‘Like Armageddon.’ Updating coverage: That’s how one resident talking to the BBC describes the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles.
■ Diminishing winds have given firefighters a break …
■ … and reporters a chance to take to the air.
■ In a first-person account for NBC News, correspondent Jacob Soboroff called his mom to show her that his childhood home was gone.
■ Journalists documenting the disaster have been cutting it close.
■ Time: How you can help the victims.
■ Donald Trump’s using the conflagration to attack Democrats.
■ Columnist Ben Meiselas: “Trump spit in our faces as we evacuated.”
■ Jeff Tiedrich: “No, idiots, Los Angeles isn’t on fire because of ‘diversity.’”
■ The American Prospect: “Trump’s attack on government capacity will fan the flames of the home insurance crisis.”
■ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: “Climate change … has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States.”
■ The Lever: “Big Oil hindered the fight against L.A.’s wildfires.”
■ A University of California research ecologist: “Today, there is no buffer between homes and the wildland. … Homes are made of dried materials, and when the atmosphere is dry, they combust readily.”
■ Nature: Almost a quarter of the world’s freshwater animals face extinction.
Jimmy Carter’s final farewell. Updating coverage: A state funeral for the former president had begun in Washington this morning …
■ … bringing together all living former presidents.
■ The Sun-Times recalls Carter’s lasting political ties to the Chicago area. (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)
■ A River Forest family helped plan the ceremonies.
Not Lego! Not Lego! The New York Times (gift link; you’re welcome) explains that that’s just one of the products whose availability in the U.S. could be a casualty of Trump’s lust for Greenland.
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg: “Was I wrong to feel a flash of optimism upon hearing Trump announce he wants to change the name of the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to the ‘Gulf of America’?” (Cartoon: Jack Ohman, on a roll.)
■ Eric Zorn: “Would it be good for the United States to buy Greenland from Denmark? … I pledge to be open-minded.”
‘A disservice to … truth.’ A Sun-Times editorial condemns Facebook parent Meta’s abandonment of fact-checking.
■ USA Today’s Rex Huppke: “Everything I’m writing is factual—just ask Facebook.”
■ Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg says on Threads that he expects the changes to “reduce the number of people whose accounts get mistakenly banned.”
■ Threadsters aren’t buying it.
■ A Tribune editorial slams the CTA: “Get back on X [Twitter].”
Landlords accused. The Justice Department’s suing several corporations—including Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield and LivCor—accusing them of illegal collaboration to keep rents high.
■ The Triibe: ComEd faces new lawsuits alleging racist and retaliatory behavior.
AXEHOLE. That’s just one of 335 requests for Illinois license plates rejected last year.
■ Want a vanity plate of your own? Here’s where to pick it.
Wheel thing. Chicago reports the city’s shared bikes and scooters last year provided a record 11 million rides.
■ Mother Jones: “E-bikes get cars off the road and reduce pollution—and that’s … why places like Denver are giving them away.”
Beltway bye. Citing declining health, Chicago broadcaster Bruce DuMont is calling it quits for his Beyond the Beltway show after Sunday night, Jan. 19.
■ Your Chicago Public Square columnist last joined the show for an unpleasant time in October 2020.
Welcome, new readers. Many (many!) newbies have joined the ranks of Square subscribers since your Square columnist made a more pleasant appearance on Steve King and Johnnie Putman’s WGN Radio show Saturday night. You can hear the segment beginning at about 40:16 here.
■ Surprisingly, a few have already joined the ranks of Square supporters—which you, too, can do for as little as $1, just once.
■ Coincidentally, today marks the eighth anniversary of the secret registration for the ChicagoPublicSquare.com domain.
■ Harry Politis made this edition better.
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