‘Toxic atmosphere.’ The Tribune’s David Heinzmann assesses the “suspicion and petty grievances percolating” around Chicago City Hall as aldermen ponder who was “caught saying something stupid” in conversations secretly recorded by Ald. Danny Solis.
Sloppy work. The Trib’s Heinzmann details mayoral candidate Amara Enyia’s personal money problems—a stunningly poor record for a candidate campaigning as an expert in public finance.
■ PolitFact gives candidate Gery Chico a “mostly false” rating for accusing candidate Susana Mendoza of voting “to hit working families with a massive new soda tax.”
■ The Beachwood Reporter’s Steve Rhodes: Mayoral candidate Bill Daley “is starting to scare me.”
■ Crain’s asked all the mayoral candidates to answer the same questions.
■ The Trib’s latest editorial endorsements for aldermanic candidates include a 19-year-old DePaul freshman who’s a self-described “day-one Trump supporter.”
■ The Sun-Times is backing Ameya Pawar for city treasurer.
■ More intel on the election, which is just 22 days away: Your Chicago Public Square voter guide.
‘Some of our best friends were racist.’ Reflecting on scandalous yearbook photos linked to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, CNN writer/producer John Blake recalls, “Some of the biggest champions for black people in America’s past have been white politicians who were racists.”
■ Columbia Journalism Review examines the pro-Trump website that broke the story.
■ That moment Friday when Northam’s wife displayed more political savvy than he did.
■ The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg: To “certain individuals who profess to be religious,” transgender people constitute “a kind of Night of the Living Dead assault.”
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‘A risk to public health.’ The executive director of American Public Health Association says President Trump’s latest choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, acting administrator Andrew Wheeler, “has steadily moved to make the environment less safe.”
■ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has power to rain pain on Republicans if Trump declares a national emergency to build his wall.
‘Now I have to explain to my children that Adam Levine has nipples.’ Social media has been awash with cries of hypocrisy that Levine stripped to the waist during a Super Bowl halftime show
■ The Onion: “Super Bowl Halftime Show Marred By Functioning Sound System.”
■ The Washington Post’s fourth-quarter ad celebrated journalism: “Knowing empowers us. Knowing helps us decide. Knowing keeps us free.”
■ Donald Trump Jr. flailed on Twitter: “You know how MSM journalists could avoid having to spend millions on a #superbowl comercial [sic] to gain some undeserved credibility? How about report the news and not their leftist BS for a change” …
■ … and Twitter bit back.
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