Happy Friday, Chicago.

If you weren’t already concerned about e-bikes, writer Cate Plys gives you a good reason: Their batteries can explode. Want proof? Search “New York battery fires” on YouTube. “Grab some popcorn,” she says. “You’ll be there a while.”

The editorial board spent much of Thursday listening to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget address and poring over his proposals. Our take? Oy vey. Chicago needs to be open for business — but by proposing a $21-per-employee-per-month head tax, a higher cloud tax and insufficient cost-cutting, Johnson is signaling the opposite.

Back on the opinion page, columnist Elizabeth Shackelford writes this week about President Donald Trump picking winners and losers in South America, and Beat Kitchen owner Robert Gomez argues Chicago’s Riverwalk vendor process was manipulated to favor insiders. Newly released records, he writes, show a secret city committee ignored its own rules, rejected his higher bid and handed a prime site to another vendor.

Don’t forget to check out reader letters.

— Hilary Gowins, editorial board member

Submit an op-ed | Submit a letter to the editor | Meet the Tribune Editorial Board | Subscribe to this newsletter