‘I … got duped.’ City Cast Chicago’s Sidney Madden says she should have suspected something was up when she trusted the Center for COVID Control to test her.
■ USA Today picks up the story: “How a wedding photographer and a failed donut shop owner got $124M for COVID testing.”
■ Chicagoans can get free KN95 masks this week.
■ Pfizer’s pills to treat those who contract COVID are on the way to Illinois pharmacies—but not in great supply.
‘The Irvin project.’ That’s how the Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet describes Republican Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin’s candidacy for governor …
■ … which, Politico’s Shia Kapos notes, could make him the first Black candidate to head an Illinois ballot.
■ Considering a run for local school board? An educational policy professor offers guidance.
■ The city’s prepared a helpful sign that restaurants can post.
Give blood. The pandemic and winter weather have combined to trigger what the American Red Cross calls the worst blood shortage in more than a decade.
■ Hate tossing medication you don’t need? A new Illinois law lets you donate it for others to use.
Code switching. As of Friday, new phone lines in the south and western suburbs covered until now by the 708 area code may instead get the prefix 464 …
■ … which is why residents there have had to dial extra digits for months.
‘Amazon placed profits first.’ The family of one of those killed when a tornado destroyed a warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, last month is suing …
■ … asserting, among other things, that Amazon should have included better storm shelters in the facility’s construction.
Flag bearing. The U.S. Supreme Court today was considering a Christian organization’s assertion of its right to fly its flag in front of Boston’s City Hall …
■ … and, as noted in Chicago Public Square’s sibling newsletter about First Amendment matters, the American Civil Liberties Union is—maybe surprisingly—siding with the Christians.
■ Hear the arguments here.
One world. Saturday’s volcanic eruption near the South Pacific island of Tonga was so powerful it spiked Chicago’s air pressure as measured at O’Hare …
■ … generated waves strong enough to cause an oil spill off the coast of Peru …
■ … was heard in Alaska …
■ … but as of early today had been linked to just a handful of deaths in Tonga.
■ The Conversation reviews progress in technology to scrub greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Chicago radio’s loss. Veteran sportscaster Les Grobstein is dead at 69 …
■ … but he leaves a priceless legacy: His recording of then-Cubs manager Lee Elia’s obscenity-filled 1983 postgame tirade …
■ … which you can hear here.
■ In 2008, Elia and Grobstein reflected on that moment for WBEZ.
■ Media columnist Robert Feder rounds up some of the hundreds of fond memories Grobstein’s colleagues have shared on the web.
■ Columnist Irv Leavitt ponders the demographics of “The Great Celebrity Die-Off.”
Don’t forget to vote … for Square in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago poll.
