WHO IS DOUG JONES? The New York Times profiles the man who defeated disgraced Republican candidate Roy Moore to become Alabama’s next U.S. senator—a man with “an uncanny ability to be at the right place at the right time.”
■ The Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet: Jones’ victory cuts the Republican count in the Senate to 51, “ironically handing more power to any one Republican.”
■ AL.com editorial: “This election outcome is tremendous for Alabama.”
■ NBC News: A 2018 wave for Democrats is taking shape.
■ Neil Steinberg: “Is Jones’ win … a cause for celebration? Not really.”
■ President Trump’s tweeted defense: He was right (not to back Moore) before he was wrong (to back Moore).
■ An ex-aide to Senate Majority Leader McConnell tweeted bitterly at Republican strategist Steve Bannon: Thanks “for showing us how to lose the reddest state in the Union.”
■ But Moore has declined to concede.
■ Moore’s team denied Election Night access to The Washington Post, which broke the story that disgraced him.
■ New York newspaper front pages kicked Moore on the way down: “…AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON.”
■ Another winner last night: The Times’ needle.
■ The Onion, merciless: “Roy Moore Retires From Politics To Spend More Quality Time With Someone’s Kid.”
■ Also: No sex-related phone numbers.
‘A PRESIDENT … UNFIT TO CLEAN TOILETS IN OBAMA’S PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY OR TO SHINE GEORGE W. BUSH’S SHOES.’ A USA Today editorial goes all-out against Trump for a tweet in which he “all but call[ed] Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore.”
■ The White House press secretary warned a CNN reporter not to ask the president a question.
■ The Times reporters who broke Hollywood’s Harvey Weinstein scandal—including ex-Trib reporter Megan Twohey—get the cover of the new issue of Variety.
■ The mayor is warning Gov. Rauner to back off from a call for embattled Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios to resign: “People in glass houses shouldn’t be throwing stones.”
■ The Chicago School Board’s top lawyer is quitting in the aftermath of a scandal that cost the mayor’s pal his job as schools chief.
■ The governor is clamming up about the departure of his top lawyer.
EXPRESSWAY SHOOTING. The Dan Ryan was closed this morning after a vehicle was hit by gunfire.
■ Chicago’s inspector general says aldermen shouldn’t be calling the shots on which streets in their wards get repaved when.
■ After 67 years, the Museum of Science and Industry is kicking out the Chicago Public Schools annual science fair.
■ A new “Arctic Report Card” finds North Pole air warming at “astonishing” rates.
‘ANYBODY COULD BE A VICTIM.’ A Trib investigation finds Illinois’ home health care industry rife with fraud.
■ Tips for getting good help.
■ Dann Gire in The Daily Herald: “The third most remarkable Star Wars experience.”
■ Richard Roeper in the Sun-Times: “Huge, important things happen …. Surprises big and small abound.”
■ Michael Phillips in the Trib: “I haven’t been this into a Star Wars picture since the Empire struck back.”
BLUES BEFORE AND AFTER. The Smithereens’ lead singer, Pat DiNizio, is dead.
■ The band’s statement on its website.
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