Word of the day / Sweets surrender / Chicago's missile menace

WORD OF THE DAY. Advised of the Washington Post report that President Trump dictated his son’s misleading statement about a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Donald Trump Jr.’s lawyer promised a “fulsome” statement to come. And maybe that’s what he meant. Or maybe that word doesn’t mean what he thinks it means.

Post analysis: Trump’s lawyer repeatedly denied Trump was involved in Trump Jr.’s statement. But he was.
Los Angeles Times columnist David Horsey: “How many lies will (new White House chief of staff) Kelly tolerate before his principles compel him to resign?”
An Evanston Boy Scout protests to Scouting HQ: “The Boy Scouts of America should see the fact that they sanctioned [President Trump’s] speech as a disgrace.”
Mooch, we hardly knew ye: Late-night comedians bid mournful farewells to foul-mouthed, fired-before-he-started White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci—who, adding insult to f--king injury, was listed as deceased in the new Harvard Law School alumni directory.
Mark Jacob in the Tribune: A short history of dirty words in newspapers.

‘IT WAS AN INSIDE JOB. … AND THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT HAD BETTER GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT.’ A Sun-Times editorial presses for answers in the case of a gun given to police for destruction but later found near a man shot and killed by a Cicero cop.
Chicago murders (correction:) for the year totaled more than 400 in July—putting 2017 on pace to surpass 2016.
Columnist Dahleen Glanton: “That so-called law and order speech President Donald Trump gave in New York last week should be a wakeup call for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.”

SWEETS SURRENDER. As Cook County’s new sweetened beverage tax takes effect today Wednesday, the Tribune runs down what’s covered and what isn’t.
Top honors in the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s annual “Xtreme Eating Awards” for high-caloric restaurant menu items go to …

NOT SO SWIFT. Developing (STILL): Gov. Rauner promised “swift action” on Illinois school funding overhaul legislation sent to him yesterday. Then he went to bed. [Update, 10:40 a.m.: He’s issued an amendatory veto.]
PolitiFact: Rauner’s claim the package is a bailout for Chicago’s troubled teacher’s pension fund? False.
Mayor Emanuel brags Chicago is set for its smallest budget shortfall in a decade, but that glosses over a few bumps ahead.
As many as 20,000 homes could be sprouting on Chicago’s South Side lakefront.
A big Chicago property holder is headed toward a once-in-a-generation riverfront development opportunity along Lincoln Park and Bucktown.
Amazon says by the end of the day Wednesday, 50,000 people will have new jobs with the company—and it’s not too late to apply.

CAR WALK. Developing: About 2,000 Chicago-area new-car dealership auto mechanics are on strike today.
Chicago’s moving to shut down 17 party-bus companies that it says have been operating without licenses.
Uber plans to issue a co-branded loyalty credit card.

CARP! The Army Corps of Engineers promises to release next week a long-delayed report on how to keep the marauding Asian carp from overtaking the Great Lakes ecosystem. (Photo: Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee.)
New strategy for keeping toxic algae at bay in the Great Lakes: Satellites in space and a robot underwater.
Study ties a warming climate to farmers’ suicides in India.
The Center for Public Integrity: Nuclear weapons contractors have been improperly packaging and shipping plutonium capable of being used in a nuclear weapon.


TIGHT SPOT. The FAA is under court order to back up its contention that ever-shrinking seat sizes don’t threaten safe evacuations and the health of passengers too wedged-in to avoid circulation problems.
A Senate bill would require carmakers to install alarms to remind drivers not to leave children in the back seats of hot cars.
U.S. senators are demanding retailers do more to prevent abuse of truckers who deliver their goods.

CHICAGO’S MISSILE MENACE. In the face of reports that North Korea’s tests put Chicago within range of its missiles, Stephen Colbert—who lived here for years—dismissed the threat at the end of his Monday monologue (9:05 in this YouTube video).
The Sun-Times’ Steve Greenberg on word Steve Bartman’s getting a World Series ring: “I know which finger I’d wear my ring on.”

ECLIPSE PHONE OUTAGES? Mobile phone industry executives admit their networks may buckle under the traffic they expect during the Aug. 21 event.
Our eclipses are numbered.

Subscribe to Square.