‘Unashamedly pro-life.’ Updating coverage: Even as Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett dodged questions about her position on abortion, the Republican leading the confirmation process trumpeted her opposition to it.
■ A Judiciary Committee vote on the nomination could come as soon as next Thursday.
■ Vox: Seven key moments from Day 1 …
■ … including Barrett’s “telling” apology for using an offensive term while discussing LGBTQ rights.
■ Mayor Lightfoot is no fan of Barrett’s “originalist” judicial philosophy: “The Constitution didn’t even recognize me as a human.”
■ The Beachwood Reporter’s Steve Rhodes poses questions he wishes Democrats would ask.
Census last call: Thursday. The Supreme Court has cleared the Trump administration to cut the 2020 Census count short, foretelling funding and representational pain for Illinois—especially minority communities.
■ Haven’t done it yet? Do it now.
■ Students at some of Chicago’s most prestigious high schools are using Instagram to call out what the Tribune describes as entrenched cultures of racial inequality.
■ Black employees are suing McDonald’s in the Quad Cities, accusing managers of denigrating Black workers and retaliating against those who protested.
■ The Pulitzer Prize Board is rejecting calls to revoke its award to The New York Times’ “1619 Project.”
Dueling town halls. In lieu of a debate President Trump fled, Trump and Joe Biden are set for competing broadcasts at 7 p.m. Thursday on NBC and ABC.
■ As Biden dodges the question of whether he’d expand the Supreme Court, the Trib’s Eric Zorn says: “I wish they would use the term court balancing to describe the prospect of installing a few liberal justices on a high court that’s about to be dominated 6-3 by conservatives.”
■ PolitiFact: Biden’s wrong to portray Republicans’ push for Barrett as unconstitutional.
■ Axios: “Biden is the luckiest, least scrutinized frontrunner.”
Indiana groans. Hammond’s mayor says he sees “no way” Chicago can enforce the addition of Indiana to the states on its quarantine list.
■ The order applies only to those who spend a day or longer in those states.
■ Lincoln Park COVID-19 cases are surging.
■ Winnetka’s New Trier High School is giving up on in-person classes, for at least a while.
■ Tests of another coronavirus treatment candidate—Eli Lilly’s—have been suspended over safety concerns …
■ … but a public health expert says that’s a good thing.
‘What’s the best way to say I don’t know if I can see you while your girlfriend acts like a member of the Trump administration?’ The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg dons his “Mr. COVID Answer Man” hat.
■ The White House has been promoting a debunked “herd immunity” declaration signed by fake names. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
■ The Conversation: “Schadenfreude over Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis was more about cosmic justice than joy in another’s pain.”
■ A historian suggests this pandemic will never absolutely end.
‘A very arduous task.’ The Cook County Board of Elections is fighting to reduce a backlog of 20,000 vote-by-mail applications.
■ The system for letting voters check their voting status has been swamped, too.
■ The Sun-Times’ Phil Kadner is creeped out that the names and addresses of those who apply to vote by mail are public.
Pritzker vs. Pritzker. Gov. Pritzker’s cousin Jennifer—a longtime Republican who recently signed on to support Joe Biden for president—nevertheless is kicking half a million bucks in to defeat the Democratic governor’s push for a graduated Illinois income tax.
■ Four men who were wrongfully convicted in a 1986 murder prosecuted by Republican Cook County state’s attorney candidate Patrick O’Brien are backing the incumbent Democrat, Kim Foxx.
■ Do not go benighted into a polling place: Check the continually evolving Chicago Public Square voter guide.
Jacked up. Carjackings in 2020 have risen dramatically for Chicago.
■ After a pregnant woman was shot and killed on the porch of her South Side home early yesterday, her baby was delivered and in critical condition.
Pols in trouble. Cook County Commissioner Bridget Degnen—who campaigned on a promise to serve as a “full-time” commissioner—turns out to have been a secret owner of a company seeking to open marijuana shops across Illinois.
■ An ex-state representative and the son-in-law of Cook County Democratic boss Joe Berrios have pleaded not guilty to federal bribery charges.
Apple’s mask problem. The company’s new iPhones rely on Face ID—not touch—for authentication, troublesome for a society likely to be wearing face coverings for a while.
■ A speech coach shares tips for being expressive while wearing a mask.
■ The Washington Post: Don’t buy Apple’s hype about 5G cellular speeds.
■ Yesterday’s Square bore a bum link to the phrase “kiss everyone in that audience.” Thanks to reader Jim Parks for flagging the mistake. Because Square loves corrections.
