Chicago Smiles / No Russian Vodka / Jussie Smollett / Paczki Day

I tooled around the city collecting smiles on Monday, the official end of indoor mask mandates in most public spaces.

The good vibes from Chicago's great unmasking were undeniable.

KONKOL COLUMN: Chicagoans Share Smiles On Mask-Optional Monday (In Most Places)

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Like A Lamb. High: 43 Low: 32.

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• The end of coronavirus crisis mask mandates will bring changes to United Center's pandemic protocols. Masks will be optional at concerts, events and Bulls and Hawks games, but patrons must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test, Jeff Arnold reports. (Patch)
• Lawyers for Jussie Smollett have asked a judge to overturn a jury's verdicts that declared the former "Empire" actor guilty of faking a hate crime against himself and lying to police. Smollett is awaiting sentencing. (CBS2)
• The hunt for a teenager suspected of murder while on electronic monitoring led to a Nashville, Tennessee attic, where authorities found a 19-year-old man hiding with three guns, 2,000 bullets, 22 credit cards, a money counter, $3,000 and 354 car key fobs. Nashville police and U.S. Marshals arrested Deon Evans, who is awaiting extradition to Illinois. (WGN)
• Chicago artist Richard Hunt has commissioned to produce a sculpture for the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. The sculpture of a bird rising from a book with upright wings is called "Book Bird," and a "a symbol of things expanding, rising up." (WBEZ)
• Reed’s Local in Avondale will no longer sell Russian Vodka, and joins a collection of city bars and restaurants that are raising cash to help Ukraine and support Ukrainian refugees as the Russia invasion enters its sixth day. (Eater)

For A Good Time, Click:

• Cannibal Corpse, Whitechapel, Revocation, Shadow of Intent at The Vic (7 p.m.)
• Black Country, New Road at Lincoln Hall (8 p.m.)
• John Moreland with Will Johnson at SPACE (8 p.m.)
• Maddy Smith at Zanies (8 p.m.)
• Moulin Rouge! The Musical at The James M. Nederlander Theatre (7:30 p.m.)

Just The Links:

• It's Paczki Day. Eat 'em if you got 'em.
• Somebody bought an unused ticket to Michael Jordan's first game for $468,000.
• Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza has some harsh words for Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
• South Loop neighbors can make comments today about the proposed casino at The 78.
• NFL Hall of Famer Richard Dent is blazing a new trail in the energy sector.

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Events:

• FREE WEBINAR | "Mona Lisa's Smile: Representation of Emotion in Italian Renaissance and Baroque Art" (March 1)
• Music with the Rabbi (March 1)
• Spanish Classes FREE Spanish Demo & Assessment (March 1)
• LSG SKy Chefs March Hiring Event 2022 (March 2)
• Divorce Boot Camp – Vesta Chicago, IL Hub (March 3)
• First Saturday Evanston Art Events (March 5)
• Lowered Costs for 2022, Get Your Cannabis Card in 24hrs from Home! (March 5)
• Jews in Denmark Over 400 years (March 6)
• March & April Illinois 16 / 8-Hour Concealed Carry Classes $145/CCL 3-Hour Renewals $45 (March 6)
• Spanish for Beginners 2022 March Classes Sign up Now! (March 15)
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— Mark Konkol

About me: Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docuseries on CNN and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary "16 Shots."