Good afternoon! It’s Monday, and the Chicago area could see a high of 50 degrees on Wednesday. Here’s what else you need to know today.

1. A former Evanston beach employee publicly comes forward, saying officials mishandled early allegations of sexual misconduct

Anna Fredrick formerly worked at Evanston’s beach office and was one of four young female employees who organized a petition drive accusing their superiors of pervasive sexual harassment, abuse and assault, reports WBEZ’s Dan Mihalopoulos.

Fredrick said she rejected a manager’s repeated advances and spoke with high-ranking parks officials about that manager in 2019.

That manager, in his 20s at the time, met outside work with an underage girl and made advances toward other young female employees, according to newly revealed public records and interviews. The manager was only given a written warning and reported back to work at the start of the summer of 2020.

“That was the tipping point,” Fredrick said in a recent interview. “The entire reason that this started was because of the complaints against [the manager] that resulted in ultimately nothing.” [WBEZ]

2. Ken Griffin donates $20 million to a Republican hoping to unseat Pritzker

In what was the worst-kept secret in Illinois politics, billionaire Ken Griffin is indeed backing Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin in the GOP primary for governor.

Griffin today made it official by donating $20 million to Irvin’s campaign, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The news comes about a month after Gov. JB Pritzker donated $90 million to his campaign fund.

In a statement, Griffin accused Pritzker of being too soft on crime, an issue that has plagued Chicago and many other major cities during the pandemic.

“We must end the senseless violence that has engulfed our state and put countless mothers through the pain and agony of losing a child to a random shooting,” Griffin said in the statement.

A spokesperson for Pritzker’s campaign pointed to Griffin’s previous support of former Gov. Bruce Rauner, who “decimated the social services that prevent violence, caused our colleges and universities to nearly lose accreditation, and devastated our state’s finances in previously unseen ways.” [Chicago Sun-Times]

3. Russia signals more room for diplomatic talks in standoff over Ukraine

The Kremlin today said talks “are far from being exhausted” as more than 130,000 Russian troops surround Ukraine, escalating concerns in the U.S. that an invasion may be imminent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin today met with his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who has argued for more talks with the U.S. and its allies.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and said there are “no sensible reasons” for Russia’s buildup of troops. [AP]

This map shows where Russia has deployed troops and military equipment around Ukraine. [New York Times]

4. Inflation hits low-income Americans hardest and further widens inequality

Wages for low-income workers are not growing enough to keep up with the nation’s record inflation, causing many families to spend almost their entire paychecks on necessities like food, energy and housing, according to an analysis from The Washington Post.

“We haven’t been able to enjoy life, but are rather in survival mode,” said Jorge Nuñez, who has tapped into his 401(k) to help cover expenses.

An analysis from three economists found households making less than $30,000 a year were consistently facing higher inflation than those earning more than $100,000 a year.

One of the economists, Michael Weber of the University of Chicago Booth School, explained the situation like this: When prices started to rise at grocery stores, middle-class families cut back by looking for sales or going to lower-cost stores.

But low-income families were unable to absorb inflation the same way because they were already doing many of those things. [WaPo]

5. Happy Valentine’s Day! Thankfully we no longer celebrate it like the Romans did

To mark a day celebrating love and romance, NPR takes a look at the “dark origins” of Valentine’s Day.

Way back in the day, the Romans would celebrate the feast of Lupercalia from Feb. 13 to Feb. 15 by sacrificing a goat and a dog, then whipping women with the hides of the animals they had just slain. Women would actually line up for a beating and believed it would make them fertile.

The Roman romantics “were drunk. They were naked,” Noel Lenski, now a religious studies professor at Yale, told NPR in 2011.

The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine — on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day. [NPR]

Here’s what else is happening

• The Western U.S. and Northern Mexico are experiencing their driest period in at least 1,200 years, according to a new study. [NPR]
• A jury is now deciding whether Chicago Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson committed income tax fraud. [WBEZ]
• Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will be allowed to keep competing in the Winter Olympics, but she will not receive any medals until her doping case is resolved. [NPR]
• The trailer for Jordan Peele’s upcoming Nope is so scary it gave me goosebumps. [The Verge]

Oh, and one more thing …

Want to smell like greasy, salty French fries?

It turns out a lot of people do, because a specialty perfume from the Idaho Potato Commission has sold out.

“Whether you’re at a drive through restaurant or dining in, it’s near impossible to not grab a fry and take a bite before you dive into your meal,” Jamey Higham, president and CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission, said in a statement. “The smell is too good to resist.”

The French-fry smelling fragrance, called Frites by Idaho, was selling for $1.89 per 1.7 oz bottle on the commission’s website before selling out. [NPR]

Tell me something good …

OK, I can’t stop thinking about how spooky the trailer is for Jordan Peele’s new movie, Nope, that will be out this summer. So I’d like to know: What movie or TV show actually scared you, either now or as a kid?

When I was a kid, there was one part in Harry and the Hendersons that made me jump every time — even when I was expecting it. I’m talking about “the car scene.”

Feel free to email me at therundown@wbez.org or tweet me at @whuntah, and your responses might be shared here this week.

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