‘They will do it again.’ Speaking publicly for the first time about her survival of sexual assault, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Republicans who call for the nation to “just move on” from the Capitol insurrection are really saying “Can we just forget this happened so I can do it again without recourse?”
■ She shared a minute-by-minute account of her experience Jan. 6.
■ She’s calling on three Republican lawmakers to quit.
■ Here’s her full hour-and-a-half-long address on Instagram.
‘You pulled your video, but I found it.’ Comedian, Trump critic and Oak Park native Kathy Griffin has reported one of her social-media trolls to the FBI after spotting her in the Capitol riot.
■ The New Yorker relates the tale of a Pennsylvania mother of eight who became “one of the Capitol riot’s biggest mysteries and a fugitive from the FBI.”
■ Two FBI agents were shot and killed in Florida early today while serving a warrant for charges of violent crimes against children.
Guns, criminal records and military training. A ProPublica/Frontline investigation has identified more than 20 members of the Boogaloo movement, whose aims include overthrowing the government, with ties to the armed forces.
■ A New Mexico commissioner arrested in connection with the riot is stuck in jail while awaiting trial because a federal magistrate has concluded his “inflammatory conduct, repeated threats, delusional worldview, and access to firearms makes him a danger to the community.”
■ Capitol riot suspects are mounting an unusual defense: Blaming Donald Trump.
■ Democrats’ legal brief for Impeachment II says Trump “summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue.”
Cook COVID-19 shots. Vaccination appointments became available today for most people who live or work in suburban Cook County and are essential workers or at least 65.
■ The appointments will happen in a new mass vaccination site at Triton College in River Grove.
■ The number of new infections in Illinois is the lowest in four months.
Groundhog Day. Again and again: No in-person classes for Chicago schoolkids today and tomorrow.
■ Punxsutawney Phil: Six more weeks of winter …
■ … but Woodstock Willie foresees an early spring. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
■ A Penn State professor says Groundhog Day—the movie—offers a mindfulness lesson for pandemic times.
‘There’s real grief going on.’ As the pandemic lingers, WBEZ reports worrisome trends in pediatricians’ offices.
■ Twice in a week, Fox News has identified right-wing Chicago radio host and disgraced ex-TV reporter (2014 link) Amy Jacobson in segments on pandemic school closings simply as a “parent and volleyball coach.”
‘The down payment on global warming’s costs.’ Nature tallies “the colossal amount of ice lost to climate change—so far.”
■ Chicago will have some to spare later this week.
■ The Conversation: How ocean pollution threatens human health.
Rahm rising. NBC News reports ex-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is under consideration for a Biden administration ambassadorship.
■ Politico Illinois: Emanuel’s political baggage is considerable.
■ Maybe he’ll be nicer to reporters overseas than he was to Chicago’s.
■ Former political reporter and former Better Government Association chief Andy Shaw lifts the curtain on his sometimes-friendly-mostly-not relationship over the decades with ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.The case for commentary tracks. Critic Aaron Barnhart says streaming video services should revive one of the staples of the DVD era.
■ The New York Times lists “The 10 Best Titles Leaving Netflix This Month.”
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Thanks to Chris Koenig and Jennifer Packheiser for making this edition better.