ICEd out. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons is quitting at the end of next month—leaving an agency the AP describes as “flush with cash while still a flashpoint for controversy.”
■ Law prof Joyce Vance: “Protests and mayhem are no longer front-page news. But that doesn’t mean ICE has somehow been magically reformed.”
■ The AP: “ICE went on a hiring spree. Sterling credentials were not required.”
■ The Sun-Times: “Burdened by costs of an ICE facility in town, Broadview reckons with a spotlight it never wanted.”
■ Marimar Martinez, a Chicago woman shot five times by a Border Patrol agent, has a date next week with the House Homeland Security Committee.
■ Lincoln Project cofounder Rick Wilson: President Trump “isn’t just losing a news cycle or a court case; he is losing the very mythos that allowed him to occupy the American headspace for a decade.”
Who’s watching whom? Rejecting Trump’s demand for a longer extension, the House early today sent the Senate a renewal just through the end of the month for spy agencies’ power to collect overseas communications without a warrant—including U.S. citizens’ interactions with foreign targets.
■ A Wired investigation finds New York Knicks owner Jim Dolan using Madison Square Garden’s surveillance system to track lawyers, protesters and a trans woman.
‘A frantic feel in the air.’ As Congress gets back to work and the midterm elections near, historian Heather Cox Richardson says “Republicans appear to be trying to grab all the turf they can.”
■ Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemingly perjured himself before the House yesterday when he denied saying “every Black kid” deserves a chance to be “re-parented.”
■ Columnist and former Illinois U.S. Rep. Marie Newman reflecting on the House’s sex scandals: “Congress does not have an HR department and there is an ugly reason for that.”
‘There was a boy who was murdered by a police officer and it was covered up.’ Chicago Mayor Johnson calls then-Mayor Emanuel’s actions after the 2014 death of Laquan McDonald “disqualifying” for Emanuel’s rumored presidential aspirations.
■ He hasn’t formally declared his candidacy for the mayor’s job, but Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is waaaay ahead of other potential candidates in fundraising.
‘A death trap.’ That’s what a City Council member calls the decaying Ford City Mall …
■ … which faces an imminent shutdown, over the protests of a few remaining tenants.
‘A danger at worst.’ A Tribune editorial calls on the Illinois House to follow the Senate’s lead and crack down on e-bikes.
■ The bill, which passed unanimously, would require riders of devices capable of traveling more than 28 mph to have a driver’s license, title, registration and insurance—and to be at least 16.
■ Headed to the Senate from the House: Gov. Pritzker’s plan to limit kids’ access to social media algorithms that researchers and the courts have found addictive.
■ The General Assembly’s also weighing a bill of rights for the homeless.
‘The hero we need at the exact moment we need him.’ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich sarcastically hands it to President Trump on his conflict with Pope Leo: “You’ve created a folk hero, admired even by people like myself who are in no way religious.”
■ Stephen Colbert congratulates Trump: “Damn, son, the pope just read you for ‘darkness and filth.’”
■ Author and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich: “Leo isn’t backing down. Praise the Lord.” (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)
■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: Defense Secretary Hegseth “launched into a bizarre attack of the press by invoking the Bible.”
Dingus of the Week. Lyz Lenz’s pick: “Pope JD Vance.”
■ Lisa Needham at Public Notice: “The spectacle of Vance lecturing … about theology … is indeed a car crash you can’t look away from.”
■ Columnist Steven Beschloss: “Despite his growing collection of obvious failures on the global stage, he’s reveling in his imaginary, near-divine status within the power elite.”
News quizzes, anyone? Past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel has nine questions for you—and an invitation to help out with next week’s quiz.
■ Your Chicago Public Square columnist’s score this week: 6/9.
■ It was 4/5 correct here for City Cast’s Chicago-centric news quiz …
■ … and a perfect 10/10 on Justin Kaufmann’s Axios quiz about local brands.
Magic in Chicago. Opening Saturday in the old McCormick Mansion at 100 E. Ontario St.: The Hand & The Eye—a very high-end magic showplace.
■ Wanna see it? Dig up at least $225 …
■ … but columnist Neil Steinberg, who wandered in for free, reports: “Just exploring the place, without a show, was a rich experience, and put me in a better frame of mind than when I entered.”
■ Admission to Chicago’s Obama Presidential Center will cost more than that for any other presidential library.
AI amazement. Love it, hate it or fear it … ya gotta admire the artificial intelligence tech that allowed creation of this trailer for an imaginary science fiction action movie, Pi Hard—featuring the avatars of Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawking.
■ Wonkette: “FEMA orders Waffle House teleportation guy to shut up about teleporting to Waffle House.”
■ The Onion: “Biologists Confirm Not Much Evolution Happened Today.”
■ Contribute as little as $1, just once, over the weekend and your name’ll show up here Monday.
