Trump vs. Chicago / 'Raging dumpster fire' / Apple owes you

Trump vs. Chicago. The president again has been using the city as what Politico’s Shia Kapos calls “his favorite punching bag” …
 … but her colleagues Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer suggest Trump’s power is on the wane.
Overnight, his administration carried out the first federal execution in 17 years.

‘Uncertainty as an excuse to do nothing.’ A scientific adviser fired by the Trump administration is condemning the EPA’s decision not to tighten national air pollution rules.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is pledging county buildings will rely on 100% renewable energy by 2030.
In a substantial move to the left, Joe Biden reportedly planned to call for a massive national clean energy program.

More than any year since World War II. A record-setting number of Chicagoans have registered to vote by mail in November.
You can do that online.
Keep an eye peeled for Chicago’s “Census Cowboy,” riding his horse around town to encourage people to be counted.

Alderman down. A Chicago City Council member is the city’s first elected official to be diagnosed with COVID-19.
A Tribune editorial: Cancellation of this year’s Chicago Marathon “was the right decision.”

‘A raging dumpster fire.’ Declaring the U.S. response to the coronavirus a spectacular failure, Stat asked public health experts to recommend “a single suggestion” to “get ourselves out of this mess.”
MIT Technology Review: “If the coronavirus is really airborne, we might be fighting it the wrong way.”
In Colorado, a squirrel has tested positive for bubonic plague.

Campus conundrums. If students return to Illinois colleges and universities this fall, they can expect single-occupant dorm rooms and meals to go.
The Conversation: Four things college students should know about their health insurance before returning to campus.
Loyola University says it’ll forgo most in-person classes.
Illinois universities and the state’s attorney general are joining private schools challenging the Trump administration’s plan to evict students who aren’t taking in-person classes—about 40,000 of whom are here.
Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell: As child-care facilities across the country reopen, “their experiences risk destroying the country’s already weak infrastructure for child care.”

Blinding injustice. The Post’s extensive review of video undermines official accounts of police’s blinding of eight people in one day of civil rights protest across the country.

Block Club Chicago: After Years Of ‘Racist Vitriol,’ Chicago’s Neighborhood Facebook Pages Face Pushback From Residents.” (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
The Chicago City Council has put off action on a plan to open more affordable housing.

Apple owes you. If you own or owned an older iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, and/or SE, you may qualify for a $25 settlement of complaints the company slowed down phones as batteries aged.
Entering your phone’s serial number, your Apple ID and address here to get a check takes less than a minute.
Adweek: Apple’s made a “hilarious” and “definitive” 7-minute ad about working from home.

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