Good afternoon! The cicadas are coming, and apparently they taste like “dirt shrimp.” Here’s what you need to know today.

1. Police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment on UChicago’s campus

University police officers began taking down tents around daybreak today and set up barricades to keep protesters away from the quad on the school’s Hyde Park campus, my colleague Mary Norkol reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

One of the organizers told the Sun-Times no one was arrested or injured, but that some people were being pushed to the ground during the standoff that followed after police finished clearing out the camp.

By 9 a.m., officials and campus police had left the scene as a rainstorm moved through.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office told the Sun-Times they were informed of the plan to dismantle the encampment early Tuesday morning and reached out to “reiterate serious safety and operational concerns about this plan.”

Yesterday, a coalition of faculty and academic staff from the university had called on the school’s administration to resume negotiations with the pro-Palestinian encampment organizers. University officials had suspended negotiations with organizers over the weekend. [Chicago Sun-Times]

And the Civilian Office of Police Accountability opened a preliminary investigation into Chicago Police officers’ use of force during a protest near the Art Institute over the weekend. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Meanwhile, Northwestern University President Michael Schill has been called to testify before Congress about antisemitism on campus. [The Daily Northwestern]

Northwestern is one of four universities across the country that has reached an agreement with protesters. [NPR]

2. The kickoff to a $280 million redevelopment to The Thompson Center — the future Chicago headquarters for Google

Once complete, the building at 100 W. Randolph St. will have a new glass facade and other amenities for Google’s 2,000 employees, Abby Miller writes for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Prime/Capri Interests (PCI), a joint venture between developers Michael Reschke and Quintin Primo III, expects the building to be move-in ready by 2026. Google intends to purchase the Thompson Center once renovations are complete.

PCI will restore and modernize the Thompson Center with a new triple-pane glass wrap on the exterior, a heightened colonnade, three levels of covered terraces and access to green spaces.

The center’s CTA stop at Clark and Lake streets, where six “L” lines converge, will remain open throughout construction.

The Thompson Center renovation comes as the city works to transform the Loop and bring new use to vacant office buildings, including an effort to create more than 1,000 new apartments in the city’s Central Business District on LaSalle Street. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Here’s a history of the city’s complicated relationship with the Thompson Center. [WBEZ]

3. After Foxtrot and Dom’s closed, Chicago-area vendors seek new places to sell

Dozens of local vendors were caught off guard when grocers Foxtrot and Dom’s abruptly went out of business last month.

As the initial shock wore off, these small business owners have been scrambling to find new and creative ways to sell their products, my colleague Esther Yoon-Ji Kang reports for WBEZ.

For Justin Doggett, owner of cold brew coffee company Kyoto Black, that means asking his social media followers to subscribe to his monthly cold brew.

And Yuta Katsuyama, owner of Onigiri Kororin, put expansion plans on hold while looking for other business opportunities, including Chicago-area college campuses.

Chicago’s food and beverage community has been working to support affected suppliers through efforts like pop-ups and covering the costs of discounts on items.

Foxtrot and Dom’s merged last year, and Outfox Hospitality officials touted the smaller store footprints, convenience and in-store dining. Laid-off workers and suppliers filed a lawsuit against the company for abruptly closing. [WBEZ]

4. The mayor of Dolton vetoed a move to have former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot investigate village finances

The investigation would have looked into Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard and her administration’s actions, including trips made by village officials, reimbursed expenses and payments made to Henyard and Village Administrator Keith Freeman, who is under indictment for bankruptcy fraud, the Daily Southtown reports.

Village trustees voted last month to hire Lightfoot at $400 per hour to conduct an independent investigation into Henyard, whom critics have dubbed “the worst mayor in America.”

“How dare you think you can come into someone’s town and do work,” Henyard said during yesterday’s Village Board meeting. “There is a right way to do things and this is just not that.”

Some residents have called for Henyard to step down.

“You’re not accountable, you don’t respect people who don’t agree with you, you’re not qualified for that seat,” one woman said during yesterday’s meeting. [Daily Southtown]

5. Fake snail shells created by Northwestern students will be used to lure in sea predators for research

The shells are turned into GastroPops, a treat used to lure predators so researchers can study their behavior, Jessica Ma reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

An outer casing is shaped like the shell of a marine snail, also known as a conch. The seafood filling, which is water soluble, serves as the bait by releasing a strong odor.

Scientists will use GastroPops to measure how often those predators, including lobsters and stingrays, eat shelled creatures, like clams and shrimps. This information helps scientists measure ecosystem health and the effects of conservation efforts, the Sun-Times reports.

The students, who worked on the project with help from the Shedd Aquarium, will travel to Miami later this month to test the treats in the field.

Some conch species are listed as threatened, so the aquarium wanted to find a way to measure how often conches are preyed upon — without putting real ones in harm’s way. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Here’s what else is happening

• TikTok filed a lawsuit to block a U.S. ban on the social media platform. [NPR]

• Two people were arrested for plotting to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. [BBC]

• Israeli forces took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt. [AP]

• Boy Scouts of America announced it will change its name to “Scouting America” next year. [CNN]

Oh, and one more thing …

A joint investigation between two Chicago newsrooms, including one that began as a volunteer-run startup less than 10 years ago, and a biography on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by a local author have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s highest honor.

City Bureau and Invisible Institute were awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting on Monday for the “Missing in Chicago” series by Sarah Conway, senior reporter at City Bureau, and Trina Reynolds-Tyler, data director at the Invisible Institute.

Invisible Institute’s audio team — Yohance Lacour, Sarah Geis, Erisa Apantaku, Dana Brozost-Kelleher, Bill Healy and Alison Flowers, with editorial support from Jamie Kalven — also received a Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting with USG Audio for its series that revisited a 1990s Chicago hate crime.

Chicago author Jonathan Eig won in the Biography category for King: A Life, sharing honors with Ilyon Woo, author of Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Tell me something good …

Mother’s Day is coming up, so I want to know: What’s your favorite memory with a maternal figure in your life?

Kathy writes:

“One of my favorite memories with my mother was seeing her attend one of my class Halloween parties in the third grade. My mom worked a lot and she didn’t really get PTO. Even that young I knew it was a big sacrifice for her. She even brought my class cupcakes which was an even bigger deal because we always lived paycheck to paycheck. It meant so much to little 8-year-old me.”

Merrill writes:

“I guess my favorite Mothers Day happening is when I lived on the other side of the world, and I sent my Mom Easter Lillies. She had dementia and when I called her on Mothers Day I asked her if she received her flowers from me and in a moment of clarity she said to me yes, you never forget. It was the best gift that I received from my Mother ever.”

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