The next City Council / 'Incredible' / 'Twilight Zone' returns

The next City Council. Politico’s Shia Kapos says Chicago’s legislative body is about to “lean left and be rowdy, but tomorrow’s municipal election will determine just how far left and rowdy.”
Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington, who was an aide to former Mayor Harold Washington: “Will the … elections usher in Council Wars II?
Mayoral candidates Lightfoot and Preckwinkle spent the campaign’s last Sunday scouring the city for votes.
Mike Fourcher: Five reasons all of America should pay attention to Chicago’s election.
The Center for Illinois Politics: The youth vote could prove key to the outcome.

A Tribune editorial quotes comedian George Carlin: “If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain” …
 (correction) but Beachwood Reporter proprietor Steve Rhodes notes the Trib got that quote wrong.
Don’t vote stupid: Before you cast your ballot—and it’s not too late to vote early today in Chicago and the suburbs—consult the Chicago Public Square voter guide.

Airlines bollixed. A technical glitch triggered delays in Chicago and other major airports today, but the problems were mostly resolved by 8:15 a.m.
A Sun-Times investigation documents more than 60 runway “mishaps” at O’Hare over the last 2 1/2 years.
American Airlines holds mock flights to help kids with autism—and their families—get used to flying.

Chicago’s murder progress. Police report a sharp drop in homicides and shootings for 2019 so far.
Police were set to reveal the identity of the wrong-way driver who killed Illinois State Trooper Gerald Ellis—the third state officer killed in crashes this year.
The Trib’s Mary Wisniewski: State police are cracking down on distracted driving; Chicago cops, not so much.

‘Our history is being erased.’ A last-ditch effort is on to save a historic Chicago building in the wrecking ball’s shadow …
 … despite Preservation Chicago’s 2016 citation of it as one of Chicago’s Most Threatened Buildings.

‘These are the same folks who assert their superiority by belittling the intelligence and good faith of others.’ U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is dumping on Fox News for a stupid mistake.
The Washington Post’s latest count: President Trump has made 9,451 false or misleading claims over 801 days in office.
The New York Times: A White House whistle-blower says senior Trump administration officials gave security clearance to at least 25 people whose applications had been previously denied.
Updating coverage: The U.S. House is headed toward a showdown with the White House over the Mueller report.

Joe Biden’s woman problem. The former vice president edging toward another run for the presidency is defending what The Associated Press describes as “his affectionate whispers, hugs and shoulder squeezes … to women, often on camera.”
Candidate Beto O’Rourke is really rich, and so is his Chicago-born wife.
Politico: Candidate Pete Buttigieg “has the mojo. Now he needs a campaign.”

‘Incredible.’ Video shows a meteor flashing over Florida Saturday night. (Image: National Weather Service.)
A long read in The New Yorker: “A young paleontologist may have discovered a record of the most significant event in the history of life on Earth.”
New York State is likely to become the nation’s second state to ban single-use plastic bags.

Unrelated commentary.
Chicago-area paleontologist Roy Plotnick proposes creation of an Illinois “fossil park.”
Tribune columnist Dahleen Glanton on Mayor Emanuel: “I wish he were already gone.”

Twilight Zone returns. The Trib’s Christopher Borrelli says that, in the best new episode of Jordan Peele’s rebooted series, “An African-American mother and her teenage son … can’t avoid the same white cop who keeps pulling them over.”
Richard Roeper’s review in the Sun-Times: Three stars. (Photo: Robert Falconer/CBS.)
The real-life Obama campaign mixup that inspired a joke on last night’s episode of HBO’s Veep.

April is here. Chicago’s street-sweeping—and the ticketing of parked cars that block sweepers—resumes today.
Digg is rounding up “good, bad and terrible” corporate April Fools’ Day moves.
The Onion: ‘There Is Beauty In Decay,’ Says Head Of Federal Highway Administration While Surveying Nation’s Crumbling Roads.”
If you’re not the early-riser type, you may have missed today’s post-midnight edition of Square.
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Thanks … to reader Paul Clark for flagging the error in the Tribune editorial cited above.

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