This edition of Chicago Public Square is brought to you by the letter D—specifically, Square supporters whose last name begins with D: Ken Davis, Jerry Delaney, Elizabeth Denius and Mike Dessimoz. If your last name begins with the letters E, F or G and you’d like to see your name here Friday, act quick.
■ He also takes aim at Mayor Emanuel: “Rahm you done / I’m expecting a resignation / and open investigation on all these paid vacations for murderers.” (Hat-tip to Shia Kapos’ excellent Illinois Playbook email from Politico.)
■ A Sun-Times editorial condemns Sinclair Broadcast Group’s revised scheme to buy WGN-TV and Radio: “The reporters and producers … at WGN … deserve far better ownership than a company led by a CEO who cozied up to Trump.”
■ Comcast has dropped out of bidding for 21st Century Fox, clearing the way for Disney to unite Marvel’s cinematic universe. (Think Avengers vs. X-Men.)
And one of the city’s largest dog parks. New details about a massive project planned along the Chicago River between Bucktown and Lincoln Park on the North Side include skyscrapers up to 70 stories tall, with the promise of 23,000 new jobs and 5,000 new homes. (Rendering: Sterling Bay/Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.)
■ President Trump’s company missed deadlines to pay property tax bills in Illinois and four other states over the last year.
Black candidate, white district. A New York Times report on congressional candidates of color seeking to represent majority-white districts leads with a woman running in Chicago’s suburbs.
■ The Washington Post’s Monica Hesse: “He thought white men were vanishing from TV. I disagreed. So we conducted an experiment.”
The CTA’s $2 billion plan. It aims to make its whole system accessible to people with disabilities over the next two decades. Now, it needs the money.
■ A Metra board member acknowledges an air conditioning and overcrowding problem: “I’ve heard more in the last 30 to 60 days from disgruntled passengers than I’ve heard in five years.”
Democrats’ Most Wanted. Republicans in Congress have quashed an effort to subpoena the only American witness to President Trump’s secret meeting with President Vladimir Putin: The translator.
■ Matthew Yglesias in Vox: Trump’s CBS interview on Russia “mostly served to underscore how profound a crisis America faces.”
■ Neil Steinberg’s blog is observing “Traitor Week”—and he swears he planned it months ago.
Facebook founder: Holocaust denial is bad, but … After a wave of criticism over his remarks in an interview with Recode’s Kara Swisher, Mark Zuckerberg moved to clarify his company’s position on the sharing of hateful falsehoods.
■ From 20 years ago today, an audio interview with Swisher about the then-nascent “war for the web.”
Deep Dish Pizza chips. It’s a new flavor in Lay’s potato chip line.
■ Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke—who helped found the Special Olympics 50 years ago—wants a fifth star added to Chicago’s flag in the event’s honor.
Zoo sued. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is going to court against Brookfield Zoo, demanding records on the deaths of 54 stingrays.
■ Chicago’s newly unveiled free Chicago Rx Card promises prescription-drug discounts with no registration or pre-qualification required … and it covers drugs for dogs and cats, too.
Corrections. Yesterday’s emailed edition of Chicago Public Square …
■ … was missing a period, a problem spotted by Beth Kujawski.
■ … included a hyphen that reader Mike Braden noted is superfluous in the word “superheroes.” But that wasn’t always so: