‘Civil war’ deconstructed. The New York Times’ Charlie Warzel recounts how “what began as trollish shorthand for increasing political polarization has gone mainstream.”
■ The Daily Beast’s Matt Lewis compares Trump’s response to a famous National Lampoon cover from 1973.
■ CNN’s Brian Stelter predicts: “Trump’s attacks against the whistleblower, the Democrats, and the media will get worse.”
■ Also in the Beast: “Trump’s Favorite Democrat Will Not Budge on Impeachment.”
■ The Times’ David Enrich tweets: “The son of a dead @DeutscheBank executive—armed with hundreds of confidential bank files—has been secretly helping the FBI and the House Intelligence Committee investigate the bank and @realDonaldTrump.”
Clean sweep. A company under fire for emitting pollution linked to cancer is folding its suburban medical sterilization plant and moving operations to facilities elsewhere …
■ … but it faces similar challenges elsewhere …
■ … and the substance involved still menaces a half-million other Americans—as a searchable Tribune map illustrates.
$1,000 here, $1,000 there … Dan Webb, the special prosecutor charged with investigating how State’s Attorney Kim Foxx handled the criminal case against prevaricating actor Jussie Smollett, says he doesn’t recall writing a $1,000 check to Foxx’s campaign.
■ State Sen. Martin Sandoval—already under federal investigation—also faces a lawsuit accusing him of clouting son Martin Sandoval II into a job with the Pace bus service.
Museum misfortune. A construction worker was critically injured late last night in a forklift acccident at the Museum of Science and Industry.
■ The Lincoln Park Zoo’s sole male lion died while in the custody of a Kansas zoo.
■ Illinois’ struggling Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is in store for an infusion of new leadership.
Your tax dollars at work. A Chicago Department of Transportation asphalt laborer has quit after being charged with murder.
■ Four people—including the driver—were hurt after a CTA bus veered into oncoming traffic along Lake Shore Drive.
■ A quick-thinking worker saved the day by stopping a cart that went out of control on the O’Hare airport tarmac—and a doctor on a plane caught it on riveting video, which may be useful as American Airlines tries to figure out what happened.
‘How much did you make in your last job?’ That’s a question Illinois employers are, as of this week, no longer allowed to ask job applicants.
■ Following the lead of California—where a new law lets college athletes profit from endorsements—a state representative has introduced a bill guaranteeing Illinois students the right to profit from their identities.
■ The game’s parent company, Zynga: “We do not believe any financial information was accessed.”
■ Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, caught on audio leaked from internal meetings, calls Elizabeth Warren’s push to break up the company an “existential” threat.
Heartburn notice. The nation’s big pharmacies are yanking Zantac and its generic heartburn medication counterparts off the shelves—and offering refunds—because of potential carcinogenic contamination.
■ HBO’s John Oliver exposes the risks of buying medication compounded on-site instead of drugs manufactured at bigger, more-regulated factories.
■ Over two commissioners’ objections that it’s a lousy location, the Cook County Board has voted to spend $15 million on a south suburban health clinic.
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