Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, and this reminds me of the time I started a conga line at a goth club to Fischerspooner’s “Emerge” when I was in college. Here’s what you need to know today. (PS: You can have this delivered to your inbox by subscribing here.)

1. More parts of Illinois will move backwards in state’s reopening plan

Beginning tomorrow, bars and restaurants will be closed to indoor customers as state officials revive some coronavirus restrictions in Will and Kankakee counties, where the positivity rate has hit 8% for three days straight.

The restrictions include a 25-person limit on gatherings, and outdoor bars and restaurants must close by 11 p.m. These measures will stay in place for 14 days, state officials say, and if the situation does not improve in two weeks, more restrictions could return.

Gov. JB Pritzker today announced that customers at restaurants and bars throughout the state must wear face coverings while interacting with waitstaff. [WBEZ]

Cases of COVID-19 continue to rise across Illinois. State officials today reported 1,680 new cases and 29 additional deaths. Illinois has seen a seven-day average of 2,016 cases per day, according to The New York Times. That’s a 17% increase from the average two weeks ago. [WBEZ]

In Chicago, city officials announced a design competition for ideas on how outdoor dining can be a thing in the notoriously awful winter. [Block Club Chicago]

2. Melania Trump headlines second night of RNC

Republican strategists say a lot is at stake with first lady Melania Trump’s prime-time speech tonight from the White House’s Rose Garden. A number of polls have shown President Donald Trump has lost some support from suburban women, and strategists are hoping the first lady’s speech tonight will help attract those crucial voters.

Also speaking tonight is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose appearance has caused some controversy. Pompeo will be speaking from Jerusalem, where he is on a taxpayer-funded diplomatic mission. Democrats say Pompeo’s speech violates rules prohibiting partisan activity by State Department employees.

WBEZ will provide special coverage of the convention beginning at 8 p.m. You can find more news and analysis of today’s convention events in this link. [NPR]

Meanwhile, Republicans promised an “uplifting” convention, but the first night largely “painted an image of a liberal dystopia that would take hold if Democrat Joe Biden is elected,” writes NPR’s Domenico Montanaro. [NPR]

And former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar and other prominent moderate Republicans say they will vote for Democratic nominee Joe Biden. [WBEZ]

3. Jacob Blake is paralyzed from Wisconsin police shooting, father says

Jacob Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times that his son is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot eight times by police in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday. Doctors told the newspaper they don’t know yet if the paralysis will be permanent.

Most of what is publicly known about the shooting has come from a bystander cellphone video. In that video, an officer can be seen grabbing the back of Blake’s shirt as he opens the driver’s side door of an SUV. The officer then opens fire as Blake’s back is turned.

Blake’s partner, Laquisha Booker, told reporters that the couple’s three children were in the back seat of the SUV when police shot him. [AP]

The officers on the scene of the shooting were not wearing body cameras. While body cameras were endorsed by city and law enforcement officials in 2017, their rollout has been delayed. Police squad cars are equipped with cameras, but it’s unclear if any captured the shooting. [AP]

Meanwhile, local officials announced an 8 p.m. curfew in Kenosha County after several businesses were damaged or destroyed last night. [CNN]

4. FDA accused of overstating benefits of treating COVID-19 patients with blood plasma

Scientists say the Trump administration recently oversold the effectiveness of treating COVID-19 patients with blood plasma, a concern that comes as some worry President Trump is politicizing the process of approving treatments and vaccines.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn this week said that blood plasma treatment reduced deaths by 35%. But scientists tell The New York Times that’s a misinterpretation of data, saying it appears to be calculated based on a small group of patients under the age of 80 who were not on ventilators.

Right before the Times published its article, Hahn walked back his comments and said the “criticism is entirely justified.” [New York Times]

Meanwhile, here’s a look at how a Boston conference in February helped spread the coronavirus across the country. [Washington Post]

5. Evacuations ordered as Hurricane Laura approaches Texas and Louisiana

Hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate as Hurricane Laura is expected to grow into a Category 3 storm before it makes landfall near the Louisiana-Texas border.

The National Hurricane Center estimates the hurricane, which could reach the U.S. late Wednesday or early Thursday, will carry winds around 115 mph and a storm surge up to 11 feet. The National Weather Service says Category 3 hurricanes can cause “devastating damage” to homes, trees and infrastructure. [NPR]

Here’s what else is happening

• American Airlines says it will layoff 19,000 employees in October if it does not receive more federal aid. [CNBC]
• Many parents in Chicago say they might take their kids out of public schools and enroll them in private ones. [WBEZ]
• A week after starting the new academic year, Loyola Academy in Wilmette is closed after several students tested positive for COVID-19. [Chicago Tribune]
• I only know who this person is because my husband watches this TV show while I’m working. [Page Six]

Oh, and one more thing …

So yesterday I mentioned an analysis from NPR that found a ton of mail-in ballots were rejected during this year’s primaries.

Election experts told NPR that first-time absentee voters are likely to make mistakes that result in rejected ballots, like missing signatures or signatures that don’t match ones kept on file.

A reader asked me what she can do if she’s not sure the signature on file is still the same one she uses, which got me concerned about my own signature. If you’re also worried and live in Chicago, the city’s board of elections has a form you can use to update your signature, and you can literally email the form to the board. You can find the form in this link under “signature update form.” [CBOE]

Tell me something good …

Many students are either back in school or soon will be. And I’d like to know: What was one of your favorite classes?

Sarah J. tweets:

“My fave class of all time was Negotiations @LoyolaLawSchool. I use those skills & concepts all the time and mostly not practicing law. Everyone should take a class on negotiations IMHO, if only to avoid paying too much for a used car.”

And Eleanor Hanson writes:

“Background Reading with Grace Felgar at Wheaton Community High School in 1964. She passed out a list of classics at the beginning of the year. We chose a book and wrote a one page report. When at least four students had read the same book, they presented a panel discussion to the class. This was groundbreaking teaching for the time.”

What was one of your favorite classes? Feel free to email at therundown@wbez.org or tweet to @whuntah.

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