The sun’s so bright … With a “really good” forecast for clear skies, Chicagoans could expect a memorable view of a partial solar eclipse between 12:51 and 3:22 p.m. this afternoon—with peak coverage of 94% at 2:07.
■ Not in Chicago? Enter your address on this CNN map to see exactly what you can expect—and when—in terms of lunar occlusion of the sun.
■ If you’re headed away from home to see it, fill up the gas tank now.
■ Update: Check your eclipse glasses, because Amazon’s recalling some.
■ The Conversation: Three ways to talk to kids about the eclipse.
■ Follow the phenomenon across the planet via live updates from the AP.
■ The Washington Post’s Alexandra Petri mocks eclipse alarmists, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “I am a rational woman of faith, and I think maybe we should pray hard on Monday so the moon will release the sun and not eat it.” (Gift link, courtesy of those whose support keeps Chicago Public Square coming.)
■ USA Today columnist Rex Huppke: “God hates us and we’re all about to die.”
■ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg gives you leave to ignore the whole thing—especially if you’re not with friends or family.
‘Deeply disappointed.’ One of the nation’s most prominent anti-abortion groups, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, isn’t happy with Donald Trump’s pronouncement on abortion rights …
■ … specifically his refusal to endorse a national ban—a question he says should (correction, April 10:) will be left to individual states.
■ Columnist Margaret Sullivan hails “a Trump headline that … began to change my mind about how the media should cover his unhinged rallies and speeches.”
■ Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer: “Much of the political press has an inadvertent pro-Trump bias.”
■ Law prof Joyce Vance on Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon, who’s overseeing Trump’s trial on charges of violating the Espionage Act: “Hers is a court increasingly reminiscent of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, where important matters are upside down.”
‘1968 all over again?’ Politico’s Shia Kapos sees similarities between the run-up to this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the fiasco that scarred the city’s reputation 56 years ago.
■ Activists say the police department’s convention plans violate the First Amendment.
■ Hundreds of journalists are headed here in May for a “walk-through” preview of the convention.
And still they come. The Tribune: After a lull, the number of buses bringing migrants to Chicago—and notably, the suburbs—is on the rise again.
■ Axios: President Biden’s “likely to get an earful” about that at a Chicago fundraiser this afternoon.
Political trailblazer gone. Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough—first Black person and first woman to serve in that role—is dead at 73.
■ As a state representative, she championed Illinois’ ban on the death penalty.
■ Her deputy Cedric Giles will take over for now.
Hi, U.S. Justice Department. The Sun-Times reports that a massive new data dump from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reveals federal prosecutors here are less likely than their counterparts in other cities to approve gun charges—even though the city’s flooded with more firearms than almost anywhere else in the nation.
■ Illinois lawmakers have advanced an end to a state law that required an automatic life sentence for any person twice convicted of murder, criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping or other Class X felony.
iHeart corruption? Popular Information sees “an apparent violation of campaign finance law” in the radio and podcasting giant’s deal to produce Florida Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast.
■ Spotify’s bringing AI to its playlist generation.
Google revolt. Time: Amazon and Google’s $1.2 billion contract to provide AI and cloud computing services to the Israeli government and military has sparked a worker revolution.
■ The Intercept: Google forbids the use of its tech for “immediate harm,” but Israel’s employing facial recognition to set up a dragnet of Palestinians.
‘The Internet Archive just backed up an entire Caribbean island.’ Wired notes that the Archive is expanding “its already outsize role in preserving the digital world for posterity” by becoming the official custodian of an entire nation’s history for the first time …
■ … alongside a whole bunch of Chicago Public Square audio.
Pandemic flashback. Square on this date in 2020:
■ Illinois was in the market for thousands of cadaver bags.
■ An Oak Park block was rewriting popular song lyrics for quarantine karaoke at 8:30 each morning—as witnessed by Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! host Peter Sagal.
A reader writes. James Price comments on Friday’s edition: “I signed up for this email because it’s called ‘Chicago Public Square’ but there’s very little Chicago content. …You need a new name.”
■ Square’s response: Like Chicago’s newspapers or its radio and TV newscasts, “Chicago’s new front page” aims to provide a broad mix of news about and relevant to the Chicago area. Sometimes the lead’s geographically local, sometimes it’s not. And so it’s been since this publication’s birth in 2017.
■ Or, heck, not that different from a Chicago news initiative in the spotlight 25 years ago this week.
■ We hope you’ll keep reading. And if you find yourself uninterested in whatever the lead story is, we hope you’ll find something more engaging just a swipe or two down the page.
■ While we’re on the subject of news roundups’ value: Media watcher Mark Stenberg posits that “the only kind of news coverage that has any degree of insulation from the coming AI revolution is information that exists nowhere else in the world, information that you have brought together through reporting.”
Random gratitude. Continuing our de-alphabetized salute to Square supporters: Thanks to J.J. Tindall, David Henkhaus, Tony Judge, Jon Langham (again!), Alison Price, Lucy Tarabour, Kevin Shotsberger, Neil Parker, Becky Brofman, Lynne Taylor, Rob Renfro, Sara Burrows, Sarah Russe, Robert A. Shipley, Carol Hendrick, Alan Hommerding, Deirdre Walton, Alec Bloyd-Peshkin, Jeff Currie, Charlene Thomas, Ira Pilchen, Dan Shannon, Harlene Ellin, Emily Gage, Diana Lauber, Judy Davy, Laurie Huget, Barb Powers, Bill Drudge, Virginia Mann, Bill Oakes, Timothy Cunningham, MJ Garnier, Tom Petersen, Sue Omanson, Michael Brooks, Philip Prale, Paula Weinbaum, Victoria Long, Jan Czarnik and Darold Barnum.
■ Join them for any amount you choose—now with a PayPal option—and see your name atop this space tomorrow.
■ And did we mention the free Square sweatshirt or hoodie if you pledge at least $20/month—a buck per issue—by Tuesday? (Cancel anytime!)
■ Reader Mark Miller made this edition better.