What we know about the Brooklyn attack

Plus, new warnings over CPD's reform efforts. Here's what you need to know today.

To view this email as a web page, click here. Today's Rundown is brought to you by WBEZ members and   by Hunter Clauss   Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, and it’s Day 2 of my internet being down. But special shoutout to the reader who called the tattoo shop and thanked them for “supporting journalism” by allowing me to work here. That made my week. Here’s what you need to know today. 1. NYC police are searching for a suspect in the attack on a Brooklyn subway station   At least 10 people were shot and 16 injured in some way when a gunman filled a train with smoke and began shooting during the morning rush hour, according to authorities. “My subway door opened into calamity. It was smoke and blood and people screaming,” eyewitness Sam Carcamo told radio station 1010 WINS.  The city’s police commissioner said there were no life-threatening injuries. She also said the attack is not currently being investigated as an act of terrorism but that could change. [AP] A senior law enforcement official tells The New York Times that police are searching for a man with a gas mask and an orange construction vest who was wearing an outfit resembling those worn by transit workers. [NYT] The attack comes as shootings in New York City rose to 296 in the first quarter of the year compared to 260 reported last year around the same time. Homicides, however, have decreased so far. [NYT] In Chicago, there were 508 shootings during the first three months of this year, the Chicago Tribune reported last week. That’s down from last year’s 582. [Tribune] 2. The Chicago Police Department needs to treat reforms as “more than a simple checklist,” independent monitor warns   The Police Department is making progress in its reform efforts, but it needs to implement a foot chase policy, has a staffing problem and needs to do more to build community trust, according to a report released this week from Maggie Hickey, the court-appointed monitor overseeing the whole situation. In a letter attached to the report, Hickey slammed members of the department “who believe crime reduction is separate from, or even opposed to, reform efforts.” The department has been under pressure to finalize a foot chase policy after last year’s fatal shootings of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 21-year-old Anthony Alvarez.  Hickey’s report criticizes the department’s “insufficient community engagement during its policy development procedures, as well as its lack of comprehensive and layered community engagement and policing strategies.” [Chicago Sun-Times] 3. Putin says peace talks have hit a “dead end” and vows to press on with invasion of Ukraine   Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will press on with the invasion of Ukraine until Moscow’s goals are met. His comments come as Russian forces are focusing on the eastern Donbas region. That’s where Ukrainian officials say they’ve received reports that a poisonous substance had been dropped on their troops. Western officials have warned Russia that using chemical weapons would be a serious escalation. [AP] Meanwhile, Russian forces left land mines in the area near Kyiv, presenting a deadly threat to civilians, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a nightly address.  The United Nations says more than 1,800 civilians have been killed but cautioned the actual figure is likely “considerably higher.” [NPR] 4. Biden will suspend an ethanol rule to lower gas prices   President Joe Biden will waive a summertime ban on the sale of higher-ethanol gasoline blends in the hopes of lowering gas prices that have spiked since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  But the move doesn’t sound like it will have a huge impact at the pump.  “Senior Biden administration officials said the action will save drivers an average of 10 cents per gallon, but at just 2,300 gas stations,” the AP reports. “Those stations are mostly in the Midwest and the South, including Texas, according to industry groups.” [AP] Biden and his fellow Democrats are under growing pressure to get runaway inflation under control. Americans have been living with soaring prices for months, and March was no different. [CNBC] 5. COVID-19 cases are rising in Chicago, but officials say the risk remains low   City officials are reporting a seven-day average of 414 cases per day as of Monday, up 42% compared to the previous week. The positivity rate has jumped to 2.1% from last week’s 1.6%.  At the same time, hospitalizations and deaths are decreasing and remain significantly low compared to the peak of the winter omicron wave. But health experts caution that an increase in hospitalizations and deaths typically comes a few weeks after cases begin to rise. [COVID Dashboard] The city’s COVID-19 dashboard was recently updated with newer risk assessment guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They show the city’s current risk is low.  Scientists are debating if the rise in cases will be as serious as previous waves, with some pointing to the large number of Americans who are fully vaccinated or have natural immunity from previous infections. [NYT] SPONSORED BY HARRIS THEATER Joyce DiDonato brings EDEN to the Harris Opera superstar Joyce DiDonato — the mezzo-soprano whose voice NPR praised as “truly one of nature's great wonders” — returns to the Harris on April 16th to perform EDEN. EDEN is DiDonato’s latest multi-faceted initiative uniting music, drama and education to confront questions of our individual connection to nature. The program ranges from the 17th to the 21st century, embracing such composers as Handel, Gluck, Wagner, Mahler, Ives, and Copland, and featuring a new work from Academy Award-winner Rachel Portman commissioned specially for this project. Longtime collaborators il Pomo d’Oro and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev join DiDonato in this expansive performance coming to the Harris stage for one night only. Reserve your tickets today – buy now. Here's what else is happening LGBTQ youth say they feel isolated amid Republican restrictions on classroom instruction, sports and health care. [New York Times] Oklahoma’s governor signed a bill that criminalizes most abortions. [NPR] A local Navy vet is trying to get Chicago’s Latino community to support Ukraine. [WBEZ] A trailer for the upcoming fourth season of Stranger Things reveals more horrors in the Upside Down. [Hollywood Reporter] Oh, and one more thing... A secret new movie from director David Lynch that stars fan-favorite Laura Dern will reportedly premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month, according to Variety. It’s not clear what exactly this completely under-the-radar movie will be about, but Variety reports it will include “some other Lynch regulars.” [Variety] Coincidentally, the news comes as Chicago’s Music Box Theatre is throwing a Lynch retrospective, which includes a screening tonight of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. “See what happens when we all come together at @musicboxtheatre and manifest good things with our intuition?” tweeted Daniel Knox, who oversees extended programming for the special event. Tell me something good I’m again writing the newsletter from a tattoo shop today, and it really has me second guessing my career choice. So I’d like to know: If you could do it all over again, what job would you do? Erica D. writes:  “I've always been into tattoos, so cool that you got to work from a shop. (Albeit noisy?) In response to your question, if I could do it over again, I’d start the frozen yogurt empire I shelved in favor of finishing law school. Timing is everything to not get ‘scooped’ by Jeni.” And Katrina writes:  “When I was a kid, I wanted to be a chef, and when I was in college, I majored in finance. Thank goodness neither of those panned out, because I actually dislike cooking, and balance sheets make me want to vomit.  “But at another point I thought about becoming an attorney, like my dad. If I could go back and work alongside him, and maybe take over his practice, that seems like a solid alternate universe.   “P.S. My actual job is as a librarian, which is the correct answer for the job everyone should pick if they could do it over again.” Feel free to email or tweet me, and your response might be shared here this week. therundown@wbez.org | @whuntah Thanks for reading and have a nice night! I'll see you tomorrow. — Hunter Clauss P.S. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up to receive The Rundown in your inbox. VIEW OUR BROADCAST SCHEDULE ©Chicago Public Media Inc 848 East Grand Ave, Navy Pier Chicago, IL 60611 Please do not reply to this email. If you need assistance, you may contact us here. You are receiving this email because you are a WBEZ member or signed up to receive email communications from us. You can unsubscribe from The Rundown here. CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA'S PRIVACY POLICY