Trumpune Media? / Insecurity chief / Sears' hit list

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Trumpune Media? The New York Post reports “Trump-loving super PAC chairman” Tom Hicks Jr. is in the running to buy WGN-TV and Radio’s parent company, Tribune Media.
■ From 1998: Hicks’ Chancellor Media owned a cluster of Chicago radio stations—including your Square publisher’s former employer, WNUA.
■ How previous WGN suitor Sinclair built its conservative media empire.
■ One of Microsoft founder Paul Allen’s last acts before his death Monday: His biggest-ever political donation—to a group working to help Republicans maintain their grip on the U.S. House.

Early CTA warmth. The Chicago Transit Authority is turning on the heat lamps at L stations ahead of the official Nov. 1 schedule.
■ Chicago Water Taxi wants in on the Ventra transit card system.

Insecurity chief. An investigative report concludes an SUV driven almost exclusively by County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s chief of security was used improperly to deliver political materials—and, although he claims the vehicle had been stolen at the time, he never reported it to police.
■ One of Preckwinkle’s rivals for the Chicago mayor’s job, Paul Vallas, is proposing to make high-paid city workers pay more for their benefits.
■ Video of his speech yesterday to the City Club.
■ Developing story: Chance the Rapper reportedly is ready to endorse (update, 10:35 a.m.) is endorsing mayoral candidate Amara Enyia—which would put puts him in opposition to his politically influential dad.

‘F______ desk duty for 30 days now.’ A Chicago cop caught on camera saying those words is one of two facing dismissal after they they shot at—and another cop shot and killed—an unarmed teen driver.
■ For the first time in decades, no one was shot over the weekend in New York City.

Sears’ hit list. The next round of stores the bankrupt chain is shuttering includes one in the Chicago suburbs.
■ What about your Sears gift cards?
■ At least some Sears landlords are happy. (Cartoon: Keith Taylor, who’s just published a new book.)

‘Don’t take ____ if you’re short of cash.’ The interminable boilerplate text at the end of those TV ads for prescription drugs would have to include prices under a Trump administration plan …
■ But the drug industry is ready to sue to block it.

‘Well, Mr. President, she didn’t say No. She said Yes. But rumor has it you don’t know the difference.’ Stephen Colbert mocked President Trump’s refusal to honor his offer to pay a million dollars if Sen. Elizabeth Warren took a DNA test to show she’s “an Indian.”
■ The Tribune’s Dahleen Glanton: “This senseless feud … trivializes the struggle Native Americans face.”
■ The Cherokee Nation’s secretary of state says this discussion is “not particularly useful.”
■ A 24-year-old comedian from a Chicago suburb has become The Daily Show’s new “senior youth correspondent.”

Unrelated developments.
■ 635-million-year-old fossils provide the oldest evidence yet of life on Earth.
■ Sens. Grassley and Feinstein are at odds over a fresh round of judicial nominations.