Travel or not? / 20 days / Happy anniversary

Travel or not? The Tribune’s Lauren Zumbach offers counsel for tourists wondering whether coronavirus’ spread should alter their plans.
AP: “The virus is bringing a sense of urgency for local officials determined to contain it but often unsure how.”

The Week: A top member of President Trump’s coronavirus task force asked Twitter for help seeing an online map of the virus’ spread.
Vox’s Matthew Yglesias: “Trump’s flailing incompetence makes coronavirus even scarier.”
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow: Trump “fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command back in 2018 and never replaced them.”
The “Miracle on Ice” hockey team’s decision to appear with Trump at a campaign rally has made one player’s Twitter account “a nightmare.”

‘I was wrong.’ MSNBC host Chris Matthews is apologizing for invoking Nazis in his analysis of Bernie Sanders’ Nevada victory.
The Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet: Sanders’ attacks on journalism are “unbecoming.”
Heading into tonight’s Democratic presidential debate on CBS (7 p.m. Chicago time) rival candidates are taking increasing aim at Sanders.
The New York Times: Tonight’s “all about who can slow his momentum.”
The Daily Beast: “The private Twitter account of a newly promoted [Sanders] campaign staffer indicates that despite his condemnation of online harassment, at least some of the Vermont senator’s most toxic support is coming from inside the house.”
The Sanders campaign is spelling out “How Does Bernie Pay for His Major Plans?
PolitiFact puts the lie to a viral post criticizing Sanders’ math.

20 days. That’s how long you have to decide how to vote in Illinois’ 2020 primaries—as noted in a countdown clock on a new interactive video guide to key state and local races compiled by WTTW and the League of Women Voters …
 … as noted in the newly updated Chicago Public Square voter guide, where you’ll also find links to bar association rankings of judicial candidates.

‘Outright cheating’? That’s one of the concerns raised by a new Chicago Public Schools watchdog report which found clusters of kids at 20 schools whose test scores increased so substantially as to have bucked one-in-a-billion odds.
Plan ahead: The draft 2020-21 Chicago Public Schools calendar is out.

Sky-high. Sales of—and sales taxes on—recreational marijuana during its first month of legalization in Illinois have blown away estimates …
 … already totaling more than a third of what Gov. Pritzker estimated for the first six months.

‘White officers are five times as likely to use gun force in predominantly black neighborhoods.’ Texas A&M University researchers studying more than 2 million 911 calls found compelling evidence of a disparity …
 … highlighting race as “an important determinant of … lethal force.”
A suburban police chief says a woman shot and killed her boyfriend, but the Cook County state’s attorney’s office says there’s not enough evidence to charge her.

‘This is the new landscape for survivors of sexual assault in America.’ New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. says the conviction of rapist movie mogul Harvey Weinstein marks the dawn of a new day.
And now it’s opera singer Plácido Domingo’s turn. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
Most-clicked item in yesterday’s Chicago Public Square email: A female news anchor’s declaration of war on the “TV dress.”

Ford’s stall. Three weeks after Ford Motor Co.’s CEO blamed the company’s disappointing 2019 on its factory in Chicago, the company’s stock has hit its lowest point since the Great Recession.
The Beachwood Reporter’s Steve Rhodes last week: “Our stuff had to be sent to Detroit to be fixed, people.”

Whew. Looks like the worst of the snow will pass south of Chicago …
 … dusting the city with maybe less than 3 inches.

‘We’re going to lose a lot more media in the next 12-24 months if …’ Here’s a more detailed account of Sunday’s Chicago Journalism Town Hall.
Watch it all on YouTube.
Or listen to a podcast.

Happy anniversary. Chicago Public Square is here because, since the February 2018 launch of the Square support program, people including Ken Hildreth, Carol Morency, Christine Cupaiuolo, Shel Lustig, Deb Abrahamson, Sarah Hoban, Elaine Soloway, Jan Czarnik, Chris Ruys and Beth Martin have helped pay the bills. To mark the start of that initiative’s third year, we’re offering new supporters a discount at all contribution levels: Get 30% off your first three monthly or yearly pledges with code THREEBIE. (And you can cancel anytime.) See all your options here. Or just tap a button:

Square’s worth $5 a month—
but I’ll pay $3.50 for the first 3 months

No, it’s worth $10—
but I’ll pay $7 for the first 3 months

I’ll recommend Square to a friend (always free!)

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