Trump reversal. After a string of poorly attended campaign rallies, the president first bailed on scheduled appearances in the key—once solidly Republican—states of Kansas and Iowa …
■ … and then re-scheduled them …
■ When a reporter asked Trump about that initial cancellation, he responded with what columnist Heather Delaney Reese calls “one of the most revealing fits of rage of his presidency.”
■ Trump’s Federal Housing Director—and failed Northwestern University student body presidential candidate (Oct. 10 link)—Bill Pulte reportedly is spending his time creating AI-generated images for the president’s social media feeds.
■ Chicago-born journalist Terry Moran—fired as ABC’s national correspondent after a tweet critical of Trump—sees the possibility next week’s vote could prove Trump’s Waterloo: “Something is happening—not just to Trump. Something is happening to Trumpism.”
‘I knew nothing.’ Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola says she had no role in Dan J. Sullivan Jr.’s candidacy against incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.
■ The Onion jokes: “Mary Peltola Insists Scheme To Put Second Dan Sullivan On Ballot Orchestrated By Mary F. Peltola.”
‘A sneak attack on democracy.’ Law professor Joyce Vance recaps what she calls “an epic opinion” from a California federal judge who’s rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to force the state to cast aside ballots simply because of speculation that voters aren’t citizens.
■ Undaunted, the Justice Department’s issued subpoenas to California election officials.
‘I said, here’s my opportunity. Let’s go do something goofy.’ A Trump critic who accepted an invitation to the president’s South Carolina rally tells reporter Marisa Kabas he didn’t expect to be handed a Fox News mic …
■ … which gave him the chance to pull this on-air prank.
■ The Daily Beast: “Trump’s ghastly Halloween surprise backfires spectacularly.”
■ Cartoonist Ann Telnaes has designed Halloween attire for the president and his sycophants.
‘Vote so hard you sprain your damn finger.’ Columnist Rex Huppke offers a cure for those sick of political ads.
■ The pope’s mailed-in Illinois ballot makes him the first pope to vote in a U.S. general election.
■ Ready to make your picks? Check the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one. Having lost its parliamentary majority, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party is promoting what the AP calls “unsubstantiated allegations that Arab-led parties had ‘stolen’ the election.”
■ The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg eviscerates Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s assertion that Arabs “don’t produce science.”
■ Public Notice columnist Noah Berlatsky: “We’ve blown past mere ‘transphobia.’ Republicans are peddling genocidal hate.”
Whoops. Someone at Chicago City Hall apparently let AI run rampant in illustrating a since-deleted LinkedIn ad for a new Ethics Board chief …
■ … generating a photo that put Willis (Sears) Tower in the wrong place.
■ All 50 City Council members have opted in to a pay raise for next year—but Mayor Johnson’s passing.
■ Chicago police have canceled an in-house-produced podcast* that promised “candid, unfiltered conversations with members of CPD, residents and others who work closely with law enforcement.”
■ Speaking of ethics: A former suburban school board president faces federal fraud charges for allegedly directing $1.3 million to a company that was owned by her boyfriend and that she served as chief financial officer.
Gas vexation. Consumer and environmental activists yesterday presented the Illinois Commerce Commission with 10,000 public comments opposing a Peoples Gas rate hike.
■ The company accuses the protesters of trying to “force Chicagoans onto an all-electric heating system that costs $75,000 per home to install.”
Medicare disadvantage. Illinois seniors this fall are finding medical coverage options disappearing.
■ Columnist and former Illinois Rep. Marie Newman: “Buying a gun is easier than getting a checkup.”
Missed it by this much. One wrong answer kept your Square columnist from a perfect score on this week’s Conversation news quiz by past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel.
■ Your turn:
■ On a 2011 visit to Chicago, Stewart explained how his Star Trek castmates “gave me a sense of humor—which I didn’t know existed.”
Boldly gone. Sir Patrick Stewart—known around the world for his roles as Star Trek’s Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and X-Men’s Professor Charles Xavier—is dead at 86.
■ Former Tribune TV critic Mo Ryan: “He was the center around which a big part of the universe revolved.”
■ He grew up without a toilet in his house.
■ Stewart’s collaborator on his 2023 memoir recalls, “The older he got, the more he allowed his silly side to show.”
Soggy Saturday. The Halloween forecast looks warm and at least a little wet.
■ Airbnb says it’s aiming to keep people from hosting raucous Halloween parties on its Chicago-area rental properties.
‘The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of.’ That’s the title of Netflix’s new documentary about SCTV—a legendary sketch show whose origins trace back to Chicago.
■ Happy 45th anniversary to Chicago’s long-form improvisation company, iO Theater—formerly ImprovOlympic.
Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.
* For which your Square columnist offered (without compensation) early feedback to the show’s producer: An old friend, host and WBBM Newsradio alumnus Mariam Sobh.