Picture Chicago: 11 news photos from the last full week of 2023

Firefighters carry tanks after the Chicago Fire Department put out a fire and rescued residents of Edison Apartments in the 1000 block of West Foster Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood, Friday, Dec. 29, 2023. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

Some of Lisa Walkers’ grandchildren pick through the mountains of toys they received to show off some of their favorite items to their grandmother, Sunday, Dec. 24. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times)

A group of people hang out and take photos on the Bridge over South Pond in Lincoln Park during an abnormally warm Christmas Day, Monday, Dec. 25. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times)

Hundreds of people attend Christmas mass at St. Volodymyr & Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukrainian Village, Monday, Dec. 25. This is the first year Ukrainian’s are celebrating Christmas in December as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church distances itself with the Russian Orthodox Church as the war in Ukraine enters its second year. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times)

Retired Colonel Michael Colburn of the U.S. Marine Band conducts TubaChristmas at the Palmer House Hilton in the Loop, Saturday, Dec. 23. Originating in New York in 1974 and now on its 50th year, TubaChristmas is a concert that brings together hundreds of tuba players to play Christmas songs. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

Nubian Malik raises his hands as drummers perform to celebrate the first day of Kwanzaa at Malcolm X College in the Near West Side, Tuesday, Dec. 26. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

Poinsettias are on display at the Lincoln Park Conservatory in Chicago on Wednesday, Dec. 19. The upcoming winter flower show will feature poinsettias in pink and white hues, along with other winter flowers and plants. (Alex Wroblewski/For the Sun-Times)

Corey Carr, vice president and stylist at I Am A Gentleman, fixes the collar of Fabian Santiago at I Am A Gentleman in the Bridgeport neighborhood, Tuesday, Dec. 26. I Am A Gentleman styled him and gave him a suit to get back on track. Santiago, who was wrongfully convicted in 1994 for a murder, was exonerated in 2022. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

A young girl holds onto the present she was given during a Communities Partnering 4 Peace and One Northside Christmas toy giveaway in Uptown, Friday, Dec. 22,. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times)

Marie Henderson, owner of Out of the Past Records at her store, at 4407 W. Madison St. in W Garfield Park, Wednesday, Dec. 27. ‘You hope and you pray that things get better,’ says Henderson after attempted carjacking leads to shootout near her record store. (Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times)

A man walks by Big Monster Toys’ iconic large door located at 21 South Racine Avenue in the West Loop neighborhood, Tuesday, Dec. 26. The toy design studio known for its whimsical workspace and giant yellow door, is closed to new business, said partner Sam Unsicker. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times)