SARS for kids. New numbers from the state and federal governments show that cases of COVID-19—caused by a virus formally known as SARS-CoV-2—are rising among Illinois’ school-age children.
■ Boston University law professors contend President Biden’s overhauled pandemic strategy overlooks the value of mask mandates and vaccine delivery in low-income communities. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
Interesting timing. The Biden administration chose close to midnight Saturday for declassification of a heavily redacted FBI document about the help two 9/11 hijackers got in the U.S. before the attack.
■ Attorneys for the families of the victims say the document supports their contention that the Saudi government was responsible.
■ The release just barely made a deadline set by the president himself (Sept. 3 link).
■ Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet remembers Todd Beamer, the Chicago-area man who rallied passengers with a memorable call to action, “Let’s roll,” before they thwarted hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93—which may have been aimed at the White House or the Capitol.
■ Ex-President George W. Bush was set to visit Chicago Tuesday for a Navy SEAL Foundation fundraiser.
Racist roots. An Arizona State University law professor traces Texas’ regressive abortion law back to techniques that it and other states used to enforce Jim Crow laws in the 19th and 20th centuries.
■ Back in the studio for the first time since the pandemic’s onset, John Oliver—whose HBO show falls under Dallas-based AT&T’s corporate umbrella—condemned the company for a mealy-mouthed defense of its political action committee’s funding to politicians who supported the law: “AT&T clearly likes their public statements the same way that they like their cell signal: Hilariously f**king weak.”
‘326 trees in 5 days.’ The Save Jackson Park campaign, opposing construction of the Obama Presidential Center, counts that many lost since the project began.
■ A Tribune editorial on plans for a Tiger Woods-designed golf course in Jackson Park: “Patience … with this project is wearing thin.”
■ A Sun-Times editorial condemns the Park District’s strategy for keeping vandals out of Jackson Park’s Wooded Island.
‘Reporters don’t work for the cops.’ Patch columnist Mark Konkol condemns a Will County deputy chief sheriff’s “petty punishment” of a reporter over coverage of a murder investigation.
■ The fate of Mayor Lightfoot’s plan to seize gang members’ assets in civil court isn’t quite so clear this week.
No. 5: ‘Resign.’ Columnist Laura Washington has a to-do list for Ald. Jim Gardiner, “mired in a bottomless pit of misogyny.”
■ A political rally planned for tonight takes the same position.
■ “Mobile City Hall”—dispensing city stickers, parking permits and more—is headed to more neighborhoods through October.
■ A plan to return City Council meetings to meatspace would still let the public comment virtually.
Knives out? An ordinance to crack down on restaurants’ unsolicited inclusion of plasticware, napkins and condiment packets in takeout orders is up for a vote in City Council committee this afternoon—but environmentalists say it’s not enough.
■ A World Bank warning: Global warming could create more than 200 million “climate migrants” worldwide by 2050.
Do you covet one of those rare Chicago Public Square caps? Good news: A (small) fresh batch has arrived—in a new color. Watch this space every day for an announcement soon.
■ Reader Janice Misurell-Mitchell made this issue better.
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