olympics
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — The often-sedate world of curling has gotten heated at the Winter Olympics as cheating allegations and audible curse words overshadowed a feisty match between two of the best men’s teams.
Canada’s Marc Kennedy got offended when he was accused by Swedish rival Oskar Eriksson of “double touching” — essentially, touching the rock again after initially releasing it down the sheet of ice — during Canada’s 8-6 win in round-robin play late Friday.
Kennedy repeatedly used expletives to deny he broke any rules. The match came to a brief standstill as fingers were pointed and Kennedy argued with members of the Swedish team across the ice.
“I don’t like being accused of cheating after 25 years on tour and four Olympic Games,” the 44-year-old Kennedy said.
“So,” he added, “I told him where to stick it. Because we’re the wrong team to do that to.”
Eriksson said he simply wanted everyone to “play by the same rules.”
“We want a game that is as sportsmanlike, honest and clean as possible,” he said, “so we call it out as soon as I see that the Canadian No. 2 is, in my eyes, there poking the stone.”
On Saturday, World Curling said it spoke to Canadian team officials after the match and issued a verbal warning because of the language used by Kennedy. World Curling said “further inappropriate behavior … would result in additional sanctions,” including possible suspension.
The rules state that a stone must be delivered using the handle that sits on top of the rock and that it must be released from the hand before it reaches the hog line. At the Olympics, that is the thick green line at each end.
Replays appeared to show Kennedy releasing the stone using the handle then touching it again — this time on the granite, not the handle — with an outstretched finger as it approached the hog line, which isn’t allowed in the rules.
In the early ends of the match, Sweden notified the officials of their complaints. An official then remained at the hog line for three ends to monitor Canada’s curlers and no violations were recorded, World Curling confirmed in its statement on Saturday.
Curling does not use video replays to review game decisions.
“Decisions made during a game are final,” World Curling said.
The governing body added that starting from Saturday’s afternoon session — which sees both Canada and Sweden in action — two officials will move observing deliveries across the four matches.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/14/curling-canada-cheating-allegations/
Newsom Tells Europe “Trump Is Temporary,” Doubles Down On Failing Green Agenda
Newsom Tells Europe “Trump Is Temporary,” Doubles Down On Failing Green Agenda
California Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke at the Munich Security Conference earlier on Friday, telling European elites that President Trump is “temporary” and will be gone within three years.
Newsom, noticeably angered by Trump’s push for deregulation and the rollback of climate policy, lashed out at the president, calling him “more destructive” than the current occupant of the White House.
The issue for Newsom is that he still operates within the climate crisis framework promoted by globalists, even as the West is moving on from two decades of nation-killing green policy regime that hollowed out parts of the industrial base and fueled inflation.
On Thursday, President Trump rescinded the 2009 Obama-era “Endangerment Finding,” a determination that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare, which he said has been used by the radical left to justify $1.3 trillion in regulatory costs that have hurt American households and sent consumer prices soaring, especially for automobiles.
“The single largest deregulatory action in American history. That’s a big statement in American history, and I think we can add the words by far,” Trump told reporters.
Also this week, there was considerable discussion among industry leaders in Europe about Brussels watering down carbon-pricing markets, which have made electricity outrageously expensive and crushed the industrial base (Goldman explained more here).
And it is not just Trump and European industry leaders pushing to unwind green policies that have financially crushed working-class families and hollowed out the industrial base; major companies are also dialing back EV production plans and softening green targets as the net-zero dream collides with reality.
Here’s what Newsom said earlier at the MSC (courtesy of Real Clear Politics):
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM: Donald Trump is doubling down on stupid.
California has been a leader in climate policy going back to Ronald Reagan. In 1967, Governor Ronald Reagan established the first tailpipe emissions standards in the United States of America and created the California Air Resources Board. Three years later, a president by the name of Richard Nixon — another Republican — codified California’s leadership under the Clean Air Act.
Never in the history of the United States of America has there been a more destructive president than the current occupant in the White House in Washington, D.C. He’s trying to recreate the 19th century. He’s a wholly owned subsidiary of big oil, gas, and coal. He’s quite literally reopening coal plants in the United States of America.
He’s received close to half a billion dollars in campaign contributions. He asked for $1 billion — look it up — in return for basically eliminating all regulations in the United States of America. De facto, he just did that yesterday with federal regulations and the endangerment finding.
It is code red in terms of American leadership in this space — low-carbon, green growth — and I know a thing or two about this. I represent the fourth-largest economy, from a GDP perspective, in the world, and we ran the fourth-largest economy last year nine out of ten days on 100% clean energy — two-thirds renewable energy.
We’ve seen our GDP grow by 81% since 2000, and we’ve reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 21%. Seven times more clean energy jobs than fossil fuel jobs.
We’re proving at scale that we can implement, we can compete, and we can dominate. But Donald Trump is trying to turn back the clock. And so we’re showing up, but we’re also showing what can be accomplished — the power of emulation.
We are in the great implementation in my state.
Final word. I hope, if there’s nothing else I can communicate today: Donald Trump is temporary. He’ll be gone in three years. California is a stable and reliable partner in this space, and it’s important for folks to understand the temporary nature of this current administration in relationship to the issue of climate change and climate policy.
MODERATOR]: Governor, many have called Joe Biden the climate president, but that didn’t help with his re-election. So how important do you think climate issues will be for the 2028 presidential election?
GAVIN NEWSOM: Well, you may not believe in science, but you’ve got to believe your own eyes. I mean, people are burning up, choking up, heating up. We have simultaneous droughts and floods. Historic wildfires. You may know little about California, but you’ve seen those images of these wildfires.
Talk about being as dumb as we want to be — places, lifestyles, traditions being wiped off the map. Greenville. Paradise, California.
And so this issue has been brought home in a very personal way, not a political way. Senator Whitehouse is here — he’s also someone who deeply understands that climate risk is financial risk. It’s becoming uninsurable.
This is an economic issue, not just a moral issue. It’s not just a competitiveness issue. And so it’s incredibly important that we talk in those terms to address some of the political dynamics. But it’s again something we’re on the other side of in California.
It’s a big blue state, but it also has more Republicans than most Republican states. And we have long moved beyond the partisanship on this issue, because there is no Republican thermometer, there’s no Democratic thermometer — there’s just reality.
And people in my state have been mugged by reality. Those that have been in denial understand that we’re on the other side of the debate.
Watch Here:
Gavin Newsom To Europe: “Donald Trump Is Temporary, He’ll Be Gone In Three Years”
“He’s trying to recreate the 19th century. He’s a wholly owned subsidiary of big oil, gas, and coal. He’s quite literally reopening coal plants in the United States of America.” pic.twitter.com/xM82zaACy4
— RCP Video (@rcpvideo) February 13, 2026
The key question is why Newsom continues to prioritize a failed green agenda instead of pursuing deregulation and other relief measures for working-class families; for now, Trump is the one pressing ahead with what he describes as historic deregulation.
We think we know why. Newsom serves…
Tyler Durden
Sat, 02/14/2026 – 08:45
15-year-old boy wounded in drive-by overnight in South Deering
A 15-year-old boy was wounded during a drive-by shooting overnight on the Far South Side in the South Deering neighborhood, Chicago police said.
Shortly after 3:30 a.m., officers responded to a call of a person shot in the 10000 block of South Paxton Avenue and discovered a 15-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the left side of his face, police said.
The teenage boy was outside when a dark-colored sedan drove past and someone inside pulled out a gun and fired in his direction. The boy was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital where he was listed in fair condition, police said.
No one was in custody and detectives were investigating.
UK’s Insane New Trans Guidance Says School Kids As Young As Four Can ‘Change Gender’
UK’s Insane New Trans Guidance Says School Kids As Young As Four Can ‘Change Gender’
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
The UK government has issued new guidance allowing primary school children, some as young as four, to ‘socially transition’ the gender by changing their pronouns at school.
According to reports in The Times, the guidelines state that parents should be involved in the “vast majority” of cases where a child questions their gender, and schools should not initiate steps towards social transitioning.
However, the move has sparked outrage, with critics arguing it undermines parental rights and exposes vulnerable children to harmful ideologies.
??? UK Schools issued new Gender Rules
“Social transitioning in primary schools should happen very rarely”
“Children will be allowed to change the agenda and adopt different pronouns”
“Schools shouldn’t initiate guidance around a pupil changing their Gender”
The radical far… pic.twitter.com/Ef2jYCDe7z
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) February 13, 2026
The guidance specifies that “social transitioning in primary schools should happen very rarely,” but “children will be allowed to change their gender and adopt different pronouns.”
Pupils able to change their gender at school
Pronoun guidance for children as young as four
This is the travesty of activists have done to education & our children
Adults should be leading with care not this damaging harmful insanity
Stop it pic.twitter.com/0G2ma8HB2y
— Alan D Miller (@alanvibe) February 13, 2026
Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, lambasted the new guidance during an appearance on TalkTV, asserting that schools have been “indoctrinating children” with trans ideology for a decade, influenced by online content, influencers, and lobby groups like Stonewall and Mermaids that have been “mis-training teachers.”
She emphasized that “the government has started a de-radicalisation programme but we actually need to de-radicalise a whole generation of teachers,” adding that the guidance falls short because “only total clarity will stop it” at this point, as the issue has “gone so far.”
Joyce urged the public to respond to the 10-week consultation on keeping children safe in education, stressing that “no child can change sex.”
Maya Forstater, chief executive of the campaign group Sex Matters, said: “It should be clear by now that allowing children and parents to think that a child who starts their education as a girl can graduate as a boy, or vice versa, is a dangerous fairytale.”
Forstater noted that while the guidance has generated backlash, there are elements of it that constitute a step forward.
This latest development comes amid ongoing controversies over gender ideology and children, with trans lobbyists continuing to push extreme agendas.
Radicals from Stonewall have demanded schools stop calling pupils ‘boys and girls’ and that they replace ‘he’ and ‘she’ with ‘they’ to “remove any unnecessarily gendered language” from classrooms.
The group also advocated for gender-neutral bathrooms and uniforms in schools, even offering rewards for compliance.
A publicly funded LGBT group in Scotland was exposed for urging teachers not to inform parents about children ‘transitioning,’ with guidance stating that “a transgender young person may not have told their family about their gender identity” and that inadvertent disclosure could cause stress or risk.
These lobbyists, including LGBT Youth Scotland receiving nearly £1 million in taxpayer funds annually, have signed up over half of Scotland’s secondary schools and 40 primary schools to their schemes.
The new English guidance appears to continue this trend, despite the landmark Cass Review in 2024, which concluded that evidence for puberty blockers and gender-affirming care for children is “remarkably weak” and built on “shaky foundations.”
The review led to a ban on puberty blockers for under-18s outside clinical trials, highlighting risks like impacts on bone health and fertility.
Yet, controversy persists with a planned clinical trial in 2026 assessing puberty blockers’ risks and benefits for about 220 children under 16.
? EXCLUSIVE: Some 226 children who believe they are transgender will be given puberty blockers as part of an investigation commissioned by Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, into their effects on the young.
Read the full story ??https://t.co/H298ryb3gU pic.twitter.com/c5KxduHpgT
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) February 12, 2026
Campaigners have launched legal efforts and petitions to suspend it, arguing it could harm vulnerable kids, with a government response acknowledging the “unacceptable safety risk” but proceeding to gather evidence.
The UK has commissioned a study on 226 kids who believe they are transgender to give them puberty blockers.
These drugs stop the body’s natural development and were already banned as “an unacceptable safety risk.” pic.twitter.com/kCI9zAAvNp
— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) February 12, 2026
The new guidance also comes despite the UK Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 that the legal definition of sex under the Equality Act 2010 is based on biological sex at birth, not altered by a Gender Recognition Certificate.
The latest development is thus a massive step backward, allowing activist-driven policies to once again infiltrate education while sidelining science and parental authority.
With detransition lawsuits mounting and evidence mounting against hasty transitions, protecting children’s innocence from ideological overreach remains paramount.
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 02/14/2026 – 08:10
Two men’s longtime friendship, love of Rock and Roll music leads to weekly 90-minute show
Mark Plotnick has been a fan of rock music since he was a child.
“My parents bought me a piano at the age of 8,” the Libertyville resident said. “After about a year of classical lessons, I started ditching my piano lessons because I wanted to play the music I was hearing on the radio, starting with the Beatles.”
When he had missed three lessons, the truant was outed to his parents by his music teacher, who happened to be his aunt.
Fortunately, Plotnick no longer has to keep his rock obsession a secret. He and his longtime friend Jim Summaria of Algonquin are cohosts of a weekly 90-minute program, “That Rock Show with Jim and Mark.”
They credit Ron Romero, founder and CEO of the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum in Joliet, with inspiring the program by inviting them to reprise the show that the pair had done earlier. “That Rock Show with Jim and Mark” has been airing every Wednesday at 7 p.m. since a year ago. They just completed recording their 52nd 90-minute show.
The show is recorded at the Museum’s Road to Rock Studio and Plotnick’s home studio. You can catch episodes, which are immediately archived, at roadtorock.org/podcast. Programs are also available anytime on Spotify, Amazon, and Apple podcast platforms under the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum.
During a phone interview, the pair engaged in playful banter.
“Jim and I have been friends for over four decades,” Plotnick said. “Jim is a professional rock photographer. He has been photographing musicians and concerts since the early 1970’s. His photographs have been seen nationally and internationally.”
“I’m blushing. Stop,” Summaria said.
They started bonding by going to lunch and talking about music for hours, Plotnick said. They also attended concerts together.
Plotnick retired in 2010 from a diverse career in the corporate world, including working as a trade magazine journalist, a market research editor, a PR person, a marketing manager, a copywriter, and other roles.
Summaria retired from a 40-year career in the corporate world in 2021 but continues photographing rock concerts, as he has since 1973.
“When I retired from corporate work, Jim came to me and said, ‘Why don’t we put my photographs of all these artists with your writing and our combined knowledge of rock and roll?’” Plotnick recalled.
That led to the publication of two books of Summaria’s photographs and Plotnick’s text. “Classic Rock: Photographs from Yesterday & Today” was published in 2019. The book sold out and wasn’t reprinted. “’70s Chicagoland Rock Concerts” was published in 2024. It is available at Barnes & Noble, Barbara’s, Amazon, Hudson News at O’Hare Airport, Arcada Theatre, Des Plaines Theatre, and the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum. The pair is working on a third book.
It also led to a radio program for 2-1/2 years, followed by a year-long hiatus before the pair began producing the show with the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum. It also led to freelance writing assignments and lectures for both of them.
The pair praised their strong connection that makes working together a pleasure. “We have so much in common, in terms of the music we love, the acts we love,” Plotnick said. “We get along very well together.”
Summaria joked, “I’m tired of hearing him. I think I’ll go solo.” He then praised the camaraderie that they have as well as the fact that they get to choose the content of each show. He added, “We feed off each other very well. We both have the same sense of humor. Mine’s a little better than his. We’re on the same wavelength.”
The pair selects a different theme for each show and work together to choose playlists and create a script for that week’s program. Plotnick is the producer of the show.
“I’m the goodlooking one,” Summaria said of his important role in the program. “That’s very important, especially on the radio. I’ve got a face made for radio.”
They often have musical guests on the show. That has included such notables as Jim Messina from Loggins and Messina, Al Jardine from the Beach Boys, Jerry Portnoy, harmonicist for Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton, and many others.
Plotnick emphasized that they focus on many other musical styles in addition to rock. “Even though we call it ‘That Rock Show,’ we cover folk, soul, R and B, a lot of blues, hard rock, progressive rock,” he said.
Plotnick concluded that with this radio program, “I’m living my passion and my dream. I wish my mom and dad were around to see what has happened since my retirement. I think they would be amazed, and they would be very proud.”
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/14/lierryville-algonquin-that-rock-show/
AHL All-Star Classic came to Rockford for the 1st time, and the IceHogs — and their fans — represented well
ROCKFORD — Games are on pause in the NHL, but there’s no Winter Olympics freeze for the AHL. Instead, it had a brief hiatus this week while the league’s best convened at the BMO Center.
The Rockford IceHogs hosted the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic on Tuesday and Wednesday. Not only was it the first time the Chicago Blackhawks affiliate catered the event, but the All-Star festivities returned to the Midwest for the first time since 2004, when it took place Grand Rapids, Mich.
“When we announced this event a year ago, we got a great reception and I could tell how meaningful it was going to be to this community,” AHL President and CEO Scott Howson said. “Rockford’s (in) proximity to Chicago, they don’t get a lot of these events, and for us to bring this event here was very meaningful.
“We haven’t been (to the Midwest) in 20 years, and we’ve got a lot of teams out here. It was really fitting with the Hawks 100-year anniversary (and the AHL’s) 90th season. Lots to be celebratory about.”
The IceHogs faithful didn’t hide their excitement. They offered cheers throughout the night Wednesday during the All-Star Challenge — and some jeers toward the rival Chicago Wolves and Milwaukee Admirals All-Stars.
It wouldn’t be an All-Star event in Rockford without some IceHogs in the mix. Forward Nick Lardis, captain Brett Seney and defenseman Kevin Korchinski were met with arena-shaking applause.
“They’ve done a terrific job on this arena,” Hawson said. “The Blackhawks assumed ownership in July of 2021, and the way they’ve run this franchise, turned it around, the attendance is strong, there were just so many positives to bring.”
After participating in the All-Star Skills Competition on Tuesday, it was an active Wednesday for the players. They began their day with kids at Conklin Academy Elementary School, teaching them the hockey ropes.
“Get to hang around some kids, the future of the sport, and give back to community,” Korchinski, 21, said. “You get to see the (parts of) Rockford that you don’t normally get to see and just interact with your buddies and just have a good time.”
Added Lardis: “I remember when I was a kid, all the support from the hockey teams around my community. It was cool to go to their games and see all those players growing up and get some autographs and learn a thing or two from them. It was special to receive that when I was younger, and then give it back to the kids.”
The AHL Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony followed the community event. Chris Bourque, Alexandre Giroux, Jim Wiemer and Wendell Young made up the 2026 class.
Finally, it was time for players to take the ice.
The round-robin, division-vs.-division tournament started with the Central facing the Atlantic. It was a 3-on-3 format with seven two-period games to crown a champion. An IceHogs line skated out in their red jerseys representing the Central, and the home crowd prepped as if it were any other Rockford puck drop.
“We don’t always have full buildings on All-Star (weekend), we didn’t have one last year in Coachella Valley (in Palm Desert, Calif.), so to have a full building (shows that) people are so genuinely excited about having this event here,” Hawson said. “The players feed off that, make no mistake. Our players always deliver a really good event.”
Defenseman Kevin Korchinski (14) practices Sept. 18, 2025, as the Blackhawks begin training camp at Fifth Third Arena. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The Central stars faced the Pacific in the championship game, with the Pacific winning 3-1 for the title. Korchinski ceded the All-Star MVP trophy he won last year to Colorado Eagles center Jayson Megna, who had four goals and three assists on the night to take home the award for the champions.
But the IceHogs skaters still represented well, with Lardis and Seney finishing with three points each over four games.
Lardis, 20, has been a highlight reel this season for both the Hawks and IceHogs, and the All-Star Classic was more of the same. He let a floater fly over Providence Bruins goaltender Michael DiPietro, a goal that briefly diverted hockey fans’ attention from the Winter Olympics.
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He didn’t say it outright, but it’s safe to say he wanted to show off a little for the hometown fans.
“If you’re having fun in practice and you get a breakaway, I’ll sometimes try that move,” Lardis said. “I knew if I had some good ice, I (wanted) to try to pull it off.
“I wanted to do something kind of cool (on Tuesday), but the ice was kind of rough. I didn’t want to bobble the puck in front of the fans.”
Korchinksi playfully teased Lardis both days, nitpicking the target he missed during the accuracy-shooting competition Tuesday. He was pretty impressed, though, by his teammate and all of the other participants, who get back to work Friday when the AHL season resumes.
“There’s not one guy can just pinpoint, that would probably be disrespectful,” Korchinksi said. “It’s different kind of vibe, you’re just … talking and stuff like that, and then you got to go to war on Saturday and Sunday (because) we need those points.”
Added Lardis of the two-day event: “Honestly expected from these fans. They’ve been unbelievable all year (with) the support they given us.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/14/rockford-icehogs-ahl-all-star-classic/
European Official Warns That Americans Can Be Silenced By EU Online Speech Laws
European Official Warns That Americans Can Be Silenced By EU Online Speech Laws
Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Europeans who face criminal charges for what they said or wrote warned that Europe’s speech laws can silence Americans as well, regardless of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protections.
While testifying before the House Judiciary Committee last week, Paivi Rasanen, a member of parliament in Finland, recounted how she has been prosecuted since 2021 for quoting Bible verses to church members and on social media that questioned her church’s participation in a Gay Pride march. Although she was acquitted, first by a local district court and then by an appellate court, prosecutors appealed the decision to Finland’s supreme court, where the case currently sits.
“My prosecution shows how quickly democratic societies can abandon free expression when the state decides which beliefs are acceptable,” Rasanen told The Epoch Times.
“I never imagined that quoting the Bible in a Twitter post would lead to years of criminal charges, yet this is now the reality in Europe,” she said. “Americans should be concerned because once censorship is normalized, it never stays confined to one country.”
The trend among Western countries to restrict religious speech has spread beyond Europe, with the Canadian government currently advancing a bill that would remove a religious exemption from “hate speech” laws in the country’s Criminal Code. Similarly, newly proposed legislation in Queensland, Australia, would criminalize certain symbols and phrases, with penalties of up to two years in prison.
While speaking before Congress, Rasanen was joined by Graham Linehan, an Irish writer and comedian who was arrested upon traveling through Heathrow Airport in 2025 for statements he had made in America on transgender issues.
“For a decade, the British police have harassed me for expressing views that the majority of the public share,” Linehan stated. “We have simply been punished for objecting to fashionable yet incoherent orthodoxies.”
‘Foreign Censorship Threat’
Their testimony was underscored by the release of a Feb. 3 House report titled “The Foreign Censorship Threat,” which charged that “The European Commission, in a comprehensive decade-long effort, has successfully pressured social media platforms to change their global content moderation rules, thereby directly infringing on Americans’ online speech in the United States.”
More specifically, the report states that “though ostensibly meant to combat ‘misinformation’ and ‘hate speech,’ nonpublic documents produced to the Committee show that for the last 10 years, the European Commission has directly pressured platforms to censor lawful, political speech in the European Union and abroad.”
This included regular meetings between U.S. tech companies and European Union regulators to put “content moderation” policies and algorithms in place to conform to European laws regarding “hate speech” and “misinformation,” the report states. The EU claims these initiatives were voluntary, but subpoenaed emails from tech executives stated that “we don’t really have a choice.”
Judicial Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told hearing attendees that, based on subpoenas issued to U.S. tech companies regarding their correspondence with EU officials, a pattern of compelled censorship emerged that included U.S. citizens.
“The European Commission successfully pressured social media companies to change their global content moderation rules, directly harming the speech of Americans in the United States,” Jordan stated. He also referenced an incident in which European commissioner Thierry Breton warned X owner Elon Musk that his company may face penalties for posting an interview with Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign.
“The European Commission is trying to censor speech and meddle in elections worldwide,” Jordan said. “When the European Commission makes censorship demands, platforms have to listen.”
Safety or Control?
According to the European Commission’s website, the Digital Services Act (DSA) “empowers citizens by strengthening the protection of their fundamental rights online and giving them greater control and more choices when they navigate online platforms and search engines.” The DSA also requires platforms to “minimise the risks of exposing citizens, including children and young people, to illegal and harmful content.”
Critics of EU speech laws say they have become a tool to punish U.S. tech companies for allowing any content that a European country has deemed to be illegal. In countries such as Germany, that could include insulting government officials.
French member of the European Parliament Virginie Joron called the DSA a “Trojan horse for surveillance and control.” Joron accused government officials of having “seized upon the DSA as a political tool to control speech, particularly targeting platforms like X, Facebook, and Telegram.”
And legal analysts say that the reach of the DSA extends beyond Europe.
The DSA “creates a pathway for foreign governments to influence public debate inside the United States without ever passing a single American law,” Lorcan Price, an Irish barrister who defended Rasanen and testified at the House hearing, told The Epoch Times.
“The EU’s Digital Services Act gives European regulators unprecedented leverage over American tech companies, which means European speech rules can end up shaping what Americans are allowed to say online,” Price said. “Once U.S. platforms are forced to comply with European censorship demands to avoid massive fines, those restrictions don’t stop at Europe’s borders.”
Enormous Fines and ‘Days of Action’
According to Price, U.S. companies have already been fined €3.8 billion for violating EU speech codes, and Spain has announced that it will impose criminal charges against company owners for violations.
“The enormous fines levied on X corporation by the European Commission since the last hearing, has proved beyond all doubt that the European Union means to strangle free speech by a systemic assault on U.S. companies,” Price told hearing attendees. “The EU has a multi-pronged strategy to open multiple investigations, to add more and more regulations and to impose crippling fines, and ultimately, I fear, to attempt to break up or ban companies such as X who are pro-free speech.”
Europe has become increasingly aggressive in prosecuting speech crimes, with Germany leading the effort. In June 2025, German police conducted early morning raids on 140 residents who were accused of violating speech laws, as part of Germany’s 12th annual “day of action against hate-posts.”
Germany prosecuted 10,732 of its citizens for “hate speech” or “harmful speech” in 2024, according to Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office. Similar actions have taken place in at least a dozen other European countries, according to Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency.
These prosecutions have had a chilling effect on public expression. In a 2025 Cato report, author David Inserra stated that Germans now feel increasingly “unable to express their opinions, with multiple polls finding around 44 percent of Germans expressing such concerns, up from 16 percent in 1990.”
The Risks of an Unregulated Internet
The issue of online censorship has recently been complicated by the spread of child sexual abuse images and nonconsensual sexualized images of public figures, many of which were created by artificial intelligence.
On Feb. 3, French police raided the offices of X, the social media company owned by Elon Musk, charging the company with permitting child pornography and pornographic deepfake images on its site. They also summoned Musk for questioning.
British regulators are also investigating instances in which Grok, X’s AI chatbot, created numerous sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images at the request of X’s users. In 2025, the United States passed the “Take It Down Act,” which requires internet service providers, social media sites, and search engines to take down nonconsensual sexual material within 48 hours of being notified, and subjects individuals who post such material to up to two years imprisonment.
In addition, children’s access to online pornography has prompted many lawmakers, in Europe and America, to advocate for higher age limits to be imposed on internet access.
In the United States, the age limit for children to access the internet is currently 13. Compliance with such laws, however, generally requires that tech companies verify the identity of whoever uses their apps and websites.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 02/14/2026 – 07:00
Príncipe heredero de Irán dice que la inacción contra Teherán alienta a los opresores
Associated Press
MUNICH, Alemania (AP) — Los partidarios del exiliado príncipe heredero de Irán, Reza Pahlavi, buscaban el sábado que los líderes mundiales reunidos en Múnich, Alemania, aumentaran la presión para impulsar un cambio en el gobierno iraní.
Pahlavi convocó a manifestaciones en Múnich, Los Ángeles y Toronto en lo que describió como un “día de acción global”, e instó a sus seguidores a salir a la calle para exigir “medidas urgentes y prácticas en apoyo del pueblo iraní”.
Los líderes de la República Islámica están ya bajo un intenso escrutinio y enfrentan nuevas amenazas de acciones militares por parte del presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump. Trump quiere que Teherán reduzca aún más su programa nuclear y el viernes sugirió que un cambio de régimen “sería lo mejor que podría pasar” en el país.
Irán también estuvo en el centro de las protestas en Múnich el viernes, el primer día de la Conferencia de Seguridad que reúne cada año en la ciudad alemana a líderes europeos y figuras de la seguridad global. Partidarios del grupo opositor Organización de los Muyahidines del Pueblo de Irán (OMPI, por sus siglas en inglés), también conocido como Muyahidines-e Jalq, se manifestaron contra la letal represión de las autoridades a las protestas a nivel nacional del mes pasado.
Aunque lleva casi 50 años exiliado, Pahlavi, hijo del depuesto sha de Irán, que abandonó su trono y huyó del país en 1979, trata de posicionarse como figura relevante para el futuro del país.
En una conferencia de prensa en Múnich el sábado, Pahlavi advirtió sobre la probabilidad de que se produzcan más muertes si “las democracias se quedan de brazos cruzados”.
“Nos reunimos en un momento de grave peligro para preguntar: ¿Estará el mundo del lado del pueblo de Irán?”, planteó.
La supervivencia continuada del gobierno de la República Islámica “envía una señal clara a todo opresor: mate a suficiente gente y se mantendrá en el poder”, agregó.
La Agencia de Noticias de Activistas de Derechos Humanos, con sede en Estados Unidos, afirma que al menos 7.005 personas murieron durante las protestas, incluyendo 214 miembros de las fuerzas gubernamentales. El grupo ha realizado conteos precisos en rondas previas de disturbios y se apoya en una red de activistas en Irán para verificar los decesos.
En su único balance de fallecidos, publicado el 21 de enero, el gobierno de Irán comunicó 3.117 decesos. En oleadas de disturbios anteriores, la teocracia ha subestimado o no ha reportado las muertes.
The Associated Press no ha podido evaluar de forma independiente la cifra de fallecidos dado que las autoridades han cortado el acceso a internet y las llamadas internacionales en Irán.
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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.
Garden Club of Beverly Morgan Park marks 100 years of growth, community spirit
It was the Roaring ’20s, six years after women had gained the right to vote. They sported drop-waist dresses, bob hairstyles and new attitudes. Many started coming together to form garden clubs focused on civic beautification.
A handful of women formed the Morgan Park Garden Club, as it was first known, in 1926. In 1927, the club was officially chartered as a member of The Garden Club of Illinois.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of The Garden Club of Beverly Morgan Park, club member Eileen Quirk Rowan spent two months crafting a still life picture of more than 100 colorful knit and crochet flowers. The yarn painting is making the rounds to local businesses, spending a month at a time at Afro Joe’s, Everything’s Relative, County Fair, as well as the Beverly Arts Center and other local establishments.
Rowan volunteers regularly and has helped manage the club’s community plant and seed sales. Her desire to serve her local community harkens back to the club’s very beginnings.
Kicking off a year-long observance of the club’s 100-year anniversary, Rowan’s fellow club member P.J. Pistek recently gave a PowerPoint presentation to a large group gathered after a monthly meeting at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 9401 S. Oakley. It was just one of many commemorative events scheduled for this year.
Others will include Gardening in the 1920s presentations on heirloom tomato varieties and other plants of the era, a field trip to Morton Arboretum — which was also established in the 1920s, a presentation on prairies by Chicago High School of Agricultural Sciences students and participation in the 100th annual Morgan Park/Beverly Memorial Day Parade.
The club will also assist with registration for the Beverly Area Planning Association’s Annual Garden Walk and hold a free community day event at the Beverly Arts Center where it maintains a pollinator garden, a permaculture garden and monarch flyway station.
After the Chicago fire of 1849, Pistek said, many families moved south, to an area graced by tall trees and divided into large residential lots with plenty of room for gardening. Fast forward to the 1920s, the city of Chicago annexed the village of Morgan Park, and there was no budget to continue maintenance of the area’s unique triangular-shaped public parks. Local residents stepped in to pick up the slack.
In the early years, club membership topped out at 20 and was restricted to women. Members had to be chosen by a nominating committee, based on the appearance of their gardens and their reputation.
Some didn’t make the cut, and those that did had to follow a decorum of addressing fellow club members as Mrs. So and So with no first names.
More than 50 members of the Garden Club of Beverly Morgan Park gather for a photo commemorating the club’s 100th anniversary during a recent meeting. Total club membership now is 103, after being capped at 20 for decades, when membership also was restricted to women. (Susan DeGrane/Daily Southtown)
The club changed with the times. Members started using first names in the 1970s. The club now has 103 members of diverse backgrounds, including 14 men.
“For a $25 membership, there’s so much fun stuff to do,” said David Perry of North Beverly. In 2013, he became the first man to join the club and has served several years as club treasurer.
Ticking off a typical year of events, he shared fond memories of plant sales, summer garden walks, “play dates” to tend garden plots in the community, informative presentations, and annual field trips to places like Garfield Park Conservatory and Chicago Botanical Gardens.
Once the club visited the estate of TV journalist Bill Kurtis to learn about his prairie restoration efforts. Another year they visited the rooftop gardens of the Gary Comer Youth Center Roof Garden on Chicago’s South Side.
Besides the area’s triangular parks, the club’s past beautification efforts have also included the Walker Branch library, 91st Street Rock Island train station grounds, and the Edna White Garden. Other local groups have taken over the care of these locations, but the club’s work has continued at the Beverly Arts Center since the early 2000s.
Gardening together enhances club comradery along with the swapping gardening tips, club members say. Club affiliation has been beneficial for other community works some undertake on their own.
The Roy Diblik Garden on the west side of the Beverly Arts Center is maintained by the Garden Club of Beverly Morgan Park and exemplifies sustainable gardening practices. (Susan DeGrane/Daily Southtown)
A master gardener, Perry is partial to day lilies which grow in abundance on the grounds of Kellogg Elementary School in North Beverly. He said he uses knowledge he’s gained from training as a master gardener, and from Garden Club presentations and fellow members, to assist students and parents with maintaining the Kellogg’s two pollinator gardens.
Donald Atkinson also appreciates the club as a community resource, but admits he came to the first club meeting with false assumptions.
“My wife roped me into joining, and I thought it was just going to be a lot of people eating and gossiping, but the first time I went, I thought, these people know some things.”
He said he has sought and received sound advice on landscaping and garden infrastructure for a garden he’s helped establish for St. Margaret of Scotland parish grounds in Morgan Park.
“I wanted to know about perennials that were low maintenance but that look good,” he said. “I also wanted to find out about companies that pour concrete for custom statue pedestals. I would not have tried doing any of this if I had not come here.”
Perry and Atkinson’s yeomen’s tasks in the community should come as no surprise. The club has always identified itself as “a working group.”
In the early days, members donated garden flowers and fruits, jams and juices to those less fortunate, including veterans, a girls’ home and hospital patients. During World War II, club members helped dig and plant victory garden plots.
Native flowers such as black-eyed Susans and purple coneflowers highlight a landscape design at the Roy Diblik Garden at the Beverly Arts Center, where the Garden Club of Beverly Morgan Park showcases sustainable gardening practices. (Susan DeGrane/Daily Southtown)
They’ve hosted seed sales and flower shows, and they’ve held demonstrations on how to plant bulbs, how to make macrame plant hangers, creating herb-flavored vinegars and companion planting.
Taking honors at Navy Pier Flower Shows and Modern Living Shows, the club also has raised community awareness of everything from gardening with native plants to Japanese flower arranging.
By 1978, the club’s meetings outgrew members’ homes and they started meeting at a Chicago Park District house. These days, the group meets regularly at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.
Dorothy Straughter is said to be the club’s 100th member. She joined the club in 2023, she said, “because I was already doing gardening things.” She and her husband maintain an impressive home garden on the 97th block of Longwood that’s been featured as a BAPA Garden Walk destination.
“I thought it (the club) was just going to be a bunch of ladies that got together and went out, but it turned out to be more,” Straughter said.
Over the decades the club has invited garden authorities to speak on a variety of garden cutting-edge topics including tree care and dangers posed by pesticides. One year they invited noted permaculture expert Roy Diblik to speak about building healthy soil and plant communities. They later committed to maintaining a garden space at the Beverly Arts Center honoring his pioneering efforts.
Susan DeGrane is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/14/garden-club-beverly-morgan-park-100-years/
