Cop Vax Mandate / Catholic Schools Drop Masks / Beard Award Nods

Chicago cops now must follow the city's vaccination mandate.

On Wednesday, arbitrator George Roumell, Jr. denied the police union's grievances against Mayor Lori Lightfoot's vaccine requirement for all city workers.

The ruling calls for police department employees to get their first vaccination by March 13 and a second jab by April 13.

Arbitrator Rules Chicago Police Must Abide By Vaccine Mandate

Frosty. High: 28 Low: 25.

• Catholic Schools are going mask optional starting Monday. The Chicago Archdiocese Schools Supt. Greg Richmond said in a letter to parents that the mask requirement is being lifted based on low infection rates and guidance from medical advisors. (Patch)
• The feds raided coronavirus testing operation LabElite on the North Side Wednesday. The FBI confirmed agents were carrying out court-authorized law enforcement activity. A LabElite spokesperson said the company is cooperating with investigators. (CBS2)
• City Hall is ending its contract with an upscale hotel that housed homeless Chicagoans during the pandemic. Reporter Mariah Woelfel talked to folks who called the Hotel Julian home during the coronavirus crisis. (WBEZ)
• Four aldermen delayed a City Council vote on a proposed police misconduct settlement worth nearly $1.7 million. City attorneys say they have a less than 10 percent chance of winning a lawsuit filed after police were seen on video dragging from a car by her hair at Brickyard Mall in 2020. (Patch)
• Chicago's restaurant and bar scene netted 15 James Beard Award nominations. Among the higlights: Filipino hot spot Kasama in West Town was nominated for best new restaurant. (Eater)

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• Vivian Green at City Winery (6:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m.)
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• Bulls vs. Hawks at United Center (7 p.m.)

Just The Links:

• Julio Cruz of the 1983 "Winning Ugly" White Sox died. He was 67.
• A fire at an Albany Park church is the neighborhood's third blaze this week.
• There's a Wes Anderson spirit in Andersonville, Chicago Magazine says.
• The City Council approved Mayor Lightfoot's police misconduct watchdog pick.
• Just in time for a playoff run, Tristan Thompson arrived at the Bulls practice center.

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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."