‘Obscene.’ That’s columnist Neil Steinberg’s assessment of Robert Crimo Jr.’s fashion choice as he showed up in court to begin his 60-day sentence for signing the application that let his teenage son buy the gun allegedly used to kill seven and wound 48 at last year’s Highland Park Fourth of July parade.
■ The judge threatened to hold Crimo in contempt if he breaks court rules again.
‘Further than any mainstream news organization has ever gone.’ Media writer Tom Jones hails—and warns sensitive readers about—today’s Washington Post report detailing the horror of mass shootings enabled by the AR-15.
■ See it here (gift link, courtesy of Chicago Public Square supporters).
■ In the first such ruling of its kind from Chicago’s federal court, a judge says a law forbidding felons from possessing guns is unconstitutional.
■ NPR and The Marshall Project: A warden who tried to fix an abusive federal prison in Illinois wound up facing death threats.
Mayor’s ‘rookie mistake.’ Picayune Sentinel proprietor Eric Zorn slams Brandon Johnson’s administration for its handling of a Chicago City Council member’s request to remove tent camps for the homeless from his district.
■ A Tribune editorial: “The mayor should direct the staff in his office to end this practice of offering more police attention in exchange for legislative support.”
■ Johnson’s first city budget breezed through the council …
■ … even though, in the words of a Sun-Times editorial, it “kicks the fiscal can down the road” on funding for the city’s migrant influx.
■ Effective Friday, the mayor’s imposing a 60-day limit on migrants’ stay in city shelters.
■ Axios Chicago asks: “Where are the migrant work permits?”
■ Cook County commissioners are considering a $100 million “disaster” fund to care for migrants and asylum seekers.
Democrats evacuated. As pro-Mideast cease-fire protesters mixed it up with police last night in Washington, top House Democrats were escorted from the party’s headquarters.
■ That included Illinois Rep. Sean Casten.
‘The craziest, stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.’ Just one Democrat—Patty Murray of Washington—joined 10 Republicans in opposing the Senate’s final, unusually structured, approval for government funding through January.
■ USA Today’s Rex Huppke: “As the presiding officer of the Office of Congressional Fisticuffs … I need to remind lawmakers on the Republican side of the aisle that there are rules.”
■ Columnist Matthew Yglesias: “America needs more ‘bureaucrats,’ not fewer. Capable, competent government matters.”
‘He said, Xi said.’ Stephen Colbert says that’s the upshot of Presidents Biden and Xi’s decision not to issue a joint statement after their huddle yesterday in San Francisco.
■ Noting the men’s long relationship, stretching back to when they were both vice presidents, the AP recaps the products of their talk—maybe including more pandas for Washington’s National Zoo.
■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson: “This is the first time China has agreed to cut [greenhouse gas] emissions.”
‘I did release those videos.’ A lawyer for one of Donald Trump’s Georgia acolytes has admitted he leaked damning footage of Trump’s formerly loyal lawyers essentially confessing.
■ In the aftermath of Univision’s Trump-enabling interview, one of its most prominent anchors has left.
■ Popular Information: Trump’s playing the media on abortion.
‘We are officially in full-on epidemic mode.’ Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina updates the state of RSV, COVID and flu infections across the nation.
■ The Arm and a Leg podcast: “To get health insurance, they made a movie, Ellen Needs Insurance. It’s pretty funny”…
■ … and you can watch it here.
■ Heated introduces you to “Instagram wellness influencers spreading climate misinformation.”
■ Meet Time’s Climate 100.
Go, nuts. Facebook and Instagram parent Meta says it’ll allow political ads questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election.
■ The Bing Chat AI has a new name: Copilot …
■ … and its own web page—accessible only to those using Microsoft Edge or Chrome browsers.
■ The Post: “These lawyers used ChatGPT to save time. They got fired and fined.”
Jennifer Hudson, Chance the Rapper, Quincy Jones. That would be the answer to the question, “Which three celebrities now partly own a 1,500-seat Chicago theater shuttered for almost 40 years?”
■ Its website promises an opening before the end of the year.
Colleges = Casinos? A Miami University stats professor worries that, as sports betting spreads, universities need to address the threat of student gambling addiction.
A lot of Chicago newsletters round up the news. But most of them are obliged to a specific organization—unlike Chicago Public Square, which independently points you to great reporting and commentary, regardless of publisher.
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■ Chuck Mackie made this edition better.