‘A terrible Brandon Johnson move.’ A Tribune editorial condemns the mayor’s decision to cut off open public access to City Hall’s second-floor chamber, where the City Council meets—instead confining regular citizens to the third floor, behind glass, with “an absurdly limited view.”
■ The Better Government Association complains: “Personal relationships with elected officials should not be a determining factor in the public’s access to public meetings.”
Yellow Line blues. Two weeks after a crash that hurt 23 people, the CTA has yet to restore service on its line to Skokie.
■ More bus-only lanes and stoplights that let buses go first are in the works for Chicago.
■ The Illinois Supreme Court says auto insurance companies need to cover their clients struck by hit-and-run or uninsured drivers—even when those clients are on foot or riding a bicycle.
Let’s get quizzical. You’ll find an extra dose of Kissinger in the latest news quiz concocted by The Conversation’s quizmaster, past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel.
A Chicago high school with just 33 students. Block Club spotlights a West Side institution whose enrollment has dropped 94 percent in 16 years.
■ A strike by Columbia College adjunct faculty* is now reportedly the longest in the history of higher education.
‘You are really not sufficiently alarmed.’ The Bulwark’s Charlie Sykes—historically a Republican conservative, remember—warns, “If Trump wins this time, he will be largely unconstrained.”
■ Trump’s gag order is back—in force.
■ His niece, Mary: “Donald’s massive ego and insecurity make him unable to follow this order,” so “jail is next.”
■ A federal appeals court says Trump can be sued by cops and lawmakers injured in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
■ Post-publication update, 11:55 a.m.: The House has expelled Rep. George Santos (R-Bullshit).
■ The Big Picture: “Red-state legislatures exerting anti-democratic control over blue cities is the latest Republican power grab.”
R.I.P., Sandra Day O’Connor. The Supreme Court’s retired first female justice is dead.
■ From May: Then-newly-released documents revealed how she helped George W. Bush become president in 2000.
‘Nothing will remove the stench of this decision short of returning Hasan to his rightful place as a host.’ Press Watch columnist Dan Froomkin slams MSNBC for canceling Mehdi Hasan: “No high-profile journalist has been more assertive about Palestinian rights.”
■ The cease-fire is history, and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza resumed within minutes.
‘Adieu, Google.’ Condemning the company as “a monopolistic giant that exploits every advantage it can get away with in the interest of profit, no matter who gets harmed,” Chicago’s McKinley Park News explains how it’s cut all ties to Google, “removing Google’s services from our website,” and “no longer using Google’s back-end services—including Gmail and their office suite.”
■ Google’s poised to delete millions of unused profiles beginning today.
■ The Verge explains how to protect yours by re-accessing Gmail accounts you’ve forgotten.
■ Time for another system upgrade on iPhones, iPads and Macintosh computers—to address security hacks.
‘Shopping at Costco makes you fat.’ The Messenger raises the curtain on the company’s secret weapon, behavioral economics.
■ A McDonald’s spinoff, CosMc’s, is reportedly close to opening in a Chicago suburb.
Dingus of the Week. Lyz Lenz’s pick: Everyone pretending now-dead ex-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was actually good.
■ Mother Jones surveys a surge of LinkedIn brags about connections with Kissinger: “Now is the time to showcase random encounters with a war criminal.”
■ The Washington Post revisits “The Bengali blood on … Kissinger’s hands” (a free read for nonsubscribers who enter an email address).
■ The Daily Show’s Ronnie Chieng: “Do you know how good a war criminal you have to be to win a Peace Prize for wars you escalated?”
■ His colleague, Michael Kosta: “If there’s a war criminal in your life, tell them how you feel about them now. Because you never know when they’re going to unexpectedly die of being 100 years old.”
■ The Onion: “Iconic Napalm Rights Advocate Dead At 100.”
■ If you score better than 75%, you’ll have bested your Chicago Public Square columnist.
Thanks given. As we wind up this latest roll call of Square supporters, a tip of the hat to those who keep this service coming—including Kathryn Loewy, Bob Tucker, Randy Young (again!), Rick Blankenbaker (again!), Christa Velbel, Timothy Baffoe, Werner Huget, Carol Marin, Heather O’Reilly, David Jones, Maria Mooshil, Joe Germuska, Pavlo Berko, Alex Riepl Broz, Peter Fuller, John Iltis, Mike Gold, Andrew Nord, David A. Walker, Jan Menaker Brock, Kevin Wallace, Eric Davis, Tom Mulcahy, John Kowalski, Moondog, Linda Baltikas, Alexander Domanskis, Ila Lewis, Barbara Miller, Janean Bowersmith, Judy Davy, Ira Pilchen, Maureen and Jerry Peifer and Kaiser, Ed McDevitt, Lawrence Weiland, Frederick Nachman, Marge and Hank Arnold, Robert Jaffe, Jack Hafferkamp, Patty Martin, Scott Watson, Paul Pasulka and Edward Witt.
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* One of which your Square columnist was in the ’80s.