Chicago story. ProPublica and The Lever reveal how—in the largest known U.S. political advocacy donation ever—a secretive and elderly Chicago businessman who led Tripp Lite for more than half a century handed his fortune to a new group led by the co-chair of the University of Chicago-spawned Federalist Society …
■ … a guy also known as Donald Trump’s “Supreme Court whisperer.”
■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson calls the $1.6 billion transfer “eye-popping.”
■ Columnist Matthew Yglesias hails the Inflation Reduction Act’s increase in funding for the Internal Revenue Service as a “very good” way to stop the government from “coddling criminals.”
Heads up. The Associated Press previews what’s to come from today’s primaries for voters in New York and Florida.
■ Keep an eye on one New York swing district that foreshadowed the elections of Presidents Obama, Trump and Biden.
‘How else was I supposed to get away?’ Those are the words allegedly spoken by an off-duty Chicago Police Department recruit confronted after allegedly hitting, kicking and shoving suburban cops who pulled her over in a traffic stop.
■ A Tribune editorial calls for a crackdown on alcohol in “Chicago’s boating bacchanal.”
■ Police were hunting a man who’s robbed downtown Dunkin’ joints at least three times since Friday.
Snapchat owes you. A $35 million settlement under Illinois’ pioneering Biometric Information Privacy Act will send cash to residents “who used Lenses or Filters offered by Snap between November 17, 2015, and the present.”
■ Here’s where to file—whether or not you’ve received a personalized notice of eligibility.
■ Nineteen Illinois counties are suing big pharmacy chains—including Walgreens and CVS—accusing them of fueling the opioid crisis.
■ Twitter’s ex-head of cybersecurity has turned whistleblower, warning Congress that the company gives too many of its employees access to users’ most sensitive information without adequate oversight …
■ The AP surveys all that Amazon knows or will be able to know about its customers—from what happens at your door to the layout of your floors to what you say inside your home.
Anatomy of a bike crash. Streetsblog Chicago analyzes the causes of an accident along Addison Street in the Irving Park neighborhood.
■ Ford is cutting 3,000 office jobs.
Trees in trouble. The first threat assessment for all 881 tree species native to the contiguous U.S. concludes that up to one in six of them face extinction.
■ The New York Times explains how the Democrats’ new climate law is a game-changer—partly by legally defining greenhouse gases as pollution.
■ A mystery illness has killed dozens of dogs in Michigan.
‘Why would a newspaper so badly in need of generating goodwill … operate in such a cold, dismissive fashion?’ Ex-Trib columnist Eric Zorn’s written a letter to the Trib’s general manager, protesting the unceremonious snuffing of the ChicagoNow community blogging site …
■ … whose early champions included your Chicago Public Square columnist.
■ Columnist Robert Reich says the real reason CNN canceled Brian Stelter’s show, Reliable Sources, is that the leading shareholder in CNN’s new corporate parent is “a multi-billionaire cable magnate” who’s said “he wants CNN to be more like Fox News because, in his view, Fox News has ‘actual journalism.’” [Update, Aug. 24: CNN’s new boss phoned Reich to dissent.]
■ Correcting yesterday’s Square: The Reliable newsletter will apparently survive. (Thanks for the catch, John Ruberry.)
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This service wouldn’t be around without financial support from readers including Mike Pontillo, Bill Weldon, Mary T. Davison, Andrew Mitran, Jean Remsen, William Wheelhouse, Paul Noble, Christine Hauri, the Skubish Family, William Bork, Jeanne Mcinerney, Bob Konold, John Iltis, Mark Thurow, Joe Hallissey, Diane Scott, Ann Fisher, Ryan Bird, Chris Ruys, Judy Sherr, Rupa Datta, Jennifer Packheiser, Leslie Sutphen, Pat Albu, Mary Dedinsky, Ron Schwartz, Randy Young, Mark Mueller, Josh Mogerman, Janice Kieckhefer, MJ Garnier, Elizabeth Meisterling, Hank and Marge Arnold, Julie Ross, Stephan Benzkofer, Alison Price, Michael Kelly, Robert Shipley, Wendy Greenhouse, Jessica Mackinnon, Neela Marnell, Jim Prescott, Maureen Gannon, Clyde Simpson, Victoria Engelhardt, Jan Kodner, Phil Vettel, Gregg Runburg, Christopher Comes, Bill Drudge and Lizzie Schiffman Tufano.
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