Today's edition of quick hits:
* Incidents like these are cause for alarm: "Two Russian attack planes flew dangerously close to a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea on Monday and Tuesday, defense officials said."
* Chicago: "A panel tasked by Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a report on Wednesday that finds the city's police department has been beset by racism and recommended sweeping changes to help win back trust in the community. The Chicago Police Accountability Task Force called on the department to 'acknowledge its racist history and overhaul its handling of excessive force allegations.'"
* He doesn't remember? "Lawyers for former House speaker Dennis Hastert say their client does not recall an alleged sexual encounter he had with a 17-year-old wrestler before he launched his political career decades ago, according to a court filing unsealed Wednesday."
* Strike: "Nearly 40,000 workers at Verizon have gone on strike, objecting to, among other things, outsourcing and temporary location transfers."
* Finance industry: "Five giant banks -- including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America -- failed to fulfill a crucial regulatory requirement that Congress introduced after the 2008 financial crisis to help make large financial institutions less a threat to the wider economy, federal banking regulators said on Wednesday."
* Student-loan forgiveness: "Hundreds of thousands of borrowers who are permanently disabled could have an estimated $7.7 billion in student loans forgiven, the Department of Education announced Tuesday."
* I can't remember who said it, but one of the best sports-related observations I've heard in years said something to the effect of, "Football is really entertaining to watch. It's a shame the game is killing its players."
* That is one incredibly impressive animal: "Inky the octopus didn't even try to cover his tracks. By the time the staff at New Zealand's National Aquarium noticed that he was missing, telltale suction cup prints were the main clue to an easily solved mystery."
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.