Fresh vaccine options. A new online scheduler promises a centralized service for those trying to nab a COVID-19 shot.
■ The Sun-Times’ Phil Kadner: “Sorry, Charlie, there are no openings.”
■ Walgreens will be getting another 39,300 doses a week in Illinois.
■ Two doctors’ suggestion for fairer vaccine distribution: “Telephonic, multilingual outreach.”
‘Incompetence of the previous administration.’ Without naming Donald Trump, Mayor Lightfoot told a national TV audience the standoff between teachers and Chicago Public Schools is a consequence of his (lack of) vaccine rollout plans.
■ A new study in Science: Most of the pandemic’s spread can be traced to young and middle-aged adults.
■ For the second year in a row, Chicago’s two St. Patrick’s Day parades won’t happen. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
Whoops. A raft of typographical errors in Trump’s impeachment trial defense filings—including “Unites States Senate” in the first line—triggered snickers.
■ Analysis by Vox: Trump’s case includes “remarkable word salad” …
■ … and CNN reports, “obvious lies.”
Fox News’ freefall. The Daily Beast says the channel’s historic ratings slump “has staffers worried and critics gloating.”
■ CNN’s Brian Stelter quotes a Fox insider: “We are lost.”
Chicago Police Torture Archive. The nonprofit Chicago journalism production company Invisible Institute has launched a website spotlighting the stories of those who survived the department’s abusive practices.
■ Journalist John Conroy, whose groundbreaking work identified Cmdr. Jon Burge as the system’s architect, says the archive documents “the persistence of … attorneys, activists, and journalists in wringing a trickle of justice in the torture cases.”
■ Almost nine years ago, Conroy talked about how he learned of the torture.
■ A 15-year-old Chicago girl has died, becoming the fifth victim of a gunman’s hours-long rampage that ended with his death in Evanston last month.
Gay milestone. Ex-South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the new U.S. transportation secretary—the first openly gay person confirmed to a Cabinet job.
■ He’s also the first openly former NBC Chicago investigative intern confirmed for a Cabinet job (February 2020 link).
■ Analysis in The Washington Post: “Buttigieg may not know this yet: Rail transportation funding is a racial equity issue.”
Partlygon. A stretch of Chicago’s historic Aragon Ballroom collapsed under the weight of this week’s snows.
■ But it was still selling tickets for an April show the city hasn’t approved.
■ The Atlantic sees a “terrifying warning” lurking in the climate history concealed by Earth’s ancient rock record.
‘A smart, witty and truly decent man.’ Mike Gold—a member of the Chicago 7 trial press relations staff—remembers Rennie Davis, whose wife shared news of his death on Facebook, as “easily the most affable of the defendants even during that very trying time. This 19-year-old learned a lot from him—particularly how to make a point without tossing gasoline on the subject.”
■ More of Gold’s memories of the trial in this 2015 interview.
Grocery sore. Kroger—parent to the Chicago-area Mariano’s chain, among others—has chosen to close two California stores to avoid having to give workers a pandemic “hazard pay” boost.
■ Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is calling it quits as CEO …
■ … but he won’t be completely gone.
Taxing times. CNET surveys this year’s crop of free and paid income tax filing software.
■ Left- and right-leaning tax think tanks agree President Biden’s coronavirus relief plan would put cash in more taxpayers’ pockets than a Republican alternative.
■ Democrats seemingly have nailed down control of Senate committees in a house split 50/50.
Farewell, One Illinois. A state news startup whose work Chicago Public Square has been honored to spotlight is calling it quits after three years.
■ Its founders’ final post: “The 21st century is a tough environment in which to grow this sort of news operation; then the pandemic came along, which made it harder still.”
Voting ends Monday. Cast your ballot now for Square in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago poll.
■ But it’s never too late to consider supporting Square—for as little as a quarter a day.
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Chris Koenig made this edition of Square better.