Chicago Public Square will take Monday off. Back Tuesday.
■ That gives you extra time to root under the couch cushions to find some support for the Chicago Independent Media Alliance fundraiser.
■ It also gives you time to assess what size T-shirt you’d like if you designate at least $75 for Square.
■ And now the news:
Story Slam! Thursday brings the annual fundraiser for the Farther Foundation back to Fitzgerald’s Nightclub in Berwyn, with celebrities including Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mary Schmich sharing tales of discovery, adventure and mishap for the benefit of a program designed to, in Schmich’s words, “give young students who couldn’t otherwise afford it the chance to go traveling, to see the world and learn from it. I was once one of those young students.”
Liar, liar. In a tightly moderated debate, Gov. Pritzker and his challenger, Sen. Darren Bailey, repeatedly attacked one another’s credibility.
■ Bailey, who’s opposed expansion of access to abortion, drew gasps from the crowd as he asserted that “Pritzker stays up at night trying to dream up new abortion laws.”
■ Politico’s Shia Kapos: “If you played a drinking game based on Bailey saying ‘zero-based budget,’ you probably passed out before the debate finished.”
■ Columnist Eric Zorn on Pritzker’s waffling answer to a question about changes to Illinois’ criminal justice reform package: “This is horseshit. Specifics or GTFO.”
■ The governor gave a less than definitive answer when asked if he’d commit to serving a full four-year second term (and not running for president) …
■ … and he whiffed on a final softball question, failing to name a hypothetical “walk-up” song if he were a baseball player.
■ Undermining the authenticity of Pritzker’s Twitter account, it repeatedly tweeted in the first person while he was clearly engaged in the debate.
■ See the full encounter here. (Recommended watching speed: 1.5x.)
‘I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid for an abortion or if he blew up the planet Alderaan.’ USA Today columnist Rex Huppke mocks those who keep supporting anti-abortion Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker—even after he denied knowing a woman who said he’d paid for her abortion and then conceded he’d fathered a child with her.
■ The Daily Beast reporter behind the Walker revelations tells Vanity Fair, “Walker is one of the weirdest, most contradictory people I’ve ever come across.”
If you rely on newspaper endorsements, good luck. The New York Times says publications owned by Alden Global Capital—including the Chicago Tribune—will end editorial picks of candidates in presidential, Senate and gubernatorial elections …
■ … although the Trib and two others will reportedly get a final round this season because the process is so far along.
■ Ready to vote? The Square 2022 election guide is here.
Two of our guys made it. Filmmaker/author/columnist Michael Moore includes a couple of Illinois Republicans on his list of “the Traitorous 147”—U.S. senators and representatives “who, just hours after the Capitol Police and National Guard put down a right-wing insurrection and attempted coup on Jan. 6 of last year, voted to give the traitorous mob what it demanded.”
■ For the first time, a Proud Boy has pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy in connection with the assault.
‘It’s time that we right these wrongs.’ President Biden’s pardoning thousands of Americans convicted under federal law of “simple possession” of marijuana …
■ … but it doesn’t help the vast majority of pot offenders, because they were prosecuted by states …
■ … so, as Morning Brew explains, Biden’s move is partly “a kick in the tush to governors to follow his lead—which could impact millions.”
■ Because Illinois is three years ahead of this curve, the pardons won’t have a lot of impact here—but Biden’s order to review federal classification of cannabis could.
■ Slate’s Dan Kois thought he had the perfect headline for the story.
■ The New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz: “Biden Releases Marijuana Offenders from Prison to Make Room for Trump Administration.”
Home health hazards. Consumer Reports is out with a guide to protecting yourself and your family from indoor air pollution …
■ … detailing, among other things, new concerns about kitchen appliances that burn natural gas: If you have a gas range or cooktop, “use your range hood every time … even if you’re just boiling an egg.”
■ Aldermen scrutinizing Mayor Lightfoot’s budget plan want a full-fledged Department of Environment.
Second City → first city. Chicago’s premiere comedy institution is opening a New York joint.
■ Oak Park-born comedian Judy Tenuta, the self-styled “Goddess of Love,” is dead at 72.
Square mailbag. Reader Chris Ruys asks about yesterday’s news that the Sun-Times has torn down its website paywall: “In their email to subscribers and friends, nothing was said about those of us who are already paying digital subscribers.”
■ Sun-Times executive editor Jennifer Kho explains: “Digital subscribers are being rolled over into membership and there’s an FAQ here.” Also: “No changes for print subscribers. It still costs money to print and deliver the paper, so unfortunately we can’t do that for free.”
■ Nieman newswatcher Joshua Benton: “A successful public media-owned Sun-Times could be that rarest of things in local media circa 2022: A replicable business model.”
■ Columbia Journalism Review: The country’s largest local news publisher, USA Today parent Gannett, confirms it’s been printing pink-slime purveyor Dan Proft’s partisan leaflets disguised as neutral local news.
News quiz time! This week’s test of your current events acumen awaits, courtesy of The Conversation.
■ Question No. 1: “The recent death of a young woman in custody has led to widespread protests in what country?”
■ In a first, your Square columnist scored 100%.
Happy College Radio Day. Here’s how it started …
■ … and here’s a February 1976 college radio interview with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.
A Square public service announcement:
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