‘Split-second decision’ / Carson Pirie shots / ‘A big f—ing deal’

A ‘split-second decision.’ That’s Chicago Police Supt. David Brown’s classification of a Chicago cop’s shooting and killing of a 13-year-old boy early Monday in the Little Village neighborhood.
 Brown and Mayor Lightfoot are calling for release of all video—including police bodycam footage—related to the case …
 … but the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability says it can’t release that video without a court order because the victim was a juvenile.
The cop’s been assigned a desk job for now.
Prosecutors have filed murder charges against a man accused of shooting and killing an 11-year-old girl at a Far South Side gas station last month.
Chicago police report murders and carjackings are up for the first quarter of the year compared to last …
 … but overall crime’s down, and carjackings dipped in March compared to February.

Unprecedented testimony. Minneapolis’ police chief was set to testify against one of his own former officers: Derek Chauvin, accused of murdering George Floyd.
A police supervisor on duty that night in May told the jury yesterday that Chauvin had no reason to keep his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.

Carson Pirie shots. A former department store in Aurora is Illinois’ newest pandemic mass-vaccination site.
The CTA’s launched a vaccination bus.
Edward Hospital’s medical director warns that one shot of a two-dose vaccine isn’t enough: “A number of patients … got symptomatic between dose one and two.”
A Johns Hopkins University professor says Johnson & Johnson’s decision to toss millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses is no cause for concern.

‘Persist, gently.’ Tribune columnist Mary Schmich shares strategy for persuading recalcitrant friends and family to get their shots.
ProPublica lists things that shouldn’t keep you from getting a vaccine.
Schmich’s benighted colleague John Kass condemns scientists: “All this has given them something they never thought they could achieve—power. And now that they have it, they won’t let it go.”
Chicago Public Square a year ago today: “Defying science, Trump Wednesday said, ‘a scarf is better, it’s actually better’ than a mask for protecting people from the virus.”


Know an aspiring journalist? Spread this word from the Chicago Headline Club: April 16’s the deadline to apply for the Les Brownlee Memorial Scholarship. A worthy undergrad attending a Chicago-area institution can land $5,000. Apply here.
Chicago Public Square supports the Headline Club.

‘This presidency could be a big f—ing deal.’ The Daily Beast’s self-described conservative columnist Matt Lewis concedes Joe Biden “could succeed beyond his wildest imagination.”
Biden’s considering using his presidential power to cancel college student debt.
A tax policy expert explains for The Conversation why Biden’s plan to put corporations on the hook for his infrastructure plans is a good idea.
A CNN fact-check: Biden and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp both have gotten details wrong in their discussion of Georgia’s oppressive election law overhaul.

Easter begs. Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady is appealing to weekend celebrants who insist on gathering: Wear masks and stay outside—at least six feet apart.
Chicago’s coronavirus caseload is near a two-month high …
 … with no end to the spike in sight, she says.
And cases of a more transmissible mutation are up by close to 50% over the last week.
But, hey, singer-songwriter James Taylor is upbeat—planning to open a tour at the United Center July 29 with Jackson Browne.
Hitting the road? Consumer Reports lists “5 Things to Know About Oil Changes for Your Car.”
Time: What’s the deal with Easter and bunnies?

Announcements. The emailed edition of yesterday’s Chicago Public Square obscured hyperlinks to two items:
Reader Steve Sheffey’s newsletter—you know, the one declaring Square the “Best Daily Chicago Newsletter.”
The Square tip jar.

Graham Crackers is a Chicago Public Square advertiser.

Subscribe to Square.