Apostrophe now / A methodical suicide / Hi, Phil

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Apostrophe now. President Trump now blames people who “would rather go to war” for criticism of his widely reviled summit with Vladimir Putin—and a statement he corrected with a punctuation change
… as heard in the latest Chicago Public Square Newscast.
RedState’s “T. LaDuke”: “The President … decided to kick common sense out of the room. On a rocket.”
At least one U.S. Senate Democrat wants to hear from the U.S. interpreter present during Trump’s secret session with Putin.
Conservative suburban U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam says that, when he confronted Trump Wednesday about Russia, the president’s “reply was defensive in nature.”
A round-up of late-show comedians’ response to Trump’s double-negative do-over: “The best they could come up with is nuh-uh?(Cartoon: Keith Taylor.)

‘All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats.’ Former FBI Director James Comey—a longtime Republican and the guy many Democrats blame for Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016—says everyone should vote against Republicans for Congress this fall.
Endangered species: The White House press briefing.
The Onion: World Wonders What Trump Has On United States That’s Forcing Nation To Keep Him In Power.

A wider Lake Shore Drive? That’s one of the options under consideration as Chicago explores the addition of bus-only lanes to the drive.
A lawsuit accuses Chicago of overcharging thousands of drivers for vehicle violations.
The City Council’s Latino Caucus is returning $1,000 from a private company that has contracts to imprison undocumented immigrants.

Nazi calling. The Sun-Times reports Holocaust denier and Republican candidate for Congress Art Jones is taking his campaign door-to-door.
The University of Illinois is paying $7,500 to a suburban man in exchange for his pledge to stop selling T-shirts featuring the U. of I.’s embarrassing mascot, Chief Illiniwek, with the words “Make Illinois Great Again.”

A methodical suicide. Records obtained by the Tribune detail the steps taken by a lawyer who killed herself days before she was to face trial on charges of impersonating a Cook County judge.
Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, said two years ago that he “would put the final nail” in a 1988 Supreme Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of an independent counsel, like the one now investigating Trump.

Obama’s non-attack attack. In his first big speech since leaving office, Barack Obama avoided mentioning President Trump—but condemned “strongman politics.”
The Onion:‘There Are Things That Exist Which Are Not Good,’ Says Obama In Stunning Rebuke Of Trump.”

Hi, Phil. For the first time in 30 years, the Tribune’s restaurant critic is showing his face publicly—and explaining why. (Tribune photo: E. Jason Wambsgans).
To distance itself from its parent organization’s clickbaity quizzes and lists, BuzzFeed News is launching a separate website for its Pulitzer-nominated journalism.

New WGN plan. In a revised scheme to save its foundering bid to acquire Tribune Media—including WGN-TV and Radio—Trump-friendly Sinclair Broadcast Group is abandoning a problematical proposal to sell the TV station to a “sidecar” operator, proposing instead to keep the station for itself.
A Chicago radio DJ—OK, hostwill sign off after 22 years.

A Marvel-less Comic-Con. As fans’ annual conclave opens in San Diego, Disney’s Star Wars and Marvel properties will forgo a significant presence.
From the archives: Marvel movies’ success was just a glimmer in Marvel progenitor Stan Lee’s eye during an interview conducted 20 years ago today, when X-Men was going to be a “big-budget major motion picture.”
Even as super-heroes superheroes conquer TV and the movies, their home medium—the comic book—is falling on tough times.

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