Signs of life. Hailing favorable COVID-19 trends in south suburban Will and Kankakee counties, Gov. Pritzker says bars and restaurants there may soon be allowed to serve customers indoors.
■ President Trump is contradicting his Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief on the importance of masks and the timing of a vaccine's availability. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
■ The Sun-Times: A Catholic school teacher went back to school. She got COVID-19 four days later.
■ In the six months since the pandemic shut Chicago Public Schools, the district reports 258 cases among staff and vendors, including eight deaths.
■ University of Michigan researchers: Teens need more than rules for what they can't do in the pandemic; they need guidance on ways they can socialize.
'A rare display of political independence.' The Sun-Times' Mark Brown reports that a coalition of Cook County judges seeking retention in November* have canceled their traditional donation to the party's election campaign—because the party's declined to support a veteran judge who oversaw a special prosecutor's investigation of State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office.
■ Judge Patrick Murphy, a former Cook County public guardian, on the party's decision: "I worry that we are about to go back to the days of politicians controlling the judges."
■ Politico reports ("The Buzz" in today's Illinois Playbook newsletter) the president of the Chicago police union is vowing to go after aldermen who backed out of a "Back the Blue" rally last night.
■ Block Club Chicago: Even as citizens at a community meeting on gang violence in Albany Park tossed more than 100 questions at officials, yet another man was killed in the area and a police commander had to leave early to respond.
'He just shoved his tongue down my throat.' An ex-model who now wants to be a role model for her twin daughters has come forward to tell The Guardian about a time in 1997 when she says Donald Trump sexually assaulted her.
■ Back on June 1, when the president wanted to clear Lafayette Square for a political stunt, military police reportedly sought to use a weapon capable of making demonstrators feel as if their skin were on fire.
■ A Michigan State University professor sounds the alarm about fake video casting shadows over Joe Biden's mental health.
■ CNN's Brian Stelter: "The potential for chaos and confusion around Election Night is very high. So now is the time for news outlets to communicate their plans to the public."
■ The Conversation: Six ways mail-in ballots are immune to fraud.
■ Stephen Colbert has launched a state-by-state guide on how to vote, "Better Know a Ballot."
'Noooooooooo!' The Sun-Times' Neil Steinberg says he's "semi-serious" in mourning the death of the Wisconsin Dells' signature attraction, the Tommy Bartlett Water Show.
■ The pandemic did what a catastrophic 2008 draining of the show's Lake Delton home couldn't.
New iPhone tricks. Gizmodo runs down 17 things you can do—that you couldn't before—with the free operating system upgrade Apple released yesterday.
■ But, Popular Mechanics recommends, you'll be well-advised not to rush to upgrade.
■ Consumer Reports rounds up the week's best deals on recommended tech devices.
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■ Personal note: Condolences to WGN-TV and Radio mainstay Dean Richards, your Square publisher’s first professional on-air partner, on the death of his mother. (Final item in media critic Robert Feder's post.)
■ Thanks to Pam Spiegel for catching the misspelling of Bartlett above.
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* One of whom is your Square publisher's wife.