Rising cost of going. For the first time in almost 15 years, the Illinois Tollway’s hiking rates in January …
■ … with automatic increases to follow.
■ A Tribune editorial (gift link) salutes the U.S. Transportation Department’s investment in “popular and practical Midwestern trains.”
Storm struggles? If the Chicago area’s latest round of lousy weather hit your home, now’s the time to apply for up to $100,000 in repair or replacement cash from the U.S. Small Business Administration …
■ … and to appeal 2026 property tax bills.
■ In a story that could haunt your nightmares, The New York Times (gift link) details just how fragile the U.S. power grid is—and how a small but determined group of terrorists could send civilization back to the Dark Ages for months or years: “Thirsty, starved, dirty and surrounded by the useless machines we once depended on, we would be lucky if our misery ended at ‘confusion.’”
MIA. Struggling with sexual harassment scandals, Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch was notably absent from the Illinois State Fair Governor’s Day.
■ Among those who did show up: Secretary of State—and Chicago mayoral candidate—Alexi Giannoulias, who asked that the nickname “Sexy Alexi” be laid to rest.
■ Elsewhere in Springfield: Sen. Elizabeth Warren urged Democrats to unify behind all their candidates—even socialists: “It’s wrong to line up with big money, to drown out grassroots candidates … and it weakens us.”
This one was different. The Washington Post (gift link) says Angie Nixon’s Florida Democratic senatorial primary victory “defies the traditional voting bloc for left-wing candidates who have won primaries this year.”
■ Columnist Eric Zorn welcomes news that two Illinois carpetbaggers—including dairy product magnate Jim Oberweis—flopped in Florida’s Republican congressional primary.
■ The Conversation explains why working‑class people account for only about 1% of lawmakers in the U.S.
Maybe 2032, though. Chicago’s out of the running to (again) host the Democratic National Convention in 2028.
■ Columnist Al Katz shares a personal memory from the city’s infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention: “In the middle of one of the ugliest nights in Chicago history, when I couldn’t see and couldn’t breathe, a Chicago policeman saw a frightened 18-year-old kid.”
‘The numbers so far are astonishing.’ Guardian columnist Margaret Sullivan: “Donald Trump is essentially unrestrained when it comes to enriching himself during his second term, with no sign of stopping. If anything, he’s ramping things up.”
■ Paul Waldman at Public Notice: “Trump misunderstood what Americans think about war.”
■ Former Stars & Stripes editor D. Earl Stephens: “Trump might be the least popular violent dictator in world history.”
■ Coincidentally, a Stars & Stripes shakeup casts a shadow over the independence of the nation’s top military newspaper.
‘Fictional may be the single most honest word he has spoken in months.’ Columnist Heather Delaney Reese caught Trump in a word-salad mess: “Trying to describe the future of financial technology, he said, ‘We’re also on the very beginning of a revolution in fictional and financial.’”
■ Jeff Tiedrich is typically unrestrained: “The oldest resident of the White House Assisted Living Facility managed to slip past his nurses and attendants, and wandered, lost and befuddled in an ever-thickening fog of dementia, onto its lawn, where he began to gibber incoherently.”
■ The Onion: “White House Confirms It Customary For President To Start Press Conference With ‘Moo.’”
‘Horrific.’ Wonkette’s Evan Hurst recaps the debate performance of “Lindsey Graham’s undead sister” in a South Carolina Republican primary runoff for the late senator’s seat.
■ Inside Medicine columnist and doctor Jeremy Faust says Trump’s new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director gets it wrong: “We don’t need Schwartz to tell Secretary Kennedy and President Trump the truth. … We need her to tell the American people the truth.”
■ Ex-Republican political strategist Rick Wilson: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is “better understood as a slow-motion serial killer.”
■ A federal judge has blocked further Trump administration cuts to a national teen pregnancy prevention program.
Flockblocked. Vandalism of surveillance cameras and license plate readers in the Chicago area is on the rise.
■ Amazon is expanding delivery-by-drone of light packages to 500 U.S. cities—including Chicago.
■ The Wall Street Journal (free link) reports that Costco’s getting into the Medicare plan biz.
Pitch in $10 now and get a sneak preview tonight of tomorrow’s news quiz:
