Rauner downer. Politico’s Natasha Korecki calls Gov. Rauner’s narrow primary victory “disastrous.”
■ The Sun-Times maps how Chicago voted for governor, neighborhood by neighborhood.
April 18. That’s when the Cook County Democratic Committee will pick a party chairman—who may or may not again be reviled and defeated County Assessor Joe Berrios.
■ ProPublica: Berrios’ defeat opens the door to reform, but it won’t be easy.
■ Eric Zorn explains Berrios’ once-unlikely loss: “Journalism happened.”
■ Powerful Ald. Ed Burke’s brother’s defeat in a state senate primary puts a target on the alderman’s back.
Firing back. Former top Chicago cop Garry McCarthy—fired by Mayor Emanuel in the firestorm that followed a controversial police shooting—has tossed his cap into the ring to challenge the mayor in next year’s election.
■ Headed to the roster of Cook County judges: A co-owner of the legendary Billy Goat Tavern.
Where have all the Chicagoans gone? New U.S. Census figures show the Chicago region is the only one of the 10 biggest U.S. metro areas to lose population last year.
■ … making it three years in a row.
■ … but tourists are helping fill the gap.
Isn’t this how Hamilton ended? President Trump and ex-Vice President Biden have been swapping threats of physical violence.
■ CNN: Three things revealed by Trump’s tweet.
■ Trump’s pick to head the Centers
Facebook ‘is not the only privacy monster under the bed — by a long shot.’ Veteran journalist and journalism prof SB Anderson: “You can run by deleting Facebook, but you can’t hide.”
■ Ex-Tribune public editor Don Wycliff posts on Facebook: “No reasonably conscientious voter can say she or he did not possess enough valid information to make a free, well-reasoned choice in 2016. If we got it wrong … it’s our fault, not Russia’s.”
■ Politico’s media columnist, Jack Shafer, compares Facebook to the telephone, the fax machine, email and other once-new technologies whose delights devolved into annoyance.
■ Facebook loses its first big advertiser: Firefox.
■ Founder Mark Zuckerberg finally speaks … and is found wanting.
Vegas gunman’s last days. The New York Times has knitted together surveillance footage to show how Stephen Paddock spent the week before he killed 58 people.
■ The Austin, Texas, bomber left behind a video.
■ Parkland students who survived the attack there kept post-massacre diaries for Time.
■ A student who called a congressman’s office to demand gun control was suspended for swearing. The ACLU is on it.
Today’s best graphical representation of injustice. ProPublica’s image atop its investigation into IBM’s dismissal of “tens of thousands of U.S. workers … flouting rules against age bias.”
■ …an investigation that began with a simple question to readers: “Over 50 and looking for a job?”
■ The AP: Environmental health hazards unleashed by Hurricane Harvey’s assault on Houston’s petrochemical industry were worse than the public was told.
Deadly dressers. Consumer Reports says that, after a brief statistical drop, the number of children killed by unstable furniture is on the rise—as the government does nothing.
■ CR’s tips: What you can do in just a few minutes to keep kids safe in your home.
■ What to know before heading off to the Toys R Us liquidation sales beginning
Fun things to do today.
■ Revisit yesterday’s most-clicked Chicago Public Square link.
■ Join the free Square Flickr group and share your cool shots of the Chicago region. (Thompson Center atrium photo: Brian Crawford in the Flickr group.)
■ Sign up for the free Square Annex evening update.
■ Follow Square on Facebook (yeah, we know) and Twitter for between-editions updates on stories like announcement of the Lollapalooza schedule and an evolving political scandal.
■ Wish a happy birthday to Square’s No. 1 most faithful goof-spotter, Mike Braden.
■ Consider tossing a few cents per day in the kitty to keep this thing going.