Kanye curiosities. New York reports people with links to Kanye West’s independent presidential campaign are also active in Republican Party politics—one of them elected as a Trump convention delegate in May.
■ West’s quest to make the Illinois ballot has survived at least one of three challenges.
■ Not so in Massachusetts …
■ … but he’s still in the running for slots on ballots in swing states Wisconsin and Ohio.
‘The mayor does not have the guts to close the schools.’ Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey is sounding the alarm about plans to resume in-person classes this fall.
■ One veteran teacher told a rally yesterday: “I don’t want to be an experiment.”
■ The Conversation: How rocket scientists would decide whether and how to reopen schools.
Timeout. A positive COVID-19 test has brought Northwestern University’s football program to a halt.
■ The Atlantic: “Pro Baseball Is Courting Disaster”—but the NBA’s “bubble” is working.
■ The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign plans twice-weekly virus tests for those on campus this fall.
■ Chicago is stepping up enforcement to prevent large parties and other gatherings.
On the plus side, potential hires would need only one finger. The National Association of the Deaf is suing the White House to force President Trump and other administration officials to provide American Sign Language interpreters at COVID-19 briefings.
■ Trump calls his coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx’s warnings about the coronavirus “pathetic.”
Not so clean. Southwest Airlines is gonna be a little less anal-retentive about wiping down surfaces.
■ Things to know before you visit a dentist in a pandemic.
■ Snopes checked so you don’t have to: It’s true. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
‘Prejudice is a kind of philosophy for morons.’ Columnist Neil Steinberg answers readers who defended benighted souls’ right to display a Confederate flag at an Evanston beach.
■ Add the Italian American Heritage Society to the list of those who want Chicago’s Christopher Columbus statues gone for good.
■ Columnist Rick Kogan says a new book by Chicago author Mike Comerford, American Oz: An Astonishing Year Inside Travel Carnivals at State Fairs & Festivals, “brings me closer than I have ever been” to the carnivals he’s always loved.
■ TV critic Aaron Barnhart: “No Wonder ICE Officials Don’t Want You To See Immigration Nation” on Netflix.
Climate consequences. Bloomberg Green summarizes a new paper from a consortium studying the impact of a hotter Earth: “Your future risk of dying from heat will be determined more than anything else by where you live and … today’s economic inequality.”
■ Cornell University professors offer ideas for what to do with the wood of trees felled by the emerald ash borer.
What do they know about where you are and where you’ve been? As companies and governments gather personal geographic data to track the spread of COVID-19, how concerned should you be about your privacy? Consumer Reports is hosting free online workshops about location security this week, and you can sign up here.
■ Gizmodo: “Trump Demands Microsoft Pay Off the U.S. Treasury to Secure TikTok Deal.”
Chicago Public Square is free for all through the generous support of readers including Andrew Stancioff, Ralph Sherman, Anthony Caciopo, Leslie Sutphen, David Layden, Cynthia Farenga, Jeannie Affelder, Stephanie Blatt, Aaron Barnhart, Janet Holden and Robert Clifford. You can join them with a one-time tip (gracious) or an ongoing pledge (graciouser). And if you can’t chip in now, no guilt: You help Square grow simply by opening and reading each day. Or by sharing it with a friend. Thanks to all …■ … including Al Solomon, who spotted a typo above.
___
* Where your Square proprietor served as news director for a couple of years.