‘A formal impeachment inquiry.’ Put Illinois Rep. Brad Schneider down with the growing list of lawmakers on board for taking that step toward ending Donald Trump’s time at the White House.
■ Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson: “The Trump presidency is not just unfolding, it is unraveling.”
■ Another Democrat you probably wouldn’t recognize on the street is dropping out of the presidential race …
■ … counseling others running that “this is now a three-way race between Biden, Warren and Sanders.”
‘A madman.’ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg assesses reports that radio host and ex-Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh is considering a primary challenge to President Trump.
■ Walsh reportedly has been meeting with Trump critics in Washington.
■ Media columnist Robert Feder: If Walsh runs, he’ll have to give up his radio shows.
■ Ex-Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders is joining … wait for it … Fox News.
‘The timing couldn’t be worse.’ Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman questions Mayor Lightfoot’s decision to spend almost a quarter-million dollars on office renovations as she prepares for “lowering the boom on Chicago taxpayers.”
■ Politico’s Shia Kapos reviews Lightfoot’s first almost-100 days in office, turning “City Hall on its ear.”
■ Better Government Association chief David Greising says Lightfoot may have done a good thing in becoming “the first mayor to develop a city budget after polling her public via SurveyMonkey.”
■ If the Cook County Democratic Party gets its way, Illinois will get its first transgender judge.
Koch death. “Koch brothers” billionaire David Koch, whose money and anti-government philosophy fueled a “Kochtopus” that pushed the Republican Party unrelentingly right, is gone.
■ In 2013, the Koch brothers considered buying the Trib.
‘Having sex in the central office building is not an authorized purpose.’ A newly-public government report reveals a former acting General Services Administration chief of staff engaged in an unauthorized purpose with a name-redacted White House official.
■ Another newly released report shows then-Gov. Rauner’s assistant director of the Illinois Veterans’ Affairs Department quit under investigation for sexual harassment and racist comments.
■ He was close to becoming the department’s director.
‘I participated in a concealed carry class, and it reaffirmed why I would never own a gun.’ Columnist Dahleen Glanton shares her experience …
■ … which mirrors your Chicago Public Square publisher’s 2012 training (a WBEZ audio segment from 2013).
Beware the lake. The National Weather Service is warning about dangerous waves along Chicago’s lakefront …
■ … like those that yesterday killed a man diving into the lake to help an 11-year-old girl.
■ The Beachwood Reporter’s Steve Rhodes critiques reporting that fails to link Lake Michigan dangers to the climate crisis.
■ More than a week after a steel factory cyanide and ammonia spill, Indiana beaches are open again.
■ The Wall Street Journal warns Amazon is selling thousands of banned, unsafe or mislabeled products.
■ Overstock.com’s CEO has quit after some bizarre behavior.
‘Never place near other cards. Do not look directly at card.’ The mockery continues for Apple’s fetishistic Apple Card handling guidelines.
■ Major phone companies and attorneys general from Illinois and all the other states are teaming up against robocalls.
Thanks … to reader Pam Spiegel for clarifying some grammar above.