By Olivia Clark, Voice & Viewpoint Staff Writer

On December 20, the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA hosted its annual free holiday event. Families were welcomed to a morning filled with celebration, community, and holiday cheer. Pre-registered families lined up along the back parking lot early, entering the event around 9 a.m. Popular characters including Santa, The Grinch, Bluey, and Jack Skellington greeted children and their families, and posed gladly for photos. 

While the YMCA sits next to a busy freeway, the sounds of traffic were drowned out by Christmas music, festive energy and the laughter of children.

The first stop for many families was the toy giveaway area, where YMCA staff and volunteers thoughtfully guided children through an array of toys catered to their age and gender. The kids got to pick a toy that they wanted and loved, walking away with grand smiles and full hearts. 

The Michael Brunker Gymnasium was reserved specifically for the teens to have their own space to celebrate, play, and be in community with one another. Toys, and beauty and hygiene products were available to anyone 13 and up. 

The main event area, held within the fencing of the turf athletic fields, was complete with an inflatable bouncy house and obstacle course, a virtual reality gaming tent, stands and booths from a variety of community-based organizations, athletic games, and even a real pile of snow for kids to play in. Additional activities included crafts, building blocks, and lawn games. 

With music blaring and families celebrating together, the cheer and joy of the holiday season could be felt from blocks away.

For full stories and photos only published in print, pick up a paper at a newsstand near you, or check out the latest edition of our newspaper on Thursday each week. 

Related

The Bartlesville Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 610 is continuing its tradition of holiday giving and community support this Christmas season.

Appearing on Community Connection Tuesday, Eagles Rick Harlow and John Stowe say members recently distributed 85 Christmas food baskets to families in need, each filled with about $150 worth of groceries. The lodge has served Bartlesville since the early 1900s and follows the motto “people helping people.”

The Eagles raise much of their charitable funding through traditional paper bingo, held every Monday and Friday night at the Lodge on West Second Street. Early bird games start at 6:30 p.m., with regular sessions at 7:30 p.m. All proceeds support local causes, including youth sports, first responders and community programs.

The Eagles recently raised about $7,000 through a special “Battle of the Badges” bingo for police and sheriff charities and will also sponsor volunteers when the traveling Vietnam War Memorial Wall comes to Bartlesville this spring.

Eagle leaders say all work is done by volunteers, and the lodge remains open through the holidays.

Listen to “Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 610 12-23-25” on Spreaker.

BYRON, Minn. (KTTC) – Byron Public Schools and its former financial management company met in court Tuesday to discuss next steps in their ongoing legal battle.

According to November court records, the lawsuit has been put on an expedited litigation track, sometimes referred to as a “rocket docket,” which aims to make the process just and speedy.

Byron Public Schools alleges School Management Services LLC incorrectly projected expenditures like staff salaries and benefits, resulting in a shortfall of millions.

When the two will meet in court again has yet to be determined.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Instead of cheering for their young boys, parents attending a Catholic Youth Organization basketball game Saturday night had to break up a courtside fight.

A video posted to social media and sent to the Advance/SILive.com captured the physical altercation, which broke out just after 9:20 p.m. in the gymnasium of St. Teresa’s in Castleton Corners.

The 43-second clip was taken from a camera positioned in a corner of the facility, looking down diagonally on the court.

The footage shows a woman wearing a gray sweater and holding a camera approach another woman in red who was seated at a table beneath the camera.

Although it is not clear from the video who began the verbal exchange, the woman in gray can be seen speaking to the seated woman before turning away. The woman in red leans forward in her chair and the woman in gray sharply turns back.

The two can then be seen gesturing with their hands as the woman in red rises up out of her chair.

As all this goes on, the young boys in uniform can be seen filtering back onto the court.

The woman in red then approaches the woman in gray, who sets her camera down on the table. The woman in gray appears to point out at the court before shoving the woman in red, who at that point was face to face with the other woman, the video shows.

The two then begin to grapple as some concerned spectators in the bleachers step forward.

The woman in red grabs the other woman’s hair, then the latter begins swinging her arms.

By this point, several individuals rush to try and split the pair apart. Meanwhile, other adults corral the boys on the court.

Several men throw themselves into the mix in an apparent attempt to break the women apart. During this chaos, the woman in gray can be seen connecting a couple glancing blows to the head of the woman in red.

After a few seconds the group is able to separate the women. Simultaneously, a man in a baseball cap comes in and grapples with one of the men in the mix.

At this point, some of the other men begin to grab at the man in the cap, who struggles to break free. The group of men find themselves back at the corner of the gymnasium and the man in the cap is subsequently pinned against the wall.

The woman in gray then grabs two of the men pushing the man in the cap by their arms. While she is doing this, the woman in red approaches from behind and smacks her in the back of her head a couple times, as seen in the video.

The video then stops amid this altercation.

An extended struggle

A parent who witnessed the melee in the gym told the Advance/SILive.com that despite efforts from officials, the entire struggle continued for several minutes and resulted in the cancellation of the 6th grade boys’ game.

“Boys were crying, they were so upset, they didn’t know what was happening,” the parent said.

The parent said the woman in red was collecting money at the door for St. Teresa’s, while the woman in gray was a parent from the visiting St. Clare’s team. The witness explained that the two women were involved in a verbal dispute that escalated.

The parent said that this was not the first time she’s witnessed bad behavior among adults at youth sporting events on Staten Island.

“It’s like a disgrace, it really is,” the witness expressed.

“You come to watch the kids’ sports game on a Saturday night,” the witness added. “Everybody kind of gets riled up in the game, right? You know, you have your comments, people say things or whatever, but it just shouldn’t be. I think it’s getting to a point where they’re not going to let spectators in the gym anymore because parents just seem really to be out of control.”

The witness said a priest from St. Clare’s R.C. Church was in attendance Saturday night and witnessed the shocking behavior.

According to the Archdiocese of New York Catholic Youth Organization Code of Conduct, participating teams and their coaches are responsible for the conduct of their spectators. Moreover, a spectator who displays poor sportsmanship may be removed from the facility.

Those who interfere with the conduct of an organization activity may be barred from attendance at subsequent Catholic Youth Organization activities.

A request for comment was made to Catholic Youth Organization officials, the Archdiocese of New York, the parish sports coordinator for St. Clare’s and the Catholic Youth Organization director for St. Teresa’s. No comments were returned by the time of publication.

A person who answered the phone at St. Teresa’s Church declined to comment. A person who answered the phone at St. Clare’s did not provide any information on the conflict.

University of South Carolina head football coach Shane Beamer has named Deion Barnes as the Gamecocks’ defensive ends/outside linebackers coach, it was announced today.

Barnes, 32, has spent the past three seasons as the defensive line coach on James Franklin’s staff at Penn State after working with the Nittany Lions for three years as a graduate assistant tutoring the defensive line.

During his six seasons working with the PSU defensive line, Barnes has mentored 21 All-Big Ten selections, including five first-team picks, along with a first-team, a second-team and a third-team All-American.

Since 2020, Barnes’ first year with the program, Penn State has led the nation in most defensive ends selected in the NFL Draft with seven.

Penn State’s defense has consistently been among the FBS leaders in both sacks and tackles for loss. In 2025, PSU ranked third in the Big Ten and 37th in the country in tackles for loss, averaging 6.1 per game, and fifth in the Big Ten and 39th in the nation in sacks with 2.3 per contest. In 2024, the Nittany Lion defense ranked second in the FBS in tackles for loss (119) and fifth in sacks (44). In 2023, Penn State’s defense ranked first nationally in sacks (49) and first among Power Five teams (2nd nationally) in tackles for loss (111). During the 2022 campaign, Penn State led the Big Ten with 104 tackles for loss (T-4th nationally) and 42 sacks (T-6th).

South Carolina and Penn State are tied for fourth nationally in turnovers forced since 2021 with 110.

The most decorated player Barnes coached, Abdul Carter, was named a unanimous All-American, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2024 before becoming the third pick in the NFL Draft pick. He led the nation with 23.5 tackles for loss and ranked seventh nationally in sacks (12.0). Barnes has also coached first round pick Chop Robinson, former five-star prospect Dani Dennis-Sutton and third round NFL pick Adisa Isaac, among others.

Barnes was a three-year letterwinner at Penn State from 2012-14 and earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 2012. He spent two years in the NFL with the New York Jets (2015) and Kansas City Chiefs (2016), and an additional season in the AAF with the San Antonio Commanders in 2019. He earned his bachelor’s degree from PSU in 2014 in Recreation, Park and Tourism Management.

Prior to returning to Penn State as a graduate assistant, Barnes worked as an assistant coach at his former high school, Philadelphia Northeast, eventually becoming the Vikings’ defensive coordinator.

Barnes File
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.
High School: Philadelphia Northeast
College: Penn State (2014 – B.S.  Recreation, Park & Tourism Management)

Coaching Career
2023-2025 – Penn State (Defensive Line)
2020-2022 – Penn State (Defensive G.A.)

SOUTH CAROLINA 2026 COACHING STAFF
Shane Beamer, Head Coach
Deion Barnes, Defensive Ends/Outside Linebackers Coach
Kendal Briles, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
Randy Clements, Offensive Line Coach
Joe DeCamillis, Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator
Stan Drayton, Assistant Head Coach – Offense/Running Backs Coach
Shawn Elliott, Run Game Coordinator/Tight Ends Coach
Mike Furrey, Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach
Torrian Gray, Defensive Pass Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach
Travian Robertson, Defensive Line Coach
Clayton White, Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach

WELCOME TO NEWSMAKERS

The QCBJ devotes Newsmaker series to looking back on some of the biggest and most noteworthy stories we covered in 2025 across the Quad Cities region.  Each story also includes a small update on the topic or news event. The stories are not ranked, but rather, appear in chronological order. 

The original story ran January 2025

These are busy days filled with fun and games at the Forest Grove Sports Complex. 

The $14 million, 113,000-square-foot sports facility in northern Bettendorf is busy hosting softball, baseball and soccer tournaments, and other events. And it’s getting ready to host winter tournaments — such as the Winter Warm-up softball event — in the coming weeks.

The sports complex, located in The Plex business corridor and near Iron Tree Golf and TBK Bank Sports Complex, is nearing its first-year anniversary. Forest Grove opened for business early last January with a girls’ softball tournament.

In addition, this first year has been a year of change and growth for the complex at 6945 Iron Tee Way. Perhaps the biggest change came in September when the indoor turf field was named the Crawford Field in honor of its new sponsor Crawford Company, a Quad Cities manufacturer, fabricator and HVAC provider. 

Sharing his excitement for the naming sponsor for the indoor turf field, Ryan Hintze, Iron Tee Golf CEO and president of TBK Bank Sports Complex, said “The Crawford name carries a strong reputation in the Quad Cities and having them as a partner reinforces our commitment to growing sports and community opportunities in the Quad Cities.” 

Mr. Hintze added that the sports complex owners are still seeking a sponsor for building naming rights for the sports complex itself.

“Sponsorship of Crawford Field gives us the opportunity to support youth sports in the community,” said Emily Adams, business development manager at the Crawford Company. “At Crawford, we value teamwork and individual growth. Youth sports and competition provide an opportunity for individual development and emphasize teamwork.”

The field’s name change was made official in September. Crawford Company announced the news on its Facebook page stating how Crawford’s architectural fabrication team designed, fabricated, and installed a 24-foot “Crawford Field” sign in place outside the sports complex.

 — Dave Thompson