Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, and my favorite Star Wars moment is when Princess Leia confesses her love to Han Solo, not knowing if she’ll ever see him again. And Solo simply replies: “I know.” Here’s what you need to know today.

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1. Lightfoot aims to fully reopen Chicago by July 4

If coronavirus cases continue on their downward path, Chicago could lift capacity limits and fully reopen by July 4, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced today, the latest sign that life could soon return to something closer to “normal.”

The mayor’s remarks came during a press conference with Gov. JB Pritzker to announce the Chicago Auto Show will return to McCormick Place in July.

As the Chicago Tribune reports, if current trends hold, Illinois could move to a full reopening in early-to-mid-June under Pritzker’s plan to lift pandemic restrictions. [Chicago Tribune]

Nearly 59% of Illinois residents have received at least one vaccine dose, but the pace of inoculations is dropping, according to The Washington Post. The newspaper reports that Illinois saw a 24% decrease of shots administered in the past week. [WaPo]

2. The FDA is expected to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for adolescents by next week

The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to give the OK for administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to adolescents 12 to 15 years old by early next week, according to several media reports.

The move is welcome news for families who may be feeling anxious about sending their children back to classrooms. [CNN]

Meanwhile, children account for a higher proportion of coronavirus cases than they did a year ago, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Among states that break down data by age, children represented 22.4% of cases reported in the last week. [NPR]

3. Scrutiny mounts on Chicago’s gunshot detection system in aftermath of Adam Toledo shooting

Nearly 86% of alerts from Chicago’s gunshot detection system resulted in no formal reports of any crime, according to a study from the MacArthur Justice Center at the Northwestern University School of Law.

ShotSpotter, the company behind the technology, claims its system is 97% accurate. But the MacArthur Justice Center study found there is no evidence the system can accurately distinguish the sound of a gunshot from other loud noises, like fireworks.

The gunshot detection system has come under renewed scrutiny after the police killing of 13-year-old Adam Toledo last month, when officers were responding to a ShotSpotter alert. [Chicago Sun-Times]

4. A man drove his truck into Logan Square picnickers. Was it a hate crime?

A Cook County judge denied bail this week for a 57-year-old man who allegedly drove his pickup truck into a group of people picnicking on Saturday in Logan Square, striking two people.

Prosecutors say Timothy Nielsen intentionally drove into the group of people after telling someone that he was annoyed with “yuppies with dogs.”

But a witness told Block Club Chicago that Nielsen made racist remarks about Asian people before driving toward the picnic. Rob Lopez, who was among the group allegedly targeted by Nielsen, told the news website the driver said “f*** Asians” or “godd**n Asians” to his friend, who is Asian.

Prosecutors did not mention those remarks during a court hearing yesterday. [Block Club Chicago]

5. Will Trump remain banned from Facebook?

We’ll find out tomorrow morning, when a panel created and funded by the social media giant will announce whether to uphold or reverse former President Donald Trump’s indefinite ban.

Facebook became the first social media platform to remove Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Tomorrow’s decision by Facebook’s Oversight Board is being closely watched by politicians around the world, and it could become a model for other social media companies on how to address control of free speech. [NPR]

Here’s what else is happening

Children were among the more than 20 people killed in a train crash in Mexico City, the mayor said. [NPR]

India is now reporting a total of more than 20 million coronavirus infections. [NPR]

China seeks to beat traditional carmakers in the electric car market. [NYT]

Reports of unruly passengers on airplanes surged this year, according to the FAA. [Axios]

Oh, and one more thing …

LOL, OK, hold up, I’m outta breath: Stacey Abrams, the former gubernatorial candidate in Georgia who is widely credited with helping Democrats claim a slim majority in the Senate … wrote romance novels?

I had no idea until I saw the news today that Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House, will republish three novels she wrote nearly 20 years ago under the name Selena Montgomery.

The books are Rules of Engagement, The Art of Desire and Power of Persuasion. [AP]

The books generally received good reviews on the website Goodreads, and they all have something to do with someone falling in love and fighting terrorists.

Here’s the blurb for Power of Persuasion: “When an anti-terrorist agency decides to use her groundbreaking artificial intelligence system to stop a dangerous threat against Jafir’s monarchy, A.J. Grayson finds herself thrust in the middle of a political conspiracy that leads her into the arms of Damon Toca, the region’s newly crowned king.” [Goodreads]

Soooo … are we doing a Rundown book club?

Tell me something good …

Summer really does feel like it’s around the corner. What are you looking forward to when the weather warms up?

Cassie writes:

“I’m excited to spend time with family and friends this summer without having to quarantine for two weeks on either side and be masked the whole time. We are spending a week with my in-laws in South Haven, Mich., in July and two weeks with my parents and brother in Yellowstone in September. I haven’t seen my family since Christmas 2019 since they live in California and NYC, so it really will be fantastic to spend time with them. In between, planning plenty of dinner parties, BBQ, picnics and walks with friends around town.”

Feel free to email me at therundown@wbez.org or tweet me at @whuntah.

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