Stuff keeps happening fast. Get Chicago Public Square news updates around the clock by telling Facebook to show you Square first. But here’s what’s new now:
■ 16 national health care leaders say the best thing you can do to save lives is stay home …
■ … but federal workers were still (as of Square’s email deadline) expected to show up at “tightly packed office cubicles.”
■ A reason to be cautious everywhere: Miami’s mayor has tested positive for COVID-19—without showing any obvious symptoms.
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■ A prison reformer warns the conditions inside jails and prisons represent a coronavirus threat “to any American with a jail in their county—that’s everyone.”
■ The U.S. Health and Human Services Department suffered a cyberattack overnight.
■ The stock market gagged again at the outset of today’s trading.
Closing time. Gov. Pritzker has ordered all Illinois bars and restaurants to shut their doors to dine-in customers by the end of the day.
■ Illinois was ahead of the curve.
■ Politico Illinois Playbook: Mayor Lightfoot and Gov. Pritzker seem not always to be on the same page.
School’s out … in Chicago after today, challenging teachers to figure out how to help kids learn remotely.
■ Scholastic has set up a “Learn from Home” website with three hours’
■ Even though Chicago’s public schools close tomorrow, needy kids can get free meals there.
■ Want to help people who may have trouble putting food on the table during the crisis? Here’s one way.
Pier pressure. Navy Pier is off-limits through at least April 2 …
■ … but public radio WBEZ says its studios on the Pier remain open.
■ All Illinois state parks are closed, too.
■ Chicago hospitals are limiting visits.
‘The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW.’ Pritzker took his Twitter gloves off as he complained to the Trump administration about crowded and unsafe security conditions at O’Hare over the weekend …
■ … and he got some results.
■ The New York Times’ David Leonhardt lists Trump’s missed opportunities to address the crisis.
■ CNN: Trump lied when he said the virus is “something we have tremendous control of.”
■ He also lied about the coronavirus website Google was building.
■ Here’s what Google says it’s really working on.
■ The Supreme Court is shutting down.
‘I honestly feel like it’s a public service.’ A Tennessee man who’d hoarded—and then was stuck with—17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer has donated them to charity but is now under investigation for price gouging.
■ Nutritionists list 16 things to stock up on at Costco.
‘I haven’t seen my mother for a month.’ An Italian woman’s first-person account of life under that nation’s lockdown: “People are allowed to go out only for serious work and family-related matters, or to buy food and medicines, and must carry with them a certificate declaring the reason for leaving their homes.”
■ American journalist David C. Unger reports from Camogli, Italy: “These circumstances are horrific.”
■ Social critic Umair Haque: “Coronavirus Is a Small Taste of the Dystopian Future.”
■ Politico: Welcome to the political incompetence pandemic.
‘Actually helpful information.’ Variety TV critic Caroline Framke says last night’s presidential debate spotlighted what’s been wrong with most other televised debates.
■ Here’s Daily Kos’ blow-by-blow recap.
■ Veteran political columnist Charlie Madigan: “The most important thing … is that Joe is going to pick a woman as a running mate, and Bernie said he was likely to do that, too.”
■ Intelligencer handicaps the field of potential veeps.
■ The Guardian’s five takeaways include this one: “Biden avoided a complete debacle” …
■ … but he did lie about never having called for cuts to Social Security.
■ Vox’s Matthew Yglesias sums up last night: “Sanders is fighting a cosmic struggle. … Biden is talking about winning the election.”
■ Gov. Pritzker backs Biden.
‘Find a way to vote.’ A Trib editorial encourages you to turn out for the Illinois primary.
■ Can you be an election judge tomorrow? Chicago encourages you if you’re “a healthy and capable voter and find your precinct to be understaffed and overburdened … to offer to be sworn in as a substitute.”
■ Get help deciding how to vote in the Chicago Public Square voter guide.
Local news’ importance. In hard-hit Seattle, Seattle Times executive editor Michele Matassa Flores notes coronavirus coverage “has drawn new subscribers at record levels.”
■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: The pandemic “has proven something encouraging: Americans need—and more importantly, want—good journalism.”
■ CBS News offices have been emptied.
■ Sports broadcasters are having to improvise.
■ A psychotherapist’s nine tips for journalists—and others—fighting coronavirus stress include this: “Keep things near you that will remind you of what ‘normal’ looks like.”
■ It’s a tough time for people with anxiety disorders.
| If you find Chicago Public Square useful in a time of pandemic, pitch in to keep it coming |
Thanks to Jim Parks for catching a redundancy above and to Pam Spiegel for some additional typographical housekeeping.