Welcome to December, quotes readers! We hope you’re staying warm during this cold and snowy start to winter. This fall was one of the top 10 warmest ever recorded in Illinois, but it sure doesn’t feel like that now, with record-breaking snowfall and bone-chilling temps outside.
Luckily, the Chicago Bears are warming our hearts this season. On Black Friday, the team defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-15, thanks to their rushing game and a big defensive play by cornerback Nahshon Wright — which helped earn him the title of NFC Defensive Player of the Month. But the win over the defending Super Bowl champions was significant for another reason: free hot dogs. During the Bears’ postgame celebration, head coach Ben Johnson rose to the Wieners Circle’s challenge, ripping off his shirt and triggering a day of free frankfurters at the popular hot dog stand for the second time this season.
After a few days off, the Bears returned to practice this week at Halas Hall in preparation for their matchup against the Green Bay Packers. The team plays Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field with the hopes of beating their longtime division rivals and maintaining their place as the top team in the NFC.
This week, Chicago aldermen proposed their own budget plan that would include higher garbage collection fees and liquor taxes as an alternative to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s corporate head tax. But on Thursday, Johnson’s administration publicly shot down the proposal, arguing it is no real plan at all. Across the hall, the Cook County Board of Review announced it would reopen appeals for property tax assessments through Dec. 12, allowing taxpayers another shot at lowering their bills for next year. And Charles Beach was sworn in as Cook County’s new chief judge on Monday, replacing Tim Evans after more than two decades leading the county judiciary.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s administration was concerned with several matters abroad this week. Congress is investigating a series of September military strikes on boats in the Caribbean after it was alleged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated peacetime laws when he ordered a second attack to kill survivors. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. But Putin left the negotiations saying that there were still several parts of the plan that he can’t agree to.
Stateside, Trump’s immigration operations have moved their focus to New Orleans, with officials saying they aim to make 5,000 arrests. Still, enforcement efforts are ongoing in Chicago. Federal immigration agents displayed a show of force in the west suburbs Friday, detaining at least three people in Cicero and Berwyn. Also this week, attorneys representing a group of media outlets and other plaintiffs abruptly moved to dismiss a lawsuit over the use of force by immigration agents during Operation Midway Blitz. Trump administration lawyers responded Thursday, arguing that the dismissal would bar journalists and protesters from bringing similar claims of constitutional violations in the future.
In other news outside the city, an Evanston church is making headlines for its controversial Christmas Nativity scene, the Indiana House passed new congressional maps and former Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald, who was fired in the wake of the program’s 2023 hazing scandal, has a new gig as head coach at Michigan State.
Plus, the winners of the Tribune’s Holiday Cookie Contest were announced this week! See the winning cookies — and get the recipes — here.
Those are the headlines. Without further ado, here’s the Tribune’s Quotes of the Week quiz from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6.
Want more quotes? You can check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week, here.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/06/quotes-quiz-december-6/
