[Sleeping in a La-Z-Boy chair, covered in a pile of old “New Yorker” issues and empty Takis bags, until WBEZ drops a bucket of cold water on me.] Oh hey! It’s me, Hunter. I’m back after a week off. Here’s what you need to know today.

1. Will vaccine hesitancy among Chicago cops endanger public safety?

Only 27% of Chicago police officers received a shot at a city-run vaccination site, reports WBEZ’s Patrick Smith, citing Police Department data. But many cops may have gotten vaccines elsewhere.

Officers who spoke to WBEZ said vaccine hesitancy among the city’s rank-and-file cops is fueled by concerns over potential side effects. But Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University, said the trend may endanger communities that officers swore to protect.

“Already the police have a reputation in many neighborhoods in the city that’s not very positive,” Murphy said. “So on top of all the other issues going on with the police force, the fact that they’re not vaccinated and spreading COVID there, that is not going to help their standing in the community.” [WBEZ]

Other cities are reporting similar trends. In Las Vegas, just 39% of police department employees have received at least one shot, officials say. And in Atlanta, 36% of officers have been vaccinated. [Washington Post]

The news comes as health experts now believe the U.S. will most likely not reach herd immunity because of vaccine hesitancy and coronavirus variants. [New York Times]

2. Head of Chicago Public Schools will resign after tumultuous year

CPS CEO Janice Jackson announced today she will step down from overseeing the nation’s third-largest school district, a move that comes after the pandemic upended classrooms and tensions grew even more between the district and the Chicago Teachers Union.

Jackson’s contract expires on June 30. Her exit comes as other high-ranking district officials are also leaving, raising questions about who will lead CPS as planning begins for the next academic year. [WBEZ]

The departures at CPS come as Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration faces a “brain drain,” reports Crain’s Chicago Business. The administration’s inability to keep permanent key players could jeopardize the mayor’s efforts to deliver on her campaign promises, such as reforming the Police Department. [Crain’s]

3. U.S. begins reuniting families separated at southern border

Four families that were separated at the Mexico border under the Trump administration will be reunited this week in the U.S., according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Some of the families had been separated as far back as 2017, reports NPR.

“They are children who were three years old at the time of separation. They are teenagers who have had to live without their parents during their most formative years,” Mayorkas said.

Immigrants advocates welcomed today’s developments, but they remain frustrated by the Biden administration’s slow pace to reunify families. [NPR]

4. Idaho’s transgender sports ban moves closer to the Supreme Court

A federal appellate court today began hearing arguments in a landmark case that could determine whether transgender athletes have a constitutional right to play on teams corresponding with their gender identity.

Idaho last year became the first state in the nation to bar transgender girls and women from playing on women’s sports teams. However, the law never went into effect because a federal judge issued an injunction.

The plaintiff in the case is Lindsay Hecox, a student at Boise State University, who says “it would have been terrible to not take the opportunity to fight for something that I believe in.” [NPR]

5. The Chicago area may see a brief tornado today

The National Weather Service warns it can’t rule out an isolated tornado as thunderstorms move across northern Illinois between 4 and 10 p.m. The weather service said a potential tornado is “not the primary hazard,” and the threat of one will decrease as the storm moves into Indiana.

The Chicago area could also see large hail and wind gusts up to 70 mph. Forecasters also warn that power outages are possible, so now I have to figure out a backup plan for working remotely tomorrow. [Chicago Tribune]

Here’s what else is happening

• The Environmental Protection Agency wants to dramatically reduce a powerful class of greenhouse gases that are used in refrigerators and air conditioners. [NPR]
• Some liberals want Justice Stephen Breyer to retire from the Supreme Court while Democrats hold the White House and a fragile majority in the Senate. [NPR]
• Coronavirus cases continue to decline in Chicago. [COVID Dashboard]
• The European Union is preparing for the return of overseas tourists. [BBC]

Oh, and one more thing …

I literally had no idea it was May already until I came to work today. And with every new month, there are new TV shows to watch in the vain hope of distracting us from living through one of the worst years in generations.

The A.V. Club has this handy look at what shows premiere this month. I’m really looking forward to Amazon Prime’s adaptation of The Underground Railroad, the Pulitzer-winning novel by Colson Whitehead.

Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins is behind the 10-part series that follows Cora, an enslaved woman running away from the South who finds herself on a journey that delves into magical realism and exposes the hideousness and hypocrisy of the nation, then and now.

I’m also excited for The Sons Of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness, a docuseries on Netflix that examines whether someone helped notorious serial killer David Berkowitz. [A.V. Club]

Tell me something good …

I’m still amazed by the gorgeous weekend we just had in the Chicago area. It really does feel like summer is around the corner, and I’d like to know what you’re looking forward to when the weather warms up.

Me? I’m getting a kiddie pool for the backyard, grabbing a Truly pack and blasting all the alternative hits from the 1990s. Hole’s “Malibu”? Um, yes please.

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

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