Hot. Chicago faced the prospect of a 115-degree heat index today Tuesday …
■ … putting to the test Chicago Public Schools’ assertion that for this, the first day of the school year, all classrooms have air conditioning.
■ WBEZ: Almost 20% of the city’s disabled students have no bus service today.
■ The Sun-Times and WBEZ list four things to watch this academic year.
Strong-car robbery. Chicago police report a string of at least 20 burglaries across the city over the last month—committed by crews using stolen vehicles to rip doors off businesses.
■ Thieves have been stealing guns from cars parked in the South Loop.
■ Northbound I-57 was closed for about four hours this morning after a deadly hit-and-run.
Debate debate. Democrats and Republicans have swapped positions on the rules governing a Sept. 10 confrontation for presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump: Her team wants the mics hot continuously and his wants them muted except for the candidate whose turn it is.
■ HuffPost perceived a case of “cold feet” for Trump …
■ … as he ripped into host ABC News.
■ Wonkette’s Gary Legum’s more blunt: “Having to face off against a Black woman and former prosecutor whose track record of sharp and unnerving questioning of public officials is long established probably has him pooping in his adult girdle.”
‘Gaudy and obscene.’ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sister Kerry Kennedy condemns his embrace of Trump’s candidacy.
■ Satirist Andy Borowitz: “Entire Kennedy Family Changes Last Name.”
A ‘convention trampoline.’ Journalist and author Jonathan Alter—a veteran of 20 political conventions—praises last week in Chicago: “I have never seen more enthusiasm and unity.”
■ The American Prospect’s Rick Perlstein celebrates Democrats “suddenly allowed to say what they mean.”
■ Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich: “We are quietly putting down our lunch boxes and are about to demonstrate to the bullies—peacefully, through the power of our votes—that we will no longer take their bullying.”
■ Former Trump administration press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who joined Democrats’ convention to condemn Trump, tells columnist Oliver Darcy, “I was overwhelmed with the support I received from complete strangers, and sadly not surprised by the hate I received from people who actually know me and know I am telling the truth.”
■ The Bulwark’s Tim Miller wants to know why more Republicans didn’t take the stage: “Did Liz Cheney or Mitt Romney not have anything to say? … How about Mike Pence, the man Trump was happy to see hanged in service to his coup attempt?”
■ Musician Jeff Tweedy’s newsletter reveals that he and Mavis Staples called an audible on the tune they sang to close out Stephen Colbert’s Auditorium Theatre run last week.
‘You rarely see a poll reporting that 8 percent of respondents said f**k you and hung up.’ Tribune alumnus Charlie Madigan explains why not to take presidential campaign polls seriously.
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich goes after New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd for dubbing Harris an “untested woman”: “She’s been elected DA of San Francisco, attorney general of California, U.S. senator from California and vice president of the United States. On what planet is that ‘untested’?”
Grocery showdown. Mariano’s parent Kroger and Jewel parent Albertsons go to federal court in Oregon today to defend their merger plan …
■ … a proceeding that columnist Matt Stoller says takes on new significance with Harris’ decision to make high food prices a campaign centerpiece.
‘Every publisher’s best tool.’ Thanks to Crain’s Chicago Business for spotlighting the strategies that guide Chicago Public Square every day.
■ Crain’s Judith Crown: “Local journalism is a fragile ecosystem.”
■ Stop the Presses watchdog Mark Jacob sees mainstream news media on a path to irrelevance: “Instead of carping about TikTok, news outlets need to fix themselves.”
■ Which makes this a fine time to consider supporting Square—for as little as $1, once.