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Good afternoon, Chicago. Renegade Chicago aldermen battling with Mayor Brandon Johnson over competing 2026 budgets announced tweaks to their proposal this morning, but withheld critical details. The City Council majority group is dropping its plan to raise the garbage pickup fee, Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, said in a statement. The group will also maintain youth summer job funding at levels first proposed by Johnson after previously pushing for a smaller amount, Villegas said. The changes are an apparent bid to convince more colleagues to join them and blunt Johnson’s near-daily criticism that their package would hurt working-class Chicagoans. Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices. Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History
news  Irma Garcia, a Chicago Public Schools cook of 23 years, unpacks groceries from a nearby food pantry in her kitchen in Humboldt Park on Dec. 11, 2025. After finishing her workday at Lowell Elementary School, Garcia walked a couple of blocks to volunteer and pick up groceries from Church of God-Le Moyne food pantry. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) CPS lunchroom workers near six months without a contract: ‘No one sees us’Irma Garcia’s life revolves around food. Eight hours a day, she prepares hundreds of meals for students at James Russell Lowell Elementary School in Humboldt Park. But at home, her kitchen shelves are often empty.
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business  A roadside Christmas tree lot along Sauk Trail in Richton Park had been providing seasonal memories for about 40 years, according to owner Rick Reinbold, including being the setting for a Hallmark Christmas movie. It didn't open this year after Reinbold decided to
"pull the plug" on the operation, he said. (Paul Eisenberg/Daily Southtown) Richton Park tree lot that was the setting for a Hallmark Christmas movie shuts down after 40 yearsWhile “Christmas Under the Stars” lives on in reruns, its inspiration has become a ghost of Christmas past.
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sports  Blackhawks center Connor Bedard handles the puck against the Maple Leafs on Nov. 15, 2025, at the United Center. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) Connor Bedard will be out until January after Chicago Blackhawks place him on injured reserveThe Blackhawks placed star center Connor Bedard on injured reserve today because of an upper-body injury he suffered in Friday’s 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. He will be reevaluated in January, but surgery is not expected.
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eat. watch. do.  Head sommelier Dylan Estey pours wine for Brittney Vidosh and Erik Retzer at Hawksmoor in Chicago on Dec. 9, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Rediscovering the lost luxury of sweet wines: The coziest holiday ritual you haven’t embraced — yetEspecially amid the rush of holiday gatherings, sweet wines are an everyday luxury worth rediscovering. Not out of nostalgia, but because they offer the kind of modern ritual many of us crave — a sweet, simple pause to slow down, linger and reconnect.
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nation & world  Honoree Rob Reiner, second left, poses with his wife Michele, left, and children Nick, center,
Romy, and Jake at the 41st Annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall, April 28, 2014, in New York. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Son arrested after Rob Reiner and his wife found dead in Los Angeles home, AP source saysOnline jail records show Nick Reiner, 32, was booked by Los Angeles police and remained in jail today. It was not immediately clear what charges he would face.
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