Apology. Sorry about those duplicate copies of Chicago Public Square delivered yesterday. Mailchimp’s been advised.
New vax. A fresh version of the COVID-19 vaccine has won FDA approval—with a final OK from the CDC likely today—setting the stage for fall vaccinations before the end of the week …
■ … and they’ll be free for everyone in Chicago.
■ PolitiFact debunks reactionary warnings about the return of COVID lockdowns.
■ WBEZ: Regional numbers suggest the worst of pandemic-era unemployment is over.
‘Stories from neighbors and friends … have felt endless.’ Block Club Chicago: Robberies have skyrocketed in West Town And Logan Square.
■ CWB Chicago: “Prosecutors have charged a man with robbing a CTA customer at the Garfield Red Line station about a month after he was sentenced to three years in prison for, you guessed it, robbing a customer at the Garfield Red Line station.”
Not so fast. Stung by charges she’d abused the power of her office, Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin canceled last Friday’s kickoff for her congressional campaign.
■ The Chicago Ethics Board: It’s in the city inspector general’s hands.
■ Sharply questioned about his ties to political candidates who favor cutting police funding, Mayor Johnson’s pick for city comptroller nevertheless won City Council committee approval yesterday.
Who needs money? Axios Chicago reports that Illinois is making it easier for residents to get unclaimed property they’re due.
■ Check here with just a last name to see if you have anything coming.
Republicans’ ‘nuclear option.’ Popular Information dissects the party’s desperate threat to impeach a Democratic state Supreme Court justice elected by a wide margin—before she’s had a chance to rule on a single case.
■ Wisconsin’s Democratic Party chair tells MSNBC that move would undermine the state’s entire system of democracy.
‘Welcome to the Uterus, America’s newest national park.’ Columnist Lindsay Beyerstein flags a federal appeals judge’s opinion that borrowed from environmental law to restrict access to abortion drugs.
■ The Associated Press: Republican opposition to abortion threatens a global HIV/AIDS program that has saved 25 million lives.
Thousands missing or dead. Updating coverage: As many as 10,000 people were unaccounted for after floodwaters burst from dams and smashed the Libyan city of Derna.
■ Chicago’s Moroccan community—including a former Oak Parker and her Moroccan-born husband—is rallying support for those who survived last week’s earthquake.
■ Here are some ways you can help.
Apple spiel. Updating coverage: The new iPhone and other announcements were due today at the company’s annual product rollout.
■ The curious can watch live online here beginning at noon Chicago time.
■ The Onion: “iPhone 15 Includes 12 Animal Sounds And Colorful Lever.”
■ At the start of the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in decades, Google faces an existential threat.
■ A University of Oxford study concludes news organization policies on artificial intelligence “lack teeth.”
TV standoff ends. Disney and the Charter cable company settled their dispute just hours before football fans would’ve had to go cold turkey on Monday Night Football.
■ Stratechery’s Ben Thompson says the winners include consumers—and not just those who get their TV from that one cable company.
■ Alex Kirshner at Slate: “Cable and streaming TV are jumping off the cliff together.”
‘Shameful.’ Stung by social media criticism, DraftKings has apologized for promoting a 9/11-themed gambling opportunity.
■ It’s not the only company to have been shamed for capitalizing on the tragedy.
Grocery scorecard. J.M. Smucker is buying Hostess Brands.
■ Kellogg’s is spinning off its snacks division—think Pringle’s and Pop-Tarts—into a new Chicago-based company to be known as Kellanova.
Want a Chicago Public Square cap or T-shirt? They’re about to give way to … something else. So if you want a collector’s item—or a special holiday gift—now’s the time to buy.
