Reading this for free? Thank members of The Legion of Chicago Public Squarians—a group you can join for just pennies a day. And now the news:
■ A man who chased down an SUV that struck a bicyclist was shot and killed last night.
■ Chicago cops are on the lookout for a motorcyclist who sexually abused a woman and knocked her husband unconscious.
■ Women accused of dumping liquor on a CTA bus driver will face stiffer charges.
‘(EXPLETIVE) YOU (EXPLETIVE) YOUR (EXPLETIVE) MOTHER. (EXPLETIVE) YOUR FAMILY. (EXPLETIVE) EVERYONE WHO THINKS LIKE YOU.’ Tribune columnist Rex Huppke shares letters he’s received about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
■ In a Fox News interview, Kavanaugh robotically repeated canned answers—regardless of the question—and put statements on the record that could be disproved.
■ The Washington Post: “Kavanaugh’s memory of himself in high school is very different than his portrayal in the yearbook.”
■ Anti-Kavanaugh protesters drove Sen. Ted Cruz out of a D.C. restaurant last night.
■ Vox: The fight over Kavanaugh’s nomination is also about the future of the economy and the environment.
■ As Kavanaugh and at least one of his accusers appear before the Senate Thursday, the playing field will differ dramatically from the 1991 confirmation hearings that pitted nominee Clarence Thomas against his accuser, Anita Hill.
■ Updating coverage: It’s sentencing day for Bill Cosby, convicted in the #MeToo era’s first celebrity trial of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman.
■ The Onion: “Experts at the Center for Advanced Bulls__t Studies published a report Monday that this week’s all hell breaking loose was projected to be 30 percent more insane than last week’s complete s__tshow.”
What happened. The Week deconstructs yesterday’s confusion over the status of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, reported to have offered his resignation—in a story whose wording an Axios reporter now regrets.
■ A lawyer for disgraced and convicted Vice President Spiro Agnew: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation “is too far along to be effectively derailed, and any attempt to do so might provoke not only a Constitutional crisis, but could also threaten to make the so-called Blue Wave into a Blue Tsunami.”
‘Good cops are tainted by the villainy of bad ones.’ A Tribune editorial praises Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx for making “apologies for the criminal justice system” …
■ … as a court overturned the convictions of 18 men jailed on the testimony of a disgraced police officer found to have planted drugs and faked reports.
■ Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s under fire for delays in implementing the state’s automatic voter registration law.
■ One of the contenders in a contest to name a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor for an Illinois Democratic congressional candidate: “Health Caramel for All.”
■ Political analyst David Axelrod—longtime friend to Mayor Emanuel—foresees “the least predictable mayoral race in the history of Chicago.”
Network TV’s crises. Traditional broadcast networks are bleeding leadership.
■ The strike’s over at two more Chicago hotels—but continues at several others.
Announcements.
■ In the next edition of his Car Con Carne show—the food podcast in a car—beloved (but not yet legendary, as we’ll explain) Chicago DJ James VanOsdol lifts the curtain on Chicago Public Square’s origin. It’s up early as a (backwards) Facebook Live video.
■ If you’re reading this by email, you’ll note some characters in recent editions have been garbled, like this: —. It’s a MailChimp problem the company’s working to address. Thanks to all who’ve reported the phenomenon.