Long shot. Pfizer says its vaccine remains effective against COVID-19 for at least six months—and seems to protect against at least one major virus variant.
■ The company responsible for Johnson & Johnson’s decision to scrap millions of vaccine doses has a history of problems.
■ NPR: The theory that the pandemic sprang from a Chinese lab is picking up steam after this week’s joint report from China and the World Health Organization.
■ All essential workers and people with underlying health conditions now qualify for the vaccine in suburban Cook County.
■ Block Club Chicago: “Young Back Of The Yards ‘Avengers’ Helped More Than 1,000 Neighbors Get Vaccine Appointments.”
‘A historic gamble that Americans are … eager for the government to invest in America again.’ Historian Heather Cox Richardson puts President Biden’s massive infrastructure plan in context.
■ A Sun-Times editorial: “The total tab will be necessarily high because lawmakers and previous presidential administrations kicked the can down the road.”
Bad timing of the day. Ex-Obama administration Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood raves about a development that he says can “show the world that Chicago and Illinois are ‘open for business’” in commentary that appears in today’s Sun-Times …
■ … hours after federal prosecutors said LaHood took—and failed to disclose—$50,000 from an associate of a billionaire who illegally channeled foreign contributions to U.S. campaigns …
■ … one of which supported LaHood’s son, who’s now a congressman himself.
■ Speaking of “open for business”: A former Illinois state lawmaker and lobbyist for Commonwealth Edison faces federal charges of tax evasion.
■ Satire from TheChicagoMachine.com: “Lincoln Towing upset ship dislodged from Suez Canal before they could haul it away.”
‘If I would’ve just not tooken the bill, this could’ve been avoided.’ In the murder trial of ex-Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, a 19-year-old store clerk who reported George Floyd’s fake $20 bill joined what The Associated Press calls “the burgeoning list of witnesses who expressed a sense of helplessness and lingering guilt over Floyd’s death.”
■ Chicago police were trying to figure out how an 18-year-old Oak Park and River Forest High School student got shot late Tuesday at a Gold Coast hotel where a large party had been held.
Things go better for Coke. Under pressure from boycott movements, the CEOs of Georgia-based Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines have belatedly condemned the state’s repressive election regulation law.
■ The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin: “To maintain their desired corporate image and avoid real economic pain, they need to get on the side of democracy—and stay there.”
■ Biden supports yanking baseball’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta in protest.
Healthy arms. Illinois’ and Chicago’s top docs were both set to toss out ceremonial first pitches at today’s Cubs home opener.
■ Midway Minute: “The most popular beers at Chicago’s ballparks are …”
■ Wrigley’s PA announcer talks about his decision to quit.
IMAXed out. R.I.P., Navy Pier’s giant movie screen.
■ Chicago’s top tourism exec, Choose Chicago CEO David Whitaker, is departing.
April Fools past.
■ WXRT, 1980: Strange visitor from another planet.
■ WNUA, 1997: Chicago’s Pig Latin School.
■ Chicago Public Square, 2017: Doughnuts / Doughnuts / Doughnuts.
■ CNET has been tracking some of this year’s pranks …
■ … which Google, among others, is eschewing.
Announcements.
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■ Thanks to reader Steve Sheffey for—in his own newsletter—declaring Chicago Public Square the “Best Daily Chicago Newsletter.”
■ If you find Square useful, help keep it coming by chipping $1 into the tip jar.
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