■ Get the skinny by typing any county property address in here.
Awkward timing. Axios Chicago details downtown business leaders’ campaign to tout improved safety …
■ … word of which follows a melee in which a woman reportedly fired a single shot—triggering a lockdown on Northwestern University’s downtown campus.
■ Chicago cops are tackling a string of overnight armed robberies—including one that targeted an off-duty officer—across neighborhoods on the Northwest, Southwest and South Sides.
Nailed for revenge porn. A former Republican Illinois state representative’s off to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to distributing nude photos online without permission of the victims—including a former girlfriend.
■ He can mark Christmas as a free man—but not New Year’s Day.
‘Backers of a Palestinian state should oppose an immediate cease-fire.’ Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin: “Tolerating Hamas’s survival amounts to the failed approach Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pursued”—giving him “an excuse to avoid a two-state solution.” (Gift link, courtesy of Chicago Public Square supporters.)
■ David Leonhardt at The New York Times: The temporary pause in hostilities has created a strategic dilemma for Israel’s leaders in particular.
‘Insurance companies are making climate risk worse.’ And author and columnist Cory Doctorow explains, “The browner and poorer you are, the worse you have it.”
■ Which takes us back to a 2019 Chicago Public Square podcast interview with Doctorow.
■ Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina: COVID-19 vaccine disparities are getting worse.
Sports Fabricated. Exposed as having published articles attributed to fake, AI-generated personae, Sports Illustrated deleted everything.
■ The publication’s human writers say they’re “horrified” …
■ … but Poynter’s Tom Jones says no one should’ve been surprised.
■ The Conversation: Teachers are less afraid of students cheating with ChatGPT than you might think.
‘Prior to Musk’s backing of an antisemitic post, Colbert’s show … was primarily active on X.’ Instead, CNN’s Oliver Darcy notes, news of Stephen Colbert’s appendicitis appeared first not on Twitter X, but on Facebook’s sibling, Threads.*
■ Colbert’s off the air this week.
■ The Onion satirically reviews “Everything Elon Musk Did While Visiting Israel.”
Grocery merger. A couple of Chicago-based boutique startups, Dom’s Kitchen and Foxtrot, are joining forces …
■ … but they’ll keep their respective names.
‘Ripe for abuse.’ Popular Information: “Tax deductions for charitable giving have become the province of the wealthy.”
■ Speaking of which: The influential Americans for Prosperity Action group fueled by billionaire Charles Koch’s cash is tossing its hat—and its money—in with ex-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s Republican presidential campaign.
Whatever you think Square’s worth, pay half. A holiday special continues on this, #GivingNewsDay.
■ Regardless of how little you chip in to keep this service coming, you get $5 off the perfect gift: A very limited-edition Square hoodie …
■ … and the option to see your name tomorrow atop a continuing list of Square’s most recent supporters—such as Paul Crossey, Mike Dessimoz, Brian Rohr (again!), Donna Barrows, Libbey Paul, Gail Frost, Elaine Soloway, Craig Kaiser, Susan S. Stevens, Beth Kujawski, Alisa dePedro, Allan Hippensteel, Tim Colburn, Angela Mullins, Amy Reynaldo, Kate Arias, Jan Kieckhefer, Reed Pence, Robert S. Gold, Kurt Wehrmeister, Jeff Baker, Len Jaster, Keith Huizinga, Nina Ovryn, Jayson Hansen, Eric Zorn, Arthur Golab, Laurie and Bill Bunkers, Ted Slowik, Sheridan Chaney, Jim Peterson, Donna Peel, Frank Heitzman, Keelin Wyman, Mary Bunker, Peter Kuttner, Stephen Schlesinger, Timothy Cunningham and Joyce Winnecke.
Driven to comment. Marc Magliari’s condemnation in yesterday’s Square of the relabeling of Illinois’ Secretary of State Driver Services as DMV (for Driver and Motor Vehicles) Facilities—and his incidental disparagement of ketchup on hot dogs—triggered other readers:
■ Anne Libby: “It’s not just rebranding at DMV. … It’s a product redesign. They’ve turned something that sort of worked (even during the more lockdown-y parts of COVID) into something that does not work at all. My dad, an elder, has to take a driver’s test every year. They want him to schedule his visit. This would be awesome if it weren’t like trying to buy concert tickets. … You have to go online every morning at 7 to try to snag newly opened appointment slots. … Yes, you can call. The truly nice ladies will tell you to call again tomorrow. … I will probably be relegated to going online every morning and pretending I’m dad until we can find him something.”
■ Ross the Heretic: “What’s wrong with ketchup (catsup, whatever) on hot dogs? I was born and raised in Ch’cagalandt, and my family has always put catsup (ketchup) on hot dogs. Furthermore, ‘Chicago-style’ pizza is NOT deep-dish. It’s been thin-crust since at least 1951, if not earlier. My first encounter with thin bread slathered with tomato sauce and way too much mozzarella cheese? New York.”
Thanks. Michael Rosenbaum made this edition better.
* Where you’ll find this Square foothold.