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‘I have to kill this guy.’ U.S. Army veteran Richard Fierro, who’s being hailed as a hero for helping subdue the gunman in a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ club, tells The New York Times: “I just went into combat mode.”
■ Fierro had help from a drag dancer who stomped the shooter with high heels.
■ Fierro has little reason to celebrate, because the victims included a 22-year-old Chicago native who was there to see the show with his longtime girlfriend, Fierro’s daughter.
■ Reader publisher Tracy Baim is among those noting that Fierro and his wife own a brewery whose name and merchandise are a good fit for the moment.
■ The Washington Post: The suspect’s troubled past “was obscured by a name change.”
■ Columnist Brian Broome: Don’t blame the Colorado massacre on mental illness; it’s rooted in hate.
■ BuzzFeed News: The Colorado Springs attack follows “a year of targeted political attacks against the LGBTQ community.”
■ Media Matters: In the hours after the shooting, right-wing media—Fox News Business, among others—kept it up.
■ A pediatrician who survived the Highland Park shooting massacre is leading a Washington push to ban assault weapons.
A Royko runs. Among those in the first wave of candidates filing for Chicago’s February primary: Lawyer Sam Royko, seeking a City Council seat …
■ … a job that his father, the late columnist Mike Royko, once suggested be relabeled “aldercreature” (1992 link).
■ Also filing: Six candidates for mayor.
Republican rarity. A Californian who was one of only 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump after the 2021 insurrection has become one of only two of them to win reelection.
■ Cartoon: An excerpt from “Kevin McCarthy’s Anti-American Agenda” at The Nib.
■ A Pennsylvania resident is the first woman convicted by a federal jury for Jan. 6-related offenses.
Fleeing Twitter? Journalism visionary Jeff Jarvis takes a keep-it-simple approach to explaining how to join Mastodon: “I’m quite liking it already.”
■ Platformer explains Donald Trump’s failure to embrace his clearance to return to Twitter: “Trump doesn’t do supporting roles, and … Musk needs Trump much more than Trump needs Twitter.”
■ Right-wingnut Marjorie Taylor Greene’s personal account is back, too.
■ Twitter employees are reportedly losing perks—including allowances for employee wellness, home internet, training and development and daycare.
■ The Onion: “Musk Criticized For Firing So Many Employees Rather Than Spending Decades Grinding Them Down.”
■ A Post exposé: “Facebook parent company Meta is a multinational technology giant without real customer support.”
‘Taylor Swift fans could take down Ticketmaster.’ The Lever: Swifties’ ire over ticket fiascoes is fueling calls to break up the Ticketmaster/Live Nation combine.
■ At least three Democratic senators are aligned on that.
New Jeopardy! champ. The tournament of champions yesterday reached a nail-biting conclusion.
■ U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making mild noises about FIFA’s threat of yellow cards for World Cup players if they wear rainbow “One Love” armbands.
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How to have a healthy Thanksgiving. Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina offers a round of tips, including this one: “Mask everywhere in public.”
■ Axios Chicago’s holiday travel overview includes this counsel: To avoid the area’s worst traffic, do your driving before 11 a.m. Wednesday or on Thanksgiving itself.
No turkeys here. Chicago Public Square owes its continued existence to support from readers including Darold Barnum, Judy Sherr, Martin Berg, Barbara Heskett, Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin, Linda Baltikas, Joe Germuska, Gregg Runburg, Logan Aimone, Mario Greco, Terry Locke, Charlene Thomas, Anne Costello, Bennett Hart, Rick Blankenbaker, Bruce Dold, Patricia Skaja and Peter Kuttner.