Hey there! It’s Wednesday, and I can’t believe it’s almost August. Here’s what you need to know today.

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1. Chicago takes a major step in police reform

After two hours of sometimes heated debate, the City Council today voted 36 to 13 to create an elected civilian board that gives the public more influence over the Chicago Police Department. Mayor Lori Lightfoot called today’s vote “historic” and “one for the ages.”

The plan approved today is a compromise between a coalition of community groups and the Lightfoot administration, and it gives both sides something they can claim as a victory.

For activists, the plan creates a board that can take a non-binding vote of no confidence on the police superintendent. And the board can also request changes in police policies. For Lightfoot, the plan leaves the door open to mayoral control of the police department.

The plan voted on today doesn’t go as far as activists previously envisioned. An earlier proposal could have paved the way for a board similar to Oakland’s Police Commission, which has the power to fire the police superintendent.

But that didn’t keep progressives from celebrating today’s vote as a milestone in police reform. Critics, however, argue the council essentially abdicated its responsibilities by creating another layer of government. [WBEZ]

Meanwhile, two aldermen are pushing to enlist City Hall’s top watchdog in an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct against female lifeguards at the city’s public beaches and pools. [WBEZ]

2. The new academic year for Chicago Public Schools is around the corner, and no decision has been made on masks

Public school students have just over five weeks left of freedom before they have to return to classrooms, and Chicago Public Schools still has not released guidelines for face masks, social distancing and COVID-19 testing, reports the Chicago Tribune.

As the newspaper reports, the new academic year is barreling toward Chicago amid conflicting advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The AAP says everyone older than 2 should wear a mask, vaccinated or not. But the CDC has said people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear a mask inside schools. [Chicago Tribune]

Meanwhile, city officials are reporting a daily average of 91 cases over the last seven days, up 70% from the previous week. The positivity rate is 1.5%. [COVID Dashboard]

3. Top Republicans begin urging vaccinations in a major shift from conspiracy theories

After allowing vaccine misinformation to spread within their ranks for months, a growing number of top Republican lawmakers are now urging vaccinations as the highly contagious delta variant spreads through conservative communities.

“These shots need to get in everybody’s arm as rapidly as possible, or we’re going to be back in a situation in the fall that we don’t yearn for, that we went through last year,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell this week. “I want to encourage everybody to do that and to ignore all of these other voices that are giving demonstrably bad advice.”

The shift can also be seen on Fox News. This week, host Sean Hannity told his millions of viewers that “it absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated. I believe in science. I believe in the science of vaccination.”

But it remains to be seen just how widespread this change in tune becomes within the GOP. For example, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene doubled down on vaccine misinformation this week after temporarily being banned from Twitter. [Washington Post]

4. Wildfire smoke is spreading across the nation, resulting in “unhealthy” air quality as far as New York

Massive wildfires in the Western U.S. and Canada have triggered health alerts thousands of miles away on the East Coast and the Upper Midwest, according to the National Weather Service.

The wildfires, which can be seen from space, have been fueled by severe heat waves and drought linked to climate change. As Axios reports, there are nearly 300 wildfires in British Columbia and the more than 80 in the U.S.

The Bootleg Fire in Southern Oregon is the largest blaze so far this year, and it became so large that it created its own weather. [Axios]

5. U.S. women’s soccer team suffers an early defeat at a very quiet Summer Olympics

The U.S. women’s soccer team, seeking to become the first to take Olympic gold after winning the World Cup, lost its first game 3-0 to Sweden.

“We got our a**** kicked, didn’t we. Just a little tight, just a little nervous,” U.S. star Megan Rapinoe told NPR after the game. “We had a few chances that we could have taken better that would have shifted the game quite a bit.”

The loss doesn’t rule the team out, but it makes it much harder for them to win the gold.

In a reminder of just how surreal the situation is at the Summer Games, the two teams faced off in a nearly empty stadium, with no cheers as an announcer called each player’s name. NPR reports the “stadium was so quiet that press in the stands could actually hear snippets of what the players were yelling to one another.” [NPR]

Here’s what else is happening

• The U.S. life expectancy saw its biggest drop last year since World War II. [AP]
• A federal judge temporarily blocked an Arkansas law that would ban almost all abortions. [NPR]
• A bipartisan effort is underway to address problems exposed by Britney Spears’ controversial conservatorship. [NPR]
• Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler, Lorne Michaels, Berry Gordy and Justino Diaz will be celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors in December. [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

Are moviegoers growing tired of Marvel movies?

That’s a big question being asked after Black Widow saw a major decline at the box office over the weekend. As The Washington Post reports, Black Widow has grossed just $132 million in 11 days, putting the film on track to become the lowest grossing Marvel movie since Captain America: The First Avenger.

Some analysts believe Disney, which owns Marvel, may have shot itself in the foot by making Black Widow available for free on its TV streaming service in October.

“I think what this shows is that if you’re making a movie available quickly for free on streaming, people will just wait,” one researcher told the Post.

Other industry observers say the upcoming Shang-Chi and November’s Eternals may be better indicators of whether Marvel’s long-running superhero boom is reaching a bust. [WaPo]

Tell me something good …

I have to do a performance review for work because apparently showing up everyday isn’t enough. But I’d like to know: What was the first job you had, and did you learn anything meaningful from the experience?

Joy writes:

“My first non-babysitting job was at a hosiery outlet called The Sock Market. The job was boring, but the manager was really great. She was a feminist (not common in 1980s small-town Wisconsin), and she recommended I read The Cinderella Complex by Colette Dowling. That book was a revelation that changed my life!”

And @NankResia tweets:

“My first job was at Dairy Queen and I learned you can’t eat soft serve every shift without gaining 20 pounds!”

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

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