Category: News
Mujeres indígenas bolivianas llevan historia y orgullo en la tradicional falda “pollera”
Por JUAN KARITA
LA PAZ (AP) — Antes de partir hacia la amplia y blanca montaña, Ana Lia González Maguiña revisa su equipo: un grueso suéter para protegerse del frío. Un arnés y una cuerda de escalada para ascender a la cumbre de 6.000 metros de una de las montañas más altas de Bolivia. Gafas de aviador para protegerse del brillante sol de las tierras altas.
Y lo más crucial: una voluminosa falda rosa intenso.
La falda de campana con enaguas en capas, conocida como “pollera”, es el vestido tradicional de las mujeres indígenas en las tierras altas de Bolivia. Impuesta hace siglos por los colonizadores españoles, la antigua pollera ha sido desde hace tiempo rediseñada con telas locales ricamente estampadas y reivindicada como una fuente de orgullo y símbolo de identidad en el único país de la región con mayoría indígena.
En lugar de ver la voluminosa falda como un obstáculo para trabajos físicamente exigentes en campos dominados por hombres, las mujeres indígenas andinas, llamadas “cholitas”, insisten en que su negativa a conformarse con el estilo contemporáneo no afecta su comodidad ni sus capacidades.
“Este deporte es tan exigente, tan duro, y al hacerlo con pollera y representar esa fuerza, valorar nuestras raíces, es un mérito para nosotras haber llegado hasta esto”, afirmó González Maguiña, de 40 años, una escaladora profesional de pie ante el nevado pico Huayna Potosí, justo al norte de La Paz, la capital administrativa de Bolivia. “No es solamente una pantalla”.
Mineras, patinadoras, escaladoras, futbolistas y luchadoras vestidas con polleras en toda Bolivia compartieron ese sentimiento en entrevistas, retratando su adopción de polleras para todos los propósitos profesionales y físicos como un acto de empoderamiento.
“Las mujeres, con nuestras polleras, queremos capacitarnos más y ser más fuertes”, declaró Macaria Alejandro, una minera de 48 años en el estado occidental de Oruro, Bolivia, su pollera manchada con la suciedad y el polvo de un día trabajando bajo tierra.
Pero muchas también describieron el momento actual como uno de incertidumbre para las mujeres que visten pollera en Bolivia bajo el primer gobierno conservador del país en casi dos décadas.
El presidente de centro-derecha Rodrigo Paz asumió el cargo el mes pasado poniendo fin a una larga era de gobierno moldeada por el carismático Evo Morales (2006-2019), el primer presidente indígena de Bolivia que priorizó a las poblaciones indígenas y rurales en un país que había sido gobernado durante siglos por una élite mayoritariamente blanca.
A través de una nueva constitución, Morales cambió el nombre de la nación de República de Bolivia a Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia y adoptó el símbolo indígena de la wiphala —un tablero de colores brillantes— como un emblema equivalente a la bandera nacional. Por primera vez, ministros y funcionarios que vestían polleras caminaron por los pasillos del poder.
Pero el desencanto con el partido Movimiento al Socialismo de Morales creció, especialmente bajo su antiguo aliado, el expresidente Luis Arce, quien fue arrestado a principios de este mes bajo acusaciones de haber desviado dinero de un fondo estatal destinado a apoyar a las comunidades indígenas.
Algunas cholitas ahora se preguntan hasta dónde llegará ese cambio y temen que pueda extenderse a sus derechos duramente ganados a pesar de las promesas de Paz en sentido contrario.
Describen sentirse desatendidas por un gobierno sin miembros indígenas. Se preocupan por las implicaciones de que el ejército el mes pasado eliminara símbolos indígenas de su logotipo y el gobierno decidiera dejar de izar la wiphala en el palacio presidencial, como era la tradición desde hace mucho tiempo.
“Me siento discriminada… por no ser tenida en cuenta por el gobierno”, dijo Alejandro, la minera. “Necesitábamos un cambio, y sobre todo queremos que la economía esté mejor”.
Pero González Maguiña indicó que aún tiene esperanza, dado lo lejos que han llegado las mujeres indígenas.
“Hemos recorrido un camino que también hemos abierto para otras; ahora estamos con ese plan de liderar y la pollera para nosotras en el deporte que hacemos es sinónimo de fuerza. Nosotras somos unas mujeres que sueñan alto, ya ha habido una apertura, ya se han abierto las puertas para nosotras hace tiempo, porque siempre esas puertas han estado cerradas… ya tenemos una parte de empoderamiento y ahora parece que también va a ser mas valorado el tema de la formación”, señaló.
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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.
The Bizarro-World Of The Forever Maskers
The Bizarro-World Of The Forever Maskers
Authored by ‘sallust’ via DailySceptic.org,
The Telegraph has a story about the ‘Zero Covid’ zealots refusing to re-enter society.
Not only that, but these forever maskers want everyone else masked up in perpetuity too. It’s a remarkable instance of the emergence of a new form of cult based on a surreal new ritual. And just for good measure, it seems that those leaning Left are most likely to be on board:
The claims of links to Covid circulating online amid the deadly chaos were not always proved beyond doubt, but in this climate of fear and confusion, a determined ‘Zero Covid’ community emerged. Co-opting a phrase that was originally an official public health policy, the ‘Zero Coviders’ believed they were watching a massacre in real time, and the maskless – especially those who were unvaccinated – were to blame. As governments relaxed the restrictions, they felt they needed to step up.
“I was like, ‘Okay, this is not right. This is f—–,’” says [Alyson] Hardwick, a second-year university student who does not have any underlying health conditions. The last time she ate indoors at a restaurant was in October 2022 for her 31st birthday. “I felt sketched out [uneasy],” she recalls. “I was leaving every place I was going inside without a mask, wondering, ‘Did I get it?’”
Hardwick began wearing a respirator mask – specialised, disposable facepieces called N95s or N99s which offer more comprehensive protection than a surgical mask – and spending most of her time alone.
She’s ostracised herself from other people and posts thousands of clips online and argues that it’s everyone else, not her, who is living in fear. “Denial is a fear response,” she insists.
Hardwick’s stance exemplifies the increasingly fraught Zero Covid movement – a citizen-led campaign across the Western world to keep the air clean. She is just one of thousands of geographically disparate people, many of whom are not immunocompromised, who are still living in their own self-imposed lockdowns, fearful of becoming one of the millions to suffer with serious long Covid symptoms, or anxious about transmitting the virus to someone less fortunate. Zero Covid has adherents across North America and Europe, including some in the UK, but followers from the US and Canada are the most visible online.
The charged movement to end ‘pandemic denialism’ has some high-profile advocates, including Left-wing US journalist Taylor Lorenz. “If ur [sic] not masking ur absolutely facilitating eugenics,” Lorenz posted to her 350,000 followers on X on December 6th.
“Refusing to mask during an ongoing pandemic is absolutely violent and it’s undeniably participating in social murder,” she said in another recent post, as well as calling out Leftist “super spreader” events. “You are actively *killing* and maiming people around you by intentionally spreading airborne disease during an active pandemic.” (Separately, she pilloried non-maskers for “raw-dogging the air and spewing ur disease laden breath all over ur elderly neighbours”.)
By 2022, the pandemic and the panicked measures were retreating into the past:
But the cautious, despite getting vaccinated and then boosted, couldn’t move on. Online communities became lifelines as in-person social circles frayed. Campaigners pushed ‘clean air’ as the next public-health frontier, and offered seatbelt analogies for masking: mildly inconvenient, obviously protective.
Masking was increasingly framed as an act of love, and it was overwhelmingly Left-wing groups which encouraged – even mandated – their continued use. Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac encouraged continued mask wearing. “I f—— hate the masks, but I wear them,” she said. “People give you dirty looks. I dare anybody to give me a dirty look. I would just say, ‘Hey, you know what? I’m Stevie Nicks.’”
That would presumably be the same Stevie Nicks who reportedly blew a hole through her nose from snorting cocaine. By 2023 mask use was largely discredited, but the Telegraph quotes a Mayo Clinic source:
“People who rebuilt their entire lives and recast their identities around reducing the risk of catching Covid to zero couldn’t deal with this,” one former ardent Zero Covider recalls, speaking to me on condition of anonymity.
“The movement devolved into a massive online circle-jerk where members blindly validate each other on taking disproportionate precautions.
One ardent proponent of masking says that’s the way he’ll spend the rest of his life:
“I don’t just, like, go out the way I used to,” says Evan Sachs, who is in his early 30s and lives in New York with his three cats. He always wears a mask outdoors.
“Sometimes it’s a bummer.” Not because masking is keeping him from living his life, he adds, “but because other people [selfishly] aren’t doing the ‘wearing your pants’ levels of easy things” to keep everyone safe. He runs a ‘bloc’ in the Washington Heights area of New York which distributes personal protective equipment (PPE) to less well-off communities. “I do not have Long Covid, thank goodness,” Sachs adds. “I am very, very lucky on that front.”
He doesn’t want to get it either. “I honestly think I would [mask forever],” he says.’
An Austrian doctor called Spela Salomon has no time for non-maskers:
Outside work, she does not spend time with people who do not take equal precautions. “I just don’t feel like I get anything out of hanging around the maskless masses,” she says. “It’s sad and isolating.” In an article published by the World Health Network earlier this year, Salomon predicted that a rising toll of Covid complications would lead to a societal shift in which air quality is recognised as an essential public health priority like potable water. “It is those who persist in denial who are truly living in fear,” she wrote, echoing Hardwick’s sentiment in her social media video.
It appears that the forever maskers have become so dedicated to the cause that they are even fetishizing masks:
US college student Bela waxes lyrical about her powered air-purifying respirator, certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
“It blows air out so that no outside air can get in through the edges from a poor fit or seal,” she told campaign group MaskTogetherAmerica.
Meanwhile, Alyson Hardwick is increasingly focused on her “new passion for Covid”:
Getting a booster jab at least every six months is, for her, a necessary response to what she calls a “mass disability event in slow motion” that has completely transformed her life.
“I’m rarely ever sharing air with people,” she says. If she does meet up with anyone, it will be other Covid-safe people, outdoors. “I feel safe around them, because they’re also masking everywhere.”
Worth reading in full if only to explore the infinite capacity of human beings to turn any cause into a cult, however bizarre the rituals and customs devised to pursue their beliefs.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/23/2025 – 10:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/bizarro-world-forever-maskers
Boomers & Gen X Send Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tumbling In December
Boomers & Gen X Send Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tumbling In December
Amid a flurry of disappointing soft survey data since the government shutdown, The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence data for December was a mixed bag with the Present Situation tumbling (from 126.3 to 116.8) while Expectations were flat to a dramatically upward-revised November print (from 63.2 to 70.7), dragging the overall headline index down more than expected…
Source: Bloomberg
“Despite an upward revision in November related to the end of the shutdown, consumer confidence fell again in December and remained well below this year’s January peak. Four of five components of the overall index fell, while one was at a level signaling notable weakness,” said Dana M Peterson, Chief Economist, The Conference Board.
“The Present Situation Index declined as net views on current business conditions were negative for the first time since September 2024, a month that included a labor market scare and deadly hurricanes.”
How do you ‘revise’ historical sentiment numbers?
Under the hood, The Conference Board survey shows the trend of a weaker labor market continued to accelerate…
Source: Bloomberg
Inflation Expectations were flat (but remain elevated)…
Source: Bloomberg
Among demographic groups, on a six-month moving average basis, confidence dipped among all age groups in December, although consumers under 35 continued to be more confident than consumers age 35 and older. There were few generational differences, as confidence among all generations trended downward in the month, with only the Silent Generation becoming more hopeful. Millennials and Gen Z remained the most optimistic of all generations surveyed. By income, confidence on a six-month moving average basis fell for nearly all brackets, except for those earning less than $15K and more than $125K. Still, consumers earning less than $15K remained the least optimistic among all income groups.
Confidence continued to fall in December among all political affiliations (Democrats, Republicans, and Independents).
Peterson added:
“Consumers’ write-in responses on factors affecting the economy continued to be led by references to prices and inflation, tariffs and trade, and politics. However, December saw increases in mentions of immigration, war, and topics related to personal finances—including interest rates, taxes and income, banks, and insurance.
The responses continued to skew pessimistic but less so than November, potentially due to fewer negative comments about prices and inflation, politics, as well as a rebound in positive responses about interest rates. Notably, the Federal Reserve Board cut monetary policy rates on December 10 for a third time in 2025, which landed in the second half of the survey sample interval.”
On net, consumers’ views of their Family’s Current Financial Situation collapsed into negative territory for the first time in nearly four years. However, expectations for their Family’s Future Financial Situation were the most positive since January of this year.
So, the stock market soars near record highs, GDP is ripping, but consumer sentiment is collapsing?
Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/23/2025 – 10:13
Aurora turkey giveaway aims to make holidays brighter for those in need
Food for those in need is always welcome, especially during the holidays, so a turkey giveaway event on Sunday at the Prisco Community Center in Aurora was just the thing to make the season brighter for folks like Beverly Lesure.
“I’m getting this for my brother because he’s always looked out for me,” Lesure, of Aurora, said during the turkey giveaway organized by the city of Aurora in partnership with Loaves & Fishes and the Aurora Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board. “I’m pretty impressed with how they put this together and are helping the community and giving back. That’s one thing we all must do – look out for and help each other.”
The event was also bolstered by support from local resident and former basketball star Kenny Battle from the National Basketball Retired Players Organization.
Jon Zaghloul, communications manager for the city of Aurora, said the event was a group effort.
“We are especially appreciative of our community partners, especially Loaves & Fishes and Kenny Battle as well as the Aurora Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board for putting this all together,” he said. “We appreciate the generosity of all of our community partners for organizing all of this on shorter notice than usual and working together to take care of community members in need.
“Having Kenny Battle be involved adds a little star power and it’s great to see him continue to give back to the community,” Zaghloul said. “He’s been doing so for so many years and is a star who grew up in Aurora and went all the way to the NBA and now lives locally.”
Lizette Mendoza, project assistant for community services for the city of Aurora, said this was the first time the event has been offered.
“There was an outreach by some of the partners we’re working with and we tried to put this together,” Mendoza said. “There was some extra funding that they wanted to utilize so obviously we got in touch with Loaves & Fishes and tried to coordinate how we could make it happen. There was a quick turnaround, but obviously there is a need out there and we might as well work to bring our resources to the community.”
Mendoza spoke about the partnership with the Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board as well as the Retired Players Organization and said that Battle is “very passionate about helping the community.”
She added that organizers hoped to offer more food assistance including side dishes but that time constraints this year made that impossible.
“Hopefully with a little more attention next year we can do something different,” she said. “At this point, giving turkeys away from Loaves & Fishes was all that they could do.”
Nearly two dozen volunteers were on hand Sunday including Nicole Mullins, chief community services officer for Aurora, who said that despite not having a lot of preparation time, “We’re pulling this off.”
“The important thing is we’re going to have turkeys for the holidays. As far as I can tell it’s perfect. We had a lot of volunteers show up,” Mullins said as she and others unloaded a van with turkeys packed in plastic bags. “As far as volunteers, we also have members of the Aurora Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board and the West Aurora basketball team and city employees and community volunteers.”
Albert Rios was another volunteer on hand who said that he “wanted to come out and help. It seemed like a good event and might be a little hectic giving food away to people, so I wanted to help make it go smoothly.”
Albert Rios of Aurora helps distribute turkeys Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, during an event at the Prisco Community Center in Aurora organized by the city of Aurora in partnership with Loaves & Fishes and the Aurora Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board. (David Sharos/For The Beacon-News)
“Having food assistance this time of year – the way things are going – I feel like everybody needs a little help,” he said. “Family budgets are kind of tight so maybe getting the main course out of the way will make it easier.”
James Centanni of Aurora said he found out about the event through social media and was happy to get a turkey despite the fact that he lives alone.
He admitted cooking a turkey would be something new for him.
“There are directions on the package as I understand it,” he said with a laugh. “I’m by myself and I didn’t want to buy a big turkey for just me. Hopefully there are some here that are small. I’ve never made one, but they told me there are directions on the package. Maybe someone can come over and help me eat it.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
The seller of a $34.5 million Winnetka home downsized with a $14 million buy in Kenilworth
Jeffrey and Ashley Quicksilver, who in November sold their five-bedroom, 16,000-square-foot, Georgian-style mansion on Lake Michigan in Winnetka for $34.5 million — a Chicago-area sales record for the highest price for any single residential property in history — now has been revealed to have been the same buyers who paid $14.5 million in late October for an historic, six-bedroom mansion on the lake in Kenilworth.
In the Chicago-area world, it’s a rare buyer who downsizes to a more than $14 million mansion. However, that’s in effect what Jeffrey Quicksilver, who cofounded real estate investment firm Walton Street Capital, and his wife, Ashley, who owns the high-end Winnetka women’s boutique Athene, have done.
Records show that the Quicksilvers have explored seeking a variance to add a swimming pool on the tableland portion of the bluff of the half-acre property, which has a 115-foot sandy beach, a fire pit area, a glass-enclosed patio, a boathouse and multiple terraces. He also has expressed interest in adding a bathroom to the property’s existing boathouse.
Built in 1906 by Paul Starrett, who constructed the Empire State Building in New York and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the three-story Kenilworth mansion has been restored and has six full bathrooms, two half baths, two fireplaces, restored original moldings, oak sawn floors, custom wrought-iron railings, millwork, new mechanical systems, a new roof, new windows, a smart home system, custom LED lighting and zoned climate control. Other features include a primary bedroom suite with a custom-designed wardrobe room with custom leather accents and inserts, and a lower level with a wine cellar, a theater with surround sound, a catering kitchen and a wellness area with a sauna, a steam room, an exercise area and a massage room.
Jena Radnay of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, who represented the Quicksilvers both in their $34.5 million Winnetka sale and their $14.5 million purchase in Kenilworth, confirmed that the Quicksilvers were the Kenilworth buyers.
“My clients appreciated the exquisite level of finishes, and it was a no-brainer for them,” she told Elite Street. “It was the perfect trade-off. It wasn’t about a down-trade, it was an up-trade. The Kenilworth mansion was a smaller scale but the same level of exquisite finishes.”
The Quicksilvers bought the Kenilworth mansion using an opaque land trust that masks their identities. The seller of the Kenilworth mansion was Yoanna Kulas, who is the founder and owner of the design firm Caladrius Studio. Meanwhile, the $34.5 million buyers of the Quicksilvers’ lakefront mansion also made their purchase using an opaque land trust, and their identities have not yet been determined.
Records show that the Quicksilvers’ $14.5 million purchase of the Kenilworth property included $500,000 in personal property, such as furniture.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/23/winnetka-kenilworth-record-sale/
El Louvre refuerza seguridad tras robo de joyas, instala rejas en ventana famosa
PARÍS (AP) — Un montacargas se elevó el martes hacia el Museo del Louvre, pero esta vez no eran ladrones de joyas. Eran trabajadores instalando barras de seguridad en la ventana utilizada para irrumpir en la famosa Galería de Apolo del monumento parisino durante el robo de octubre.
El museo más visitado del mundo está asimilando lentamente las fallas de seguridad expuestas por el robo, mientras los investigadores buscan las joyas de la corona desaparecidas, valoradas en 102 millones de dólares.
Con el Louvre cerrado el martes, trabajadores de mantenimiento con cascos de seguridad y chalecos de alta visibilidad montaron un montacargas hasta un balcón del segundo piso para asegurar nuevas barras de metal en una ventana.
La escena fue algo similar a la del 19 de octubre, cuando una banda de ladrones haciéndose pasar por trabajadores utilizó un montacargas similar, luego cortaron la ventana para entrar en la galería. Se llevaron tiaras, pendientes de esmeraldas, un collar de zafiros y otros tesoros, y ocho minutos después ya se habían ido.
Los cuatro presuntos ladrones han sido arrestados y acusados. Pero las joyas no han sido encontradas.
Samuel Lasnel, de la empresa de montacargas Grima-Nacelles, declaró que él y su equipo llegaron antes del amanecer el martes para llevar a cabo la operación de aseguramiento de la ventana.
“Ya hemos trabajado en el Louvre —en el interior, en el exterior, dentro y fuera de la pirámide— hemos estado aquí varias veces”, dijo a The Associated Press. “El Louvre nos conoce bien”.
El Louvre no comentó públicamente sobre la operación de seguridad del martes.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
SSCVA hopes to lend a hand in potential Chicago Bears stadium deal in Indiana
If the Chicago Bears decide to build their new stadium in Northwest Indiana, the South Shore Convention and Visitor Authority will be ready to chip in however it’s needed.
SSCVA President and CEO Phil Taillon at the authority’s last meeting of the year Thursday evening said that he’s already been involved in phone calls about the potential move. Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren on Wednesday confirmed the possibility of crossing state lines, the Tribune reported.
“Northwest Indiana is in our home marketing area,” Warren said. “From a TV, media, radio rights standpoint and our fan base, it’s an extension of Chicago. It seems like it would provide a viable opportunity.”
What to know about the Chicago Bears’ possible move from Soldier Field
While Taillon isn’t sure that the SSCVA would have a “formal role” in the negotiation, it’ll “certainly be involved,” he said. It’s already, for example, raised $80,000 — with $50,000 of that coming from the Lake County Council — to put together a market study toward the effort.
In the four meetings in which Taillon has participated in his role on the state’s Sports Development Commission, he’s met with pro sports team owners and now has a better understanding for what they want.
“The state of Illinois isn’t responding well, mostly to infrastructure requests, and that’s why they reached out to us,” Taillon told the Post-Tribune. “Indiana has some of the best pro sports incentives, like the Super TIF,” which is a tax increment financing tool that “enhances local incentives for hotel and select developments, leverages state initiatives to provide more tax reimbursement, and supports Council priorities for development initiatives,” according to OpenGov.com.
“From my perspective, this project would be transformational and would change Northwest Indiana in so many ways. Even if we have only a 10% chance, we’re taking the right steps.”
The Bears aren’t the only professional sports team that could be headed to Northwest Indiana, as an offshoot of the hugely popular Savannah Bananas Banana Ball Championship League baseball team could also be there. SSCVA Board member Terry Velligan asked Taillon if he’d heard anything more about them coming; Taillon said he won’t hear anything until spring and that if they do come, they would play out of Railcats Stadium.
“We know Indianapolis is getting its own team (the Indianapolis Clowns), so even if we don’t, there will be plenty of opportunities for them to come here,” he said.
On the financial side, Chief Financial Officer Nicole Wolverton told the board that the innkeeper’s tax for November was down $137,000 — in part due to a late payment of $93,000, bringing the real total to -$44,000. Year-to-date, however, the innkeeper’s tax is still up $100,000, she said.
In other business, the board unanimously voted to re-elect Board Chair Andy Qunell, Vice Chair Matt Maloney, and Secretary Chareice White to the board’s executive team. It also voted Crossroads Chamber Executive Director Deann Patena to replace Brent Brasheir as the board’s treasurer.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Chicago’s Christmas weather: The warmest and coldest since 1872
Here’s a look back at the warmest, coldest, wettest and snowiest Christmas holidays in Chicago, going back to 1872. Data is from the National Weather Service and was measured at the city’s official recording site, which has been O’Hare International Airport since Jan. 17, 1980. For almost a century prior to that, sites around downtown Chicago, the University of Chicago and Midway International Airport were used to gather definitive weather data.
As for 2025, meteorologists expected the day to be the opposite of a winter wonderland: dreary, foggy and wet.
Warmest
The warmest Christmas on record in Chicago happened on Dec. 25, 1982. The high temperature was 64 degrees. (Chicago Tribune)
Chicago experienced its warmest Christmas on Dec. 25, 1982, when it was 64 degrees. The following year, however, Chicago experienced the low temperature of minus 17 degrees — the city’s coldest Christmas. There are at least three instances in the past 150 years when opposing temperature extremes hit the area in back-to-back years.
In 2024, the high was 39 degrees. In 2023, the high was 59 degrees — the second warmest on record in Chicago for the date. Highs in the mid-50s also happened in 2021 and 2019.
Coldest
Just one year after the temperature reached 64 degrees, Chicago experienced its coldest Christmas on record. At minus 17 degrees, the bitter cold was part of 100 consecutive hours below zero. (Chicago Tribune)
Chicago experienced its lowest low Christmas temperature on Dec. 25, 1983, when it was Minus 17 degrees.
In 2024, the low was 32 degrees.
Wettest
A half-inch of rain fell before turning into five inches of snow on Dec. 25, 1950, making roads perilous. (Chicago Tribune)
Rain accumulating in a half-inch or more has occurred twice since 1872, according to the National Weather Service.
During both years, rain became snow and about five inches was recorded in each instance. The Tribune reported in 1909, “Every street in the Loop district was a mass of slush that made crossing perilous.” Then in 1950, “cab companies reported a big business, being unable to handle all the calls as citizens left their automobiles at home and sought other transportation for holiday gatherings.”
But at least a little bit of rain tends to fall on Christmas — precipitation of less than a half-inch has fallen 95 of the 154 years on record.
Snowiest
Since 1872, snowfall of more than an inch has been recorded just 16 times on Christmas.
A record snowfall of 5.1 inches fell on Dec. 25, 1950.
Timeline: How the Tribune covered Christmas temperature highs and lows
50 degrees (1877)
(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1877)
“Yesterday was the most uneventful and unsensational of all Christmases that have been celebrated in Chicago since the city has had an existence and a name. The 25th of December of last year was furiously cold. That of the preceding year was sloppy and chilly. But this one was memorable for being a day of continuous rain, without a vestige anywhere of the snow and ice which generally characterize the season.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1877
52 degrees (1891)
(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1891)
“In yesterday’s change of weather there was a drop of nearly 25 degrees in a few hours, and many who had gone out for a drive in fairly warm clothing felt well chilled before they could get home again.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1891
Minus 2 degrees (1892)
(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1892)
“It seemed a little like the weather of old-time yule-tides that came with cold blasts from the north. Drifts of snow, bursts of sunshine, and all the train of jollity that follows in the wake of a roaring winter storm.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1892
52 degrees (1893)
(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1893)
“There was nothing in the weather repertoire that was not used yesterday on Chicago except hail. There was fan weather, fur weather, umbrella and parasol weather, overcoat and seersucker weather. Any one dissatisfied with the weather needed only to wait a few minutes and it would change.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1893
56 degrees (1895)
(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1895)
“The unique sight of an endless stream of children carrying dolls wending their way along Michigan Avenue attracted the attention of the guests of the hotels along the way. So interested did the spectators become in the children that many were stopped and their dolls examined and commented on.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1895
Minus 3 degrees (1903)
(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1903)
“One death, numerous accidents, and delayed street car traffic have already resulted from the storm, which came unannounced and caught the city unawares.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1903
Minus 1 degree (1914)
(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1914)
“The mercury shot below the zero mark early this morning. Between 3 o’clock and 9 last night the mercury dropped fourteen degrees and stood at two above. By midnight it had reached zero, and was still going down.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1914
Minus 6 degrees (1924)
Before Anthony Kiecal of Truck company No. 3 got through the battle with a fire on River Street yesterday he was garbed in a raiment of ice. (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1924)
“Yesterday was the coldest Christmas day in fifty-two years in Chicago. The mercury dropped to 6 degrees below zero at 3:30 a.m. and hovered close to the zero mark throughout the day, despite the brilliant sunshine. … Four deaths ascribed to the cold and 154 fire alarms were recorded during the day.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1924
Minus 2 degrees (1935)
Willis Herman, right, takes Lillian Bertrang and Delores Koller for a sleigh ride in Lincoln Park aboard a 75-year-old cutter on Dec. 25, 1935. (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1935)
“Christmas brought Chicago a freak cold snap and a snowstorm which surprised the weather forecaster almost as much as it did the public.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1935
56 degrees (1936)
Mary Lou MacKay, 4 makes good use of her present, but brother, Charles, finds his new sled quite useless. (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1936)
“As Chicagoans awoke to find there was still no snow on the ground and that the gentle breeze outside was even balmier than those that blessed Christmas shoppers, a general exodus to the outdoors began. Golfers invaded all courses remaining open. The parks were filled with strolling couples, and brand new bicycles and velocipedes were taken straight from the Christmas tree to sidewalks.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1936
50 degrees (1940)
“It won’t be a white Christmas.” — Tribune, Dec. 25, 1940
55 degrees (1971)
Chicago police officers from the Shakespeare Avenue District distribute Christmas gifts to kids on Dec. 24, 1971. (James Mayo/Chicago Tribune)
“Chicagoans who had visions of Christmas snowflakes yesterday were instead treated to drizzle, fog, and temperatures in the mid-forties.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1971
Minus 8 degrees (1980)
The long, icy fingers of winter held the city in their grip despite the glistening sun Christmas morning. The temperature hit a record 8 below zero. (Michael Budrys/Chicago Tribune)
“Although the cold snap was the worst of the young winter season, winds were relatively still, sparing those who had to travel Thursday the added bite of an arctic wind-chill combination.” — David Axelrod, Tribune, Dec. 26, 1980
64 degrees (1982)
Highest Christmas high temperature since 1871
“While the warm weather lasted Saturday, sunshine sent a few hardy sailors onto Lake Michigan, prompting a dramatic rescue in which a wind surfer whose craft broke up after it was blown far from land was plucked from icy waters by a Fire Department helicopter.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1982
Minus 17 degrees (1983)
(Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1983)
An ice floe appears to be bearing down on Chicago at Lake Shore Drive and Oak Street as a record deep freeze of 25 degrees below zero on Dec. 24, 1983, gripped Chicago in an arctic embrace. (Phil Greer/Chicago Tribune)
Ice covers a truck after firefighters fought a blaze in Downers Grove on Dec. 26, 1983. (John Dziekan/Chicago Tribune)
Lowest Christmas low temperature since 1871
“A year ago, the high Christmas Eve was 62. On Christmas Day, it was 64. … The weekend’s deadly cold — the wind-chill factor dropped to 82 below — convinced many to stay home Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1983
Minus 3 degrees (1984)
Jackie George finds the Christmas Eve snow and cold a little hard to face while she waits for a bus at Division and state Streets. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
Despite an official high of only 19 degrees, a bright sun brought out the brave, from snow shovelers to joggers to sun worshippers. With the help of eggnog to dispel the chill, Judith Ann Jonassen works on her tan outside her home at 4144 N. Damen Ave. on Dec. 25, 1984. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
“At the same time children throughout Chicago were diving into their presents, several hundred of the city’s homeless waited patiently in the 3-below-zero weather.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1984
Minus 11 degrees (1985)
A walk on a winter’s day. A well-bundled pedestrian takes a decidedly brisk walk along an icy pier on Montrose Beach at sunset on Dec. 25, 1985. Christmas Day’s temperatures ranged from 11 degrees below zero to a meager 1 degree above; the wind chill reached 42 below. (Michael Fryer/Chicago Tribune)
“Pat Sammarco spent Christmas day serving the needs of others. She helped some sloths mate. … The (Lincoln Park Zoo) is open every day of the year, and zookeeper Sammarco, along with her husband, Larry, who’s in charge of the large mammals, and several dozen colleagues, drew the holiday shift this year. It wasn’t so bad, though, the zookeepers agreed. Not when there were Christmas visitors to watch, intrepid souls willing to brave a wind-chill factor that hovered around 30 below all day.” — Howard Witt, Tribune, Dec. 26, 1985
Minus 1 degree (1990)
Rite of winter. With temperatures below freezing, a motorist in a lot in Merionette Park uses jumper cables to start his car on Dec. 24, 1990. (Walter Neal/Chicago Tribune)
Pat Gannor of Evergreen Park checks on his Christmas meal — a barbecued turkey — on Dec. 25, 1990. He said he cooked the meal outside because it tastes better that way. (Walter Neal/Chicago Tribune)
52 degrees (1994)
Debbie Scheitel of Park Ridge rides her son’s new four-wheeler down Beloit Avenue in Forest Park on Dec. 25, 1994. In tow are her brother Larry Buckley Jr. guiding Adam Scheitel, 3, left, and Buckley’s son, Larry; Mike Rausch and Elizabeth Buckley, both 12. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
“Christmas this year shattered another illusion — namely that it’s supposed to occur in winter. Instead, there were in-line skaters wearing shorts, volleyball players in the parks and temperatures above 50 degrees.” — Tribune, Dec. 26, 1994
Minus 7 degrees (2000)
Doug Duncan, a University of Chicago astronomer, watches a reflection in a cardboard box held by his wife, Laura, as the moon casts a shadow across the face of the sun on Dec. 25, 2000. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
Matthew Weintrob, 6, wears special eclipse-viewing glasses he got from his dad Dave, of Oak Park, on Dec. 25, 2000. Students, parents and those fascinated by the heavens gathered in the cold at Hatch Elementary School in Oak Park to safely view the rare Christmas morning partial solar eclipse under the guidance of University of Chicago astromer Douglas Duncan. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
The shadow of the moon falls across the face of the sun during the partial solar eclipse, as seen from Oak Park, on Dec. 25, 2000. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
“Tradition merged with science during the rare Christmas eclipse, which was visible above Chicago from 9:45 a.m. until 12:49 p.m. Monday. Brighter than any star atop a tree, the half-hidden sun seemed to allude to other celestial lights, to ancient miracles and a heaven full of mysteries.” — Vanessa Gezari, Tribune, Dec. 26, 2000
Sources: National Weather Service Chicago; Chicago Tribune reporting and archives
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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/23/chicago-christmas-weather-history/
More Epstein files are released and include some references to Trump
The Department of Justice released more files related to the investigation of financier Jeffrey Epstein late Monday, making public thousands of documents that included emails from prosecutors, unverified tips and records from Epstein’s death in a New York City jail.
It was the latest batch in a slow drip that began Friday, the deadline that Congress had set for the release of all the files in connection with the investigation. Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, has said the files will be released over the coming weeks.
The documents contained hundreds of references to President Donald Trump, who was a friend of Epstein’s before they had a falling out, a New York Times search found. A majority of the references were mentions in media reports or other material that had been included in the files, but some were focused on the president.
In one email, dated January 2020, an unidentified Manhattan federal prosecutor said he or she wanted to make the recipient aware that flight logs showed Trump had flown on Epstein’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware).”
The email went on to say that Trump was a passenger on Epstein’s plane on eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including two with possible witnesses in the criminal case against Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges in Manhattan federal court in 2021.
Passengers on another flight included only Epstein, Trump and a 20-year-old, the email said. On other flights, Trump flew with Marla Maples, his former wife; his daughter Tiffany; and his son Eric.
The names of the potential witnesses, as well as the email’s sender and recipient, were redacted. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or Maxwell.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. During an appearance at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida earlier Monday, Trump tried to distance himself from Epstein and said the issue was meant as a political distraction.
“This whole thing with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican Party has,” Trump said.
Trump also complained that the release of the files could damage the reputation of people who appear in the files but who have not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. “A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein. But they’re in a picture with him because he was at a party, and you ruined a reputation of somebody,” Trump said.
The documents also showed that Manhattan federal prosecutors subpoenaed Mar-a-Lago in 2021 for employment records in connection with Maxwell’s case.
The release contained a wide mix of documents, including blacked-out pages of Maxwell’s tax returns, tips to the FBI and internal communications at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the Manhattan jail where Epstein died.
Thousands of documents that were made public Friday and over the weekend included photos of Bill Clinton, the former president, with Epstein, and testimony from the grand jury proceedings in the cases against Epstein and Maxwell.
Trump said he hated to see images of Clinton in the files, even though he previously ordered his Justice Department to examine any potential links between Epstein and Clinton.
The release of the files had been long awaited by those who believed the materials could shed light on Epstein’s activities and his ties to prominent and powerful men. Some victims and their advocates criticized the batch released Friday as heavily redacted and containing few revelations.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Presos fugados de cárcel en Georgia son recapturados en Florida
ATLANTA (AP) — Tres reclusos que escaparon de una cárcel al este de Atlanta, incluyendo uno que estaba detenido por asesinato, han sido capturados en Florida, confirmó un miembro de una unidad federal de captura de fugitivos.
Eric Heinze, inspector jefe adjunto de la Unidad de Fugitivos del Servicio de Alguaciles de Estados Unidos en la Región Sureste, declinó compartir más detalles antes de una conferencia de prensa planeada en Atlanta más tarde el martes.
La fuga de los reclusos de la Cárcel del Condado DeKalb fue descubierta el lunes temprano durante un control de seguridad de rutina, informó el departamento policial del condado.
“Nos tomamos esta brecha muy en serio y estamos trabajando diligentemente para asegurar que estos individuos sean recapturados lo más rápido posible”, declaró la jefa policial Melody Maddox en un comunicado antes de que los reclusos fueran recapturados. Las autoridades no han compartido detalles sobre cómo se llevó a cabo la fuga.
Los reclusos tienen entre 24 y 31 años de edad, siendo el más joven acusado de asesinato y robo a mano armada. Los otros dos reclusos enfrentan cargos que incluyen robo a mano armada e incendio premeditado.
La agencia policial había advertido que los hombres podrían estar armados y eran considerados peligrosos tras su fuga.
La cárcel está en Decatur, a unos 16 kilómetros (unas 10 millas) al este del centro de Atlanta.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
