Same Story, Two Headlines Dept.
■ Chicago Tribune online edition (gift link): “Trump defends his tariffs during Michigan visit even as businesses say they’ve hurt the state.”
■ Trib print edition front page:
■ Press Watch proprietor Dan Froomkin: “What a disservice to the people of Chicago. It was all lies.”
■ Columnist Heather Delaney Reese: Trump told autoworkers that “he has been better to them than the people who raised them.”
■ Former Trib editor and now Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob offers alternative headlines.■ Also from Jacob, on the decline of CBS News: “When news execs help fascists whitewash murder.”
■ Columnist and former Chicago TV executive Jennifer Schulze: “Trump’s fascist power play threatens Chicago’s favorite local TV station.”
■ CNN’s Brian Stelter: “Surprise: PBS and NPR are still alive and kicking.”
‘Great late-night television.’ Veteran TV critic Bill Carter praises Jon Stewart’s Daily Show dissection of Trump’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech from a veteran comic’s perspective.
■ And then Stewart hosted—and praised—one of the targets of Trump’s animus that night, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins.
Storms’ toll. A wrenching round of bad weather ravaged the Chicago region yesterday, pelting some areas with golf-ball-sized hail …
■ … and maybe tornadoes …
■ … leaving hundreds of thousands powerless …
■ … maybe for days.
■ At least one person was missing and presumed dead after flooding overwhelmed workers in a suburban storm sewer.
■ A tornado blitzed northeastern Wisconsin.
■ Block Club: What to do if your basement flooded.
Speaking of power outages … The Trib reports (gift link) a Texas-based startup is offering Chicagoans an outdoor battery system that can lower electric bills and provide up to two days’ backup electricity.
■ Columnist Matthew Yglesias: “The simplest way to bring down utility bills is to charge what the electricity actually costs.”
■ Shared electric scooters are now a no-no along a stretch of Sheridan Road.
■ The American Prospect: “The strongest El Niño in history is coming. … Climate change is not going to wait for America or any other country to sort out its political dysfunctions.”
‘86 the 86 47 prosecution.’ Law professor and former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance shreds the indictment of former FBI Director Jim Comey over his Instagram post of seashells spelling out a political slogan.
■ Comey’s lawyers: “No reasonable observer would understand the phrase ‘86 47’ to connote … violence against the President.”
Follow the money. An Illinois Answers Project investigation tracks funding for this year’s Chicago Public Schools board elections to billionaires, the Chicago Teachers Union and secretive political organizations …
■ … and it’s created an online tool to give you real-time notifications any time a campaign committee reports a major contribution.
‘Much like his candidate, Moraff has a credible sexual assault allegation against him, too.’ Reporter Marisa Kabas says the political operative behind disgraced and replaced Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner faces similar troubles.
■ Satirist Andy Borowitz: “Hegseth Freaks Out After Testing Positive for Estrogen.”
Apple security fixes. TidBITS tracks a “massive number” of updates in a new free operating system for iPhones, iPads, Macintoshes and other devices.
■ Tech columnist Kim Komando: Apple may owe you $95 … eventually.
Fauci’s diary. COVID-era personal notes from the National Institutes of Health’s pandemic leader, Anthony Fauci, show he reveled in “the public adulation of me.”
■ They were published to the web by Republican Sen. Rand Paul.
‘I read Public Square immediately after receiving the daily email. I am deeply appreciative of the work you do.’ — Kind words yesterday from a supporter of this publication.
■ Join him in the ranks of Chicago Public Squarians today and see your name atop tomorrow’s roll-call—like this: Audrey Sostak, Tom Macek, Bill Utter, Jeff Baker, David Hammond (again!), Jerry D. Mason, Marianne Griebler, David Walsh, Jim Maguire, Garry, Martin Berg, Kermit Carlson, Steve Carlson, Nina Ovryn, Susanne Riedell, Theresa Rattenbury, Anne Costello, Norm Winer, Paul Crossey, Paul Herrick, Susan Gregoire, Marc Sims, Jim Polaski, Jack Bizot, Darryl Roberts, Rosalind Rouse and Michael Phillips.
A Square public service announcement
