Hey there! It’s Tuesday, and hang in there, my friends. We only have one more day left with rain in the forecast, and the weather for the Fourth of July weekend is looking very good. Here’s what you need to know today.

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1. Do fully vaccinated Illinois residents need to panic about the Delta variant?

No, according to local health experts interviewed by the Chicago Tribune.

The newspaper takes a good look at what’s going on in Illinois regarding the highly contagious coronavirus variant that was first discovered in India. (I’ve been sharing this article with friends and family members who have been really nervous.)

Current evidence suggests Delta poses more of a threat to people who are not vaccinated or partially vaccinated.

“Fully vaccinated people really don’t need to be concerned,” Dr. Emily Landon, chief health care epidemiologist at the University of Chicago, told the Tribune. “All of the vaccines that are available in the U.S. work well with the Delta variant but don’t work as well as protecting you from the original COVID. But, we’re talking about 95 and 90%, which is not significant enough to make me want to change how people are behaving.”

Illinois officials reported 84 cases of the Delta variant as of Sunday. Health experts say Delta could emerge as the most dominant strain in the U.S. So far in Illinois, the most common strain is Alpha, which was first discovered in the U.K. That strain makes up about 70% of all Illinois cases. [Chicago Tribune]

2. Condo president warned residents about damage months before building collapsed

The president of the condo association for the Champlain Towers South complex warned residents in a letter in April that damage to the building had gotten “significantly worse,” reports NPR.

News of the letter comes as investigators search for clues as to why the 13-story, concrete building collapsed last week, killing at least 11 people and leaving more than 150 others missing.

The letter from the president followed up on a 2018 inspection that found “major structural damage” at the building. The president sent the letter to explain why residents needed to help pay for a $15 million special assessment. [NPR]

Meanwhile, residents and former employees at the building say the parking garage often flooded, a problem that stretched back decades, according to The Washington Post. Engineers told the newspaper that the standing water could have played a role in the collapse, but it’s too soon to say for sure. [WaPo]

A contractor visited the building two days before the collapse to put together a bid for restoring the pool area, which was marked as an area of concern in the 2018 inspection.

The contractor told the Miami Herald that he was shocked by the amount of standing water and a lack of maintenance in the basement garage underneath the pool. [Miami Herald]

3. More than 1 million Illinois children are eligible for federal payments next month

Beginning July 15, families across the nation will receive monthly payments between $250 and $300 under an enhanced child tax credit program that was a part of President Joe Biden’s stimulus package.

An estimated 1.3 million children in Illinois are eligible for the payments, according to state officials. The tax credit is available to children with families that make less than $75,000 for a single person and $150,000 for married couples filing jointly. The payments will last until December.

Chicago resident Shainise Norals, the mother of a 1-year-old, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the payments couldn’t come soon enough.

“I’ve been receiving unemployment; that’s going to stop soon,” she said. “It is kind of hard.” [Sun-Times]

4. Memphis offers a preview of the chaos that could await the nation when eviction moratoriums expire

Evictions have resumed in the Memphis area after a federal judge in March struck down a moratorium, and judges are flying “through a case a minute as they work their way through an estimated 20,000-case backlog,” reports The Washington Post.

The situation in Memphis offers a preview of a feared surge in evictions when a federal eviction moratorium expires at the end of July. About 10 million Americans remain behind on payments, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. [Washington Post]

In Chicago, at least 20% of households are behind on rent, according to researchers at Harvard University. [PDF]

Illinois’ eviction moratorium is set to expire by August. Here’s a look at what local officials are doing to prevent a wave of evictions. [AP]

5. The Chicago Robocop? Alderman pitches crime-fighting drone that says, “We can see you”

In a sign of just how frustrated and desperate some Chicago residents have become with the city’s gun violence, an influential South Side alderman is pitching a private company’s fleet of drones as a way to combat crime.

Ald. Roderick Sawyer raised the idea this week at a community meeting, saying the drones could use a “booming voice” to disrupt crimes as they’re being committed, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

“We see you … we’re recording you right now … we see everything that you’re doing. You’re picking your nose right now. We see you!” Sawyer said.

The newspaper reports the idea got some mixed reactions, with a former truck driver and Marine complaining that meetings over violence are usually “just talk.” [Sun-Times]

Here’s what else is happening

• United Airlines announced its biggest jet order in the company’s history, and the move is expected to create up to 3,000 jobs in Chicago. [Chicago Tribune]
• All expired Illinois drivers’ licenses will be valid until Jan. 1, 2022 as state offices face a surge in renewals. [WTTW]
• Gov. Pritzker signed a law allowing college athletes to sign endorsement deals. [Chicago Tribune]
• Chicago officials are staffing up a program designed to aid residents at nursing homes. [WBEZ]

Oh, and one more thing …

LOL, I can’t stop laughing at the trailer for the live-action Clifford the Big Red Dog. I loved the books as a kid, but could you imagine how much chaos a giant dog, let alone a giant red dog, would have on the city? It would be a Godzilla movie. [EW]

I’ll likely see the movie with my nephews, who are 6 and 4. But the 4-year-old is kinda over dogs. They have a dog named Bear, and when she tried eating the 4-year-old’s food, he said, “No Bear! This is my food. Go to Momma!” As if the dog could understand what he was saying.

Tell me something good …

It seems like everyone I know is buying house plants or gardening, so I’d like to know what you’re growing, planting or buying this summer.

Jane tweets:

“I’ve always been a houseplant freak (grew exotic orchids in the 80s as a high schooler), but the new resurgence is bringing me great joy. My students create terrariums during the 1st week of school each year. Sharing the green love!”

And PMGO tweets:

“I’m growing 🌶 from seed this year! Created a container garden on my balcony & look forward to cooking with fresh cayenne, serrano, jalapeño, banana, chocolate, poblano, and bell peppers 👩‍🍳”

Feel free to email or tweet me, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

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

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