‘Climate suicide.’ With Britain sweltering under the highest temperatures in its history, British economist Umair Haque says “there’s no better or more accurate way to describe our plight right now.”
■ A thing becoming more common: Melting runways.
■ The BBC is tracking the onslaught with photos, video and blogged updates live on the web.
■ Homes are burning in a Texas heatwave.
■ A wind-fueled fire at a farm supply store in the southwest Chicago suburb of Shorewood prompted a request for residents to shelter in place to avoid toxic fumes.
■ President Biden reportedly is close to declaring a climate emergency, clearing the way for things like ramped-up production of solar panels and other renewable energy products.
Racism bites back. A new report from the Cook County treasurer’s office tracks today’s urban decay in Chicago and other cities back to the last century’s practice of redlining—the denial of home loans to minority neighborhoods …
■ … and it concludes today’s exodus is hurting all taxpayers.
■ Read the report here.
■ One of Chicago’s largest West and South Side real estate companies is the target of a lawsuit from tenants complaining of rodent problems, security issues and inadequate winter heating.
■ BuzzFeed News: In a development billed as a diverse neighborhood for Atlanta-area entertainment workers, Black residents say racism lies just below the surface.
Final farewells. The last funeral for a victim of the July 4 massacre in Highland Park honored Kevin McCarthy, a father who died shielding his 2-year-old son from the bullets.
■ Doctors reported some improvement for an 8-year-old twin boy paralyzed in the attack from the waist down.
■ In a belated move to close a gun-control loophole that let the Highland Park gunman get his hands on a killing machine, Illinois State Police are expanding the definition of “clear and present danger.”
■ A state senator representing Uvalde, Texas, says Gov. Greg Abbott “did not go to one single funeral” for any of that town’s victims—“and quite honestly, many of the families didn’t want him there.”
A Royko in the race. Sam Royko—lawyer, community activist and son of legendary Chicago columnist Mike Royko—is running for 1st Ward alderman.
■ He cites as motivation the carjacking of his girlfriend in January—after which he got a speeding ticket issued while a thief was behind the wheel (March link).
■ Mayor Lightfoot’s threatening a veto if the City Council raises the threshold for speed-cam tickets from 6 to 10 mph.
Chicago owes him. Pioneering journalist and activist Hank DeZutter is dead at 80.
■ His legacy includes co-creation of the Community Media Workshop (now Public Narrative) and an early 1995 profile of a young politician named Barack Obama.
■ Also gone: Urban sculptor Claes Oldenburg …
■ … and who (who knew?) was an alumnus of the City News Bureau of Chicago.
■ R.I.P., Chicago Women in Publishing.
Walgreens boycott calls. They’re bubbling up on social media because the company has empowered employees with “a moral objection” to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions (July 9 link).
■ Mother Jones’ editor-in-chief: “This is a time of choosing, @Walgreens. Millions of customers or some zealot employees.”
■ Popular Information: “State legislators passed abortion bans. These corporations sent checks.” (Hi, CVS and more!)
■ The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says he’ll retire in January 2025.
Colbert crew cleared. Federal prosecutors say they won’t file charges against nine humans—or Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, for that matter—arrested in the U.S. Capitol complex last month as they recorded bits for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
■ Rolling Stone: “Bots and other inauthentic users” drove an online campaign for release of director Zack Snyder’s Justice League do-over.
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