State of the Union Bingo / WGN-TV layoffs / Parking ticket refunds? / Fun new game

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State of the Union Bingo. The League of Women Voters encourages you to download a card to make viewing tonight’s presidential address “a more engaging process.”
■ Washington Post alumnus Glenn Kessler has a card of his own.
■ Columnist Brian Beutler: “State of the Union boycotters have it right.”
■ CNN’s Brian Stelter: “Trump says ‘it’s going to be a long speech.’ I don’t know if that’s the best way to drive tune-in, but hey, he’s the TV president.”
■ … but, if you choose to watch, here’s a pro tip: Start late and run it at double speed on YouTube.
■ Democrats are staging an alternative event at the same time, to stream here.
■ Also: “U.S. Populace Appoints Designated Survivor.”

WGN-TV layoffs. The station’s reportedly cut at least eight on-air veterans …
■ … including your Chicago Public Square columnist’s friend and former colleague—at the long-ago WMRO-AM and WNUA-FM and later at WGN Radio—Dean Richards.
■ Chicago Media Journal columnist Igor Studenkov assesses news that an Arizona State University nonprofit is taking control of four Chicago-area nonprofit newspapers.*

‘The man in the Oval Office couldn’t take a joke and wanted to make sure he didn’t have to hear one.’ Columnist and former Jimmy Kimmel writer Bess Kalb shares the full text of her testimony to Congress yesterday as House Judiciary Committee Democrats held a hearing under the title “Silencing Dissent: The First Amendment Under Attack.”
■ See the full session here.
■ Kimmel on being named in a Trump fundraising email: “Why is the president, in his second term, even sending fundraising emails? Maybe he needs it to pay all the big, beautiful tariffs he has to give back?”
■ Senate Democrats have launched a formal investigation into charges the Trump administration tried to muzzle Stephen Colbert.
■ The winner in Colbert’s charity auction of a rug he stole in 2018 from then-Republican Sen. Jeff Flake is … ex-Sen. Flake.
■ “Medical influencer” Peter Attia is out at CBS News after revelation of his emails with Trump pal and dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
■ Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob: “Don’t let the media tell you this dumpster fire is normal. Major news outlets under-react to stay out of Trump’s crosshairs.”

Thanks, but no. The gold-winning U.S. women’s hockey team has declined an invitation to attend the State of the Union address.
■ Kimmel translates their RSVP this way: “A nice way of saying ‘Puck off, Trump—we got better things to do.’”

Mexico’s body count. At least 70 people—security forces, suspected cartel members and others—are dead in ongoing violence after the Mexican army killed the country’s leading drug lord.

Parking ticket refunds? A Cook County Circuit Court judge says Chicago owes motorists more than $100 million for overcharges plus interest on penalties illegally assessed on more than a million citations.
■ About an hour-and-a-half into a hearing on misconduct charges against him, a Chicago cop was stripped of his police powers.

‘Abolish ICE.’ That’s the top finisher in Chicago’s annual name-a-snowplow contest.
■ Also up there: “Stephen Coldbert.”
■ Citing Trump administration cuts, the nonprofit Heartland Human Care Services is shuttering three Chicago shelters for immigrant kids who’ve arrived in the U.S. unaccompanied.
■ ProPublica: “Should a person be deported because once, a decade and a half ago, they left their toddlers home alone for a half hour to buy them pajamas at Walmart? That’s what the Trump administration is arguing.”

Exposed. The Sun-Times reports that an ex-strip club owner with ties to reputed mob figures is a big donor to the campaign fund benefiting Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who’s running for renomination unopposed in the Democratic primary but also is a prospective mayoral candidate.
■ A state senator and congressional candidate who sponsored a bill categorizing police calls on Black people as a hate crime when there is no active threat found himself the subject of a police call as he canvassed in an apartment building.
■ Ready to cast your ballot? Don’t vote dumb: The newly updated Square Voter Guide Guide is here.

Drug deals. The maker of Ozempic and Wegovy plans big price cuts—next year.
■ AbbVie says it’s adding two new plants—and 300 new jobs—at its North Chicago campus …
■ … as it scales up domestic production to dodge Trump tariffs on drug imports.
■ Chicago-born parking app SpotHero’s being acquired by Uber.
If you can spare about 10 minutes for a survey, you can help news organizations working with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism to better understand the public they serve—and you could win a $100 gift card.
■ Completed the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.
Fun new game. TidBITS reports: “Dialed shows you a color for 5 seconds, then asks you to recreate it using three color sliders.”
■ Your Square columnist’s score on first try: 31.5/50.

An apology to Apple readers. A few recent email editions of Square have rendered in teensy type on iPhones and iPads because of a coding bug. We think we’ve nailed that bug.
■ If it happens again, please don’t hesitate to report it by simply Replying to any issue.
■ You can always access a legible version by clicking on that “Read this in your browser, with updates and corrections” link atop every dispatch.

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‘Boycott the State of the Union’ / ‘Shelter in place’ / It began as a joke

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‘Boycott the State of the Union.’ Columnist and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich makes the case for not watching Donald Trump tomorrow night: “Your senators and representatives in Congress should boycott it, too. You might call their offices to suggest this.”
■ If you do tune in, here’s what AP says you should keep an eye out for.
■ Law professor Joyce Vance wonders, “Will any of the justices show up in the wake of Trump’s Friday afternoon press conference, where he excoriated the ones who ruled against him in the tariffs case and called them an embarrassment to their families?”
■ Columnist Robert Hubbell on that Supreme Court ruling: “Take the win. … The fact that we are celebrating a victory does not mean that we have ‘gone gooey.’ … If we expect to motivate people to follow us into battle to save democracy, we cannot characterize victories as defeats in disguise.”
■ Gov. Pritzker’s demanding Trump repay Illinois $8.7 billion …
■ … issuing an actual invoice.
■ The New York Times reports (gift link) that judges are getting angry about the Trump administration’s violation of their orders.

‘The hidden ICE blueprint that should horrify every American.’ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link) spotlights a Homeland Security document detailing ICE plans to “cram thousands of detained human beings inside a Georgia warehouse.”

Funny thing. Popular Information: Days after a $5 million donation, the Trump administration backed Crypto.com in a lawsuit.
■ C-SPAN says that wasn’t Trump in a crank phone call to the channel Friday—but Poynter’s Tom Jones says “it’s easy to believe he’d do something like that.”

‘He put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position.’ The Secret Service says it shot and killed an armed man who drove into Mar-a-Lago’s secure perimeter early yesterday.
■ Meanwhile, the Times reports (another gift link) the FBI’s director was having a grand time watching the U.S. men’s hockey team take Olympic gold.
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Why the fuck was Kash at the Olympics? Did he have a hot tip that Nancy Guthrie’s kidnappers are fans of figure skating?”

‘Super PACs … actively working to influence Illinois congressional races.’ The Sun-Times’ Tina Sfondeles surveys how big money behind cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and Israel is bombarding four key contests.
■ Columnist Steve Sheffey: An American Israel Public Affairs Committee-funded Super PAC that supports Laura Fine’s 9th District candidacy “is running incredibly inaccurate and misleading ads about Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss.”
■ Sheffey, whose newsletter is titled Pro-Israel Political Update, explains that “Pro-Israel is not synonymous with pro-AIPAC or pro-Netanyahu. Sometimes, it is the opposite.”
■ Former U.S. Rep. Marie Newman sees “A voting bloc harnessing unstoppable power for ’26 and ’28: Women over 50.”
■ Capitol News Illinois: “Since 2022, Illinois has seen more travelers seeking abortions from out of state than any other state in the country.”
■ Available to help Election Day? Chicago and Cook County need poll workers.
■ The Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide is here to help you decide who deserves your support.

‘Shelter in place.’ The State Department’s advising U.S. citizens in Mexico to find a safe place and stay there amid the outbreak of attacks by one of that nation’s fastest-growing criminal networks …
■ A Chicagoan stuck amid the violence tells Axios: “This guy came running towards our car with a gun … and told us to get out”—taking the car, blocking the road—and then “threw something in the car, and the car exploded.”

Bomb cyclone. New York City’s been buried by its biggest snowfall in five years—with more than 2 feet of snow in parts of the Northeast.
■ The city’s schoolkids are getting an old-fashioned “snow day” off—no virtual classrooms or other remote work.
■ Add this to your vocabulary: Bombogenesis.
■ The Supreme Court’s agreed to hear oil and gas companies’ objections to state and local governments’ lawsuits over fossil fuel’s impact on climate change.
■ Meanwhile in Chicago: Coyotes.

Not so fast. People hoping to get through U.S. airports quickly have been grappling with a shutdown of Homeland Security’s Global Entry program during a congressional standoff over agency funding …
■ … but, contrary to an early threat, TSA PreCheck’s still working.

‘Your phone number is the most dangerous number you own … and a criminal can steal it in minutes.’ Tech columnist Kim Komando explains how to activate your carrier’s free SIM protection.
■ For the third February in a row, the Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg challenges Google’s AI, Gemini, to write a column in his style—prompting the question “Will we continue to care if things are true anymore?”
■ John Oliver last night assessed the state of Twitter X: “My personal advice is not to post on it at all.”
■ LateNighter: A bunch of TV hosts return this week to heightened political pressure.
Shape Chicago news’ future. Take a survey to help news organizations working with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism better understand the public they serve—and you could win a $100 gift card.
■ Your participation shows potential funders—including advertisers—that the region’s journalists have substantial community backing.
It began as a joke. But you know, the annual National Support Chicago Public Square Day—launched whimsically in 2018—could actually be a thing now that so many readers have Square T-shirts, hoodies and caps.
■ So do your laundry, mark your calendar and let’s all don Squarewear Thursday, March 12.
■ Want a shirt or hoodie for free? Through the end of February, get your choice by supporting Square for as little as $1/week—which is to say $52/year. Or get $9 off for pitching in as little as $1, just once. (You can use PayPal if you prefer.)
■ Or get a limited-edition Square cap with a one-time contribution of $100.

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