Trump’s ballot boost / Wanted: Election judges / Relief picture
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Trump’s ballot boost. With a vote likely to be challenged in court, the bipartisan Illinois Elections Board has ruled unanimously that insurrectionist Donald Trump can stay on the state’s March 19 primary ballots.
■?Axios: Some Illinois Republicans—particularly in the northern part of the state—aren’t celebrating.
■?In a decision written by a Trump appointee, a federal appeals court has refused to reconsider a ruling that would weaken the Voting Rights Act.
■?The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg looks back to the 1930s, when his paper’s predecessor played a key role in exposing a “rapidly growing army?… preparing ... to seize control of the United States.”
Wanted: Election judges. The state’s running short of people willing to take on an increasingly challenging job for the primary.
■?A Sun-Times editorial: Do it.
■?Here’s where you can volunteer in Chicago and Cook County.
Cops out of cars. A Sun-Times editorial celebrates the Chicago Police Department’s decision to abandon “scarecrow” tactics downtown, but says the city still needs officers on the sidewalk “doing actual police work.”
■?A Chicago cop’s been charged with drunken driving in connection with the death of a Texas woman outside House of Blues last month.
■?Count Mayor Johnson among those who want cops out of the city’s schools.
■?After three Chicago firefighter deaths in two years, the Sun-Times reports that the state’s Occupational Safety and Health division is telling the city to stop sending them into burning buildings alone.
Tensions high. The Chicago City Council today faced what WBEZ calls a “potentially bitter debate over calls for a cease-fire in Gaza.”
■?Students at some Chicago high schools yesterday staged protests in support of the resolution.
■?A new nationwide report from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gives a “red light” rating to Chicago State University, Eastern Illinois University, Loyola and Northwestern for “policies that clearly and substantially restrict free speech”?…
■?… but The Bulwark’s Charlie Sykes notes “the best news”: 105 university organizations have adopted free speech policies modeled after a historic University of Chicago statement.
‘Contempt for the First Amendment.’ Activists for abortion and gay rights are protesting Chicago’s rejection of their request to march and protest near the Water Tower just before the start of this summer’s Democratic National Convention.
■?They’ve appealed to an administrative law judge.
Relief picture. Block Club: Chicago’s finally getting a handful of public restrooms—four, to be precise.
■?A 2021 Tribune investigation exposed just how rare such facilities are.
‘For potato chips, I’m all in.’ Food journalist and Made in Chicago: Stories Behind 30 Great Hometown Bites co-author David Hammond is standing up for the Chicago area’s dollar stores.
■?Dollar General says it’s ramping up the sale of fresh produce.
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Missing link found. Yesterday’s Square failed to provide a hyperlink for this item:
■?Tech columnist Alex Kantrowitz: “I canceled Amazon Prime and you probably can too.”