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Column: Waukegan mayor throws ‘Hail Mary’ for Bears stadium

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

There’s pie in the sky, and then there’s seven-layer cake daydreams. Apparently, Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor had the latter this week.That’s when she didn’t have visions of sugarplums, but of the Chicago Bears finding a home in Waukegan for its $5 billion domed and multiuse football stadium plan.Can you say Hail Mary?Taylor became the latest suburban official to play the Bears baiting game. In a Monday letter to Kevin Warren, the team’s fairly new president and CEO, she extended an invitation to kick around what Waukegan has to offer.That is if the team is serious about walking away from the site of the former Arlington International Racecourse or the Chicago Park District’s Soldier Field. Demolition is underway at the former horse-racing track.Yet, the Bears say their Arlington Heights site, purchased in February for nearly $200 million, is no longer the “singular focus” for the new stadium. As Yogi Berra once said: “It’s to...

Yankees beat Mets, but Luis Severino stumbles again in Subway Series opener

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

After a lat strain delayed his 2023 debut, Luis Severino looked like a shot in the arm for an injury-riddled Yankees’ rotation after his first two starts of the season.The right-hander tallied two earned runs and 10 strikeouts over 11.1 innings against the Reds and Padres on May 21 and 27, respectfully, a strong showing as he continued to build up at the major league level after two minor league starts. Since then, however, Severino’s performance has been more of a problem than a welcomed addition.That remained the case Tuesday against the Mets, as the 29-year-old permitted five earned runs (six total) over 4.2 innings in a teeter-totter, 7-6 Yankees win that saw Max Scherzer pitch poorly, too. Severino also gave up seven hits and 10 hard-hit balls while walking three, striking out four and balking twice over 104 pitches.While Aaron Boone said he saw progress in another “rough start” from Severino, the fireballer had a harsher take on his night.“For me,...

Poor start by Max Scherzer, Brandon Nimmo’s sloppy defense and Drew Smith’s ejection sum up Mets’ loss to Yankees

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

No lead is ever safe for the Mets.Not with the state of the pitching staff and not with the way the bats seem to run out of battery at any given moment. Tuesday night at Citi Field was no different. The Mets watched the Yankees come back from a 5-1 lead to overtake them 6-5 in the fourth inning with one of their vaunted aces on the hill.The Mets ultimately lost the first game of the Subway Series, 7-6. It was their ninth loss in 10 tries. Each one stings a little differently, though the fans might say a Subway Series defeat at home in front of a sellout crowd stings more than others.Neither starter made it to the sixth inning. Max Scherzer (six earned on seven hits, two strikeouts) was taken out in the fourth after a Jake Bauers blooper scored two to put the Yankees (39-29) on top. He never got a feel for his slider. He wanted to bounce it, but he left it over the middle each time.“I was not getting the pitch in the locations that I wanted to no matter what my thought process ...

The weapons expert in the Alec Baldwin case was hungover on set, prosecutors say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN (Associated Press)ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The weapons supervisor on the film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer was drinking and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the filming of “Rust,” prosecutors are alleging, saying she was likely hungover when she loaded a live bullet into the revolver that the actor used. They leveled the accusations Friday in response to a motion filed last month by Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys that seeks to dismiss her involuntary manslaughter charge. The prosecutors accused her of having a history of reckless conduct and argued that it would be in the public interest for her to “finally be held accountable.”Jason Bowles, Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney, said Tuesday that the prosecution has mishandled the case.“The case is so weak that they now have chosen to resort to character assassination claims about Hannah,” Bowles told The Associated Press. “...

Column: Can the Chicago Cubs awaken from a bad dream — or is this the new normal?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

The mystery ailment to Seiya Suzuki remained a secret Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, though the Chicago Cubs right fielder was back in the starting lineup for the rain-delayed 11-3 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates.“My body feels really good,” Suzuki said through an interpreter. “These past couple days I’ve just been dreaming. … I’ve been having those dreams of getting bullied. But I feel like I’m back.”That also sounded like a perfect explanation for what has been ailing the Cubs, who returned from a 4-6 West Coast trip nine games under .500 after starting the season 12-7.Maybe it all has been just a bad dream, and the Cubs suddenly will wake up against the division-leading Pirates, whom they play five times in their next eight games in home-and-away series.The Cubs have been pushed around since their hot start, posting a .362 winning percentage (17-30) and threatening to fall into sellers at the trade deadline for the third straight se...

Column: Chicago Bears need the Justin Fields fireworks shows to continue. But as a runner, the QB needs to be more selective.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

On his way to a record-breaking 2022 season, one in which he rushed for 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns while creating a YouTube amusement park, Justin Fields made it perfectly clear. Those rushing exploits were fun and all. But his elevator to stardom as an NFL quarterback must be powered by his growth as a passer.Sure, Fields acknowledged a slight bit of disappointment in finishing 63 yards shy of Lamar Jackson’s single-season rushing record for a quarterback. “Of course,” he said the day after the Bears’ last-place season ended. “But that’s a rushing record. And I’m a quarterback. That would’ve been cool to have. But I’m not really into records like that. If there was one record I’d like to break, it’d be a passing record.“We’ll see if we can get that done in the near future.”Fields will get no arguments from his coaches, who day by day, practice by practice, meeting by meeting continue pushing h...

Despite serious legal threat, Trump turns day in court into a campaign event

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, even on some of the most consequential days of his presidency, were punctuated by the spectacle and attempts at showmanship he cultivated from years as a tabloid fixture and reality star.The former president’s history-making appearance Tuesday as a criminal defendant in a Florida federal court was no different.The former commander in chief, accused of being careless with some of the country’s most sensitive secrets and obstructing authorities as they tried to recover critical documents, pleaded not guilty to 37 charges. But he treated the day like a campaign event, even as he faces serious threats to his political ambitions and his freedom.Takeaways from Trump’s day in federal court:ALWAYS CAMPAIGNINGDespite the seriousness of the charges, Trump, ever the showman, sought to maximize any political benefits from the day. The Republican had encouraged supporters to show up at the federal courthouse — and hundreds did — while...

New I-5 carpool lanes to cut North County commute in half: Caltrans

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Commute times are about to decrease by half for some motorists who travel on Interstate 5, according to Caltrans and the San Diego Association of Governments.Four additional miles of carpool lanes will open Wednesday in North County on the I-5 south going from Oceanside to Carlsbad. San Diego City Council votes to approve homeless encampment ban This is part of a nearly $900 million project that will add up to 13 miles of carpool lanes. According to Caltrans, drivers who use the fast lanes, or high-occupancy vehicles (HOV), will save at least 50 percent of commute time during peak travel hours.Caltrans says this milestone completes the Build North Coast Corridor (NCC) program, which transportation officials described as on "one of the largest infrastructure improvement projects in the San Diego region." Motorists traveling in North County will now have expanded access to carpool lanes in each direction from State Route (SR) 78 in Oceanside to Palomar Airport Road in C...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts ahead of Fed decision

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting in early trading on Wall Street as investors wait to hear what the Federal Reserve’s latest decision will be on interest rates. The S&P 500 was little changed early Wednesday after riding a winning streak to its best level since April 2022. The Dow fell 137 points, or 0.4% and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. Markets were mostly quiet, with the main event coming later in the afternoon when the Fed will announce its latest move on interest rates. The Fed has jacked up rates to their highest levels since 2007 in hopes of getting inflation under control.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street futures are mixed Wednesday ahead of an interest rate policy decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve and new inflation data.Futures for the Dow fell about 0.1% before the bell and the S&P 500 ticked up 0.2%.A cooler reading on U.S. inflation on Tuesday buoyed hopes the Federal Reserve will announce that it is skipping ...

The Federal Reserve will likely leave interest rates alone for the first time in 15 months

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve, having raised interest rates at the fastest pace in four decades, is poised Wednesday to leave rates alone for the first time in 15 months to allow time to gauge the impact of its aggressive drive to tame inflation.Yet top Fed officials have made clear that any such pause may be brief — more of a “skip” — with another rate hike likely as soon as their next meeting in late July.Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other top policymakers have also indicated that they want to assess how much a pullback in bank lending might be weakening the economy. Banks have been slowing their lending — and demand for loans has fallen — as interest rates have risen.Some analysts have expressed concern that the collapse of three large banks last spring could cause nervous lenders to sharply tighten their loan qualifications and worsen the drop in lending. Economists at Goldman Sachs have estimated, though, that such damage will be modest. For the Fed, “skipping” a rate hi...