CNN’S PLIGHT. Its publication of a single- and anonymous-source story has put it “in a position no news organization wants to be in.”
■ President Trump calls The New York Times “a fake news joke.”
■ Sarah Palin is suing the Times.
■ A blogger facing jail time is refusing to ID his sources.
■ Russia considers blocking foreign broadcasts.
■ Vanity Fair: Why Stephen Colbert went to Russia.
A CHICAGO FIRST. In an unprecedented move, three current or former Chicago cops face criminal charges, accused of lying to protect Officer Jason Van Dyke, who faces murder charges in the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
■ Chicago police tried to pull over an off-duty cop before he died in a crash that also killed a 27-year-old woman.
■ Add the Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson to the list of those calling for federal court oversight of Chicago Police Department reforms.
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‘THE OWNER OF A MOM-AND-POP GROCERY STORE APPROACHING THEIR ALDERMAN TO ASK ABOUT STREET REPAIRS OUT FRONT IS TECHNICALLY A LOBBYIST.’
That’s also Inspector General Ferguson, telling aldermen he wouldn’t investigate that owner—but also suggesting the city needs to clarify things.
■ Headed to the City Council: An ordinance requiring companies give workers at least two weeks’ notice on work schedules and extra pay for last-minute changes.
■ Livestream video of today’s Council meeting, beginning at 10 a.m.
CUBS-TRUMP. Manager Joe Maddon says the team is going to the White House—again—this afternoon: “Whatever Mr. Ricketts would like me to do, I’m going to do.”
■ SB Nation columnist Marc Normandin: The Cubs’ visit “is a political statement whether Joe Maddon agrees or not.”
■ At least 10 Cubs planned not to go.
■ A “REAL FAKE” sculpture trolls Chicago’s Trump Tower.
■ … But, hey, Chicago also now has a giant deer sculpture.
■ Columnist Phil Kadner: How Gov. Rauner’s property-tax freeze would hurt kids.
■ With three days left in Illinois’ special legislative session, House Speaker Michael Madigan has laid out his vision for a grand bargain on the budget. (Photo: The Photographer.)
NIU SUED. A DeKalb County Board member—who happens also to be a student at Northern Illinois University—is going to court to protest the university’s decision to give its scandal-scarred president a fat severance package.
■ Chicago Reporter investigation: Students learning English in Chicago are going without legally required services—like books in their native language and teachers who speak that language.
■ For sale: The City Colleges of Chicago downtown headquarters.
■ Northwestern brags: It’s the first major Chicago-area campus to offer a gender-neutral, multi-stall restroom.
■ Law schools are “hunkering down” as enrollment falls.
■ This latest assault is more sophisticated than the last.
■ And you may be able to blame the U.S. National Security Agency.
■ But researchers have devised a simple vaccine: Creation of a single file will protect computers that haven’t been infected.
RADICAL HEALTH CARE IDEA: BIPARTISANSHIP. The NBC News political team explores the possibility of an Affordable Care Act reform path that would appeal to at least some Democrats.
■ Vox: The Republican plan’s not dead yet.
■ Illinois is running late in revealing which companies intend to offer health insurance on the state’s exchange next year.
■ Neil Steinberg: “How does … moral logic crumble … when … one baby is multiplied by a million or 10 million?”
‘IT IS APPALLING.’ That’s one environmentalist’s reaction to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to forgo federal protection for smaller waterways.
■ Before deciding not to push for a ban on a pesticide linked to children’s health problems, the EPA’s chief met privately with the CEO of the company that makes it.
PADDINGTON BEAR’S CREATOR. Michael Bond is dead at 91.
■ A Chicago children’s hospital is celebrating Superhero Week.