Biden time. Updating coverage: Joe Biden was set to be sworn in as president and Kamala Harris as vice president—the first female, the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to hold that office—beginning at 11 a.m. Chicago time.
■ Among Biden’s Day One priorities: A raft of executive orders undoing his predecessor’s policies on immigration, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
Shots Vaccines imminent. Chicago’s aiming to roll out COVID-19 vaccines beginning Monday for people 65 and older and essential workers, like teachers and grocery store workers …
■ New York is live-blogging the day’s events.
■ PolitiFact’s begun tracking Biden’s record on his top 100 campaign pledges.
‘We will be back in some form.’ With that Terminatorish threat, Donald Trump said farewell to Washington and what The Washington Post described as “a modest crowd of a few hundred aides.”
■ He didn’t concede defeat, but he did wish the Biden administration “great luck and great success.”
■ The Associated Press: “He will be forever remembered for inciting an insurrection … that left five dead … and horrified the nation.”
■ The Tribune’s Eric Zorn: “For all the ways that Trump degraded the office … he didn’t destroy America either.”
■ On his way out, Trump pardoned more than 140 people …
■ … including the brother of a former Chicago Bears player.
■ PolitiFact: Trump broke more than half his campaign promises.
■ Remember the one about “draining the swamp,” and keeping White House staff from leaving government to lobby for the private sector? He unlocked the revolving door as he left.
■ Trumpy defeated U.S. Sen. and University of Illinois graduate Kelly Loeffler is almost out of the WNBA biz.
Journalists in jeopardy. A WGN-TV crew in D.C. for the inauguration returned to their car to find the windows smashed and all their equipment stolen.
■ Media ethicist Kelly McBride: The growing threat to reporters means the ethical practice of journalism must evolve.
Twitter reset. On Biden’s inauguration, accounts including @POTUS, @WhiteHouse, @FLOTUS and @VP will be turned over to the new administration—but, unlike the Obama-Trump transition, they won’t inherit the old team’s followers.
■ A First Amendment scholar is “perfectly OK” with Trump’s Twitter exile, “for reasons legal, philosophical and moral.”
■ TikTok escaped Trump’s clutches.
■ Green Day fans are mocking Trump supporters for using American Idiot in TikTok videos.
■ … but there’s no guarantee how many doses will be available.
■ Within days, restaurants and bars in Chicago could resume limited service.
■ Patch columnist Mark Konkol: “The governor consistently balked at considering policy changes until faced with the prospect of a revolt from Chicago’s restaurant industry.”
■ The U.S. coronavirus death toll has passed 400,000—and is accelerating.
‘Trump’s assault on sanctuary cities has failed.’ Aldermen are headed toward an overhaul of Chicago’s “sanctuary city” law—closing loopholes that let cops assist the feds in enforcing immigration rules.
■ A key change would grant special protection to undocumented Chicagoans who are crime victims and then help cops investigate.
■ Your questions about Chicago’s surge of carjackings answered.
Chicago Public Square wants you …
■ … to vote for Square and cartoonist Keith J. Taylor in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago finals …
■ … to consider supporting Square with a one-time tip (delightful!) or a continuing pledge (delightfuller!) in any amount you choose.
Thanks to readers Joe Lynn and Pam Spiegel for making this issue better.