.jpg){kind=link}
■ The dust settling from Super Tuesday voting reveals that, huh, now Illinois’ voters are getting some attention at last.
■ Bernie Sanders plans a Saturday rally in Chicago’s Grant Park.
■ The Illinois Republican Party has launched an ad campaign to distance itself from one of its primary candidates for Congress: “Say No To The Nazi.”
■ The New York Times’ David Leonhardt says a politician who could be “the most important person on the planet” is near a critical decision.
■ Ready to make some choices? Consult the Chicago Public Square voter guide.
‘Students who are sick will be sent home immediately.’ Chicago Public Schools will take swift action to cut the risk of a coronavirus outbreak.
■ Northwestern University is killing its dance marathon.
■ Surprise: The Trump administration won’t meet its deadline for making a million coronavirus tests available by the end of the week.
■ A professor of epidemiology stresses: “Proper hand-washing is the best thing you can do to protect yourself.”
■ Coronavirus myths debunked.
■ Metra says it’s stepping up its cleanliness in the face of the COVID-19 threat, but the CTA says it’s clean enough.
■ Stephen Colbert translates New York’s pledge to clean subway cars more often: “That puddle of urine you sat in is no more than three days old.”
■ Tribune columnist Rex Huppke comes to grips with hygiene guidance in the coronavirus age: “I need to rent someone’s face.”
Amazon shiver. Seattle employees of Amazon and Facebook have been encouraged to stay home after workers for each company tested positive for the virus.
■ But fear not: Epidemiologists see no evidence coronavirus can spread by mail.
■ Changing flight plans because of the virus? Airlines may give you a break.
‘Relieved of their powers.’ Two Chicago cops have been sidelined for their involvement in the shooting of a man at the CTA’s Red Line Grand station.
■ A lawyer representing the victim’s family: “Their decision to shoot an unarmed civilian who posed no threat to them certainly was not within the Chicago Police Department’s Use of Force guidelines.”
FitzGerald’s sold. Forty years after Bill FitzGerald transformed an old Deer Lodge into what became his legendary Berwyn nightclub, the place is getting a new owner …
■ … announced last night at a “stealth farewell party.”
■ The new guy is a minority partner with Chicago’s Thalia Hall.
■ A handful of personal FitzGerald’s memories: Michael McDermott in 2019; Archie Bell tightening up (sideways) in 2018; Sarah Borges, Los Straitjackets, Liz Vice and Chicago Wind in 2017; Guy King and Larry McCray in 2016 …
■ … and that time your somewhat hoarse Square publisher conceal-carried a recorder onto the FitzGerald’s stage.
■ Chicago’s 150-year-old Standard Club—founded when other clubs refused to admit Jews—will close May 1.
Ikea recall. Close to a million three-drawer chests can be returned for a refund because they pose a risk of death or injury to children.
■ Toyota’s recalling another 1.2 million vehicles with possibly defective fuel pumps.
Tom Skilling’s outlook. Channel 9’s iconic meteorologist is recovering from gastric bypass surgery.
■ A National Weather Service forecaster says Chicago’s winter “is on its last legs.”
■ But Friday could slam Lake Michigan’s shoreline with big waves and flooding.
‘A chilling thriller about the future we’re living now.’ TV critic Aaron Barnhart previews a new series starring Parks and Recreation veteran and Illinois native Nick Offerman.
■ The Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper reviews what he considers Pixar’s worst movie yet.
Act now. This offer to mark the start of the third year of the Chicago Public Square member support program ends this weekend:
Thanks to readers Gil Herman and Pam Spiegel for corrections to this edition.