Vaccine vexation. Ready and eligible for a COVID-19 shot in Illinois, but unable to find a place to get it? You’re not alone.
■ An expert explains how he could pull it off.
■ The Washington Post: “Philadelphia let ‘college kids’ distribute vaccines. The result was a ‘disaster.’”
‘Return primarily … to in-person.’ New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports the reopening of schools as soon as possible—with precautions.
■ As teachers threaten a strike, Chicago Public Schools classes have been canceled for the 3,200 students who were to return today.
■ Some Chicago teachers who thought they were eligible for COVID-19 shots found out they weren’t.
■ Remote learning was a thing in a 1937 epidemic.
■ To minimize contamination in a taxi or ride-share car, a physics professor recommends which windows to open and which to keep closed.
Impeachment tea leaves. Now that 45 Republican senators have voted for a resolution declaring the impeachment of Donald Trump as a private citizen is illegal, the odds of a conviction look dim.
■ The Democrat presiding over the impeachment trial, Sen. Patrick Leahy, yesterday wound up in the hospital briefly.
About ‘jagoff.’ A reader raises a concern about the most-clicked item in yesterday’s Chicago Public Square: “You couldn’t think of a better word?”
‘Your brother is putting your entire family at risk.’ Prosecutors cite a threat allegedly texted to the sibling of a New York congressman in their charges against a California man who’s also accused of threatening ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos.
■ Before a Republican congresswoman was elected, she repeatedly expressed her support for the execution of prominent Democratic politicians …
■ … which puts the House Republican leader in a tough spot.
■ Nabbed: A Capitol insurrectionist turned in by his coworkers.
‘Biden has set some clear and surprisingly dominant markers.’ Historian Heather Cox Richardson assesses the new president’s first week in office.
■ Biden’s rolling out what The AP calls “the most ambitious U.S. effort ever to stave off … climate change.”
■ His Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the Illinois EPA for its approval of a metal scrapper’s move to Chicago’s Southeast Side.
Thompson Center’s long goodbye. As Illinois moves to sell its decaying Chicago headquarters, it’s buying a not-so-centrally-located replacement building on the Near West Side.
■ Landmarks Illinois has a plan to reimagine the Thompson Center.
‘A charade of political transparency.’ That’s how Politico Illinois Playbook’s Shia Kapos (in today’s “The Buzz” section) describes the process of replacing Illinois Sen. Heather Steans, who chose to retire days after being sworn in for a new term.
■ A Tribune editorial: “Steans has disappointed voters who assumed she was prepared to do the job.”
‘I could accurately testify under oath that John Wayne Gacy never murdered me. But he sure murdered somebody.’ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg ponders the sex abuse charges against Chicago’s activist Father Michael Pfleger.
■ The Tribune’s Eric Zorn: “Cool the understandable urge to have a hot take … and hope the truth comes out.”
Journalism farewells. Washington Post editor Marty Baron—many know him best for his portrayal in the Oscar-winning Spotlight—is hanging it up next month.
■ A podcast celebrates Chicago radio newsman John Dempsey’s retirement after 40 years.
■ Trib alumni William Recktenwald and Phillip Greer are retiring from their teaching careers at Southern Illinois University.
About ‘jagoff.’ A reader raises a concern about the most-clicked item in yesterday’s Chicago Public Square: “You couldn’t think of a better word?”
■ In Square’s defense, please see this 2019 piece on “The Effortless, Midwestern Elegance of ‘Jagoff,’” in which Edward McClelland champions its definition as “a thorn in your side, a person who won’t stop needling you” …
■ … which seems a charitable descriptor for this guy.
■ Square’s in good company—with WBEZ’s Mary Dixon.
Happy Squareiversary. Four years ago tonight, this publication’s existence was revealed to the world.
■ Soon, Square will stop being a jagoff about getting you to vote in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago poll—but not today.
Graham Crackers is a Chicago Public Square advertiser.