It’s National Support Chicago Public Square Day. Welcome to the seventh annual observance of this august event. This publication is free for all, but it’s not free to publish. Readers keep it coming …
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And now, the news:
Measles complications. An increasing number of cases at a Chicago shelter for migrants could forestall Mayor Johnson’s plans to begin evicting people from city refuges.
■ The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending Chicago some measles-busters.
■ Popular Information: New numbers explode the myth of a crime wave fueled by migrants.
‘We will have been a sold a bill of goods.’ A Tribune editorial warns that the vaunted casino Bally’s has promised Chicago—the one the newspaper’s vacating its Freedom Center complex for—is lookin’ like a lousy old “slot shed.”
■ The Bears are dangling $2 billion to dump a domed stadium on the lakefront.
■ Add Johnson to those opposing a merger of the corporate parents of the Jewel and Mariano’s grocery chains.
‘It is incredibly frustrating that a woman seeking this office would be so flippant about the truth.’ Departing Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx fires back at candidate Eileen O’Neill Burke’s criticism of Foxx’s administration.
■ A Burke TV ad suggests a misunderstanding of how scales work: 
■ Convicted ex-Chicago City Council member Ed Burke (no relation to O’Neill Burke) gets to keep his law license—because most of the justices on the Illinois Supreme Court, where his wife served for 16 years, recused themselves from the matter.
■ One candidate for the court calls that failure “a travesty of justice.”
‘The few decide for the many.’ A new report from the Cook County treasurer documents how low turnouts in election referenda give a relatively few citizens power to decide when taxes rise.
■ Don’t vote dumb: Check the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.
‘Donald Trump’s corrupt flip-flop.’ Columnist Matt Yglesias connects the dots between the ex-president’s fresh support for Bud Light and TikTok …
■ … as House Republicans move ahead with a bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S.
‘If you’re a journalist and you find this election boring, you’re in the wrong damn business.’ News biz critic—and Trib and Sun-Times alumnus—Mark Jacob calls out The New York Times, among others, for playing down Trump’s dictator talk.
■ Columnist Parker Molloy: “It matters that mainstream media missed Katie Britt’s lie.”
■ CNN’s Oliver Darcy slams CNBC for giving a “twice-impeached, four-time indicted, insurrection-inciting former president a safe harbor to make …outrageous and false comments without scrutiny.”
■ The Conversation: “Climate change matters to more and more people—and could be a deciding factor in the 2024 election.”
‘Next time you want to dress up at the rallies, wear the right fucking colored coats.’ Daily Show host Jon Stewart laid into Trump supporters for their fake patriotism.
■ Ex-Tribune columnist Eric Zorn supports the Trib’s decision to print naughty words.
‘We had John Cena on stage naked and somehow Trump still managed to be the biggest dick of the night.’ Academy Awards host Jimmy Kimmel says he hadn’t planned to mention the ex-president Sunday until, well, you know.
■ His wife—the Oscars show producer—reveals that she tried to talk him out of mentioning Trump’s tweet: “I’m never going to win an argument in my household again.”
■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: Journalism was a big winner at this year’s Academy Awards.
■ Trivia: Robert Downey Jr.’s the first Saturday Night Live alumnus to win an Oscar.
■ Speaking of SNL alumni, Chicago Magazine spotlights a new book about how Chicago became the iconic backdrop for The Blues Brothers movie.
Dead … spun. The parent company of irreverent sports site Deadspin is spinning it off to a European company, which promptly laid off the whole staff.
■ Deadspin founder and University of Illinois Illini Media Alumni Hall of Famer Will Leitch tweets: “At least someone in my life who had been threatening to move to Europe this election year is actually going through with it.”
New podcast! For the first time in a year-and-a-half, we have a fresh Chicago Public Square podcast for you: An interview with tech-savvy science fiction author Cory Doctorow, explaining how he got scammed out of $8,000 and sharing the one “ironclad” rule you should follow to avoid a similar fate.
■ Or, if you like to watch your podcasts, here’s (mostly) unedited video of the show.