12 HOURS, 7 DEATHS. Three separate shootings in one Chicago neighborhood yesterday took the lives of seven people, including a pregnant woman.
■ Kane County police report a “Heroin Highway” from Chicago is thriving.
■ Steve Rhodes in The Beachwood Reporter on accounts of rising heroin use among white people: “Therefore, we should have empathy … instead of angrily punishing them criminally like we do black people.”
■ The Reader: Why Chicago’s once-promising food truck scene stalled out.
ONLINE PRIVACY FEARS? OBFUSCATE. Wired says one browser plugin takes the approach that if you can’t disappear online, “you can hide yourself in a miasma of noise.”
■ “Cards Against Humanity” creator Max Temkin says attention for his threat to buy and publish Congress members’ web histories is “honestly starting to scare me.”
■ The Consumerist: “Deleting your history is like destroying your Flavor Of Love: Season 2 DVD set after your doorman already saw you walking through the lobby with it.”
‘FOLLOW THE DEAD RUSSIANS.’ That’s the counsel to the U.S. Senate from a former FBI agent who says Russia may be covering the tracks of its involvement in the 2016 elections.
■ President Trump to former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn on his offer to talk about the Russian connection in exchange for immunity from prosecution: Go for it.
■ Flynn last September: “Immunity … means you probably committed a crime.”
■ Boing Boing: “This account obviously existed to let Comey blow off steam, so it inevitably would have some links to his real identity.”
‘COULD WE REASONABLY EXPECT THIS POOR MAN TO DO ANYTHING BUT SEIZE THAT SIREN TEMPTRESS IN HIS ARMS AND DO WHAT OUR CAVE ANCESTORS DID?’ Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri frets over Vice President Mike Pence’s assertion that he avoids temptation by never eating alone with a woman who is not his wife.
■ Pence’s tiebreaker sends Trump a bill to let states keep federal family planning money from Planned Parenthood affiliates and other abortion providers.
■ The Onion: “Mike Pence Asks Waiter To Remove Mrs. Butterworth From Table Until Wife Arrives.”
‘ALL THREE MEN WERE ACCUSED OF BETRAYAL. … EACH WAS REDEEMED.’ A new book looks back 50 years, to “extraordinary acts of courage” by public figures who spoke out against the Vietnam War.
■ Under Trump, the U.S. is ramping up its military presence.
THE NEW WAY TO GET AHEAD. A new survey by Crain’s and the executive women’s group Chicago Network suggests job-hopping works. As one respondent put it, “Being loyal to a company (does) not pay.”
■ Also: Consider moving to Mexico.
YOUTUBE GIFT. The company’s co-founder, Steve Chen, a graduate of the Illinois Math and Science Academy, has returned to the school to dedicate a Center for Innovation and Inquiry named after him (after his $1 million donation).
■ 1871 CEO Howard Tullman has announced a new incubator for Internet of Things startups: The Chicago Connectory.
■ He made the announcement to the City Club of Chicago. See video of the whole speech here.
ECO-DEPRESSION. A new report concludes climate change can trigger mental health issues like anxiety and depression.
■ Does global warming signal the start of a race for long-frozen Arctic riches?
■ Science guy Bill Nye has joined next month’s March for Science.
■ The Knight Foundation is handing out almost a million dollars in grants to help libraries keep pace with digital-age demands.
■ Ray Bradbury biographer Sam Weller: Without school librarians, we’re on a dystopian path.
A Chicago Public Square advertiser
SPECIAL ISSUE TOMORROW. Square doesn’t normally publish Saturday, but this is an exception. Watch your email box for something … different.