The Dealmaker: 2/28/2017

Chicago Airbnb on hold after Goldwater suit. “Under [a] change [approved by the city… and prompted by the Goldwater suit], city inspectors would need a search warrant or subpoena to access… guest information that hosts must keep…. [A]s originally proposed [the regulation] would have required hosts to… make [such info] available… upon request.” More on the case and why such “tweaks” aren’t enough for the Goldwater Institute to end its challenge of the ordinance — in the Chicago Tribune. http://bit.ly/2mBkVdd

Ducey presses governors on need for civics education like Arizona’s. “It’s cute when a 5-year-old doesn’t know who the current president is,” [Gov.] Ducey said… at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association… “But when 10 percent of our college graduates believe that Judge Judy sits on the Supreme Court, it’s not that funny.” (We applaud the Governor for leaving a bit of wiggle room in his remark for those of us who think that such adult ignorance can occasionally be somewhat funny, e.g., “Watters World.”) More on the matter in Cronkite News. http://bit.ly/2lQlEZT

Arizona House Speaker declares controversial ‘protest’ bill dead. “[SB 1142]… would punish organizers of public protests that turn violent with racketeering charges…. It would have allowed protest organizers to be prosecuted if someone else were involved in rioting — even if that individual were not part of the organizing group…. ‘[W]e are not about limiting people’s rights,” [Speaker J.D. Mesnard] said… ‘The sponsor is not about it, the governor is not about it, the government is not about that. The most efficient, expedient way to communicate that is to kill the bill.’” AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2mpIzMQ

The American commute is worse today than it’s ever been. “The Census’s 2015 American Community Survey data… show that the average American commute crept up to 26.4 minutes in 2015… Multiply it all out… and the typical American could expect to spend about three hours and twenty minutes longer getting to and from work than in 2014.” OTOH, according to this Washington Post report, “New numbers from Gallup show that remote work [e.g., working from home] is becoming more common.” http://bit.ly/2l8xJee