Tuesday’s ‘biggest winner.’ Politico says it was abortion rights—as voters in conservative Kansas triggered “a political earthquake” …
■ CNN’s Gregory Krieg prefers the metaphor thunderclap.
■ Author and documentarian Michael Moore: “OMG! We are not in Kansas anymore. And neither is Kansas!”
■ The Tribune reports out-of-state patient abortions in Illinois are skyrocketing.
■ A day after the surfacing of a 2017 video in which Illinois Republican candidate for governor Darren Bailey claimed the Holocaust “doesn’t even compare” to the atrocities of abortion, Gov. Pritzker turned that video into a new campaign ad.
■ The U.S. is suing Idaho over its restrictive abortion law.
■ Pregnant in Georgia? You can list the fetus as a dependent.
■ Popular Information: In a surprise donation, Twitter shoveled $25,000 to an anti-abortion political organization.
Elsewhere … Republican primaries brought good news for Trump-enthralled candidates …
■ … including defeat for a Michigan representative who was one of just 10 Republicans to favor Donald Trump’s impeachment last year.
■ The New York Times speculates: “The defeats of some of the candidates most cut from the mold of Donald J. Trump” could benefit the Republican Party in November.
■ Two Arizona Republicans who helped lead the assault on the 2020 election results reportedly raised concerns—in email, believe it or not—that their acts “could appear treasonous.”
■ In a revelation that a government watchdog calls “astounding,” the Pentagon concedes it wiped the phones of top Defense Department and Army officials at the end of the Trump administration.
■ A federal grand jury wants a word with Trump’s White House counsel, Pat Cipollone.
Sorry about that ‘hateful rhetoric.’ Chicago mayoral candidate and ex-Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas is changing his tune on his decision earlier this summer to regale a far-right suburban group.
■ An ex-Chicago Public Schools teacher’s been sentenced to 50 years for sexually abusing a child.
‘Congress did the right thing.’ Daily Show veteran Jon Stewart praises the Senate for reversing course and passing a bill for which he’s fervently campaigned, enhancing benefits for millions of veterans exposed to burn pits the military has used to dispose of chemicals, cans, tires, and medical and human waste.
■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson (middle of her latest dispatch): That the bill passed unchanged makes Republicans’ refusal to support it last week look like “an act of spite.”
‘An awful day in court.’ CNN explains how blowhard conspiracy theorist Alex Jones had his ass handed to him in a trial to determine how much he owes the parents of a 6-year-old killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
■ They told the court his lies put them through a “living hell” of death threats and harassment.
■ At the sentencing trial for the shooter in the 2018 shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a grieving father yelled and cried: “My friends, my neighbors, colleagues spend time enjoying their daughters. … I only get to watch videos or go to the cemetery.”
■ Days before the 4th of July parade massacre in Highland Park, the suspect reportedly posted since-removed racist comments about Jews, African Americans and Asian Americans.
■ An 8-year-old boy wounded in the attack has been moved to a rehab-focused hospital.
‘It kinda sucked.’ Reporter Bob Chiarito is unimpressed with Chicago’s newest concert venue, the Salt Shed.
■ A Sun-Times editorial: “Decree” was an odd word for Mayor Lightfoot to choose in announcing that Lolla will continue in Chicago for a decade.
■ Block Club and Injustice Watch: Chicago cops are arresting thousands more Black drivers after traffic stops than they’ve reported.
■ A Better Government Association investigation finds “a history of hyperbole” for Lightfoot’s lead in the city’s campaign against gun crime.
Batgirl strikes out. Warner Bros. is killing a feature film about Batman’s female counterpart …
■ … and, in a move sending shockwaves through Hollywood, says the movie won’t be released on any of its platforms.
■ One possible reason: Taxes.
■ Tedium revisits 10 other movies that never saw the light—or dark—of day.
Thanks. Know why Chicago Public Square didn’t disappear about a year into its now-5 1/2-year run? Because The Legion of Chicago Public Squarians stepped up. You can join their ranks here—and get $5 off a Square T-shirt in the process.