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.
■ A new report from Chicago’s Environmental Law and Policy Center warns of toxic disasters along Lake Michigan as climate change continues.
■ 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.”
■ The Onion’s “Biggest Republican Talking Points to Downplay Jan. 6” begin with this one: “Come on, it was just the one Capitol.”
■ 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.
■ Streetsblog Chicago: “Divvy’s new pricing is unaffordable to many residents, and therefore inequitable.”
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.