‘Every adult in America.’ President Biden says that, by the end of May, he expects the U.S. to have enough COVID-19 vaccine to protect all the nation’s grownups.
■ Beginning at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Illinoisans 65 and older can schedule shots at the United Center via this website.
■ Illinois smokers now rank among those eligible for vaccination.
■ The Conversation: How the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine compares to others.
■ CNN’s Oliver Darcy: The next challenge is figuring out how to get people to get the shots …
■ … even as Texas and other states prematurely lift mask orders and other pandemic restrictions.
Who’s hungry? Chicago restaurants can now increase their indoor dining capacity to 50%.
■ Mayor Lightfoot says she expects to let the Cubs and Sox host fans sometime this season—but probably not for Opening Day.
Knock, knock. Lightfoot’s rolling out long-overdue reforms of Chicago’s search warrant rules—forbidding no-knock police invasions except under narrow circumstances “where lives or safety are in danger.”
■ See her news conference here.
■ The public has 15 days to comment on the changes here.
You have until 11:59 p.m. Sunday to, um, toss your hat in the ring for an extremely limited-edition embroidered Chicago Public Square cap—the first official Square swag ever. Here’s how.
Dirty business. The Sun-Times says the feds are seeking thousands of pages of documents as they widen their investigation into ex-Mayor Emanuel’s administration’s role in the move of a polluting metal shredding plant from ritzy Lincoln Park to the long-struggling Southeast Side.
■ Amazon’s continued growth in the region includes a South Side plant that could become its biggest Chicago warehouse.
‘The Illinois Democratic Party will have a new chair—and it’s going to be a Black woman.’ But, Politico’s Shia Kapos explains, a historic vote by the Democratic Illinois Central Committee will decide which Black woman.
■ You can watch live on the web at 6 p.m.
■ Mayor Lightfoot says she was “sexually harassed in a workplace” and so sympathizes with women accusing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of misbehavior.
■ The Intercept: Cuomo has reason to regret a deal he pushed on the woman who’s now New York’s attorney general.
■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: CNN has a Chris Cuomo problem.
‘A word to use at your own risk.’ The Tribune’s Eric Zorn explores how the word thug has become “problematic,” if not “impermissible.”
■ A suburban economic and community development director has quit after getting caught on a hot Zoom mic calling opponents of a shipping hub development “a—holes.”
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‘Sharp-edged tweets … made her a polarizing figure.’ CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Jeff Zeleny say the first defeat for one of President Biden’s cabinet nominees offers a lesson for his administration in the post-Trump world.
■ 43 days in, Biden’s cabinet is half-empty.
■ Stephen Colbert’s cartoon news show, Tooning Out the News, is giving Biden grief in a new segment: “Who Did We Just Kill?”
‘Domestic terrorism has been metastasizing.’ FBI Director Christopher Wray pulled no punches before the Senate yesterday …
■ … as he repeatedly dumped on Republican suggestions that the Capitol insurrection wasn’t the work of Trump types.
Zoo, not Zoom. Tired of staring at a screen? Brookfield Zoo is open again.
■ The Museum of Science and Industry reopens tomorrow for members—Sunday for the public—with a new exhibit, “Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes.”
■ Speaking of which: Have you heard the newest Chicago Public Square podcast—about the origins of that universe?
A ‘privacy-first web.’ Google pledges in a blog post to phase out “cookies” that let advertisers track you as you move from one website to another in its Chrome browser—and not to replace them with something just as invasive.
■ Journalism prof Jeff Jarvis: Get ready for news publishers to complain.
Midway Minute is a Chicago Public Square partner.
Thanks to reader Pam Spiegel for making this edition better.