‘It goes all the way up.’ Illinois Rep.—and one of just two Republicans on the House Jan. 6 committee—Adam Kinzinger says he hopes the Justice Department will indict Donald Trump.
■ Also: “Trumpism isn’t dying, even though Trump is becoming irrelevant.”
■ A Los Angeles Times editorial: “Prosecuting Trump will demonstrate that … no one is above the law.”
■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch: “Break up the Secret Service and send its people to jail for the Jan. 6 cover-up.”
Weekend woes. Gunfire in Chicago claimed at least five lives—including a 16-year-old boy.
■ Chicago police say two sisters shot while awaiting a ride on a Near North Side street early Saturday were innocent bystanders.
■ A man has died after being stabbed early today on a CTA Red Line train.
■ Oak Park police were seeking a suspect in the village’s second shooting death of the summer.
■ Struggling with a backlog of violent crime, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office is reportedly “desperately” short of prosecutors.
Tampons against COVID. University of Illinois researchers are using feminine hygiene products to test sewer water for the novel coronavirus.
■ Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina: For the first time in seven months, COVID’s international death toll is rising.
■ Illinois-based Baxter International is a key to production of what The Daily Beast calls “the COVID vaccination of our dreams.”
Pump slump. Gasoline prices nationwide are way down from last month’s high.
■ Advising that “it’s probably a good idea to start making your gasoline at home in the morning instead of getting an expensive cup of it on your way to work,” HBO’s John Oliver (watch free here) explains that inflation has many authors.
Concert controversy. Popular Information and Rolling Stone report the massive holding company that owns the parent company of several major festivals—including Coachella—has given lots of cash to a political organization pushing an anti-abortion agenda.
■ The Tribune warns that the future of Lollapalooza’s long Chicago run could be decided without public input.
■ Hulu’s reportedly refusing to run political ads about abortion, guns and the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Not worried about Chicago. Taking issue with the most-tapped (by far) item in Friday’s Chicago Public Square—columnist Matt Yglesias’ “I’m worried about Chicago”—Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield cites, among other things, the city’s likely resilience in the face of climate change.
■ At least three tornadoes touched down in the Chicago region early Saturday.
■ The AP: Alaska is “experiencing wildfires it’s never seen before.”
■ Comparing “climate deniers” to Uvalde, Texas, police officers, ex-Vice President Al Gore warns that severe weather’s going to get a lot worse “if we don’t stop using our atmosphere as an open sewer.”
After Friday’s Square email deadline … The story linked from the phrase “The news media watchdog service Newsguard … has downgraded Fox News’ credibility” was updated to reflect that Newsguard had also downgraded its assessment of MSNBC’s credibility.
■ If you find Square’s credibility wanting, by all means do not pitch in support to help keep it coming.