Summer is officially over — at least for Chicago Public Schools. Classes resumed Monday, and while students settle back into their routines and teachers prepare their lesson plans, the district is determining how to balance its budget. As for the rest of us still squeezing out all that summer has to offer, consider jumping in the lake, going to see a concert or getting a terrible portrait done at the Logan Square farmers market. But before you start figuring out your weekend plans, here’s the rundown on what you may have missed in the news.
The week started off on a positive note for the Chicago Bears, who won their preseason game Sunday night against the Buffalo Bills in a dominant 38-0 victory. The good news kept flowing throughout the week, with the team announcing a two-year, $10 million contract extension for backup quarterback Tyson Bagent on Wednesday and securing another victory in Friday’s preseason finale, beating the Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Across the globe, parts of Gaza are officially in famine, according to the world’s leading authority on food crises. Meanwhile, at the White House, President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders to discuss the prospect of ending Russia’s three-year war in Ukraine. Plus, millions of U.S. visa holders could be at risk after the Trump administration said Thursday that it’s reviewing their records for offenses that could warrant deportation.
The president’s bid to crack down on crime in Washington, D.C., also continued this week, with nearly 2,000 National Guard troops now stationed in the city. On Friday, Trump suggested Chicago would be the next target for federal intervention, provoking a response from Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker, who called the proposed move an “authoritarian power grab.”
In other news, the Regional Transit Authority announced it would transfer $74 million from Pace and Metra to the CTA in a bid to delay service cuts in Chicago, Northwestern reached a settlement with former football coach Pat Fitzgerald following his firing over the team’s hazing scandal two years ago and the Naperville Board of Education agreed to a tentative deal with its teachers union Friday, averting a planned strike.
Things may be getting more expensive in Illinois. Health care insurers are proposing double-digit rate increases for those on the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange, Naperville and Waukegan are considering a local grocery tax and Cubs season ticket prices are going up between 5% and 8%.
Also in sports, the Cubs won their five-game series against the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, the Blackhawks and forward Frank Nazar agreed to a seven-year, $46 million contract and the Chicago Bulls announced Derrick Rose’s No. 1 jersey will be retired in a ceremony early next year.
Finally, as part of a newsroom reorganization, the Tribune said goodbye to its film critic this week. Michael Phillips had been with the paper since 2002 and reviewing movies for the last 20. You can read his farewell column, here.
That’s it for the headlines. Here’s the latest installment of the Tribune’s Quotes of the Week quiz, with excerpts and utterances from Aug. 17 to 23. Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.
Originally Published: August 23, 2025 at 5:00 AM CDT