UNITED UPS ANTE. Putting its money where its mouth has been in expressing regret for the dragging of a passenger from a plane in Chicago, United Airlines says it’s now going to offer up to $10,000 to passengers who agree to get off its flights.
■ But a giant rabbit’s death on a flight to Chicago still has United hopping.
■ United accounted for a third of animal deaths on U.S. flights over the last five years.
‘THE MOST CORRUPT PLACE IN ILLINOIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ECONOMIC PLACE IN THE MIDWEST.’ That’s one economist’s take in a Better Government Association report on why the Chicago area’s booming economy can’t jumpstart the whole state.
■ A prize block is on the market as investors flock to Chicago’s booming Fulton Market district at the edge of the West Loop.
■ The Chicago area’s housing market is still “not normal,” according to one real estate scholar.
■ How to find out who lived in your home before you.
DOORED IN ILLINOIS. The number of bicyclists who crashed into car doors opened by inconsiderate motorists is up 50 percent, according to newly released data.
■ Drivers argued for miles along I-88 before one shot and killed another, according to prosecutors.
■ Mary Wisniewski in the Tribune: Five things to know about plans to widen the Tri-State.
TAX PLAN ‘LOPSIDED.’ One tax expert tells USA Today President Trump’s proposed tax system overhaul favors “the top end of the income scale.”
■ Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin declines to guarantee middle-class families won’t wind up paying more under the plan.
■ Sun-Times editorial: The plan is “a bribe to voters to look the other way.”
■ Asking job applicants how much they made in previous jobs—unless it’s public record—would become illegal under a bill making its way through the Illinois legislature.
■ But you can ask how much pension disgraced former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert will be getting from his years in the General Assembly.
■ An Illinois appeals court has reversed a multi-million dollar legal award the City of Chicago had won against three online travel companies.
TRUMP’S NEWS CONFERENCES ARE ‘A LOT MORE DEMOCRATIC’ THAN OBAMA’S. That’s New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush, who says Barack Obama often “had six or seven organizations that he had pre-selected to call upon — and a lot of them were pretty favorable to him.”
■ In a rare move, Trump invited the full Senate to a White House briefing on North Korea.
■ Ivanka Trump splits with her dad, says the U.S. should take in more refugees from Syria.
■ ThinkProgress: Her new “women-empowerment fund” is “a legal and ethical nightmare.”
■ ProPublica: The president still hasn’t quit all his businesses.
■ BuzzFeed: People are trolling his new anti-immigrant hotline with reports of space aliens. (Photo: Gage Skidmore.)
A LOOPY IDEA. The Illinois House has approved a bill requiring elementary and high schools to teach cursive writing—a proposal from the representative also responsible for “Zombie Preparedness Month.”
■ The Chicago school board promises to make its high school application process simpler and fairer.
MEGYN KELLY’S NEW BOSS. The president of NBC News spells out his plans to integrate a Fox refugee.
■ ESPN is suffering the cord-cutters’ revenge.
■ Chicago media columnist Robert Feder has a new home: The Daily Herald.
SHAMELESS PLUG Dept. Vote for Chicago Public Square as Best News Site in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago 2017 poll. It’s quick and easy. And a grateful nation will turn its eyes to you.
CORRECTION. Yesterday’s emailed edition of Chicago Public Square reported that “more than 1,000 Chicagoans have been shot so far this year.” More accurately, it should have read: “More than 1,000 people have been shot in Chicago so far this year.”