Pritzker vs. ‘puppy-killer.’ The Daily Beast says Illinois’ governor made clear that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s visit to Springfield yesterday wasn’t his idea.
■ Read his news release: “We would urge all pet owners in the region to make sure all of your beloved animals are under watchful protection.”
■ Axios reviews what Noem did in Illinois.
■ Politico’s Shia Kapos: One of her stunts backfired when she invoked the name of a woman stabbed to death in her home—and the victim’s parents condemned Noem for advancing “a … heartless political agenda.”
■ The Handbasket: In D.C., Noem was denied “another camera-ready moment of cruelty.”
■ In a separate rebuke of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pritzker issued an executive order aimed at safeguarding autistic Illinoisans’ rights.
■ Inside Medicine columnist and doctor Jeremy Faust takes comfort in a seeming return to rationality from the sometimes-wacky new vaccine chief for Trump’s Food and Drug Administration.
■ The Wall Street Journal (gift link, courtesy of Chicago Public Square supporters): President Trump’s nominating an RFK Jr.-allied “wellness influencer” to be the next surgeon general …
■ … after his previous nominee flamed out.
■ Speaking of wellness: The AP reports that Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman has raised alarms with a wild outburst—“Why does everyone hate me? What did I ever do?”—at a meeting with union representatives.
‘An attempt to chill protected speech.’ That’s an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer’s assessment of a three-hour House hearing yesterday at which Republicans grilled DePaul University’s president about complaints of antisemitism on campus …
■ … and during which he acknowledged the suspension of two student groups on campus, including Students for Justice in Palestine.
■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson: Alarm’s on the rise over how the “Department of Government Efficiency” is consolidating data about Americans.
‘Should you worry that the Golden Age of phenomenally safe flying may be nearing its end? Yes.’ Columnist James Fallows offers “a guide to following aviation-mishap news.”
■ Everyone Is Entitled to My Own Opinion proprietor Jeff Tiedrich: “Weird how there wasn’t a single air incident during the entirety of Biden’s four years, but as soon as Donny’s team of unqualified TV personalities took over—and fired the entire Aviation Safety Committee, and then forced the head of the FAA to resign, without replacing him—the whole … system fell to pieces.”
‘I try not to be in spaces where I can’t escape.’ Chicago Public Library workers tell the Tribune they’re increasingly concerned about their safety …
■ … as reports of library crime rise.
‘Exactly right.’ Columnist Eric Zorn—no fan of Mayor Johnson—praises the mayor for a “crisply expressed” defense of the city’s Columbus statue relocations.
■ The Chicago Public Schools board has cleared the way for Johnson’s chief of staff—who lacks a superintendent license, and whom a Tribune editorial decries as “ill qualified”—to serve as the district’s temporary leader.
■ The board’s raising questions about the state’s classification of schools’ performance: “If a school is labeled on probation or anything less than great, you don’t want to leave your kid there.”
■ The Sun-Times: Fewer than half Chicago’s schools have herd immunity from measles.
■ A New York federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s cutoff of states’ access to federal education pandemic relief funding—$77 million in Illinois.
‘Instead of pointing out that it’s utter bunk, reporters defaulted to both sides mode.’ Abortion, Every Day columnist Jessica Valenti has a gripe with Politico’s groundbreaking coverage of a “nonsense anti-abortion study.”
■ HuffPost: Abortion bans and restrictions are disproportionately hindering LGBTQ+ people’s access to a wide range of care.
Who’s coming. Chicago’s on the schedule in September for what The Who describe as their North American “farewell” tour.
■ They’re billing it as “The Song Is Over,” after their 1971 hit.
If not for you … Chicago Public Square would have gone away long ago had readers—including David Leonard, Lisa Mettler, Myrel Cooke, Elaine Soloway (again!), Stephanie Textor (again!), John Aerni, Chris Mcintosh, Keith Huizinga, Betsy Blew-Ochoa, Kathryn Loewy, Art McNamara, Brian Gunderson, Patty Martin, Jeanne Mcinerney, Neil Parker, Jeff Baker, Christine Hauri, Jeanne Peppler, Joe Hallissey, Barbara Heskett, Maggie Ellsworth, Walter Gallas, Craig Dellimore, Julia Winn, Rick Hutt, Mike Pillatsch, Alison Price, Joe Lynn, Jan Rogatz, Jeryl Smith, Rosemary Caruk, Sonya Booth, Scott Tindale, Daniel Jares, Keelin Wyman, Leo Bonnie Dohogne, Larry Dahlke, Patrick Olsen, Susan Hardy, Reginald Davis, Don Miner, Eric Hochstein, Mickey Callahan, Mark Miller, Charlie Pajor, Jim Grimes, Martin Yeager, Jerome Ostergaard, Cynthia Barnard, Daniel Horvath, Dave Walker, Ken Saydak, Art Golab, Karen Gray-Keeler, Jennifer Bartlett, Paul Crossey, Jack Hafferkamp, Allan Hippensteel, Ron Brown, Joe Germuska, Joseph Sjostrom, Marjorie Isaacson, Timothy Cunningham, Leigh Daeuble, Howie Anderson, Sandra Black, Tom Revord, Mike McDonagh, Vidas Germanas, Andy Buchanan, Jann Matlock, Sabrina Deitch, Craig Kaiser, Mark Mueller, Lisa Krimen, Jean Davis, Peter Fuller, Jan Menaker Brock, Jonathan Yenkin, Kim Johnson, Ann Marie Testa, Susan Benloucif, Paul Herrick, Tom Pritchett, Kristin Lems, Virginia Mann, Bill Utter, Eric Reinert, Paula Weinbaum, Sarah Williams, Tony Scott, Ronald B. Schwartz, Cindy Homan, Sharon Halperin, Heather O’Reilly, Maryanne Peterson, Mary Paxson, Anton Till, John McClelland, Terri Lonier, Cynthia Wolf, Jan Kodner, Ricky Briasco, Gene Kannenberg Jr., Barbara Cimaglio, Bruce Dold, Bill Drudge, Terri Colby, Darrell Sherrod, Susan Stucki, Julie Vassilatos, Alex Riepl Broz, Susan Tyson, Nancy and Barney Straus, Evan McKenzie, Ronald A. Fox, John Morath, Charles Sudo, Robert Alan Innocenzi, Mike Krauser, Carollina Song, Lisa Fritz, Paula Donato, John Evans, Collin Canright, Maureen Stratton, Sue Omanson, Joseph Pesz and Phil Priest—not stepped forward to underwrite the cost of this service’s production and delivery.
■ Join them today with any contribution—even just $1, once—and see your name atop tomorrow’s roll call.
■ If you’re a PayPal kinda person, that works too.