Byrne bungles / Schocking development / Trebek in Jeopardy!

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Byrne bungles. The overhaul of what’s now known as the Jane Byrne Interchange at the heart of Chicago coulda been done years ago. The Tribune explores the many things that have put the project years behind schedule and millions over budget.
■ The state tonight holds a public hearing on the delays. (2015 photo: David Wilson.)
■ From December: The thing won’t be finished until 2022.

They seem to really, really want to push this through before the mayoral runoff. With both candidates to replace Rahm Emanuel lukewarm at best on the massive Lincoln Yards development for Chicago’s North Side, developers are offering yet another compromise: Shorter towers and lower density.
■ The plan faces a critical vote today before the City Council’s Zoning Committee.
■ A Trib editorial: “The story of Lincoln Yards offers a great lesson for Mayor Next.”
■ On Twitter, a reporter questions the nature of “editorial boards.”

Schocking development. Trib columnist Rex Huppke suspects something “went sideways” in the prosecution of disgraced ex-U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock: “If he’s a mere innocent mistake-maker who never deserved to be dragged down over his Downton Abbey office or his swanky hotel expenditures, then good for him.”
■ A Trib editorial: “Schock essentially walks away after writing checks” to cover “an abominable decision.”
■ Schock says he may again rear his head in politics.
■ Read the 2015 Washington Post article that blew the lid off Schock’s taste in office decor.

Pizza and rent. A federal criminal complaint says the owner of a Harvey strip club used those code words to describe regular payoffs to people close to the city’s mayor.
■ Separately, the county sheriff’s police are investigating charges Harvey residents were paid to vote for a candidate in the city’s mayoral race.
■ WGN-TV reviews a history of high jinks in Harvey: Pole dancing and politics.

Trebek in Jeopardy! Alex Trebek hopes his legal obligations tilt the scales in his favor as he fights stage 4 pancreatic cancer: “Under the terms of my contract, I have to host … for three more years.”
■ Here’s his announcement on video.
■ Stephen Colbert’s tribute to Trebek: A guy you’d want to spend eternity with.

Uber rising. The company’s freight division says it’s in the hunt for lots of office space as it prepares to hire hundreds of new workers in Chicago.
■ The trucking industry is running short of drivers—and the result may be higher prices for everything from McDonald’s hamburgers to kitty litter.

Dollar dolor. Family Dollar plans to close almost 400 stores.
■ Makeup sold at Claire’s stores has tested positive for cancer-causing asbestos.

In otter news …

■ Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are voting on a proposal to replace the campus’ disgraced and 12-years-gone Chief Illiniwek mascot with … Alma Otter.
■ In 2015, alumnus Stew Oleson pitched “The Honest Abes.”
■ In 2016, alumnus alumna Beth Austin: “Make Alma Mater part of UI halftime.”

Thanks to The Legion of Chicago Public Squarians, Square is taking the stage in its first video ad. See it here.
■ And thanks to reader Michael Weiland, first to note that the word alumnus (above) does not apply to women.