Sister resister. To protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mayor Lightfoot is suspending Chicago’s “sister city” relationship with Moscow.
■ Neil Steinberg in the Sun-Times: “Me, I saw the invasion and gave thanks for Donald Trump’s first impeachment.”
■ The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent dives into the memory hole to revisit Five “vile things” Trump did to Ukraine.
■ Radio host and newsletter author, ex-Sun-Times CEO and former Ald. Edwin Eisendrath: “Trump, Mike Pompeo, FOX TV, and the entire American right are drenched in Ukrainian blood.”
■ An international relations scholar says the Biden administration’s unusual decision to share top-secret intelligence with the public helped rally the world against Vladimir Putin’s aggression.
Gone to ground. Updating coverage: As close to a million people have fled Ukraine, The Associated Press reports that “countless others have taken shelter underground.”
■ Apple has suspended its product sales in Russia.
■ Hackers around the world have answered a call to join attacks against “the aggressor’s web resources.”
■ Ex-Saturday Night Live cast member Dennis Miller has abandoned his show on the Russia-backed RT America TV channel …
■ … which Roku and DirecTV have also dropped.
‘We can once again find our way back to steady.’ Veteran newsman Dan Rather says President Biden’s State of the Union address brought reasons to be hopeful.
■ Stephen Colbert, live after the address: “It was a roller-coaster ride of rip-roaring reasonableness.”
■ The AP says the president flubbed an assertion that gunmakers are “the only industry in America that can’t be sued” …
■ … and PolitiFact notes he confused Ukrainian with Iranian.
‘A dream job that turned out to be a nightmare.’ With a swipe at Gov. Pritzker, Patch columnist Mark Konkol nevertheless praises departing Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike as “a calming presence who always seemed focused on the human toll of the coronavirus crisis.”
■ She’s among the dozens of state and local public health leaders around the country who’ve quit, retired or been fired since last April.
■ Meanwhile: A suburban businessman has pleaded guilty to cheating a suburban hospital out of $2.5 million for N95 masks—money with which he instead bought luxury cars …
■ … a Chicago testing company raided by the FBI last week reportedly failed to file thousands of lab results …
■ Chicago’s Adler Planetarium reopens Friday for the first time in almost two years—masks not required.
Opening dismay. Baseball’s labor problems spell a delay in season starters for the Sox, the Cubs and all the rest.
■ Chicago was in for another day of near-50-degree weather.
‘Public engagement can make a difference.’ Opponents of Indiana legislation whose sponsor wanted teachers to be “impartial” when discussing Nazism are celebrating his decision to kill the bill.
■ The ACLU is suing Texas to block what The New Republic calls “the worst anti-trans program in the country.”
Vowel movement. An item in yesterday’s Chicago Public Square about how many ys belong in the spelling of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s last name ironically omitted an o from Volodymyr.
■ Thanks to reader Pam Spiegel for spotting the mistake.
■ The Conversation: “Zelenskyy’s ‘selfie videos’ are helping Ukraine win the PR war.”