■ Mayor Lightfoot’s under pressure to dump the Chicago Park District’s scandal-scarred president—a woman who long ago was a WGN-AM reporter (1988 link).
‘Democrats beat the odds.’ MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow sees a bright side of the party’s showing Tuesday: “For the past 30 years, every single time we’ve had a new president, that first year of the new president, the president’s party lost both the Virginia governor and New Jersey governor. … Except this time, Democrats didn’t” …
■ … because they held on to New Jersey’s governorship …
■ … but President Biden says it wasn’t about him.
■ The Conversation: Why voters rejected plans to replace the Minneapolis Police Department.
■ TV analyst, author and Chicago native Jonathan Alter: “Democrats must put Woke to sleep.”
■ Whoops: The Intercept explains how a tiki torch stunt went south for Virginia Democrats.
■ At least eight Republicans who were at the Jan. 6 rally that became a riot were elected Tuesday.
■ Reader columnist Ben Joravsky sees “a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day” in the Illinois congressional remap: “If Republicans are sobbing with self-pity … something good has happened for the rest of humanity.”
Vaccination escalation. New federal rules will require millions of Americans working at companies with 100 employees or more to get vaxxed against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested weekly.
■ One of the first 5- to 11-year-old Chicago kids to get the shot: “My grandparents can be safe.”
■ The UK’s OK’d the first pill to treat those who already have COVID.
Cop kills cop. Emerging details reveal that an off-duty Chicago police officer died after being shot in his Far Northwest Side home by another off-duty officer: His wife …
■ … who’s been placed on administrative duty.
■ An arson fire destroyed a Northwest Side playground whose creation parents spent years advocating.
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‘Unacceptable, ignorant and racist.’ Protesters descended on McDonald’s Chicago HQ to condemn the company CEO for saying in a text to Mayor Lightfoot that the parents of two murdered children failed them.
■ Trib columnist Rex Huppke: “Having someone high-profile trot out the ‘blame the parents’ canard, get publicly chicken-filleted over it and then cop to being ignorant might send a message to others.”
■ A contrary view from ex-Tribster Eric Zorn (middle of today’s post): “It doesn’t strike me as ignorant, racist, unacceptable or victim shaming to say that if you’re involved in a potentially violent street feud it’s irresponsible to travel in public with your children.”
Trash porn. BuzzFeed News shares photos of landfills around the world, hammering home just how much garbage humans produce.
■ Gov. Pritzker’s off to the global climate change summit in Scotland to promote Illinois as “one state taking strides to match this moment.”
‘You should watch.’ Patch columnist Mark Konkol says a “cringeworthy” new Hulu documentary series about Illinois’ ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich is worth the viewing—mainly because of his wife.
■ The Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper calls it “addictively digestible, darkly funny, well-photographed.”
■ Ex-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s nomination as ambassador to Japan is headed to the full U.S. Senate.
Uncupped. The Hockey Hall of Fame has Xed off from the Stanley Cup the name of the assistant coach accused of sexually assaulting a player during the Blackhawks’ 2010 championship run.
■ Crain’s Chicago Business: Facing a civil lawsuit, the team is headed down an icy road.
■ Unvaccinated Green Bay Packers quarterback—and erstwhile Jeopardy! host—Aaron Rodgers has tested positive for COVID-19.
■ Chicago sports and media lawyer Xavier Pope: “Rodgers wasn’t picked for Jeopardy! so he decided to put people around him in jeopardy, but the Packers and NFL knew to continue to spin the wheel of fortune.”
Thanks to Pam Spiegel for making this edition better.