96 shots, 4 questions. Release of video showing the police killing of Dexter Reed in the Humboldt Park neighborhood last month leaves columnist Eric Zorn incredulous: “A team of plainclothes tactical officers pulled over a driver for failure to wear a seat belt?”
■ A Sun-Times editorial is equally flummoxed: “Why are police still shooting, even after Reed was down?”
■ An American Civil Liberties Union lawyer says the case puts the lie to the Chicago Police Department’s legal commitments to reform.
■ A Tribune editorial sees things differently: “If you’re stopped by police and asked to roll down your window or get out of your car, do so. And if you shoot at police, they will—and should—shoot back.”
‘The most important state in 2024 politics.’ That’s what Time says a near-total ban on abortion means Arizona is now.
■ Popular Information surveys the field of Arizona Republicans now scrambling to condemn their own abortion policy.
■ Stephen Colbert last night: “It’s a law so old that it was passed before women had the right to vote. To which the Supreme Court said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll work on that one next.’”
■ Donald Trump’s niece Mary L. Trump condemns news coverage of Trump’s “statement pretending he had a newfound clarity on the abortion issue.”
‘THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO HATE REPUBLICANS, AND THEY ARE THEM!’ USA Today columnist Rex Huppke: “The Republican Party’s own lawmakers are … down on themselves.”
■ Ex-Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger compares elected Republicans to lemmings walking off a cliff—confronting a decision: “Leave the crowd, or hope the dead lemmings cushion the blow.”
NPR’s ‘right-wing storm.’ CNN’s Oliver Darcy surveys the fallout from a National Public Radio senior business editor’s portrayal of the organization as having, in Darcy’s paraphrase, “descended into the depths of wokeism.”
■ Here’s the essay that started it.
■ Media biz watcher Simon Owens explains why local podcasts are so rarely successful.
Whence measles? Your Local Epidemiologist dispels reports that the disease’s revival in the U.S.—from which it was eliminated a quarter-century ago—is being driven by migrants: “Most cases are U.S. residents traveling abroad.”
■ Reversing himself, Mayor Johnson’s planning to ask the City Council for $70 million more to address Chicago’s immigrant influx …
■ … which at least one council member says seems likely to increase as other states’ Republican governors aim to target the city in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention.
Scooter rooters. A City Council committee’s advanced an ordinance that would allow the use of electric scooters on Chicago streets between midnight and 5 a.m.
■ Metra says a new bicycle-friendly policy has dramatically boosted the number of bikes brought on its trains.
Do you know how much a first-class stamp costs now? The Postal Service wants to increase that price—really, do you know what it is now?—by a nickel.
■ Jimmy Kimmel’s show last week asked young people if they knew how to mail a letter, and—surprise—they didn’t.
Hacking’s upside. The Arm and a Leg podcast says the biggest beneficiary of the cyberattack that crippled medical facilities across the country may have been the company affected, the giant UnitedHealth Group.
■ Here’s a transcript.
Internet service shopping? New FCC rules require internet and mobile broadband carriers to show customers a “nutrition label”—like this—clearly explaining estimated connection speeds and just how much the bill will total.
■ Hundreds of creators on Instagram and Threads have sent parent company Meta an open letter demanding an end to the throttling of “political content” on its platforms …
■ … a practice that an internet studies professor calls “terrible for democracy.”
R.I. … well, um … O.J. Simpson is dead.
■ He was accused of and acquitted in the murder of his ex-wife and her friend …
■ … an experience that prompted him last year to offer Donald Trump some advice Trump did not take.
This ends now. Thanks to those whose financial support keeps Chicago Public Square coming—including Janice Marsh, Nancy Hess (again!), Pam Hamilton and William Tracy.
■ They’re the latest additions to a randomized roster that concludes today with salutes to Sheridan Chaney, Jennifer Fardy, Shara Miller, Ken Hooker, Joe Hallissey, Sandy Kaczmarski, David Mendell, Anne Frederick, Leo Bonnie Dohogne, Susan Beach, Elan Long, Lizzie Schiffman Tufano, Aya A, Julie Ross, Ken Trainor, Sally Noble, Ronald Melody, saknrad, Colette Verdun, Ken Saydak, Allan Hippensteel, Jim Parks, Michael Weiland, Suzy Carlson, Tim Woods, Melanie Minnix, Anne Costello, Suzanne Vestuto, Mike Janowski, Neela Marnell and Frank Heitzman.
■ But wait: You can always chip in, anytime—even as little as $1, once—and see your name added to the continually updated roster of Chicago Public Squarians here.
■ Have you contributed to Square but not seen your name in this space over the last couple of weeks? Email Support@ChicagoPublicSquare.com.
Thanks.
■ To Eric Zorn for continuing to introduce Square to his readers.
■ To content strategist and Orbit Media co-founder Andy Crestodina for asking how artificial intelligence affects this service.
■ To Ben Meyerson for making this edition better.