Jerks off. Two people whose actions fell short of commendable are taking their leave:
■ After using a racial slur to defend himself against charges of racism, Papa John’s Pizza founder John Schnatter has quit his role as the company’s chairman—but he still holds a big chunk of the company.
Unexpected developments.
■ Citing “new information,” the U.S. Justice Department—headed by a man one civil rights lawyer wrote in February “has proven incredibly hostile on some of the most important and critical civil rights matters of our time”—is reopening its investigation of the brutal 1955 Mississippi murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till, a black kid from Chicago.
■ Gov. Rauner, who faces a challenge keeping the far right in his camp this November, officiated last month at a same-sex marriage for a friend, which could make for interesting small-talk Friday, when Rauner and avowedly anti-same-sex-marriage Vice President Pence share a stage.
■ Correction: Politico has clarified a story linked from Monday’s Chicago Public Square, explaining that Rauner turned a profit from a private equity fund that owns a health care group that services U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement centers.
Recycling crisis. China’s newfound environmental awareness is putting a new squeeze on U.S. recycling programs.
■ In China, Mayor Emanuel claims success in efforts to protect the CTA’s purchase of 846 new rail cars from President Trump’s trade war.
NATO: No, no. Updating coverage: Wrapping up his two-day visit to NATO HQ in Brussels, President Trump bragged member nations have agreed with his demands they increase defense spending; the president of France had a different take.
■ The president’s threatening the U.S. will go its own way if its NATO allies don’t play along. (Cartoon: Keith Taylor.)
Stormy Daniels arrested. The porn celeb suing President Trump was handcuffed and taken into custody during a strip club appearance—under an Ohio law forbidding anyone who isn’t a family member from touching a nude or semi-nude dancer.
■ Her lawyer’s tweet: “She was arrested for allegedly allowing a customer to touch her while on stage in a non sexual manner! Are you kidding me?“
■ An exotic dancer is suing Chicago’s Admiral Theatre—proposing a class-action lawsuit accusing the Admiral of failing to pay performers minimum wage and skimming their tips.
R.I.P., EveryBlock—again. For the second time since its creation in 2007, a network of neighborhood news websites is dying.
■ The Maryland-based rock band Good Charlotte will headline a concert to celebrate a free press and the five people killed in an attack on the newsroom of Annapolis’ Capital Gazette.
Give blood. Blood banks—in Chicago and around the country—report a repeat of a seasonal shortage.
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