BEHIND THE SUN-TIMES DEAL. The biggest individual investor among a coalition of wealthy Chicagoans and unions buying the Sun-Times and the Reader once told Chicago Lawyer magazine he was a fan of Gonzo journalism.
■ From the archives: A 2011 “lovefest” as Coli and Emanuel announced a deal aimed at keeping conventions from abandoning Chicago.
‘IT WAS A MASSACRE.’ The Sun-Times’ Michael Sneed details the tearful behind-the-scenes overhaul of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administrative team.
■ Scorecard: Who’s in, who’s not.
■ The governor’s unending feud with lawmakers threatens funding for the upcoming school year. One suburban superintendent: “These are things that keep me up at night.”
■ Illinois’ governor’s race ahead could be the most expensive election in U.S. history.
■ … But it’s dodged the junk bin—for now.
‘SUCH VIEWPOINTS CERTAINLY DO NOT REFLECT OUR VALUES.’ Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is calling for a suburban township trustee to resign from the county’s Commission on Women’s Issues after a Facebook rant over Muslims and “Middle East students.”
■ After worldwide outrage, the State Department has given an Afghan girls robotics team permission to attend an international competition in the U.S.
JARED KUSHNER’S PLIGHT. MSNBC’S Lawrence O’Donnell explains why the president’s son-in-law may be in more trouble than Donald Trump Jr.—and how the scenario resembles the crime that sent Kushner’s father to jail.
■ Nicholas
■ Democrats demand revocation of Kushner’s security clearance.
■ And The New Yorker replies.
■ The federal law Trump Jr. may have broken.
■ The Republican leading the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee tells Team Trump: “You should get everyone in a room, and from the moment you watched either Dr. Zhivago or read Brothers Karamazov to the point you had a shot of liquor with a guy in a furry hat, you need to disclose every contact you have ever had with Russia.”
■ Five men in Russia have been jailed for the murder of an opponent of Vladimir Putin.
‘YOU’RE GOING TO BE THE DIRECTOR OF THE FBI, PAL.’ In Senate confirmation hearings, Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham was exasperated by FBI director-designate Christopher Wray’s first answer to the question, “Should Donald Trump Jr. have taken that meeting?”
■ Wray: If Trump asked him do something unlawful and he couldn’t talk the president out of it, “I would resign.”
BAD INK. A U.S. senator who’s been blasting the outsourcing of American jobs to Mexico has been profiting from a family printing-pad business that does just that.
■ Coming today: The “new” Senate health bill.
■ President Trump: “I will be very angry” if the Republicans’ efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act fails.
■ Meanwhile, ACA health care markets are stabilizing, and insurers in those markets seem to be on a path to profitability.
■ The FDA moves toward the first U.S. approval of gene therapy for cancer patients.
OAK STREET CURVE: HISTORY? New details on the overhaul envisioned for Lake Shore Drive emerged during a public session yesterday.
■ Downtown Chicago gets a visit from the world’s largest wagon today until 6 p.m.
MORE FLOODING? A flood warning will stay in effect until early next week for Chicago’s north and western suburbs.
■ New report: Environmental activists are being killed in record numbers around the world.
■ China’s most prominent political prisoner—a Nobel Peace Prize winner—has died in state custody.
KFC LAUNCHES A SMARTPHONE. With (a presumably grease-resistant) fingerprint scanner, among other features.
■ A mechanical engineering prof asks, “Why can’t we fix our own electronic devices?”
■ The CEO of one of the world’s biggest security companies was declared bankrupt after his ID was stolen.
ACE + TRUE VALUE? Oak Brook-based Ace Hardware says it may be among the bidders for its rival, Chicago-based True Value.
■ Kids clothing chain Gymboree is closing 16 Illinois stores.
CORRECTION. Yesterday’s Square mischaracterized the target of Dear Abby’s advice: It was a man whose girlfriend refuses to wear an elf costume for sex.