Hey there! It’s Wednesday, and this is pretty much my mood this week. Here’s what you need to know today.

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1. House impeachment managers present new evidence today regarding the U.S. Capitol attack

House impeachment managers today formally began presenting their evidence against former President Donald Trump, using his own words and tweets to draw a line between his rhetoric and the violence that erupted at the U.S. Capitol.

The impeachment managers laid out a painstakingly detailed timeline of events leading up to the attack, showing how Trump tried pressuring own members of his party while also galvanizing his supporters into rejecting the results of a fair and free election.

Rep. Madeleine Dean, one of the impeachment managers, began tearing up as she recounted the sound of rioters banging on the House chamber doors.

“This attack would have never happened but for Donald Trump,” she told senators.

Among the key pieces of evidence presented today were previously unaired Capitol security footage that showed how closely insurrections came to lawmakers. In a separate audio clip, panicked Capitol Police officers can be heard screaming for help. [NYT]

It remains to be seen if Democrats can convince a total of 17 Republicans to side with them in convicting Trump, a feat that appears to be unlikely as all but six GOP senators essentially voted yesterday against holding a trial.

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is reportedly signaling to his fellow Republicans that the final vote is a “matter of conscience” and senators who question the constitutionality of the trial can still vote to convict. [Bloomberg]

Meanwhile, several media outlets are reporting that Trump was unhappy with his legal team’s meandering performance yesterday, which resulted in one Republican senator, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, changing his vote to “yes” on whether the Senate had the jurisdiction to try a former president.

“On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the angriest, Mr. Trump ‘was an eight,’ one person familiar with his reaction said,” reported The New York Times. [NYT]

As the Senate’s impeachment trial moves forward, prosecutors in Georgia have launched an investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. [Axios]

2. Illinois residents with some underlying health risks can get COVID-19 vaccines starting Feb. 25

Gov. JB Pritzker announced today that people with disabilities and underlying health conditions, such as cancer and diabetes, can begin getting shots later this month.

At the same time, the governor acknowledged the state’s distribution process has been “extraordinarily frustrating” as many residents who already qualify for a shot can’t get an appointment. About 3.2 million Illinois residents are currently eligible for the vaccine, including frontline essential workers and people 65 and over.

But Chicago is not expanding who is eligible for the vaccine, said Dr. Allison Arwady, the city’s top public health official. She said adding more people right now would make it harder for people who currently qualify for a shot. [WBEZ]

Illinois lags behind many states and U.S. territories when it comes to the percentage of the population that has received at least one dose. According to The Washington Post, only 9.1% of the population has gotten the first shot while Illinois has supplies for 14.2% of the population. [WaPo]

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said doubling face masks or wearing a tightly fitted surgical mask can reduce transmission of the virus by up to 95%. [NPR]

3. Lightfoot eases some restrictions on restaurants and bars

Beginning tomorrow, bars and restaurants in Chicago can serve more indoor customers under a new plan announced today by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

The plan allows establishments to seat 50 per room instead of 25, but capacity limits will remain at the current 25%. The Illinois Restaurant Association has sought to bump up that cap to 50%. [WBEZ]

The change comes as many bars and restaurants in Chicago say they have suffered greatly under the business restrictions created to slow the transmission of the coronavirus.

But the change also comes just days after Crain’s Chicago Business reported that some business leaders are quietly looking for candidates to run against Lightfoot in the 2023 election. According to Crain’s, discussions of supporting a challenger are “mostly concentrated in the real-estate development and restaurant industries.” [Crain’s]

Meanwhile, Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia told the Chicago Sun-Times today that one reason the city is holding back on lifting more restrictions is because they are monitoring virus variants.

“They’re still concerned about the new strain of COVID-19 that’s coming out of the U.K. and South Africa. They want to keep an eye on that for a few more days,” Toia said. [Sun-Times]

4. Chicago’s public schools will begin reopening classrooms tomorrow

The Chicago Teachers Union approved a school reopening deal with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration, paving the way for some students to return to classrooms tomorrow. The union this morning announced that 68% of members who voted decided to move forward with the reopening plan.

But the agreement doesn’t mean the union and the mayor’s office are now on the same page. CTU President Jesse Sharkey said the plan still falls short of the union’s demands.

“This plan is not what any of us deserve. Not us. Not our students. Not their families. The fact that CPS could not delay reopening a few short weeks to ramp up vaccinations and preparations in schools is a disgrace,” Sharkey wrote in an email to union members.

So what does this mean for students? Elementary and middle school students can return to classrooms on March 1. Students in sixth through eighth grades would return on March 8. There is currently no schedule for bringing back high school students. [WBEZ]

5. Chicago Police review of summer unrest is criticized for talking more about businesses than details of alleged brutality

The Chicago Police Department said nearly 600 misconduct complaints were filed between May 29 and June 11, when protests and widespread looting took place in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd.

The department disclosed the updated number in an internal review of how it handled protests and unrest. But it doesn’t go into great detail about the nature of the allegations, other than saying that the department will review them to identify “common themes.”

Northwestern University Law Professor Sheila Bedi, who is representing 60 activists in a lawsuit against the city, told WBEZ that the report is “consistent” with the department’s overall response to protests and its lack of concern for the rights and safety of protesters.

“In this report, the word ‘business’ is used at least 27 times. But there’s not one mention of the lethal head strikes that officers used,” Bedi said.

The internal review also found that the Police Department failed to train and equip officers for mass unrest, and while command staff had plans for such a situation, they didn’t effectively communicate them to officers on the ground. [WBEZ]

Here’s what else is happening

• Juveniles appear to be behind a surge in carjackings in Chicago and across the nation. [NPR]
• The world isn’t doing so well with the Paris climate accord. [Axios]
• A Chinese spacecraft entered Mars’ orbit today. [NPR]
• Tina Turner, Jay-Z and The Go-Go’s are among the new nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

An 8-year-old from Minneapolis chewed out NPR’s All Things Considered for not considering everything, specifically dinosaurs.

The child, Leo Shidla, wrote to NPR: “I never hear much about nature or dinosaurs or things like that. Maybe you should call your show Newsy things Considered, since I don’t get to hear about all the things. Or please talk more about dinosaurs and cool things.”

NPR checked its archives and found that the word “dinosaur” has appeared 294 times in stories during the show’s history, while the word “senator” has appeared 20,447 times.

So All Things Considered invited Leo onto the show to talk about dinosaurs with Ashley Poust, a research associate at the San Diego Natural History Museum. [NPR]

Tell me something good …

What is something you miss about going to school or college?

Elise LaBarge writes:

“I was just today going through a box of memorabilia that I took out of my folks’ basement this Christmas. It holds all sorts of treasures: photos, letters, ticket stubs and yearbooks. The stand-out for me today, in the midst of the cold and snow and just plain I’m-really-tired-of-all-of-it blues, I found love letters from my college roommates. We used to leave each other notes when things were hard — little messages saying, ‘You are an awesome friend, and I’m here for you.’ Man, I miss that part of college.

“But those letters are still with me and still giving me a boost to get through the rough days. Friends really are the best.”

And Hope Arthur writes:

“I went to music school for piano, and something I absolutely took for granted was regular access to incredible instruments. I went to music school in a small, big city where the university was pretty close to where I lived. I could play on a Steinway almost whenever I wanted, even after I graduated. I made the correct assumption that moving to Chicago would help me develop as a musician, but I totally took the access to practice space on beautiful instruments for granted.”

Feel free to email or tweet me, and your responses might show up here.

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