Category: News
Column: Chicago Bears need to be able to lean into their offense more with 4 games to go in their playoff push
As the Chicago Bears continue a push for the postseason through the most difficult stretch of their schedule, it makes sense they will lean into the strength of the roster, which is the offensive line.
Naturally, it took time for a new coaching staff to figure out where the team would excel, but for two months now, they’ve had a powerful running game that harkens back to the days when Walter Payton was the face of the franchise.
No, they don’t have a Payton in the backfield, but the combination of D’Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai has been highly productive behind the rebuilt line, and the Bears might just go as far as that group can push them.
The question is what will the Bears (9-4) get in the final stretch of four games. Something like the Black Friday dismantling of the Philadelphia Eagles, a stunning display of brute force against one of the league’s wisest defensive masterminds in Vic Fangio. Or more like the uneven effort that was on display in last Sunday’s 28-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Bears running back D’Andre Swift runs the ball against the Eagles on Nov. 28, 2025, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The Bears are in a position — with the Packers (9-3-1) and Detroit Lions (8-5) in the NFC North race three teams in the NFC West with nine wins or more — in which they probably need 11 victories to feel secure about making their first postseason appearance since 2020.
The offense was totally out of sorts in the first half Sunday — converting just 1 of 7 third downs — and the only reason the Bears had a shot at the end in Green Bay when Caleb Williams’ pass for Cole Kmet was intercepted in the end zone with 22 seconds remaining was they somehow trailed only 14-3 at halftime.
The 28-21 loss to the Packers didn’t shake the Bears, but it sure shook up projected NFC playoff seedings. That’s how tightly bunched the race is. There’s a rematch with the Packers on Dec. 20 at Soldier Field, but maintaining focus on the task at hand, coach Ben Johnson declared his team desperate for a victory against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. That’s because there’s no wiggle room.
The Packers were the best run defense (ninth in the NFL) the Bears have faced this season. The offense ran for 138 yards on 32 attempts (4.3 average). While it certainly looked as if the Bears were leaning on the opponent late in the game, a lack of explosive gains kept the figures somewhat modest in the second half — 90 yards on 19 carries.
While the Browns rank 13th, allowing 107.7 yards per game, that’s a little misleading. Opponents have been running late in games with big leads. The Browns are fourth in yards per carry at 3.85.
After Sunday, there’s Round 2 against the Packers before the San Francisco 49ers (12th in run defense) and Lions (10th). The Bears could be in a position in which they also have to score against the Lions, who in the post-Johnson era lead the league in scoring at 30.3 points per game.
“I think all year we’ve been through the gauntlet,” right guard Jonah Jackson said. “Every team has had one weapon inside, one weapon outside, and some teams have multiple. They just so happen to have a lot of guys up front — Cleveland and Green Bay.
“I feel like we prove it every week what we’re able to do.”
The Bears need to prove it against better defenses to achieve a goal few may have figured realistic before the season started but is now very much in front of them. The immediate challenge for the offense is not allowing Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who enters with 20 sacks (four fewer than the Bears defense) to ruin the game plan. Jackson referred to Garrett as an “alien,” and it will be every bit of the challenge Micah Parsons was last week.
Can Myles Garrett set the NFL sack record vs. the Chicago Bears? Here’s what the numbers say.
Williams talked about trying to get off to a faster start. The Bears have not produced points on their opening possession since the Nov. 2 road game against the Cincinnati Bengals — who have one of the worst defenses in the league — but they have scored a touchdown on their second possession in four of the last six games.
It’s about being more cohesive as an offense all the way around. Monangai needs 52 yards rushing for the Bears to have two running backs with 700 yards for the first time since 1978, when Payton ran for 1,395 yards and Roland Harper 992. Swift enters Sunday’s game with 837 yards.
Williams is a major reason the offense ranks fifth on third down at 44.4%, which is just ahead of the franchise-best mark of 43.9% from 1989. His passer rating on third down is 103.0, highest in the NFL, and he has eight passing touchdowns (second in the league), 868 yards (fifth), 55 total first downs (seventh) and 39 completions of 10 yards or more (second).
So, there are elements of his game that have been very good mixed in with others — completion percentage and his ability to play on time — that remain in need of significant improvement. Combine it all — the success rushing since the first month of the season and the collection of big plays the offense is producing — and you have a unit that can be very formidable.
Against some of the best defenses the Bears will face all season, the offense needs to step up. On defense, they cannot seem to generate a pass rush, and the third-down numbers have fallen from the top of the league toward the middle of the pack. When the unit isn’t producing turnovers, which will be difficult to do against Jordan Love and Jared Goff, it’s a mediocre group giving up too many explosive plays.
The offense — and the line — conquered the challenge in Philadelphia and came up a little short and a little late in Green Bay. The best teams find ways to lean into their strengths when games matter the most. That’s precisely what the Bears need to do.
Scouting report
Carson Schwesinger, Browns middle linebacker
Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger during a game against the Raiders on Nov. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Information for this report was obtained from NFL scouts.
Schwesinger, 6-foot-3, 242 pounds, is a rookie drafted in the second round out of UCLA at No. 33 overall. He was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for November. He went from being a walk-on at UCLA and playing on special teams his first two seasons to being an All-American in 2024.
Schwesinger leads all rookies with 111 tackles, the most by a Browns rookie since 1999, and also is tops in tackles for a loss and tied for second with two interceptions. He has posted double-digit tackles in five games, including each of the last four.
“He’s a guy who cut his teeth on special teams in college,” the scout said. “Anytime you get a linebacker who is a highly productive special teams player in college, it tells you a couple things. One, great instincts. Two, they can tackle in space and play at top speed and are excellent with their hands. All of that stuff translates to when you’re playing linebacker. His tape was super impressive. Excellent blitzer who can build up speed on a runway. He can run through running backs in protection or set them up to get home to the quarterback. He’s got good pursuit range and he plays faster than his timed speed because of the instincts he has to see plays develop quicker than the average linebacker. Solid wrap-up tackler and has some grit and nastiness to him. Good second-level defender in terms of zone coverage.
“Under Jim Schwartz, it’s an ideal defense for him. If the Browns make a coaching change this offseason, it’s one thing to take into account. How does it affect a young player with my next defensive coordinator? Because Schwartz puts him in attacking positions and he’s really thrived. You don’t want to take that away from him. He’s a good athlete and a great football player. The Bears have to account for him, especially in the run game.”
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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/13/chicago-bears-offense-playoffs/
Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza looking to add a historic Heisman Trophy win to his college ride
The first time Fernando Mendoza put his hands on a Heisman Trophy, he did it as a whim on a recruiting trip to Yale.
On Saturday, he’ll be on stage for the real deal.
Mendoza enters this weekend having won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football and the Associated Press Player of the Year Award, and as the favorite to win college football’s most prestigious individual award. He would be the first winner from Indiana University and the third with Hispanic roots — titles not lost on the once lightly recruited Miami native who started contemplating this storybook ending a few months ago.
“At the beginning of the year, I saw the list of the top 10 Heisman contenders and evidently (my name) wasn’t there,” he said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I want to make a goal for myself.’ I prayed about, like, if I could make it to the ceremony, how cool that would be. Now that it’s come to fruition, I’m able to share that moment with people who appreciate it. It’s such a cool moment.”
For Mendoza, his first and likely only season in Bloomington has been filled with memories.
As fans watched him throw winning touchdown passes late in games against Iowa, Oregon and Penn State what he did behind the scenes — forcing bonds with new teammates, embracing family time and savoring all those special celebrations — helped deliver program-changing victories like Saturday’s 13-10 victory over No. 1 Ohio State that gave Indiana its first Big Ten title since 1967, a 13-0 mark and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.
Along the way, Mendoza cherished his time studying film with his younger brother, Alberto, meeting with coaches and hearing students serenade him with chants of “HeisMendoza.”
The funny thing is Fernando Mendoza never sought the spotlight. He just wanted to win.
“He’s just the ultimate professional and a wonderful teammate,” starting center Pat Coogan said. “He prepares like no one I’ve ever seen. He works his butt off like no one I’ve ever seen. He’s just an awesome locker room guy on top of that.”
Head of the class
When Mendoza entered the transfer portal last winter, he could have gone essentially anywhere. He chose Indiana because he knew coach Curt Cignetti would push him hard to improve.
Mendoza knew of Cignetti’s reputation for developing quarterbacks.
At North Carolina State, Cignetti worked with Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist Philip Rivers and helped recruit Super Bowl champ Russell Wilson. Then as Cignetti guided the most successful transition from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision he helped three quarterbacks win conference player of the year awards in five seasons.
Last year, his first at Indiana, Cignetti brought in 2023 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year Kurtis Rourke, who led the Hoosiers to a school record 11 victories and their first playoff bid while earning second-team all-Big Ten honors. Rourke finished ninth in the Heisman voting.
When Cignetti did his homework on Mendoza, he saw something different from the late-bloomer.
“Being the film junkie I am, and making all the different cutups, occasionally I’d see plays from Fernando at Cal,” Cignetti said. “When he went in the portal, obviously we watched a lot of game tape on him and just really liked his stuff — the quick release, the arm, the mobility. He’s a great person. He really prepares. He’s really smart, and he’s developed quite a bit since he’s been here.”
Mendoza’s mobility might not have been as evident in 2024 when he was sacked 41 times.
But Cignetti embraced taking a two-year starter from a Power Four school with a rich tradition of producing quarterbacks. He was impressed by Mendoza’s crafty work ethic, selfless leadership style and his inspirational journey from grandson of Cuban immigrants to one of America’s best college quarterbacks all while watching his mother battle multiple sclerosis.
The adversity has helped Mendoza maintain a positive approach with the kind of real-life perspective rarely found in a 22-year-old with the spotlight shining so brightly on him.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have such a great team that I’ve always been in a good position to win games,” Mendoza said. “That’s what’s helped elevate me to the position I’ll be in Saturday night.”
Heismendoza
It didn’t take Mendoza long to win the hearts of Hoosiers fans, who have waited decades to cheer a legitimate Heisman contender.
The last time was 2001 when quarterback Antwaan Randle El finished sixth in the voting. The best finish by an Indiana player was 1989 when running back Anthony Thompson finished second.
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But Mendoza didn’t impress immediately. His breakout game came in Week 4, a rout over then-No. 8 Illinois when he threw five TD passes for the second straight week. Suddenly, to his surprise, friends began touting him as a Heisman contender.
One week later, at Iowa, he beat a blitz to find Elijah Sarratt for a 49-yard touchdown with 88 seconds to go. But the play that showed his teammates what Mendoza was all about came when he took a big hit on a run out of bounds that ignited a sideline shoving match.
“I told him we had his back. I said ‘Go out there and just sling it, we have all the confidence in the world in you,’” linebacker Aiden Fisher said. “That dude’s got some confidence, too. He’s got some swagger. He looked at me and said, ‘I got us. don’t even worry about it.’”
He showed his resilience again at No. 3 Oregon with a tiebreaking 8-yard TD pass to Sarratt after throwing the Pick-6 that tied the score at 20. He did it again in the final minute at Penn State and again in the third quarter against the Buckeyes, putting him here on the cusp of hoisting his own Heisman Trophy.
“The (other finalists) are fantastic players. I think everybody, when you’re a finalist, you’ve got to prepare a speech because anything could happen,” Mendoza said before discussing the Heisman being a goal. “I thought of it, but it was a little bit more of a dream and a long-range goal or a goal you reach a little farther than you think you could reach.”
It could be right in his hands Saturday night.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/13/fernando-mendoza-heisman-trophy-indiana/
Cry The Beloved Europe?
Cry The Beloved Europe?
Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,
Nothing bothers the European elite as much as American conservatives praising the European foundations of their shared, but threatened, Western civilization.
Europeans especially resent having their social-welfare state system critiqued by upstart, crass Americans.
Their pique only increases as they push back against the condescending American idea that the U.S. could possibly offer any constructive advice, much less help a more civilized Europe follow the “American model.”
Americans, in turn, are worried that Europe is not just stagnating but is on a trajectory of permanent decline—with dire consequences for the entire Western world.
As for symptoms, the U.S. cites a steadily declining European share of world GDP. It points to Europe’s unsustainable 1.39 fertility rate, which ensures a steadily smaller, older, and costlier native population.
More than ten percent of Europe’s resident population is now foreign-born—some 45 million people. However, the European host, unlike a classless America, does not have a long tradition of melting-pot assimilation, integration, and acculturation.
Unlike America’s mostly Christian-nation immigration patterns, European immigrants are predominantly from the Middle East and North Africa, Islamic, and increasingly anti-Western.
Far too many of Europe’s immigrants profess too little desire to assimilate into what they consider a culturally decadent place—one that, ironically, they have no desire to leave.
The Christian Church, the linchpin of Western civilization, was born in Europe. Yet nowhere do atheism, agnosticism, and open hostility to Christendom grow stronger.
Europe, the birthplace of a dynamic Western military tradition, has been, by contemporary standards and at least until recently, virtually disarmed and unable to protect its own borders or interests.
Europe’s overregulation and war on fossil fuels, combined with a generous social welfare state, have resulted in too little revenue and too many costly dependents.
Americans dare to lecture Europe because the same Western pathologies—open borders, unassimilated immigrants, tribalism, declining fertility, green fanaticism, unsustainable budget deficits, and massive national debt—are likewise beginning to threaten America.
But unlike Europe, millions of Americans at the eleventh hour are galvanizing to stop their own insidious downward spiral.
So Americans claim to know firsthand the causes for these shared, but even more distressing, European symptoms of decay.
And their answers are the threats of several dangerous ideologies.
One pathology is green fanaticism, which has led Europeans to not only ignore their fossil fuel resources but also to dismantle existing coal, nuclear, and natural gas plants.
That suicidal folly ensured that transportation fuels and electrical power became so exorbitant that once sought-after European exports are now uncompetitive, while Europe’s strapped middle classes slip into poverty.
Meanwhile, China funds green causes in the West, exports below-cost cheap wind and solar systems, and then builds three coal or nuclear plants a month to ensure that it has much cheaper energy than the green West.
Other existential threats are diversity/equity/inclusion mandates—a precivilizational emphasis on tribal affinities of race and religion rather than shared national values and unity. The results are legions of drone DEI commissars who sow disunity, spike racial tensions, wage war on meritocracy, and increase overhead.
America further warns Europe that only cutbacks in unsustainable entitlements can allow it to reboot its militaries enough to prevent Russian bullying and threats of attack, protect supply lines of imported fuels and natural resources, and deter terrorists.
And what happens if a petulant and snarky Europe utterly rejects the American diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis?
America will decide that it can no longer afford, as NATO’s leader, to protect European borders when it struggles at home to ensure its own.
Nor can the U.S. understand an increasingly two-faced Europe.
One of its faces is the self-righteous 27-member European Union that is becoming increasingly anti-American.
The EU attacks the U.S. nonstop on matters of culture, energy, trade, censorship, and foreign policy.
Yet nearly the same nations of a 32-member NATO alliance—Europe’s other face—praise America for its military leadership and call for closer U.S.-European strategic relations.
This one-eyed Jack policy of censoring and fining American companies, blasting American allies at the United Nations, and belittling conservative, Christian, and traditional American culture, while praising the U.S. military and courting its armed assistance, is simply not sustainable.
Is there a solution? Perhaps, given that both civilizations are offering diametrically opposed correctives to their shared morbidities.
Europe is only growing more socialist, censorious, globalist, pacifist, multicultural, atheistic, and green.
In contrast, the U.S. is undergoing a counter-revolution toward smaller government, fewer regulations, more fossil fuels, an expanding military, less DEI and woke, more secure borders, legal-only immigration, and renewed faith.
Only one of these competing solutions will solve the shared crisis of Western civilization.
And let us hope the one remedy that works will be fully adopted by both.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 12/13/2025 – 07:00
EEUU anuncia que levantará algunas sanciones comerciales a Bielorrusia
Associated Press
VILNA, Lituania (AP) — Estados Unidos levantará las sanciones al potasio bielorruso, en el último indicio del deshielo en las relaciones entre Washington y la autocracia aislada.
John Coale, enviado especial de Estados Unidos para Bielorrusia, se reunió con el líder del país, Alexander Lukashenko, en la capital, Minsk, el viernes y el sábado.
Bielorrusia, estrecha aliada de Rusia, ha enfrentado aislamiento y sanciones occidentales durante años. Lukashenko gobierna la nación de 9,5 millones de habitantes con mano de hierro desde hace más de tres décadas, y el país ha sido sancionado repetidamente por Occidente tanto por la represión de los derechos humanos como por permitir que Moscú utilizara su territorio para lanzar la invasión de Ucrania en 2022.
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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.
La visita de Messi a India comienza de forma caótica con fanáticos arrojando botellas
Associated Press
CALCUTA, India (AP) — La esperada gira de Lionel Messi por India comenzó de manera accidentada el sábado, cuando fanáticos enfadados lanzaron botellas e intentaron destrozar un estadio después de que muchos de ellos no pudieran ver más que un atisbo de su ídolo.
Según Times of India, muchos de los que tenían boletos para un evento contaron que no lograron ver a Messi, ni en persona ni en las pantallas gigantes del estadio, a pesar de haber esperado durante horas.
La ministra principal de Bengala Occidental, Mamata Banerjee, se disculpó con el astro del fútbol argentino por la “mala gestión” del acto.
En un mensaje en redes sociales, Banerjee se mostró “profundamente consternada y conmocionada por la mala gestión presenciada hoy en el estadio Salt Lake”, donde también se disculpó con los hinchas que esperaban más después de haber pagado por entrar.
Banerjee anunció la formación de un comité para “realizar una investigación detallada sobre el incidente, establecer responsabilidades y recomendar medidas para evitar que se repita en el futuro”.
La gira de tres días de Messi, bautizada como “GOAT India Tour”, llevará al ganador de la Copa del Mundo de Calcuta a Hyderabad y luego a Mumbai antes de concluir en Nueva Delhi el lunes. El argentino está acompañado por sus compañeros Luis Suárez y Rodrigo De Paul.
Antes el sábado, Messi “inauguró” de manera remota una estatua de 21 metros (70 pies) de sí mismo en Calcuta.
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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.
EEUU levantará algunas sanciones comerciales a Bielorrusia mientras la autocracia busca mejorar lazos con Occidente
VILNA, Lituania (AP) — EEUU levantará algunas sanciones comerciales a Bielorrusia mientras la autocracia busca mejorar lazos con Occidente.
Eritrea se retira de bloque regional y ONU expresa preocupación por tensiones con Etiopía
Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenia (AP) — Eritrea se retiró el viernes de la Autoridad Intergubernamental sobre el Desarrollo (IGAD, por sus siglas en inglés) y acusó al bloque regional del este de África de actuar en contra de los intereses del país.
Al mismo tiempo, Naciones Unidas expresó su preocupación por las renovadas tensiones entre Eritrea y la vecina Etiopía, que firmaron un acuerdo de paz hace 25 años.
El Ministerio de Exteriores eritreo explicó en un comunicado el viernes que abandonaba “una organización que ha perdido su mandato legal y autoridad; que no ofrece ningún beneficio estratégico apreciable a todos sus miembros y que no contribuye de manera sustancial a la estabilidad de la región”.
Eritrea abandonó IGAD en 2003 y se reincorporó hace dos años, pero el viernes afirmó el bloque no había contribuido a la estabilidad regional. En su respuesta, IGAD indicó que Eritrea no había participado en actividades regionales desde su reincorporación.
Además de Eritrea y Etiopía, el bloque incluye a Yibuti, Kenia, Somalia, Sudán del Sur, Sudán y Uganda. La organización trabaja en políticas regionales relacionadas con comercio, aduanas, transporte, comunicaciones, agricultura, recursos naturales y medio ambiente, según su web.
En los últimos meses, Eritrea y Etiopía se han acusado mutuamente de injerencias, lo que despertó la preocupación sobre la posibilidad de que se reanuden las hostilidades.
Etiopía ha señalado que quiere obtener, de forma pacífica, acceso al mar Rojo a través de Eritrea, de la que dependía en gran medida para el comercio antes de la secesión. El primer ministro etíope, Abiy Ahmed, manifestó en septiembre que fue un “error” perder el acceso al mar cuando Eritrea se independizó en 1993. Las palabras de Abiy fueron vistas como una provocación en el país vecino.
La oficina del secretario general de la ONU, António Guterres, instó el viernes a las dos naciones a “renovar su compromiso con la visión de una paz duradera y el respeto por la soberanía e integridad territorial”.
La ONU citó el Acuerdo de Argel, firmado en 2000, que puso fin a casi tres décadas de guerra fronteriza entre Eritrea y Etiopía. Además, les pidió un nuevo compromiso con un pacto que describió como un “marco crucial” para la paz.
Eritrea acusó en junio a Etiopía de tener una “agenda bélica de larga data” para quedarse con sus puertos en el Mar Rojo. Por su parte, Etiopía afirmó recientemente que Eritrea estaba “preparándose activamente para librar una guerra” contra la nación, además de respaldar a grupos rebeldes etíopes.
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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.
Filipinas dice que 3 pescadores resultaron heridos por cañones de agua chinos en atolón disputado
Associated Press
MANILA, Filipinas (AP) — Barcos de la Guardia Costera de China utilizaron potentes cañones de agua y maniobras de bloqueo contra 20 pesqueros filipinos cerca de un disputado atolón en el mar de China Meridional, e hirieron a tres filipinos y causaron daños en dos embarcaciones en un incidente que puso en peligro sus vidas, reportó el sábado la Guardia Costera de Filipinas.
Guardacostas chinos a bordo de botes de goma más pequeños cortaron deliberadamente las amarras de varios de los barcos filipinos el viernes por la tarde cerca del banco de arena de Sabina, “poniendo en peligro las embarcaciones y sus tripulaciones en medio de fuertes corrientes y gran oleaje”, señalaron las autoridades.
Las autoridades chinas no realizaron comentarios acerca del último episodio de las disputas territoriales no resueltas en el mar de China Meridional, pero se han comprometido a defender la zona que reclama a toda costa.
Beijing reclama casi en su totalidad el mar de China Meridional, una ruta clave para el comercio global, a pesar de un fallo de arbitraje de 2016 que declaró inválida su amplia reclamación basándose en la Convención de Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho del Mar de 1982. China calificó el fallo como una farsa y continúa desafiándolo.
Manila movilizó dos barcos de la Guardia Costera para ayudar a los filipinos cerca de Sabina, pero se toparon con peligrosas maniobras de bloqueo por parte de los guardacostas chinos. Una de las embarcaciones chinas se acercó a poco más de 35 yardas (105 pies) de una de las filipinas durante la noche, dijo el vocero de los guardacostas filipinos, el comodoro Jay Tarriela, en una conferencia de prensa online.
“La guardia costera china ahora está apuntando a pescadores de a pie, civiles comunes y están poniendo en peligro las vidas de los pescadores filipinos”, indicó Tarriela.
“A pesar de estas interferencias no profesionales e ilegales, la guardia costera filipina logró llegar a los pescadores esta mañana y proporcionó atención médica inmediata a los heridos, además de suministros esenciales”, apuntó el sábado la guardia costera filipina, sugiriendo que las tensiones se habían calmado.
Las autoridades filipinas instaron a las chinas a “a adherirse a los estándares de conducta reconocidos internacionalmente, priorizando la preservación de la vida en el mar por encima de pretensiones de aplicación de la ley que ponen en peligro la vida de pescadores inocentes”.
Estados Unidos no tiene reclamos en el mar de China Meridional, pero ha advertido repetidamente que está obligado a defender a Filipinas, su aliado más antiguo en Asia, si las fuerzas de Manila, incluido el personal de la guardia costera, barcos y aviones, son atacados, incluso en las aguas disputadas.
Vietnam, Malasia, Brunéi y Taiwán también están implicados en las disputas territoriales, consideradas durante mucho tiempo un punto de tensión en Asia.
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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.
Richton Park tree lot that was the setting for a Hallmark Christmas movie shuts down after 40 years
The Airstream trailer anchoring a roadside Christmas tree pop-up lot in the 2019 Hallmark movie “Christmas Under The Stars” was fictional, but the tree lot setting was not.
Based on a story by Park Forest native Rikk Dunlap, the movie was born in the annual fir-filled lot established each November along Sauk Trail adjacent to Joann’s Food & Liquor in Richton Park.
“I love the holidays and seeing that just always got me into the Christmas spirit,” Dunlap told Daily Southtown columnist Donna Vickroy in 2019, in advance of the movie’s premiere.
While “Christmas Under The Stars” lives on in reruns, its inspiration has become a ghost of Christmas past. Richton Park Mayor Rick Reinbold, whose family has long operated the pop-up Christmas tree lot, didn’t haul any trees into town this season for the first time in about 40 years.
“We finally had to pull the plug,” he said.
Reinbold said dwindling business over the last four years dictated the closure.
“Two of those years we were breaking even, and for the last two years we were actually losing money,” he said. “We had to decide not to do it this year.”
In its heyday, Reinhold said his family would sell in excess of 600 trees at the Sauk Trail lot in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
“We were down to, if we were lucky, moving 150 trees off the lot,” he said. “It just got to be a numbers decision.”
He said artificial trees were taking a larger share of the market, while box store tree sales also cut into his business. Beyond the sales numbers, Reinbold said sourcing the trees also became troublesome.
Balsam fir Christmas trees lined up in 2024 at a pop-up tree lot along Sauk Trail in Richton Park. The tree lot, a seasonal presence for some 40 years, didn’t open this year due to dwindling sales and trouble sourcing live trees. (Paul Eisenberg/Daily Southtown)
“Our growers, over the years, some have gotten out of the wholesale tree business,” he said. “It’s been difficult to find suppliers that could provide us trees at a reasonable cost.”
Drawing customers from blue collar suburbs such as Richton Park, Park Forest and Chicago Heights, selling affordable trees was one of their hallmarks.
“That was our niche,” Reinbold said. “We weren’t a lot that sold $200 trees. We wanted to make sure we were affordable for all those years.”
Once ubiquitous, independent tree lots have become hard to spot in the rapidly changing suburban retail environment.
“I think the writing has been on the wall for local lots for years,” Reinbold said. “In our region, there used to be seven or eight, and everyone was making money. That was 10 or 15 years ago. But over the years, they experienced and had to make the same decision we had to make, unfortunately.”
When it became apparent the old, boxy white camper trailer — portrayed by the Airstream in the Hallmark movie — that was long the tree lot’s temporary headquarters would not be towed to the Sauk Trail lot, Reinbold said he heard from longtime customers.
A trailer at a Christmas tree lot along Sauk Trail in Richton Park “looks a lot different” than the Airstream depicted in a Hallmark Christmas movie set at the tree stand, owner Rick Reinbold said in 2023. The trailer is missing from its usual spot along Sauk Trail this season as the Reinbold family decided not to sell Christmas trees this year. (Paul Eisenberg/Daily Southtown)
Among those who reached out was Dunlap, who said he’d had inquiries about the missing tree lot. Reinbold said they thought about putting up a sign in the lot where tree sales were a seasonal presence for decades, but “figured it would be self explanatory when you drive by.”
“There’s a lot of disappointed families and we feel bad about that,” he said. “It’s heavy on our heart because we really felt it was a community obligation to have that available. But we weren’t able to keep it going.”
Reinbold said he and his family haven’t ruled out the possibility of the lot returning.
“If we’re able to find a provider that can give us what we need for our community, we’d consider it, but it would depend on a number of factors,” he said. “But we want to be open to the possibility of next year, mostly because it’s hard for me to let go.”
For now, they have the memories of decades of Christmas tree sales. And the Hallmark Christmas movie set in Richton Park was a point of pride for the village’s mayor.
“We got national recognition over that,” Reinbold said. “It was great for the lot, and great for the village to have that. The Hallmark movies are all feel-good movies, so we got a lot of positive feedback.”
But the larger impact over the years, he said, came from a much smaller source.
“I think the kids were the best part of it,” he said. “Seeing them being excited, and the wonderment of Christmas, and knowing that Santa was coming around the corner.”
Those kids always got a candy cane or two as they helped their families choose the perfect tree, or searched the lot for the mischievous elf on a shelf. Those customers have included multiple generations of families, Reinbold said, just as generations of his family have helped operate the lot.
“There’s been a lot of family involvement over the years, a lot of nieces and nephews enjoyed coming and participating. So it wasn’t a decision I made lightly,” he said.
“We’ve enjoyed doing it, and probably as much or more than our customers, we’ll miss it. Probably more than them.”
peisenberg@tribpub.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/13/hallmark-movie-christmas-tree-lot-closes/
Letters: Christmas offers us joy and belonging
The sights and sounds of Christmas wake our senses. You can see Christmas. You can hear Christmas. But, most of all, you can actually feel it. We might even be longing for it to arrive. So, what better time to remind ourselves about belonging?
The spirit that accompanies Christmas is not exclusively reserved for those who believe that something divine happened. Christmas seems to change the ordinary into tender treasures that belong to anyone who reaches for them. Candlelight suddenly glows with peace as well as light. There is music that you can feel as well as hear. Laughter pulls you toward it and invites you in. Joy takes happiness to another level. Anticipation is not anxious but hopeful. Giving suddenly comes so easily. And the world beckons you to your often-neglected inner child.
As we wrap ourselves around the notion that Christmas belongs to anyone who welcomes its touch, let’s take it a step further. What if the brightest gift of Christmas is a reminder that we all belong to each other? We all got here the same way. We all were given a first breath; we’ll all take a last one. Somewhere between that precious pair of breaths, the belonging seems to become so ordinary that we fail to notice it.
There aren’t many things in life that are infinite. Belonging is the exception. You belong when you’re here; you belong when you’re not. Belonging never ends. Can we just say belonging is sovereign? Imagine a world where everyone believed they belonged to each other!
Belong to all those you love this Christmas — and let them know it.
— Ron Bearwald, Northbrook
The best and the worst
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” Charles Dickens wrote of his world. We could say the same of ours. Last weekend, Elgin witnessed both. On Dec. 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used tear gas on residents while trying to round up a Hispanic man, much to the dismay of Elgin’s mayor. The worst of times.
Then on Dec. 7, Elgin hosted the Chicago Bronze Handbell Ensemble. We in attendance were treated to a most beautiful, uplifting holiday experience. This wonderfully gifted and dedicated group of musicians provided us with a performance that truly expressed the message of this season, which is one of love, hope and joy. The best of times.
As I sat there on Sunday, I wondered: Which of these events would we Americans most like our country to represent?
— Mary Herrick, Gilberts, Illinois
Serving the vulnerable
I was compelled to write this letter after seeing the true impact that the students at Adlai E. Stevenson High School made through their 41st annual Give-A-Thon. Not only did they wrap and donate gifts, but they also delivered food and baby items to a local food pantry and the emergency shelter PADS.
I’m a master of social work student. The most impactful aspect of the Give-A-Thon is how the youths at Stevenson embody the core values of social work: service, social justice, and the dignity and worth of each and every person. By donating 83 boxes of diapers and wipes to PADS, they are serving the most vulnerable members of society. They didn’t only address the immediate needs of the surrounding area, but also invested in the well-being of future generations.
The Give-A-Thon had a great turnout and provided 328 families with essential household needs and wish list gifts for the holidays, as well as serving 1,135 children.
Underprivileged families are often overlooked and not discussed enough in society. By engaging in such philanthropy projects, the community at Stevenson High School lessens the gaps between marginalized populations and the broader community, which demonstrates how compassion and action can create real, tangible change.
These philanthropic projects and events must go beyond Stevenson and be brought to society in general. Wrapping presents may feel tedious to some, but it truly ties happiness into a bow for children and families around the holiday season, especially when they know they do not have the means to provide for their families and adhere to the standards surrounding them in Lincolnshire.
— Emma Zislis, University of Illinois MSW candidate, Highland Park
Behavioral health care
Regarding the Dec. 9 article “Finding better access to behavioral health care”: This is very personal to me as our son struggled for years with mental health issues. Unfortunately, this legislation, recently signed into law, comes too late to help him; he tragically died this past summer at the age of 31.
He struggled for years with mental health issues. The issues were twofold: lack of qualified care and therapists and lack of providers in his health insurance plan.
After years of not finding adequate care, he sadly gave up looking and took matters into his own hands. Substituting street drugs for those he used to have prescriptions for led to tragic consequences when one of these pills killed him. According to the medical examiner, the drug found in his system was three times more potent than fentanyl. These pills look exactly like their pharmaceutical equivalent.
The combination of an inability to find care and easy access to these drugs via unmonitored, unregulated social media (a topic worth exploring) resulted in a tragic outcome. This was a game of Russian roulette. My wife and I were totally unaware.
I would add that this new law is about much more than affordability, as stated by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe; this law is about saving lives.
With this legislation, maybe young lives can be saved as people will have easier access to mental health providers that are covered by insurance.
Our family faces a lifetime of grieving over his death and a loss of life that had so much potential.
In a sad twist of fate, my wife and I get grief counseling and therapy covered by Medicare.
— Fred Paul, Northbrook
Note to readers: We’d like to know your hopes for the new year. Please send us a letter, of no more than 400 words, to letters@chicagotribune.com by Sunday, Dec. 28. Include your full name and city/town.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/13/letters-121325-christmas/
