Comcast outage. Internet and TV services across the country were disrupted by … something … this morning.
■ Not everyone in Chicago minded.
■ The outages were so widespread that calls to its support center went directly to a busy signal.
■ Mockery on Twitter: “It’s so great that they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars … to rebrand to Xfinity and everyone is still like ‘Yeah my Comcast is out.’”
■ Square consumer tip: Once it’s resolved, don’t hesitate to contact the company for a service credit.
Hope you enjoyed it while you could. Yesterday looks to have been Chicago’s warmest day before the end of the year.
■ A UN analysis of the latest national climate pledges at the Glasgow talks says they amount only to “serious toddler steps.”
(Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
‘A multitude of … benefits.’ A new report from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute concludes an overhaul of the Eisenhower Expressway between downtown and the Tri-State Tollway “would create more than 22,000 jobs … and dramatically enhance access to jobs for Chicago’s most disadvantaged communities” …
■ … and the new federal infrastructure bill could turbocharge that vision.
■ A Sun-Times editorial calls for some of that federal cash to accelerate removal of Chicago’s lousy lead water lines.
■ WBEZ: “For years, Chicago leaders turned the city’s water supply into a revenue stream. Now tens of thousands can’t keep up with the rising costs.”
If ‘Bridgeport’ makes you think ‘Irish’ or ‘Daley,’ think again. The largest ethnic group there—and Chicago’s fastest-growing ethnic or racial group—is Asian.
■ Want a say in how Chicago’s ward maps will be redrawn? Join a virtual public meeting this afternoon (live on the city clerk’s website at 3).
Novo is a Chicago Public Square advertiser.
Warning shot. Gov. Pritzker’s signed a bill that, effective June 1, would remove “conscience” as justification for refusing the COVID-19 vaccination …
■ … and that would allow consequences for resisters.
■ Almost 9% of Chicago-based Boeing’s workforce is seeking vaccination exemption.
■ The number of Chicago police officers reporting their vax status is growing—but still remarkably low.
‘Standing section’ dangers. A Tribune editorial says Houston’s Astroworld disaster is a wake-up call for Chicago venues—including Lollapalooza—to rethink events “where each person does not have a guaranteed piece of real estate, purchased in advance.”
■ A 9-year-old boy crushed at the festival is among those fighting for their lives.
■ The lawsuits are piling up …
■ … and a Las Vegas sequel’s been canceled.
‘Republican lobbyists are aggravated.’ Popular Information says they’re pushing corporate political action committees to restart their Republican candidate cash dumps suspended after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
■ A New York Times video makes the case that Democratic-dominated states—including Illinois—are the places “where affordable housing is often hardest to find, there are some of the most acute disparities in education funding and economic inequality is increasing most quickly.”
■ Esquire’s Charlie Pierce: “The New York Times Editorial Page Should Stop Publishing Nonsense.”
■ Also from Pierce: “Ted Cruz Picked a Fight With Big Bird and Lost.”
‘Which raises the question whether taxing billionaires according to the results of Twitter polls they create is really the best way to go about it.’ Ex-U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich says Tesla founder Elon Musk’s gambit exploded in his face.
■ General Electric, co-founded by Thomas Edison, is splitting in three—maybe signaling, in the AP’s words, “the end of the conglomerate era.”
■ The Onion: “Amazon Assures Customers That Alexas Far Too Busy Devising Their Own Plans To Listen In On Private Conversations.”
‘Too little news, too much liberal opinion.’ A Square subscriber bailed—with that message—after getting yesterday’s edition.
■ Help replenish the ranks: Recommend this to a friend today.