Mitch glitch. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell—at 81, the longest-serving leader in Senate history—froze for close to 20 seconds during a news conference before being escorted away from the podium yesterday.
■ Here’s the video.
■ The incident came three months after he fell at a Washington airport.
■ Columnist and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich says the same thing happened to him 35 years ago: “I find much of what Mitch McConnell has done as leader of the Senate Republicans repugnant. Yet … I wish him well.”
■ The Bulwark’s Charlie Sykes: “We need to have a conversation about our political Elder Culture.”
‘When you’re wrong, you’re really wrong.’ Law professor Joyce Vance is eating her words about the “debacle” over a plea deal in presidential scion Hunter Biden’s tax case yesterday …
■ … when a federal judge—appointed by Donald Trump—derailed an agreement that would have let him off with two years’ probation.
■ USA Today columnist Rex Huppke: “An objective person might say what happened Wednesday completely punctures the right’s hysterical nonsense about a sweetheart deal. Or … (Please wrap your head in tin foil if you plan to continue reading.)”
‘DeSantis is losing because he’s bad at this.’ Columnist John Stoehr says presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is misreading his own party’s mood.
■ Mocking DeSantis’ new standards for teaching African American history in Florida schools, The Onion lists the biggest benefits slaves got from slavery.
■ Satirist Andy Borowitz: “DeSantis Offers Campaign Staff Opportunity to Work for Free in Exchange for Invaluable Skills.”
We’re No. 1. Illinois tops the nation so far in the number of tornadoes this year.
■ With potentially dangerous heat in the forecast through Friday, a geriatrics specialist counsels people to “take it seriously.”
■ An air quality researcher tells Block Club Chicago how to read—and react to—those daily pollution reports.
■ Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina: “Before 2021, increases in heat-related illnesses were strikingly apparent in Arizona. But changes are becoming more apparent in other regions now.”
■ The New York Times: “This looks like Earth’s warmest month. Even hotter ones appear to be in store” (gift link; free for all).
■ Federal disaster officials are going door-to-door in the area assessing flood damage, gathering evidence that could free government cash to help homeowners recover.
■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson: Collapse of the Atlantic currents that move warm water out of the tropics would endanger food supplies for billions of people.
■ Environmental journalist Bill McKibben in The New Yorker: “This burning summer is taking us out of human time.”
■ Heated columnist Emily Atkin catches up with the Iowa meteorologist who quit after getting death threats over his coverage of the climate crisis.
Electrifying news. Seven big automakers are teaming up to create a vehicle recharging network to rival Tesla’s.
■ Electric car prices are dropping; gas-powered or hybrid models—not so much.
■ Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield tells columnist Eric Zorn that Mayor Johnson’s transition team recommendation that Chicago lower its default speed limit to 20 miles an hour—10 on residential streets—“could greatly decrease traffic injury and fatality rates for all road users.”
■ Need a new Illinois driver’s license? As of September, you’ll need an appointment at many facilities.
‘How to get a surprise bill on your way to the hospital.’ The Arm and a Leg podcast dives into a hole in the federal No Surprises Act so big “you could drive an ambulance through it.”
■ For a future episode on artificial intelligence, the show’s proprietor, Dan Weissman, wants your stories about stupid insurance denials.
Correction. Yesterday’s Chicago Public Square mischaracterized Gov. Pritzker’s action on homelessness and linked to an old news story in error. He signed a law, not an executive order—although the law codifies his 2021 executive order.
‘Brilliant!’ Reader Gene Daly was among those hailing a subheadline in yesterday’s Square, “Metaphor leaves DeSantis unhurt” …
■ … but Square neglected to acknowledge inspiration from The Onion.
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■ Author Kurt Wehrmeister and illustrator Kathryn Nagel will sign books and lead kids in a hands-on art workshop Friday in Geneva.