‘A challenge to you.’ In a letter explaining her decision to limit her two-year anniversary interviews to journalists of color, Mayor Lightfoot called on news organizations to “hire reporters of color—and especially women of color—to cover Chicago politics, and City Hall in particular.”
■ A Sun-Times editorial: “The mayor is ill-served by this move. And so are the journalists she believes she is helping.” (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
■ Black columnists Mary Mitchell: “Lack of diversity is a subject that newsrooms have wrestled with for decades. Lightfoot just dragged it out into the light of day” …
■ … and Dahleen Glanton: The mayor’s “doing something that probably never would have occurred to a white mayor.”
■ Patch’s Mark Konkol, who identifies as of Polish and Italian descent: “I’m outraged—by all the journalists whining about it.”
■ Fox News troll Tucker Carlson: “Lori Lightfoot is a monster.”
■ Political science professor and ex-Ald. Dick Simpson: Under Lightfoot, “the City Council has become more of a genuine legislature. In two more years, the voters will render their judgment on how it’s working.”
‘I have no insights, which … is part of the problem.’ Hacked City Hall emails reviewed by the Sun-Times reveal Lightfoot’s administration was blindsided by Chicago police use of controversial facial recognition software—before the company pulled the plug on the deal.
■ The city’s inspector general says the mayor’s plan for a database of police misconduct doesn’t go nearly far enough.
■ A day ahead of the release of a City Council bloc’s plan for civilian oversight of the police department, the mayor was set today to introduce her version.
■ Chalkbeat and WBEZ: Now that Chicago school kids are required to learn about police torture, how’s it being taught?
■ A 16-year-old boy and a 49-year-old man—described by police as an innocent bystander—were killed last night in a Chicago grocery store shootout.
ZIP goad. City of Chicago numbers show every eligible resident of the ZIP code 60603, in the heart of the city, has gotten at least one COVID-19 shot—compared to fewer than 27% in Englewood, on the South Side.
■ The Illinois state school board has resolved to require schools this fall to resume in-person learning for all but a few students.
■ At his first fully maskless news conference in more than a year, Gov. Pritzker rolled out an almost $21 billion roads and infrastructure plan for Illinois.
■ Chicago’s top doc: When in doubt, wear a mask.
■ Politico: “The hypothesis that Covid-19 was leaked from a Wuhan lab has leaped … into the body of mainstream debate.”
‘We need two political parties in this country that are both living in reality and you ain’t one of ’em.’ In a House floor speech remarkable for its plainspokenness, Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan let (some) Republicans have it …
■ … for their opposition to creation of a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol …
… which nevertheless passed with bipartisan support but faces steep odds in the Senate.
■ The Onion jokes: “Congress Reaches Compromise To Investigate Events Of Jan. 9.”
Lolla lineup. Here’s who’s coming to the revived and full-capacity Lollapalooza in Chicago July 29–Aug. 1.
■ Vulture calls the roster “chaotic.”
The evolution of sex (scenes). An Emerson College professor rejects the notion that “sex is disappearing from the big screen” and instead concludes it’s just changing—“mostly for the better.”
■ Polygon: “Nearly every box office hit that’s touched on climate change in recent years has overlooked a key part of the conversation: How to solve it.”
