Welcome to December, quotes readers! It’s been a busy news week, so let’s get right into it.
On Sunday night, President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, who was facing possible prison time for gun and tax convictions, despite previously promising not to use presidential powers in his son’s criminal cases. After South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday, lawmakers voted to lift the decree and moved to impeach the president. And a gunman is still on the lam after killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday.
As Chicago’s budget deadline looms, Mayor Brandon Johnson is pitching a new way to pay for several police positions while aldermen are urging the mayor to make further cuts in his spending plan.
Two big decisions were handed down in Illinois courts on Thursday: The state Supreme Court ruled that the smell of raw cannabis is grounds for police to search a vehicle and a federal appeals court in Chicago ruled that Illinois’ sweeping assault weapons ban can stay in place while the state contests a decision from a downstate judge who found the law unconstitutional.
Thomas Brown is settling into his new role as interim coach following the firing of Bears head coach Matt Eberflus last week. Brown’s head coaching skills will be put to the test for the first time Sunday, as the Bears take on the San Francisco 49ers. In other coaching shake-ups, the Blackhawks fired coach Luke Richardson on Thursday, appointing Rockford Ice Hogs coach Anders Sorensen as interim coach. And one of Chicago’s baseball teams lost a legend this week. White Sox great Bill Melton, the team’s first player to hit 30 home runs in a season and lead the American League in homers, died at age 79 following a brief illness.
Now that you know the headlines, let’s get to the fun stuff. Here’s the latest installment of the Tribune’s Quotes of the Week quiz — this time with excerpts and utterances from the week spanning Dec. 1 to 7.