'An army of officers' / 'A nine-alarm fire for American democracy' / Fresca case solved

‘Police pushing, shoving, pepper spraying, kicking, and beating young people … in an entirely nonviolent protest.’ Photographer Paul Goyette offers a first-person account of aggression by “an army of officers” in Saturday’s Chicago police confrontation with protesters, which he says “ended with some of the brightest and most compelling young organizers I’ve known being beaten and arrested.” (Photo: Paul Goyette.)
One organizer says she and others were left “running for our lives. … As we tried to leave, they wouldn’t let us.”
Mayor Lightfoot told CBS’ Face the Nation, “People … have embedded themselves in these seemingly peaceful protests and come for a fight” …
 … and she insisted “our police department is resolved to make sure that we protect peaceful protests.”
Hours before Saturday’s downtown march, Bronzeville neighbors told organizers of a smaller peaceful demonstration to go away.

‘Let’s make a change, and let’s not be scared of the change.’ The Sun-Times profiles a cohort of young activists reimagining Chicago’s future, “from how we name our parks to law enforcement agencies.”
Chalkbeat: Why most Chicago schools voted to keep police on campus.

‘A nine-alarm fire for American democracy.’ Columnist Will Bunch sees the handicapping of the U.S. Postal Service by President Trump and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy—during a pandemic that’s made voting by mail essential for many Americans—as a coup by mail.
The Washington Post’s Margaret Sullivan on journalists’ challenge: “How do you deal with a scandal when the president himself has no shame about admitting to it?(Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
NBC News has assembled a state-by-state guide to voting by mail and early in-person voting.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling the House back from vacation to address USPS meddling.
Columnist Jason Sattler: “The Republican president, utilizing the unqualified immunity he has been given by the Republican Senate, has a plan to swipe this election. And it’s not at all clear that Democrats have a plan to stop him.”
John Oliver: “It’s frankly amazing how slow Trump is to respond to so many things—like, I don’t know, public health crises—yet when it comes to amplifying racist conspiracy theories, suddenly he’s the f—king Flash on cocaine.”

Losing millions by degrees. Illinois’ colleges and universities are bleeding big bucks as they go without room and board fees from students learning remotely and incur new costs for protecting those who show up.
As COVID-19 cases surge Downstate, Gov. Pritzker is imposing new restrictions on Illinois counties near St. Louis.
Professors of law and biology make the ethical case for medical trials that deliberately infect humans with COVID-19.
Add this to your End Times vocabulary: Twindemic.

Fresca case solved. The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg gleefully updates the mystery of a soft drink that went missing in the pandemic.
The Associated Press: Airlines are desperately trying to persuade the public that flying is safe, but “it isn’t working.”

She speaks for the trees. Openlands vice president Daniella Pereira says last week’s storm devastation of Chicago—7,300 or so trees lost—justifies creation of an Urban Forestry Advisory Board.
Environmental groups are sounding the alarm about today’s Trump administration approval of a program to drill for oil and gas within Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Melting permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere threatens the revival of long-gone diseases.

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