‘The first chapter of a new 1984.’ That’s what law professor Joyce Vance perceives in Donald Trump’s order of a review of Smithsonian Institution exhibits to “assess tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.”
■ In the hot seat: The first Black and first historian to head the Smithsonian, ex-Chicago History Museum president Lonnie Bunch III.
■ Economist Paul Krugman on Trump’s choice to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, E.J. Antoni: “Totalitarian regimes only hire incompetent hacks.”
■ The conservative National Review’s economics editor, Dominic Pino, says “Antoni is nowhere near qualified to be BLS commissioner”—and he has the receipts to prove it.
‘Not a distraction. Dictatorship.’ That’s how Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link, courtesy of Chicago Public Square supporters) sees Trump’s military takeover of Washington.
■ Columnist, author and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich calls it “a trial run for a possible military occupation of the United States.”
■ USA Today Chicago-based columnist Rex Huppke: “Trump ushers in new D.C. tourist event: ‘A Live Re-creation of Authoritarianism!’”
■ PolitiFact rates False Trump’s assertion that Washington’s homicide rate is “No. 1 that we can find anywhere in the world.”
■ Columnist Camaron Stevenson: “Trump’s solution to the Epstein scandal? Lowering the age of adulthood (yes, really).”
■ Traditional conservative turned Never-Trumper Charlie Sykes: “Yes, Andor does rhyme with our historical moment.”
■ Men Yell at Me columnist Lyz Lenz: “We are trapped in an imaginary crisis.”
■ The Onion: “Disgusted God Puts Giant Overturned Glass Atop Humanity.”
A shame. Because what would have been more medieval than unclean drinking water? Schaumburg’s Medieval Times canceled yesterday’s show after a water main break triggered a boil order for parts of the village.
■ Torrential rains yesterday turned some Chicago-area streets into streams.
■ Trump’s stripped union protections from Chicago employees of the Environmental Protection Agency.
■ The AP recaps new research: “People often make wrong climate choices. … One surprise is owning a dog.”
‘Your favorite brands are funding anti-abortion legal campaigns.’ Popular Information spotlights big-name companies—hi, CVS, UnitedHealthcare, Airbnb, Zillow, DoorDash, Grubhub, Roblox and more!—that have funneled cash to the Republican Attorneys General Association.
‘Stop insulting Chicago and support the police.’ A Tribune editorial calls out Trump.
■ Gov. Pritzker’s signed a bill requiring Illinois police agencies to check prospective cops’ backgrounds more thoroughly …
■ … a measure inspired by the time a Springfield-area officer with a shady past shot and killed an unarmed Black woman who’d called police for help at her home.
■ Murder charges have been filed against a man accused of shooting two people near a big social-media-fueled party in the Austin neighborhood over the weekend.
Illinois’ ‘crime of the century.’ Mayor Johnson’s chief financial officer says the state’s regressive tax structure fails to reflect “moderate or progressive values.”
■ See her appearance before the City Club of Chicago here.
■ Columnist and Chicago news veteran Andy Shaw: “Illinois can’t keep or attract people and business without lower taxes and less government fat.”
‘You can’t have the resources and not any of the regulations. It just isn’t right.’ ProPublica and The Texas Tribune report: “Texas private schools hire relatives and enrich insiders. Soon they can do it with taxpayer money.”
■ Chalkbeat: Illinois is proposing to lower the state testing scores students need to be deemed proficient …
■ … on grounds the present standards leave some high school kids believing they’re not ready for college—when in fact they are.
■ An ex-Chicago Public Schools dean’s been sentenced to prison for the repeated sexual abuse and assault of a student who was between 15 and 17 at the time.
Old waterway, new name? Environmental activists want your suggestions for renaming Chicago’s historic Sanitary and Ship Canal.
■ A Chicago anti-ICE mural defaced by vandals has been reborn—now featuring Krypto the Super-Dog.
‘It’s scary to see this pair of lapdogs being given such prime real estate in what was once a legitimate newspaper.’ Columnist Neil Steinberg was appalled that The Washington Post gave not one but two Trump acolytes opinion slots in Tuesday’s paper.
■ In what WBEZ dubs “another hit to local food journalism in Chicago,” Eater’s laid off 15 people—including its sole full-time employee here.
■ The union representing those workers calls it “a gut-job.”
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