Breathe (a bit) easier. The outlook for Chicago’s air quality—rendered awful by smoke from Canadian wildfires—eases a bit tomorrow …
■ … but stands to be no better than moderate through Sunday …
■ … as the weather gets rougher.
■ One doctor compares breathing Chicago’s air this week to smoking (correction) half a pack of cigarettes a day …
■ … which is why masks are back, baby.
■ Here’s the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance for protecting yourself from wildfire smoke …
■ … and you can sign up for The Daily Breather for email updates on local air quality.
■ Even with international reinforcements, Canadian firefighters have been overwhelmed.
■ Conceding the present onslaught of dirty air is beyond Illinoisans’ immediate control, a Sun-Times editorial calls on the state to work harder to cut its own air pollution.
■ The Onion: “Wildfire Smoke Struggling To Stand Out Among Other Pollutants Already In Air.” (Cartoon: An excerpt from Jen Sorensen’s contribution to The Nib.)
■ The Guardian: Texas has avoided rolling blackouts through its latest heatwave—partly by doubling its solar power supplies since last year.
■ A new Museum of Science and Industry exhibit illustrates the menace plastic waste poses to oceans and lakes, including Lake Michigan.
Chicago’s ‘wrong raid’ problem. A new report from the city’s inspector general concludes the police department’s search warrant files are “incomplete, paper-based and decentralized,” keeping the department from getting a handle on just how often cops screw up.
■ A Chicago police sergeant who pinned a teenager to the sidewalk outside a Park Ridge Starbucks—and was acquitted of criminal charges—now faces a civil lawsuit from the family.
‘Bidenomics.’ That’s the theme of President Biden’s Chicago fundraising blitz today.
■ The Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet says Biden wants to show strength when end-of-the-quarter campaign funding reports are due at the end of the week.
■ Politico: Branding (don’t say Brandoning) the economy with his name might not be all upside.
‘A resounding, reverberating victory for American democracy.’ That’s a conservative former federal judge’s take on the Supreme Court ruling that yesterday rejected a theory that would have given state legislators almost unlimited power to write their own election rules.
■ Popular Information: Democracy dodged a bullet—with an asterisk.
■ Public Notice notes that this was the second time this month that Justices Roberts and Kavanaugh joined with liberals to block Republicans’ push for one-party rule.
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg on Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s twisted view of a past that never was: “The crisis years of the 1970s might seem hazy to someone who turned 9 on the day Ronald Reagan became president. But he was shot two months later. And Pope John Paul II was shot two months later.”
When insurance companies say ‘No.’ A ProPublica investigation shines a light on the secrecy surrounding coverage denial rates …
■ … by companies such as Cigna, which it says saves millions by having its doctors reject claims without reading them.
■ It explains how you can get documents explaining why your claim was denied …
■ … and it wants your stories of insurance company snubs.
■ Gov. Pritzker’s signed a bill giving Illinois more power over health insurance policies.
■ The Messenger: Swindlers used Barbie dolls to rob the federal COVID-19 relief program.
■ A federal watchdog’s updated estimates peg the total stolen from two big pools of relief money at more than $200 billion.
‘RY_N SE_CREST.’ Poynter’s Tom Jones assesses the naming of Wheel of Fortune’s next host …
■ … giving Chicago native Pat Sajak more time to spend overseeing a Michigan college that forbids gay relationships (June 16 link).
■ Without explanation, a woman who accused ex-WTMX-FM morning host Eric Ferguson of coercing her to perform sexual acts has dropped the lawsuit that forced him off the air.
■ Veteran Chicago and network TV correspondent Jim Avila assesses Fox’s lineup change: “A sad—even desperate—attempt to bring back angry viewers who left in droves over the last year.”
NASCAR tragedy. Seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson has dropped out of the impending Chicago race after the shooting deaths—an apparent murder-suicide combination—of his in-laws and 11-year-old nephew.
■ The Sun-Times’ Steve Greenberg: Yes, we all must root for NASCAR’s only Illinois driver this weekend.
■ A Tribune editorial mourns billionaire James Crown’s death Sunday while driving a racecar around a track: “Another cruel blow for the city’s efforts against gun violence” …
■ … to say nothing of the death at 91 of the Chicago-born founder of the company that brought civilization the Chia Pet and the Clapper.
‘Dazzles at every turn.’ Sun-Times critic Catey Sullivan gives four stars to The Goodman Theatre’s new production of The Who’s Tommy …
■ … as does the Tribune’s Chris Jones.
■ Australian humor site The Shovel: “Ticketmaster Introduces New ‘Fee Handling Fee’ to Cover Cost of Adding Up All the Fucking Fees.”
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