Who’s on 2nd? Mayor Lightfoot’s hint that she might not run for a second term has set political tongues wagging.
■ But if she were to run, her sophomore term might dodge another round of police contract negotiations.
■ Lightfoot says she has no second thoughts about letting Lollapalooza proceed in Chicago this week …
■ … even as the festival relaxes its requirements for concertgoers’ COVID-19 tests. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
Mask up. The CDC was set to recommend this afternoon that even vaccinated people should wear masks indoors under some circumstances.
■ The American Public Transportation Association says the CTA and its president were tops in North America through the pandemic …
■ … but ex-Ald. Bob Fioretti says he believes he caught the coronavirus on a CTA bus and later infected his wife.
But isn’t it nice when two people share a passion for destroying democracy? The feds have arrested a Crest Hill couple on misdemeanor charges in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
■ Read the full complaint here.
■ That makes more than a dozen Illinoisans nabbed in the search for perpetrators.
■ Updating coverage: The Democratic-selected committee to investigate the attack has begun its hearings. Watch live here.
■ (Most) Republicans planned to boycott the proceedings …
■ … and four, including Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, planned a counterprotest on behalf of “Jan. 6 prisoners.” (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor, again.)
■ Gaetz’s future sister-in-law calls him “a literal pedophile.”
Air pollution + sunlight = … Lousy air quality for the Chicago area.
■ A new Target warehouse in Little Village is the focus for activists alarmed about a disproportionate number of shipping and warehouse facilities on the South and West sides—and the traffic and pollution they concentrate there.
■ A Colorado State University professor explains that, in hot and dry weather, snow can disappear straight into the atmosphere.
■ A lesson from the Ice Age: Small climate changes can trigger catastrophes.
■ The Onion: “BP Launches Environmental Campaign Pledging To Clean Up Oil Polluting Earth’s Interior.”
Math is Hard Dept. Crain Communications plans to move its offices at 150 N. Michigan Ave. across the street to a space roughly half as big in One Prudential Plaza—a decision the company’s CEO describes as “doubling down on our commitment to the city of Chicago” (sixth item in Robert Feder’s column).
■ On a new Chicago Public Square / Rivet360 podcast, Block Club Chicago editor-in-chief Shamus Toomey accentuates the positive in discussing conservative billionaire Joe Ricketts, who pulled the plug on Block Club predecessor DNAinfo Chicago: “I choose to remember how much money he put into journalism.”
■ On a new Chicago Public Square / Rivet360 podcast, Block Club Chicago editor-in-chief Shamus Toomey accentuates the positive in discussing conservative billionaire Joe Ricketts, who pulled the plug on Block Club predecessor DNAinfo Chicago: “I choose to remember how much money he put into journalism.”
On borrowed time? TV critic Aaron Barnhart doesn’t see a future for James Corden’s Late Late Show: “Why is CBS continuing to invest in a second hour of late-night TV when there are cheaper ways of creating viral videos?”
Biles bails. U.S. Olympics light Simone Biles is out—maybe.
■ The Conversation: Swimming gives your brain a bigger boost than other aerobic activity—but scientists don’t know why.