Hey there! It’s Thursday, and it’s my second day working from home. My dog, Princess Leia , is already fed up with me. Here’s what you need to know today. (PS: You can have this delivered to your inbox by subscribing here.)

1. Illinois primary is still set for next week

The March 17 primary election will not be postponed due to concerns of the coronavirus, election officials told the Chicago Sun-Times.

But the possibility of rescheduling the primary was reportedly discussed yesterday in a conference call among election officials and some elected leaders, including powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. The Sun-Times reports that elected officials pushed back on that idea. [Sun-Times]

Is the coronavirus deadlier than the flu? Will it go away when the weather becomes warmer? You can find answers to some common questions in this link. [New York Times]

Meanwhile, hospitals in Chicago and across the nation are stepping up their efforts to combat the virus. As the Chicago Tribune reports, Rush University Medical Center will begin testing potential coronavirus patients in a special isolation bay. [Chicago Tribune]

Multiple Illinois universities are canceling in-person classes and shifting to online courses.

In sports, Major League Baseball suspended spring training games, and the National Hockey League announced it’s hitting the pause button on games. The NCAA canceled men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

Those moves come after the NBA suspended its season indefinitely after a player tested positive for the virus. [WBEZ]

In Hollywood, studios are postponing the release of movies, such as A Quiet Place Part II. [Hollywood Reporter]

2. Trump’s travel ban fails to calm Wall Street

President Donald Trump’s decision to ban all travel from Europe for 30 days did little to stop further shock waves in stock markets today. European Union leaders condemned the travel ban even as more nations moved to restrict travel.

Trump said today that a domestic travel ban is possible. [New York Times]

Here’s a look at who is affected by Trump’s European travel ban and what it means for Americans traveling abroad right now. [NPR]

Meanwhile, House Democrats are moving forward with their economic relief package that addresses the spread of the virus. The proposal would require employers to provide paid sick days and emergency paid leave, among other things. [Vox]

And former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, both running for the Democratic presidential nomination, criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the outbreak. [AP]

3. Pentagon issues threat after rocket attack in Iraq

Two U.S. troops and a British service member were killed in a rocket attack yesterday at an Iraqi base near Baghdad. American officials today threatened a retaliatory strike against an Iranian-backed militia believed to be responsible for the attack.

Fourteen people at the base were injured in the strike, which included 18 rocket hits, reports The Associated Press. The suspected militia, Kataib Hezbollah, was responsible for a rocket attack in December that killed an American contractor, which was followed by a U.S. airstrike that killed powerful Iranain Gen. Qassem Soleimani earlier this year. [AP]

4. Man accused of killing Chicago police commander didn’t take the stand

An attorney for Shomari Legghette had said the accused cop killer would take the stand to tell his side of the story, but that didn’t happen.

Legghette is accused of killing Chicago Police Cmdr. Paul Bauer in a stairwell outside the Thompson Center in 2018. Legghette was expected to tell jurors that he did not know Bauer was a police officer and that he shot Bauer in self-defense.

Bauer was downtown on Feb. 13 when he heard a radio call for a fleeing suspect, authorities said. Bauer saw Legghette running by and chased him down, resulting in a struggle that ended with Legghette allegedly shooting Bauer. [Chicago Tribune]

5. A bug gets its own kind of “Stupid Love”

I’m really on thin ice with the Parliament of Gays because I, a homosexual, have still not watched Lady Gaga’s music video for her new single, “Stupid Love.”

But a bug has been named after the pop culture icon. Brendan Morris, a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, discovered a new genus and species of the treehopper insect, and it reminded him of Lady Gaga.

“It’s just kind of their theme as a family of insects to have these very diverse and other-worldly forms that you wouldn’t expect from an insect,” Morris told WBEZ. “Gaga often brings the unexpected and makes it popular.” [WBEZ]

Here’s what else is happening

• Uninsured patients are wreaking havoc on Cook County’s finances. [WBEZ]

• The 2020 census is coming. [WBEZ]

• “Chicagohenge” will be back next week. [Chicago Sun-Times]

• Blarg, the actor who played M’Baku in Black Panther, was at the station and I missed him. What gives? [Vocalo]

Oh, and one more thing …

Horse-drawn carriages in Chicago might literally be a thing of the past. The City Council advanced a measure this week that would ban the carriages beginning next year. Giddy up! [Chicago Sun-Times]

One time when I thought I was straight and took a girl out to homecoming in high school, I drove us downtown to — no joke — the Rainforest Cafe because she wanted to go. But I got stuck in rush hour traffic behind a horse-drawn carriage on Michigan Avenue, and because I was an idiot teen, I had no idea what to do. So I just stayed behind it almost the entire way to the restaurant. And now that I think about it, that was the night I realized I was gay … at the Rainforest Cafe.

Tell me something good …

I saw my nephews this past weekend and watched A LOT of children’s movies. So I’d like to know what your favorite childhood movie is.

Dori DesRoches writes:

“Favorite children’s movie? My Neighbor Totoro, by the inimitable Hayao Miyazaki. We watched the original English dub on VHS so many times that when it was re-dubbed for the DVD release, we noticed several instances where they changed the translation. Close second, Kiki’s Delivery Service, also by Miyazaki. Pure delight.”

And Damian Schiesser writes:

“My favorite kid’s movie is The Princess Bride. Is that even a kid’s movie? Close runner up is The Iron Giant.”

What’s your favorite childhood movie? Feel free to email or tweet me, and I might include your responses here this week.

Thanks for reading and have a nice night! Feel free to email at therundown@wbez.org or tweet to @whuntah.

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