Death in Indiana. For the first time in 15 years, that state’s imposed capital punishment on a man convicted of a 1997 quadruple homicide.
■ His reported final words: “Let’s get this over with.”
■ The execution was almost carried out in secret, under Indiana’s restrictive death penalty law …
■ … but the convict’s final requests included the presence of one reporter.
■ Reviewing some of the pardons President Biden doled out last week, Wonkette’s Marcie Jones finds “a list of sinners you’d meet on a tour of hell!”
‘Every parent’s worst nightmare has happened at least 83 times this year.’ But USA Today’s Rex Huppke, who’s “worked for two decades in Chicago, where hundreds die each year in shootings, most of them in the city’s poorer neighborhoods,” sees “an uncomfortable truth” in the disparity between reactions to the death of a health insurance CEO and those of Wisconsin school kids.
■ The Madison shooter’s motive remained a mystery to police.
■ The Cook County sheriff and the county’s chief judge are at odds over what happens to the county’s program for electronic monitoring of people awaiting trial—for, among other things, murder or attempted murder.
Emanuel for president? Politico’s Shia Kapos says former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s name’s in the mix for 2028 …
■ … which makes this an apt time to revisit your Chicago Public Square columnist’s 2011-2012 series of radio reports, “Who’s Mayor Emanuel Ridiculing Now?”
‘Lies and defamatory allegations.’ That’s former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney’s assessment of House Republicans’ investigation concluding she should be prosecuted for her role probing Donald Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Space aliens are eating Republican brains.”
■ A generational House Democratic power struggle’s ended in defeat for 35-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
■ Illinois Democrats are scrambling to nail down as many accomplishments as they can before Trump returns to the White House.
Kennedys in the news. Columnist Neil Steinberg: Would-be Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s call for a study of the polio vaccine isn’t skepticism; it’s rejectionism.
■ Seth Meyers on Kennedy’s unorthodox workout attire: “If you think that’s weird, wait until you hear every single other thing about him.”
■ A Tribune editorial condemns the “slowpoke, ill-conceived” Kennedy Expressway reconstruction project …
■ … whose conclusion has been delayed yet again—this time until Jan. 13.
Things that might happen next year. Or not. At least until or unless the incoming Trump administration decides otherwise, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will require all new passenger vehicles to sound an alarm if rear-seat passengers aren’t buckled in.
■ Same caveat for new Federal Trade Commission rules requiring up-front disclosure of so-called “junk fees” charged by hotels, vacation rental platforms and live event promoters.
Expecting something? Amazon workers in Skokie have authorized a strike.
■ Illinois’ attorney general and the FTC have extracted $25 million from Grubhub to settle a dispute over deceptive charges for consumers, compensation for drivers and more.
■ The Labor Department’s accusing solar panel company Sunrun of exposing workers to “deadly” fall hazards.
Stuck in limbo. Block Club: As Chicago scales back its support, meet some of the migrants Trump wants to deport.
■ A law professor sees little protection from deportation in “sanctuary city” declarations.
Nothing Guaranteed. The White Sox park is now gonna be just “Rate Field.”
■ Not far away, demolition has begun at the former nightclub where 21 people died in a 2003 stampede.
‘Apoplectic,’ ‘humiliated.’ That’s how a source describes ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos’ reaction to the Disney-owned network’s settlement of Trump’s defamation lawsuit.
■ Pod Save America cohost Dan Pfeiffer: “Corporations that own legacy media companies would rather cozy up to Trump than take him on.”
■ Popular Information: Disney conspired with government officials to steal more than $100 million from theme park workers.
‘A war on a free press.’ That’s what Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch sees in Trump’s second go-round.
■ Status: The Washington Post’s holiday gathering was … glum.
■ MSNBC alumnus Keith Olbermann: Fire Mika and Joe.
■ Stephen Colbert on Trump’s Monday news conference: “I’m not gonna talk about it much, ’cause I don’t want to, and you can’t make me.”
‘Substack is at it again.’ Handbasket proprietor Marisa Kabas slams the email newsletter platform’s latest partnership, quoting one commenter on the announcement: “Why on earth would you brag to your users that you’ve partnered with a bunch of protofascists?”
■ American Prospect Chicago-based columnist Rick Perlstein is going solo on Substack next month.
■ Tedium’s Ernie Smith: “An apparent extortion scheme involving famous writers … raises some important questions about whether Bluesky is up to the task of moderation.” (Square’s on Bluesky here.)
‘Maybe you can build a very small snowman.’ A Weather Service meteorologist sees a bit of snow in Thursday’s forecast.
■ But Christmas week looks to be warm.
Correction. Yesterday’s Chicago Public Square mischaracterized the circumstances under which a girl witnessed the school shooting in Madison: She was eating a popsicle as she recalled the assault, not as it happened.
■ Your corrections are always welcome here.