Thanks to everyone who voted in the nomination round, Chicago Public Square is a finalist in the Reader’s Best of Chicago balloting—for Best Email Newsletter and Best Blog, under the City Life category.
■ Balloting in the finals is on until noon Feb. 15.
■ Noteworthy: Mayor Lightfoot failed to make the cut for “Best Elected Official in Chicago” …
■ … which brings us to today’s news:
Lightfoot, ‘underdog.’ Politico: “In a crowded field of candidates, the mayor might even be in danger of not making the April runoff.”
■ Records filed with the state show Lightfoot’s outspending more than all her challengers except one—but she spent twice as much as she collected.
■ On CNBC from the plutocratic Davos conference, Gov. Pritzker echoed Mayor Lightfoot: “Crime is coming down gradually in the city and across the state.”
■ All the candidates were scheduled to appear on WLS-TV’s digital sites tonight for a 90-minute, commercial-free debate.
■ Ahead of a series of interviews with the candidates, WBEZ wants your questions for them.
‘We’re talking about a billion-dollar company that got rich off the backs of slaves.’ A Chicago City Council member has blocked a railroad company’s plan to expand a South Side rail yard—a project that she says has already displaced 400 families in her Black community.
■ Illinois lands at No. 2 on a list of states ranked for green construction last year.
■ Lightfoot’s launching a pilot program under which city cameras will help catch drivers who block bus and bike lanes.
A busy council. A new ordinance will require a special license for—and impose limits on the locations of—Chicago businesses that get at least 20% of their income from vaping products.
■ Alderfolk also voted unanimously to expand protections for trans Chicagoans and those seeking abortions—although not at religious institutions.
■ ProPublica: Websites selling abortion pills are sharing sensitive data with Google.
‘Nothing happened.’ A Chicago alderman—and certified teacher of concealed-carry gun classes—is playing down the shooting of his adult daughter during one of his lessons.
■ Chicago police have charged a 23-year-old man with shooting himself and a 3-year-old boy and then lying about it.
Sheriffs behaving badly. A Sun-Times editorial calls out police leadership in dozens of Illinois counties for announcing they won’t enforce the state’s new ban on assault weapons.
■ A Tribune editorial: “Did they forget their oaths of office?”
■ Axios Chicago: Large police organizations have kept mum.
■ CWB Chicago: Prosecutors say a homeowner held a burglar at swordpoint until cops showed up.
‘Men in hospitals are really big fat babies.’ Former Trib columnist John Kass reveals that he suffered a stroke.
■ Former Kass colleague and frequent Kass critic Eric Zorn: “I look forward to him outraging me again with a new column on his website in the very near future.”
At this point, it’d be more newsworthy if he told the truth—about anything. Contrary to a claim by U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-Bullshit), his mom wasn’t working in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
■ Jimmy Kimmel on Santos’ continued tribulations: “It’s always a bad sign when your former roommate is on CNN.”
■ The Daily Beast: The shadow race to replace Santos has begun.
■ Meanwhile: Donald Trump, who’s repeatedly insisted his sexual assault accuser E. Jean Carroll isn’t his “type,” mistook a photo of her for his ex-wife.
‘Awkward postures … and long hours.’ For the second time in two months, Amazon warehouses in Illinois and two other states have been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for a long list of safety-related worker abuses.
■ Amazon’s cutting off a charity program it ran for a decade.
■ Party City’s filed for bankruptcy protection.
■ The Onion: “More Companies Cutting Costs By Replacing CEOs With Prison Labor.”
Nice work if you can get it. Netflix is hiring a flight attendant for its private jet fleet—offering an annual salary of up to $385,000.
■ Oscar Mayer is seeking candidates to drive the Wienermobile.
■ Deadline for applying is Jan. 31 here.
Drinking problems. Orange juice prices have hit a record high—and you can blame the climate.
■ R.I.P., Sierra Mist—although Digg editor Jared Russo says “the second option at every pizza party at an ice skating rink from your youth … wasn’t even as good as 7-Up, and nowhere near Sprite.”
■ A Tufts University environmental researcher: Solar-powered refrigerators for developing countries can cut hunger and slow climate change.
Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.
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