No-show. A guy who was to have been a key witness in today’s House hearing on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection—Donald Trump’s ex-campaign manager—pulled out at the last minute.
■ Watch the proceedings live here.
■ Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger takes the lead in Wednesday’s session.
■ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg: “I’m a little sorry the hearings are happening, because they offer the illusion that the truth might yet set us free.”
■ On trial today: A father-son team who carried a Confederate flag into the Capitol that day.
Illinoisan behaving badly. Among the 31 masked members of a white nationalist group arrested in connection with plans for a riot near an Idaho “Pride in the Park” event: A 2017 graduate of Freeburg (Illinois) High School …
■ … previously flagged as trouble by the Southern Poverty Law Center back in April.
Ready to vote early? As of today, you can—in all Chicago wards.
■ Don’t vote in ignorance, especially for all those judicial races. Check the Chicago Public Square election guide.
‘A noteworthy but limited breakthrough.’ That’s how The Associated Press describes a Senate deal on gun control, school safety and mental health programs …
■ … including a provision to close “the boyfriend loophole.”
■ Gary’s mayor has ordered the shutdown of a nightclub where six people were shot—two fatally.
Weather warnings. Two rounds of severe storms today—maybe accompanied by tornadoes—menace the Chicago area.
■ Also on the way: Dangerous heat …
■ … with temperatures that could feel like 110 degrees.
‘Cap the Ike’ progress. Federal cash may be in the offing for Oak Park’s long-held dream of landscaping over the Eisenhower Expressway, creating open space and athletic fields …
■ … repairing a gash through the community dating back to the 1950s (2012 radio report).
■ The traffic deaths of two toddlers this month prompted hundreds of people to march Sunday in protest through North Side neighborhoods.
■ Roadwork just west of Lake Shore Drive in the Gold Coast has exposed some Chicago history: Wood paver blocks that constituted the city’s streets in the 1800s.
Bigger News If It Hadn’t Dept. A Tribune investigation concludes that, over the last decade, Chicago planted trees at a higher rate in wealthier, whiter neighborhoods.
■ Want one for your parkway? Tell the city …
■ … or, in the city or southwest suburbs, apply for a grant to plant your own.
‘Chicago’s regional sports networks have shown they cannot be trusted.’ Media watchdog Robert Feder adds NBC Sports Chicago to the naughty list for its editing of a White Sox rebroadcast.
■ Ex-Tribune sports and media columnist Phil Rosenthal: “There have been wayyyyy too many errors in judgment.”
‘Nobody ever, ever wants to scroll down.’ John Oliver touched on a Chicago Public Square axiom last night as he sounded the alarm about the monopolistic proclivities of tech giants like Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon …
■ … which faces a lawsuit by Prime members for ending their free deliveries from its Whole Foods subsidiary.
■ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is promising to call a vote on tech monopoly restraints, but he hasn’t …
■ … which is a bad look—because two of his kids work for those companies, including one who’s a lobbyist for Amazon (January link).
■ Sorry about the singing at the end.