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Fatal Loop shooting. A motorist with a concealed-carry permit says (link updated) he shot and killed another man who tried to carjack him.
■ The Cook County Board has voted to keep landlords from asking about, considering or requiring disclosure of a potential tenant’s criminal history until the applicant’s been found otherwise qualified to rent.
‘He doesn’t work here no more.’ A man who answered the phone at the law office of Andrew Freund Sr.—who’s accused of beating son Andrew “AJ” Freund to death—said he hasn’t seen Freund since last week.
■ CNN: AJ Freund’s short life “reveals a series of injustices.”
Biden’s women problem. The Washington Post’s Amber Phillips: Joe Biden’s Democratic presidential campaign “carries with it more baggage than ever related to one of the party’s key constituencies” …
■ … including women of color.
■ The Cut is keeping a running tally of all the women who’ve accused Biden of touching them in uncomfortable ways.
■ Vox reporter Anna North: Biden’s betting on a group of voters that “thinks #MeToo goes a little too far.”
■ Anita Hill, whose sexual harassment testimony against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas got short shrift in 1991 from then-Sen. Judiciary Committee chair Biden, tells The New York Times that although Biden’s call to her a few weeks ago left her unsatisfied, “I’m willing to give him the chance.”
But … Trump … The Tribune’s Dahleen Glanton: Biden “has not risen nearly to the level of contempt Trump has.”
■ The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser: Biden is “pretty much the only presidential contender to make [Trump] the centerpiece of his campaign.”
■ Politico: Trump advisers say Trump sees Biden as his most threatening challenger.
■ Updating coverage: Trump and VP Mike Pence address a conflicted National Rifle Association convention today.
Twitter’s Republican puzzle. Motherboard says a Twitter employee working on machine learning believes an algorithmic solution to white-supremacy tweets would also catch Republican politicians.
■ Splinter: Twitter founder “Jack Dorsey Called Ilhan Omar and Refused to Do Anything Useful.”
Iowa handicap. Politico goes inside the Des Moines Register, whose coverage will shape the nation’s perception of the critical Iowa presidential campaign—and finds that, of 14 reporters assigned to Democratic candidates, only three are practiced political journalists.
■ In Canada, the death of local news organizations is giving politicians clearance to spin their own stories.
‘Chicago should provide for recall elections of indicted elected officials.’ The Trib’s Eric Zorn says “simply waiting around for the next election is not an acceptable option.”
■ In a case almost certainly headed to the Supreme Court, with national implications, a federal court is ordering Michigan to redraw its political maps for next year’s election because Republicans engaged in gerrymandering “of historical proportions.”
■ A panel of Republican federal judges in Louisiana has paved the way for police to cripple political movements by filing harassing lawsuits against movement leaders.
Faceoff. Mayor Emanuel’s striking back against Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz’s complaint that the mayor has had a “strained” relationship with Chicago’s business community.
■ The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and its union have agreed to let Emanuel try to settle the strike.
■ Teachers at five Chicago charter and contract schools are threatening a strike next week.
Amazon’s watching … its employees. The Verge documents the company’s relentless monitoring of worker productivity—which an attorney says led to the layoffs of “hundreds” of employees at a single facility over a year.
■ Washington State’s on the cusp of getting the country’s first long-term care benefit program, guaranteeing residents money for caregiving, wheelchair ramps, meal deliveries, and nursing home fees.
Snow. Yes, 3-5 inches are in the forecast for Chicago’s weekend …
■ … but so are visits from The Daily Show host Trevor Noah …
■ … and comedian and author Chelsea Handler …
■ … and a fresh batch of Chicago sketch and improv comedy is up on Comedy Central and Netflix.
■ Jeopardy! contestants talk to The Washington Post about what it’s like to lose to so-far-unstoppable Naperville native James Holzhauer.
Thanks …
■ … to reader Joe Hass for a link suggestion this issue.
■ … to Mike Braden for noting the absence of a preposition above.
■ … and to Pam Spiegel for noting a missing word.