Colonel of untruth. A retired Marine Corps officer teaching at an already scandal-scarred Chicago public school has been yanked after encouraging parents not to get their kids vaccinated against COVID-19.
■ He evidently missed this guidance from the Defense Department: “Military titles will not be a part of the signature block of a retired service member when signing official correspondence as a civil service employee.”
■ The Jesse Brown VA Medical Center’s chief of staff condemns a “horrific and disturbing” COVID-19 outbreak after one staffer who caught it kept reporting to work and others failed to wear masks.
■ Illinois COVID hospitalizations have hit a 10-month high.
Deadly year. With a month left to go in 2021, Cook County has already logged more murders than any year since 1994.
Abortion on trial. Updating coverage: The Supreme Court today was hearing historic arguments over the landmark 1973 decision that declared women’s nationwide right to end pregnancy.
■ Hear the proceedings here.
■ President Biden’s signed a law championed by two Illinois lawmakers, Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Rep. Lauren Underwood, aimed at improving healthcare for mothers who’ve served in the military.
‘We are not dealing with Lex Luthor here.’ The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg sees lessons to be learned (link corrected) from actor Jussie Smollett’s trial on charges he faked a homophobic and racist attack on himself in Chicago.
■ The Tribune’s Clarence Page: The Smollett case also puts hate-crime law on trial.
■ It’s 90 days in jail for Chicago’s political activist “Dreadhead Cowboy,” on a contempt charge after a judge concluded he “made a mockery of these proceedings” in his trial for animal cruelty.
‘It still befuddles her … he’s still here.’ An ally to Mayor Lightfoot tells the Sun-Times the mayor’s ready to veto any new ward map that protects indicted Ald. Ed Burke.
■ Politico: The City Council was scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. to vote on a map the public hadn’t seen. (Update, 10:22 a.m.: The vote’s been postponed.)
■ A lawyer who specializes in freedom of information cases has problems with former Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s letter to the U.S. Senate supporting ex-Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s ambassadorship nomination.
‘A cable news shockwave.’ That’s how CNN’s Oliver Darcy sees the network’s decision to suspend anchor Chris Cuomo indefinitely for “Cuomo’s brazen violation of some of the most basic journalistic protocols” …
■ … after new documents revealed his improper relationship with aides to his brother, ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as the governor faced sexual misconduct accusations that led to his resignation.
■ The AP’s David Bauder: “His suspension makes some of the advice that Cuomo told investigators that he gave to his brother … sound eerily like it could apply to his own situation.”
Cookies! The Trib’s out with the winners of its annual Holiday Cookie Contest …
■ … including recipes for all 12 finalists.
■ An organization that aims to give Christmas toys to needy Chicago-area kids says the pandemic has doubled requests, and it’s pleading for help meeting the demand.
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