Group robberies downtown / Tangled news web / Chicagoan in Jeopardy!

Group robberies downtown. The Tribune reports two people were robbed and beaten in apparently related attacks less than two miles and 40 minutes apart early today.
■ Tribune editorial: Carjacking is “no excuse for an overreaction that confuses violent criminals who carjacked vehicles with possessors of stolen vehicles who didn’t.”
■ In London, a spate of violent crime includes at least seven stabbings in one day.

‘I can’t believe any official of this nation would have blessed that depiction.’ Leaders of the Cherokee Nation have raised concerns about a suburban high school’s mascot—so, the Tribune reports, the school is pondering its options.
■ U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam is turning down suburban students’ invitation to discuss gun violence tomorrow; his challenger, Sean Casten, has accepted.

Tangled news web. The Tribune’s Joe Mahr examines a rising tide of interrelated Illinois news organizations blurring the lines between politics and journalism. (Tribune graphic.)
■ A former Tribune, RedEye and Sun-Times gossip columnist is now what The Reader calls “a star among far-right conspiracy theorists.”
■ After the National Press Photographers Association criticized the Sinclair Broadcast Group for forcing its anchors to read a manifesto aligned with President Trump’s criticism of journalism, Sinclair—which is poised to take over Chicago’s WGN-TV and Radio—yanked a $25,000 donation to the association’s legal fund.
■ Trump will be a no-show again at this month’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
■ A couple of Trump’s 2016 rivals are backing Gov. Rauner for re-election.
■ Rauner’s a first-time grandpa.

‘The language … was callous and violent.’ Reconsidering conservative writer Kevin Williamson’s 2014 call for the hanging of women who get abortions, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief has fired Williamson after just three weeks.
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg on the controversy over a DePaul law professor’s use of the word “n____r” by a DePaul University professor: “Trying to ban a word is an insult to those who were lashed by it.”
■ Twitter has cut off 1.2 million accounts for what it considers “terrorist content.”
■ Facebook concedes your data has probably been scraped by “malicious actors.”

Toyland trouble. The world’s three biggest toy companies—Lego, Hasbro and Mattel—are all in a slump.
■ From 20 years ago this week: An interview with the reporter who dove deep into the “Toy Wars” between G.I. Joe and Barbie—that is, Hasbro and Mattel.

Chicagoans in Jeopardy! A University of Chicago senior is slated to compete on the Jeopardy! College Championship next week.
■ A University of Chicago student shot by campus police as he approached them with a metal object has been charged with assaulting an officer.
■ The Onion: “Black Father Gives Son The Talk About Holding Literally Any Object.”

Announcements.

■ To mark the annual C2E2 pop-culture convention’s annual visit to Chicago, something different for your weekend listening on the new Chicago Public Square Newscast series: An audio comics trivia quiz—with a couple of twists. You can hear it beginning Friday afternoon on the web, or you can subscribe via iTunes, your favorite podcast app or on an Amazon Alexa-powered device.

■ Your feedback on the Newscast series is welcome. Email Sound@ChicagoPublicSquare.com.