Good morning.

There's plenty going on even as we start moving into the dog days of summer.

The editorial board took stock (no pun intended) of NASCAR's third race around the streets of downtown Chicago and has thoughts on whether — and under what conditions — Chicago should continue to host the event.

Separately, the board weighed in on the surprising and abrupt announcement by the Justice Department that it's closing its criminal investigation into the sordid Jeffrey Epstein affair. Hmmm, as they say.

We have two strong op-eds today, the first by Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg making the case for a proposed ordinance that would prevent the mayor's office from interfering with her investigations.

The second is by Forrest Claypool, former high-level aide to Mayor Richard M. Daley, who has some suggestions for how to handle the inevitable Chicago Public Schools closures to come.

We have letters as well, with many addressing President Trump's immigration and deportation policies. Emotions are running high on that subject, not surprisingly.

Have a lovely day, and we'll be back tomorrow.

— Steve Daniels, editorial board member

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