Hey there! I saw the Avatar sequel over the weekend with my nephews. It was their first 3D movie, and they kept trying to grab parts that popped out. Here’s what you need to know today.

1. Laquan McDonald’s great uncle criticizes Paul Vallas for taking campaign contributions from an ex-cop in the case

Paul Vallas, the former head of Chicago Public Schools who is hoping to become the city’s next mayor, says he will give away a contribution his campaign accepted from a retired detective named in the costly civil litigation stemming from the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, reports my colleague Dan Mihalopoulos.

The news comes as McDonald’s great-uncle Marvin Hunter today asked for a public apology and called on Vallas to drop out of the race.

“To make Paul Vallas mayor of the city of Chicago will be the equivalent of handing the keys of this city to the FOP,” Hunter said, referring to Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police, which has endorsed Vallas.

Vallas said he would not apologize and he did not believe the former detective did anything wrong in the McDonald case. But he said he would give the money to charity because of how the issue could be viewed. [WBEZ]

2. Weapons trafficking may be a bigger problem in Chicago than in New York City and Los Angeles

A new report from the Justice Department suggests weapons trafficking in Chicago is much worse than in New York City and Los Angeles.

Federal officials examined the time between the purchase of a gun and its recovery by authorities in a crime, a metric known as “time-to-crime.”

In Chicago, the median time-to-crime was 2.8 years compared with 6.3 years in New York and 4.2 years in Los Angeles, according to the report. Shorter time-to-crime periods are a sign of illegal weapons trafficking.

“In Chicago, you are never more than a few hours away to get a gun or go to a place with lax laws regarding guns,” said Brandon del Pozo, a researcher at Brown University.

In contrast, the route criminals must travel to buy guns is much longer for New Yorkers, who are surrounded by states with stringent gun laws and often have to go to the South to buy weapons, del Pozo says. [Chicago Sun-Times]

3. The elephant in the mayoral race: the city’s finances

Whoever becomes mayor over the next four years will have to face a host of financial challenges, including figuring out a way to pay for all of the things they promised on the campaign trail.

And there are not a lot of great options for finding more money. My colleague David Roeder at the Chicago Sun-Times looked at proposals pushed by self-styled progressives and found they may have unintended consequences.

Among them is a city income tax on salaries greater than $100,000, which would affect a lot of public school teachers. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune had a great article over the weekend that lays out the city’s financial problems.

That includes the city’s underfunded pensions for public workers, which will cost $2.4 billion next year and keep growing for years. [Chicago Tribune]

4. What will it take for Beyoncé to win the Grammy for album of the year?

That’s a question fans are asking after the pop superstar last night broke the record for winning the most Grammy awards ever — and yet lost album of the year, a top honor she has never received, to Harry Styles.

And that is putting a spotlight on the Recording Academy’s failure to recognize Black artists at the top of their game.

As NPR reports, that may have something to do with how the awards are decided.

Most of the Grammy categories are voted by people who roughly specialize in that area. But the big awards are decided by the entire voting body, which gets older, whiter and more traditional in its tastes. [NPR]

But going back to Beyoncé, her 32nd Grammy award broke a record previously held by the late Chicago Symphony Orchestra conductor Georg Solti. [Chicago Sun-Times]

5. A Chicago pizzeria helped throw the largest pizza party in the world

J.B. Alberto’s, a beloved neighborhood pizzeria in Rogers Park, helped set a new Guinness World Record for the largest pizza party, reports Block Club Chicago.

The party took place at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, attracting 3,357 people and raising a little over $42,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“It wasn’t just for the record, even though everyone had fun doing that,” said J.B. Alberto’s owner Tony Troiano.

“Along the way, we raised all that money for kids who really need it, and that was the best part about it. Everybody had a great time; but at the end of the day, it was for a great cause.” [Block Club Chicago]

Here’s what else is happening

• Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have killed more than 2,800 people. [AP]
• As President Joe Biden prepares to deliver his State of the Union address tomorrow, most Americans say he has not accomplished much, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. [Washington Post]
• Authorities are investigating what caused a massive fire at a furniture warehouse in Chicago Heights. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Seven of the nine candidates running for mayor of Chicago will attend a forum tonight hosted by Asian American advocacy groups. [Block Club Chicago]

Oh, and one more thing …

Viola Davis is now the 18th person to achieve EGOT status after last night’s Grammys, winning the award for best audiobook, narration and storytelling recording for her memoir, Finding Me, reports NPR.

“The honor follows her Emmy win for How to Get Away With Murder (2015), an Oscar for Fences (2017), and a Tony for both King Hedley II (2001) and Fences (2010),” the station reports. [NPR]

Tell me something good …

Valentine’s Day is next week. And I’d like to know what you love about the Chicago area.

Just off the top of my head and in no particular order, I love Superdawg, people watching during Pride Month, Quimby’s Bookstore, downtown’s Second Story Bar, the Harold Washington Library and the CTA train conductor who reminded passengers it’s a great day to be alive.

Feel free to email me, and your response might be shared in the newsletter this week.