‘It pissed everybody off.’ In a news conference this morning, Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said Empire actor Jussie Smollett dragged “Chicago’s reputation through the mud” by making false claims of a racist attack on himself …
■ … and, Johnson said, police have the check Smollett used to pay his “attackers.”
■ Updating coverage: After turning himself in early this morning, Smollett was due in court this afternoon to face charges of felony disorder conduct—a crime that carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.
‘Call 911—Lori Lightfoot is on fire.’ The Beachwood Reporter’s Steve Rhodes surveys the Chicago mayoral campaign.
■ John Kass in the Tribune: “The best campaign for Chicago would be Lightfoot vs. Vallas.”
■ WBEZ: As candidate Toni Preckwinkle has condemned political nepotism, her son has been working for a company paid millions of taxpayer dollars by the county government she heads.
■ The election’s Tuesday. Time to check the Chicago Public Square voter guide.
Plastic man. Gov. Pritzker’s Illinois budget would make Illinois the first in the
■ … and he’s counting on tax revenues from two sectors that aren’t even legal in the state now: Recreational marijuana and sports betting.
■ Pritzker’s address paid tribute to an Illinois governor who died in office.
■ Read his actual budget proposals here.■ A Trib editorial: “It’s more can-kicking.”
‘The Chicago Cubs have become your Fox-News-addicted uncle.’ That’s one of Trib columnist Rex Huppke’s “5 things to be angry about.”
■ Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan: CNN’s hiring of a former Trump administration member as a political editor is “incomprehensible — and insulting.”
■ Updating coverage: A Coast Guard lieutenant arrested last week as a “domestic terrorist”—accused of composing a hit list of prominent Democrats and media figures, including MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough and CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Van Jones—was due in court today.
■ Happy 50th anniversary Sunday to the Supreme Court ruling that protected students’ free speech, concluding they don’t “shed their constitutional rights … at the schoolhouse gate.”
Google oops. The company concedes it made a mistake by not telling people its Nest Guard alarm system has a microphone …
■ … which ZDNet says “is enough to make us increasingly paranoid about our smart home and voice assistant products.”
■ The Los Angeles Times: “Facebook decided which users are interested in Nazis—and let advertisers target them directly.”
■ Is Amazon too big to boycott? Berkeley, California, may find out.
An off day. Hoo-boy, lots of mistakes in yesterday’s edition of Square. Jussie, 2012, two shoulds in a row. As usual, you’ll find corrections—with thanks to those who were first to help set things straight—here.
■ And thanks to reader Mike Braden for noting erroneous use of the word state in the Pritzker item above.
■ Awkward as it is to say now, please know your support keeps Square (and all those corrections) coming.