Hey there! It’s finally Friday. This week felt like it would never end. Anyway, here’s another video of Gov. JB Pritzker dancing, and here’s what you need to know today.

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1. Supreme Court declines to block Texas’ abortion law, but grants a fast-track review

The Supreme Court once again declined to temporarily block a controversial abortion law in Texas, but the justices agreed to fast-track a review of the law on Nov. 1.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented with keeping the law in place.

“The promise of future adjudication offers cold comfort, however, for Texas women seeking abortion care, who are entitled to relief now,” she wrote. “These women will suffer personal harm from delaying their medical care, and as their pregnancies progress, they may even be unable to obtain abortion care altogether.”

As NPR’s Nina Totenberg reports, the Supreme Court will not directly consider the constitutionality of the law, but whether the federal government has the right to sue in the matter.

A separate case over a Mississippi abortion law is directly asking justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion. The court is scheduled to hear arguments in that case on Dec. 1. [NPR]

2. Biden says he is open to ending the Senate filibuster for voting rights legislation and other Democratic priorities

During a CNN town hall meeting last night, President Joe Biden suggested he is ready to push for rule changes in the Senate after Republicans, for the third time, blocked legislation bolstering voting rights.

“We’re going to have to move to the point where we fundamentally alter the filibuster,” Biden said.

The president said changes to the filibuster, which allows the minority party to block legislation that isn’t supported by at least 60 votes, would have to wait until after Congress passes his ambitious social policy bill. [New York Times]

Liberal activists have become increasingly frustrated with the president as the Senate GOP blocks major parts of the Democratic agenda. And voting rights are an important issue to a crucial bloc of Democratic support — Black voters.

The governor’s race in Virginia could signal how enthusiastic (or not) voters are about the Democratic Party as the nation’s midterm elections loom on the horizon. [NPR]

3. Deaths from prop guns on movie sets are rare — but not unheard of

The recent death of director of photography Halyna Hutchins is raising questions about the safety precautions taken on the set of the Western Rust. The movie’s star, Alec Baldwin, fired a prop gun yesterday that killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.

Though Hutchins’ death is tragic and distressing, film and television prop experts told NPR that injuries or deaths from prop guns are exceedingly rare.

At least 43 people died on sets and more than 150 suffered life-altering injuries in the U.S. between 1990 and 2016, according to an Associated Press report.

Brandon Lee is among those who died during that time frame. Lee, the son of the late martial-arts star Bruce Lee, died in 1993 on the set of The Crow when a gun that was supposed to fire a blank instead discharged part of a bullet that had become lodged in the gun’s barrel. [NPR]

Expressing his “shock and sadness,” Baldwin this morning said he is cooperating with authorities. [NPR]

4. More than 130 city workers sue to stop Chicago’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate

A group of city workers that includes dozens of firefighters is asking a federal judge to temporarily block Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate as legal challenges against the requirement make their way through the courts.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, argues the city’s mandate, as well as a separate order from Gov. JB Pritzker for health care workers and certain state employees, is unconstitutional. [Chicago Sun-Times]

But legal experts say there is a longstanding precedent allowing businesses and governments to enforce the mandates. And lawsuits seeking to overturn vaccine mandates have been unsuccessful.

“They’re pretty weak,” Glenn Cohen, a health law and bioethics professor at Harvard Law School, told ABC News. “The judges that have denied them have come from across the political spectrum, and from across the country, because the plaintiffs’ arguments don’t have any weight.” [ABC News]

5. Some good news for folks who take public transportation in Chicago

As everything seems to cost more these days, the Chicago Transit Authority wants to lower the price of passes in an effort to lure back commuters after the initial phase of the pandemic caused ridership to plummet.

The CTA wants to permanently cut the price of daily passes to $5 from $10. Three-day passes would drop to $15 from $20, and seven-day passes would cost $20, down from $28. The CTA also wants to drop a 25-cent transfer fee.

The change in pass prices is part of the CTA’s proposed operating budget for next year. The transit agency says its $1.75 billion plan does not include cuts to bus and train service. [Chicago Tribune]

Here’s what else is happening

• Lyft says more than 4,000 sexual assaults occurred during rides from 2017 through 2019. [Washington Post]
• People of color in Chicago have a harder time getting to work than white residents. [WBEZ]
• New instruments were created for the soundtrack of Dune. [New York Times]
• You can soon buy a Lego set of the Home Alone house for $250. [The Verge]

Oh, and one more thing …

Curious City shares the fascinating story of how independent Black cinema started in Chicago, thanks largely to a man named William Foster.

He created the Foster Photoplay Company during the early 1900s, which is considered to be the first Black-owned film production company in the U.S. that featured an all-Black cast. His films challenged stereotypes and helped pave the way for other Black filmmakers.

But unfortunately, Foster’s films and those of most of his contemporaries have been lost. [WBEZ]

Tell me something good …

What’s the best way to brighten up on a gray Chicago day?

Renuka writes:

“Waking up before everyone else and enjoying a fresh brewed cup of hot hot chai with grated ginger while hands wrapped all around the mug.”

And Mike writes:

“Grey days in Chicago. Get outside … even if it is grey outside, get out and enjoy every day. What do Chicago people do outside to keep from getting blue from the grey? Some of us have been inside too long to remember that they can go outside and have fun.”

Thanks for all the responses this week. I’m sorry I couldn’t share them all, but it was nice hearing from y’all.

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