Mild-weather mayhem. Two teenagers were wounded in shootings downtown and another on the Near South Side as large groups of young people swarmed over the weekend …
■ … among other things, stomping and dancing on parked cars.
■ Police escorted bystanders to the Millennium Park garage.
■ Mayor Lightfoot says police assure her “they will make the necessary adjustments to address these teen trends issues” …
■ … which raises the question of why those adjustments weren’t already in place, given Chicago’s history of such trouble when the weather turns warm.
■ The city’s 2022 Millennium Park curfew on those under 18 is still on the books.
■ Condemning the violence, Mayor-elect Johnson nevertheless asserted that “it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities.”
■ New analysis exposes the legacy of toxic chemicals created by Portland cops’ extraordinary use of teargas during 2020 protests.
‘When you think your child is going to be murdered in front of your face, it changes who you are.’ A Highland Park mother who shielded her 4 1/2-year-old daughter from gunfire at Highland Park’s Fourth of July massacre was to be among more than 1,000 marching on Washington today, demanding an end to assault weapons.
■ At least four people are dead and 28 others hurt after a shooting at a teenager’s birthday party in Alabama.
‘Cook County … is more difficult … than anywhere else.” An expert in legal systems around the world tells the Tribune the court system here—one of the world’s largest—releases hardly any information about how (in)efficiently it’s working.
■ Here’s the Trib’s full series on Cook County court delays.
‘It’s an injustice.’ That’s one of many residents mourning Walmart’s abrupt shutdown over the weekend of four Chicago stores.
■ The nonprofit My Block, My Hood, My City gave out 1,000 meals at the Chatham location.
■ The company’s reportedly offering to donate its abandoned property to the city.
Whoops. The Daily Beast reports that the Republican Party’s quietly backed off from attacking one of its biggest donors, Bud Light parent Anheuser-Busch, for its alliance with a transgender personality.
■ The Onion: “Conservatives Boycott Computers After Noticing Keyboard Can Be Used To Type Trans.” (Cartoon: An excerpt from Joey Alison Sayers’ analysis of “The Cis Agenda.”)
■ Politico: Why Republican culture warriors lost big in school board races in Illinois and across the country.
■ As residents call for the resignation of the Republican Tennessee House speaker who led the ouster of two Black representatives, Popular Information dissects his response to charges he doesn’t live in his own district: “Virtually nothing Sexton said is true.”
■ USA Today’s Rex Huppke reflects on Republicans’ seeming affection for cartoon villains: “When did the party decide bad is good?”
Timely tax tips. Kiplinger rounds up last-minute filing advice.
■ Why Tax Day falls on April 18 this year—and in April in the first place.
■ Guess which party opposes a government-run, free tax-filing system for all?
■ A University of Illinois computer science professor condemns state lotteries as “a regressive tax that few progressive governors are willing to acknowledge.”
Chrome alert. If you’re using Google’s web browser, update it now to fix a security flaw hackers have already been exploiting.
■ At risk: Users across Windows, Mac, and Linux devices.
Back to school. An end was at hand for Chicago State University faculty’s 10-day strike.
■ Classes were set to resume today.
A jazz great gone. A musical influence for seven decades, pianist Ahmad Jamal is dead at 92.
■ He was a Chicago smash in the ’50s and ’60s.
■ Already a supporter at that level and want to join the fun? Or want to level up from another plan? Email Lisagors@ChicagoPublicSquare.com. (Photo: A 2018 Lisagor.)
■ Carol Hendrick’s is the most recent name added to the roster of the Legion of Chicago Public Squarians.
■ Another Carol, Carol Morency, made this edition better.
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