Good afternoon! It’s Wednesday, and everyone is like “stream this, stream that,” but aren’t we all just islands in the stream? Yes, I said that in my head as if I were Carrie Bradshaw. Anyway, here’s what you need to know today.

1. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown faces a “crisis of confidence” among his command staff

Four police supervisors told the Chicago Sun-Times they have lost faith with embattled Police Superintendent David Brown amid a surge in violent crime that resulted in more than 800 homicides last year, the most in a quarter-century.

“His strategies and his efforts [and] the threatening of command staff shows a lack of leadership,” one source told the Sun-Times. “I can’t think of one member of the command staff that is willing to back him.”

Earlier this month, Brown and Mayor Lori Lightfoot told police brass they could be demoted if they don’t increase arrests and produce more positive community interactions, the Sun-Times reports. Shortly after, district commanders were told that 60% of their tactical officers were being moved to beat cars.

“The department has been in a constant state of reorganization since Brown arrived, which is evidence that he has no strategy and doesn’t know what he’s doing,” a source told the newspaper. [Sun-Times]

2. Chicago is past the peak of the omicron wave, city’s top doc says

Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago’s top public health official, said today that the city has turned a corner in the record surge of COVID-19 cases. But she said it will be some time before restrictions, such as a mask mandate for public indoor spaces, can be lifted.

“We have a very long way to go to be down to a place where this is manageable,” Arwady said. [ABC7]

In Chicago, officials were reporting a 46% drop in the seven-day average of daily cases as of yesterday. [COVID Dashboard]

Health experts say cases are also dropping throughout Illinois, but warn residents should remain vigilant.

“I do think that there has been a really promising trend across the country in some of the earlier hit cities, including Chicago, that we’ve likely peaked,” said Dr. Sajal Tanna, an infectious disease physician at Northwestern Medical. “I’m cautiously optimistic that the worst is hopefully behind us.” [Sun-Times]

Meanwhile, the Biden administration announced it will make 400 million high-quality face masks available, free of charge, to Americans beginning next week. [AP]

3. The parent company of WBEZ will buy the Chicago Sun-Times

The board of directors overseeing WBEZ voted last night to acquire the Chicago Sun-Times, a move that could create a new journalistic powerhouse. The deal is expected to close by the end of the month.

“A vibrant local news ecosystem is fundamental to a healthy democracy, informed citizens, and engaged communities,” said Matt Moog, CEO of Chicago Public Media, in a statement. “Together WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times aim to tell the stories that matter, serve more Chicagoans with our unbiased, fact-based journalism, and connect Chicagoans more deeply to each other and to their communities.”

Under the deal, the Sun-Times would join WBEZ as a nonprofit subsidiary of Chicago Public Media, and both news outlets would maintain their own newsrooms and staff.

As WBEZ’s Dave McKinney reports, “The closely-watched deal is being held up as a possible template for other impoverished news organizations whose newsrooms have been gutted by declining advertising revenues, audiences migrating to social media for their news and disinterested media owners unwilling to invest.” [WBEZ]

4. New York’s attorney general says Trump’s family business misled banks and tax officials

New York Attorney General Letitia James released new details of her investigation into the Trump Organization as she seeks to question former President Donald Trump and his two eldest children.

She told a court late yesterday that investigators have uncovered evidence that Trump’s family business used “fraudulent or misleading” asset valuations to help its bottom line.

Specifically, the Trump Organization overstated the value of land donations in New York and California on paperwork submitted to the IRS to justify several million dollars in tax deductions, according to court documents submitted by James’ office.

Trump and his lawyers say the investigation is politically motivated. [AP]

5. Who betrayed Anne Frank? Researchers say they’ve cracked the case, but historians are not sold

A group of researchers lead by a former FBI agent believe they have solved how diarist Anne Frank and her family were discovered by the Nazis.

The likely scenario, the group says, is that Arnold van den Bergh, a Jewish notary from Amsterdam who died of throat cancer in 1950, tipped off the Nazis to the secret annex where Anne and her family were hiding. And the researchers believe van den Bergh was given a list of Jews in hiding from the Amsterdam Jewish Council.

But historians say there is little evidence to support such monumental claims, reports The New York Times.

“This is an enormous accusation that they made using a load of assumptions, but it’s really based on nothing more than a snippet of information,” said Emile Schrijver, the director of Amsterdam’s Jewish Cultural Quarter. [NYT]

Here’s what else is happening

• The University of Michigan agreed to pay $490 million to settle claims from hundreds of people who say they were sexually assaulted by a former sports doctor. [AP]
• Inflation is particularly high in the Midwest. [Chicago Tribune]
• Tributes are pouring in for fashion journalist and icon André Leon Talley, who died yesterday at the age of 73. [NPR]
• A new area code, 464, is coming to Chicago’s south suburbs this Friday. [Chicago Tribune]

Oh, and one more thing …

Just reading this story makes me feel chilly: The Polar Plunge is returning next month as an in-person event at Chicago’s Oak Street Beach, reports Block Club Chicago.

Folks hoping to dive into the icy waters of Lake Michigan will have to show proof of vaccination or provide a recent negative COVID-19 test.

The Chicago Polar Bear Club, the nonprofit organization behind the event, is hoping to raise more than $35,000 to help three Chicago families. [Block Club Chicago]

Tell me something good …

What hobbies, sports or activities are you picking up as we trudge through the winter?

Sara writes:

“I’m making memory quilts this winter for my sons — ages 14 and 16. I have some itty bitty clothes from when they were babies to include as well as clothing from throughout their lives. The last time I made a quilt was when I was pregnant with each of them. I learned to quilt around 1990 from my mentor at my first teaching job, so I’m on a quindecennial schedule, or every 15 years. It’s a cozy winter pastime.”

And Carolyn R. writes:

“My partner and I just started fostering a rescue dog, so our new hobbies are cleaning up potty accidents and learning how quickly a dog toy can be dismembered. Our new sport is playing tug of war until our arms give out, and our new favorite activity is getting lots and lots of doggo cuddle time and kisses.”

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