Note: No Chicago Public Square tomorrow, Tuesday. Back Wednesday.
‘Incredibly powerful.’ A tornado that swept through Chicago’s western suburbs late Sunday injured at least five people—one critically—with wind speeds of up to 135 mph …
■ … damaging more than 100 homes …
■ … in what the National Weather Service says may have been the first strong tornado to descend on the region in six years.
■ But one meteorologist says it could have been worse, “considering the population of the area … and the time of day—after 11 p.m., when many people may be asleep.” (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
‘The paper loses many of its big thinkers.’ Politico’s Shia Kapos says that, “whether you agree with them or not,” the roster of Chicago Tribune columnists taking buyouts leaves readers without “folks who dug deeper than the he-said-she-said of news stories.”
■ Opinionator John Kass wasted no time launching his own website and email newsletter …
■ … beginning with a defense of cargo shorts.
■ As the media world splinters, a journalism ethics professor suggests ways to consume news while maintaining your sanity.
College sports earthquake. In a victory for jocks, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that NCAA limits on how colleges compensate students violate antitrust law and so may not be enforced.
■ Midway Minute: Illinois college athletes are close to being able to cash in on their own names and images.
■ An ex-newspaper sports reporter says she was raped by a Major League Baseball player when she interviewed him in 2002.
‘An impending sin.’ Trib alumnus Charles Madigan warns that “American bishops are on the verge of making a huge mistake” with a draft “teaching document” that could rebuke Catholic politicians—including President Biden—for supporting abortion rights.
■ The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg: “Using the fact that the president is a devout Catholic to blackmail him to stop supporting certain liberties of non-Catholic Americans is everyone’s business.”
Comcast cash at work. Popular Information reports that, despite a post-insurrection pledge in January to “suspend all of our political contributions to those elected officials who voted against certification of the electoral college votes,” Comcast “is among the companies that have pursued other ways to support these same candidates.”
Flotation vest warning. Consumer watchdog Stephanie Zimmermann shares parents’ tragic stories of floatie vests’ failure to keep kids safe.
■ At least two people died in Lake Michigan over the weekend.
■ Caution signs along Chicago’s lakefront warn of attacking blackbirds.
■ The Conversation makes the case for cities’ “managed retreat” to protect lives as climate change floods, burns or bakes the land.
Prime time. As Amazon’s midyear Prime Day sale gets underway, Consumer Reports offers tips for finding the best deals …
■ Here’s Wired’s take.
■ Wirecutter: Five kinds of Prime Day deals to avoid.
■ Block Club Chicago: A one-man company is trying to keep Chicago’s used mattresses out of landfills.
Songs of Illinois. A new podcast from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library explores the achievements of Illinois musicians …
■ … turning the spotlight initially on Rise Against, REO Speedwagon, Steve Goodman and gospel music.
■ Live on Clubhouse this afternoon at 1—and a podcast this evening—a Chicago Public Square / Rivet360 interview with Pulitzer-winning Invisible Institute founder Jamie Kalven.
Square’s 1,000th edition is near. Counting from this first post-tryout issue and not including corrections and vacation notices—but, yes, including a couple of April Fool’s things—can you predict when No. 1,000 hits inboxes? The first person to guess correctly in an email to 1000@ChicagoPublicSquare.com gets … a prize.
■ Note (again): No Square tomorrow, Tuesday. Back Wednesday.