Hey there, it’s Wednesday! And happy birthday to my husband, Joshua! We got married at City Hall a few months before the pandemic and during a teachers strike. Here’s what you need to know today.

1. Will Chicago’s mask mandate return as COVID-19 cases increase?

Chicago is now averaging more than 400 new COVID-19 cases per day — a number the city’s top doctor once called “a line in the sand for us,” reports WBEZ’s Courtney Kueppers.

While that number was previously used as a harbinger for when to institute — or remove — mask mandates, local doctors now say it’s an imperfect metric, in part because many people don’t report positive at-home tests and vaccines are widely available.

So will a mask mandate return, like it did this week in Philadelphia? Local doctors say it’s likely, especially during the winter, but officials need to come up with a plan.

“What point do you say, let’s start wearing masks again, versus just continuing as usual? I think that’s a really hard kind of threshold to pick,” said Dr. Michael Angarone, an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern Medicine. “And I think that’s something that the public health organizations have to determine.” [WBEZ]

Meanwhile, a federal mask mandate for planes, buses and trains was extended to May 3. [Axios]

In other pandemic news, more than 700 Chicago police officers are ignoring the city’s vaccine mandate and not being held accountable. [WBEZ]

2. Chicago’s public schools brace for budget cuts amid declining student enrollment

The pandemic accelerated student enrollment declines at the city’s public schools, and those losses will catch up with the nation’s third-largest school district in the next academic year, writes WBEZ’s Sarah Karp.

The bucket of money that schools use to pay most teachers and staff is being slashed by $60 million. At Mary Lyon Elementary School, that will result in nine teachers losing their jobs and class sizes growing by a few students, according to the school’s principal.

For some parents, the cuts are creating a sense of confusion and mistrust after the school district got a massive windfall of federal pandemic aid.

“Where is the money?” asked Betzabel Laredo. Her son attends Shields Middle School on the Southwest Side, which is slated to lose more than $380,000.

“How is it possible that, after living through a pandemic, living through traumas and losses, CPS, instead of supporting our children and improving the quality of the education, CPS cuts it?” she said. [WBEZ]

3. The suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting is arrested

The suspect, Frank R. James, was taken into custody this afternoon and is expected to face a terrorism-related charge from federal prosecutors, authorities told The New York Times.

Investigators say James left several belongings on the train that connected him to the attack that left 10 people wounded from gunfire. Those belongings include a credit card with his name on it and the key to a U-Haul van that he rented in Philadelphia, authorities said. [NYT]

James has addresses in both Philadelphia and Wisconsin. A neighbor told the Times that James moved into their two-story triplex in Milwaukee within the past year.

The neighbor said James was gruff and standoffish, and one of her friends mistakenly went into James’s apartment and found it “dirty and messy.” [NYT]

4. Food at the grocery store is 10% more expensive in the Chicago area compared to a year ago

That’s according to federal data released this week, which also showed that the price of meats, poultry, fish and eggs has jumped 13%, reports WBEZ’s Charmaine Runes. On the flip side, the price of ice cream fell 7.5%.

The news is another example of how inflation is eating away at the pocketbooks of Americans, both consumers and businesses.

“Now, everybody is looking for the cheap stuff, like bread,” said Wael Ghousheh, who runs the Valley of Jordan grocery in Hyde Park. “The bread’s high. The eggs are high. Everything is high.” [WBEZ]

5. Chicago workers head back to the office, but not back to normal

After two years of the pandemic, companies are trying to get workers back in the office. In Chicago, those efforts don’t appear to be working out so well compared to other parts of the nation.

The city is behind the national average when it comes to office occupancy levels, according to new data from Kastle Systems.

Some workers told WBEZ they’re not thrilled about commuting again. And there’s skepticism about the value of working in an office and persistent anxiety over COVID.

“I don’t have the same desire to use public transit,” said Kevin Santana. “I’m not super comfortable with it. I will [sometimes] just suck it up and ride the train but even when I’m not going into work, I’m still trying to limit the amount of times that I’m on public transit.” [WBEZ]

Here’s what else is happening

• Russia has made little headway in stopping the flow of weapons from Western nations into Ukraine. [AP]
• A series of attacks highlights the challenges the Chicago Transit Authority faces in tackling crime. [Chicago Tribune]
• Local politicians are remembering Harold Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor who would have turned 100 on Friday. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• The Library of Congress is preserving songs from the Wu-Tang Clan, Alicia Keys and Ricky Martin. [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

Chicago drag queen Shea Coulée is competing in a new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars that pits previous winners against each other for a second crown, a $200,000 cash prize and title of “Queen of All Queens.”

The other contestants are Raja, Jinkx Monsoon, Monét X Change, Trinity the Tuck, Yvie Oddly, The Vivienne and Jaida Essence Hall.

The upcoming season debuts on May 20 with two episodes on Paramount+. [Variety]

Tell me something good …

I worked out of a tattoo shop this week, and it really has me second guessing my career choice. So I’d like to know: If you could do it all over again, what job would you do?

Adria writes:

“If I could do it all over again, I would have pursued a degree in Hebrew or Hebrew Scriptures so I could get a job teaching those topics. They bring me such joy, and I love to teach! Unfortunately I let others tell me what my gifts were and where I should work. I do know, however, that nothing is wasted, and I’ve grown a lot from the jobs I’ve had.”

And Les Jacobson writes:

“I always figured I’d succeed Mickey Mantle as the Yankees’ center fielder. Oh to roam the legendary cavernous green spaces that extended over 400 feet from home plate to the center field bleachers. Only trouble, I eventually realized, was that I couldn’t field, hit or run. Sadly, they’d have to find someone else to replace The Mick.”

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