Senator Dick Durbin and Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García sent a letter this week to the president of the CTA with one big message — do more to fight crime.

Why it matters: Crime on Chicago trains and buses is up 17% year to year.

Driving the news: While Durbin and García noted that more effort has recently been put into passenger and employee safety, "...more needs to be done to protect CTA's frontline workers and passengers given the alarming increase in crime on the CTA system."

State of play: The letter is in part a response to the transit union's call to make trains and buses safer for employees after a train operator was pushed onto the tracks last month in Edgewater.

The other side: Police chief David Brown responded to the letter by saying the department is working with technology to reduce CTA crime.

• "We spread resources to the hot spots where data shows us where crime is more prevalent on the CTA," Brown said at a press conference yesterday.

By the numbers: CTA crime numbers from 2022 broken down by location, with most incidents classified as robbery, battery, or theft:

• The Loop led all areas with 205.
• River North/Gold Coast: 67
• Roseland: 40
• Near West Side: 34
• Rogers Park: 32
• Austin: 30

Note: It's not surprising that the Loop led the way because so many bus and train lines converge downtown.

Context: In March, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced new safety measures on the CTA, including more officers assigned to the Bureau of Counterterrorism and contracts with private security officers to patrol nights and weekends.

If recent mask rulings have left you confused, you're not alone — policies on mask-wearing are literally changing by the hour.

Masks are no longer required in:

✈️ O'Hare, Midway, and on major airlines.

🚍 CTA buses and trains, plus Metra and South Shore lines.

🚘 Rideshares like Uber and Lyft.

Masks are still required in:

🏥 Health care settings.

🎭 Many theater venues.

🎸 A few music venues.

Of note: Any private business has the right to enforce its own mask rules regardless of federal and state mandates, so be cool.

💭 Monica's thought bubble: I keep a mask in my pocket to wear wherever the staff wears them out of respect for workers dealing with the public all day.

💭 Justin's thought bubble: I'm going to continue to wear my mask on airplanes, trains, and buses. Not just for COVID, but because the mask helps block some of the smells.

What's next: The Justice Department is appealing the federal court ruling that struck down its mask mandate for travelers earlier this week.

🎲 Mayor Lightfoot says "local opposition" will not be a factor in where the city chooses to put the new casino. (Sun-Times)

🩺 A University of Chicago doctor argues low-grade prostate cancer should have its name changed because it may not be a cancer at all. (Tribune)

🐣 A piping plover was spotted at Rainbow Beach. Will the endangered bird settle in and give the South Side a taste of plover mania? (Block Club)

🪜 One step at a time on our Local Job Board.

1. Manager, State & Local Government Affairs, Midwest at BP.
2. Director of Asset Management at Core Spaces.
3. Analyst, Finance & Analytics at GrubHub.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a Job.

After overdosing on jelly beans, ham, and Peeps last week, we figured it was time to shift to something better for ourselves.

• This week's Food Fight focuses on our favorite freshly made smoothies.

Monica's pick: The Evergreen from Carver 47 in North Kenwood, an eatery and shop dedicated to George Washington Carver.

• I love the ambience, art, pizza, quiche, salads, and especially the drinks at this magical South Side nook.
• In addition to fresh-squeezed juices, they offer smoothies like the rich — but not-too-sweet — Evergreen made with spinach, avocado, mango, pineapple, banana, spirulina powder, and almond milk ($8.50).

Justin's pick: For my smoothie fix, I've always gone to Jubilee Juice & Grill on Halsted Street. They've been in business for over 20 years — predating the restaurant craze of Randolph Street — with an amazing smoothie menu (as well as other food).

• The Pina Colada combines fresh pineapple, bananas, coconut, pineapple sherbet, yogurt, and juice.
• The Pineapple Craze and Peach Refresher are also stellar.
• They come in 24oz ($7.95) and 32oz ($8.95).

📫 Where do you get your smoothies? Reply and we'll put together the definitive list next week!

The 38th Chicago Latino Film Festival opens tonight with 86 films — some with key local connections.

• Festival closer "Bye Bye Chicago" is about an unlikely friendship between a Mexican artist and Colombian student.

We asked festival rep and longtime arts journalist Alejandro Riera to walk us through this year's offerings.

The lineup: "It's one of our most thematically diverse," Riera tells Axios. "We have a strong selection of features and shorts and films made by and about Latin America's and Spain's LGBTQ community."

• Three examples: Sundance-winning Dos Estaciones, Nudo Mixteco, and Candela, based on the novel by Chicago-based playwright Rey Andújar.

Top picks: "This is where I am going to wave my Puerto Rican flag high and highlight two features from the island:

• "Perfume de Gardenias, about the very Puerto Rican tradition among women of a certain age attending every single funeral in their community."
• "La última gira, a fictionalized account of legendary bolero singer Daniel Santos."
• Riera is also looking forward to Eva Longoria's debut feature, La Guerra Civil.

How to choose: "Start with your favorite genre. Love horror? We have three really gory, really suspenseful, really scary films. Documentaries? Comedies? Thrillers? We got plenty."

• "And since a good number of our films have played in other festivals, check the reviews."

If you go: Tickets for screenings at theaters, drive-ins, or online are available through May 1.