Pitchfork Lineup / Konkol / No McNuggets In Russia / Dua Lipa

The Chicago Teachers Union's lame-duck president, Jesse Sharkey, has launched a fight to maintain mask mandates in city schools as rank-and-file union members divide themselves in factions aimed at taking over union leadership in June.

In a grievance filed with the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board, Sharkey asserts pseudoscience that neither jibes with public health recommendations nor considers current coronavirus metrics that show the risk of community spread is low — in an attempt to prevent Chicago Public Schools officials from allowing parents to decide if their kids should wear masks in classrooms starting Monday.

KONKOL COLUMN: Could CPS Mask Mandate Fight Signal Demise Of CTU Leadership?

Blue Skies. High: 41 Low: 27

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• A WGN security guard was shot and killed while sitting in her car at a South Side gas station. Salena Claybourne, 35, was shot in the shoulder and face around 3 p.m. by someone who opened fire in a black sedan. (Patch)
• Chicago-based McDonald's is temporarily closing nearly 850 restaurants in Russia, but will still pay workers there and in Ukraine. The news came in a company-wide email from CEO Chris Kempczinski, who called the invasion a "humanitarian crisis" that is causing "unspeakable suffering to innocent people." (Patch)
• The National, Mitski and The Roots are set to headline the 16th Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park on July 15-17. Three-day passes are $200, and single-day passes are $99. (Pitchfork)
• The owner of a Longwood Manor popcorn shop, Poppin Dough, is thankful for patrons and donors who helped pay to fix a $30,000 plumbing problem that forced him to close his doors in December. "It just really, really touched me that people, in these times, especially as hard as it is, in these times, really care," Richard Gray said. (CBS2)
• The mother of a Chicago public school student who Chicago Teachers Union officials claimed died from coronavirus complications — amid their effort to decry lacking safety protocols — did not die from the virus, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. The 32-year-old woman died from chronic ethanolism, which means she drank herself to death. (Fox32)

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• Manchester Orchestra, Foxing, Michigander at The Riv (7:30 p.m.)
• Nathan Grey w/Black Guy Fawkes at Beat Kitchen (7:30 p.m.)
• Marqueal Jordan at City Winery (8 p.m.)
• Tukkiman at Old Town School of Folk Music (8:30 p.m.)
• Dua Lipa at United Center (7:30 p.m.)

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Just The Links:

• The city skyline turned teal this month for gambling addiction awareness.
• Where's the beef sandwiches? Here are a few joints.
• George's Ice Cream and Sweets in Andersonville is set to close March 31.
• Twelve states were removed from Chicago's travel advisory list.
• Illinois gamblers are spending $156 a second betting on sports.

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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."