Early-morning mourning / Blues blues / ‘Unconscionable’

Early-morning mourning. Chicago’s second mass shooting in just four days has left at least four people dead and four others wounded …
  … after what police said were shots fired in an argument among several people inside a home.
An Associated Press investigation concludes that U.S. military guns keep disappearing—only to surface later in street crimes.

‘I think we’re in a better place.’ Mayor Lightfoot says her team has moved beyond an angry email she fired off in January—a note that she says was “born of frustration.”
Facing what the Sun-Times sees as “almost certain defeat,” Lightfoot’s written an open letter aimed at derailing state lawmakers’ plan for an elected Chicago school board.
The mayor’s pick for an interim schools CEO is a former leader of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora.

End of an era. Illinois has stopped issuing daily COVID-19 updates.
The owner of five Chicago-area malls is filing for bankruptcy, blaming the pandemic.
Two Chicago Cubs have put some words together into sentences explaining why they’re not vaccinated.

Blues blues. Chicago’s canceled its Blues Festival, Gospel Music Festival and Jazz Festival for another summer …
  … and Chicago’s outdoor public pools reopen June 25.

Brainstorm opportunity. An architectural design contest seeks ideas for rehabilitating Chicago’s endangered Thompson Center.
Newly spruced up, the historic Palmer House reopens Thursday.

Days of flame. Officials in north-central Illinois say a massive chemical fire at a grease and lubricant manufacturing plant may not end soon.
Illinois lawmakers head back to Springfield to deal with a clean energy plan—debate over which is so contorted you’ll need Politico’s scorecard to tell the players.
A Sun-Times editorial: “Get the job done for the planet’s sake.”

‘The company’s main number is 312-544-2000.’ Columnist Rex Huppke suggests readers let Chicago-based Boeing know they’re paying attention as the company resumes donations to Republicans’ so-called “sedition caucus.”
“Putin’s favorite [ex-]congressman” admits he marched on the Capitol Jan. 6.

Sorry about that Holocaust thing. Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she “made a mistake” when she compared mask-wearing rules to Nazis’ treatment of Jews …
 … but she refused to take back her comments comparing Democrats to Nazis, and Illinois Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider planned today to unveil a resolution censuring her.

‘Unconscionable.’ Media writer Tom Jones says the Justice Department—first under Donald Trump and then under Joe Biden for at least a couple of months—“crossed a line by seizing reporters’ records.”
Attorney General Garland says the department will tighten its rules on that kinda thing …
 … but Above the Law’s Elizabeth Dye is skeptical: “Just take his word for it, okay?

We’re No. 2. The U.S. Postal Service says Chicago ranked behind only Houston last year in the number of dog attacks on mail carriers.
Lurie Children’s Hospital ranks third in the Midwest but failed to make U.S. News & World Reports’ national list of top 10 children’s hospitals.

Thank you. Reader support helped Chicago Public Square and 42 other local media organizations in the Chicago Independent Media Alliance raise close to $100,000 to keep you in touch with your world.
A new Chicago Public Square / Rivet360 podcast brings you an interview with one of CIMA’s pioneering leaders, Karen Hawkins of the Chicago Reader and Rebellious Magazine.


Thanks to Mike Braden for making this edition better.

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