Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, and I had a very nice and relaxing vacation, the first and last of this summer. Here’s what you need to know today.

(By the way, if you’d like this emailed to your inbox, you can sign up here.)

1. Lightfoot says she’s “disappointed” with CPS’ handling of COVID-19 testing

Mayor Lori Lightfoot last night in an interview with WTTW’s Chicago Tonight said she was “disappointed” with how Chicago Public Schools has handled COVID-19 testing.

About a month into the new academic year, CPS still has not gotten district-wide testing off the ground, creating a sense of confusion and panic among parents and the Chicago Teachers Union.

“I’m disappointed in the way this has been rolled out,” Lightfoot said. “In anticipation of the opening of school, there should have been a much more robust plan and infrastructure in place.”

Lightfoot said she’s deploying Dr. Allison Arwady, the city’s public health commissioner, to address the situation at CPS. [WTTW]

Meanwhile, Chicago officials are reporting a seven-day average of 414 cases per day as of Sept. 19. That’s an 8% decrease from the previous week. When it comes to vaccines, 66.3% of eligible residents are fully vaccinated, according to city data. [COVID Dashboard]

2. Biden makes his debut at the U.N.

President Joe Biden today sought to accomplish the twin tasks of uniting leaders against common threats while also confronting growing doubts over U.S. leadership on the global stage.

In his first address before the United Nations as president, Biden called on nations to work together against COVID-19, climate change, human rights violations and “new threats” from emerging technology. He also vowed “a new era of relentless diplomacy” after four years of his predecessor’s “America First” isolationism.

But the Biden administration’s attempts to strengthen relationships with allies have faced challenges in recent days.

France recently recalled its ambassador to Washington following the surprise announcement from the U.S. and U.K. about sharing nuclear submarine technology with Australia, undercutting a $60 billion deal for diesel subs that France had with Australia. [NPR]

3. Some good news for folks who got the J&J shot

People who receive a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine booster shot are better protected against the coronavirus for a longer period of time, according to the pharmaceutical company’s latest trial results.

The results showed the vaccine’s effectiveness against moderate and severe disease jumped from 66% to 94% when a person gets a booster shot two months after their first jab. A booster shot at six months provided a 12-fold increase in antibodies. [NPR]

The news comes as the U.S. hit another grim milestone in the pandemic: COVID-19 has now killed more Americans than the 1918 flu pandemic. [Axios]

Meanwhile, The Atlantic has a new report outlining “six rules that will define our second pandemic winter.” [Atlantic]

4. Illinois man among those suing Texas doctor in what appears to be first legal test of controversial abortion law

A man in Illinois and another man in Arkansas are suing Dr. Alan Braid, a physician in San Antonio who wrote in a recent op-ed in The Washington Post that he violated Texas’ new abortion law.

The Illinois man, Felipe Gomez, described himself in a complaint as a “pro-choice plaintiff,” reports The New York Times.

According to KSAT news in San Antonio, Gomez is an attorney who was disbarred in Illinois “after other attorneys accused him of sending harassing and threatening emails.”

The Arkansas man, Oscar Stilley, told the Times that he is not “pro-life.”

“The thing that I’m trying to vindicate here is the law,” he said. “We pride ourselves on being a nation of laws. What’s the law?” [NYT]

5. Why is there so much interest in the Gabby Petito case?

Like many people, I couldn’t immediately understand why the disappearance of 22-year-old Gabby Petito became national news when I first saw stories online last week. Hundreds of thousands of people go missing in the U.S. every year, so why is this case special?

“It’s about our culture and our society,” criminologist Scott Bonn told The Washington Post. “We place a priority on whiteness. We place a priority on youth and on our expectations of physical beauty.”

Bonn, who studies why some cases gain more attention than others, said the case would likely not have garnered national headlines if Petito were a woman of color. [WaPo]

That racial disparity is highlighted by the location where authorities discovered a body that resembles the description of Petito. The body was found in Wyoming, where Indigenous people have made up 21% of homicides since 2000, even though only 3% of the population is Indigenous. [NPR]

An autopsy is expected today and could determine whether the remains are those of Petito, as well as a cause of death. Meanwhile, authorities in Florida today renewed their search for Petito’s fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in a swampy preserve area near his home. [AP]

Here’s what else is happening

• The head of Homeland Security said he is “horrified” by images showing what appears to be Border Patrol agents on horseback rounding up migrants trying to cross the southern border. [AP]
• A gun stolen from a Wisconsin shop has been linked to 27 shootings in Chicago. [Chicago Tribune]
• Two Japanese sisters became the world’s oldest living identical twins at 107. [NPR]
• A new teaser for The Problem With Jon Stewart was released. The show premieres Sept. 30 on Apple TV+. [Hollywood Reporter]

Oh, and one more thing …

You might want to get your holiday shopping done earlier than usual, because the pandemic’s disruption of the global supply chain and a shortage of workers could mean everything from decorations to video games could be harder to find this year.

(Hold on a sec, need to refresh a website for a PS5, which I’ve been doing for almost a year now.)

“What I hope consumers have already started to do is shop,” one supply chain expert told Axios. “Consumers really should understand that out of all the seasons they’ve been faced with, they really need to start this one as soon as possible.”

Big retailers like Walmart and Home Depot have secured their own ships to ensure they have enough merchandise to meet demand. Yet at the same time, analysts predict retail sales could show significant growth. [Axios]

Tell me something good …

Tomorrow is the first official day of fall, and I’d like to know: What’s your favorite fall food?

Larry Gammel writes:

“Favorite fall food: acorn squash with plenty of butter topped with bacon bits and bacon flavored salt.”

And Patty writes:

“Homemade potato soup like mom used to make. Boil potatoes after peeling with part of an onion, drain water after they are soft. Add milk, butter (lots), salt and pepper … poor people’s soup as we had five kids in our family. We don’t measure anything either. … Everything is to taste!”

Feel free to email me at therundown@wbez.org or tweet me at @whuntah.

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