Pritzker, Trump agree. Illinois’ governor and the president are both calling for oil companies to give back to the public some of their massive Iran war profits.
■ The governor’s letter to seven CEOs demands to know “what steps they will now take to provide hardworking Illinoisans some relief.”
■ Evan Hurst at Wonkette: Defense Secretary Hegseth “lied to Daddy about how he prematurely blew America’s entire wad and now they don’t have enough missiles to keep losing the war they started and were already losing.”
‘Odor that could best be described as … decay of flesh.’ Chicago and the Illinois attorney general’s office are suing Pullman Innovations over the smells emitted by its South Side vegetable oil plant.
■ Took ’em a while: The Sun-Times documented the problem 3 1/2 years ago.
And now the racism. Abdul El-Sayed’s win in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary has unleashed a flood of bigotry from Republicans …
■ … including President Trump and his supporters.
■ Hurst at Wonkette: Losing candidate “Haley Stevens immediately delivered just about as perfect of a concession statement and endorsement as one could ask.”
■ The AP tracks El-Sayed’s odyssey from political oblivion to progressive breakthrough …
■ … who was outspent 9 to 1 …
■ Columnist Ken Klippenstein: El-Sayed’s victory is an earthquake for the Democratic Party’s old guard.
■ The American Israel Public Affairs Committee says it’ll back the Republican in November.
■ Columnist Jessica Valenti: Abortion had a great night Tuesday.
Pink slime alert. Popular Information flags a network of fake news sites launched by Republicans in states facing key Senate races this fall.
■ CNN’s Brian Stelter: An FCC vote today will change the rules to make local TV a lot less local.
‘I’m embarrassed by it, and I apologize for it.’ In the thick of Illinois government’s sexual harassment scandals, House Speaker Chris Welch says he’s changed his social media behavior since … well, um, last month anyway.
■ A longtime champion of women abused in Springfield, Rep. Kelly Cassidy, says Welch’s new “House Culture and Accountability working group” smells like “a PR stunt.”
Ya think? Chicago’s U.S. attorney, Andrew Boutros, admits “mistakes were made” in his office’s prosecution of the “Broadview Six” immigration protesters …
■ … which makes this an apt time to revisit the Chicago Public Square podcast with one of the six, Oak Park Village Trustee Brian Straw, and his lawyer.
■ Axios: Although Mayor Johnson’s asked Chicagoans to flag potential crimes by federal immigration agents, police suspended investigation of a Lakeview homeowner’s report and won’t say why.
■ A Chicago-based DJ from Colombia and his partner are now in ICE custody.
Water, water … Block Club reports that a Chicago panel’s recommending data centers be required to disclose their water and energy use.
■ Also: As viral videos documenting flooding woes pile up, “there’s no evidence the issue will rise to the level of the city’s failed response to the 1979 blizzard.”
■ Cook County’s now notched its 10th heat-related death of the year—more than any in a decade.
■ Columnist Eric Zorn rounds up all the many, many, many candidates for Chicago mayor so far.
‘Yo quiero Taco Bell’ … to pay up. A Chicago man who lost his job after falling ill with cyclosporiasis says he’ll sue the restaurant chain and its lettuce supplier.
■ Portillo’s is laying off 140 corporate workers (Crain’s gift link).
New flu stew. The Food and Drug Administration’s approved the first flu vaccine made with the same mRNA tech key to beating COVID-19.
■ Republicans controlling a U.S. Senate committee have predictably voted to hold former COVID pandemic leader Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to fall for their gotcha questions at a hearing last week.
■ The Senate’s confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as the CDC’s first Black female leader …
■ … despite questions about her willingness to stand up to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his fake science beliefs.
Big Badger’s watching. 404 Media: To create a pretext for arresting a man, Wisconsin cops used Flock’s security camera system to determine that he traveled frequently to Michigan, where marijuana is legal, and then back to Wisconsin, where it’s not.
■ Tech columnist Kim Komando: Restart your computer tonight to get major security updates from Apple and Microsoft.
Surprise—not. The Washington Post (gift link): “Elon Musk’s DOGE made big errors in claims of government savings, GAO finds.”
■ Columnist and AI-assisted cartoonist Jan Kodner compares statements on empathy from Musk and Superman.
■ Coincidentally: Here’s today’s song-on-repeat for production of this edition of Square.
■ … just like Melissa Harris, Timothy Sheridan, Paul Segedin (again!), Jean Moran, Paul Francuch (again!), Ryan Osborn, Mary Segraves, Emily Blum, John Cain, Craig Dellimore, Judee Barone, Carol Lavoie Harper, Diana Lauber, Roy Plotnick, Patrick Egan, Skip Yates, Paula Donato, Barb Powers, Judith Freeman, Kevin Parzyck, Susan Karol, Catherine Tokarski, Michael Johnson, Lucy Tarabour, Jamie Aitchison, Mike Barzacchini, Candice Goldstein, Evan McKenzie, Alyse Lasser and Dianne Shuford.
