Hottest. Month. Ever. It’s official: July was the hottest month on record in the United States …
■ … thanks to human-caused climate change.
■ More storms were headed this way today …
■ … maybe including tornadoes.
■ Public health alerts about hot weather often neglect to mention one big symptom: Chronic pain.
‘Ghoulish allegations.’ The Sun-Times says the discovery of dozens of decomposing bodies at a South Side funeral home has sparked a new push for the state to step up regulation for the business of death.
■ Cook County’s ID’d at least 11 of those 56 bodies.
Deadly day. Nearly matching the total for the preceding weekend, Chicago yesterday recorded five killings in six hours …
■ … including two custodians at a Southwest Side elementary school, reportedly in a murder-suicide.
■ Block Club: Chicago police have twice failed to find loaded guns on suspects since such a weapon left one officer dead and another injured at Swedish Hospital in April.
Cops on the spot. Chicagoans targeted by “Midway Blitz” storm troopers have filed nine formal complaints with the police department, alleging crimes by federal immigration agents …
■ …. because, in the words of Marimar Martinez—shot five times by a Border Patrol agent—“the federal government has made clear there will be no investigation.”
He’s baaaaack. Willie Wilson’s launched his fourth campaign for Chicago mayor …
■ … and that makes 10—so far.
‘Trump hid in an airport catering container.’ The New York Times reports (gift link): “Top administration officials engaged in an elaborate deception to spirit President Trump out of Turkey during the NATO summit … because of a threat against him and Air Force One.”
■ Calling the account “downright scary,” a Democratic senator is calling for an investigation.
■ Columnist Heather Delaney Reese: “Trump is a coward.”
‘One of the most catastrophic failures by a president in American history.’ That's CBS News alumnus Dan Rather’s assessment of where the war with Iran is headed …
■ … under what Popular Information calls the “disastrous diplomacy” of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.
‘Fewer immunized kids, more sickness.’ The Bulwark sees that as the upshot of Trump’s order—in contradiction of medical groups’ guidance—promoting his long-held crackpot view that childhood immunizations should be stretched out.
■ The anonymously bylined What Did Donald Trump Do Today? blog: Trump’s order “is policymaking in search of evidence. And … the subjects of this experiment are American children” …
■ … but Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina says Trump’s order actually doesn’t mean much: “Families can still access all vaccines on the AAP schedule. Pediatricians should continue offering vaccines, and these vaccines remain covered without cost-sharing under current law.”
■ Education columnist Jan Resseger: Trump’s assault on Head Start and birthright citizenship constitute an attack on children’s needs.
■ USA Today’s Rex Huppke: “RFK Jr.'s food safety plan is simple. Just stop eating.”
■ Columnist Jessica Valenti: “Massachusetts just legalized abortion throughout pregnancy.”
Newspaper layoffs. Less than two months after being acquired by the Chicago Tribune’s parent, the Daily Herald has fired about a dozen senior staffers (Crain’s gift link), including veteran executive editor Lisa Friedman Miner and reporter and editor Jake Griffin.
■ It fits the pattern at Trib parent Alden Global Capital …
■ … profiled thusly by The Atlantic five years ago (gift link): “A secretive hedge fund is gutting newsrooms.”
Quit Trump says headlines. Press Watch columnist Dan Froomkin calls for news organizations to swear ’em off: “Trump says so many things that aren’t true that the legacy media’s compulsion to put what he says in a headline is a major vector for misinformation.”
■ Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob recommends 25 pro-democracy media people to follow—plus a bunch of honorable mentions.
‘The Presidential Communications Commission?’ The former chief of The Museum of Television & Radio (now The Paley Center for Media) says Trump’s Federal Communications Commission “is moving dangerously toward policing how closely programming aligns with presidential favor” …
■ … and it won’t get better if Trump fills another empty seat there.
■ Columnist and award-winning radio news veteran Rob Archer: “Your car has a radio. Now try to find it.”
‘Facile, self-serving manifesto.’ That’s Platformer columnist Casey Newton’s take on Meta/Facebook/Instagram/Threads/WhatsApp/whatever overlord Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for artificial intelligence’s role in humanity’s future …
■ … which you can read here.
■ Columnist Eric Zorn’s new rule for the 21st century: Text before calling.
Your money, their interest. A new Consumer Federation of America report concludes that, by delaying home insurance claim payouts for a few days, the insurance industry collectively earns millions in interest.
■ Got a story like that? The Sun-Times’ Stephanie Zimmermann wants to hear from you.
Nurdle no-nos. Gov. Pritzker’s signed a law designating plastic pellets used to manufacture plastic products as pollution (Tribune gift link).
More Obama tickets. The presidential center’s releasing a fresh batch of admission opportunities tomorrow.
■ Be here at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Chicago Public Square mailbag. Illinois’ gas tax revenue during the Iran war’s price surges continued to generate comments from two readers:
■ Dean Martin replies to yesterday’s reply to his note in Friday’s edition: “Illinois is one of the few states that applies a general 6.25% sales tax to motor fuel on top of the excise tax. The state utilized about $150 million in general sales tax revenue collected from high gas prices to help balance the state budget instead of traditional transportation funds.”
■ And Rob Breymeier responds to Martin’s response to his note in Monday’s edition: “He’s technically correct, but it struck me as misleading since he singled out gasoline, making it seem like he was addressing the motor fuel tax. … The amount of fuel tax collected … did go up a bit in 2025 but has come down in 2026 (based on data from The St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank). Still, with his logic, sales tax revenues would increase for just about everything, as nearly everything has gone up in price due to inflation. It would be lunacy to adjust state sales tax revenues in opposition to changes in the costs of goods.”
