COVID clash. Mayor Lightfoot and Gov. Pritzker are at odds again over how to handle the pandemic.
■ The mayor’s asking the governor to reverse his order forbidding indoor dining and drinking in the city, effective Friday.
■ The governor’s rules include social gathering limits: The lesser of 25 guests or 25 percent of overall room capacity …
■ … and Illinois’ high school basketball season is on hold.
‘I’m not giving business to businesses that kowtow to Pritzker.’ A benighted suburban woman celebrates a Geneva restaurant’s legal victory in a fight to ignore the governor’s shutdown order.
■ Tribune columnist Eric Zorn notes “how comparatively fortunate we’ve been in Illinois and Chicago during the pandemic to have political leaders who aren’t also running for office this year. … Whether or not you agree with their various mandates … you can be sure that they’re not motivated by short-term political gain.”
■ Two women are accused in the stabbing of a Chicago security guard who’d asked them to don masks and use hand sanitizer.
‘What’s the point of gathering when it can lead to … death?’ The Trib’s Mary Schmich wrestles with the temptation and the danger of Thanksgiving gatherings in a pandemic.
■ Retailers are stocking up on smaller turkeys.
Freezing foul-up. Thousands of fans of President Trump were stranded for hours in frigid weather after a Nebraska rally—waiting for buses that were delayed …
■ ProPublica exposes a problem at the government agency regulating campaign cash: A top Federal Election Commission official has previously undisclosed ties to Trump. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
■ The Washington Post: “Trump’s attacks on political adversaries are often followed by threats to their safety.”
■ Bloomberg: The vote faces “an array of digital threats” …
■ … but Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown reassures suburban Cook County voters worried about their mail ballots being counted.
■ Big law firms are ramping up their volunteer hours to support election protection work.
■ Politico: “Presidents typically reserve their most controversial decisions for their last weeks in office. Imagine what that could mean for Trump.”
Retire ‘Election Day.’ Veteran news exec Vivian Schiller says—especially in the pandemic—a better name for Nov. 3 is “the last day of voting.”
■ County Clerk Karen Yarbrough: “We’re on pace to shatter all previous records.”
■ The City of Chicago’s already broken its early-voting record.
■ The pandemic has complicated Chicago election officials’ call on where to locate polling places for seven precincts.
■ BuzzFeed News: “It’s Basically Too Late To Vote By Mail Now.”
■ The Onion: “Man Sucked Down Obscure Internet Rabbit Hole Of Learning About Down-Ballot Candidates” …
■ … a thing for which the Chicago Public Square voter guide was made.
‘Please don’t shoot. I have a baby.’ A Black woman wounded last week in the fatal Waukegan police shooting of her boyfriend says it happened as they had their hands raised in the air.
■ Waukegan police tell a different story.
■ Chicago’s inspector general concludes the city’s police department is letting cops who fire their guns on duty return to the field too soon.
‘I want to … scream.’ Trib columnist Dahleen Glanton says Donald Trump’s repeated claim that he’s done more for Black people than anyone since Lincoln makes her sick.
■ This year’s “Best of Chicago” edition of Newcity celebrates the best of Black Chicago.
■ The South Side has its first Black-owned running shop.
■ Pullman is getting its first new standalone restaurant in more than three decades: A Culver’s.
■ The Onion again: “Hundreds Of Years Of Race, Class Privilege Allow Man Extra Legroom.”
What keeps Square coming? Why, it’s financial support from readers including these: Collin Canright, Janet Grimes, Joe McArdle, Suzanne Vestuto, Andrea Agrimonti, Stephanie Blatt, Rebecca Ewan, Jessica Werley, Werner Huget, Al Domanskis, Jennifer McGeary, Joe Hallissey, Susan Beach, Mike Janowski, Joe Hass, Mike Cramer, Marj Halperin, Ted Cox, Jeffrey Langer, Jane Skelley Carroll, Kevin Lampe, Mark Thurow, Martin Berg, Julia Gray, Jim Parks, Lucy Smith, Colette Hogan, J.J. Sedelmaier, Lee Greenhouse, Jim Prescott, Melisa Goh, Michael Collins, Aaron Barnhart, and John Culver. You can join them here with a one-time tip (rad!) or a continuing pledge (radder still!) of as little as $1.
Media Curious is a Chicago Public Square advertiser.
