CTA trade worries / White gangs / 'God bless … Sinclair'

CTA trade worries. President Trump’s stand on Chinese-made products could push up the price of 846 new rail cars—and maybe your ride.

■ Tribune editorial: “Asking for the Midwest: Is this trade war necessary?”
■ As wintry weather threatens the Midwest through the weekend, the CTA has agreed to keep train platform heat on past its usual March 31 shutoff.

What the governor didn’t want you to see. WBEZ has analyzed 450 pages of emails the governor’s administration blocked from lawmakers investigating the deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy.
■ The governor and his wife have donated their collection of Godfather author (and Superman movie screenwriter) Mario Puzo’s papers to Dartmouth, but his office isn’t talking about how the governor became a Puzo fan.
■ In Chicago’s increasingly crowded race for mayor, campaign spending limits are now null and void.

‘The more open … the easier it is for an attacker.’ A former U.S. counterterrorism coordinator tells ABC News those trendy corporate open workspaces are inherently unsafe in assaults like this week’s YouTube attack.
■ YouTube is pledging tighter security at its offices around the world.
■ The New York Times: The shooter’s gripes echo the complaints of YouTube zealots, “from self-described animal rights activists like her to right-wing political provocateurs,” who’ve seen their YouTube ad payments plummet as the company has tightened standards.
■ The hateful Stormfront white supremacist group is in a financial pinch.

White gangs. The Guardian reports they’re on the rise in America—and one of the oldest and largest was born in Chicago.
■ The Reader last year covered Brandon Johnson’s book, Thee Almighty & Insane: Chicago Gang Business Cards From the 1970s & 1980s. (Photo: Brandon Johnson.)
■ Chicagoans traveled to Memphis Wednesday to mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
■ Stevie Wonder marked the day with his first-ever tweet.
■ Vann R. Newkirk II in The Atlantic: “If King were alive today, would he bask in the glow of achievement, or would he gird himself again to march?”
■ Vox: New government research concludes black students are way more likely than white kids to be punished in U.S. schools.

‘This is Rex Huppke saying God bless our president, our corporate tax cuts, (INSERT THING TRUMP DID TODAY), and every truth-telling Sinclair broadcaster who will never, ever lie to you about anything ever.’ A Chicago Tribune columnist aims to be hired as a “highly paid pundit” by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which is poised to acquire WGN-TV and Radio.
■ In Nebraska, a morning show producer is quitting to protest “obvious bias.”
■ From Chicago Public Square in October: How to file a comment with the FCC on Sinclair’s plans.

‘20,000 s__t-pickers vs. 30,000 journalists.’ Journalism prof Jeff Jarvis on Facebook’s plans to hire 20,000 people to ID “hate and bile” on its site: “The total number of daily newspaper journalists … is probably below 30,000.”
■ Facebook admits the profiles of “most people on Facebook” could have been hijacked—by anyone who knows your email address or phone number.
■ ProPublica and The Atlantic suggest four ways to fix Facebook.
■ OpenSecrets.org: Conservative multimillionaire donor Robert Mercer funded a group that used Facebook and Google to aim anti-Muslim ads at swing voters.

Tick, tock. Bed Bath & Beyond will swap you for your Toys R Us gift cards until 11:59 ET tonight.
■ Your data at Sears and Delta Air Lines may have been compromised in a data breach.
■ 17 companies Trump has attacked since his election.

Unrelated developments.
■ Former CIA Director John Brennan condemns Trump on Twitter: “Your self adoration is disgraceful.”
■ New research suggests a dozen black holes lie at the center of our galaxy.

Announcements.

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