Hey there! It’s Friday, and heads up: Monday is “Piping Plover Day ” in Illinois to honor the brave, endangered birds who heroically took down an EDM festival in Chicago over the summer. Here’s what you need to know today. (PS: You can have this delivered to your inbox by subscribing here.)

1. Trump’s tweets get real-time critique during impeachment inquiry

President Donald Trump took to Twitter to attack Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, as she appeared before House impeachment investigators at today’s public hearing. That prompted Democrats to ask Yovanovitch if Trump was trying to intimidate her and other witnesses.

“It’s very intimidating,” she said. “I can’t speak to what the president is trying to do, but the effect is to be intimidating.”

Even some conservatives criticized the president’s tweet. Appearing on Fox News, former independent counsel Ken Starr called Trump’s tweet an act of “extraordinarily poor judgment.” [Washington Post]

Meanwhile, Trump today released a rough transcript of an April call he had with Ukraine’s leader, a move the White House characterized as a sign the president has nothing to hide. But NPR reports that today’s document “differs significantly from the way the White House had initially described the conversation.” [NPR]

2. How will the city pay for the teachers contract?

Today is the last day for teachers at Chicago’s public schools to vote on a tentative contract agreement that ended last month’s strike, and questions are emerging about how the school district will pay for it.

Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Lori Lightfoot have covered costs for the first year of the proposed contract using one-time revenues. But for the following four years of contract, Chicago Public Schools is betting on money that isn’t guaranteed to emerge.

The Chicago Teachers Union says Lightfoot has options for finding the money to cover the contract, but Wall Street analysts are not so optimistic, pointing to the school district’s pile of debt. [Chicago Tribune]

3. Roger Stone found guilty of witness tampering and lying to Congress

A federal jury found longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone guilty on charges that he obstructed a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Stone was found guilty on all seven counts and most likely faces prison time.

Prosecutors claimed Stone tried to hide his efforts to reach out to WikiLeaks and figure out what the anti-secrecy group planned to do with stolen Democratic emails. [NPR]

4. What we know about the federal investigation into ComEd

There’s been a ton of news about the wide-ranging federal criminal probe into the lobbying and hiring practices of Illinois’ largest utility company, Commonwealth Edison. The federal scrutiny has rattled Illinois politics and has extended all the way up to the state’s most powerful politician, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, though the veteran lawmaker has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing.

Here’s a quick guide to what we know about the investigation into ComEd, one of the most aggressive anti-corruption efforts in a generation. [WBEZ]

5. Only 8% of Americans think pot should be completely illegal

That’s according to new data recently released from the Pew Research Center, which found that 2 out of 3 Americans say marijuana should be legal.

The survey found support among both Democrats (78%) and Republicans (55%), but a major division emerges when looking at age. Support from people who are 74 years old and over is 35%. Other age groups overwhelmingly support legalization. [Washington Post]

Meanwhile, Chicago officials today began the process of deciding where the first recreational marijuana stores will be located. [Chicago Sun-Times]

And when recreational pot becomes legal in Illinois on Jan. 1, does that mean you can smoke inside your apartment or condo? [WBEZ]

And another question: Can landlords ban pot in buildings? [WBEZ]

Here’s what else is happening

• Federal authorities say an alleged street gang leader in suburban Bellwood attempted to give financial support to the Islamic State. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Illinois Senate President John Cullerton plans to retire. [WBEZ]
• Transgender students will have full access to school locker rooms and bathrooms at Illinois’ largest high school district. [WBEZ]
• Pop quiz: What happens when three Indiana judges fail an “attempt to visit a strip club,” then get into a brawl outside a White Castle? [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

Are you looking for a new podcast to listen to this weekend? WBEZ just dropped the first episode of a three-part series called Making Beyoncé, which follows the rise of Beyoncé Knowles.

The three-part series comes from some of the same folks behind WBEZ’s Making Obama and Making Oprah. The delightful Jill Hopkins hosts Making Beyoncé, and the first episode looks at Knowles’ early days of performing at local talent shows to her first crack at a record deal with the group Girls Tyme. [Apple]

And if you enjoy true-crime podcasts, there’s also a new episode of WBEZ’s Motive, which tells the story of a man who used millions of dollars from a wrongful conviction case to essentially buy his own Chicago street gang. [Apple]

Tell me something good …

It’s another cold day in the Chicago area, so I’d like to know: What are your getaway plans this winter?

Starlyn Matheny writes:

“My brand new husband and I are traveling to Thailand for our honeymoon. I wanted somewhere warm but my husband hates the sun so we compromised and are getting our SCUBA diving certification while we are there. We are crushing this whole marriage thing already!”

Thanks for all the responses this week! And I hope y’all stay warm!

Thanks for reading and have a nice night! I’ll see you on Monday. And if you like what you just read, you can subscribe to the newsletter here and have it delivered to your inbox.