‘Is Kevin McCarthy toast?’ That’s Politico’s question after the Republican wannabe speaker of the House denied having said on Jan. 10, 2021, that Donald Trump should resign …
■ Who shared the audio? The office of Rep. Liz Cheney, who’s also in the recording, denies creating or leaking it.
■ Washington Post congressional reporter Marianna Sotomayor: Trump’s “reportedly not upset and reveled over his continued grip over the GOP.”
■ The New York Times journalists behind the McCarthy report—and a book to be published next month—say they have more audio to come.
■ Fun fact, courtesy of the Post: Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows—who’s railed about voter fraud—was simultaneously registered to vote in three states.
‘People are fed up with John.’ That’s how one Chicago cop explains a union vote overwhelmingly rejecting Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara’s proposal to extend his term two years—in the words of Sun-Times reporter Fran Spielman, forcing him “to stand for re-election … in the middle of a mayoral campaign he has threatened to enter.”
■ A new study pegs the cost of making Chicago as crime-free as New York or Los Angeles at up to $1 billion.
■ A Chicago woman who snapped an iconic photo of the arrest of the suspect in the New York subway shooting describes herself as “a photojournalist who shoots punk rock.”
■ Media watcher Robert Feder (middle of today’s column) notes that the Tribune took a pass on rights to the image that made front pages across the nation.
Free gas—again. Mayoral candidate Willie Wilson’s giving away another $1 million’s worth tomorrow—at these locations.
■ Streetsblog Chicago rounds up “this week in gas-pandering.”
■ Columnist Eric Zorn (middle of his latest Picayune Sentinel): “This charity would be better directed at fully subsidizing tire-inflation kiosks at gas stations.”
■ A bicyclist has died days after a driver hit him in the West Loop, dragging his bike under her car for several blocks.
Hold your breath. A new American Lung Association study ranks air in the Chicago area among the nation’s worst.
■ Guess which U.S. source of electricity made history March 29.
■ Axios Chicago has a list of Earth Day festivities through the weekend.
■ Consumer Reports: “Battery lawn mowers are the better environmental choice, but are they economical?”
‘It’s laughable that Pritzker wants Illinoisans to be grateful that, for one year, we won’t be among 13 states … callous enough to tax groceries.’ Patch columnist Mark Konkol is unimpressed by the state’s new budget …
■ … but the Moody’s Investors Service likes what it sees.
■ Bloomberg spotlights Pritzker’s challenge from Republican Mayor Richard Irvin, whose big-bucks backing from billionaire Ken Griffin has made the “unassuming city” of Aurora a place where “wealth and power in America converge.”
A ‘shitty situation.’ That’s the phrase incoming CNN chief Chris Licht used to describe the decision to kill the CNN+ streaming service just a month after launch.
■ Columnist Rex Huppke: “You can learn more about that decision on my soon-to-be-launched Rex+ streaming platform, which will ... Oops, never mind, that platform has been discontinued.”
■ Stephen Colbert—whose producer Licht was before taking the CNN job—nailed the service’s problem a couple of weeks ago: “If I go to CNN+, I don’t get CNN, I get plus.”
■ Oh, and Colbert has COVID-19.
Dingus of the Week. Columnist Lyz Lenz bestows this week’s honor on “a 33-year-old judge who was rated ‘not qualified’ by the American Bar Association and appointed by Donald Trump” and who “overturned a federal mask mandate for public transportation.”
■ Less than a week after restoring its indoor mask mandate, Philadelphia is giving it up again.
■ New research concludes that seven in 10 people in England have had COVID …
■ … and one had it continuously for 505 days.
No-fry zone. Best Buy is recalling close to 800,000 air fryers and air fryer ovens that pose a risk of burns and fire.
■ You can sign up for email recall advisories directly from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission here.
A reader writes. Mike Chamernik responds to a Better Government Association report, noted in yesterday’s Chicago Public Square, citing a disparity in the deployment of security cameras across Chicago’s parks:
■ “The park district is in a difficult spot. Too few cameras is a safety issue, but too many cameras could be seen as racist over-surveillance. I think the park district will face criticism either way. … I’m not sure what the middle ground is, but I hope they find it. Chicago’s parks are wonderful.”
■ Your comments are always welcome in the Square mailbag.
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