Hey there, it’s Thursday! And for whatever reason, my dog loves licking books. Every time I get a new one and put it on the coffee table, her tongue comes flying out. I don’t get it. Anyway, here’s what you need to know today.

1. Chicago’s first casino gets a location. Now comes the political fight.

By now you’ve probably heard that Mayor Lori Lightfoot picked a bid from Bally’s Corporation to put a casino on the site of the Chicago Tribune printing plant in the River West neighborhood.

Bally’s hopes to have a temporary site up and running in 2023, and a permanent one in early 2026.

Before that happens, the City Council has to sign off on the plan, and that’s where things could get messy. Aldermen Brian Hopkins and Brendan Reilly, who represent areas near the site, oppose the bid, citing in part resistance from residents.

But Lightfoot and Bally’s have made moves to strengthen their hand.

The mayor has publicly signaled that if a casino doesn’t get approved by the City Council, she’ll have to raise taxes, an argument that won over a key vote — Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., whose 27th Ward would be home to the casino.

On top of that, Bally’s worked out a labor agreement with several unions, which added political support from organized labor, a crucial base for local lawmakers. [WBEZ]

2. The White House eyes a plan to help people travel to states where abortion will remain legal if Roe v. Wade is overturned

White House officials are discussing whether they can use federal funds, either from Medicaid or somewhere else, to help patients travel to states that have protections for abortions, such as Illinois, reports The Washington Post.

These discussions illustrate the Biden administration’s limited options if the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade.

A push to codify Roe into law appears doomed in Congress, as Democrats hold a razor thin majority in the Senate. And Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are against eliminating the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to pass most legislation.

Even if Democrats torpedoed the filibuster and passed an abortion rights bill, Biden and some officials worry Republicans would “simply reverse that next time they take control of Congress and the presidency, outlawing abortion nationwide,” reports The Washington Post. [WaPo]

If Roe is overturned, it would not be illegal to help a person travel from a state where abortion is banned to another state where it is legal, reports WBEZ’s Kristen Schorsch and Mariah Woelfel.

“You’re a free person in the United States who can travel,” said Katie Watson, a bioethicist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “So if you’re in a state where gambling is illegal, we all understand that you can fly to Las Vegas and have a gambling weekend. And when you come back, they don’t arrest you in your home state.” [WBEZ]

3. Nearly 15 million deaths worldwide are related to the pandemic, according to the WHO

The World Health Organization today estimates that nearly 15 million people either died from COVID-19 or from health care shortages as the pandemic overwhelmed hospitals.

This estimated total is much higher than the official death toll of 6 million.

“This may seem like just a bean-counting exercise, but having these WHO numbers is so critical to understanding how we should combat future pandemics and continue to respond to this one,” said Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious diseases specialist at the Yale School of Public Health who was not linked to the WHO research. [Associated Press]

Meanwhile, as the “return to normal” marches on in Chicago, parents and child care centers are navigating another confusing pandemic moment on their own. [WBEZ]

4. A former lifeguard supervisor at the Chicago Park District faces sex crime charges

A former lifeguard supervisor at public pools on the Northwest Side today became the second man charged with sex crimes in the wide-ranging scandal in the Chicago Park District’s Aquatics Department, reports WBEZ’s Dan Mihalopoulos.

Hector Coz has been charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse against a girl who was 17 years old when he was supervising her and allegedly attacked her in a locker room at Jefferson Park pool in 2018.

Coz worked for the park district for eight years but left after being accused of serious sexual misconduct at two pools in 2020, documents show.

Confidential records obtained by WBEZ show park district investigators told the agency’s board last year that they had found evidence Coz “repeatedly committed various forms of sexual misconduct against two female lifeguards with whom he had worked.”

Coz was suspended and placed on the park district’s “do not rehire” list. [WBEZ]

5. Crime hotspots within the Chicago Police Department

A new analysis of public data about the Chicago Police Department finds that misconduct, often portrayed as a matter of “bad apples,” is a group phenomenon and inflicts outsized harm in minority communities, reports WBEZ’s Chip Mitchell.

The researchers used social networking algorithms and machine learning techniques to analyze data from seven sources spanning nearly five decades. The analysis came up with 160 “potential crews” of deviant, even criminal, cops. Those groups include 1,156 past and present officers.

“These are the worst of the worst cops coming together,” Northwestern University sociologist Andrew Papachristos, who led the research, told WBEZ, saying the police crews operated in some ways like street gangs.

“They had codes, they had symbols, they were aggressively targeting competition. They were engaging in criminal behavior.” [WBEZ]

Here’s what else is happening

• In a potential blow to Chicago, Boeing will reportedly move its headquarters to Arlington, Va. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Wall Street suffered its worst day of the year as concerns about the economy intensified. [CNBC]
• Young children who transition to a new gender are likely to continue identifying as that gender five years later, according to a study that began in 2013. [New York Times]
• With James Corden leaving The Late Late Show, some say it’s time for a non-white person to get that spot. [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

A new trailer dropped today for HBO’s House of Dragons, a prequel to Game of Thrones that takes place 200 years before Daenerys Targaryen became khaleesi and Jon Snow knew nothing.

House of Dragons follows the Targaryens, the once powerful family that ruled over Westeros, rode dragons and were really into having naturally white hair for some reason. The series begins Aug. 21, and HBO is hoping it’ll be a hit and expand Game of Thrones as a franchise. [Hollywood Reporter]

Having said all that … George R.R. Martin still hasn’t finished the book series that was the basis of HBO’s Games of Thrones. I know he gets ragged on for it, and with the TV show filling in the gap, some might ask who really cares?

But just to put things in perspective, the first book came out in 1996 when I was 12 years old, Bill Clinton was the president and the Nintendo 64 was one of the hottest video game systems around.

Tell me something good …

Mother’s Day is this Sunday. So I’d like to know what is one of your fondest memories of your mom?

Jena writes:

“I lost my mom in 2020. She was only 58 years young. She had been a nurse for 25 years. When her and my father divorced, she put herself through nursing school (with three kids) going from a CNA to LPN to RN and then on to being the director of multiple nursing homes.

“At her funeral her coworkers performed a special ceremony to honor her work. Nurses of all ages showed up in droves to tell us stories of how my mom inspired them to become nurses. This included people she met over two decades. It was so beautiful to learn about what an inspiration my mom had been to so many people. I will never forget it.”

And Leslie Free writes:

“My mom could fight fire with fire. The kids across the street often would be outside with their rock music blaring for all the neighborhood to hear on warm summer mornings.

“Mom’s answer was opening all the windows and blaring Mario Lanza or Luciano Pavarotti on the stereo. I would often wake up bleary eyed to the sounds of world famous tenors!

“While I’m sure I was embarrassed at the time, it’s because of my mom that I have an appreciation for beautiful classical music and will always remember her fondly when I hear ‘Nessun Dorma.’ I miss her dearly but am grateful for the exposure to wonderful opera music to go along with a side of rock and roll, and I honor her every Mother’s Day by opening my windows and treating my neighbors to an afternoon of Luciano and Mario!”

Feel free to email or tweet me, and your response might be shared here this week.