Cubs disgust / Tick, tock / Terrifying plant

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Cubs disgust. Team president Theo Epstein condemns as “truly disgusting” a fan who made a white supremacist hand gesture behind a black TV reporter on the air.
The team has banned the guy from Wrigley Field …
 … and it says a similar fate will befall “any individual behaving in this manner” …
 … but Wrigley has a way to go to dispel its reputation for racism.
Sun-Times columnist Rick Morrissey: “I don’t recall a similar ban on billionaire Joe Ricketts [who funded his kids’ purchase of the team] after the release of his racist and Islamophobic emails.”
In second baseman Addison Russell’s return to the team last night after a suspension for domestic violence, fans booed him.
Updating coverage: Every white player on the champion Boston Red Sox was set to visit the White House today—but all those skipping are players of color.

‘Fight, kid! Fight!’ The Tribune’s John Kass describes efforts to save the life of a newborn found abandoned on a Northwest Side garbage can.
Police say they’ve ID’d the mother.

‘People will remember that photograph.’ The Trib’s Dahleen Glanton has some concerns about Chicago Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot’s meeting with Ivanka Trump. (White House photo.)
A Trib investigation: “How did a CPS high school get in line for a $13M gym to lure a star basketball coach? All one of Rahm Emanuel’s campaign donors had to do was ask.”

Tick, tock. Time may be running out for clocks “falling back” in Illinois.
A plan to fix Illinois’ decaying roads would double the state’s gas tax, license and registration fees.

‘Women … cannot sit idly by.’ With abortion rights under assault across the country—including Georgia, whose governor has signed a bill that would criminalize abortion, with penalties including the death sentence—200 women are pushing Illinois lawmakers to approve the nation’s most liberal reproductive health law.
The Onion:Georgia Governor Signs Bill Outlawing Abortion Except For Single 30-Second Window On Third Day Of Fourth Week Of Pregnancy.”

Republicans divided. Congressional Republicans are steamed that a Senate committee headed by a Republican is subpoenaing President Trump’s son Don Jr.
 Correction: A House committee has voted to hold U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt of Congress.

‘Thanks for being here, from Facebook.’ The AP says that, even as Facebook has boasted it’s staying ahead of extremists, the company has been auto-generating videos and pages that serve up terrorism.
In a long essay for The New York Times, a Facebook cofounder says the company’s too big and he makes the case for breaking it apart.
Apple, Google and Facebook are struggling to improve their reps for privacy.

Terrifying plant. Slate’s Henry Grabar may give you nightmares with his report on the invasive knotweed—which grows quickly, is nearly impossible to kill, menaces other plant life, threatens building foundations and, fueled partly by climate change, is moving on Great Lakes states.
On the plus side, it can make a nice butter sauce.
BuzzFeed News: Climate change is partly responsible for the surge of refugees at the U.S. border.

Thanks … to reader Ed Nickow for catching the error above.

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