Chicago Public Square will thankfully take a few days off. Back Monday. And now the news:
‘Did we get this wrong?’ That’s a question a University of Wisconsin law professor says prosecutors will be asking themselves with revelation that the suspect in the Waukesha Christmas parade massacre was free on $1,000 bond after having been accused of running over the mother of his child.
■ Heavy rounds up five facts about him.
■ BuzzFeed News profiles the victims …
■ … who include members of Milwaukee’s “Dancing Grannies.”
■ A record store owner’s credited with saving dozens of lives during the SUV assault.
■ A series of sarcastic tweets about the mayhem cost the DuPage County Democratic Party social media manager her job.
■ Esquire’s Charlie Pierce, who grew up in Wisconsin, sees the state “in the middle of a national nervous breakdown.”
‘SUVs and trucks can be an efficient means of mass killing.’ A Georgia State University professor says they pose a threat that can be virtually impossible to prepare against …
■ … but Mayor Lightfoot says “we’ve had that discussion” about how to keep people safe at Chicago's Thanksgiving Parade.
‘People are morons.’ That’s Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse’s lawyer Mark Richards on gun shops’ promotional sales tied to Rittenhouse’s acquittal and a Republican lawmaker’s offer of an internship for Rittenhouse.
■ Rittenhouse to Fox News: “I’m not a racist person. I support the BLM movement.”
■ Still ahead for Rittenhouse: Does he get the $2 million bail posted after his arrest, or does it go to the right-wing group that helped raise it?
■ A liberal gun-rights advocate on the Rittenhouse verdict: “Was he morally wrong? Absolutely. But I still think our legal system did its job.”
‘There is no room for anything but complete transparency.’ A Sun-Times editorial says parents deserve the full story about sexual abuse of students by the faculty at a Logan Square school …
■ … a problem that Chicago Public Schools leadership knew about for years—even as the school’s principal was promoted.
■ Lightfoot blames the pandemic.
Thanks, COVID. Target Corp. says its pandemic-driven decision last year to keep stores closed Thanksgiving Day will be permanent.
■ There’s a Santa shortage.
■ Chicago’s quandary: What to do about cops and firefighters who haven’t been vaccinated.
Abortion cliffhanger. The Supreme Court yesterday gave those awaiting a historic call on Texas’ draconian abortion law what CNN calls a “head fake.”
■ Slate’s William Saletan warns that Republicans will be sorry if the court reverses abortion rights.
■ Popular Information lists corporations backing sponsors of an Ohio abortion ban more extreme than the one in Texas. (Hello to AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, United Healthcare and more.)
Bear down. A source tells Patch that Matt Nagy’s run as Chicago Bears coach will end after Thanksgiving’s game. [Update: Patch has walked the story back.]
■ NFL veteran and Good Morning America co-host Michael Strahan is headed into space next month.
Skipping town? The AAA suggests the best times to hit the road through the holiday weekend …
■ … and one westbound route (cough, the Eisenhower) to avoid Wednesday afternoon.
■ Aiming to tame rising gasoline prices, President Biden’s ordering release of 50 million barrels from America’s strategic oil reserve.
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■ Friends of Square Chris Koenig and Mike Braden made this edition better.