COVID gets Lightfoot. The mayor says she’s tested positive for the coronavirus but—thanks to her vaccinations—feels “fine,” despite “cold-like symptoms.”
■ Politico’s Shia Kapos: “The irony wasn’t lost on anyone. … Just 17 hours after coming out of battle with the Chicago Teachers Union over whether students should be taught remotely during a pandemic, the mayor said she would be working from home.”
■ So, yeah, kids and teachers, have fun back in class today, OK?
■ But not all parents are on-board …
■ … and a vote by teachers could make the return short-lived.
■ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg: “Between Mayor ‘You’re Not Listening’ rushing on national TV to wipe the floor with teachers, and the union responding in kind … our finest hour it is not.”
‘Consumer alert.’ The Illinois attorney general’s office is warning people to be careful before doing business with “pop-up” COVID testing sites.
■ A Sun-Times editorial: America’s flunking its COVID testing.
■ Vaccination rules have sent a chill through area ice-rinks and recreational hockey leagues.
■ Thinking about catching COVID just to get it over with? Think again.
‘What a moron.’ After a contentious round of Senate testimony on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci could be heard on a hot mic using those words to denounce Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas …
■ … and that was after Fauci told Marshall on the record that he was “so misinformed that it’s extraordinary.”
■ See the video here.
‘He’s gone. OK.’ After six years of requests, Donald Trump finally granted NPR an interview—and then cut it short instead of answering questions about his election lies.
■ See it here.
■ On the other hand, Trump’s now openly deriding politicians for not backing COVID booster shots.
■ North Carolinians aim to use the 14th Amendment to keep one of the supporters of Trump’s Capitol insurrection from seeking reelection.
■ New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman champions the notion of a trans-party 2024 presidential unity ticket—“Joe Biden and Liz Cheney? Or Joe Biden and Lisa Murkowski, or Kamala Harris and Mitt Romney, or Stacey Abrams and Liz Cheney, or Amy Klobuchar and Liz Cheney? Or any other such combination.”
■ Tribune columnist Clarence Page: Another Civil War sounds far-fetched—until it’s not.
■ Popular Information: 109 companies that last year signed a letter declaring to support voting rights … have gone quiet.
‘Thanks to anyone who ever got a smile or a laugh from the pieces.’ Freelance editorial cartoonist Joe Fournier* has been cut by the Tribune.
■ Here’s his final piece for the paper.
■ Also leaving the Trib—for The New York Times—political reporter Bill Ruthhart.
■ NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik takes a critical look at Black and Latina stars’ departure from the network.
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* Whose brilliant animations your Square columnist introduced to Trib readers in 2008.