Chicago Public Square’s taking a break. We’ll meet back here again for a full edition March 12, but watch for a fresh news quiz next Friday.
■ Meanwhile, catch a continual stream of breaking news and commentary on the Square Bluesky page (no Bluesky account required).
■ Abortion, Every Day columnist Jessica Valenti: Montana Republicans’ bill to criminalize women for “trafficking” their own fetuses—traveling to other states to obtain an abortion—“signals more attacks to come.”
■ Illinois is now the first state to offer public university and community college students free and comprehensive test prep for things like the law school entrance exam.
‘What a waste.’ In an open letter to the EPA’s new boss, former Chicago regional EPA administrator Debra Shore condemns the summary dismissal of “public servants … striving daily to ensure that all Americans have clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, and places to live and work that are not laced with toxic chemicals.”
‘Worse than you think.’ Wired on the “Department of Government Efficiency” takeover under Trump: “What’s happening to the U.S. government right now is bad. What comes next is worse.”
Need a driver’s license? Beginning tomorrow, bracing for a rush of people seeking Real IDs before a May deadline, Illinois Secretary of State offices will be open Saturdays.
‘Suspicious enough.’ Police say the deaths of actor Gene Hackman, his wife and dog at their New Mexico home merit further investigation.
‘Will anyone outside the White House West Wing and the haunts of billionaires read the Post’s new editorial pages without throwing up?’ American Prospect columnist Harold Meyerson (no relation): “The primary goal of the Post’s new editorial policy is to protect the owner’s wealth.” ■ On Tyranny author Timothy Snyder offers the Post a column that begins—and ends—this way: “I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets …”
■ If you’re inclined to do the same, let’s try this again, since yesterday’s links were … a little overripe: