Good morning, Chicago. During a wellness check in February 2023, a Cook County sheriff’s deputy discovered 92-year-old Anna Vargas lying face down on the floor near the body of her son, who had diabetes and had died of natural causes. Vargas, still breathing, was rushed to nearby Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in suburban Park Ridge. A physician diagnosed Vargas with severe cognitive impairment due to dementia and concluded she was incapable of making her own decisions. With no other family to help the nonagenarian navigate what would come next, the hospital filed a petition asking a judge to appoint a guardian to handle her affairs. It was the start of a very expensive 18 months for Vargas. The law firm the hospital hired to handle her case and the private care management organization the hospital nominated as her guardian eventually billed her estate for tens of thousands of dollars in fees, on top of the money paid out to her new nursing home. After Vargas’ money started to run out, court records show, they suggested to a judge that a taxpayer-funded public guardian take over her care. Last Sunday, a Tribune investigation revealed that Chicago-area hospitals initiated hundreds of guardianship petitions in an 18-month period, sometimes stripping families of control over their loved ones and, in many cases, facilitating the patient’s discharge to a subpar nursing home. The vast majority of those petitions involved people with little money who were placed with the Office of State Guardian at the hospitals’ own expense. But in cases where the patient had assets, a pattern emerged: A law firm that hospitals commonly hire in such cases — Monahan Law Group — named a particular organization — Midwest Care Management — as the hospital’s preferred guardian. In many cases, both parties then benefited from providing months or years of services funded by the former patient. Read the full investigation from the Tribune’s Emily Hoerner, Christy Gutowski and Lisa Schencker. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: who’s to blame for this year’s property tax bills, former Chicago Tribune reporter Don Pierson reminisces about covering the 1985 Bears and why a Wicker Park indie bookstore has been forced to close. Today’s eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles Games | Today in History Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff shake hands during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, on Aug. 6, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Land and security are the main sticking points as Russia and Ukraine mull Trump’s peace proposal Diplomats face an uphill battle to reconcile Russian and Ukrainian “red lines” as a renewed U.S.-led push to end the war gathers steam, with Ukrainian officials attending talks in the U.S. over the weekend and Washington officials expected in Moscow early this week. Here is where things stand and what to expect this week. Marco Rubio says US-Ukraine talks on Russia war were productive but much work remains in search of a deal Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi attends the American Legion Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11, 2025, at Manuel Perez Jr. Memorial Plaza in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Who’s to blame for this year’s property tax bills? Finger-pointing, opportunism abound. It took little time after this year’s Cook County property tax bills became public for the political gamesmanship to begin. This year’s bills showed Chicago homeowners’ median property tax bills jumped 16.7% over last year, according to the Cook County treasurer, while the collective bills for commercial real estate in the Loop dropped by $129 million. People make a snowman in Chicago's Grant Park on Nov. 30, 2025, after the city recorded over 8 inches of snow. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Saturday snow breaks record in Chicago, National Weather Service confirms As Chicagoans woke up to “Winter Wonderland”-like conditions yesterday, snowfall recorded at Chicago O’Hare International Airport Saturday was confirmed as a record 8.4 inches, the highest snowfall on a single calendar day in November since 1951, according to the National Weather Service. More than 1,000 flights canceled at Chicago’s airports as up to 10 inches of snow blankets the region Photos: Winter weather hits Chicagoland Union Pacific, left, and Norfolk Southern freight engines wait to be connected to trains at the Norfolk Southern Ashland Yard where segments of freight trains are exchanged between rail companies, Nov. 25, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) Union Pacific says rail merger could unclog Chicago. Critics worry about costs and traffic tie-ups. By merging with Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific wants to create a coast-to-coast railroad to carry nearly half of all U.S. rail freight. Union Pacific says the $85 billion merger would serve the public interest and win federal approval by unclogging Chicago, the cradle of American railroading and still its biggest and most notorious bottleneck. U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros at his office in the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, April 29, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) Judge’s unusual criticism in dropped immigration case is latest strange twist for US attorney’s office In the four months since U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros was appointed to an open-ended term as Chicago’s top federal prosecutor, his office has seen a large turnover in leadership, been buffeted by the government shutdown and thrown headlong into the controversial Operation Midway Blitz immigration enforcement mission. Unusual times to be sure. But then last week, things got even weirder. Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald pumps his fist after a touchdown against Michigan State on Sept. 3, 2021, at Ryan Field in Evanston. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Michigan State plans to hire Pat Fitzgerald, the former Northwestern coach, according to reports Pat Fitzgerald may be on the verge of returning to coaching college football. The Detroit Free Press and Lansing State Journal reported yesterday that Michigan State plans to hire Fitzgerald as its new coach after firing Jonathan Smith. Former Chicago Tribune reporter Don Pierson holds some of his more than four dozen reporter's notebooks he filled during the Chicago Bears 1985 season at his home in Lake Forest on Sept. 4, 2025. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl run: Don Pierson’s game-by-game breakdown from the ‘most memorable season’ Don Pierson called 1985 the “most memorable season” not just for the Bears, but for any NFL team. The personalities, the injuries, the swagger, the statistics — all of the season’s highs and lows are recorded in his dozens of notebooks. “There were so many (potential) stories, you had to pick one to work on,” he said. “Even the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’ — it was just another story for that week.” Column: Shirtless Ben Johnson is exactly what Chicago needed on a snowy holiday weekend At 9-3, Bears own the 2nd-best record in the NFC: Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on Week 13 Mount Carmel's Jack Elliott holds up the Class 7A state championship title up with teammates after beating Batavia at Hancock Stadium in Normal on Nov. 30, 2024. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Daily Southtown) IHSA reschedules the football state finals that were postponed — 2 games in Normal, 2 in DeKalb The Illinois High School Association has now rescheduled all four of the football state championship games that were postponed in anticipation of a winter storm on Saturday. Deeksha Chaudhary, visiting from Canada, right, and Nitish Dewan of Streeterville browse for books on Nov. 21, 2025, at Volumes Bookcafe in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Dewan took Chaudhary to some of his favorite places in the Chicago, including Volumes. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune) A year after Barnes Noble opens in Wicker Park, nearby indie bookstore forced to close Rebecca George likes to think that she is part of her customers’ stories. There have been two weddings and almost 20 engagements at Volumes Bookcafe, the bookstore she owns in Wicker Park. Debut authors launched successful careers. Just a couple of months ago, she said, a baby took his first steps in between the bookshelves and now he’s “cruising around like he owns the place.” It’s these memories George said she’ll miss the most when Volumes closes in January. It was a decision she and her sister, a co-owner, were forced to make due to a consistent 20% to 30% drop in sales, a death knell for independent bookstores, which typically operate with tight profit margins. Kristen Lopez is a film critic and author of “Popcorn Disabilities: The Highs and Lows of Disabled Representation in the Movies." (Bloomsbury Academic) ‘Popcorn Disabilities’ author Kristen Lopez looks at disability portrayals in movies In her new book “Popcorn Disabilities: The Highs and Lows of Disabled Representation in the Movies,” film critic and author Kristen Lopez says she wasn’t interested in writing “an academic book or one that felt like eating your vegetables.” Even so, some publishers were skeptical. ...read more read less