‘ICE out.’ Twelve Chicago City Council members have signed a pledge to refuse political contributions from companies and organizations that “enable brutal immigration enforcement tactics.”
■ New Chicago police guidelines direct cops to collect evidence on immigration agents’ potential wrongdoing—including using body cams to record what happens and collecting the feds’ names.
■ A Highland Park woman’s been sentenced to nine years in prison after admitting she helped smuggle people into the U.S. from Mexico—turning them into, in the words of a U.S. attorney, “a cadre of indentured servants.”
■ The Washington Post (gift link): “ICE officials warned of dangerous crowding. See how they kept packing people in.”
■ 404 Media: “You opened a credit card. ICE now knows where you live.”
‘Democracy loses.’ A Tribune editorial condemns an Illinois elections board decision to strike from the ballot two candidates challenging U.S. Rep. Chuy García’s furtively designated handpicked successor.
■ Illinois House Speaker Welch faces a firestorm in explaining what took so long to dump a state representative accused of sexual harassment.
■ The replacement rep: A granddaughter of late U.S. Sen. Alan Dixon.
■ The Sun-Times’ Stephanie Zimmermann, back from a Pulitzer Center fellowship to write about global issues affecting Chicago: “What the U.S. can learn from Lithuania, a younger democracy aided by Chicagoans.”
‘A nightmare for Democrats.’ That’s what The Wall Street Journal calls New Jersey’s revelation that more than 6,000 non-citizens were accidentally added to the state’s voter rolls.
■ The AP: “Messy primaries plague both major political parties.”
■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch untangles the web linking Trump’s campaign cash and explosive diarrhea.
‘This is not a coincidence, folks.’ Lawyer and columnist Mitch Jackson: “Trump just approved Saudi uranium enrichment while his family sits on $2 billion in Saudi money.”
■ Cartoonist and (today) columnist Jack Ohman: “Trump has always been weird, but now he’s incoherent.”
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Let’s all just enjoy watching Jon Ossoff use Piss-Drunk Pete as a chew toy.”
Breathe easier—for now. Chicago air’s not so dirty today, but with Canadian forests still aflame, a shift in the wind can change things quickly.
■ With 2026 only half over, U.S. cases of measles—the world’s most contagious disease—have already hit a 35-year record.
■ New Northwestern University research concludes that long COVID triggers neurologic symptoms more severe in women than in men.
Off duty. The Sun-Times reports that a Chicago police officer’s been removed from a security detail assigned to top city officials—stripped of his police powers after being charged with attacking the mother of his child.
■ Block Club: Neighborhoods that saw Chicago school buildings shuttered 13 years ago have seen a surge in gun violence.
Belugas, baby. Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium is the new home to four whales from a shuttered Canadian amusement park …
■ … and animal rights activists are hoping the Shedd won’t breed them.
Grocery drain. Chicago could lose seven Save A Lot stores as soon as Saturday if the company that owns them doesn’t get a bailout.
■ Pete’s Fresh Market is running behind on construction of new stores in Bronzeville and Oak Park (June link).
‘Unprecedented cyber incident.’ ChatGPT parent OpenAI says its system hacked another artificial intelligence company on its own.
■ Guess which industry is now coveting old, printed books? 404 Media says the AI biz is in the hunt—precisely because words printed on paper before 2022 don’t include AI-generated content.
■ Substack’s launching a new tool to “scan text to see how much of it was likely written by hand or with AI assistance.”
■ Also from 404: Apple’s finally fixed a “Hide My Email” feature flaw.
So … not Every goddamn day? Columnist Neil Steinberg, who optimistically gave that name to his blog when he launched it in 2013, is taking a few days off for rotator cuff surgery.
■ The Trib’s media reporter, Robert Channick, updates the ever-changing scorecard for Fox 32 Chicago’s on-air news lineup.
■ Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman: “The second richest man in America might be prevented from taking over CNN. That’s the good news. The bad news is … that that would be only a small piece of the ongoing takeover of U.S. media by oligarchs.”
■ The historic Chicago Daily News building at 2 N. Riverside Plaza is now a city landmark.
Chicago Public Square is here … because of financial support through the years from readers including Stan Zoller, Jeffery Angevine, Katherine and Michael Raleigh, Pat Albu, Brent Brotine, Ann Tanner, David Leonard, David Protess, Louise Dimiceli-Mitran, Marcie Dosemagen, Charlie Pajor, Mike Leiderman, Steve Winner, Jennifer Fardy, Yolanda Bada, Dan Shannon, Joan Pederson, Mary Lanus, Mark Ruda, Shayna Robinson and Neela Marnell—without whom Square might not exist at all, because she triggered its creation (2022 link).
■ Join ’em today—for as little as $1, just once—and your name’ll lead tomorrow’s roll call.
A Square public service announcement
Join The H Foundation this Saturday at Navy Pier for the 24th Annual Goombay Bash—Chicago’s unforgettable tropical celebration featuring special guest Gary Sinise. Enjoy an incredible evening while helping accelerate lifesaving basic science cancer research at Northwestern University’s Lurie Cancer Center. Learn more at GoombayBash.com.