Hey there! It’s Thursday, and I can’t wait for things to go back to normal so I can … once again … work at the newsroom on … Navy Pier, which now includes a hotel. Was that a scream I heard in the distance? Here’s what you need to know today.

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1. Hospital behind Trump Tower vaccines also wrongly offered shots to Cook County judges

Loretto Hospital provided Cook County judges and their spouses a chance to receive shots earlier this month, according to an email obtained by WBEZ’s Dan Mihalopoulos and Kristen Schorsch. The hospital’s offer came at a time when many people who are eligible say they’re struggling to secure vaccinations due to enormous demand and a limited supply of doses.

Cook County judges are currently not eligible for vaccinations, according to Chicago health officials. In a statement, George Miller, the chief executive for Loretto Hospital, said he believed judges could receive shots. [WBEZ]

Loretto Hospital has come under scrutiny after Block Club Chicago reported this week that staff members at Trump Tower were inoculated when they, too, are not yet eligible. The website also reported that a top executive for the hospital owns a condo in the tower.

Democratic State Rep. LaShawn Ford, who represents the hospital in Springfield and is on the Loretto board of trustees, told WBEZ it was “really, really disappointing” that judges were offered the vaccine there.

“It’s unfortunate that people would even come to the Austin community and ask for vaccines to be given when they didn’t qualify,” Ford said. [WBEZ]

2. Attacks on Asian Americans highlight problems with how authorities handle hate crimes

Something stuck out to a lot of readers yesterday in the news about the Atlanta-area shootings: The suspect reportedly told police he was not motivated by race, even though six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent.

Hate crime charges are rarely filed in incidents against Asian Americans, reports The New York Times, raising questions over whether the system is broken. New York City last year saw the largest increase in reported anti-Asian hate crimes among large U.S. cities, according to an analysis.

The city saw several attacks on Asian people in the past month, but only one person was prosecuted for a hate crime: A Taiwanese man who allegedly wrote anti-Chinese graffiti on several businesses. [New York Times]

In the Chicago area, groups say local Asian communities are fearful of being in public, reports WBEZ’s Esther Yoon-Ji Kang. The head of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, which has an office in Chicago, questioned why authorities were allowing the suspect to determine the motive for the shootings.

“Just because he’s saying it’s not racially motivated, it doesn’t mean it isn’t, given all that’s gone into how Asian American women are viewed and sexualized in this country,” said Sung Yeon Choimorrow. [WBEZ]

3. Pritzker announces revised reopening plan for “our new normal”

Gov. JB Pritzker today unveiled a revised reopening plan that includes a new “bridge phase,” which will lift capacity limits on businesses, zoos, museums and spectator events when 70% of residents 65 and over have gotten at least one vaccine dose.

The last phase in the reopening plan will come when 50% of everyone 16 and over has received at least one shot. Pritzker formally announced the state will open eligibility on April 12 to people 16 and over, but that doesn’t include Chicago, which determines its own timeline for vaccinations. [Chicago Tribune]

Meanwhile, people who are 65 and over are more likely to be reinfected by the coronavirus if they do not get vaccinated, according to a new study published in the Lancet medical journal.

People in that age group who had recovered from the coronavirus only had 47% protection against reinfection, Danish researchers found. People who are below 65 years old had 80% protection. [Washington Post]

4. When and how will jobs rebound in the U.S.?

Jobless claims rose last week to 770,000 from the previous week’s 725,000, a sign that the labor market remains under a considerable amount of stress even as some parts of the economy are improving. Illinois saw a huge 17,147 increase in claims, totaling 74,630.

The Federal Reserve, however, is optimistic the labor market will recover, estimating the unemployment rate will fall to 4.5% by the end of the year. Some economists believe that jobs will dramatically rebound in the coming months, as vaccinations ramp up and allow more businesses to reopen. [AP]

In Chicago, you can see this dynamic playing out in businesses that depend on Major League Baseball games. People who work at shops, bars, restaurants and other businesses near Wrigley Field and Guaranteed Rate Field say they are feeling good about this season since a limited number of fans will be allowed in stands. [WBEZ]

5. The Biden administration quietly urges Mexico to curb migrant crossings

As President Joe Biden seeks to dismantle many Trump-era immigration policies, he is sticking with at least one: pressing Mexico to prevent an influx of migrants from crossing the border, reports The New York Times.

According to the newspaper, Biden asked Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in a video call earlier this month about how they could find a solution to the humanitarian challenges posed by the spike in migrants.

A senior Mexican official told the Times the two leaders also discussed how the U.S. could send surplus vaccines to Mexico, but officials said those talks were separate from conversations about migrants. Mexico has previously and publicly asked the U.S. to send shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has not been approved for emergency use in the U.S. [NYT]

The news comes as the Biden administration is planning to send 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Canada and 2.5 million doses to Mexico. [Axios]

Here’s what else is happening

• Mayor Lori Lightfoot reflects on the hard decisions she made during the pandemic. [WBEZ]
• The FBI is asking for help in identifying 10 people suspected of attacking police during the Jan. 6 insurrection. [NPR]
• A second official with the Tokyo Olympics has stepped down after making misogynistic remarks. [NPR]
• NPR offers four ways to deal with work-related burnout. [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

Man, I’m so happy that I used all this time during the pandemic to learn new skills and hobbies. LOL just kidding. I’m literally running out of things to watch on TV.

Thankfully a new Marvel show is coming to Disney+ tomorrow. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a six-episode that follows … the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Sam Wilson, the Falcon, was given Captain America’s shield at the end of Avengers: Endgame.

According to The Associated Press, the series “promises an exploration of patriotism and race alongside its shootouts and soaring chase scenes.” [AP]

Meanwhile, I still listen to “Agatha All Along” from WandaVision.

Tell me something good …

What sports moment, past, present or future, would you want to have front row seats for?

Warren writes:

“The sports moment I would have liked to attend: the final game of the basketball series when Michael Jordan won his sixth NBA title. I watched the Bulls win all six titles on TV, but to have been court-side when he won for the last time (and we knew it would be the last time with the Bulls), would have been amazing.”

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

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