It was a tornado / Oh, pupa / Free rides

So it was a tornado. Updating yesterday’s Chicago Public Square: A tornado did indeed touch down briefly Monday in the Chicago area, from Schaumburg to Roselle …
 … but most of the damage seems to have been done by straight-line winds.
And the heat goes on …
 … with temperatures that today could feel like 105 degrees …
 … a thing to which science suggests Chicago will be no stranger.
Flooding forced 10,000 people out of Yellowstone National Park, parts of which may remain closed for the season.
University of Chicago research: Air pollution cuts your life more than smoking or alcohol.

Trump’s wins. A couple of Republican Senate candidates backed by the ex-president took their primary races in South Carolina and Nevada.
Also victorious: A lie-spewing Republican running for Nevada secretary of state—the job that oversees the state’s elections.
Suburbanites will be able to cast their ballots in Chicago—at an early voting site in Union Station.
Don’t vote in ignorance: Consult the Square primary election guide.

Nice grift if you can get it. Trump campaigner Kimberly Guilfoyle, who happens to be engaged to Donald Trump Jr., collected $60,000 for speaking less than three minutes to introduce Trump Jr. at a “Stop the Steal” rally that revved up the benighted on Jan. 6, 2021 …
 … and the cash came through a conservative nonprofit led by Charlie Kirk …
 … a reactionary forged in Chicago’s suburbs.
Esquire’s Charlie Pierce: “The republic is lucky to be alive.”
Approaching the 50th anniversary of the Watergate Hotel arrests, the Reader’s Ben Joravsky says the scandal should have taught Americans that “nothing’s legit—not even the good guys.”

‘It’s a step forward.’ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll support a draft gun-control bill …
 … with one significant if.
NBC News: McConnell’s shift reflects a changing political landscape.

Oh, pupa. Caterpillar Inc., which has been building machinery in Illinois since the early 1900s, is moving its HQ to Texas …
 … but the largest concentration of its employees will remain here.
The Conversation in 2018: Do butterflies remember being caterpillars?

Another Starbucks union. Employees at a Bucktown shop have overwhelmingly approved unionization—the area’s fifth and the nation’s 150th.
Popular Information deconstructs some possibly illegal comments by Starbucks’ CEO.

Free rides. The CTA, Metra and Pace are reminding Chicagoans age 18 or older who fall within low-income guidelines that they’re eligible for $50 transit cards.
Apply here.

R.I.P., Internet Explorer. Microsoft today officially ends support for a 27-year-old web browser.
The company’s successor, Edge, has an “Explorer mode” for those stuck in the past.
Also on the way out: Free Peacock Premium for Xfinity customers.

Abortion stories wanted. FiveThirtyEight is soliciting readers’ experiences with U.S. hospital restrictions.
CNN answers questions about how a pending Supreme Court decision could affect abortion rights.

Chris Koenig made this edition better.

Subscribe to Square.