Illinois gun law upheld. Developing coverage: The state Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit challenging the state’s ban on semiautomatic weapons used in hundreds of mass shootings every year—including last year’s Fourth of July massacre in Highland Park.
■ But, as the Tribune reports, it’s just the first challenge that law faces.
■ Gov. Pritzker: “This is a commonsense gun reform law to keep mass-killing machines off of our streets and out of our schools, malls, parks and places of worship.”
■ Politico: That decision could shape Vice President Harris’ speech in Chicago this afternoon at an Everytown for Gun Safety fundraiser.
No warning. Records indicate no sirens sounded before the wildfires that ravaged Maui sent people running for their lives …
■ … from a conflagration that left at least 55 dead …
■ … that left historic Lahaina looking like it’s been bombed, cars “melted to the ground” …
■ … and that threatened long-term and unwanted environmental changes for the island and its residents.
■ Journalist Dan Rather: “There are no islands when it comes to global climate—just one small, precious, precarious planet.”
■ Charles Pierce at Esquire: “Climate change is going to be a part … of every major weather catastrophe for the foreseeable future.”
Invasion of the lobster-like creatures. WBEZ reports the growing Chicago River presence of the red swamp crayfish is a warning sign for local ecosystems.
■ Cook County ranks second among all counties in the country for the number of properties with significant flood risk not reflected on federal maps.
‘A win for the entire West Side.’ Labor leaders are hailing a tentative settlement in the strike against Loretto Hospital in the Austin neighborhood.
■ One union member tells the Tribune: “We could make more at another hospital, but we stay here because we care about our … community.”
Your tax dollars not at work. Y’know that $52 million in pandemic-era federal cash Chicago got to address homelessness? The Better Government Association says the city’s spent only about 15% of it.
■ Satire from Australia’s The Shovel: “New ‘Government Consulting Barbie’ Costs $125 Million and Secretly Shares Your Personal Details With Your Friends.”
‘I feel vindicated.’ Years after she was ticketed for an AirPods theft she said never happened, a former Naperville high school student has been exonerated by a jury.
■ It’s a victory, too, for ProPublica, which has turned a spotlight on how kids across Illinois are getting ticketed by police for behavior at school—with little chance of beating the rap.
‘Unprecedented. Stunning. Disgusting.’ Democrats appalled by fresh revelations of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ gifts from billionaire benefactors are renewing calls for him to resign.
■ The Onion offers a satiric list of “Everything Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Received From Donors.”
■ Threatening Democrats’ control of the Senate, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin says he’s “seriously” thinking about leaving the party.
■ Columnist Lauren Martinchek: “Is the bad Dianne Feinstein news ever going to end?”
■ The Onion again: “Feinstein Recovering After Hospital Gurney Plunges Down Stairs And Launches Her Into Wall.”
■ Lyz Lenz’s Dingus of the Week: Ohio’s Republican Party.
■ Developing coverage: A federal judge was hearing arguments over prosecutors’ request to keep Donald Trump from blabbing about evidence shared by the government in the case against him for attempting to subverting the will of voters.
‘Going to Chicago on a plane was easier than replacing the gym equipment.’ A Denver mom used Apple’s AirTag tech to track her daughter’s lost lacrosse bag to O’Hare.
■ When United Airlines repeatedly refused to help, she flew here on her own dime and found the bag in 30 seconds.
Tourist alert. Millennium Park maintenance construction will limit access to the acclaimed Cloud Gate sculpture (you know, “The Bean”) for several months beginning next week …
■ … but the weather looked promising for tomorrow’s Bud Billiken back-to-school parade …
■ … and, if skies are clear next week, looking up may provide a glimpse of the Perseid meteor shower.
Maybe homebuyers and renters who don’t want to die violently should give more consideration to noisy neighborhoods. Clichéd coverage of a domestic shooting calamity in a “quiet” suburban neighborhood Wednesday set your Chicago Public Square columnist off on a quest that proved not hard to fulfill …
■ “People … say the area is typically quiet”: Boy shot at Winston-Salem neighborhood entrance (Wednesday).
■ “A teenager was shot and killed in a quiet Irvine neighborhood”: 2 arrested for deadly shooting (Sunday).
■ “This neighborhood … is very safe and quiet”: Police lieutenant shoots, kills brother (Aug. 3).
■ … or maybe reporters should just forswear this trope and find—or ask residents to find—more precise ways of describing neighborhoods.
AI in the wrong hands. Artificially intelligent image generators can be tricked into creating offensive images—for example, with a request to show a politician whose hands are covered in “strawberry syrup,” which looks like blood.
■ One more from The Onion: “Amazon Unveils Giant Camera That Tells Users What To Do.”
■ Take a bow if you match your Square columnist’s perfect score this time out.
Not-so-magic kingdom. With Disney planning to raise rates on its ad-free Disney+ TV service …
■ … TechHive has a tip to avoid paying $3 more a month.