‘Dystopic cesspool of hate.’ That’s what a lawsuit filed by three Jewish Northwestern University students alleges the administration has allowed to fester in abiding the continued presence of a war-protest encampment on Deering Meadow.
■ Three Jewish organizations want Northwestern’s president to quit over what he has called “a sustainable, de-escalated path forward.”
■ In contrast to Mideast war protests elsewhere—like, say, UCLA, where columnist Luke O’Neil sees an “insane escalation of police force”—Chicago’s campuses continued to be relatively peaceful.
■ As student journalists on campuses nationwide win acclaim for their coverage, a coalition of free-speech watchdogs is calling on administrators to protect those reporters’ rights.
■ Protests have spread to Chicago’s high schools.
■ Columnist Eric Zorn: “Can we drop the ‘pro-Palestine’ and ‘pro-Israel’ labels and agree on ‘pro peace’?”
■ The AP: Chances for a ceasefire are entangled with the question of whether Israel can accept an end to the war without the destruction of Hamas.
‘Republicans … just smacked the hornets’ nest.’ Donald Trump’s niece Mary Trump says Florida’s now-in-force ban on abortions after six weeks is “a devastating blow for women’s reproductive freedom … and to their own party’s chances in 2024.”
■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson sees a pattern: “Republicans are … dismantling the federal government.”
Trump’s fine day? Live updates from court: Prosecutors in the criminal case against Trump were asking that he be assessed $1,000 for each of four alleged violations of a gag order—including an attack on his former attorney, Michael Cohen, as a “liar.”
■ Reporter Jonathan Alter says a witness back on the stand today has given jurors “a permission slip to believe Cohen’s story even if they think he’s a ‘jerk.’”
■ Wired: “Cohen can’t stop going live on TikTok.”
■ Lawyers trying to keep Trump awake during the proceedings have their work cut out for them …
■ … or, as Stephen Colbert put it, “The trial for him covering up having sex with Stormy Daniels is a lot like him having sex with Stormy Daniels. He lasts only a few furious minutes and then nods off.”
■ Law prof and former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance: Too many people aren’t listening to “Trump’s worst expressions of authoritarian intent.”
■ In Wisconsin yesterday, a day off from his trial, Trump again dragged Chicago for a crime problem—even though he said the city has “great police.”
Nice touch. A suspect in the killing of Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca was arrested yesterday in Glendale Heights—by cops using Huesca’s own handcuffs.
■ He was due in court today.
‘What could possibly go wrong? You know—one adult, no supervision?’ The Marshall Project follows “a trail of sexual abuse” in the Explorer youth mentorship program run by local police departments across the country—one in Berwyn—in coordination with the Boy Scouts …
■ … and it wants to hear from others with similar stories.
‘Immigrants are saving the American economy.’ Popular Information: The nation’s substantial job growth ain’t comin’ from the native-born American workforce—which is flat or shrinking, because boomers are retiring and birth rates remain low.
■ Speaking of the economy: The Arm and a Leg podcast about health care wants your medical bills showing “facility fees—charges that get added … for visiting a doctor’s office … or even for a telehealth visit. (Yes, really.)”
Big Oil conspiracy? A former U.S. attorney who helped win the massive racketeering case against Big Tobacco tells the Senate the Justice Department has the goods to do the same to the oil industry.
■ Here’s a transcript of the hearing.
■ A Sun-Times editorial: “If Illinois wants … 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, more needs to be done.”
■ Elon Musk has fired the team charged with building out the company’s electric vehicle charging network.
■ The Onion: “Tesla Lays Off Entire Team Behind Brakes.”
‘On the central issue of Trump and Trumpism it has been too timid.’ Journalism critic and ProPublica co-founder Dick Tofel has some “modest proposals for fixing NPR.”
■ Google’s paying Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.-owned Wall Street Journal millions for artificial intelligence-related work.
■ The CW network is moving from WCIU back to its original Chicago home, WGN-TV.
■ LateNighter: Chicago native John Mulaney aims to deliver Netflix’s first true late-night talk show hit.
Maybe a tornado. Rough weather threatened Chicago later in the day today.
■ Got a young tree? It needs special protection from the looming cicada assault.
■ Cook County wants to hear from you: How ready are we for natural disasters?
■ Hey—when it’s nice, we get movies in Millennium Park.