Chicago Public Square will take a few days off. Meet you back here Tuesday. And now the news:
Johnson’s first big test. Politico’s Shia Kapos says Chicago’s new mayor has his work cut out for him with efforts to defuse the city’s traditionally violent Memorial Day weekend.
■ He’s promising boosted police presence on public transit, in business districts, Millennium Park and at beaches …
■ …which open today.
■ The AP: From the Civil War to mattress sales, Memorial Day’s full of contradiction.
Lyin’ cops. The Chicago inspector general’s office concludes the police department roster includes more than 100 officers who’ve knowingly provided false info during criminal investigations.
■ A new report finds that police leadership pushed cops to drastically increase traffic stops last year—disproportionately targeting people of color.
■ A man who spent 24 years in jail for crimes that he said police framed him for when he was 14 has been awarded $27 million by a federal jury.
Sedition commission. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes faces 18 years in prison for ringleading the Capitol insurrection in 2021.
■ It’s the longest Jan. 6 sentence yet.
■ A Chicago guy is getting off with probation.
‘This time Twitter failed in a way that brought people delight.’ Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri declares Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ bollixed presidential declaration “the funniest thing Elon Musk has ever done.”
■ Miss it? Hear it here.
■ Twitter’s engineering chief has quit.
■ The Conversation: How political comedians can depress turnout or activate voters in 2024.
‘A sort of reverse United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.’ Visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg reassures Floridians and DeSantis, “None of it made me feel bad about myself.”
■ His colleague Lynn Sweet explains what to know about the Biden administration’s first-ever national plan to combat antisemitism.
‘The Supreme Court just shriveled federal protection for wetlands.’ A University of California law professor explains.
■ The ruling was unanimous, but the justices’ reasoning split four ways.
■ Popular Science: It’s a huge setback for the Clean Water Act.
■ Growing popularity of electric vehicles across Chicago exposes a problem: Half the city’s neighborhoods lack public chargers.
‘Republicans want chaos because they know the media …will blame President Biden.’ Press Watch columnist Dan Froomkin on debt ceiling negotiations: “Sending the stock market and the economy into a tailspin while depriving the most fragile members of our society of the federal payments on which they depend” is a feature, not a bug.
■ Biden vows it won’t happen.
Layoffs in Aisle 2. Walgreens is cutting 10% of its corporate workforce …
■ … mostly in Chicago and Deerfield.
■ The National Labor Relations Board has delivered a complaint against Amazon, accusing it of illegally discouraging unionization efforts at four Chicago-area warehouses.
■ NBC News: How major brands, including Target, have been forced into the conservative movement against LGBTQ+ people.
■ The Onion again: “Anheuser-Busch Confirms All Bud Light Cans Have Undergone Gay Conversion Therapy” …
■ Raygun (manufacturer of Square caps and T-shirts) boasts: “We’re Now OFFICIALLY Gayer than Target.”
AI’s ‘going to destroy local news.’ A Chicago publisher is threatening to hang it up if artificial intelligence engines aren’t brought under control.
■ CNN: Big-biz publishers and broadcasters are sounding similar alarms.
■ After four decades, your Square publisher has canceled a subscription to a local paper with no local news.
■ Author and technology activist Cory Doctorow: “To save the news, shatter ad-tech.”
Netflix’s password sharing ‘crackdown’ is ‘a fishing expedition.’ TechHive columnist Jared Newman: “While Netflix is publicly talking tough about password sharing, it’s applying a lighter touch to the actual enforcement.”
■ The Verge: Netflix could ruin password sharing for everyone.
A world of wrong answers … and just a few right ones await you in the latest edition of The Conversation’s weekly news quiz, prepared by past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel.
columnist’s 7/8 score?
Today’s ‘Nice’ list. People whose financial contributions help keep this publication free for all: Eric Zorn, Ann James, Joel Hood & Sherry Skalko, Jerry Delaney, Michael Romain, Marc Magliari, Diane Scott, Nancy Hess, Liz Strause, Tom Barnes, John Kowalski, Tom Pritchett, Deb Abrahamson, Ryan Bird, Deborah J. Wess, Susy Schultz, Meredith Schacht, Linnea Crowther, G C Bien, Allan Hippensteel, Jan Kodner, Bridget Hatch, Virginia Mann, Crissy Kawamoto, Logan Aimone and Janice Kieckhefer.
■ Join their ranks—and see your name listed here Tuesday—by chipping in any amount at all.
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