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Beware ‘the Boogaloo.’ That’s far-right terminology for civil war, a call to which some activists perceived in President
■ HBO’s John Oliver (in a show you can see free on YouTube here) eviscerates Fox News’ misinformation in the pandemic: “If swimming pools were killing 360,000 a year and you could contract a swimming pool on a trip to the grocery store, we might want to think about shutting them down until we worked out what the f___ was going on.”
‘Open Illinois!’ A relative handful of simple folk here and in at least four other states spent their Sunday protesting stay-home orders.
■ Gov. Pritzker says it’s not that easy.
■ Axios: Deciding which businesses are “essential” is rife with randomness.
■ Orland Park: We’re not canceling festivals and concerts.
The infected and the dead.
■ The 5-year-old daughter of a cop and a firefighter in Detroit is the first Michigan child to die of COVID-19.
■ The outbreak at Chicago’s high-rise federal prison, the Metropolitan Correctional Center, is bigger than the public’s been led to believe.
■ Almost one in four Illinois deaths from COVID-19 came in nursing homes.
■ A Brooklyn care home reports at least 55 deaths—presumably due to COVID-19—but hasn’t been able to test a single resident.
■ A doctor warns the virus’ spread in Chicago’s homeless shelters could break the city’s capacity to help.
■ Five men who attended an Indiana high school basketball playoff game March 6 are dead of the virus.
■ Preliminary research raises the possibility the coronavirus can linger in the testicles—making men prone to longer and more severe infections.
■ Broadway and TV actor Nick Cordero has lost a leg to complications from the virus.
■ Vulture is updating a list of celebrities who’ve tested positive.
Positive trends. Illinois Sunday reported 33 coronavirus deaths in the previous 24 hours—its lowest daily toll in nearly two weeks.
■ California has evidence shelter-in-place orders not only have dramatically reduced air pollution, they’ve also cut vehicle-related accidents injuries and deaths by half.
■ Germany and other countries that’ve seen their infection rates flatten have begun reopening some businesses.
■ A kangaroo hopped along a major street in one of Australia’s biggest cities.
Another day, another lump of lies. CNN fact-checks President Trump’s latest coronavirus briefing.
■ CNN’s Brian Stelter praises “a new generation of correspondents” for “not taking President Trump’s not-my-fault routine for an answer.”
■ Journalism guru Jay Rosen offers five ways news organizations can improve their coronavirus coverage—including “Dislodge Trump from his position as ‘protagonist’ of the coronavirus story.”
■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: Making the rounds on Sunday morning’s network talk shows, Vice President Pence “didn’t have a great day.”
■ FiveThirtyEight: Reporters have been “deferring too much to the administration.”
Checking up. ProPublica tackles “What’s the deal with coronavirus stimulus checks, and how do I get one?”
■ The IRS is running way behind on (regular) tax refunds.
■ Shake Shack is returning the $10 million paycheck protection loan it got, acknowledging other companies need the money more.
We’re No. 3. A new ACLU report ranks Illinois third in the nation for racial disparities in arrests for marijuana possession: “Black people are still more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people in every state.” (Clarifying: Data on arrests since marijuana’s legalization in Illinois Jan. 1 wasn’t included in the report.)
■ The pandemic has harshed the buzz around the first 4/20 “high holiday” since marijuana’s widespread legalization.
■ The Onion: “Daily marijuana use increased nearly threefold this month among 26-year-old Gary.”
Storytime. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will be reading kids’ books, live on the web, at 11 a.m. Chicago time today and for the following three Mondays.
■ Chicago Parent rounds up 15 free online workouts for the family.
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Thanks, Anthony Caciopo and Pam Spiegel, for making this edition better.