‘The weirdest legislation that anybody has ever been asked to vote on since I got here.’ That’s Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin’s take on a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling …
■ … headed to the Senate after yesterday’s bipartisan approval in the House.
■ Esquire’s Charlie Pierce calls the bill “an act of extortion.”
■ The Lever: Environmentalists are up in arms over a provision that could provide legal cover for energy companies seeking to dodge drawn-out court battles.
■ The Messenger: Biden’s fossil-fuel dealmaking “risks a youth vote uprising.”
‘Earth is really quite sick.’A study published in Nature concludes that Earth is in the red zone for eight environmental safety measures.
■ Chicago just escaped one of its driest Mays ever.
■ More than 2,000 Amazon workers around the world walked off the job yesterday, in part to protest the company’s environmental record.
■ Amazon faces a $25 million fine for hoovering up kids’ voice and location data via its Alexa voice assistant.
‘I’m mad as hell.’ Emotions ran high yesterday as the Chicago City Council approved $51 million to care for an influx of migrants.
■ Politico’s Shia Kapos says the debate exposed a Black v. migrant divide.
■ Two dozen new citizens were sworn in at Sox Park before yesterday afternoon’s game.
■ A Sun-Times editorial: With the Bears headed to the suburbs, Mayor Johnson needs a plan for Soldier Field.
We’re No. 2. That’s Chicago’s slot in a new ranking of “America’s Best Cities” …
■ … but, hey, beware those diving falcons in the Loop.
[Just] 400 killings a year. That’s the aim of a new Chicago crime-reduction strategy …
■ … to be led by one of Chicago’s wealthiest humans.
■ A western Illinois man and former contestant on Family Feud has been convicted of murdering his estranged wife.
Harvard-bound. Ex-Mayor Lightfoot’s off to Cambridge in August to teach a course in COVID-19 “Health Policy and Leadership.”
■ Fox 32: A suburban mayor’s under the microscope for questionable spending that critics say blurs the lines between her official duties and self-promotion.
‘One of the finest hoteleries west of Chicago.’ That’s how one reporter in 1907 described the Hotel Davenport—the apartment building that collapsed Sunday, just days after a masonry company owner says he told workers “Get away. You’re going to die.”
■ A survivor whose wife was rescued from the rubble—but lost a leg in the process—tells Newsweek that Davenport officials are “not telling the full story.”
■ Iowa-based columnist Lyz Lenz says the response to the collapse highlights inequality in America: “When a building falls who gets to be saved?”
360 lives a year. That’s the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s estimate of the benefits of a pending new requirement that all passenger cars and light trucks include automatic emergency braking.
■ Consumer Reports ranks the best used cars for teens.
‘I’m sure you’ll be shocked to know that the media missed the real story.’ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch: In all the mockery of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ botched presidential candidacy declaration, journalists failed to note that “his blueprint for American fascism was hiding in plain sight.”
■ ProPublica serves up an interactive guide to rights the Supreme Court has established—and could take away.
‘Remember, it’s not backsliding, it’s … something else that doesn’t sound as bad!’ Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri mocks companies abandoning Pride Month products under pressure …
■ … as, in the words of CNN’s Oliver Darcy, “the supposedly anti-cancel culture crowd is leading the summer's biggest cancel culture campaign.”
■ Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik: “When the braying mob of anti-LGBTQ+ reactionaries targeted Target, the company folded like a cheap off-the-rack suit.”
■ The Nib’s Allyson Shwed explodes myths about “gendered colors.”
NPR’s public editor can’t take a joke. The Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! team gets dinged for a Taco Bell joke that referenced the Holocaust …
■ … which makes this a fine time to revisit a 2017 Chicago Public Square interview with host Peter Sagal.
They may or may not be square, but they are assuredly public.
Meet more generous readers who, to keep Chicago Public Square coming, have given not only cash but also permission for publication of their names in gratitude: Marj Halperin, Stephen Schlesinger, Alexander Domanskis, Scott Watson, Carolyn Potts, Nancy Burns, Scott Tindale, Ken Saydak, Sam Hochberg, Jennifer McGeary, Alan Solomon, Laurie Huget, Michael Brooks, Christopher Comes, Ira Pilchen, Jim Prescott, Brian Rohr, Barbara Miller, Larry Dahlke, Rebecca Ewan, Judee Barone, Sara Burrows, Becky Brofman, Julia Winn, Maureen Kelly, Ellen Mrazek, MJ Garnier, Alec Bloyd-Peshkin, Anna Tarkov, David Jones, Amy Dixon-Kolar, Ed Nickow, Jim Parks, Maria Mooshil, Doug Freedman, Andrew Thackray, Susan Benloucif, Bill Weldon, Cynthia Martin, Brian J. Taylor, Ron Castan, Patrick Olsen, Stephen Brenner, Judy Karlov, Dave Tan, Paul Kungl, Ken Scott, Gil Arias, Linda Baltikas, Michael Kelly, Suzy Carlson, Elizabeth Meisterling, Michael Conway, Ron Magers, Neil Parker, Dawn Haney, Christa Velbel, Jeanette Mancusi, Darold Barnum, Mary T. Davison, Chris Handzlik, Kathleen Hogan, Arthur Golab, Carmie Callobre, John Jaramillo, Rick Baert, Analeah Rosen, Susan Karol, Paul Crossey, Jan Czarnik, Peggy Conlon-Madigan, Aaron Barnhart, Jim Kelly and Owen Youngman.
■ We’ll wrap up this latest roll call Friday. If you’d like your name to appear here then, you know what to do.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s Teen Creative Agency takes over the museum for 21Minus, MCA’s annual exposition of youth creativity.
A Square advertiser
Join us June 17 from 1–6 p.m. for an afternoon of performances, workshops, art installations, film screenings and more! Free for people 21 and under and their families, but all are welcome.