Mostly Maskless Monday / Rising Gas Prices / Crash Test Dummies

Gov. J.B. Pritzker's statewide indoor mask mandate ends today.

Will you still wear a mask in places where the mandate has been lifted?

Take the Patch poll:

Hopeful. High: 46 Low: 34.

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• Happy 100th Birthday to lifelong White Sox fan Jeanne Johnson! (Patch)
• Gas prices are too dang high! And they're not going to get any better. War in Ukraine has caused wide fluctuations in the global energy markets and average gas prices near 4 bucks-a-gallon. Last February, a gallon of gas cost $2.75 in Chicago. (WBEZ)
• "We have to be strong, and we have to help, and that way we’ll be able to win," Mykhailo Ivaniuk said of the Russia invasion of his home country. The Northwestern University student's family lives in Kyiv, Ukraine. (NBC5)
• In Bridgeport, thieves drove off in a running car with a six-year-old girl inside Sunday afternoon. Authorities found the car, with the girl safely inside, about a two miles away. (NBC5)
• City Hall's move to deny a metal shredding operation has environmentalists calling for a new vision for Chicago's manufacturing future. If you're looking for an example of the "right way" to do it, consider Pullman's transformation. (WTTW)
• ICYMI: A little last-minute advice on the eve of Paczki Day. (Patch)

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For A Good Time, Click:

• Ben Brainard at Zanies (8 p.m.
• Voices For Justice With Candace Parker (Online event, 6 p.m.)
• Best of Second City at Second City (8 p.m)
• Orbert Davis’ Jazz Migration at Jazz Showcase (7 p.m.)
• Crash Test Dummies at City Winery (8 p.m.)

Just The Links:

• Hundreds of Chicagoans turned out to rally in support of Ukraine.
• Free rides to Navy Pier to celebrate the end of the statewide indoor mask mandate.
• Check out Patch's guide to finding paczki on the polish pastry's namesake holiday.
• Jennifer Hudson makes Chicago proud, again.
• Keeping up with Kanye West's Netflix documentary series.

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Events:

• Learn How To Reduce Your Risk For Heart Disease During American Heart Month (February 28)
• Music with the Rabbi (March 1)
• Spanish Classes FREE Spanish Demo & Assessment (March 1)
• LSG SKy Chefs March Hiring Event 2022 (March 2)
• First Saturday Evanston Art Events (March 5)
• The Facility in Mokena Hosting FREE Use of Force Law classes in March & April (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."