Shots blocked. A Cook County judge has suspended Chicago’s unilateral COVID-19 vaccination deadline for cops …
■ … but left in place a requirement that they be tested regularly. …
■ … and let the city keep disciplining officers who refuse to reveal whether they’ve been vaccinated.
■ The FBI’s investigating Loretto Hospital’s vax program, which gave shots to ineligible—but well-connected—people.
‘A white teenager out late at night and armed with a deadly rifle … can walk toward police officers with confidence he won’t wind up dead.’ As a Wisconsin trial begins for babyfaced Illinois killer Kyle Rittenhouse, Tribune columnist Rex Huppke recommends you bear one scene in mind.
■ The Onion satirically explains: “Q: Who is Kyle Rittenhouse? A: Just an ordinary kid who crossed state lines and killed a couple unarmed people.”
■ Gov. Pritzker has declared gun violence a public health crisis in Illinois—a move that comes with cash.
‘Students are going to be hurt.’ Chicago Public School teachers are sounding the alarm about districtwide restrictions on software used for art, design, computer science, math and engineering classes.
■ The result, Axios Chicago reports: “Students in Wilmette can use software Chicago students can’t” …
■ A Sun-Times editorial calls for an independent analysis of the schools’ custodial privatization, which is drawing a fresh round of “nauseating complaints: Rodent droppings on floors, … garbage cans overflowing, cockroaches, no toilet paper or soap, and on and on.”
What to watch. The AP runs down the key contests in today’s elections across the country—including a Virginia gubernatorial race that foreshadows the next presidential election.
■ Mother Jones: “Republicans Are Already Claiming the Virginia Election Has Been Rigged.”
■ New York’s mayoral election features two candidates who were shot or shot at in the 1990s …
■ … one of whom was inescapable in Chicago news reports of the ’80s (1988 Trib link).
■ Keep an eye on local school board races—dozens of them in states where candidates have come out in favor of limits on what and how teachers teach.
(Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
■ Want to be a judge? The Democratic Party—typically the whole ballgame in Cook County—is offering help.
‘Sacrifice zones.’ In an unprecedented analysis, ProPublica documents how the U.S. EPA has let industries poison low-income, African American and Indigenous communities for regional economic benefit.
■ How close do you live to one? Type your ZIP into an interactive map.
■ If you live near an industrial facility, ProPublica wants to hear from you.
Sorry about the ‘Up yours, Nature.’ Donald Trump’s actions prompted this from President Biden at the world climate summit: “I do apologize for the fact that the United States under the last administration pulled out of the Paris accord.”
■ More than 100 nations—including the U.S. have signed on to end deforestation within a decade.
■ Six charts from The Conversation explain “the science everyone needs to know about climate change.”
Anycart is a Chicago Public Square advertiser.
‘Abolish college fraternities.’ Washington Post columnist Kate Cohen: “If you associate fraternities with sexual assault and harassment, you’re not stereotyping: You’re paying attention.”
■ The Rev. Jesse Jackson was in the hospital after falling as he joined Howard University students to protest campus living conditions.
Christmastime is here. Continuing a 21-year tradition of jumping the holiday gun, WLIT-FM will begin playing seasonal songs around the clock tomorrow at 4:05 p.m.
■ Headed from Chicago toward Indiana? Get a free ride eastbound on the South Shore Line through Dec. 31.
‘Ponderous jibber-jabber and pointless battles.’ The Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper isn’t wild about Marvel’s newest, Eternals.
■ The comics from which it sprang kinda sucked, too (May link).
What’s your favorite nonprofit newsroom? The annual national NewsMatch campaign is off and running. Find an organization to support—or back them all with a single donation—here.
■ Congrats to Block Club Chicago on a trio of impressive honors.
■ Chicago Public Square isn’t nonprofit, but you can help keep it coming here.
■ Thanks to Tom Petersen for making this edition better.