Thanks, climate change. Block Club: As the planet warms, mosquitoes are plaguing the Chicago region more—and longer—than they have for decades.
■ Y’know who preys on mosquitoes? Bats—hundreds of which washed up on the Lake Michigan shore Saturday, dead.
■ A Sun-Times editorial sounds an alarm: The weakening of Atlantic Ocean currents could push south the rain and snow the Midwest needs.
■ Media columnist Tom Jones rounds up climate change stories that will scare the heck out of you.
■ The Guardian: Big business is lobbying against heat protection for workers.
■ The Lever: When Chicagoans Barack Obama and his top strategist David Axelrod had the authority, “they chose not to prioritize climate policy and instead expanded fossil fuel production.”
■ Make-believe Onion readers respond to news that water temperatures off Florida’s coast hit 101.1º F: “Even sharks deserve a hot meal.”
On strike. Workers at Chicago’s scandal-scarred Loretto Hospital took to the picket line this morning.
■ Their demands include a living wage and more staffing.
■ First Aid Kit: How to fight your health insurance company.
Your leaders at work. Or not. Columnist Laura Washington on Chicago Transit Authority executives’ failure to, you know, ride the CTA: “These fat-cat elites are far removed from the real life of public transportation.”
■ The Tribune: Chicago’s acting police chief is legally double-dipping—collecting pension payments even as he collects a salary from a department he left three years ago.
Google us. Please. The Trib takes a look ahead to the prospect that Google’s purchase of the iconic Thompson Center will revitalize Chicago’s downtown—as the company’s presence in the Fulton Market district turbocharged development there.
■ Lollapalooza, returning to Chicago Thursday, will crimp downtown traffic beginning today.
‘Thank you for your service, sir. Now let’s talk about why you’re such a colossal dick.’ Esquire columnist Charlie Pierce invites you to consider the case of Wisconsin Republican Rep. and Navy SEAL veteran Derrick Van Orden.
■ The New York Times (gift link for you) has unearthed documents showing how late Michigan Democratic Rep. John Dingell privately helped transform the National Rifle Association into the political powerhouse it became.
‘You certainly would not have used a similar reference to someone confined to a wheelchair.’ Chicago Public Square reader and supporter Mark Mueller writes of Friday’s edition, which included satiric commentary on Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s health issues: “I don’t expect much (if anything) from The Onion, so snarky bits about the aftermath of a stroke are pretty much right in their wheelhouse, but I did not expect Chicago Public Square to amplify it. … As someone living with the profound changes an ischemic stroke brought to my life almost two years ago, it saddens me to see this from someone whose news judgment I respect.”
■ Columnist Lauren Martinchek: California Sen. Diane Feinstein forgot how to vote.
■ Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on CBS: McConnell, Feinstein and other government leaders of advancing age and declining health should “know when to walk away.”
‘We punish women for being outspoken.’ Columnist Lyz Lenz’s Exhibit A: Singer and activist Sinéad O’Connor.
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg: The silence surrounding how O’Connor died speaks volumes.
Svensday. Block Club talks to local TV movie host Rich “Svengoolie” Koz about a new comic book putting him at the center of a time-travel tale that also shares the origin stories of some of his supporting characters.
■ He’ll be autographing copies this weekend in Rosemont.
Facebook cash, anyone? Among items posted to the Square Facebook page over the weekend: Time’s short for claiming a share of a $725 million settlement in a privacy lawsuit.
■ Fill out this form by Aug. 25.
■ Ten years ago on WBEZ: Guess which social media channel proved most effective in resolving your Square columnist’s, um … sensitive … customer service problem.
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Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.