‘Disturbing conduct.’ Pressed by the Tribune, Mayor Johnson’s office has released a long-suppressed letter in which two former employees of Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin accuse her of ethical violations …
Current events. Politico reports that Gov. Pritzker’s veto of a couple of energy bills—including one that would have cleared construction of new nuclear power plants in Illinois—so angered the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers that the union uninvited him to a conference last week—after his name had been printed in programs.
■ North Carolina lawmakers are considering a bill that would classify nuclear power as “clean energy.” (Link updated.)
Humanity at risk. A Washington Post analysis spotlights “a new global wave of disease and death linked to climate change.”
■ The Conversation: California and Florida, whose populations ballooned in the last century on the promise of perfect climates, now lead the nation for climate-change risk.
■ The Onion: “Nation’s Scientists Announce Everything Science-Wise Is Regular.”
‘A big sigh of relief.’ Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina finds comfort in the latest round of lab and epidemiological data on the BA.2.86 COVID-19 variant.
■ For at least a second time, First Lady Jill Biden has it.
■ … even as the state’s public school teachers remain underpaid.
■ The Illinois League of Women Voters president hails the sunsetting of Illinois’ voucher program: “Public funds should be used for public schools.”
‘A big deal.’ Public Notice’s Noah Berlatsky calls Illinois’ elimination of cash bail “a genuine breakthrough … which points the way forward for national change.”
■ Illinois Legal Aid Online: “This is a developing area of law, and there is a lot we don’t know.”
■ The Associated Press: “America’s small towns are disbanding police forces, citing hiring woes. It’s not all bad.”
‘The first time I met Bill Richardson he fired me.’ Chicagoan Mike Fourcher fondly recalls the former New Mexico governor and UN ambassador, who fired him many times.
■ … and who died at 75 over the weekend.
Naked city—not. The Chicago Park District’s removed a fake sign indicating the presence of a “nude beach” along the lakefront.
■ Block Club Chicago: Looks like the work of a Rogers Park prankster responsible for, among other things, a 2021 sign proclaiming that lakefront digging was permitted for a “citizen burial.”
‘Part of reading The New York Times is cringing when you read The New York Times.’ The Times obituary for “singer, songwriter, author, sailor and entrepreneur” Jimmy Buffett set off columnist Neil Steinberg.
■ Buffett’s career was intertwined with Chicago—and Chicagoan Steve Goodman.
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