Who wants to be mayor of Chicago?

Plus, kids aren't driving a surge in carjackings, a study finds. 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   Hey there! It’s Thursday, and this is the face I make when my husband takes the last ice cream bar. Here’s what you need to know today. 1. U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley says he won’t run for mayor, becoming the latest big name to take a pass   U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley today announced he wants to continue working in Congress “to safeguard democracy, fight for American values abroad, and stand up for the brave Ukrainian people in their time of maximum peril.” Quigley’s “no thanks” comes after former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan took a pass last month. And it means incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot currently faces no challenger with a history of raising a whole lotta money and building a large enough base of support. But that may not be the case for long.  “This is gonna be a real fistfight. The person likely to win isn’t in the race right now,” a political operative told the Sun-Times. [ST] This void looks even more bizarre after NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern got a hold of polling from team Quigley that showed Lightfoot is vulnerable. The poll found that 56% viewed Lightfoot as unfavorable, and 61% said she was doing a poor job as mayor. In a head-to-head matchup, Quigley came in at 45% with Lightfoot at 35%, according to the poll. Today’s news reminds me of something U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García told the Sun-Times last month when he said he wasn’t all that interested in running for mayor. “If somebody could show me where there’s a significant pot of gold … to usher in a real era of equity in Chicago, that would be really moving and convincing to me. I don’t see that on the horizon right now. The challenges are just so huge for Chicago,” he said. “The job is a huge bear and it will continue to be challenging and torturous on a daily basis, especially as [federal] funding dissipates and goes away. It will make it excruciatingly difficult to govern and provide good news to Chicagoans.” [Chicago Sun-Times] Meanwhile, Lightfoot told the Sun-Times today that she will run for reelection but will make the announcement “official” sometime “soon.” [ST] 2. Chicago’s carjacking surge isn’t fueled by kids looking for a joyride, according to a new study   And by blaming the rise on Chicago’s youth, city officials may be crafting plans that do not address the real causes of the carjacking problem, says Robert Vargas, director of the UChicago Justice Project and co-author of a new study that digs into police data. The study found that police recovered less than one in five carjacked vehicles between 2017 and 2021. Researchers say that indicates carjackings are most likely being sold on the black market, either whole or in parts, and adults with economic motivations are committing the crimes.  “When you look at these numbers, it’s hard to line these facts up with the narrative that our city leaders have put out that the spike is being driven by young people seeking joyrides,” Vargas said about the findings. “Because unless young people are extremely good at hiding cars after having gone for a joyride, it seems like there’s some pretty strong economic incentives going on here and things linked to the informal economy, which suggests a far different set of interventions needed to address the problem.” [WBEZ] 3. The Chicago Park District is struggling to find lifeguards after stumbling on allegations of sexual misconduct   The number of applicants for once-coveted lifeguard jobs at Chicago’s beaches and pools has dropped sharply in the past few years, according to public records obtained by WBEZ. The news comes as the park district is trying to rebuild its image. A WBEZ investigation last year discovered the park district’s inspector general was secretly investigating widespread allegations of sexual misconduct at the city’s beaches and pools. Park district officials say they need 587 lifeguards for the upcoming summer season, but they had received just 477 applications as of April 19. That’s way down compared to the more than 1,000 applications received in 2018 and 2019, according to park district documents. Last year, 683 people applied to be a lifeguard. Officials would not say whether a staffing shortage could cause the closures of beaches or pools this summer. [WBEZ] 4. Biden asks Congress for $33 billion more to help Ukraine battle Russia   President Joe Biden’s latest proposal would provide Ukraine with more ammunition, artillery and other military assistance as the war with Russia enters its third month and Western nations worry about the unpredictable ways the conflict could escalate. “The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly,” Biden said. “It’s critical this funding gets approved and as quickly as possible.” [AP] Meanwhile, Russian forces are making “slow, uneven and incremental” progress in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, a senior U.S. defense official tells NPR.  The Russians are meeting strong resistance from the Ukrainian forces, and there’s lots of “back and forth” in the daily fighting, but no “huge changes,” the official said. [NPR] 5. Moderna asks the FDA to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 6 years old   The drugmaker is seeking to become the first to provide low-dose shots to babies, toddlers and preschoolers. “There is an important unmet medical need here with these youngest kids,” Dr. Paul Burton, Moderna’s chief medical officer, told The Associated Press. Two kid-sized shots “will safely protect them. I think it is likely that over time they will need additional doses. But we’re working on that.” The company says its two doses for kids were about 40% to 50% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19.  About 18 million American tots are the only population group that remain ineligible for COVID-19 vaccines. Moderna’s request could put more pressure on federal regulators to act. [AP] SPONSORED BY NORTHWESTERN Northwestern MA Public Policy - Administration Develop the skills needed to drive change in government, education, and nonprofit organizations in Northwestern’s MA in Public Policy & Administration — one of the few programs to focus on both policy and administration. Choose from five specializations to suit your goals and learn from leading experts from a range of fields. Online and on campus — earn your degree at your own pace or in as little as one year.  Reserve your space in our online Information Session on May 18, at 12:30 p.m. CT. Here's what else is happening Thousands of students in Illinois are being ticketed by police for in-school behavior that was once handled by principals. [Chicago Tribune] Biden says he’s not considering $50,000 in student loan forgiveness. [CNN] The Food and Drug Administration today proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes. [Axios] A new trailer for the next Jurassic Park movie shows why riding a Razor scooter during the dino apocalypse is a terrible idea. [Hollywood Reporter] Oh, and one more thing... Hollywood still wants to make Avatar a thing. Disney announced this week it will release a sequel called Avatar: The Way of Water in December, about 13 years after the first movie hit theaters. And Avatars 3, 4 and 5 are in the works.  The first teaser for the new film will be shown alongside Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is out May 6. [The Verge] If you can’t remember what happened in the first Avatar movie, check out this review that completely eviscerates it. Tell me something good World Press Freedom Day is coming up on May 3, a day proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for free access to information and ideas around the world. WBEZ is bringing awareness to the importance of a free press this week leading up to the day. But it has me thinking about what great works you enjoy that may not have been created if we didn’t have the constitutional right to free speech? Juliet Sorensen writes:  “Where to begin? Beloved, The Catcher in the Rye, The Color Purple, Ulysses and so many other books that have stimulated and shaped me as a person are banned in different parts of the world. I’m forever grateful for freedom of speech, which is also freedom to read.” Feel free to hit me up, and your response might be shared in the newsletter 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. 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