CURSIVE! FOILED AGAIN. The Illinois House has voted, over Gov. Rauner’s veto, to require schools teach elementary students cursive handwriting.
A PROBLEM NOT FACED BY ANY OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRY. Since the Las Vegas massacre, American gun violence has taken nearly 900 lives.
■ Police say a 16-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the head yesterday in Chicago.
TRUMP’S ‘ABSOLUTELY WILD PRESS CONFERENCE.’ CNN’s Chris Cillizza says it was, “before Trump came into office, totally unprecedented.”
■ A new study outlines the shape of a Republican civil war.
■ Vox: Why Harvey Weinstein is disgraced but Donald Trump is president.
■ Twitter is banning ads from two Russian media entities.
‘FOX NEWS [IS] NOT ALL BAD. THEY’VE GOT SOME GREAT PEOPLE. HE IS NOT ONE OF THEM.’ On Seth Meyers’ show last night, Megyn Kelly reflected on her time working with disgraced host Bill O’Reilly.
■ A prominent political journalist is out at NBC after charges of misconduct in his time at ABC.
■ 20 years ago today, pioneering female White House reporter Helen Thomas reflected on her early career: “A lot of discrimination against women.”
■ U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown’s behavior is under the microscope after allegedly staring at a woman’s breasts.
■ A new study of union Chicago theater actors’ compensation concludes more jobs go to men, and women are getting paid less.
■ A Chicago labor organizer is out of a job amid harassment accusations.
AMAZON WANTS IN—TO YOUR HOUSE. In Chicago and 36 other metro areas, it’s launching “Amazon Key”—a program that lets it deliver packages directly into the homes of ($99-a-year) Amazon Prime members who install a $250 smart lock and cloud-enabled camera kit.
■ Chicago recruited William “Capt. Kirk” Shatner for its Amazon HQ2 pitch.
■ 2017 is shaping up to be the worst year on record for brick-and-mortar stores.
CEREAL KILLER. After a novelist and comic book writer complained, Kellogg’s is promising to replace a Corn Pops packaging illustration in which the anthropomorphic Pop with the darkest skin is working as a janitor. (Photo: Saladin Ahmed.)
■ Nazis on the run at Reddit.
STRANGER THINGS 2: ‘A LOT OF THE OLD MAGIC.’ But Variety TV critic Maureen Ryan says the sequel hitting Netflix Friday “takes a while” to get going.
■ The Guardian: “If only a few kinks were ironed out, this could be one of the best TV shows around.”
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MUSIC THAT GOT THIS ISSUE OUT THE DIGITAL DOOR. This.
■ Orbit Media’s new survey of more than 1,300 creators—including this one—reveals the habits of highly effective bloggers.