gstar288
The Bears say they want to stay in Chicago, but their potential drive to the northwest suburbs just got easier. Team officials announced Monday they’ve reached a tentative agreement with the village of Arlington Heights and local school district leaders who’ve sparred with the Bears over the property tax valuation on the shuttered Arlington International Racecourse, the 326-acre plot the team closed on early last year as a potential new stadium site. After about a year of wrangling over the size of the team’s property tax bill — and a year of political roadblocks to the Bears’ hopes for funding a new stadium in Chicago — the team says it has a memorandum of understanding that opens the runway for them to land in Arlington Heights. But their first choice is still Chicago, team officials insist, raising the constant question of whether Bears’ latest announcement is a push for leverage in stadium negotiations that have now stretched over three years. In a statement, team officials said they “remain focused on investing over $2 billion to build a publicly owned enclosed stadium on Chicago’s lakefront while reevaluating the feasibility of a development in Bronzeville.” “That being said, we remain significant landowners in Arlington Heights and establishing a framework for potential future development planning, financing and property tax certainty has been a priority since the land was purchased. We continue to have productive conversations with the village and school districts and are aligned on a framework should we choose to explore a potential development,” team officials said. Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said the property tax deal was not yet signed, noting it requires approval from the boards of the village, Township High School District 214, Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 and Palatine Township Elementary District 15. “It’s pretty clear the Bears are still focused on the lakefront, but we’ve always considered Arlington Park and Arlington Heights a strong, if not the best contender, and I’m really optimistic about the progress we’ve made,” Hayes said. A spokesperson for the village and school districts said “we have a common understanding with the team on how to create a framework for potential development, financing, and property tax certainty in Arlington Heights that works for all parties.” Officials declined to say what number the sides landed on. It’s expected to be announced next week. A year after the Bears closed on their $197.2 million purchase, the Cook County Board of Review in February handed the Bears a $124.7 million valuation on Arlington Park, which would result in a property tax hit of about $9 million. The team argued their case to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, seeking to have the valuation lowered to $60 million, for a $1.7 million tax bill. The three suburban school districts, which are funded by property taxes, intervened in the case with proposals that would land the bill around $5 million. Once all but certain for a suburban move, the stalemate prompted the Bears to shift their focus back toward the Museum Campus, where the team in April unveiled a proposal for a $4.7 billion dome south of Soldier Field . Their plan, which requires upwards of $1 billion in public funding , drew cheers from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson — and cold shoulders from state lawmakers in Springfield. The team called an audible from their city stadium playbook earlier this month, and are now reevaluating the former Michael Reese Hospital site in Bronzeville as a potential home, despite the fact team president Kevin Warren previously dismissed it as too narrow to house a modern NFL dome. Johnson’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday’s announcement. The Bears unveiled conceptual designs in 2022 for a massive mixed-use stadium district at Arlington Park, the home of Illinois’ most famous horse racing track for nearly a century until the last races were run in 2021. Their suburban proposal for the sprawling plot includes office space, a sportsbook, small residential neighborhoods, retail and park space alongside a $5 billion dome. They would need state help to fund that infrastructure work, a prospect similarly stymied so far in Springfield. Such a development would take about a decade to complete, the team has said. They’re under lease at Soldier Field through 2033 . The Arlington Heights mayor called it “a long road” to landing the property tax deal. “We’ve been working aggressively to get everyone singing from the same music over the last year,” Hayes said, adding that he doesn’t think the Bears are merely trying to raise pressure on state lawmakers to help them stay in Chicago. “I understand their desire to do their due diligence and get the best deal,” Hayes said. “That’s what we’re all doing.”
New Jersey Senator Andy Kim posted videos of what he described as multiple unidentified drones flying over Hunterdon County, New Jersey, on Thursday night, December 12, after he headed out with local police to investigate the widespread sightings. Storyful could not independently verify if the objects in Kim’s footage are drones or other kinds of aircraft. Kim posted four videos, with each showing two or more lights moving across the night sky. Some lights that moved low over a tree line gave off a “solid white light” while “others flashed of red and green,” and some of the unidentified objects appeared to be “moving in small clusters of 2-4,” Kim “We clearly saw several that would move horizontally and then immediately switch back in the opposite direction in maneuvers that planes can’t do,” he added. Kim said he and police officers used a flight tracker app to help them distinguish drones from airplanes, and “often saw about 5-7 lights at a time that were low and not associated with aircraft we could see on the tracker app.” Police told Kim that they had used helicopters to try to get closer to the objects, but said “the drones would turn off the lights and go dark if approached.” Earlier on Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a saying they had “no evidence” that the drone sightings “pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.” They said they were working closely with New Jersey State Police to determine “whether the reported drone flights are actually drones or are instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings.” Kim expressed frustration over the lack of information about the drones from either federal authorities or the military. “This has gone on for weeks. It’s hard to understand how with the technology we have we aren’t able to track these devices to determine origin and this makes me much more concerned about our capabilities more broadly when it comes to drone detection and counter-measures,” he said. The Hunterdon County Sheriff’s Office on December 6 to report drone sightings to the FBI. Credit: Andy Kim via StoryfulGreg Gumbel, Longtime CBS Sports Studio Host and Play-by-Play Man, Dies at 78Ange Postecoglou searching for answers over Tottenham’s injury crisis
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Allowing two kickoff return touchdowns and missing an extra point all in the final few minutes added up to the Washington Commanders losing a third consecutive game in excruciating fashion. The underlying reason for this slide continuing was a problem long before that. An offense led by dynamic rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels that was among the NFL's best for a long stretch of the season put up just nine points and 169 yards for the first three-plus quarters against Dallas before falling behind 20-9 and teeing off on the Cowboys' conservative defense. “We just couldn’t really get it going,” said receiver Terry McLaurin , whose lengthy touchdown with 21 seconds left masked that he had just three catches for 16 yards through three quarters. “We’ve got to find a way to start faster and sustain drives, and that’s everybody: the whole coaching staff and the offensive players just going out there and figuring out ways that we can stay on the field.” This is not a new problem for Washington, which had a season-low 242 yards in a Nov. 10 home loss to Pittsburgh and 264 yards four days later in a defeat at Philadelphia. Since returning from a rib injury that knocked him out of a game last month, Daniels has completed just under 61% of his passes, after 75.6% over his first seven professional starts. Daniels and coach Dan Quinn have insisted this isn't about injury. The coaching staff blamed a lack of adequate practice time, but a full week of it before facing the Cowboys did not solve the problem. It is now fair to wonder if opponents have seen enough film of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury's system to figure it out. “I think teams and coordinators are going to see what other teams have success against us and try to figure out how they could incorporate that into their scheme," Daniels said after going 12 of 22 for 80 yards passing through three quarters in the Dallas game. "We’ve been in third and longer a lot these past couple games, so that’s kind of where you get into the exotic pressures and stuff like that. We’ve just got to be better on first and second downs and stay ahead of the chains.” Daniels has a point there, and it predates this losing streak. The Commanders have converted just 36% of third-down opportunities (27 for 75) over their past seven games after 52% (31 for 60) in their first five. That challenge doesn't get any easier with Tennessee coming to town Sunday. The Titans, despite being 3-8, have the second-best third-down defense in the league at 31.6%. The defense kept the Commanders in the game against Dallas, allowing just 10 points until the fourth quarter and 20 total before kickoff return touchdowns piled on to the other side of the scoreboard. Even Cooper Rush's 22-yard touchdown pass to Luke Schoonmaker with five minutes left came after a turnover that gave the Cowboys the ball at the Washington 44. The defense spending more than 35 minutes on the field certainly contributed to fatigue as play wore on. The running game that contributed to a 7-2 start has taken a hit, in part because of injuries to top back Brian Robinson Jr. The Commanders got 145 yards on the ground because Daniels had 74 on seven carries, but running backs combined for just 57. Daniels could not say how much the rushing attack stalling has contributed to the offense going stagnant. “You’ve got to be able to run the ball, keep the defense honest,” he said. "We got to execute the plays that are called in, and we didn’t do a good job of doing that.” Story continues below video Linebacker Frankie Luvu keeps making the case to be first-year general manager Adam Peters' best free agent signing. He and fellow offseason addition Bobby Wagner tied for a team-high eight tackles, and Luvu also knocked down three passes against Dallas. Kicker Austin Seibert going wide left on the point-after attempt that would have tied the score with 21 seconds left was his third miss of the game. He also was short on a 51-yard field goal attempt and wide left on an earlier extra point. Seibert, signed a week into the season after Cade York struggled in the opener, made 25 of 27 field goal tries and was 22 of 22 on extra points before injuring his right hip and missing the previous two games. He brushed off his health and the low snap from Tyler Ott while taking responsibility for not connecting. “I made the decision to play, and here we are,” Seibert said. “I just wasn’t striking it well. But it means a lot to me to be here with these guys, so I just want to put my best foot moving forward.” Robinson's sprained ankle and fellow running back Austin Ekeler's concussion from a late kickoff return that led to him being hospitalized for further evaluation are two major immediate concerns. Quinn said Monday that Ekeler and starting right tackle Andrew Wylie are in concussion protocol. It's unclear if Robinson will be available against Tennessee, which could mean Chris Rodriguez Jr. getting elevated from the practice squad to split carries with Jeremy McNichols. The Commanders still have not gotten cornerback Marshon Lattimore into a game since acquiring him at the trade deadline from New Orleans. Lattimore is trying to return from a hamstring injury, and the secondary could use him against Calvin Ridley, who's coming off a 93-yard performance at Houston. 17 — Handoffs to a running back against Dallas, a significant decrease from much of the season before this losing streak. Don't overlook the Titans with the late bye week coming immediately afterward. The Commanders opened as more than a touchdown favorite, but after the results over the weekend, BetMGM Sportsbook had it as 5 1/2 points Monday. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl