Our hottest hotspots. The city’s highest rates of COVID-19 cases fall in two ZIP codes, according to the debut issue of the Axios Chicago email newsletter.
■ And those ZIP codes happen to correspond to the city’s greatest concentration of city workers and its highest level of support for Donald Trump in 2020 (December link).
Vaccines for kids. Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, in smaller doses, for kids 5 to 11 …
■ … setting the stage for FDA emergency-use approval.
■ President Biden’s easing pandemic restrictions on foreigners traveling to the U.S.—beginning in November.
■ A Texas restaurant manager’s on the defense after kicking out a couple wearing masks to protect their immunocompromised 4-month-old.
■ The Onion: “Study Finds Virus Frequently Fooled By Fake Vaccine Card.” (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
‘A food fight.’ That’s what Politico Illinois foresees in the looming battle over the cash-rich budget Mayor Lightfoot was set to propose today for Chicago …
■ … a plan that reportedly comes with an increase in the city’s property tax levy …
■ … but also, thanks to federal pandemic relief funding, includes millions for community development, affordable housing, help to the homeless …
■ … and expanded police funding in the face of a surge in violence.
Fatal police shooting. Chicago cops shot and killed a 28-year-old man in the Englewood neighborhood Sunday morning.
■ CWBChicago: Prosecutors say an esteemed lawyer who’d stopped on a Loop street corner to comfort a child whose father was involved in a domestic dispute may have been blinded by a seven-minute beating.
■ A man who drove an Uptown shooting victim to the hospital faces a felony charge of his own after cops claim to have found a loaded handgun—with an extended magazine and laser sight—in his car.
■ Over Chicago’s weekend: More than 50 people were shot, and at least nine were killed.
‘I know the individual who assaulted me.’ Ald. James Cappleman was attacked in Uptown by a man whose life, Cappleman says, “has been overtaken with his addiction.”
■ Ex-Ald. and former Sun-Times CEO Edwin Eisendrath has a new gig: Saturday afternoon host on WCPT Radio.
Take that, Phillipines Philippines. Discover Financial Services’ new call center in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood is winning the company’s highest customer satisfaction ratings.
■ Add Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington to the right-to-repair movement: “It’s just a few months old, but my iPhone is feeling run down. … I own it, but I can’t fix it.”
■ Popular Information on Apple’s Texas headache: The company’s been “unwilling to make any public statements about reproductive rights that could impact its bottom line.”
Chicago’s Emmys. Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis, accepting the award for best actor in a comedy series last night, credited his training here—including “people like Mick Napier, folks at Second City.”
■ The Queen’s Gambit captured the award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series—accepted by Chicago-bred executive producer William Horberg (see the bottom of this November edition of Chicago Public Square).
■ Chicago-forged Stephen Colbert took the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live)—as Conan O’Brien “crashed” Colbert’s acceptance speech.
■ The Hollywood Reporter’s analysis: The Big Four broadcast networks collectively won just one award …
■ … Netflix finally beat HBO …
■ … and white actors swept all 12 lead and supporting races for comedy, drama and limited series.
■ Here’s a full list of winners.
Muhammad Ali in Chicago. In tandem with filmmaker Ken Burns’ new documentary on Ali, WTTW-TV has created a Chicago-centric web companion for the series …
■ … including a photo essay by journalist Lee Bey.
■ Burns’ episodes are appearing online as they air.
Biblical devastation. An archaeologist says the tale of Sodom may have been inspired by a giant space rock’s descent into an ancient Middle Eastern city.
In the navy. And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: A new batch of Square caps is here—and this time, they’re navy blue. To get one, support Square at the Enthusiast level or higher.* Act quickly, because the supply’s limited.
■ Reader Elizabeth Denius made this edition better.
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* Already pledging that much or more? Just write to Caps@ChicagoPublicSquare.com with a note like “Hey, I want a cap, too!”