Not a good look. A Chicago police training exercise got real yesterday as a guy made his way inside the department’s infamous Homan Square facility (2016 link) and grabbed at least two guns before an officer shot and wounded him.
■ Chicago’s top cop was cagey about whether the guns contained live or dummy rounds.
■ The department says a newly hired officer shot last week after she’d been suspended for a positive drug test is no longer on the force.
‘When it comes to reacting to criticism, Lori Lightfoot needs much better advice.’ A Tribune editorial condemns the mayor for being “notoriously thin-skinned.”
■ You don’t have to tell Chicago Public Square twice (2020 link).
■ The Better Government Association: Time for City Council members to pick their own committee chairs instead of letting the mayor do it.
■ A Sun-Times editorial: “State law and the city’s own rules clearly spell out they have that power.”
‘Some crimes still have the capacity to shock us to the core.’ A Trib editorial says the tragic death of a 3-year-old allegedly pushed to his death off Navy Pier spotlights the need for more safety measures there.
■ Charges against his aunt could be upgraded elevated.
‘Earthlings should sleep better.’ NASA’s declared success in a brave little spacecraft’s ramming of an asteroid—a test of humans’ ability to deflect killer rocks headed this way.
■ See grainy video of the impact as caught by ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) telescopes.
Into the hurricane. As Ian menaces Florida’s coast, hurricane hunters have been flying through the storm’s center to gather data satellites can’t.
■ Three reasons Ian’s likely to trigger major flooding.
■ The storm has airlines and passengers on edge.
■ The Biden administration is pushing a rule that it says would keep airlines from hiding tickets’ true cost.
■ Yeah, but Axios Chicago asks: What about those exorbitant fees on tickets to Chicago’s Museum of Ice Cream?
A Square public service announcement
‘Most important election in history? This time they’re right!’ That’s the topic as The Nation’s national affairs correspondent John Nichols speaks—online and in-person—Oct. 9 at Chicago’s Third Unitarian Church (just off the Green Line’s Austin stop). To join online, call 773-626-9385 or email thirdunitarianchurch@gmail.com.
Brought to you by Square Boosters David and Mena Boulanger.
You can see your nonprofit cause promoted in this space.
Cheapest good electric cars. ZDNET offers its picks—and an explanation of how the new federal tax credit works.
■ The feds have issued final OK to all 50 states for construction of car-charging stations about every 50 miles along interstate highways.
■ The Conversation: “People of color are as interested in buying electric cars as white consumers. The biggest obstacle is access to charging.”
‘Early holiday shopping might be here to stay.’ CNET says Amazon’s early Prime Day sale Oct. 11 and 12 looks like another nail in Black Friday’s coffin.
■ It’ll also amplify Amazon’s Wednesday rollout of its latest gadgets.
Babbel is a Square advertiser.
Blues broken. Veteran WXRT host Tom Marker marks the end of the station’s long-running Blues Breakers show—which he’s steered since 1984—with this Sunday’s edition.
■ He tells Square: “The positive impact that WXRT has had on blues, especially Chicago blues … is enormous. Certainly more than any other radio station, anywhere. The blues is still important, relevant and vital, but not as much to the generation that listens to a rock radio station as the audiences of 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 years ago. I could go on forever. And I will, but now on public radio, Chicago's listener-supported jazz and blues station, WDCB.”
■ TV historian Aaron Barnhart revisits the Brown’s Chicken commercial that cost Steve Carell a shot at Saturday Night Live during producer Lorne Michaels’ 1989 visit to Chicago.
‘Please accept some partially digested nectar that we sucked up through our proboscises and regurgitated, as token of our deep condolence.’ Columnist Alexandra Petri conveys the royal beehive’s condolences on the death of Queen Elizabeth.
■ Charles has a new monogram.
Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.