Chicago Public Square

2026-01-09 Chicago Public Square

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 13:03:56 GMT

Two quizzes and a Dingus

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Two quizzes and a Dingus

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Chicago Public Square returns as usual Tuesday.

■ Through then—as always between editions—get breaking news and commentary via the Square account on Bluesky.

But now, The Conversation quizmaster and past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel’s here with a “Wry January” news quiz: “All wrong answers guaranteed to be ‘dryly and obliquely humorous’ or ‘find a difficult situation slightly funny.’”

■ Think you can beat your Square columnist’s perfect score this time around? Go.

■ Another perfect score here this week: 5/5 on City Cast’s Chicago-centric news quiz.

Weekly Dingus. Lyz Lenz’s pick for Dingus of the Week is a Trump appointee she classifies among “invertebrates who look like they live off a diet of mealworms and room-temperature skim milk licked off a linoleum floor.”

And happy birthday today to the ChicagoPublicSquare.com domain, registered on this date in 2017.

And that’s how things look, January 9, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘Get the fuck out’ / ‘You can’t kill us all, Nazis’ / Pyramid scheme
Places, everyone / Crimewatchers’ delight / ‘Their last act of patriotism’
World disorder / Scars for kids / Grok shock
Can’t get there from here / Some call it war / ‘I want to thank our president’
Resolve to beat this quiz

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
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Invite a friend to subscribe.

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Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-13 Chicago Public Square

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:03:51 GMT

‘We have watched in horror’ / ‘Go Bears. Fuck ICE.’ / Football news

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‘We have watched in horror’ / ‘Go Bears. Fuck ICE.’ / Football news

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Hey, there. Welcome back. If you missed Chicago Public Square these last few days, catch up quick via the Square account on Bluesky. But now, the news for today:

‘We have watched in horror.’ That’s Gov. Pritzker, announcing a lawsuit jointly filed by Illinois and Chicago against the Trump administration over its immigration enforcement practices.

■ Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul: “Border Patrol agents and ICE officers … use tear gas and other chemical weapons … injuring dozens, including children, the elderly and local police.”

■ Read the suit here.

■ Minnesota’s doing the same.

■ ProPublica’s found more than 40 cases—in Chicago and elsewhere—of immigration agents using banned chokeholds and other moves that can cut off breathing.

Minneapolis on edge. The city’s seen days of demonstrations following an ICE agent’s shooting of Renee Nicole Good. (Photo: Protest sign in Chicago’s Oz Park Sunday, by Mike Nowak.)

■ Columnist John Stoehr: “The likelihood of convicting her killer is very low … but in death, she might finally show people … that Trump truly is an evil man, and that other truly evil men are drawn to him.”

■ Former AP D.C. bureau chief Ron Fournier: “Trump went so far as to offer a novel justification for murder: Behaving badly. … Under these conditions, nobody is safe.”

■ Wired: “Right-wing influencers have flooded Minneapolis.”

■ The Onion: “Kristi Noem On Renee Good Murder: ‘We Will Find The Immigrant Who Did This.’”

‘Go Bears. Fuck ICE.’ Oak Park lawyer Scott Sakiyama, arrested in October outside his kid’s elementary school after honking his horn and blowing a whistle to warn neighbors of ICE’s presence, took to Facebook yesterday to announce the dismissal of both cases against him.

■ Ex-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, launching a new ICE Accountability Project, says federal immigration officers don’t have blanket immunity.

■ Lightfoot has a lawsuit problem of her own: Chase is suing her for more than $11,000 in unpaid bills.

If ICE stops you on the sidewalk and asks, ‘Are you a U.S. citizen?’ … Lawyer and columnist Mitch Jackson says you have the right to ask one clarifying question: “Am I free to leave? If the answer is yes, you walk away calmly. Don’t say another word.”

■ Wired: What to do if ICE invades your neighborhood.

Playing both sides. U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson—an ICE critic and a candidate unchallenged for renomination in this spring’s Democratic primary—has bought thousands of dollars in stock in Palantir, a data analysis company that’s been helping the government deport people …

■ … and whose stock, The Motley Fool reports, “has been on an incredible hot streak.”

‘Standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms.’ Saying he’s doing it to protect freedom of speech for all military veterans, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly—a former astronaut and Navy pilot—is suing the Pentagon for punishing him over his warnings about illegal orders.

■ The New York Times: Facing a threat of contempt, Bill and Hillary Clinton are refusing to testify in the U.S. House’s investigation of dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

‘A bedrock of our economy.’ A Tribune editorial (gift link, courtesy of Chicago Public Square supporters) doesn’t get why Trump’s threatening the independence of the Federal Reserve Board—especially when chair Jerome Powell’s term’s about to expire in May anyway.

■ The Bulwark: “The Fed chair finally learns that the only way to deal with Trump is to push back.”

■ Central bank executives around the world are siding with Powell—against whom Trump’s threatening criminal charges.

■ In a quickly launched Substack account, three living former Fed chairs and five former Treasury secretaries came together to defend Powell.

■ The Onion: “DOJ Releases Jerome Powell Deepfake Nudes.”

■ Also: “X Users Ask Grok To Put More Clothes On Elon Musk Pictures.”

‘We are in a confusing, dark place.’ In a profanity-laden review of the United States under Trump, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart despaired, “Rule of law and institutions are kind of an important framework. But … those are gone.”

■ Jimmy Kimmel: “Send all those guys from ICE out of Minneapolis to Iran. They could help!”

■ The death toll in Iran’s wave of nationwide protests has reportedly topped at least 2,000.

Football news. The Bears’ playoff game at home against the Los Angeles Rams is set for 5:30 p.m. Sunday on NBC.

■ The team’s postseason run could shift the dynamics in talk of a new stadium.

■ Management’s sent a survey to season ticketholders, asking how they’d feel about a move to Indiana.

The heart of Chicago journalism. A new book spells out the history of the legendary City News Bureau.

■ Trib columnist Rick Kogan praises new documentaries about Chicago-trained journalist Seymour Hersh and Saturday Night Live alumnus Chevy Chase.

■ Dilbert creator Scott Adams is dead—three years after papers around the country dropped the strip over his racist rermarks.

And that’s how things look, January 13, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Two quizzes and a Dingus
‘Get the fuck out’ / ‘You can’t kill us all, Nazis’ / Pyramid scheme
Places, everyone / Crimewatchers’ delight / ‘Their last act of patriotism’
World disorder / Scars for kids / Grok shock
Can’t get there from here / Some call it war / ‘I want to thank our president’

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-14 Chicago Public Square

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 13:03:56 GMT

Greenland or bust / ‘The Reich Stuff’ / ‘Misconduct hotspots’ / ‘Are You Dead?’

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Greenland or bust / ‘The Reich Stuff’ / ‘Misconduct hotspots’ / ‘Are You Dead?’

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Greenland or bust. President Trump says anything less than U.S. ownership of Greenland “is unacceptable.”

■ Columnist Robert Hubbell: It’s time for Congress to defund Trump—including his ability to invade sovereign nations and NATO allies.

■ A bipartisan bill could do that.

■ The AP fact-checks Trump on Greenland.

■ Columnist Terry Moran—fired by ABC News after calling Trump a “world-class hater” (June link): “The world is learning how to live without America.”

■ Everyone Is Entitled to My Own Opinion proprietor Jeff Tiedrich on Trump’s profane gesture yesterday in Detroit: “Should anyone really be surprised by Dear Leader’s infantile behavior? … Donny’s been giving us the finger for years now.”

‘The agents’ mission increasingly looks as if it is to frighten opponents of the administration into submission.’ But historian Heather Cox Richardson says surges of federal agents into Democratic-led cities—including Chicago and Minneapolis—“appear to be sparking deeper and deeper opposition.”

■ Law professor Joyce Vance questions ICE agents’ wearing of masks: “The excuse … was that it was necessary to protect the agents. … But they’re the ones assaulting and killing people.”

■ The American Prospect’s Harold Meyerson (no relation): Congressional Democrats have the ability to curtail Trump’s thugs—at least partly.

■ Stephen Colbert: Trump’s “clearly invading Minnesota.”

■ Columnist Lyz Lenz—back from five days there, researching her next book—rips apart a Fox ~~News~~ contributor’s characterization of rapid response groups as “organized gangs of wine moms.”

‘Blatantly unconstitutional and immoral.’ That’s Mayor Johnson’s assessment of Trump’s vow to cut off federal funding to Chicago and other so-called “sanctuary cities” at the end of the month.

■ Block Club: It’s not the first time Trump’s played that card.

■ The Tribune: The family of a Chicago sandwich shop owner deported this month after his arrest in September by Border Patrol agents is grappling with how to preserve the restaurant—and his legacy.

■ The American Prospect: ICE has been altering contracts with private prison companies to remove “the scant protections in place for transgender people in immigration prison.”

‘The Reich Stuff.’ Pulitzer winner Gene Weingarten: Illinois-born Rage Against the Machine founder Tom Morello was right when he flagged Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for taking to a podium displaying official policy of The Third Reich.

■ The Onion: “GOP Adds ‘ICE Kills Everyone’ Pillar To 2026 Platform.” (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)

‘Air pollution denial is now EPA policy.’ Heated: Dirty air may kill people, but Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency won’t count the bodies.

■ The Trib: Almost a year after a toxic spill in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the EPA’s left the cleanup undone.

■ Ready to declutter? One5c has guides for responsibly disposing of old clothes, spent electronics, used-up batteries, mushy mattresses and more.

Stuff’s getting Real (ID). Ahead of the end-of-the-month federal deadline for imposing a $45 fee on airline passengers without REAL IDs, the Illinois secretary of state is adding Saturday hours at its downtown office.

■ Learn what you need—and make an appointment—here.

‘Misconduct hotspots.’ Chicago’s inspector general has published a “Chicago Police Department Complaint Register Network” dashboard—letting you see complaints against cops in relationship to others with whom they’ve been co-accused.

■ Search for cops by name here.

Whoops. 404 Media: Police departments using Flock automated license plate readers across the country have unwittingly leaked details of millions of surveillance targets and a bunch of active police investigations. (Email address required to read for free. It’s worth it; 404’s doing important work.)

■ Check here to see if your plate was listed.

■ More from 404: A Colorado cop used Flock to accuse a woman wrongfully—then refused to look at evidence that exonerated her.

‘Intensely concerning.’ That’s how a First Amendment scholar describes an FBI search early today of a Washington Post journalist’s home.

■ The Post reports: “The search came as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials.”

‘A ratings dud.’ Status (mostly behind a paywall): Tony Dokoupil’s CBS Evening News looks like a flop.

■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: His interview with Trump was “much ado about nothing.”

■ Wonkette: “Bari Weiss Should Do CBS Town Hall On Whose Fault It Is She Sucks So Bad.”

■ On Weiss’ team at the network: Jerry Seinfeld’s daughter, who has virtually no news experience.

‘Are You Dead?’ That’s the name—translated from Chinese—of an app climbing Apple’s App Store charts.

■ Internationally, it’s known as “Demumu.”

■ Platformer’s Casey Newton: “What I learned while cloning my own voice”—to create an audio version of his columns.

Thanks. Your support—even just $1, just once—keeps Chicago Public Square coming.

And that’s how things look, January 14, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘We have watched in horror’ / ‘Go Bears. Fuck ICE.’ / Football news
Two quizzes and a Dingus
‘Get the fuck out’ / ‘You can’t kill us all, Nazis’ / Pyramid scheme
Places, everyone / Crimewatchers’ delight / ‘Their last act of patriotism’
World disorder / Scars for kids / Grok shock

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-15 Chicago Public Square

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 13:04:04 GMT

‘Complete terror’ / A ‘difficult meeting’ / Dangerous line crossed

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‘Complete terror’ / A ‘difficult meeting’ / Dangerous line crossed

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

‘Complete terror.’ Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar tells HuffPost ICE agents are on “almost every single block,” operating as “an occupying force” in her Minneapolis community.

■ The Chicago law firm that represented the family of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis cop in 2020, is now representing the family of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, who was killed by an ICE officer last week.

■ Columnist Eric Zorn: “Sorry, wing nuts, but Renee Good was straight up murdered by ICE.”

■ The Onion: “Conservatives Say Renee Good Was Brainwashed By Bible Into Loving Thy Neighbor.”

■ About 4 1/2 miles from where she died, another federal officer yesterday shot a man in the leg.

■ Democrats across the country are proposing state laws to restrain federal immigration agents.

■ Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appeals to citizens: “If you see ICE in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record.”

■ LateNighter reviews the fun late-night hosts have been having with “ICE Ice Capades” video …

■ … and yet, ICE is reportedly headed to another cold-weather state, Maine.

Trump’s threat. Whining that “professional agitators and insurrectionists” are “attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job,” the president today (again) raised the possibiliy he’ll invoke the Insurrection Act …

■ … which the Brennan Center for Justice has ranked among the most “outdated and dangerous” antiquated laws from the 1700s and 1800s.

■ Investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein: Leaked documents reveal 21 secret programs and detail the dizzying scope of ICE operations.

■ Columnist/lawyer Robert Hubbell: “Mass protests are the last line of defense against ICE's assault on our peace, safety and security.”

■ After fizzling out before the Supreme Court, Justice Department lawyers tell a federal judge in Chicago they hope to settle a suit over Trump’s National Guard deployment efforts here.

‘No regrets whatsoever.’ A Michigan auto worker suspended after calling Trump a “pedophile protector” during the president’s tour Tuesday—prompting Trump to mouth “f--- you” and raise his middle finger—has the United Auto Workers’ support.

■ Stephen Colbert addressed the president directly: “You signed a law mandating that you would have to release the Epstein files by the middle of last month, but you still haven’t. It kind of makes you seem like a, what’s the phrase? Pedophile protector!”

■ Coming back to the suburbs after an eviction threat last year: The MAGA-themed “Trump Truth Store.”

A ‘difficult meeting.’ That’s how the AP characterizes U.S., Danish and Greenlandic officials’ face-to-face to discuss Trump’s coveting of Greenland.

■ The New York Times (gift link): “The fate of the world’s largest island has outsize importance for billions of people on the planet, because as the climate warms, Greenland is losing ice.”

■ A Senate bill that would have clamped down on Trump’s power to attack Venezuela further flopped yesterday after two Republican senators caved. (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Once again, smack dab in the middle of a meeting—with cameras rolling, surrounded by people—Sundowning Grandpa Befuddlepants closed his weary eyes and drifted off to slumberland.”

Quick retreat. Hours after telling thousands of public service organizations nationwide that federal cash for treatment of substance abuse and mental health issues was about to disappear, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Health and Human Services Department reversed that decision.

■ Chicago-area leaders were among the cancellation’s loudest critics.

Snow fun. Brace for more wintry weather over the next few days.

■ Chicagoans who don’t shovel their walks could face fines of at least $50/day.

Apparently untroubled. Popular Information calls out at least 37 major brands—including Amazon, Google, Chipotle, Apple, Gatorade and the NFL—that’ve been advertising on ~~Twitter~~ X even as its chatbot ground out sexualized images of kids.

■ The Current offers guides for keeping your TV from spying on you and your internet router from sharing your Wi-Fi with strangers—on your dime.

Passages.

■ Chicago gay-rights champion Rick Garcia—who championed groundbreaking laws at the city, county and state levels—has died at 69.

■ The daughter of the founder of Chicago’s Harold’s Chicken chain—its CEO, Kristen Pierce-Sherrod—is dead at 55.

■ After seven years, Fulton Market’s Time Out Market food hall will close next week.

The Score on FM. As of Feb. 2, Chicago’s premier AM sports-talk radio station will begin simulcasting on WBMX-FM, which has been known as 104.3 Jams …

■ … a shift eerily foreshadowed by a 1980 TV commercial for a station that used those call letters to identify as Chicago’s “Black Music Experience.”

Dangerous line crossed. Poynter media writer Tom Jones says the FBI’s raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home stands to “intimidate sources and chill journalists’ ability to … hold the government accountable.”

■ A Post editorial vows that the raid “won’t stop reporters from continuing their important work.”

Reading Chicago Public Square for free? Thank those whose support—even just $1, just once—keeps it coming, paywall-free.

■ Pitch in yourself and see your name in lights here.

And that’s how things look, January 15, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Greenland or bust / ‘The Reich Stuff’ / ‘Misconduct hotspots’ / ‘Are You Dead?’
‘We have watched in horror’ / ‘Go Bears. Fuck ICE.’ / Football news
Two quizzes and a Dingus
‘Get the fuck out’ / ‘You can’t kill us all, Nazis’ / Pyramid scheme
Places, everyone / Crimewatchers’ delight / ‘Their last act of patriotism’

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-16 Chicago Public Square

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 13:03:56 GMT

‘Attila, Genghis Khan, Trump’ / Chicagoans behaving badly / Quizzes!

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‘Attila, Genghis Khan, Trump’ / Chicagoans behaving badly / Quizzes!

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Chicago Public Square will take Monday off. See you here Tuesday.

‘Attila, Genghis Khan, Trump.’ Harold Meyerson (no relation) at The American Prospect says Donald Trump “is the 21st-century version of Attila or Genghis Khan, heading a horde that is defined by an exterminationist loathing of cities and all that they stand for and promote.”

■ The Prospect’s Ryan Cooper: Sees an “ethnic cleansing campaign in Minneapolis. Every part of this illegal, violent occupation is based on lies.”

■ Wired (behind a paywall): “ICE can kill with impunity. Over the past decade, U.S. immigration agents have shot and killed more than two dozen people. Not a single agent appears to have faced criminal charges.”

■ ICE tear-gassed a 6-month-old baby in Minneapolis and choked a man to death in Texas.

■ Law Dork Chris Geidner: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem yesterday asserted that “virtually anyone in the U.S.” could face a Kavanaugh stop—named for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s endorsement of a law enforcement practice in which federal agents can detain a person based on their perceived ethnicity, spoken language or occupation.

■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson: “You know what Americans aren’t talking about very much today after Trump’s threat to … invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota? They aren’t talking a lot about the fact that the Department of Justice has released less than 1% of the Epstein files.”

■ The AP: The Trump administration’s erased centuries of Justice Department experience.

Twin Cities terror. Video caught a U.S. citizen on her way to a medical appointment in Minneapolis being dragged out of her car and detained by immigration officers.

■ The New York Times presents a millisecond-by-millisecond analysis of newly available video of an ICE agent’s killing of Renee Good …

■ …. who newly released records show was shot three times—twice in the chest and once in the forearm.

■ Columnist/cartoonist Jack Ohman: “Trump’s attempts to blame Renee Good for her own killing are a bridge too far.”

■ The Minnesota Star Tribune is live-blogging the latest—paywall-free.

■ The Minnesota Reformer surveys the ICE arrests you’re not seeing.

■ The Atlantic (gift link) shares photos: “Minneapolis neighborhoods vs. ICE.”

■ Law prof Joyce Vance says all of this forces the question: “Is there a deliberate effort to provoke protestors into acts of violence?”

■ Poynter ethics chief Kelly McBride: This moment in history will be defined by what reporters and private citizens choose to record.

Dingus of the week. Lyz Lenz’s pick: Nick Shirley, “the ferret who … made a bunch of videos alleging fraud at Somali-run daycares in Minnesota.”

■ Chicago TV news veteran Jennifer Schulze says Shirley’s no journalist: “There is a straight line from Nick Shirley’s viral video about alleged fraud at Somali-run daycare centers in Minneapolis to the shooting death of 37-year Renee Good.”

‘If they missed the fact that I was an anti-ICE journalist who didn’t fill out her paperwork, what else might they be missing?’ A Slate reporter who set out simply to learn what it was like to apply to be an ICE agent was surprised to get offered the job.

■ Columnist and ex-Illinois U.S. Rep. Marie Newman: “We want congressional phone lines ringing off the hook with constituents demanding … restrictions on ICE and Border Patrol.”

■ Author and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich: “Tell your members of Congress not to vote for the DHS spending bill unless it stipulates that ICE be disarmed.”

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link): Economic boycotts are melting ICE—“but we can do more.”

‘Well-known steps toward autocracy.’ The Conversation: The FBI search of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home this week pushes the U.S. closer to the edge.

■ Natanson in December (gift link): “I am The Post’s ‘federal government whisperer.’ It’s been brutal.”

■ The paper’s owner, Amazon founder and Trump enabler Jeff Bezos, has been silent on the raid.

■ The Onion: “‘Washington Post’ Publishes Editorial Defending FBI Raid On Its Reporter.”

■ Democracy Docket: “Trump told us how he really feels about the midterms. … ‘We shouldn’t even have an election.’”

■ The Times (gift link) lists all the things named for Trump, and how long other presidents had to wait.

Trump takes the prize. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has given the president her Nobel Peace Prize medal.

■ She told Fox ~~News~~ “he deserves it.”

■ Columnist Charlie Madigan: “It is gold and garish. Perfect for the president.”

■ The Onion: “Pundits Praise Strength, Dexterity Required For Trump To Successfully Lift Middle Finger.”

■ Jimmy Kimmel’s offering Trump any award that Kimmel’s won—if he gets his goons out of Minnesota.

■ Meanwhile, PBS—or at least its social media team—has embraced Kimmel’s proposed new slogan: “We’re still here, bitch.”

Chicagoans behaving badly. Among hundreds of inspector general investigations of city workers: At least two cops who got fraudulent pandemic loans.

■ Former DePaul University players and an ex-Bull have been charged in a scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games.

Calling all quiz whizzes. The Conversation’s quizmaster, past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel, has crafted a challenge that again puts your Chicago Public Square columnist back in the ol’ 75% hole. Can you do better?

■ A 5/5 here on City Cast’s Chicago-centric news quiz.

■ And 8/10 on Axios’ match-the-frequency-to-the-radio-station test.

■ But … ahem.

‘We all remember a world before Wikipedia.’ A Tribune editorial somewhat grudgingly wishes it a happy 25th birthday.

■ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg observes the passage of Google parent Alphabet’s market capitalization past $4 trillion by trying to relate that number to something on a human scale.

■ Were you hit by Verizon’s service outage this week? Expect a $20 refund.

■ Would you like to have a celebrity—dead or alive—to read you the news, or a book … or, well, anything? You can do that now.

Thanks … for supporting Square.

■ You know who you are.

And that’s how things look, January 16, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘Complete terror’ / A ‘difficult meeting’ / Dangerous line crossed
Greenland or bust / ‘The Reich Stuff’ / ‘Misconduct hotspots’ / ‘Are You Dead?’
‘We have watched in horror’ / ‘Go Bears. Fuck ICE.’ / Football news
Two quizzes and a Dingus
‘Get the fuck out’ / ‘You can’t kill us all, Nazis’ / Pyramid scheme

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-20 Chicago Public Square

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 13:01:38 GMT

‘An image that will knock you sideways’ / ‘Too stupid even for him’ / ‘In Memoriam: CBS News’

Read this in your browser, with updates and corrections:
‘An image that will knock you sideways’ / ‘Too stupid even for him’ / ‘In Memoriam: CBS News’

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

‘An image that will knock you sideways.’ Handbasket columnist Marisa Kabas on the Twin Cities under attack: “As snow falls, an elderly man wearing nothing but blue boxers and white Crocs with his hands restrained behind his back is forced out of his home by ICE agents.”

■ He was in fact a U.S. citizen, arrested in front of his young grandson and held for nearly an hour in freezing weather before he was released without an apology.

■ St. Paul’s mayor is “livid.”

■ The Twin Cities Pioneer Press: Hours after ABC News ran a story about a St. Paul toy store* that has been distributing free whistles for citizens to alert neighbors of immigration enforcement activity, ICE agents were at the door.

■ The Justice Department’s considering criminal charges against former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who livestreamed a Sunday protest at a St. Paul church whose pastor is a top ICE official.

Your tax dollars at work. The AP: Billions in President Trump’s spending cuts across the federal government are funding the massive increase in ICE’s budget.

■ Popular Information: “ICE has stopped paying for detainee medical treatment.”

■ The Onion: “Stephen Miller Reminds Picky-Eater Son That There Starving Kids In Basement.”

■ In a surprise performance Saturday in New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen memorialized slain Minneapolis woman Renee Good and echoed Minneapolis’ mayor—telling ICE, “Get the fuck out.”

‘We have no choice but to be in the streets.’ As Chicago shivered under some of the season’s coldest weather, anti-ICE protesters marched from the Water Tower to Trump Tower.

■ After a slight warmup midweek, temperatures are headed back toward zero by Friday. (Photo: A Chicago Public Square reader.)

■ Your Local Epidemiologist: Measles is off to an ugly start.

■ A 3.8 magnitude earthquake rattled South-Central Illinois around 1 a.m.

‘Basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace.’ Without naming Trump, Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich and other U.S. Catholic leaders denounced the president’s assault on Venezuela and his coveting of Greenland.

■ Cupich elaborated last night with MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow—a self-described “kid who got kicked out of CCD [Confraternity of Christian Doctrine].”

‘This is too stupid even for him.’ That’s Trump’s niece Mary’s reaction to a letter the president sent to Norway’s prime minister, whining/threatening about his failure to get the Nobel Peace prize—or control of Greenland …

■ … even though the Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body and Greenland is part of Denmark, not Norway.

■ The New York Times (gift link) has the texts between Trump and the prime minister. (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)

■ Times White House correspondent Peter Baker: After a century of defending other countries from foreign aggression, the United States is now positioned as an imperial power trying to seize another nation’s land.

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Other countries are now lecturing us to get our shit together.”

■ Seth Meyers: “‘You didn’t give me the Nobel Peace Prize, so now I have to invade another country” is an insane thing to say.”

■ The Daily Beast: Trump early today continued his “deranged posting frenzy.”

■ Reviewing the president’s social media posts during this first year of his second term, the AP concludes that he’s signed off his social media posts 242 times with the catchphrase “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

■ Economist Paul Krugman: “What is incontrovertible is that he’s deeply unwell and rapidly getting sicker.”

Meanwhile … The Washington Post reports Trump’s Justice Department is considering weakening federal gun regulations.

■ As the overwhelming majority of federal files on dead sex offender—and Trump pal—Jeffrey Epstein remain unreleased, that anonymous group of resistance artists known as “The Secret Handshake” has posted a massive replica of Trump’s birthday note to Epstein on the National Mall.

Hey, Chicago—want your parking meters back? Mayor Johnson’s reportedly considering buying back the whole shebang from the company that predatorily jacked up prices …

■ … under a 2008 deal that, as the Sun-Times puts it, Chicagoans love to hate.

‘In Memoriam: CBS News, 1927 - 2026.’ Columnist Charlotte Clymer calls it.

■ 60 Minutes finally got around to airing that story.

■ Columnist Mary Geddry: “The delay effectively tested whether an administration can control coverage simply by refusing to participate.”

Square mailbag. Taking issue with Friday’s link to an American Prospect column in which Harold Meyerson (no relation) called Trump “the 21st-century version of Attila or Genghis Khan,” reader Elizabeth Austin responded: “I consider this an insult to Attila and Genghis.”

■ Ross Martinek writes: Comparing Trump to Genghis Khan is extremely unfair—to Genghis. … Now if you want to compare him to Hitler, you are spot on. … You can bet that Trump and his cronies know history, and are taking their playbook from the man who wrote Mein Kampf.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah … We’ve spent a lot of time teasing you about the arrival of the 2,000th edition of Chicago Public Square. That was before we did the actual counting. It’s coming—but not before Square’s ninth anniversary next week. Special announcements will follow. Stay tuned.

* A delightful place, once visited by your Square columnist.

And that’s how things look, January 20, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘Attila, Genghis Khan, Trump’ / Chicagoans behaving badly / Quizzes!
‘Complete terror’ / A ‘difficult meeting’ / Dangerous line crossed
Greenland or bust / ‘The Reich Stuff’ / ‘Misconduct hotspots’ / ‘Are You Dead?’
‘We have watched in horror’ / ‘Go Bears. Fuck ICE.’ / Football news
Two quizzes and a Dingus

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
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Invite a friend to subscribe.

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Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-21 Chicago Public Square

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 13:03:36 GMT

America the Beautiful / ‘There will be arrests’ / ‘Who runs CBS now? Trump.’

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America the Beautiful / ‘There will be arrests’ / ‘Who runs CBS now? Trump.’

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By Charlie Meyerson

America the Beautiful. In an unrestrained and seemingly interminable news conference recapping the first year of his second term, President Trump pulled back the curtain on his enthusiasm for the militarization of U.S. cities: “A town looks better when you have military people.”

■ PolitiFact found plenty wrong with Trump’s statements over the course of those 104 minutes.

■ Gov. Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul had their own take on the last year: “365 days of chaos, 365 days of attacks upon civil rights, on the rule of law and on the Constitution itself.”

■ On MS NOW last night, Pritzker hinted at Democratic states’ preparation for possible Republican interference with midterm elections: Imagine the usual precautions regarding election interference “on steroids.”

■ Harold Meyerson (no relation) at The American Prospect: It’s “25th Amendment time for Mad King Donald.”

■ Stephen Colbert: “He didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize, so now he’s going to ruin peace—same way he didn’t get an Emmy for his reality show, so he ruined reality.” (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)

■ Jimmy Kimmel: “This man is crashing the plane because the stewardess didn’t bring him a bag of peanuts.”

■ Columnist Neil Steinberg: “Obama was abashed, almost horrified, when nine months into his first term he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He said he didn't deserve it. He was right.”

■ LateNighter’s Jed Rosenzweig on late-night hosts’ return after a holiday break: “The anniversary wasn’t a moment for reflection so much as a stress test: If the last four days felt unmanageable, what did that say about the past 12 months?”

■ Oak Park and River Forest High School kids walked out yesterday to protest Trump’s one-year mark.

Not that his word is his bond. At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland today, Trump said he won’t use force to acquire control of Greenland.

■ Columnist Charlotte Clymer: “Canada Announces Divorce from America.”

■ HuffPost’s S.V. Date: “Europe’s strategy of treating Trump like a royal toddler didn’t work.”

■ Salty Politics proprietor Julie Roginsky: “We are already in World War III.”

■ A Johns Hopkins international affairs professor writes for The New York Times (gift link): “Europe has a bazooka. Time to use it.”

■ Plainspoken columnist Jeff Tiedrich invites you to “watch a Danish pol tell Dear Leader to fuck off.”

■ The Onion: “Nation Yearns For Relative Calm Of ‘President A Giant Pedophile’ News Cycle.”

‘We just don’t need ICE violating the Constitution.’ Chicago congressman and mayoral candidate Mike Quigley pledges to oppose new funding for immigration enforcement without reforms in policy governing tear gas, masks and more.

■ Public Notice: “The Department of Homeland Security deliberately confuses reasonable suspicion and probable cause in hopes that no one will notice that ICE and CBP are making illegal arrests as standard operating procedure.”

■ Borderless: “Despite fears, Chicago’s rapid responders vow to continue facing down federal immigration officers.”

■ Popular Information: ICE detainees are dying at an alarming rate.

■ Columnist and former U.S. Rep. Marie Newman: Big Tech and Telecom are enabling ICE, but “we can hit back.”

‘There will be arrests.’ Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem vows consequences for those who disrupted a St. Paul church service to protest a pastor’s job with ICE.

■ A Tribune editorial (gift link): “If you find yourself storming a church filled with people who are peacefully practicing their religion, you are not in the right.”

■ Wonkette spotlights “two conservative trolls grifting off Minneapolis chaos.”

■ Chicagoans have sent thousands of whistles to the Twin Cities.

Chicago milestones. The Trib reports that, despite Sunday’s cold, the city matched a rare January mark: Seven homicides in a single day.

■ Chicago’s reclaimed its title of the nation’s busiest airfield.

Amazon’s big suburban play. The company’s won Orland Park approval for a massive retail center where people can shop inside or order stuff to be brought to their vehicles.

■ Next week brings the premiere of Melania, the Amazon-produced tribute to the First Lady, who columnist Nina Burleigh notes chose as director “a serial abuser whose picture is in the Epstein files shirtless and literally hugging the late sex trafficker Jean-Luc Brunel.”

■ Bloomberg: In 2025, the Trump family made $1.4 billion off crypto—which now accounts for about a fifth of the family’s fortune.

‘Who runs CBS now? Trump.’ Columnist and Chicago TV news veteran Jennifer Schulze says “the new owners of CBS and their handpicked propagandist are all-in on a MAGA makeover.”

■ Tom Jones at Poynter: “Trump’s war on the press has become relentless.”

■ Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob says it’s time for journalists to stop being nice to people trying to destroy the country: “Fascists are at war with journalism. Why aren’t journalists at war with fascism?”

■ For sale, maybe: The Daily Herald newspaper.

Thanks. Your support keeps Chicago Public Square coming.

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And that’s how things look, January 21, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘An image that will knock you sideways’ / ‘Too stupid even for him’ / ‘In Memoriam: CBS News’
‘Attila, Genghis Khan, Trump’ / Chicagoans behaving badly / Quizzes!
‘Complete terror’ / A ‘difficult meeting’ / Dangerous line crossed
Greenland or bust / ‘The Reich Stuff’ / ‘Misconduct hotspots’ / ‘Are You Dead?’
‘We have watched in horror’ / ‘Go Bears. Fuck ICE.’ / Football news

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-22 Chicago Public Square

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 13:04:01 GMT

Knock, knock? / General strike! / ‘War on the Constitution’ / Oscars record / Clone yourself

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Knock, knock? / General strike! / ‘War on the Constitution’ / Oscars record / Clone yourself

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Knock, knock? In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, federal immigration officers assert “sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant.”

■ The American Civil Liberties Union’s Illinois legal director says that “just emphasizes the fundamental lawlessness under the second Trump administration.”

■ Federal agents Tuesday detained a 5-year-old boy arriving home from a Twin Cities-area preschool—allegedly then using him as “bait” to see who was inside.

■ The Illinois Human Rights Department’s investigating reports that federal agents who violently raided a South Shore building in September were directed there by the building’s landlord.

■ Mother Jones: ICE has become President Trump’s “very own paramilitary force.”

General strike! Heads Up News proprietor Dan Froomkin says Friday could bring “a seminal moment in this new civil rights movement. Minnesota unions, religious groups, and ordinary citizens are planning a massive statewide strike and economic boycott. … No work, no school, no shopping.”

■ In a bit that was recorded during rehearsal but didn’t make it to the air last weekend, Saturday Night Live castmember and St. Paul native Tommy Brennan mocked an immigration agent’s pratfall on the ice: “I’m not reveling in another person’s pain. If I wanted to do that, I would join ICE.”

■ The feds have arrested a woman who led a protest that disrupted services at a St. Paul church where an ICE official serves as pastor.

■ After the mayor of Michigan’s fourth largest city—a former Republican—accused ICE of “terrorizing” peaceful communities, he denied worrying that would make his town the president’s next target: “Fuck that. That is not courage.”

‘Calling Greg Bovino a b*tch raises thousands for Minnesota immigrant rights.’ Handbasket reporter Marisa Kabas turned her disparagement of “the pint-sized CBP chief with the Nazi haircut and matching wardrobe” into a big fundraiser.

■ The trial of a Chicago man accused of a “murder-for-hire” scheme against Bovino seemed headed to a jury soon.

■ Journalist Dan Sinker—you may remember him as the guy behind that fake @MayorEmanuel account on Twitter (2011 link)—sounds a note of despair and hope: “Minneapolis needs your help, your money, your supplies, absolutely right now. But so does the community you live in. … But honestly I’ve never felt more hopeful that … we can do the impossible, even when it seems insurmountable” …

■ … and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has some ideas on how to pull that off.

■ Next on ICE’s hitlist: Maine …

■ … where law prof Joyce Vance says close to 1,000 people there joined an ACLU session to get trained in how to resist.

‘War on the Constitution.’ After House Speaker Mike Johnson yesterday endorsed impeachment articles against judges who don’t support Trump’s agenda, Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky declares the U.S. in “the terminal phase of democratic breakdown.”

■ The Illinois House—well, the Democratic majority, anyway—has advanced a pack of resolutions blasting the Trump administration for “illegal and corrupt actions.”

■ After a guy filed as a Republican for an Indiana seat in Congress specifying “Seig Heil” as his middle name, the Lake County, Indiana, Republican Party chair says he’ll pursue legal means “to remove this moron” from the ballot.

Greenland, Iceland—what’s the difference? Poynter’s Tom Jones: “Trump repeatedly referred to Iceland while talking about Greenland. Then the press secretary denied what the video plainly shows.”

■ Columnist Eric Zorn: “It was as pure an example of White House gaslighting as we’ve seen. … But the cost of this to Trump is that those of us not in his thrall no longer believe anything he says.”

■ Stephen Colbert: “As George Orwell wrote in 1984, ‘War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Karoline Leavitt is a dumbass.’”

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “TACO Donny’s baaaaack, baby … and quite predictably, folded like a pack of cards.”

■ Investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein on “Homeland Security’s domestic terror obsession:

Forget Greenland; the American public are the real target.”

■ Popular Information: The Trump administration has admitted staffers affiliated with the “Department of Government Efficiency” shared Social Security data with election deniers.

■ Pod Save America cohost Dan Pfeiffer: “Trump’s Greenland problem is … the rare idea that is putrid politics and policy.”

■ Economist Paul Krugman: “Canada’s leader is a sane adult. America’s leader isn’t.” (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)

■ Jimmy Kimmel on reports his show’s still in the sights of the Trump-compliant Federal Communications Commission: “I might need your help again.”

‘Potentially catastrophic ice storm.’ The AP breaks down by the numbers the historically cold weather about to grip the nation this weekend.

■ Some Chicago-area schools have already planned to close or go remote.

■ The Guardian: Half the world’s climate-menacing carbon dioxide emissions come from just 32 companies.

‘When you make something illegal, you create a black market, making the sale completely unregulated.’ Mayor Johnson says he’s considering vetoing an ordinance that would make Chicago the first big U.S. city to outlaw the sale of some hemp-derived products.

■ Chicago’s inspector general says the city’s paid tens of millions of dollars in overtime to workers who potentially didn’t deserve it.

An Oscars record. Sinners today netted the most nominations ever for any movie ever.

■ Here’s the full list of nominees.

Clone yourself. Chicago-based Orbit Media explains in six steps how to create an AI version of yourself—“always available to answer questions, offer guidance and make recommendations, even if you’re busy or offline.”

■ Meet founder Andy Crestodina’s clone of himself.

■ The Current: Five popular apps—ostensibly designed to make your life better—are ratting you out to an insurance company, which can use the data to raise your rates.

■ After spending weeks with Amazon’s Echo Show 11 smart display, ZDNET’s Maria Diaz was wowed by its AI powers but also developed trust issues.

Chicago Public Square wouldn’t be approaching its ninth anniversary later this month without you. Your contributions—even just $1, just once—help cover the cost of its production and distribution.

■ But you can support Square in other ways—for free—just by reading, or by sharing this with a friend.

And that’s how things look, January 22, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
America the Beautiful / ‘There will be arrests’ / ‘Who runs CBS now? Trump.’
‘An image that will knock you sideways’ / ‘Too stupid even for him’ / ‘In Memoriam: CBS News’
‘Attila, Genghis Khan, Trump’ / Chicagoans behaving badly / Quizzes!
‘Complete terror’ / A ‘difficult meeting’ / Dangerous line crossed
Greenland or bust / ‘The Reich Stuff’ / ‘Misconduct hotspots’ / ‘Are You Dead?’

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-23 Chicago Public Square

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 13:04:03 GMT

Guilty ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ / Digital deception / Quizzes!

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Guilty ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ / Digital deception / Quizzes!

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Guilty ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’ Former special counsel Jack Smith told the House yesterday that President Trump engaged in criminal activity—and he had the evidence to prove it.

■ Over the course of almost five hours, Smith confirmed that his investigation—killed by Trump’s administration—confirmed that “Trump is the person who caused Jan. 6, it was foreseeable to him, and … he sought to exploit the violence.”

■ You can watch it all here.

■ Trump was watching—and commenting on social media.

■ Wonkette’s Evan Hurst: “Smith was great but did y’all see … former D.C. cop and Jan. 6 survivor Michael Fanone almost beat the shit out of a far-right conspiracy theorist creep, while wearing a Dropkick Murphys ‘Fighting Nazis Since 1996’ T-shirt?”

Not guilty. A federal jury rejected charges that a Chicago man engaged in a murder-for-hire scheme against Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino.

■ The Sun-Times: “Thirty-one known defendants have been charged in Chicago with non-immigration crimes tied to ‘Operation Midway Blitz.’ … 15 of them have been cleared and nobody has been convicted.”

■ Video caught Bovino tossing gas at Minneapolis protesters Wednesday.

■ Bovino’s Lyz Lenz’s Dingus of the Week.

■ Columnist Mitch Jackson: “ICE agents are using phones to track you while most do not wear cameras to record themselves.”

So bending the knee doesn’t count for much? Never mind that JPMorgan CEO—and one-time Chicagoan—Jamie Dimon seemed to warm up to Trump last year (July link): Trump’s suing Chase and Dimon for $5 billion, complaining that the company cut off his banking services for political reasons in 2021.

■ Forensic and social psychiatrist Bandy Lee on Trump’s brain: “The entire world now sees what mental health experts have warned against since 2016.”

Digital deception. The AP says that, on the White House ~~Twitter~~ X page, the administration shared a manipulated image that falsely portrayed the arrest of a Minnesota civil rights lawyer …

■ … charged along with at least two other people accused of disrupting a church service.

■ ICE’s new trick: At least one school warns that flyers offering Twin Cities residents “food assistance” are a trap.

■ A massive “economic blackout” was underway in Minnesota today to protest the immigration crackdown.

■ In Minneapolis, Vice President Vance falsely attributed the chaos unleashed by the administration to “far-left people” and state and local law enforcement.

■ Addressing Vance’s defense that “you’re always going to have mistakes made in law enforcement,” Trump niece Mary L. Trump writes: “If mistakes are inevitable, then accountability is optional. Vance has no interest in lowering the temperature.”

■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson: “Even MAGA voters don’t buy it. Podcaster Joe Rogan has compared ICE to ‘the gestapo.’”

■ Catherine Rampell at The Bulwark flags Trump’s “chilling weaponization of confidential government records: Remind me—who else in history made lists of Jewish intellectuals and people with disabilities?”

‘People are dying in Trump’s squalid concentration camps.’ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link) says the death rates at ICE detention facilities are running nearly 10 times the rate of the Biden years.

■ A federal judge in Chicago says the administration has to release video footage and data on conditions at the Broadview ICE detention center.

■ The Onion: “Democrats Condemn ICE For Murdering Without Proper Warrants” …

■ … and “ICE Deems Being In Privacy Of Own Home Obstruction Of Justice” …

■ … and “Stephen Miller Rings In Weekend By Cracking Open Cold Cadaver.”

One at a time. Dave Barry (a Pulitzer winner, remember) sees the U.S. “facing two major foreign-policy crises: 1. Greenland. 2. Where King Charles III will go to the bathroom.”

■ McSweeney’s: “I, Don Quixote, Vow to Conquer Greenland.”

■ The U.S. House has rejected a Democratic resolution to clamp down on Trump’s power to wage war in Venezuela.

■ It also—with the support of seven Democrats—approved of continued funding for Homeland Security …

■ … even as federal budget cuts prompt Illinois to suspend almost half a billion dollars in state spending.

■ Public Notice columnist Lisa Needham asks, “What if we just stopped paying taxes?”

■ Dan Rather’s Steady newsletter calls Congress “the doormat branch of government … ineffective, unpopular, and our last best hope.”

‘An egregious, unnecessary and unlawful shooting.’ A lawyer for the family of a man shot in the head and killed by a Chicago cop says the victim posed no threat.

■ The CTA’s pledging a more organized police presence for its buses, trains and stations.

Frozen stiff. Much of the region’s on shutdown today amid a milestone cold spell.

■ Metra trains are running on reduced schedules.

■ Today’s Polar Plunge into Lake Michigan was canceled.

■ Block Club: A Chicago crossing guard carried students to safety after a water main broke and flooded an intersection.

■ School’s out for many students.

■ A Tribune editorial (gift link) decries “remote learning” for schoolkids on days like this: “If not school, then a snow day.”

■ Chicago’s dodging the worst of it.

■ Wirecutter: Everything you need to ride out a winter storm.

■ The AP recommends alternatives to rock salt.

■ If you find yourself stuck at home through the weekend, maybe dig through your junk drawer? Kim Komando’s Current newsletter says your old iPods, first-gen iPhones and vintage video games could be worth thousands: “Apple killed the iPod in 2022, and now everyone wants one.”

And now, The New York Times. Trump’s threatening the paper—again.

■ Congrats to Chicago journalists Steve Bertrand and Asal Rezaei, named to the roster of Radio Television Digital News Association Foundation First Amendment Award winners.

This week, a perfect _____! For a change, your Chicago Public Square columnist got all the answers right in past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel’s latest news quiz—this time out, featuring fill-in-the-blank challenges. Your turn.

■ Your sadly non-foodie columnist scored a lousy 4/10 on Axios’ “top chefs” quiz …

■ … and only 2/5 on City Cast’s Chicago news quiz.

■ Coming Monday: A reader survey that’ll help gauge the involvement of Chicago’s news readership—and that’ll give you a chance to win a $100 gift card.

And that’s how things look, January 23, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Knock, knock? / General strike! / ‘War on the Constitution’ / Oscars record / Clone yourself
America the Beautiful / ‘There will be arrests’ / ‘Who runs CBS now? Trump.’
‘An image that will knock you sideways’ / ‘Too stupid even for him’ / ‘In Memoriam: CBS News’
‘Attila, Genghis Khan, Trump’ / Chicagoans behaving badly / Quizzes!
‘Complete terror’ / A ‘difficult meeting’ / Dangerous line crossed

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-26 Chicago Public Square

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:03:21 GMT

‘Summarily executed in public’ / Even Trump / Voter files, huh?

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‘Summarily executed in public’ / Even Trump / Voter files, huh?

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

‘Summarily executed in public.’ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link) says the murder of 37-year-old community volunteer and Veterans Administration nurse Alex Pretti by ICE agents “is beyond politics. This is about good vs. evil.”

■ “Everyone Is Entitled to My Own Opinion” columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Once again, masked thugs who have been conditioned—not trained, but conditioned—to shoot first and think never have gunned down a civilian in cold blood.”

■ Pretti was born in Illinois …

■ … and a gun owner with no criminal record.

A headline you could have written in your sleep. The AP: “Videos of the deadly Minneapolis shooting of Alex Pretti contradict government statements.”

■ The New York Times (gift link): Videos analyzed second-by-second show Pretti was holding his phone, not a weapon, when the feds pulled him to the ground, firing at least 10 shots in five seconds.

■ Cartoonist and columnist Mark Fiore: “Fascism is now out in the open, captured by angry observers on mobile phones for all the world to see.”

■ Tom Jones at Poynter: “It’s the second time in less than three weeks that … videos from bystanders … appear to contradict the federal account of the killing.”

■ CNN’s Brian Stelter: “What if the only accounts came from Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, depicting Pretti as a ‘domestic terrorist,’ imagining he wanted to ‘massacre’ officers?”

Even Trump. The president’s been reluctant to back Homeland Security Secretary Noem’s unsupported assertion that Pretti’s shooting was justified.

■ Journalist Aaron Parnas: Centrist Democrats who previously voted to fund ICE are now backing impeachment for Noem.

■ Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth wants an independent investigation.

■ A growing number of Republican senators are doing the same …

■ … a response that The Daily Beast sees as “markedly different” from the party’s reaction to the death of Renne Nicole Good three weeks ago.

■ USA Today’s Chicago-based columnist Rex Huppke: “Republicans, Alex Pretti should be your breaking point.”

■ Saying he can’t support the Trump administration’s “retribution” against Minnesota, a Republican candidate—a lawyer who’s been representing the ICE agent who killed Good—has dropped out of the race for governor there.

■ Even the National Rifle Association is at odds with Trump’s team on this one.

■ Columnist Mary Geddry: “The gun debate, long calcified into pure tribal reflex, is starting to fracture under the weight of lived reality.”

■ Law prof Joyce Vance: “The administration cannot hope this will just all go away.”

■ The killing has increased the odds of another federal government shutdown.

■ Nobel-winning columnist Paul Krugman: “Centrist Democrats, who have spent weeks trying to ignore Minneapolis so they could talk about the price of eggs, are finally taking a stand.”

‘Is it so hard for journalists to clearly state that the Trump administration is lying?’ American Crisis columnist Margaret Sullivan bemoans sycophantic coverage of the story: A Times headline “magnified the statements of federal officials, even as the Times knew better.”

■ Media Matters’ Matt Gertz: Fox ~~News~~’ “primary purpose” now “is to explain to viewers why it is good that masked agents of the state are executing Americans on the street” …

■ … and yet, Fox’s corporate sibling, The Wall Street Journal, is calling for ICE to stand down in Minnesota.

‘Nobody opens their door anymore, knowing that the next knock might be a federal agent demanding to know where the Brown people live in your neighborhood.’ But, a St. Paul City Council member—your Chicago Public Square columnist’s daughter-in-law—writes for Slate, “Our neighborhood has never been more united.”

■ AP photos convey the Twin Cities’ reaction to Pretti’s death.

‘ICE murders moms and nurses.’ That was one of the protest signs yesterday as hundreds of Chicagoans demonstrated along Michigan Avenue.

■ Popular Information calls out “the corporate enablers of the ICE crackdown” …

■ … including Amazon, whose White House screening of a Melania Trump-produced documentary about herself drew plutocrats including the chiefs of Apple, Zoom, GE and others Saturday, even as the nation mourned Pretti.

■ The Lever: “Democrat-backed ICE ‘reforms’ became a $20 million bodycam giveaway.”

■ Columnist Gene Weingarten: “Time for a nationwide general strike modeled after the labor shutdown coordinated by Lech Walesa against the Soviet oppressors in Poland in 1980.”

Hm. Voter files, huh? Attorney General Pam Bondi’s offering to pull ICE out of the Twin Cities if the state turns over its voter registration records.

■ Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon: “No.”

■ Columnist and former U.S. Rep. Marie Newman says that lays bare the administration’s true goals: “It was never really about fraud or corruption. … Now … begins the extortion of state leaders.”

■ Marc Elias at Democracy Docket: “In the wake of a tragic killing, Bondi sought to leverage the state’s need for calm into turning over sensitive voting data on millions of citizens. While this might seem outrageous, it was not random.”

Votin’ time’s near. With Illinois’ primary less than two months out, WBEZ tonight airs—and streams—a debate among the three leading Democrats hoping to become the state’s next U.S. senator.

■ The Tribune reports (gift link): An Illinois law passed to protect public officials from politically motivated violence is making it harder to learn whether they actually live in the communities they serve.

Still cold. The snow’s passed out of Chicago, but the chill remains.

■ The city’s schools are open today …

■ … but not so in Northwest Indiana.

■ Axios digs through public records to find which neighborhoods file the most complaints about “dibs”—the practice of reserving shoveled-out parking spaces by putting lawn chairs, etc., in the public roadway.

■ Climate journalist Emily Atkin vows to keep that work up despite, well … “How am I supposed to keep writing about, and caring about, climate change and pollution and government capture by Big Oil, when the government is executing people in broad daylight?”

Shape the future of Chicago news. Take a short 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.

■ Taken the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.

And that’s how things look, January 26, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Guilty ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ / Digital deception / Quizzes!
Knock, knock? / General strike! / ‘War on the Constitution’ / Oscars record / Clone yourself
America the Beautiful / ‘There will be arrests’ / ‘Who runs CBS now? Trump.’
‘An image that will knock you sideways’ / ‘Too stupid even for him’ / ‘In Memoriam: CBS News’
‘Attila, Genghis Khan, Trump’ / Chicagoans behaving badly / Quizzes!

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-27 Chicago Public Square

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 13:03:20 GMT

Outta there / Behind the shift / ‘Thoughtfully thrilling’

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Outta there / Behind the shift / ‘Thoughtfully thrilling’

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Chicago Public Square will take Wednesday off. Back Thursday. As ever between editions, check the Square account on Bluesky for breaking news and commentary.

Outta there. Amid fallout from the murder of Alex Pretti—which The New York Times (gift link) says has “posed one of the gravest political threats to Mr. Trump since his inauguration”—Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who’s become the poster boy for ICE behaving badly, was reportedly set to leave the Twin Cities today …

■ … to be replaced there by Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan.

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich celebrates: Bovino “is being sent to a big farm upstate where he’ll have lots of room to run around and pepper spray all the other dogs.”

■ Flashback to September: Trump’s Justice Department shut down an investigation into Homan for accepting a bag of cash during an undercover FBI operation.

■ A Wall Street Journal headline: “Homan In, Bovino Out as Trump Hits Panic Button.”

■ CNN: Homeland Security’s reportedly suspended Bovino’s access to his social media accounts.

■ The Atlantic: “Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her close adviser Corey Lewandowski, who were Bovino’s biggest backers at DHS, are also at risk of losing their jobs.”

■ Former AP D.C. bureau chief Ron Fournier: “Trump and his team lied about what we all saw in Minneapolis. Now they want us to believe they’re atoning. Don’t.”

■ Evan Hurst at Wonkette: “No matter how much they send Tom Homan to Minneapolis to slur and mush-mouth fascism at the locals … we’re stronger than we understood yesterday, and they know it.”

■ The Atlantic: “Minnesota proved MAGA wrong.”

■ Columnist Robert Hubbell declares “a victory by the people of Minnesota and a tactical retreat by Trump. Do not relent!”

■ Salty Politics proprietor Julie Roginsky: “I know it’s hard to believe, but we’re winning.”

Behind the shift. The AP: Trump’s about-face in Minnesota after Pretti’s death is the latest in a pattern of sudden shifts …

■ … this one seemingly at least partly driven by backlash from Second Amendment advocates …

■ … and following a letter from Minnesota-based corporations—including Target, Best Buy and General Mills—asking ICE for “immediate de-escalation of tensions” …

■ … although Adweek’s Robert Klara says that letter amounted to weak tea.

■ Popular Information asked all 68 companies that signed the letter: “Do you condemn the killing of two Minnesotans by federal officers?” None had an answer.

■ Michael Hiltzik at the Los Angeles Times: “The refusal of the American business community to take a strong stand against Trump’s policies has been a long-lasting scandal.”

■ Seth Meyers: “ICE is so unpopular, they want FEMA to not use the word ice.”

■ The Onion: “ICE Issues Ransom Note Demanding $65 Billion If U.S. Wants To See Minnesota Again.”

‘They all blame the shooter, one of their own.’ Investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein, talking to federal agents on the ground, finds them “uncomfortable with the mission creep that is taking them away from actual immigration enforcement. … ‘Fuck this,’ a senior ICE officer said.”

■ The Conversation: Minnesota’s trauma raises unprecedented constitutional issues.

■ The Onion: “Kristi Noem Calls On Minneapolis Residents To Stop Obstructing Murders.”

‘Alex Pretti was brandishing his gun. Wait, no, he was carrying it but deserved to be shot. Wait, no, we have to wait for an investigation.’ Columnist Eric Zorn is gobsmacked by “the unbelievable, ever-evolving excuses from the Trump regime about the tragedy in Minneapolis.”

■ Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel were more blunt: “Bullshit!”

■ Kimmel was in tears as he honored Pretti: “An ICU nurse who treated veterans, which is about as patriotic as it gets.”

■ Jon Stewart raged at Republicans, who he says “jettisoned the entire integrity and belief of their political worldview” for Trump, “a guy who really doesn’t give a fuck.”

■ The Onion: “Trump Alleges That Democrats Secretly Paid Alex Pretti To Be Model Citizen.”

‘We cannot look away.’ Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot talks to Chicago magazine about her ICE Accountability Project—gathering evidence from anyone, anywhere, about federal immigration agents’ abuses.

■ A Chicago woman shot and wounded by a federal agent during “Operation Midway Blitz” is asking a federal judge to let the public see the evidence against her—including bodycam video.

■ A federal judge in Minnesota’s threatening the acting director of ICE with contempt: “The Court’s patience is at an end.”

Places, everyone. In the first debate of this year’s Illinois race for U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton was the only one of three candidates to call for abolishing ICE …

■ … complaining that U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi “voted to thank” ICE and took “funding from ICE contractors.”

■ You can watch the whole session here.

■ Alex Vindman—the former U.S. Army lieutenant who provided key testimony against Trump in that first impeachment—is running for Senate from Florida.

New AirTag. Apple’s unveiled the next-gen version of its help-you-find-stuff device …

■ … but ZDNET’s Maria Diaz says the old one may still be better—and cheaper—for some users.

■ Apple CEO Tim Cook’s brown-nosing attendance at that White House screening of the Melania Trump movie is fueling calls for an Apple boycott.

■ Pinterest’s laying off 15 percent of its staff—because AI.

End of an era. Southwest Airlines today abandons open seating in favor of assigned seats.

■ Here’s how it works now.

‘Thoughtfully thrilling.’ The Tribune’s Rick Kogan (gift link) recommends the new HBO documentary about Mel Brooks.

■ Got TCM? Get ready for an embarrassment of Looney Toons animated cartoons.

■ Stephen Colbert revealed last night that his final Late Show will air on CBS May 12.

R.I.P., a classic newspaper competition. The Detroit News is getting bought by the Detroit Free Press’ parent, USA Today Co.

■ Media critic Simon Owens: “Jeff Bezos has given up on The Washington Post.”

■ Mediaite: “Post journalists are appealing to owner Jeff Bezos to step in and ‘save’ the paper … amid reports ‘massive layoffs’ are about to decimate … the newsroom.”

■ Chicago Media Journal scouts the field of potential buyers for The Daily Herald.

Chicago news needs you. 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.

And that’s how things look, January 27, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘Summarily executed in public’ / Even Trump / Voter files, huh?
Guilty ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ / Digital deception / Quizzes!
Knock, knock? / General strike! / ‘War on the Constitution’ / Oscars record / Clone yourself
America the Beautiful / ‘There will be arrests’ / ‘Who runs CBS now? Trump.’
‘An image that will knock you sideways’ / ‘Too stupid even for him’ / ‘In Memoriam: CBS News’

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-29 Chicago Public Square

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 13:04:07 GMT

‘We will not stand for your cowardice’ / Star Wars’ ICE connection / Down with paywalls

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‘We will not stand for your cowardice’ / Star Wars’ ICE connection / Down with paywalls

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

‘We will not stand for your cowardice.’ Hundreds of people, including many nurses, gathered outside Chicago’s Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center last night to protest the murder of their colleague Alex Pretti by two Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis …

■ …and to demand legislators do more to end the federal government’s “warfare against its own people.”

■ The guys who killed Pretti have been placed on paid leave …

■ … but their comrades remained out in force as Trump’s border czar asserted that he has “zero tolerance” for protesters.

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich on Greg Bovino after his departure from the Twin Cities: “The Itsy-Bitsy Nazi is so high on his own supply that he stopped off at Mount Rushmore and took a victory lap.”

■ The Daily Show’s Desi Lydic on President Trump, his adviser Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shunting responsibility for the atrocities to one another: “It’s like a Mexican standoff for people who hate Mexicans.”

■ Mayor Johnson says he plans an executive order to hold federal immigration agents criminally responsible for misconduct here.

■ The AP: A shadow network in Minneapolis is defying ICE and protecting immigrants.

■ WBEZ’s Chip Mitchell: “After Trump’s deportation blitz rips apart a Chicago-area family, a school official steps up.”

■ Cold comfort from Block Club: Anti-ICE sentiments made up nearly 80 percent of submissions in the city’s snowplow-naming contest.

■ The Onion envisions its “exclusive interview with Gregory Bovino.”

■ Also: “ICE Agent Stuffs Sock Under Mask To Give Himself Chin.”

‘There were bloody footprints

Where mercy should have stood

And two dead, left to die on snow-filled streets

Alex Pretti and Renee Good.’

— Bruce Springsteen’s released an ICE protest song.

■ Joining the parade of those criticizing Trump: Style guru Martha Stewart and OpenAI chief Sam Altman.

■ Columnist Dan Froomkin celebrates a dynamic shift in Minneapolis: “People power is real. It has also inspired some marvelous writing.*”

■ The Handbasket columnist Marisa Kabas calls out feckless editors: “Headlines call it a ‘crackdown’ on immigration and a ‘clash’ between the government and ‘protesters,’ when in reality it’s murderous occupying forces being confronted by people who just want to live free of their violence.”

■ Mark your calendar: March 28 brings the next “No Kings” protest.

Star Wars’ ICE connection. Fans of the franchise have launched petitions calling on Disney to cut ties with ReedPop, which administers the biennial Star Wars Celebration …

■ … because its corporate sibling, LexisNexis, is doing business with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

■ Just sayin’: ReedPop also runs Chicago’s C2E2 pop-culture convention, set for March.

■ A major study encourages the BBC to drop colorblind casting on shows including Doctor Who.

■ Ticket sales for the new Melania Trump movie are … almost nonexistent.

‘Dangerous.’ That’s how a UCLA law professor describes the FBI’s execution yesterday of a warrant to seize voting records in Fulton County, Georgia …

■ … a move the AP says “hints at possible future actions” by the president in pursuit of his “bogus claims” about the 2020 presidential vote.

■ The Downballot: A Republican outfit with the misleading name “ProgressiveMI” has been supporting a Democratic Michigan State Senate candidate who some Democrats say has a lesser chance of beating the Republican in the general election.

So maybe the D stands for Dick. Illinois Democrats and Sen. Tammy Duckworth are condemning Vice President JD Vance for comparing Duckworth to Forrest Gump in her confrontation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a Senate hearing yesterday.

■ See the exchange here.

■ Assessing Monday’s debate among three Democratic candidates to replace Duckworth’s colleague, Dick Durbin, columnist Eric Zorn gives the win to Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, “marginally the least wishy-washy.”

Got blood? This run of lousy weather has cut the national supply to critically low levels.

■ Find a donor site near you by ZIP code here.

■ Put it on your public health radar: The deadly Nipah virus—which spreads from animals to humans, has a high fatality rate and for which there’s no vaccine—has been newly confirmed in India.

■ The fugitive ex-leader of Loretto Hospital—accused of embezzling millions from the hospital and defrauding the federal government of almost $300 million—has been nabbed in Serbia.

■ Lurie Children’s Hospital is planning a new facility in the western suburbs.

Down with paywalls. Actor/director and Freedom of the Press Foundation founding board member John Cusack: “Paywalls capture the already converted. Paywall-free news earns the trust of everyone else.”

■ Kim Commando’s The Current newsletter advises you to stop clicking that “single-sign-on” Facebook or Google button to log into websites: “The second you click that button, the site gets your name, email and profile photo. Sometimes your phone number and birthday, too.”

Corrections. Monday’s Chicago Public Square included a couple of errors:

■ Stephen Colbert’s final Late Show is set for May 21.

■ Alex Vindman, now a U.S. Senate candidate, is a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.

■ Making mistakes sucks; having readers who take the time to set things straight is great.

■ Chris Koenig made this edition better.

Coming tomorrow. Square hits its ninth anniversary.

■ Marking his 30th year as a Sun-Times columnist, Neil Steinberg links to his 10 favorites.

* And Froomkin includes this latest from your Square columnist’s daughter-in-law, a member of the St. Paul City Council.

And that’s how things look, January 29, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Outta there / Behind the shift / ‘Thoughtfully thrilling’
‘Summarily executed in public’ / Even Trump / Voter files, huh?
Guilty ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ / Digital deception / Quizzes!
Knock, knock? / General strike! / ‘War on the Constitution’ / Oscars record / Clone yourself
America the Beautiful / ‘There will be arrests’ / ‘Who runs CBS now? Trump.’

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-01-30 Chicago Public Square

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 13:05:48 GMT

Are you striking? / ‘A moral surrender’ / ‘Several rounds of snow’ / Quizzes / 9 years!

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Are you striking? / ‘A moral surrender’ / ‘Several rounds of snow’ / Quizzes / 9 years!

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

It’s Chicago Public Square’s ninth birthday. Read all about it at the end of today’s edition.

Are you striking? Demanding “ICE out of everywhere,” civil rights activists across the nation have declared this a day of “no work, no school, no shopping” …

■ … especially, some organizers say, Minneapolis-based Target.

■ At least seven people were arrested last night outside Chicago’s West Loop Target, where they were demanding the company stop cooperating with ICE.

■ Several small Chicago businesses are voluntarily closed.

■ Robyn Pennacchia at Wonkette: “White Minnesota Ladies Protesting ICE Really Throwing A Wrench In Right Wing Propaganda Machine.”

■ Add Billy Bragg to the roster of those releasing anti-ICE protest songs.

■ My Morning Jacket has released a digital album, the proceeds from which will benefit civil and human rights organizations.

‘Could killing Renee Good and Alex Pretti be the last straw? Spoiler alert: No, it’s not.’ The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg pours water on hopes that “we’ve turned a corner.”

■ Columnist Steven Beschloss: “Don’t believe the momentary softening rhetoric toward Minneapolis. It’s only meant to quiet the opposition.”

■ Jeff Tiedrich: “Minneapolis is still a war zone, because Tommy Cash-Bags wants it that way.”

■ The Washington Post (gift link): The handling of the Pretti investigation has some prosecutors ready to quit.

■ A federal judge questions why the Justice Department keeps calling a woman shot by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago a “domestic terrorist.”

■ Gov. Pritzker’s asking his Illinois Accountability Commission to investigate key officials of Donald Trump’s administration.

‘A moral surrender.’ That’s what Julie Roginsky at Salty Politics calls Democrats’ potential budget deal with Trump to separate Homeland Security from a broader spending bill—funding the department for another couple of weeks as they debate its long-term fate.

■ Columnist and former U.S. Rep. Marie Newman spells out how Democrats can push for “the seemingly impossible”: Dismantle and transform Homeland Security, ICE and Border Patrol into “a new modernized, humane and effective organization.”

■ The American Prospect traces “the Border Patrol’s legacy of violence” back to 1924, when the Ku Klux Klan was in its heyday.

‘The most important question in 2026 is whether the midterm elections will be free and fair. And these developments go to the heart of that.’ Law professor Joyce Vance sounds an alarm about the FBI’s search warrant for the Fulton County, Georgia, Elections Operation Center …

■ … in a reflection of what the AP calls “pursuit of Trump’s 2020 election grievance.”

‘Things that simply are not true.’ Poynter surveys another of Trump’s social media posting frenzies.

■ Popular Information: “Silicon Valley was once viewed as a tool for liberation. Now … it is helping the White House suppress dissent.”

■ The Onion: “Health Speculations Swirl After Trump Spotted Wearing Glove Over Head.”

‘Not since The Terminator has there been this much excitement for a movie about a European cyborg.’ Jimmy Kimmel mocked the new movie about Melania Trump …

■ … the [Trump] Kennedy Center premiere of which Amazon blocked mainstream media from watching last night.

■ Desi Lydic at The Daily Show: “Why would [Amazon founder] Jeff Bezos, a billionaire who has tons of business with a government run by a famously corrupt president known for loving bribes, overpay [$40 million] for a Melania documentary? Hmm …”

■ USA Today’s Chicago-based columnist Rex Huppke: Mocking the documentary “is an act of patriotism. … And there is plenty to mock, none of which requires you to shell out money to see whatever bloviating bilge Amazon is foisting on the American public” …

■ … even as Amazon cuts tens of thousands of jobs …

■ … reportedly including the last of what’s left of its digital comics purveyor, Comixology.

■ Costco faces charges of falsely claiming that its rotisserie chicken contains no preservatives.

Paging Mayor Emanuel. A federal judge has ordered Chicago’s former chief executive—and will-he-won’t-he potential presidential candidate (New York Times gift link)—to testify next week about Chicago police officers’ “code of silence” in connection with a 2018 raid that violated the civil rights of a family with four kids.

■ Records obtained by the Tribune show Chicago cops’ murder clearance rate is higher than it’s been for more than a decade.

■ A former Illinois deputy’s been sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting and killing a Black woman who’d called police to report a prowler near her home.

Reporter arrested. CNN alumnus Don Lemon was taken into custody today in connection with his coverage of an immigration-enforcement protest that disrupted services at a Minnesota church that lists an ICE field office leader as one of its pastors.

■ Lemon’s asserted that he was reporting, not demonstrating.

■ CNN says the arrest “raises profoundly concerning questions about press freedom and the First Amendment.”

■ Former Sun-Times political editor Basil Talbott is dead at 89.

■ After publishing a far-right, conspiracy theory-laden essay on former Trib political columnist John Kass’ website, a Cook County Circuit Court judge has been yanked from the bench.

‘Several rounds of snow.’ Winter’s not done with us yet …

■ … ah, but let your mind wander ahead to Chicago’s summer festivals—the schedule for which has been unveiled.

■ Pulitzer winner and veteran Winter Olympics “credentialed media person” Dave Barry offers “a comprehensively comprehensive preview” of the 2026 festivities: “If I had to describe, in one word, the fun and excitement of … the winter games, that word would be ‘unpleasant bus rides.’”

Can you dig it? Past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel serves up a Groundhog Week edition of The Conversation’s news quiz …

■ … on which your Square columnist got three of eight wrong—including one that should have been easy.

■ But: 4/5 here on City Cast’s Chicago-centric news quiz …

■ … and 6/10 on Axios’ quiz on Chicago’s 2016.

Nine years! Unlikely as it seemed on this date in 2017—especially considering experimental content like this—today marks the ninth anniversary of Square’s public debut after a few trial editions and three days after its existence was revealed on WGN Radio.

■ Also tough to predict: That the news then would seem so much like the news of today:

■ Then again, that’s why this thing came to be in the first place (2017 link).

■ Needless to say, Square would have disappeared long ago if not for continuing voluntary reader support …

■ … and its longevity might even be attributed in part to this service’s detractors, whose unsubscribe notes have inspired memorable out-of-print T-shirts like this …

■ … which, to mark this anniversary, are back in stock—in new colors …

■ … and which continuing supporters can get at a discount—or free. (Photo: Square supporters Susan Buchanan and Gary Strokosch by Jim Polaski.)

■ Limited offer: Through the end of February, those who support Square in any amount—even just $1, just once—get a special anniversary code good for $9 off the purchase of any Squarewear. (But if you’re striking today, wait until tomorrow.)

■ And stay tuned next month for Square’s 2,000th edition.

Thanks. Chris Koenig made this edition better.

And that’s how things look, January 30, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘We will not stand for your cowardice’ / Star Wars’ ICE connection / Down with paywalls
Chicago news needs you
Outta there / Behind the shift / ‘Thoughtfully thrilling’
‘Summarily executed in public’ / Even Trump / Voter files, huh?
Guilty ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ / Digital deception / Quizzes!

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-02-02 Chicago Public Square

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 13:03:18 GMT

‘Sue this … dope’ / ‘Pure fascism’ / Plow ahead

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‘Sue this … dope’ / ‘Pure fascism’ / Plow ahead

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so don’t be surprised by six more weeks of winter.

■ Then again, Illinois’ Woodstock Willie went shadowless, so maybe better things await us.

■ Regardless, today’s looking a lot better than Chicago’s snowpocalypse of 15 years ago—when just walking through the snow was a workout.

■ At 3 p.m. this afternoon, the third annual Harold Ramis Day at Navy Pier will celebrate the late Chicago-born filmmaker who brought us the movie Groundhog Day.

‘Sue this … dope.’ President Trump’s up in arms over a Jeffrey Epstein joke Trevor Noah made about Trump at last night’s Grammy Awards.

■ Plenty of expletives got cut during the broadcast as music’s biggest stars profanely slammed Trump’s Twin Cities reign of terror.

■ The New York Times (gift link) has found more than 5,300 files containing more than 38,000 references to Trump, his wife, his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and other related words and phrases in the latest batch of Justice Department-released emails, government files, videos and other records related to dead sex offender Epstein.

■ Also from the Times: “They said they weren’t close to Epstein. New documents show otherwise.”

■ The AP surveys a who’s who of powerful people named in the latest trove.

‘I don’t think people realize how much of an insane step up Minneapolis was, how much more violence and aggression, and how many more agents doing completely illegal things.’ Two Chicago-area teenage brothers born in Minneapolis have spent days up there observing and documenting immigration agents’ actions.

■ Y’know that video of a federal agent running at a Minneapolis protester and then slipping on ice and falling on his ass, to the cheers of onlookers? That was their work.

■ The BBC surveys “how ICE raids changed a once bustling Chicago neighbourhood.”

■ The Tribune compares the federal assaults on Chicago and the Twin Cities.

■ ProPublica’s identified the two federal agents whose gunfire left Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti dead.

Freed at last. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, snatched by immigration officers and shipped to Texas last month, have been returned to Minnesota …

■ … after a judge issued a blistering order condemning “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas.”

‘Pure fascism.’ Contrarian editor-in-chief Jennifer Rubin: “The arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for simply covering a protest at a St. Paul, Minn., church … remind us that no one has been more instrumental than Attorney General Pam Bondi in the assault on Americans’ civil liberties and the rule of law.”

■ Bondi faces congressional articles of impeachment.

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch sees trouble ahead for Ohio: “It’s hard to call this proposed operation anything … besides an ethnic cleansing on U.S. soil.”

■ Want to support journalists stretched to the limit covering the Twin Cities incursion? Here’s how.

■ The Intercept: A raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home is a warning: “Turn off your phone’s biometrics now.”

■ Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky: “Trump is selling out our national security and the Constitution all at once.”

‘Just like his casinos and other businesses, the Kennedy Center went out of business after he put his name on it.’ That’s one of the slams against Trump on social media after his announcement that the [Trump] Kennedy Center would be closing for a two-year renovation …

■ … coincidentally—or not—after a bunch of artists refused to perform at the facility he’s taken over.

‘How disappointed are you that former Mayor Rahm Emanuel won’t be testifying about the Chicago Police Department’s notorious code of silence in federal court?’ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg? Not so much: “I’m not sure why lawyers … ever thought they’d need Rahm Emanuel to explain the tight lips of Chicago police. Everybody knows.”

■ A judge’s change of heart is good news for those hoping Emanuel runs for president.

■ The New York Times (gift link): “The Supreme Court secretly made itself even more secretive.”

Plow ahead. Balloting’s now open in Chicago’s annual name-the-snowplow finals.

■ Chicagoans—or at least those who enter a Chicago ZIP code (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) can vote here.

‘Leftist claptrap.’ Chicago Public Square T-shirts bearing that reader’s 2022 unsubscribe note on the back are newly back in stock—and you can buy one here.

■ During this ninth anniversary month for Square, you can get a special code good for $9 off the purchase price if you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

Happy National News Literacy Week. The News Literacy Project has a passel of activities for teaching kids—and adults—to be smart news consumers …

■ … including a quiz on “pink slime” news.

■ Completed the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.

Thanks. Karen Kring made this edition better.

■ A hat-tip to Igor Studenkov for kind words in his new Chicago Media Journal email newsletter.

Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so don’t be surprised by six more weeks of winter.

■ Then again, Illinois’ Woodstock Willie went shadowless, so maybe better things await us.

■ Regardless, today’s looking a lot better than Chicago’s snowpocalypse of 15 years ago—when just walking through the snow was a workout.

■ At 3 p.m. this afternoon, the third annual Harold Ramis Day at Navy Pier will celebrate the late Chicago-born filmmaker who brought us the movie Groundhog Day.

‘Sue this … dope.’ President Trump’s up in arms over a Jeffrey Epstein joke Trevor Noah made about Trump at last night’s Grammy Awards.

■ Plenty of expletives got cut during the broadcast as music’s biggest stars profanely slammed Trump’s Twin Cities reign of terror.

■ Also from the Times: “They said they weren’t close to Epstein. New documents show otherwise.”

■ The AP surveys a who’s who of powerful people named in the latest trove.

■ Y’know that video of a federal agent running at a Minneapolis protester and then slipping on ice and falling on his ass, to the cheers of onlookers? That was their work.

■ The BBC surveys “how ICE raids changed a once bustling Chicago neighbourhood.”

■ The Tribune compares the federal assaults on Chicago and the Twin Cities.

■ ProPublica’s identified the two federal agents whose gunfire left Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti dead.

Freed at last. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, snatched by immigration officers and shipped to Texas last month, have been returned to Minnesota …

■ … after a judge issued a blistering order condemning “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas.”

■ Bondi faces congressional articles of impeachment.

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch sees trouble ahead for Ohio: “It’s hard to call this proposed operation anything … besides an ethnic cleansing on U.S. soil.”

■ Want to support journalists stretched to the limit covering the Twin Cities incursion? Here’s how.

■ The Intercept: A raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home is a warning: “Turn off your phone’s biometrics now.”

■ Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky: “Trump is selling out our national security and the Constitution all at once.”

■ … coincidentally—or not—after a bunch of artists refused to perform at the facility he’s taken over.

■ A judge’s change of heart is good news for those hoping Emanuel runs for president.

■ The New York Times (gift link): “The Supreme Court secretly made itself even more secretive.”

Plow ahead. Balloting’s now open in Chicago’s annual name-the-snowplow finals.

■ Chicagoans—or at least those who enter a Chicago ZIP code (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) can vote here.

‘Leftist claptrap.’ Chicago Public Square T-shirts bearing that reader’s 2022 unsubscribe note on the back are newly back in stock—and you can buy one here.

■ During this ninth anniversary month for Square, you can get a special code good for $9 off the purchase price if you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

Happy National News Literacy Week. The News Literacy Project has a passel of activities for teaching kids—and adults—to be smart news consumers …

■ … including a quiz on “pink slime” news.

■ Completed the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.

Thanks. Karen Kring made this edition better.

■ A hat-tip to Igor Studenkov for kind words in his new Chicago Media Journal email newsletter.

Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so don’t be surprised by six more weeks of winter.

■ Then again, Illinois’ Woodstock Willie went shadowless, so maybe better things await us.

■ Regardless, today’s looking a lot better than Chicago’s snowpocalypse of 15 years ago—when just walking through the snow was a workout.

■ At 3 p.m. this afternoon, the third annual Harold Ramis Day at Navy Pier will celebrate the late Chicago-born filmmaker who brought us the movie Groundhog Day.

‘Sue this … dope.’ President Trump’s up in arms over a Jeffrey Epstein joke Trevor Noah made about Trump at last night’s Grammy Awards.

■ Plenty of expletives got cut during the broadcast as music’s biggest stars profanely slammed Trump’s Twin Cities reign of terror.

■ Also from the Times: “They said they weren’t close to Epstein. New documents show otherwise.”

■ The AP surveys a who’s who of powerful people named in the latest trove.

■ Y’know that video of a federal agent running at a Minneapolis protester and then slipping on ice and falling on his ass, to the cheers of onlookers? That was their work.

■ The BBC surveys “how ICE raids changed a once bustling Chicago neighbourhood.”

■ The Tribune compares the federal assaults on Chicago and the Twin Cities.

■ ProPublica’s identified the two federal agents whose gunfire left Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti dead.

Freed at last. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, snatched by immigration officers and shipped to Texas last month, have been returned to Minnesota …

■ … after a judge issued a blistering order condemning “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas.”

■ Bondi faces congressional articles of impeachment.

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch sees trouble ahead for Ohio: “It’s hard to call this proposed operation anything … besides an ethnic cleansing on U.S. soil.”

■ Want to support journalists stretched to the limit covering the Twin Cities incursion? Here’s how.

■ The Intercept: A raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home is a warning: “Turn off your phone’s biometrics now.”

■ Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky: “Trump is selling out our national security and the Constitution all at once.”

■ … coincidentally—or not—after a bunch of artists refused to perform at the facility he’s taken over.

■ A judge’s change of heart is good news for those hoping Emanuel runs for president.

■ The New York Times (gift link): “The Supreme Court secretly made itself even more secretive.”

Plow ahead. Balloting’s now open in Chicago’s annual name-the-snowplow finals.

■ Chicagoans—or at least those who enter a Chicago ZIP code (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) can vote here.

‘Leftist claptrap.’ Chicago Public Square T-shirts bearing that reader’s 2022 unsubscribe note on the back are newly back in stock—and you can buy one here.

■ During this ninth anniversary month for Square, you can get a special code good for $9 off the purchase price if you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

Happy National News Literacy Week. The News Literacy Project has a passel of activities for teaching kids—and adults—to be smart news consumers …

■ … including a quiz on “pink slime” news.

■ Completed the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.

Thanks. Karen Kring made this edition better.

■ A hat-tip to Igor Studenkov for kind words in his new Chicago Media Journal email newsletter.

Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so don’t be surprised by six more weeks of winter.

■ Then again, Illinois’ Woodstock Willie went shadowless, so maybe better things await us.

■ Regardless, today’s looking a lot better than Chicago’s snowpocalypse of 15 years ago—when just walking through the snow was a workout.

■ At 3 p.m. this afternoon, the third annual Harold Ramis Day at Navy Pier will celebrate the late Chicago-born filmmaker who brought us the movie Groundhog Day.

‘Sue this … dope.’ President Trump’s up in arms over a Jeffrey Epstein joke Trevor Noah made about Trump at last night’s Grammy Awards.

■ Plenty of expletives got cut during the broadcast as music’s biggest stars profanely slammed Trump’s Twin Cities reign of terror.

■ Also from the Times: “They said they weren’t close to Epstein. New documents show otherwise.”

■ The AP surveys a who’s who of powerful people named in the latest trove.

■ Y’know that video of a federal agent running at a Minneapolis protester and then slipping on ice and falling on his ass, to the cheers of onlookers? That was their work.

■ The BBC surveys “how ICE raids changed a once bustling Chicago neighbourhood.”

■ The Tribune compares the federal assaults on Chicago and the Twin Cities.

■ ProPublica’s identified the two federal agents whose gunfire left Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti dead.

Freed at last. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, snatched by immigration officers and shipped to Texas last month, have been returned to Minnesota …

■ … after a judge issued a blistering order condemning “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas.”

■ Bondi faces congressional articles of impeachment.

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch sees trouble ahead for Ohio: “It’s hard to call this proposed operation anything … besides an ethnic cleansing on U.S. soil.”

■ Want to support journalists stretched to the limit covering the Twin Cities incursion? Here’s how.

■ The Intercept: A raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home is a warning: “Turn off your phone’s biometrics now.”

■ Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky: “Trump is selling out our national security and the Constitution all at once.”

■ … coincidentally—or not—after a bunch of artists refused to perform at the facility he’s taken over.

■ A judge’s change of heart is good news for those hoping Emanuel runs for president.

■ The New York Times (gift link): “The Supreme Court secretly made itself even more secretive.”

Plow ahead. Balloting’s now open in Chicago’s annual name-the-snowplow finals.

■ Chicagoans—or at least those who enter a Chicago ZIP code (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) can vote here.

‘Leftist claptrap.’ Chicago Public Square T-shirts bearing that reader’s 2022 unsubscribe note on the back are newly back in stock—and you can buy one here.

■ During this ninth anniversary month for Square, you can get a special code good for $9 off the purchase price if you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

Happy National News Literacy Week. The News Literacy Project has a passel of activities for teaching kids—and adults—to be smart news consumers …

■ … including a quiz on “pink slime” news.

■ Completed the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.

Thanks. Karen Kring made this edition better.

■ A hat-tip to Igor Studenkov for kind words in his new Chicago Media Journal email newsletter.

Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so don’t be surprised by six more weeks of winter.

■ Then again, Illinois’ Woodstock Willie went shadowless, so maybe better things await us.

■ Regardless, today’s looking a lot better than Chicago’s snowpocalypse of 15 years ago—when just walking through the snow was a workout.

■ At 3 p.m. this afternoon, the third annual Harold Ramis Day at Navy Pier will celebrate the late Chicago-born filmmaker who brought us the movie Groundhog Day.

‘Sue this … dope.’ President Trump’s up in arms over a Jeffrey Epstein joke Trevor Noah made about Trump at last night’s Grammy Awards.

■ Plenty of expletives got cut during the broadcast as music’s biggest stars profanely slammed Trump’s Twin Cities reign of terror.

■ Also from the Times: “They said they weren’t close to Epstein. New documents show otherwise.”

■ The AP surveys a who’s who of powerful people named in the latest trove.

■ Y’know that video of a federal agent running at a Minneapolis protester and then slipping on ice and falling on his ass, to the cheers of onlookers? That was their work.

■ The BBC surveys “how ICE raids changed a once bustling Chicago neighbourhood.”

■ The Tribune compares the federal assaults on Chicago and the Twin Cities.

■ ProPublica’s identified the two federal agents whose gunfire left Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti dead.

Freed at last. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, snatched by immigration officers and shipped to Texas last month, have been returned to Minnesota …

■ … after a judge issued a blistering order condemning “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas.”

■ Bondi faces congressional articles of impeachment.

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch sees trouble ahead for Ohio: “It’s hard to call this proposed operation anything … besides an ethnic cleansing on U.S. soil.”

■ Want to support journalists stretched to the limit covering the Twin Cities incursion? Here’s how.

■ The Intercept: A raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home is a warning: “Turn off your phone’s biometrics now.”

■ Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky: “Trump is selling out our national security and the Constitution all at once.”

■ … coincidentally—or not—after a bunch of artists refused to perform at the facility he’s taken over.

■ A judge’s change of heart is good news for those hoping Emanuel runs for president.

■ The New York Times (gift link): “The Supreme Court secretly made itself even more secretive.”

Plow ahead. Balloting’s now open in Chicago’s annual name-the-snowplow finals.

■ Chicagoans—or at least those who enter a Chicago ZIP code (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) can vote here.

‘Leftist claptrap.’ Chicago Public Square T-shirts bearing that reader’s 2022 unsubscribe note on the back are newly back in stock—and you can buy one here.

■ During this ninth anniversary month for Square, you can get a special code good for $9 off the purchase price if you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

Happy National News Literacy Week. The News Literacy Project has a passel of activities for teaching kids—and adults—to be smart news consumers …

■ … including a quiz on “pink slime” news.

■ Completed the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.

Thanks. Karen Kring made this edition better.

■ A hat-tip to Igor Studenkov for kind words in his new Chicago Media Journal email newsletter.

Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so don’t be surprised by six more weeks of winter.

■ Then again, Illinois’ Woodstock Willie went shadowless, so maybe better things await us.

■ Regardless, today’s looking a lot better than Chicago’s snowpocalypse of 15 years ago—when just walking through the snow was a workout.

■ At 3 p.m. this afternoon, the third annual Harold Ramis Day at Navy Pier will celebrate the late Chicago-born filmmaker who brought us the movie Groundhog Day.

‘Sue this … dope.’ President Trump’s up in arms over a Jeffrey Epstein joke Trevor Noah made about Trump at last night’s Grammy Awards.

■ Plenty of expletives got cut during the broadcast as music’s biggest stars profanely slammed Trump’s Twin Cities reign of terror.

■ Also from the Times: “They said they weren’t close to Epstein. New documents show otherwise.”

■ The AP surveys a who’s who of powerful people named in the latest trove.

■ Y’know that video of a federal agent running at a Minneapolis protester and then slipping on ice and falling on his ass, to the cheers of onlookers? That was their work.

■ The BBC surveys “how ICE raids changed a once bustling Chicago neighbourhood.”

■ The Tribune compares the federal assaults on Chicago and the Twin Cities.

■ ProPublica’s identified the two federal agents whose gunfire left Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti dead.

Freed at last. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, snatched by immigration officers and shipped to Texas last month, have been returned to Minnesota …

■ … after a judge issued a blistering order condemning “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas.”

■ Bondi faces congressional articles of impeachment.

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch sees trouble ahead for Ohio: “It’s hard to call this proposed operation anything … besides an ethnic cleansing on U.S. soil.”

■ Want to support journalists stretched to the limit covering the Twin Cities incursion? Here’s how.

■ The Intercept: A raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home is a warning: “Turn off your phone’s biometrics now.”

■ Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky: “Trump is selling out our national security and the Constitution all at once.”

■ … coincidentally—or not—after a bunch of artists refused to perform at the facility he’s taken over.

■ A judge’s change of heart is good news for those hoping Emanuel runs for president.

■ The New York Times (gift link): “The Supreme Court secretly made itself even more secretive.”

Plow ahead. Balloting’s now open in Chicago’s annual name-the-snowplow finals.

■ Chicagoans—or at least those who enter a Chicago ZIP code (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) can vote here.

‘Leftist claptrap.’ Chicago Public Square T-shirts bearing that reader’s 2022 unsubscribe note on the back are newly back in stock—and you can buy one here.

■ During this ninth anniversary month for Square, you can get a special code good for $9 off the purchase price if you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

Happy National News Literacy Week. The News Literacy Project has a passel of activities for teaching kids—and adults—to be smart news consumers …

■ … including a quiz on “pink slime” news.

■ Completed the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.

Thanks. Karen Kring made this edition better.

■ A hat-tip to Igor Studenkov for kind words in his new Chicago Media Journal email newsletter.

Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so don’t be surprised by six more weeks of winter.

■ Then again, Illinois’ Woodstock Willie went shadowless, so maybe better things await us.

■ Regardless, today’s looking a lot better than Chicago’s snowpocalypse of 15 years ago—when just walking through the snow was a workout.

■ At 3 p.m. this afternoon, the third annual Harold Ramis Day at Navy Pier will celebrate the late Chicago-born filmmaker who brought us the movie Groundhog Day.

‘Sue this … dope.’ President Trump’s up in arms over a Jeffrey Epstein joke Trevor Noah made about Trump at last night’s Grammy Awards.

■ Plenty of expletives got cut during the broadcast as music’s biggest stars profanely slammed Trump’s Twin Cities reign of terror.

■ Also from the Times: “They said they weren’t close to Epstein. New documents show otherwise.”

■ The AP surveys a who’s who of powerful people named in the latest trove.

■ Y’know that video of a federal agent running at a Minneapolis protester and then slipping on ice and falling on his ass, to the cheers of onlookers? That was their work.

■ The BBC surveys “how ICE raids changed a once bustling Chicago neighbourhood.”

■ The Tribune compares the federal assaults on Chicago and the Twin Cities.

■ ProPublica’s identified the two federal agents whose gunfire left Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti dead.

Freed at last. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, snatched by immigration officers and shipped to Texas last month, have been returned to Minnesota …

■ … after a judge issued a blistering order condemning “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas.”

■ Bondi faces congressional articles of impeachment.

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch sees trouble ahead for Ohio: “It’s hard to call this proposed operation anything … besides an ethnic cleansing on U.S. soil.”

■ Want to support journalists stretched to the limit covering the Twin Cities incursion? Here’s how.

■ The Intercept: A raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home is a warning: “Turn off your phone’s biometrics now.”

■ Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky: “Trump is selling out our national security and the Constitution all at once.”

■ … coincidentally—or not—after a bunch of artists refused to perform at the facility he’s taken over.

■ A judge’s change of heart is good news for those hoping Emanuel runs for president.

■ The New York Times (gift link): “The Supreme Court secretly made itself even more secretive.”

Plow ahead. Balloting’s now open in Chicago’s annual name-the-snowplow finals.

■ Chicagoans—or at least those who enter a Chicago ZIP code (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) can vote here.

‘Leftist claptrap.’ Chicago Public Square T-shirts bearing that reader’s 2022 unsubscribe note on the back are newly back in stock—and you can buy one here.

■ During this ninth anniversary month for Square, you can get a special code good for $9 off the purchase price if you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

Happy National News Literacy Week. The News Literacy Project has a passel of activities for teaching kids—and adults—to be smart news consumers …

■ … including a quiz on “pink slime” news.

■ Completed the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.

Thanks. Karen Kring made this edition better.

■ A hat-tip to Igor Studenkov for kind words in his new Chicago Media Journal email newsletter.

Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so don’t be surprised by six more weeks of winter.

■ Then again, Illinois’ Woodstock Willie went shadowless, so maybe better things await us.

■ Regardless, today’s looking a lot better than Chicago’s snowpocalypse of 15 years ago—when just walking through the snow was a workout.

■ At 3 p.m. this afternoon, the third annual Harold Ramis Day at Navy Pier will celebrate the late Chicago-born filmmaker who brought us the movie Groundhog Day.

‘Sue this … dope.’ President Trump’s up in arms over a Jeffrey Epstein joke Trevor Noah made about Trump at last night’s Grammy Awards.

■ Plenty of expletives got cut during the broadcast as music’s biggest stars profanely slammed Trump’s Twin Cities reign of terror.

■ Also from the Times: “They said they weren’t close to Epstein. New documents show otherwise.”

■ The AP surveys a who’s who of powerful people named in the latest trove.

■ Y’know that video of a federal agent running at a Minneapolis protester and then slipping on ice and falling on his ass, to the cheers of onlookers? That was their work.

■ The BBC surveys “how ICE raids changed a once bustling Chicago neighbourhood.”

■ The Tribune compares the federal assaults on Chicago and the Twin Cities.

■ ProPublica’s identified the two federal agents whose gunfire left Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti dead.

Freed at last. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, snatched by immigration officers and shipped to Texas last month, have been returned to Minnesota …

■ … after a judge issued a blistering order condemning “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas.”

■ Bondi faces congressional articles of impeachment.

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch sees trouble ahead for Ohio: “It’s hard to call this proposed operation anything … besides an ethnic cleansing on U.S. soil.”

■ Want to support journalists stretched to the limit covering the Twin Cities incursion? Here’s how.

■ The Intercept: A raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home is a warning: “Turn off your phone’s biometrics now.”

■ Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky: “Trump is selling out our national security and the Constitution all at once.”

■ … coincidentally—or not—after a bunch of artists refused to perform at the facility he’s taken over.

■ A judge’s change of heart is good news for those hoping Emanuel runs for president.

■ The New York Times (gift link): “The Supreme Court secretly made itself even more secretive.”

Plow ahead. Balloting’s now open in Chicago’s annual name-the-snowplow finals.

■ Chicagoans—or at least those who enter a Chicago ZIP code (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) can vote here.

‘Leftist claptrap.’ Chicago Public Square T-shirts bearing that reader’s 2022 unsubscribe note on the back are newly back in stock—and you can buy one here.

■ During this ninth anniversary month for Square, you can get a special code good for $9 off the purchase price if you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

Happy National News Literacy Week. The News Literacy Project has a passel of activities for teaching kids—and adults—to be smart news consumers …

■ … including a quiz on “pink slime” news.

■ Completed the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.

Thanks. Karen Kring made this edition better.

■ A hat-tip to Igor Studenkov for kind words in his new Chicago Media Journal email newsletter.

Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so don’t be surprised by six more weeks of winter.

■ Then again, Illinois’ Woodstock Willie went shadowless, so maybe better things await us.

■ Regardless, today’s looking a lot better than Chicago’s snowpocalypse of 15 years ago—when just walking through the snow was a workout.

■ At 3 p.m. this afternoon, the third annual Harold Ramis Day at Navy Pier will celebrate the late Chicago-born filmmaker who brought us the movie Groundhog Day.

‘Sue this … dope.’ President Trump’s up in arms over a Jeffrey Epstein joke Trevor Noah made about Trump at last night’s Grammy Awards.

■ Plenty of expletives got cut during the broadcast as music’s biggest stars profanely slammed Trump’s Twin Cities reign of terror.

■ Also from the Times: “They said they weren’t close to Epstein. New documents show otherwise.”

■ The AP surveys a who’s who of powerful people named in the latest trove.

■ Y’know that video of a federal agent running at a Minneapolis protester and then slipping on ice and falling on his ass, to the cheers of onlookers? That was their work.

■ The BBC surveys “how ICE raids changed a once bustling Chicago neighbourhood.”

■ The Tribune compares the federal assaults on Chicago and the Twin Cities.

■ ProPublica’s identified the two federal agents whose gunfire left Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti dead.

Freed at last. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, snatched by immigration officers and shipped to Texas last month, have been returned to Minnesota …

■ … after a judge issued a blistering order condemning “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas.”

■ Bondi faces congressional articles of impeachment.

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch sees trouble ahead for Ohio: “It’s hard to call this proposed operation anything … besides an ethnic cleansing on U.S. soil.”

■ Want to support journalists stretched to the limit covering the Twin Cities incursion? Here’s how.

■ The Intercept: A raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home is a warning: “Turn off your phone’s biometrics now.”

■ Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky: “Trump is selling out our national security and the Constitution all at once.”

■ … coincidentally—or not—after a bunch of artists refused to perform at the facility he’s taken over.

■ A judge’s change of heart is good news for those hoping Emanuel runs for president.

■ The New York Times (gift link): “The Supreme Court secretly made itself even more secretive.”

Plow ahead. Balloting’s now open in Chicago’s annual name-the-snowplow finals.

■ Chicagoans—or at least those who enter a Chicago ZIP code (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) can vote here.

‘Leftist claptrap.’ Chicago Public Square T-shirts bearing that reader’s 2022 unsubscribe note on the back are newly back in stock—and you can buy one here.

■ During this ninth anniversary month for Square, you can get a special code good for $9 off the purchase price if you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

Happy National News Literacy Week. The News Literacy Project has a passel of activities for teaching kids—and adults—to be smart news consumers …

■ … including a quiz on “pink slime” news.

■ Completed the survey for another news organization? Do it again and get a bonus shot at that gift card.

Thanks. Karen Kring made this edition better.

■ A hat-tip to Igor Studenkov for kind words in his new Chicago Media Journal email newsletter.

And that’s how things look, February 2, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Are you striking? / ‘A moral surrender’ / ‘Several rounds of snow’ / Quizzes / 9 years!
‘We will not stand for your cowardice’ / Star Wars’ ICE connection / Down with paywalls
Chicago news needs you
Outta there / Behind the shift / ‘Thoughtfully thrilling’
‘Summarily executed in public’ / Even Trump / Voter files, huh?

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-02-03 Chicago Public Square

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 13:05:50 GMT

Elections in the balance / Children led them / Jon Stewart’s in the Epstein files

Read this in your browser, with updates and corrections:
Elections in the balance / Children led them / Jon Stewart’s in the Epstein files

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Elections in the balance. Popular Information: “The Trump administration is engaged in a multi-pronged effort to undermine the integrity of and confidence in the 2026 election.”

■ Trump’s words, in an interview with a podcaster who joined the FBI and left after nine months to become a podcaster again: “Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over.’ … Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

■ The Washington Post (gift link): The president’s claiming a power the Constitution explicitly grants to states.

■ Former Illinois Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger sees “a psychopath talking about seizing elections—and a party too cowardly to stop him.”

‘I am their voice.’ As Chicagoan Marimar Martinez, shot five times by a Border Patrol agent last fall, prepared to testify today in Washington, she told the Sun-Times and WBEZ she intends to speak up for those killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

■ Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says each of her officers on the ground in Minneapolis will be issued a body camera.

■ Trump sounded less than enthusiastic.

■ Journalism critic Margaret Sullivan pleads with reporters to apply far more skepticism to things Trump says.

‘My 8-year-old woke up, but she was so terrified she just laid in the bed and cried.’ Independent Minnesota journalist Georgia Fort last night recounted for MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow her nighttime arrest at her home after covering an anti-ICE protest at a St. Paul church.

■ CNN veteran Don Lemon last night shared with Jimmy Kimmel the details of his very public arrest after covering that protest: “They want to embarrass you. They want to instill fear.”

■ A St. Paul native and senior at Temple University in Philadelphia has turned himself in on charges of conspiring with Lemon to interfere in that service at a church served by a pastor who’s also an ICE official.

■ The Onion: “ICE Agent Scores Easy Win By Deporting Own Family.”

Children led them. Hundreds of kids yesterday walked out of Chicago high schools to protest Trump’s deportation onslaught.

■ The student Republican club at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is in the spotlight after posting an illustration of a masked gunman holding a weapon to a kneeling man’s head, with the caption “Only traitors help invaders.”

■ Reporter Marisa Kabas shares “what it’s like to see ICE tear gas kids.”

Jon Stewart’s in the Epstein files. And he is offended: “Somebody like Jon Stewart, or Jon Stewart? My point is, do I have the offer, or is this an audition?”

■ Media critic and Chicago TV news exec Jennifer Schulze: One of new CBS boss Bari Weiss’ new hires “was one of Epstein’s biggest pen pals, sending him cringey and disturbing emails but she’s fighting to keep him on staff anyway.”

■ Stephen Colbert: “Punxsutawney Phil … might be the only prominent American male who is not in there … is what I would have said if he wasn’t in there. But—and this is true—he actually appears in it four times.”

■ Columnist Eric Zorn is beggin’ Trump to sue Trevor Noah over that [Epstein] joke at Sunday’s Grammys: “No one in America needs to be deposed more than our reflexively dishonest president.”

■ Are you in the Epstein files? Search here.

Who owns ‘Stephen Colbert’? As CBS prepares to cut ties with its Late Show host, longtime late-night critic Bill Carter says control of the faux-right character Colbert played on Comedy Central hangs in the balance.

■ Tribune columnist—and former TV critic—Rick Kogan: New CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil’s disparagement of Walter Cronkite “made me wonder how long this anchorman might last” (gift link).

■ Mark Jacob at Stop the Presses: “Megyn Kelly is a fascist propagandist selling out her country for attention and profit.”

Amazon’s watching. The company’s donating a thousand of its Ring security cameras to Illinois—for distribution to domestic violence survivors, giving them an increased sense of security.

■ It’s the latest feel-good (or feel-better) move by Ring, against a backdrop of concerns it’s playing nice with immigration enforcement agencies.

■ 404 Media: A photo booth company that caters to weddings and D.C. lobbying events has been collecting and insecurely storing those photos for anyone to download.

All that glitters … Axios reports that a new bill in Springfield would outlaw the sale of personal products that include body glitter—one of the world’s most pervasive pollutants.

■ Now that the Trump administration’s yanked the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, Gov. Pritzker’s signing Illinois up.

Not following Chicago Public Square on Bluesky? Here’s a taste of what you missed yesterday:

■ An “ICE conveyor belt” is illegally detaining and moving Minnesota kids to Texas faster than courts can respond.

■ Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify before Congress about Jeffrey Epstein.

■ Mark Jacob compared and contrasted: “Yesterday: Deputy AG Todd Blanche denies that Trump played any role in the FBI’s seizure of Georgia voting records or had been briefed on the case. Today: The NY Times reports that Trump talked by phone to the FBI agents who conducted the raid, asking them questions and getting answers.” (Gift link)

■ Wonkette surveyed the Sunday news shows: House Speaker Mike Johnson “talks like a typical abuser.”

■ A Mother Jones review: “The Melania movie is an American obscenity.”

Get one for $9 off—or get it free. During this ninth anniversary month for Square, you can get a special code good for $9 off the price of a Square T-shirt or hoodie if you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

■ Make it $10/month and get one free.

‘While some news bears repeating, don’t you think that’s a bit much?’ A few readers didn’t get this newsletter’s recurring Groundhog Day gag.

And that’s how things look, February 3, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘Sue this … dope’ / ‘Pure fascism’ / Plow ahead
Are you striking? / ‘A moral surrender’ / ‘Several rounds of snow’ / Quizzes / 9 years!
‘We will not stand for your cowardice’ / Star Wars’ ICE connection / Down with paywalls
Chicago news needs you
Outta there / Behind the shift / ‘Thoughtfully thrilling’

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-02-04 Chicago Public Square

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 13:05:27 GMT

ICE is watching / ‘It doesn’t add up’ / ‘An absolute bloodbath’

Read this in your browser, with updates and corrections:
ICE is watching / ‘It doesn’t add up’ / ‘An absolute bloodbath’

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

ICE is watching. States Newsroom surveys the federal government’s rapidly evolving data collection and surveillance apparatus.

■ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg: “A course change is essential, before you show up at O’Hare to take your family to Cancun in 2031, and discover TSA won’t let you through security because of a meme about the Epstein files you shared on Bluesky in 2026. Think it can’t happen? It already is.”

■ Kim Komando’s Current newsletter: “Never owned a Ring. Never agreed to Amazon’s terms. Doesn’t matter. Walk past your neighbor’s house, and your face gets scanned, uploaded and stored.”

■ The Washington Post (gift link): “A retiree emailed a DHS attorney to urge mercy for an asylum seeker. Then DHS subpoenaed his Google account and sent investigators to his home.”

■ Columnist and former U.S. Rep. Marie Newman: “The lethal mix of Trump nationalizing our elections and DOGE stealing our personal data … puts the nail in the coffin of democracy.”

■ All of which makes this a good time to check Advisorator’s six simple steps to protect your privacy.

‘More chilling than it was last week.’ Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says that, even as federal immigration agents scale back their use of tear gas in the Twin Cities, they’re shifting focus to schools and children …

■ … and yesterday, they drew firearms as they arrested activists who were trailing their vehicles.

■ The New York Times (gift link) recounts “A winter of anguish for Minneapolis children: ‘It’s like living in fear all the time,’ a teenager said.”

■ Adrian Carrasquillo at The Bulwark: “ICE was terrorizing worshipers long before Don Lemon entered a church.”

■ The Trump administration says it’s yanking 700 federal agents from the North Star State—ostensibly because state and local officials have agreed to be more cooperative.

‘My own government attempted to execute me.’ That’s Chicagoan Marimar Martinez, shot five times by immigration agents, testifying yesterday before a D.C. forum convened by congressional Democrats.

■ The brothers of Renee Good, who was killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis, appealed to Congress to do something.

■ The president’s signed a spending bill that ends a partial government shutdown—funding Homeland Security for just two more weeks …

■ … setting the stage for what columnist Robert Hubbell calls “the moment of truth for congressional Democrats.”

‘It doesn’t add up.’ A Chicago-based criminal defense attorney is among experts who tell the Sun-Times they’re flummoxed that a guy with a history of child sexual abuse somehow passed a Chicago Archdiocese background check.

■ Brett J. Smith—who changed his name from Brett Zagorac when he moved here from Arizona in 2019—faces felony charges in connection with incidents in Orland Park and Evergreen Park.

‘An absolute bloodbath.’ The Washington Post, owned by Amazon overlord Jeff Bezos, has announced massive layoffs …

■ … cutting a third of its staff across all departments.

■ CNN’s Brian Stelter has the ticktock on how it went down this morning.

■ Among the casualties: The Post’s Books section, its daily podcast and almost the whole Sports team.

■ Ashley Parker at The Atlantic sees “the latest attempt to kill what makes the paper special.”

■ Former Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler: “Bezos is not trying to save The Washington Post. He’s trying to survive Donald Trump.”

Meanwhile in Chicago … The Reader returns to print this week, now on a monthly schedule.

■ Newcity magazine is celebrating its 40th birthday.

Chicago Public Square’s now been bringing you the news for more than nine years. Through the end of February, those who support Square in any amount—even just $1, just once—get a special anniversary code good for $9 off the purchase of any Squarewear.

And that’s how things look, February 4, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Elections in the balance / Children led them / Jon Stewart’s in the Epstein files
‘Sue this … dope’ / ‘Pure fascism’ / Plow ahead
Are you striking? / ‘A moral surrender’ / ‘Several rounds of snow’ / Quizzes / 9 years!
‘We will not stand for your cowardice’ / Star Wars’ ICE connection / Down with paywalls
Chicago news needs you

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
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Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-02-05 Chicago Public Square

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 13:08:05 GMT

‘Racist and cowardly’ / Unmistakable echoes / ’Democracy dies in oligarchy’

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‘Racist and cowardly’ / Unmistakable echoes / ’Democracy dies in oligarchy’

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By Charlie Meyerson

‘Racist and cowardly.’ Columnist Eric Zorn says University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign student Republicans should restore a widely condemned Instagram post and “marinate in the contempt of their fellow students.”

■ WBEZ: “Trans students felt threatened by this symbol of the far right. Why didn’t Northwestern intervene?”

■ Stephen Colbert almost lost it last night as he fact-checked House Speaker Mike Johnson: “You claim to know more about the Bible than the Pope. Do you also claim to poop in the woods more than a bear?”

Don’t buy it. Popular Information calls out mainstream news organizations for swallowing the Trump administration’s claim to be scaling back oppression in the Twin Cities: “On the ground, little actually changed.”

■ Law Dork Chris Geidner calls an “unfathomable” Minnesota court transcript “an absolutely necessary document to read for anyone who wants to protect the rule of law.”

■ Former Politico editor Garrett Graff outlines six ways to reform ICE and Border Patrol.

■ Satirist Andy Borowitz: “Tom Homan Demands ICE Agents Return Their Signing Bonuses to Him in Paper Bag.”

‘NIMBY, but for concentration camps.’ Columnist Dan Froomkin surveys major pushback from communities across the country as ICE tries to buy massive warehouses for transformation into prisons.

■ ProPublica exposes “the real story behind the midnight immigration raid on a Chicago apartment building.”

■ The Conversation explains that “less lethal” crowd control weapons are far from harmless.

‘Echoes from the past are unmistakable.’ Historian Heather Cox Richardson puts in context Trump’s call for his administration to nationalize this year’s midterm elections.

■ Former Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger: “Trump is panicking—and wants the Justice Department to be his revenge squad.” (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)

■ USA Today’s Chicago-based columnist Rex Huppke: “The Republican Party’s early messaging in advance of this year’s midterm elections seems to boil down roughly to: Work longer, don’t carry guns and, as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche recently said of the many powerful men who appear in the Jeffrey Epstein files, ‘It is not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.’”

■ Author Seth Abramson: “Jeffrey Epstein was obsessed with my tweets just before his death—and now I know why.”

Game on. Early voting begins today in Illinois. Here’s how to do it.

■ Planning to cast your ballot by mail? Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon warns that Trump administration shenanigans mean you shouldn’t wait until the last days.

■ Add Sen. Elizabeth Warren to the roster of those backing Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton for Illinois’ Senate seat.

■ Politico: A forum for Democrats seeking the Chicago area’s 9th District congressional seat turned raucous last night.

■ Ready to decide? Tomorrow, look for the 2026 edition of the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.

‘Democracy dies in oligarchy.’ That’s Sen. Bernie Sanders’ play on The Washington Post’s old slogan after the draconian staff cuts imposed yesterday.

■ Ex-Post editor Marty Baron says the cuts will “do enormous damage to the newspaper’s ability … to cover the world in all the ways that it should.”

■ Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer: “Those moves cannot be separated from [owner and Amazon founder Jeff] Bezos’s broader effort to curry favor with Trump.”

■ Pulitzer-winning Post alumnus Gene Weingarten: “He betrayed his newspaper, and his country. And you.”

■ Jonathan Last at The Bulwark: “If a newspaper’s publisher makes a bunch of decisions that lose money, and then the owner keeps the publisher while firing the staff who puts out the paper—none of this is really about the money, is it?”

■ The New York Times’ Peter Baker does the math—showing that Bezos could absorb five years of the Post’s annual losses with what he makes in a single week.

■ The Onion: “Trump Scolds Female Reporter For Being Adult.”

‘Clean energy dies in darkness.’ The Post’s climate team’s been gutted …

■ … but the AP’s still on the job—reporting today that covering the world in carpet contaminated a region of Georgia, running up “a cost no one wants to pay.”

■ It finds “Georgia’s power structures prioritizing a prized industry over public health.”

■ And it’s not just Georgia: Those forever chemicals eventually make their way into soil and water around the world.

‘To defeat your enemy. You must know them. Melania.’ Snarky marquee messages like that got the First Lady’s hagiography yanked from a Portland-area movie theater.

■ Amid reports that the opening weekend sales for the movie may have been boosted by bulk buying, Jimmy Kimmel joked, “Send in Tulsi Gabbard and the FBI! Seize the ticket machines, the popcorn buckets, the box office receipts at every multiplex in America.”

■ Trump’s FCC chair is threatening new regulatory pressure on Kimmel and Colbert under rarely used “news distortion” rules.

Shape the future of Chicago news. 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 support keeps this service coming. As we mark this publication’s ninth anniversary, pitching in any amount—even just $1, just once—gets you a special code good for $9 off the purchase of Square T-shirts and hoodies.

And that’s how things look, February 5, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
ICE is watching / ‘It doesn’t add up’ / ‘An absolute bloodbath’
Elections in the balance / Children led them / Jon Stewart’s in the Epstein files
‘Sue this … dope’ / ‘Pure fascism’ / Plow ahead
Are you striking? / ‘A moral surrender’ / ‘Several rounds of snow’ / Quizzes / 9 years!
‘We will not stand for your cowardice’ / Star Wars’ ICE connection / Down with paywalls

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

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Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-02-06 Chicago Public Square

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 13:05:33 GMT

Don’t vote dumb / News quiz! / ‘Leftist claptrap’ redux

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Don’t vote dumb / News quiz! / ‘Leftist claptrap’ redux

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Chicago Public Square’s taking a few days off. Back next Friday with a news-quiz-only issue.

■ We’ll return in full force Tuesday, Feb. 17, with a special 2,000th regular edition (this one and next week’s don’t count!) to follow soon after that.

■ Meanwhile, bookmark the Square account on Bluesky for between-edition breaking news and perspective.

■ And for now …

Don’t vote dumb. It’s time for this year’s edition of the Square guide to Illinois primary voter guides.

■ It’ll be updated continually through March 17. Spot a mistake? Know of another source that’ll help people vote smart? Email Voterguide@ChicagoPublicSquare.com.

‘Go 8 for 8 and award yourself a gold medal.’ Past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel cheers you on for this week’s edition of The Conversation’s weekly news quiz.

■ Your Square columnist notched a typical 6/8 correct.

‘Leftist claptrap’ redux. Chicago Public Square T-shirts bearing that reader’s 2022 unsubscribe note on the back are in stock again—and you can buy one here.

■ To mark Square’s ninth anniversary, you get a special code good for $9 off the purchase price of any Square T-shirt or hoodie if you support this publication for any amount—even $1, just once.

And that’s how things look, February 6, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘Racist and cowardly’ / Unmistakable echoes / ‘Democracy dies in oligarchy’
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
ICE is watching / ‘It doesn’t add up’ / ‘An absolute bloodbath’
Elections in the balance / Children led them / Jon Stewart’s in the Epstein files
‘Sue this … dope’ / ‘Pure fascism’ / Plow ahead

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-02-13 Chicago Public Square

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 13:03:36 GMT

Early voting / Quiz / Shape Chicago news’ future / Free tees

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Early voting / Quiz / Shape Chicago news’ future / Free tees

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Early voting. Ready to make your choices? Chicagoans can now cast their 2026 primary ballots at the city’s new “Voter Supersite” on State Street downtown.

■ Don’t vote dumb: Check the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.

Square returns in full form Tuesday. But it wouldn’t be Friday if we didn’t get you a fresh news quiz from past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel.

■ Your Square columnist scored 5/8 this time out—not awful for a vacation week, right?

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.

Free tees. Through the end of February, as Square marks completion of its ninth year, you get a special code good for $9 off the price of a T-shirt or hoodie when you support this publication in any amount—even $1, just once.

■ Make it $10/month and get one free.

Missing the full Square news roundup? Check out the continually updated Square newsfeed on Bluesky.

■ Why, you’ll find plenty there from the last 24 hours alone!

And that’s how things look, February 13, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Don’t vote dumb / News quiz! / ‘Leftist claptrap’ redux
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
‘Racist and cowardly’ / Unmistakable echoes / ‘Democracy dies in oligarchy’
ICE is watching / ‘It doesn’t add up’ / ‘An absolute bloodbath’
Elections in the balance / Children led them / Jon Stewart’s in the Epstein files

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-02-17 Chicago Public Square

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 13:03:17 GMT

R.I.P., Jesse Jackson / Colbert to FCC boss: ‘FCC-U’ / How safe is your home?

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R.I.P., Jesse Jackson / Colbert to FCC boss: ‘FCC-U’ / How safe is your home?

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

And we’re back—with the 1,999th regular edition of Chicago Public Square. Check in for fun as we reach No. 2,000 tomorrow. But now, the news:

R.I.P., Jesse Jackson. A man WBEZ’s Natalie Moore calls “perhaps the nation’s most recognizable civil rights icon” is dead at 84.

■ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg: Jackson was “an unceasing voice for social justice.”

■ Axios surveys his impact on Chicago.

■ He sent two sons to Congress—with mixed results.

■ He ran twice for president—doing better than any Black politician until Barack Obama.

■ Here’s his opening monologue from that time he hosted Saturday Night Live near the end of the first of those two campaigns, Oct. 20, 1984.

■ Later in that same show, he read Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham.

■ An AP photo collection illustrates Jackson’s life.

Hi, GM, State Farm, JPMorgan Chase, Delta and Microsoft. Popular Information calls out major corporations bankrolling a Senate candidate’s ad featuring a white supremacist slogan.

■ USA Today’s Chicago-based columnist Rex Huppke: “Wow, Elon Musk sure does like White people.”

■ A federal judge is ordering the Trump administration to restore a Philadelphia exhibit on George Washington’s slaves.

■ Law prof Joyce Vance sounds an alarm about “Trump’s appeal to ‘nationalize’ elections. He wants to take control.”

Outta there. Lewis University is canceling or going virtual with all classes at its Oak Brook location this week after learning that ICE is setting up in the same building where Lewis has been leasing space.

■ Huppke again: “Turns out not every community in America wants a patriotic detention facility, which is weird, because, seriously, they’re really cool and not at all the physical manifestation of a barbaric federal effort to fundamentally reshape the demographic makeup of America into something less ... ummmmmm … let’s say ‘diverse.’”

■ A former Homeland Security watchdog warns that the partial government shutdown could hinder investigations of ICE wrongdoing.

‘A pretty big deal in the Chicago area.’ An Ash Wednesday Mass and procession set for Melrose Park—designed by Catholic leaders to “lift up immigrants’ resilience”—took the spotlight at the start of Rachel Maddow’s show on MS NOW.

■ But first: Fat Tuesday—or, as Chicagoans know it, to their palates’ delight: Pączki Day.

Surprise. A Republican candidate for Illinois governor is reprimanding the national party’s mockery of Democratic Gov. Pritzker’s weight.

■ Pritzker’s cousin Tom Pritzker is stepping down as chairman of Hyatt Hotels after revelation of his ties to convicted and dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

■ Ready to cast your Illinois primary ballot? Check the Square Voter Guide Guide.

Colbert to FCC boss: ‘FCC-U.’ After his CBS bosses killed an interview with a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate in Texas, Stephen Colbert last night went into great detail: “I was told … that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on. And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this … let’s talk about this” …

■ … proceeding to blame “Baby” Donald Trump and his sycophantic Federal Communications Commission chief …

■ … and then posting the interview to YouTube anyway.

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Colbert loves nothing more than dicking with his corporate overlords, and all of us are so here for it.”

■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: “Anderson Cooper’s exit raises new questions about the future of 60 Minutes.”

■ Journalism watchdog Margaret Sullivan: “CBS News twisted its own reporting on ICE arrests.”

‘Nothing. Zero.’ A former EPA vehicle emissions regulator tells The New York Times (gift link) the Trump administration’s decision to abandon the government’s fight against climate change has in effect ended all regulation of car and truck pollution.

■ Chicago’s warmest Feb. 16 on record yesterday brought a business boom to area carwashes.

■ Meanwhile, Californians were grappling with what the AP calls “treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.”

‘Just the latest grift in a presidential term that experts so far estimate has enriched the Trump family by at least $4 billion.’ Historian Heather Cox Richardson turns a skeptical eye on the president’s move to trademark his name for future use on an airport.

■ Columnist Matt Yglesias on “Trump’s terrible plan to revive coal: It’s dirty, it’s not cheap, it’s not a good idea.”

■ Snopes has felt compelled to refute a piece of satire that sadly carried the ring of truth: “Trump Administration Announces That We Don’t Know Where the Sun Goes at Night.”

■ The Onion: “RFK Jr.: ‘Time In Hot Cars Helps Babies To Sweat Out Toxins.’”

Do it for Chicago journalists—or do it for the chance at a $100 gift card. Take a few minutes for a survey to help news organizations working with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism better understand the public they serve—and show advertisers and other potential funders that the region’s journalists have substantial community backing.

‘I find myself … in a Reader state of mind.’ The Tribune’s Rick Kogan celebrates a book revisiting the paper’s first half-century …

■ … with a foreword by MS NOW’s Chris Hayes—who once upon a time was a Reader contributor.

How safe is your home? Kim Komando’s The Current newsletter: “Anyone can find your home address on a free people search site in seconds. Then Zillow hands them a blueprint of every room, entry point and camera angle.”

■ Here’s how to remove some of that from the web.

And that’s how things look, February 17, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Early voting / Quiz / Shape Chicago news’ future / Free tees
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
Don’t vote dumb / News quiz! / ‘Leftist claptrap’ redux
‘Racist and cowardly’ / Unmistakable echoes / ‘Democracy dies in oligarchy’
ICE is watching / ‘It doesn’t add up’ / ‘An absolute bloodbath’

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-02-18 Chicago Public Square

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 13:05:07 GMT

‘I don’t even know what to do with this crap’ / 50s things / Square 2,000

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‘I don’t even know what to do with this crap’ / 50s things / Square 2,000

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Welcome to the 2,000th edition of Chicago Public Square. Determining precisely when that would appear has been more art than science, but we’re counting this as No. 1—and not trial runs and explainers like this and this and this and this. Read on for some of the ways we’re marking the occasion.

■ First—because otherwise this wouldn’t count as No. 2,000—the news:

‘I don’t even know what to do with this crap.’ Stephen Colbert last night dissected—maybe disemboweled would be better—CBS’ claim that it hadn’t blocked his interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico.

■ In the end, he took a copy of the network’s statement, wrapped it in a doggie poop bag and tossed it away.

■ Variety: Colbert’s unaired Talarico interview has hit 5.3 million YouTube views, raising $2.5 million for Talarico’s campaign in 24 hours.

■ Ex-ABC reporter Terry Moran: “The government did not censor Stephen Colbert. … Not only did CBS executives cave. They volunteered to cave.”

■ Chicago-born journalist and friend of Colbert Jonathan Alter: “I’ve learned Trump will kill Netflix’s bid for Warner and help Paramount win, giving him control of Fox, CBS, CNN and TikTok. But as Colbert showed, we can fight back.”

■ LateNighter notes that Colbert has late night all to himself this week.

■ Popular Information: Trump loyalist and Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr “has weaponized the FCC.”

‘Tricia McLaughlin … cast Renee Good and Alex Pretti as domestic terrorists before their bodies were even cold.’ Investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein marks the resignation of Homeland Security’s chief dissembler …

■ … as ICE moves toward a plan to track “Americans exercising their First Amendment rights.”

■ 404 Media: Leaked email suggests Amazon-owned Ring plans to expand its “Search Party” surveillance beyond dogs.

‘In the resistance, we drive minivans.’ Author Will McGrath writes from Minneapolis.

■ The Bulwark: “We’re all Minnesotans now.”

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link) on a South Jersey guy who’s become the face of ICE resistance: “Zobel’s raw emotion, choking back tears as he said, ‘I watched fourth- and fifth-grade kids run away from our own government,’ soon ignited across social media … watched an astronomical 2.9 million times on TikTok.”

■ Chicago-area clergy have won a judge’s clearance to enter the Broadview immigration facility today for services marking the start of Lent with detainees.

■ March 28 in Grant Park brings another “No Kings” march/music/rally event to Grant Park.

The state of The State of the State. Politico’s Shia Kapos previews Gov. Pritzker’s annual address today in Springfield.

■ Watch live at noon here.

‘The dilemma of Rev. Jackson.’ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg, reviewing Jesse Jackson’s complex legacy: “He was a human being with flaws … but he engaged with that society all his life, never quit and succeeded far more than most.”

■ Axios counts off some of Jackson’s most prominent boycotts in Chicago.

■ The New York Times recalls that time Jackson visited Sesame Street (gift link).

Scorecards, get your scorecards. The Times is tracking who has resigned, is being investigated or is facing other repercussions from the Epstein files.

■ Congressional Democrats have traveled to Ohio today for a closed-door deposition from the guy who funded many of Jeffrey Epstein’s exploits, billionaire and Victoria’s Secret founder (surprised?) Les Wexner.

■ A United Nations Human Rights Council panel has concluded that Epstein’s operation may have committed “crimes against humanity.”

50s things. Calling on journalists to “stop laughing off this dangerous situation,” Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob counts off “50 ways Trump is out of his mind.”

■ Chicago magazine runs down “The 50 Most Powerful Chicagoans.”

Where have all the judicial candidates gone? Injustice Watch notes that, “for the second straight primary season, more than half the races for Cook County circuit judge on the March 17 ballot are uncontested.”

■ Law Dork Chris Geidner: The Supreme Court’s changed the rules for bringing cases to the court “because John Roberts won’t sell his stocks.”

■ Columnist and former U.S. Rep. Marie Newman sees reasons to be cheerful: “Judges are bringing it. … We are seeing a visible pattern of supporting the Constitution by lower-level and some upper-court judges.”

■ Ready to cast your ballot? The Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide is here.

‘Red flag warning.’ The Chicago area’s under a fire weather watch today.

■ A massive fire broke out last night in an unoccupied Oak Park apartment building.

Measles is here. Illinois has reported its first case of the year—much earlier than last year’s first case.

■ Your Local Epidemiologist: “Measles isn’t slowing down.”

Avoid ‘surveillance pricing’ ripoffs. Advisorator Jared Newman offers tips for not getting charged more based on what a retailer knows about things like your location, device usage, income and purchase history.

■ Ikea’s opening another Chicago-area store.

Have you been paying attention? Let’s revisit the highlights and lowlights of Square’s 2,000-edition run with a commemorative 25-question quiz.

■ The first three readers to register perfect scores—enter your email address at the end—will get a free, newly redesigned limited-edition Square cap.

Through February, we’re marking this occasion in a few other ways.

■ Enhanced perks: A hoodie or T-shirt (your choice) for those who commit to supporting Square for as little as $1/week—which is to say $52/year.

■ Overdue recognition for those whose continuing payments have kept this service going: If you’ve contributed a total of at least $100 or more over the years (a nickel for each of those 2,000 editions!) and never gotten Square swag, drop a note to 2000@chicagopublicsquare.com and get a shirt.

■ Regardless of whether you’ve helped fund this newsletter, please know that your attention is itself a gift. Thank you.

And that’s how things look, February 18, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
R.I.P., Jesse Jackson / Colbert to FCC boss: ‘FCC-U’ / How safe is your home?
Early voting / Quiz / Shape Chicago news’ future / Free tees
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
The caps are back in town
Don’t vote dumb / News quiz! / ‘Leftist claptrap’ redux

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

■ Update your address or other subscription preferences.
■ Unsubscribe from this list.

Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-02-19 Chicago Public Square

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 13:05:52 GMT

Ex-prince arrested / About that editorial / ‘Why you hiding the answers?’

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Ex-prince arrested / About that editorial / ‘Why you hiding the answers?’

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Ex-prince arrested. King Charles’ brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor—stripped of his royal titles because of his links to convicted and dead sex offender and Donald Trump pal Jeffrey Epstein—has been arrested.

■ Read the official statement on “suspicion of misconduct in public office.”

■ Reporter Yashar Ali: It’s the first time in centuries that “a senior royal—still in the line of succession—has been arrested by British authorities.”

■ Columnist Mary Geddry: The arrest “exposes a transatlantic divide in how democracies confront elite misconduct.”

Leo to Trump: No, thanks. Chicago-born Pope Leo tells the president he won’t join the president’s “Board of Peace,” saying that business ought to be left to the United Nations.

■ Stephen Colbert says Trump’s found a replacement: “The FIFA pope.”

■ Updating coverage: Trump’s club was gathering today in Washington …

■ … even as Trump and his Fox ~~News~~ enablers float threats of war.

■ Colbert says he’ll broadcast his final live post-State of the Union address show Tuesday.

■ The National Review’s Jim Geraghty offers a counterpoint to complaints of censorship at Colbert’s show.

■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: “CBS keeps finding new ways to have a bad week.”

■ Jeremy Busby at The Intercept: “Censorship is coming for the rest of us.”

$8.4 billion. That’s how much Gov. Pritzker says the Trump administration has cost the State of Illinois …

■ … but that’s only an estimate, he said in his State of the State address, because “it is impossible to tally the hours, days and weeks our state government has spent chasing … executive orders, letters and edicts that read like proclamations from the Lollipop Guild.”

■ Politico’s Shia Kapos: “Looming over the speech were Pritzker’s reelection campaign and speculation about a 2028 presidential run. He mentioned ‘Trump’ or ‘the president’ 13 times.”

■ Pritzker’s proposing a state limit on local governments’ power to restrict multi-unit housing—encouraging construction of bigger buildings in traditional single-family-home neighborhoods.

■ Also: New taxes on social media companies.

■ Read his full speech here.

About that editorial. Columnist—and, like your Chicago Public Square proprietor, Chicago Tribune alumnus—Eric Zorn explains why the Trib made “a non-endorsement endorsement” in the Illinois primaries for U.S. Senate.

■ Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer flags “Trump's dangerously dumb plan to steal the midterms.”

■ Ready to make your picks? Check the Square Voter Guide Guide.

’You saw the crying eyes, confusion, uncertainty.’ One of the pastors admitted for the first time in months to the Broadview immigrant detention center says detainees nevertheless seemed to feel the hope of the moment as some detainees and staffers received communion on Ash Wednesday.

■ The faith leaders who entered said they weren’t allowed to discuss conditions in the facility.

■ Law Dork Chris Geidner: In a new memo, senior Homeland Security officials are doubling down on the arrest and detention of refugees.

■ Doctors treating migrant patients write in The New York Times (gift link): “Our patients are more frightened and sicker than ever.”

■ The Minnesota Star-Tribune spotlights that state’s only city—population 800—to have signed an agreement to help ICE.

■ The Chicago City Council yesterday rejected a measure to let the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigate charges of cops’ illegal cooperation with immigration agents.

■ WBEZ: A retired Chicago Police detective accused of torture at a U.S. base in Cuba maintains he used no coercion to elicit a man’s confession in the 1992 murder of a 7-year-old.

‘Wish We Weren’t Here.’ That’s the subtitle of a new song collection from U2—its first major release in nine years—dedicated in part to Renee Good, the Minnesota mother killed by a federal agent.

■ Hear it here.

■ It’s accompanied by a digital magazine that’ll have a limited print run.

■ Tickets go on sale Friday at noon for Bruce Springsteen’s April return to Chicago.

That’ll teach you to wash your car. If your social media feed is filled with photos of people who had their rides cleaned over the weekend only to awaken yesterday to find ’em filthy again, that’s because it rained mud in Chicago.

■ Thanks, Oklahoma.

‘It’s been eight days since the passing of my wife.’ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich, who’s blogged for many of the days since, is finally taking a “mental health break” …

■ … but not before offering a dose of “some serious Donnyloathing.”

■ Columnist Elaine Soloway envisions a lunch among the Trump administration’s top female appointees: “Three Women Walk into a Diner.”

‘Why you hiding the answers? Think I might give them to others? Jeeze!’ That was a reader’s question after taking the Chicago Public Square 2,000th edition quiz.

■ The answer: Remember, free Square caps are on the line for the first three takers to get perfect scores. As of Square’s email deadline today, no one has done so. After that happens, we’ll make the correct answers freely available. (As of early today, the highest score was 19/25; the average, 11/25.)

■ Meanwhile (hint, hint): You can take the quiz as many times as you wish.

■ So: Try, try again?

A Square public service announcement

And that’s how things look, February 19, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘I don’t even know what to do with this crap’ / 50s things / Square 2,000
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
R.I.P., Jesse Jackson / Colbert to FCC boss: ‘FCC-U’ / How safe is your home?
Early voting / Quiz / Shape Chicago news’ future / Free tees
The caps are back in town

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Copyright © 2026 Chicago Public Square. All rights reserved.

2026-02-20 Chicago Public Square

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 13:05:58 GMT

We have winners / Another quiz!

Read this in your browser, with updates and corrections:
We have winners / Another quiz!

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

An abbreviated Chicago Public Square today. We’ll meet again in your inbox Monday.

■ As ever between editions, you’ll find updating news and commentary on the Square Bluesky account. Lots new there already today.

We have winners. As of Thursday evening, four people had delivered perfect scores on the Square 2,000th edition quiz: Robert S. Gold, Ed Witt, Kansa Sachen and Steve Adler—all of whom have won free Square caps. (Yeah, the deal was three winners. But we’re feeling generous.)

■ Now, everyone who takes the quiz will be rewarded with the correct answers—even for questions they flubbed.

■ Still covet a cap? Pitch in at least $52/year to support this publication—a buck a week—and get one free.

Not quizzed out yet? See if you can match your Square columnist’s perfect—perfect!—score on this week’s challenge from The Conversation’s quizmaster, past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel.

Take a bow. In all the excitement leading up to that big milestone—or is it millstone?—we should’ve tipped a hat to Chris Badowski Koenig, the only other person to have taken a byline on this newsletter.

■ Also a nod to the indefatigable Mike Braden, whose volunteer proofreading continually makes this thing better.

And that’s how things look, February 20, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Ex-prince arrested / About that editorial / ‘Why you hiding the answers?’
‘I don’t even know what to do with this crap’ / 50s things / Square 2,000
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
R.I.P., Jesse Jackson / Colbert to FCC boss: ‘FCC-U’ / How safe is your home?
Early voting / Quiz / Shape Chicago news’ future / Free tees

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

2026-02-23 Chicago Public Square

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 13:04:03 GMT

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

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

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

‘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.

■ Among Illinois representatives who planned to attend: Brad Schneider is bringing along a Chicago-based toymaker who won that landmark case against the president.

■ 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.”

■ The Tribune: “Screws tightening for immigrant detainees swept up in Operation Midway Blitz.”

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 …

■ … retaliating for the killing of their boss in a confrontation with the Mexican military.

■ 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.

■ 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.

A Square public service announcement

And that’s how things look, February 23, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
We have winners / Another quiz!
Ex-prince arrested / About that editorial / ‘Why you hiding the answers?’
‘I don’t even know what to do with this crap’ / 50s things / Square 2,000
R.I.P., Jesse Jackson / Colbert to FCC boss: ‘FCC-U’ / How safe is your home?
Early voting / Quiz / Shape Chicago news’ future / Free tees

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

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2026-02-24 Chicago Public Square

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 13:05:52 GMT

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

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

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

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.”

■ It begins tonight at 8 Chicago time …

■ … 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.

■ The Onion: “Speechwriters Struggling To Spin List Of Ugly Women Trump Gave Them Into SOTU Address.”

■ 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 of Colbert’s charity auction of a rug he stole in 2018 from then-Republican Sen. Jeff Flake is … ex-Sen. Flake.

■ The Hollywood Reporter: The clock’s ticking on the fate of 60 Minutes as we’ve known it.

■ “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.’”

■ The Onion: “Trump Invites Caucasian Half Of Alysa Liu To Visit White House.”

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.

■ The Onion: “U.S. Tourists Advised To Temporarily Avoid Shootouts With Mexican Drug Cartels.”

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.

■ Here’s video of the interaction.

■ 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.

■ Thanks, as ever, to readers who take the time to flag problems and help set things straight.

A Square public service announcement

* On whose board your Square columnist has served as an unpaid member.

And that’s how things look, February 24, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘Boycott the State of the Union’ / ‘Shelter in place’ / It began as a joke
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
We have winners / Another quiz!
Ex-prince arrested / About that editorial / ‘Why you hiding the answers?’
‘I don’t even know what to do with this crap’ / 50s things / Square 2,000

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

2026-02-25 Chicago Public Square

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 13:05:53 GMT

‘Full of lies’ / Things he didn’t say / ‘A city blanketed in fear’

Read this in your browser, with updates and corrections:
‘Full of lies’ / Things he didn’t say / ‘A city blanketed in fear’

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

‘Full of lies.’ Law professor Joyce Vance watched Donald Trump’s record-length State of the Union address last night so you didn’t have to: “If you had to take a drink every time he told the truth, you would have stayed sober.”

■ It was a field day—or night—for fact-checkers at the AP, PolitiFact and CNN.

■ The AP: Trump took a “dark turn on Democrats” …

■ … centering on what The New York Times (gift link) calls a trap for his critics—a moment you can see here:

■ Six Illinois Democrats, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, stayed away—and one, from Naperville, walked out.

■ Wonkette’s Evan Hurst cheers on Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green, kicked out last night for bringing a sign that said “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES!”

■ Mayor Johnson was blocks away at the opposition’s “State of the Swamp” event.

■ Gov. Pritzker says Trump delivered “two hours of baseless claims, shameless propaganda, and the ramblings of a wannabe dictator outlining his plans to steal American elections” …

■ … punctuated, periodically, by what journalist and filmmaker Steven Beschloss calls “the expected platitude which no one can possibly believe, even his cult: ‘The state of our union is strong.’”

■ USA Today’s Chicago-based columnist Rex Huppke: “He was painting a fanciful picture of an America that doesn’t exist.”

■ Former AP D.C. bureau chief Ron Fournier calls the speech “windy, whiny, whipsawing.”

■ One Republican senator’s take: “It didn’t suck.”

■ On Tyranny author Tim Snyder: “To complete the fascist transition, Trump has to give the country a war it does not want, and win it.”

Things he didn’t say. Bill Kristol at The Bulwark highlights concepts missing from Trump’s address: Equality, rights, the rule of law, the Constitution …

■ Also: Scandals engulfing his administration—including FBI chief Kash Patel’s use of an agency jet, which a whistleblower says delayed the agency’s response to a Brown University mass shooting.

‘Trump finally figured out a way to keep late-night hosts from getting big laughs mocking him.’ LateNighter’s Bill Carter says this was that way: “Keep talking so long that their shows start really late, the audiences go numb from sitting around so long, and the writers go half to sleep.”

■ The Onion’s on the case: “Trump Delivers State Of The Union Death Rattle.”

■ Also: “Trump Invites Victims Of Jeffrey Epstein Investigation As SOTU Guests.”

■ And: “Democrats Wear White Flag Pins To SOTU To Indicate Surrender.”

‘A city blanketed in fear.’ Pritzker’s “Accountability Commission” assessing the federal immigration assault on Chicago yesterday heard horror story after horror story—including the case of a third grader who stopped eating school lunch, afraid that entering his code would let immigration enforcement agents target his family.

■ Want to share your experience? Fill out this form.

■ Block Club: An immigrant father of three arrested unlawfully during that blitz is back with his family.

■ Echoing an unsuccessful effort against Illinois, Trump’s Justice Department is suing New Jersey’s governor over limits on ICE enforcement there.

■ The Sun-Times: Chicagoans stranded in Mexico’s outbreak of violence have options for flights home.

‘I’m supposed to … act like a nun in a Greek monastery and not say anything? I don’t think so.’ Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas—running for renomination next month and also a likely candidate for Chicago mayor next year—is unrepentant in the face of complaints about her behavior toward officials of the company getting paid to overhaul the county’s antiquated property tax and court systems.

■ Some of the Republican candidates for governor met in debate last night.

■ New polling finds the Chicago area’s 15-person 9th District Democratic congressional race down to single digits between three candidates.

■ Political commentator Laura Washington ponders the impact of pro-Israeli interests jumping into heated contests in Chicago’s historically Black congressional districts.

■ Columnist* Marj Halperin: Illinois voters’ frustration over jam-packed House primary contests makes a strong case for ranked-choice voting.

■ Ex-U.S. Rep. Marie Newman is updating a list of political and campaign tools for activists, volunteers and voters.

■ Ready to grab a ballot? The Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide’s here for ya.

‘Bears fans are not going to let the Chicago Bears become the Hammond Hoosiers!’ Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn** has called a news conference for this afternoon to launch a website and online petition appealing to ownership to keep the team here.

■ A plan to make the Bears an offer to move to Indiana has passed that state’s Senate almost unanimously.

■ Men Yell at Me columnist Lyz Lenz says U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team member Jack Hughes’ defense of locker-room camaraderie with the president: “That means nothing when, behind closed doors, you’d rather laugh with a powerful man than stand up for women.”

‘Companies are using data, your clicks, your location, your device, who you are … to show different people different prices for the same thing.’ Illinois lawmakers are considering requirements that companies tell you when they’re using that info to decide what to charge you.

■ Columnist Christopher Armitage makes the case for local governments to make public options available for every avenue of commerce: “A city or county government could build an online shopping platform tomorrow. That idea sounds radical until you realize we already do it with the mail.”

■ FedEx is going to court, demanding refunds for the Trump tariffs the Supreme Court rejected.

* And former WXRT News colleague to your Square columnist.

** Coincidentally, a longtime Square reader and supporter.

And that’s how things look, February 25, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
State of the Union Bingo / WGN-TV layoffs / Parking ticket refunds? / Fun new game
‘Boycott the State of the Union’ / ‘Shelter in place’ / It began as a joke
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
We have winners / Another quiz!
Ex-prince arrested / About that editorial / ‘Why you hiding the answers?’

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

2026-02-26 Chicago Public Square

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 13:07:58 GMT

‘Your days may be numbered’ / ‘The WGN layoffs are disappointing’ / ‘Fix your lousy shopping app, Jewel-Osco!’

Read this in your browser, with updates and corrections:
‘Your days may be numbered’ / ‘The WGN layoffs are disappointing’ / ‘Fix your lousy shopping app, Jewel-Osco!’

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

‘Your days may be numbered.’ After Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appeared before the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez said she warned Noem that if she doesn’t quit, she’ll face impeachment proceedings.

■ ProPublica: Guards in Dilley, Texas, have taken away kids’ crayons, pencils and paper—with which they’ve been documenting their lives in the nation’s only detention facility for immigrant families. (Illustration: 13-year-old Gerson Lopéz Garcia, obtained by ProPublica.)

■ A Block Club investigation: “Why is the Cook County state’s attorney prosecuting nonviolent ICE protesters?”

■ The FBI yesterday raided the home of Los Angeles schools’ superintendent—an immigrant who’s criticized the Trump administration’s oppressive tactics.

■ Pointing to a decade-old case involving Chicago cops, a West Virginia judge has condemned the feds’ use of masked agents and ordered the release of an El Salvadoran man arrested under such circumstances.

‘It is unclear why the materials are missing.’ The New York Times (gift link) reports that Justice Department documents briefly mention a woman’s accusation that Trump assaulted her when she was a minor—but the documents referenced aren’t included.

■ The story’s given new life to Trump’s 2006 chat with Howard Stern—in which that man who would be president indicated he’d be OK sleeping with girls as young as 13.

■ The department says it’s looking into whether it improperly withheld stuff.

■ Popular Information says Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s assertion last month that “We did not protect President Trump” turns out to have been untrue.

■ Stephen Colbert: “That the files are missing should be the biggest story in the world.”

■ Jimmy Kimmel: “The best thing for President Trump—who I’m sure did nothing wrong—is to order them to unredact his name and release all of the Trump-Epstein files, so he can prove how unbelievably innocent he is.”

■ Columnist Julie Roginsky: Get former Attorney General Bill Barr and former FBI Director Christopher Wray under oath now.

■ Another one bites the dust: Bill Clinton’s Treasury secretary, Larry Summers, is quitting his Harvard job following revelation of his ties to dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

■ Clinton and his wife were beginning two days of testimony about Epstein before a new generation of Democrats who’ve asserted no relation or loyalty to the Clintons.

■ Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has apologized to his foundation for his Epstein ties.

‘It appears Trump’s surgeon general nominee is insane.’ Wonkette’s Evan Hurst assesses her testimony yesterday before the Senate.

■ She began her remarks with the words “As a physician …” but The New York Times notes (gift link) that she doesn’t have an active medical license.

■ Columnist Christopher Armitage lists “198 things the Trump regime exposed, broke or burned down in 13 months.”

■ Also from Armitage: Publicly available evidence suggests that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas committed “a crime that could get him 5 years in a Virginia state penitentiary.”

‘Most of them are Black.’ A Tribune analysis exposes racial disparities in a little-known program that lets the CTA and Metra ban people accused of violence.

■ A jury’s awarded almost $6 million in damages to a family whose home Chicago cops raided by mistake—breaking down their door and pointing guns at the kids.

‘Who will you be representing if you get elected?’ A debate among some of the many candidates in the Chicago area’s 9th Congressional District Democratic primary revealed a common target for ’em all: Democrats now serving in the House.

■ See it here.

■ Bewildered by all your choices in the upcoming primary? The Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide’s been newly expanded.

‘The WGN layoffs are disappointing.’ But columnist Eric Zorn’s more troubled by online haters’ glee at the TV station’s cuts.

■ Former WGN news director Jennifer Schulze: WGN’s corporate parent, Nexstar, is joining “Trump’s effort to whitewash American history.”

■ The American Prospect: The Epstein files reveal Epstein’s role in the decline and fall of New York’s Daily News.

Time’s almost up for your chance at a $100 gift card. Take a few minutes before the week’s out for a survey to help news organizations working with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism better understand the public they serve—and show advertisers and other potential funders that the region’s journalists have substantial community backing.

‘Fix your lousy shopping app, Jewel-Osco!’ A Tribune editorial (gift link) supports state legislation that would require retailers to offer in-store paper versions of all digital discounts.

■ The Citizens Utility Board and other consumer advocates are pushing a bill that would forbid investor-owned utilities like ComEd and Peoples Gas from charging customers for self-serving expenses like trade association memberships.

‘Feb. 26 is a special day.’ Law professor Joyce Vance looks back to 1942, when Nazi-occupied Norway outlawed red top hats—making red stocking caps a resistance symbol.

■ Reminder: Chicago Public Square caps are back for a limited time.

A Square public service announcement

And that’s how things look, February 26, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘Full of lies’ / Things he didn’t say / ‘A city blanketed in fear’
State of the Union Bingo / WGN-TV layoffs / Parking ticket refunds? / Fun new game
‘Boycott the State of the Union’ / ‘Shelter in place’ / It began as a joke
We have winners / Another quiz!
Ex-prince arrested / About that editorial / ‘Why you hiding the answers?’

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2026-02-27 Chicago Public Square

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:04:54 GMT

Mum’s their word / More WGN layoffs / Quiz / Final calls

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Mum’s their word / More WGN layoffs / Quiz / Final calls

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Chicago Public Square’ll take Monday off … for a talk to 7th and 8th graders about the state of the news business. We’ll meet again in your inbox Tuesday.

■ Until then, get your news-and-opinion fix from the Square account on Bluesky.

Mum’s their word. A WBEZ survey of 46 congressional candidates in four key Chicago-area Democratic primaries finds that those getting American Israel Public Affairs Committee cash refused to answer a question about putting strict conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel.

■ The Tribune (gift link) finds the Chicago area’s 8th District contest wide open.

■ Ready to cast your ballot? Check the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.

‘Not only is it illegal, it could backfire.’ That’s Dan Rather on “Trump’s plan to steal the midterms.”

■ Lawyer Robert Hubbell: “He cannot ban mail ballots or require a national voter ID by executive order. True, he can try. But courts can, will, and already have invalidated Trump’s efforts.”

■ Columnist Steven Beschloss says “we cannot be complacent” in the face of Trump’s “plotting to deny the people’s will.”

The IRS-ICE connection. A federal judge says the Internal Revenue Service broke the law by sharing confidential taxpayer info more than 42,000 times with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

■ Law Dork Chris Geidner: Federal prison officials face civil contempt, as ICE faces criminal contempt.

■ A federal judge is vowing to end the Trump administration’s noncompliance “one way or another.”

■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link): Border Patrol left a blind, disabled man for dead in frigid Buffalo.

Bill’s up. Updating coverage: It’s ex-President Clinton’s turn to testify to Congress about Donald Trump’s dead sex-offender pal, Jeffrey Epstein.

■ Jimmy Kimmel on yesterday’s interrogation: “Of all the people mixed up in this thing … they drag Hillary Clinton out of the woods to testify under oath, even though there is no evidence that Hillary Clinton has ever met Jeffrey Epstein. But why not harass the woman while you have the chance?”

■ USA Today’s Chicago-based columnist Rex Huppke: “Is it suspicious that the Republican-led House committee wanted this … in a closed setting, even though the Clintons asked for it to be public? SHUT UP, I’M BUSY ENVISIONING HER GETTING LOCKED UP!’

■ The Onion: “DOJ Fails To Redact Thousands Of Secret Epstein Family Recipes.”

‘Panic at CNN.’ With Netflix backing out of the tug-of-war for control of parent Warner Bros. Discover, an insider tells Status (which, sadly, requires your email address up-front) that journalists at the cable news channel are “off the charts” anxious.

■ See how the news broke on CNN …

■ … which would find itself under the same management as withering CBS.

■ Trump-supplicant Paramount’s in position to take over an entertainment empire that also controls Superman, Barbie and Harry Potter.

■ Yet, media watcher Simon Owens notes, it could prove a pyrrhic victory: Netflix is “effectively allowing rich failson David Ellison to overpay for Warner … a move that will saddle one of Netflix’s biggest competitors with enormous debt. … [and] he has to write Netflix a $2.8 billion check just to cover the breakup fee.”

■ Sure enough, Netflix’s stock popped.

■ Jimmy Kimmel is trolling FCC boss Brendan Carr, who’s pressing broadcasters to create patriotic stuff, with a series of subversive “This Day in American History” features.

More WGN-TV layoffs. Among those out: A producer whose October confrontation with immigration agents took on symbolic significance.

■ New research: Podcast listening has passed AM and FM talk-radio listening.

Chicago’s ‘black hole’ for help. A new report from the city’s inspector general finds the 311 system for addressing nonemergency complaints riddled with problems.

■ A Tribune editorial explains why Chicago’s parking and red light ticketing is such a mess.

Jesse Jackson’s long farewell. Cross-country memorial services for the civil rights crusader have begun in Chicago.

■ Axios’ Monica Eng counsels patience and warm clothes if you plan to go today: “I was 350th in line, and it took 65 minutes to get to the front.”

See it now. An iconic Chicago drycleaner business—which has no landmark protection—featured in film and music video is set to close today after almost 70 years.

■ R.I.P., DePaul Art Museum—shuttering in June.

‘My fellow Americans, we are richer than ever before. Well, you aren’t, but we are.’ McSweeney’s satirizes this week’s State of the Union address …

■ … whose ratings tanked as Stephen Colbert’s increased: “Trump is really dragging down broadcast television. If I were CBS, I’d cancel him.”

■ The Wall Street Journal: Americans are leaving the U.S. in record numbers.

Manosphere’s ‘second thoughts.’ Public Notice columnist Aaron Rupar: “Pod-fluencers … who helped persuade millions of young men to go full MAGA in 2024 are now confronting the realities of Trump’s 2025/26 Retribution Tour.”

■ Scouting USA has reportedly caved—altering its policies to suck up to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

‘What was shouted? What was the ruling? What went in the doggie bag?’ So The Conversation’s quizmaster, past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel, goads you to take this week’s edition …

■ … on which your Square columnist scored a disappointing 5/8 correct.

■ Lyz Lenz’s Dingus of the Week? Not the Olympic hockey player who complained that “everything is so political” and who then “went to Washington and let the president trot them out like show ponies, which is arguably one of the most political things an athlete can do.”

Tech resistance. More than 100 Google employees are urging the company not to let its Gemini AI be put to military use …

■ … paralleling tension at AI rival Anthropic …

■ … which columnist and former Illinois U.S. Rep. Marie Newman says faces a “Sophie’s choice.”

■ 404 Media: “The government just made it harder to see what spy tech it buys.”

■ UMass Boston researchers: “The greatest risk of AI in higher education isn’t cheating—it’s the erosion of learning itself.”

■ Oligarch Watch: “Instagram exposed thousands of teens to unwanted sexual content.”

Final calls. This weekend brings down the curtain on several offers in honor of Square’s ninth anniversary and its 2,000th regular edition:

■ A hoodie or T-shirt (your choice) for those who commit to continued support of as little as $1/week—which is to say $52/year.

■ A limited-edition Square cap for a one-time contribution of $100.

■ A T-shirt if you’ve contributed a total of at least $100 or more over the years (a nickel for each of those 2,000 editions!) and never gotten Square swag. Drop a note to 2000@chicagopublicsquare.com.

■ A chance at a $100 gift card by filling out a survey to help Chicago’s news organizations better understand the public they serve.

■ And please mark your calendars for March 12, this year’s ninth annual National Support Chicago Public Square Day—a great time to sport your Squarewear.

Correction. The link to one of the most-tapped items in Thursday’s Square—that Tribune editorial, “Fix your lousy shopping app, Jewel-Osco!”—was not, as promised, a gift link. Here it is.

■ Meanwhile, a recent Trib editorial cheering Vice President Vance and his wife as they expect a baby inspired one of the paper’s former editors, Mark Jacob, to revisit odd editorials in its past.

And that’s how things look, February 27, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘Your days may be numbered’ / ‘The WGN layoffs are disappointing’ / ‘Fix your lousy shopping app, Jewel-Osco!’
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
‘Full of lies’ / Things he didn’t say / ‘A city blanketed in fear’
State of the Union Bingo / WGN-TV layoffs / Parking ticket refunds? / Fun new game
‘Boycott the State of the Union’ / ‘Shelter in place’ / It began as a joke

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

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2026-03-02 Chicago Public Square

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 13:04:02 GMT

The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide

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The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Early and mail voting is underway in the Illinois primary. Don’t cast your ballot in ignorance. Square’s here to help—with a guide to voter guides.

Mark your calendar.

■ March 1: Last day for regular online voter registration.

■ March 12: Last day for your election authority to receive vote-by-mail applications.

■ March 17: Election Day—from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Be ready.

■ Learn how to vote in Illinois from Capitol News Illinois and WBEZ.

■ Study guides to statewide, Cook County and Chicago contests from WTTW and Chicago Public Media.

■ Register to vote in Chicago and suburban Cook County.
■ Outside Cook County? See your county’s website: DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry, Kendall …
■ … or the Illinois State Board of Elections.

■ Available to help Election Day? Chicago and Cook County need poll workers.

Be smart.

■ See candidate forums hosted by the League of Women Voters.

■ Every item and race, explained: BallotReady and Ballotpedia.

■ Build your ballot here.

■ Check out the Evanston Roundtable’s profiles of candidates in contested primaries for Congress and the General Assembly.

■ Read Senate candidates’ answers to a Capitol News Illinois questionnaire.

■ Consider endorsements from the Chicago Tribune (in a print-and-clip format here), the Girl, I Guess Progressive Voter Guide, the City That Works blog, the Chicago Federation of Labor, N’DIGO founder Hermene Hartman and veteran political strategist Don Rose.

■ Have questions for the candidates? WBEZ wants your suggestions here.

■ Slice through all those judicial races—46 candidates running for 29 vacancies in Cook County alone—with bar association ratings …

■ … and Injustice Watch’s judicial primary guide.

■ Columnist Ed McDevitt has scoured all that to call out judicial candidates rated as “Not Qualified” or “Not Recommended” by one or more bar associations.

Do it.

■ Here’s where to vote Election Day in Chicago and the suburbs.

■ Trouble at your polling place? Call 866-OUR-VOTE.

Go beyond.

■ Get updates around the clock on the Square Bluesky page.

■ Be informed for every election. Sign up for Square email, sent to your inbox (free!) weekday mornings at 10.

■ If you’ve found this useful, you can help keep Square coming with a contribution—of as little as $1, just once.

This is a work in progress.
■ Spot a mistake? Know of another source that’ll help people vote smart? Email Voterguide@ChicagoPublicSquare.com.

And that’s how things look, March 2, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Mum’s their word / More WGN layoffs / Quiz / Final calls
‘Your days may be numbered’ / ‘The WGN layoffs are disappointing’ / ‘Fix your lousy shopping app, Jewel-Osco!’
‘Full of lies’ / Things he didn’t say / ‘A city blanketed in fear’
State of the Union Bingo / WGN-TV layoffs / Parking ticket refunds? / Fun new game
‘Boycott the State of the Union’ / ‘Shelter in place’ / It began as a joke

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

2026-03-03 Chicago Public Square

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:03:51 GMT

Iran strikes back / Curtains! / ‘A triumph for justice’ / You ready?

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Iran strikes back / Curtains! / ‘A triumph for justice’ / You ready?

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Iran strikes back. It’s bombed the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

■ Axios notes that, within 72 hours, the conflict launched by the U.S. and Israel expanded to include a dozen nations.

■ The New Republic: Dozens of young girls at an elementary school died in a U.S. strike on Iran—possibly because the Pentagon was using an out-of-date map.

■ The president isn’t ruling out the possibility of deploying U.S. troops on the ground in Iran.

■ USA Today’s Chicago-based columnist Rex Huppke: “Trump seems too comfortable with U.S. deaths in his futile Iran war.”

■ Journalist Jonathan Larsen: U.S. military commanders have been telling troops that this is a Christian war—prompting soldiers to complain.

■ Popular Information: “Six newly-created accounts on the prediction market Polymarket raked in nearly $1 million by betting that the U.S. would strike Iran by Feb. 28. Many observers … suspect that the accounts benefited from insider knowledge.”

■ Economist Paul Krugman: This war will cost “the little people … billions that could have been put to much better use.”

‘The media thrives on war, and always has.’ Journalism critic Margaret Sullivan says that means “you’re seeing far less about some of the things Trump wants to blot out.”

■ Columnist Christopher Armitage: “Every leader facing accountability has understood what a war provides. It is the oldest move in the history of power: When the walls close in, find an enemy abroad.”

■ Marcie Jones at Wonkette: The war “smells like a setup to steal elections.” (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)

■ Columnist Greg Mitchell rounds up more anti-war editorial cartoons.

■ Columnist Eric Zorn is skeptical of Trump’s assertion that once the dictator is gone, the people will embrace Western-style democracy: “Many people in this world prefer a strong leader who tramples freedoms … and flouts both international and domestic law to serve his own interests. I can’t think of an example right now, but I’m sure one will come to me.”

■ Lisa Needham at Public Notice: “Congress’s refusal to do its job is now the world’s problem. … There’s a scramble by the administration … to cobble together some Rube Goldberg contraption … that would somehow make this totally cool and legal, but there’s no way to make it work.”

■ Lawyer Robert Hubbell: Trump’s formal War Powers Act notice to Congress makes the conflict’s illegality clear.

■ Jon Stewart on a War Powers vote set for the day after tomorrow: “Thursday?! The war already … happened!”

■ Columnist, Muslim and NBA icon Kareem Abdul Jabbar dives into the troubled history of The Islamic Republic, which he says “begins the way many tragedies do: With hope disguised as justice.”

Curtains! In a neck-wrenching turn, Trump pivoted yesterday from honoring dead soldiers to bragging about his choice of White House drapes …

■ … prompting Jimmy Kimmel to declare Trump “a drapist”—quickly clarifying for the FCC: “An alleged drapist.”

■ LateNighter rounds up how the evening hosts addressed Trump’s new war.

■ The Onion: “Trump On Fence About Attending Ayatollah’s Funeral.”

■ Also: “Trump Creates Makeshift Situation Room In Mar-A-Lago Sauna.”

■ And: “Nation Admittedly Curious To Hear How Trump Pronounces ‘Strait Of Hormuz.’”

The Israel effect. Politico: Israel has become so unpopular among Democratic voters that candidates including Illinois Senate candidate Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton find themselves having to defend their past trips there …

■ … although fellow candidate Robin Kelly—who criticized Stratton for that—has also taken cash from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

■ Axios: Four Chicago-area congressional candidates who’ve taken AIPAC money have denounced the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.

■ Illinois’ primary is just two weeks away. Study up with the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.

It begins here. Updating coverage: Midterm elections kick off today with showdowns in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas.

■ Here are some of the tea leaves the AP will be reading.

■ The New York Times (gift link): ICE raids turned Minnesota politics upside down, putting top state and federal offices up for grabs.

■ Chicago’s one of five finalists to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention.

‘A triumph for justice.’ A New York Times editorial (another gift link) celebrates vindication of four law firms—including Chicago-based Jenner & Block—that chose to fight Trump’s “illegal intimidation campaign.”

■ Columnist and lawyer Mitch Jackson: “He tried to break the law firms. The law firms broke him instead.”

■ Law professor Joyce Vance salutes “lawyers who were willing to take the risk and be brave.”

Apple’s new cheap(er) iPhone. TidBITS says the old 17 still looks like a better deal than the new 17e.

■ Considering trading in your old phone? Tech guru Kim Komando says a basic factory reset’s “about as protective as a screen door on a submarine” and so recommends a more secure fix that takes about two minutes.

■ Coming to the south suburbs this summer: Amazon delivery by drone, within hours—fueling privacy concerns.

‘A truly remarkable place.’ The Tribune’s Rick Kogan celebrates a new book recounting the history of Chicago’s storied City News Bureau …

■ … even though it omits Kogan’s own “awkward late-1960s flirtation with CNB that would end with me working as a cab driver.”

You ready? The ninth annual National Support Chicago Public Square Day arrives a week from Thursday. If you don’t yet have a Square T-shirt, hoodie or cap to wear that day, time’s running out to get one as a perk for helping underwrite the cost of producing and distributing this service.

■ Or you can just buy one directly.

A Square public service announcement

And that’s how things look, March 3, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
Mum’s their word / More WGN layoffs / Quiz / Final calls
‘Your days may be numbered’ / ‘The WGN layoffs are disappointing’ / ‘Fix your lousy shopping app, Jewel-Osco!’
‘Full of lies’ / Things he didn’t say / ‘A city blanketed in fear’
State of the Union Bingo / WGN-TV layoffs / Parking ticket refunds? / Fun new game

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

2026-03-04 Chicago Public Square

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:05:08 GMT

Liar or ignoramus? / ‘Colbert bump!’ / ‘Our destiny together’

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Liar or ignoramus? / ‘Colbert bump!’ / ‘Our destiny together’

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Liar or ignoramus? Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday that she knew nothing about the case of Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman who survived being shot five times last year by Border Patrol agents.

■ Martinez, in a statement issued after the hearing: “It was reported in every national news outlet for months. Does she not read the newspaper? Is she not briefed on shootings of U.S. citizens by border patrol agents?”

■ ProPublica: Noem misled Congress about the role in Homeland Security contracts played by a top aide …

■ … with whom she reportedly has had a romantic relationship, even though both are married with children.

■ Mother Jones: Even Republicans are losing patience with Noem …

■ … or, as The Daily Beast puts it, “Republican senator flays puppy killer ICE Barbie in epic takedown.”

■ Gov. Pritzker: “It is long past time she steps down.”

■ The Tribune reports: Chicago’s immigration court has lost nearly half the judges who worked there last year.

■ The Onion: “ICE Agent Injured After Repeatedly Trying To Detain People In Neighborhood Mural.”

Not so fast. Law professor Joyce Vance on the federal government’s reversal of a decision to abandon an intimidation campaign against four big law firms: “Trump told his Justice Department to change its mind.”

■ Popular Information exposes how the Trump administration hires legal interns: “You MUST be aligned politically with President Trump. … GPA is not a strong factor.”

■ Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich mourns: “The wonderful department I once loved is being turned to shit.”

Illinois’ would-be money mavens. The Trib profiles the four candidates—all women—running to be the Democrats’ candidate for state comptroller.

■ Hey, candidates: The p in comptroller is silent (2013 NPR link).

■ Axios Chicago reports that “political attack ads are taking on a different energy this primary cycle, thanks to big bucks from national super PACs backing cryptocurrency.”

■ Ready to make your call? The Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide is here.

‘Colbert bump!’ The Hollywood Reporter credits the firestorm over Texas Senate candidate James Talarico’s suppressed appearance on Stephen Colbert’s show in Talarico’s Democratic Primary win.

■ Wonkette’s Evan Hurst: The call in that race came late because of “fuckery … caused by Republicans.”

■ Texas Republicans are bracing for what the AP calls “an ugly fight” in a Senate primary runoff …

■ … but it says North Carolina could play a bigger role in which party controls the Senate after this fall.

‘No consequences.’ Expat Trib columnist Kevin Williams, now a resident of Portugal, regrets that Americans take what their country does elsewhere in the world so lightly.

■ Defense Secretary Hegseth: The U.S. “can’t stop everything” that Iran fires in the war the Trump administration launched.

■ A Northwestern University journalism professor at the university’s Qatar campus has been sheltering in place with her husband and children as Iranian missiles strike.

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich paraphrases Trump’s counsel to Americans trapped by the violence abroad: “Sucks to be you.”

■ American Prospect editor Ryan Cooper: “It’s official: Donald Trump is worse than George W. Bush in every way. … Bush at least pretended like he had to seek democratic permission.”

■ Investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein writes, “Setting aside the absurdity of the question of if killing a head of state is an act of war, there’s a deadly serious question here: What even is war anymore?”

■ PolitiFact gives Trump a “Full Flop” rating for his reversal on “regime-change” wars.

■ McSweeney’s offers a thought experiment: “Does Your Country Need Regime Change?”

‘President Clinton clearly was mistaken.’ Gov. Pritzker says the former president was wrong when he testified that Pritzker was aboard convicted and dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s plane …

■ … prompting the Clinton team to walk back that testimony.

■ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg: The Epstein scandal is complicating the fight against child abuse.

‘Our destiny together, you and me.’ Now that Trump’s agreed to attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner for the first time as president, Jimmy Kimmel’s begging: “Please let me host. … You, me, the commissioner of the FCC, all at a table together? Think of the ratings.”

A Square public service announcement

Friends of the Children-Chicago pairs kindergartners facing the greatest obstacles with trained professional mentors for 12.5 years—no matter what. Learn how you can help young people build confidence by setting attainable goals at a free, in-person panel discussion March 19.

And that’s how things look, March 4, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Iran strikes back / Curtains! / ‘A triumph for justice’ / You ready?
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
Mum’s their word / More WGN layoffs / Quiz / Final calls
‘Your days may be numbered’ / ‘The WGN layoffs are disappointing’ / ‘Fix your lousy shopping app, Jewel-Osco!’
‘Full of lies’ / Things he didn’t say / ‘A city blanketed in fear’

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

2026-03-05 Chicago Public Square

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 13:06:06 GMT

‘Trump’s blood’ / Homeland insecurity / Thanks, readers

Read this in your browser, with updates and corrections:
‘Trump’s blood’ / Homeland insecurity / Thanks, readers

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

‘Trump’s blood.’ In what The Associated Press describes as “a rare call for violence by an ayatollah,” that’s what an Iranian cleric has demanded on state television in retaliation for the war launched by the U.S. and Israel.

■ Iran’s foreign minister says the U.S. will “bitterly regret” torpedoing an Iranian ship.

■ Suggesting that presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner set a trap for Iran’s leadership, columnist Thom Hartmann recalls that Kushner grew up literally “sleeping in Benjamin Netanyahu’s bed.”

■ The American Prospect’s Ryan Cooper: “Time to end the American-Israeli alliance. Alliances are built on shared interests. Those do not exist here.”

‘Save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately.’ Updating coverage: After that warning from the Israeli military to residents of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, streets were jammed with people fleeing.

■ Meanwhile, Iran attacked Israel.

■ Popular Information: Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been stranded in a war zone …

■ … including a trio of suburban women …

■ … and Gov. Pritzker’s asking Secretary of State Marco Rubio to do something about it.

‘Near carte blanche to proceed.’ That’s what Politico says the Senate has given Trump’s war—with a near-party-line vote to defeat a bill that would have required congressional approval for more of the same.

■ PolitiFact analyzes U.S. leaders’ unproven claims about Iran. (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)

■ Author and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich: Trump is “actively destroying” civilization’s moral basis.

■ Even as he mourns the death of his wife three weeks ago, columnist Jeff Tiedrich takes a moment to excoriate Trump for failing to “remember that his tyrant Klansman father was born in the Bronx.”

Gas pain. The war’s driving up Chicago-area fuel prices …

■ … and farmers’ fertilizer prices …

■ … fueling anxiety among White House staff.

■ Columnist Dan Froomkin sees the spread of antiwar rallies as “the green shoots of an anti-imperialist movement.”

Homeland insecurity. Trump’s reportedly been “quietly” asking top Republicans if he should fire his insolent Homeland Security chief, Kristi Noem.

■ USA Today’s Chicago-based columnist Rex Huppke: “Half of Americans now say ‘Abolish ICE.’ It’s about time.”

Paging Pam. Amid news that close to 48,000 files are missing from the hoard of Epstein records her Justice Department is under order to release, a House committee has voted to summon Attorney General Bondi to answer questions.

■ ProPublica’s assembled a database you can use to explore financial disclosures and potential conflicts of interest for Trump and his team.

■ Here’s Bondi’s.

‘Flat-out voter suppression.’ Law prof Joyce Vance sees what happened in Texas this week as a preview of Republican efforts to pervert November’s elections.

■ Columnist Eric Zorn suggests that losing Democratic Senate primary candidate Jasmine Crockett suffered the “Streisand effect.”

■ He also praises Chicago congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh for “a clever new commercial that adopts most of the conventions of an attack ad against herself, but turns the accusations on their head.”

■ The Illinois League of Women Voters says all the candidates in a crowded 7th Congressional District Democratic race will be on hand for a meet-and-greet tonight.

■ Facebook’s parent is dumping cash into Illinois legislative races—with an eye on state-level legislation that could hurt its bottom line.

■ Ready to fill out your ballot? The Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide is here to help.

Jesse Jackson’s funeral. If you’d like to join thousands likely to attend tomorrow’s service in Chicago, here’s how to get there.

■ His final destination? Sun-Times architecture critic Lee Bey calls it “a beautiful place that was changed for the better by protest.”

See ’em while you can. Preservation Chicago’s out with its 2026 list of the city’s most endangered buildings …

■ … including Pope Leo’s childhood church.

Worse than they thought. The New York Times (gift link): New research shows that sea levels are already higher than many scientists think.

■ Chicago’s temperatures could approach 70 tomorrow.

■ Complaining of suppression, NBC’s top climate reporter is quitting and going independent.

Thanks, readers … for bestowing first-runner-up honors on Square in the Reader’s annual Best of Chicago poll.

■ And a tip of the hat to the winner in those two categories, Block Club Chicago.

One week from today, March 12. That’s when this year’s National Support Chicago Public Square Day falls, and if you want to mark the occasion by donning your Squarewear—T-shirts, hoodies or caps—act now to get yours delivered in time.

■ You can buy a shirt or hoodie directly here.

■ You can get a $5 off code by supporting Square for as little as $1, just once, here.

■ You can get a shirt free by pitching in $10/month here.

■ You can get a hoodie free by contributing $25/month here.

■ You can get a limited-run cap by tossing in $100, once.

■ Wondering if “National Support Chicago Public Square Day” is real? Hey, take it from Google’s AI.

A Square public service announcement

And that’s how things look, March 5, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
Liar or ignoramus? / ‘Colbert bump!’ / ‘Our destiny together’
Thanks, Reader readers!
Iran strikes back / Curtains! / ‘A triumph for justice’ / You ready?
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
Mum’s their word / More WGN layoffs / Quiz / Final calls

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.

2026-03-06 Chicago Public Square

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:05:59 GMT

You did it / ‘A candidate frenzy’ / Quiz / ‘Your printer is snitching’

Read this in your browser, with updates and corrections:
You did it / ‘A candidate frenzy’ / Quiz / ‘Your printer is snitching’

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

You did it. National security journalist Ken Klippenstein says mainstream media are missing the story behind President Trump’s decision to fire Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary: “The people of Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles deserve credit.”

■ Gov. Pritzker to Noem on ~~Twitter~~ X: “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

■ A Tribune editorial: “It is a shame that Noem’s pitiful performance as homeland security secretary reportedly wasn’t the primary reason for her dismissal.”

■ Trump calls her “a fine person,” but says replacing her “wasn’t a hard choice.”

■ Columnist Brian Tyler Cohen suggests this moment sealed her fate.

■ Late night had fun with Noem’s next job: “Same joke, four ways.”

Next. Trump’s selection of Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace Noem, in the words of the What Did Trump Do Today? blog, “underscores the administration’s fixation on loyalty over competence.”

■ His pick would leave an Oklahoma Senate seat vacant—but Oklahoma’s Republican governor gets to pick the replacement.

■ Satirist Andy Borowitz: “Mullin Now Romantically Linked to Corey Lewandowski.”

Moms at large. Cook County prosecutors have suspended 21 cases filed against Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters—including 15 mothers who hopped concrete barricades.

■ One of those women says she hopes their experience will inspire others: “There are so many small things that people can do … for our democracy and the country that we want to see.”

‘A sadist’s poetry of love.’ Author and filmmaker Steven Beschloss calls out Defense Secretary Hegseth’s celebration of “death and destruction from the sky all day long” in the war on Iran.

■ The House has followed the Senate’s lead in rejecting a resolution to curb the president’s ability to wage that war.

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Congratulations, Republicans—you own this shithole mess.”

■ Updating coverage: With U.S. support, Israeli warplanes have been bombarding Iran and Lebanon.

■ The death toll in Lebanon has passed 200.

Fresh meat. The Justice Department has released more files related to Trump’s convicted and dead sex-offender pal, Jeffrey Epstein—this time, involving charges from a woman who said she was around 13 when Epstein flew her to a location where she bit Trump after he tried to assault her sexually.

■ A Jan. 6, 2021, rioter pardoned by Trump has been sentenced to life in prison for molesting two kids.

‘A candidate frenzy.’ With Congress on track for record turnover, the AP says “Illinois is having one of its most frenzied primary elections in years.”

■ Need a scorecard? The newly updated Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide has a bunch.

Democracy’s ‘5-alarm fire.’ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link): The Texas primary exposed Republicans’ plans to rig the midterms.

■ On the other hand: Columnist S.E. Cupp says “Trump’s GOP, in its bloodlust for lefty scalps, still doesn’t realize it keeps handing the opposition giant gifts … thanks to Trump’s ham-fisted attempts at censoring them.”

Farewell, Rev. Thousands of people—including former presidents Obama, Clinton and Biden—were gathered in Chicago today at a “people’s celebration” for civil rights champion Jesse Jackson, who died Feb. 17.

■ The service was to stream live here at 11 a.m. Chicago time.

‘Bombs, billions, zebrafish and Kansas IDs.’ You’ll find ’em all in the latest challenge from The Conversation’s quizmaster, past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel.

■ Your Chicago Public Square columnist’s score: 7/8.

■ Not so hot on City Cast’s Chicago-centric news quiz: 2/5.

‘We may have underestimated the damage.’ A Trib editorial reminds readers of its prediction two years ago that the acquisition of Discover by Capital One would yield little good …

■ … and, sure enough, Capital One has cut more than 1,100 workers at Discover’s old suburban HQ.

■ In what The Wall Street Journal calls an “unexpected downturn,” the U.S. lost 92,000 jobs last month.

■ Cumulus Media, owner of four Chicago radio stations, has filed for bankruptcy—again.

Dingus of the Week. Men Yell at Me columnist Lyz Lenz’s pick: McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski …

■ … whose promotional video was the subject of a brutal deconstruction by Stephen Colbert.

■ The Onion: “EPA Unveils Plan To Make Water Chunkier.”

‘At this stage of my life, my definition of aging well is still not dead.’ And yet, Pulitzer winner Dave Barry took a shot at what The New York Times billed as “simple tests” to find out if you’re aging well.

■ Capitol News Illinois: Illinois and Cook County have helped out more than a million residents by wiping out $2 billion in medical debt for pennies on the dollar.

‘Your printer is snitching.’ Tech watchdog Kim Komando: Every color laser printer since the 1980s has been putting teensy yellow dots on your printouts, capable of linking those prints back to you …

■ … so use black-and-white printers for anything sensitive.

A Square public service announcement

Know an aspiring journalist? Spread this word from the Chicago Headline Club and the Chicago Headline Club Foundation: April 6’s the deadline to apply for the Les Brownlee Memorial Scholarship. A committed undergrad attending a Chicago-area institution can land $5,000. Apply here.

And that’s how things look, March 6, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
‘Trump’s blood’ / Homeland insecurity / Thanks, readers
Liar or ignoramus? / ‘Colbert bump!’ / ‘Our destiny together’
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
Thanks, Reader readers!
Iran strikes back / Curtains! / ‘A triumph for justice’ / You ready?

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2026-03-09 Chicago Public Square

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 13:01:44 GMT

Meet the new boss / ‘It’s disgusting’ / Daylight saved? / New colors!

Read this in your browser, with updates and corrections:
Meet the new boss / ‘It’s disgusting’ / Daylight saved? / New colors!

Your independent reader-supported newsbrief
By Charlie Meyerson

Meet the new boss, son of the old boss. Iran’s named Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s replacement: His hard-line offspring, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

■ Time: He’s wielded clout behind the scenes for years.

‘Why did the war begin?’ Nine days in, Popular Information says, Trump and his administration have failed to answer that most fundamental question about their actions in Iran.

■ Law and Chaos columnist Liz Dye: “Right now would be a really good time for the U.S. to have a direct line to speak to the Iranian people. A radio station, broadcasting directly into Iran from a friendly Gulf state like, say … Kuwait. But we don’t because Arizona’s perennial loser Kari Lake pulled the plug” …

■ … although a federal judge has now ruled that Lake’s actions to dismantle Voice of America were illegal.

■ Chicago-born journalist Terry Moran—fired from ABC after a tweet critical of Trump (June link)—on gas prices climbing as the Iran war unfolds: “The earth is beginning to shake. The man in the White House is yelling at it to stop.”

■ The Wall Street Journal: “The long-feared Persian Gulf oil squeeze is upon us … acting as a tax on consumers.”

■ The AP: “New footage raises likelihood the U.S. struck an Iranian school where a blast killed at least 165.”

■ Author and Emmy-winning veteran NBC and NPR broadcast journalist Jeff Kamen: Because Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a “cartoon character of mindless machismo, it is unlikely that there were psychologists on the scene to help the missile crew sort out the shock to their system.”

■ The Onion: “Trump To Americans: ‘You Won’t Have To Pay Your Son’s Cell Phone Bill When He Dies At War.’”

‘Now is the time to be loudly anti-war.’ Handbasket columnist Marisa Kabas: “We can distance ourselves by calling it ‘Trump’s War,’ but the fact remains that, as the president of this country, his actions cast a filthy pall on all of us.”

■ As Hegseth revels in the carnage, military experts are sounding the alarm: “I can’t even muster the words to describe his self-adulation, matched only in scope by his apparent moral depravity.”

■ Colin Jost, playing Hegseth on Saturday Night Live’s opener: “Whoever called this a war, except maybe the president a couple of times accidentally?”

■ LateNighter: The corporate escape routes are narrowing for late night’s comic Trump critics.

Ya think? Virginia Democratic Sen.—and 2016 vice presidential candidate—Tim Kaine says his vote to confirm Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary was a “big mistake.”

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich has questions about Noem’s new portfolio: “What the fuck is a Shield of the Americas?”

■ The Onion: “Noem Reassigned To Scarecrow Role At USDA.”

‘We were being lied to our faces.’ Friends and supporters say Customs and Border Protection agents detained six legal U.S. residents—returning to O’Hare Thursday from a work trip to Turkey—for more than 30 hours without explanation.

■ The Trump administration faces a court filing accusing it of wrongly deporting hundreds of people.

‘It’s disgusting.’ Civil Discourse columnist Joyce Vance: “If you’re Donald Trump, nothing says great opportunity for pushing your merchandise like bringing home fallen soldiers.”

■ But, hey, Fox ~~News~~ covered for him.

Racism rising. That was Gov. Pritzker’s warning yesterday in Alabama, joining thousands marking the 61st anniversary of Selma’s “Bloody Sunday,” a protest that sparked passage of the Voting Rights Act—which the governor says faces a gutting by the Supreme Court.

■ Republicans vying for the chance to challenge Pritzker are running this time without cash from big-bucks regressives.

■ When you hear U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush in a campaign commercial for Jesse Jackson Jr., you’re hearing an AI-restored version of his voice, weakened by throat cancer.

■ If you’re ready to dig into your ballot for the March 17 primary, the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide awaits.

Ticketmaster punched. The company’s parent, Live Nation, reportedly has cut a deal with the Justice Department to settle an antitrust case launched under President Biden.

■ Early reports indicated the company would have to open parts of its platform to rivals and would agree to limits on its longtime exclusivity deals with venues.

Daylight saved? At least five bills in Congress would make daylight saving time—on which we now are, at the earliest date possible under present law—permanent.

■ Honk if these seasonal disjunctions add credence to this 2012 call to shift the whole world to Universal Time.

New colors! We’ve doubled the number of shades in which Square T-shirts and hoodies are available.

■ You get $5 off by pitching in any amount—even just $1, once—to underwrite the cost of producing and distributing this publication.

■ Make it a recurring payment—which you can cancel anytime, but we hope you won’t—and get one free.

And that’s how things look, March 9, 2026. But wait—there’s more!
■ Previously in Square:
You did it / ‘A candidate frenzy’ / Quiz / ‘Your printer is snitching’
The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide
‘Trump’s blood’ / Homeland insecurity / Thanks, readers
Liar or ignoramus? / ‘Colbert bump!’ / ‘Our destiny together’
Thanks, Reader readers!

■ New: Updates around the clock via Square on Bluesky.
■ Support Square for any amount you choose …
■ … or revise an existing pledge of support.
■ Subscribe to Square.
■ Advertise in Square.
■ Problems? Link broken? Letter to the editor? Just reply to this email.
■ About Square.

Invite a friend to subscribe.