■ That would remove a key Justice Department figure between Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller.
■ In an essay published earlier this morning, journalist and TV creator David Simon (The Wire, Homicide and others) accused The New York Times of malpractice for the reporting that may have precipitated Rosenstein's departure. (2017 photo: Matthew T. Nichols for the Justice Department.)
Women in black. The Time’s Up movement is encouraging people to wear black today—and to walk out of homes, offices and classrooms at noon Chicago time—to support women who’ve accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
■ In what senior Republican staffers privately concede is a worrisome development, a second accuser has stepped forward with a complaint of abuse by Kavanaugh …
■ … in a story by what the Columbia Journalism Review describes as a pair of “powerhouse” reporters …
■ … and Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, says he has “credible” information on yet a third case.
■ President Trump calls the charges “totally political” and calls Kavanaugh “a fantastic, fantastic man.”
■ Jonathan Chait in New York: “Kavanaugh Is Probably a Goner Now” …
■ … but if he’s not, Vox’s Zack Beauchamp says, his confirmation “could lead to a collapse in faith for the Court—with dire consequences for American democracy.”
■ The Onion: “GOP Officials: Kavanaugh Shouldn’t Be Held Accountable For Something He Did As White Teenager.”
The Cosby Show. Developing coverage: Bill Cosby faces sentencing today for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman.
■ He could get up to 30 years in prison.
‘A dangerous combination.’ Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington fears Democratic voters could become “complacent about November and distracted by February,” when Chicagoans get to vote on a new mayor.
■ Have an education question for the gubernatorial candidates? Chalkbeat and WBEZ want it.
■ A Naperville Democrat challenging an incumbent Republican congressman will get a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream named in her honor—and you can help pick and name the flavor.
Bus drivers attacked. The union representing the CTA's drivers reports a rise in assaults by passengers.
■ Two months after Chicago's most violent weekend—75 people shot, 13 killed—police have filed their first murder charges in one of those cases.
SiriusXM + Pandora. In a deal that creates what the two companies say will be the world’s largest audio entertainment company, the satellite radio company is buying the streaming music company.
■ Radio strategist Fred Jacobs: “Is Podcasting In A Slump?”
■ A new USA Today podcast spotlighting Chicago’s vacant lot problems debuts today, telling what the Tribune’s Steve Johnson calls “a sordid story unfolding vividly.”
■ As the new TV season begins, The Washington Post issues a warning about “fall’s dreadful new shows.”
YouTube’s intransigence. BuzzFeed News reports that the creator of one of YouTube’s top channels for kids was arrested—accused of molesting a minor—but YouTube hasn’t taken down his channel.
■ Vox: How demographic change and YouTube’s algorithms are building a new right.
■ Add Vox to the list of struggling (new) media companies.
■ The Daily Beast: “Inside Barstool Sports’ Culture of Online Hate.”
OK! Ew! Scrabble is adding those and 298 other new words to its official dictionary.
■ Telltale Games—maker of story-based video games based on The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and Batman, among others—is calling it quits.
Announcements.
■ An occurrence of the word an in Friday’s Square should have been a. Thanks to reader Barry Koehler, first to note the error.
■ A hat-tip to Shia Kapos’ excellent Illinois Playbook daily email roundup for Politico.