chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--25 years later, Fox River Grove Metra-school bus crash still haunts engineer, other survivors

Share All sharing options for : 25 years later , Fox River Grove Metra-school bus crash still haunts engineer , other survivors The dream that has visited Ford Dotson Jr. thousands of times always starts the same way .
It ’ s long before sunrise , and Dotson sets off from home .
He ’ s happy anyway because there are no weekend shifts , no one bugging him to work holidays .
He climbs into the cab of Metra ’ s Union Pacific Northwest Line train No .
624 heading to Chicago from Crystal Lake .
At the end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ curl up on a cot for a few hours before making the return trip .
The 200-ton locomotive at the rear of the train pushes six passenger cars and the cab control car .
It ’ s an express , and ahead the signals are green .
So Dotson “ jumps it up ” to the maximum speed — 70 mph .
He crosses the Fox River , which sparkles in the sunlight .
In the distance , he sees a school bus .
It ’ s moving slowly across the tracks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ panic .
Dotson nudges the brake handle — just in case — and blows the train whistle : two long blasts , a short , another long .
But something is wrong .
The rear of the bus remains on the tracks .
Dotson pumps several short blasts on the airhorn .
He keeps at it because the bus isn ’ t moving .
As the train hurtles forward , he slams the brake handle all the way .
That ’ s the point in the dream when he always wakes up , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Twenty-five years ago Sunday , Ford Dotson Jr. ’ s train smashed into a school bus in Fox River Grove .
It wasn ’ t any dream .
Seven teenagers , all of them students at Cary-Grove High School , were killed : Jeffrey Clark , Stephanie Fulham , Susanna Guzman , Michael Hoffman , Joe Kalte , Shawn Robinson and Tiffany Schneider .
The bus driver and 24 other passengers were injured .
The images from that day will haunt Dotson forever .
“ I remember just like it was yesterday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ living in Hazel Crest .
On Sunday , some will gather at the spot where the crumpled bus — sheared from its undercarriage — came to rest after the impact .
Dotson won ’ t be there .
“ No , no , no , no , that would be one of the last things I would want to do — because of what happened there , ” he says .
Michael Lucas , one of the survivors , will be there even though his memory of what happened the morning of Oct. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the crash — along with 14 years of his past .
“ I am 39 years old , and I have 25 years worth of memories , ” Lucas says .
The railroad crossing just southeast of the Fox River Grove Metra station , where Algonquin Road meets U.S. Route 14 , had a gate , a bell and flashing red lights .
It also had a history of problems .
The railroad had cited safety concerns over a 1989 project that widened Route 14 , narrowing the space that separated it from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complaints from drivers that they barely had time to cross the tracks before the stoplight at the intersection changed to red .
A month before the deadly collision , another train had sheared the bumper off a pickup truck whose back end hadn ’ t made it fully over the tracks .
As Dotson ’ s 7 a.m. train from Crystal Lake , with 120 passengers and three crew members , headed down the tracks toward the Algonquin crossing that day 25 years ago , Brian Marino , a Cary-Grove High School freshman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he and his identical twin brother Michael would be late to school , but no one could blame them .
Bus driver Patricia Catencamp — a substitute who ’ d never driven the route before — was running 20 minutes behind schedule .
Marino was sitting near the front of the bus .
He ’ d been heading for the back but was pulled into the seat by two friends .
His twin continued down the aisle .
Catencamp stopped before coming to the tracks , looked left and right , she ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pull across .
She stopped on the other side because the light was red , not realizing her bus hadn ’ t fully cleared the tracks .
“ It never entered my mind that there wasn ’ t enough room for that bus to fit , ” Catencamp , who couldn ’ t be reached for this story , would later tell investigators .
When the bell began to clang and the gate arm banged the top of the bus , some of the students called out to her , “ We ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But all she heard was a garble of chatter .
“ Move the bus !
Move the bus !
” students , now panicked , yelled .
By then , it was too late .
The train was going 69 mph when it hit the rear left of the bus , spinning it 180 degrees and slicing the cab from the chassis like a machete through cake .
“ I looked over my left shoulder just in time to see the train approaching , ” says Marino , now 39 .
It took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over .
But he remembers each indelible moment .
The shudder of the train .
The crunch of metal .
The ringing in his ears .
The screams .
“ It was the most violent , abrupt thing you can imagine , ” Marino says .
“ It ’ s like when you crest on a roller coaster , and you ’ re going down , and your breath is taken away.
” The impact snapped his head around with a violence that would leave him with a lifetime of pain .
Amid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the stench of burning wire , he found his brother slumped over a seat , not breathing .
Marino quickly laid his twin ’ s head on his lap , tipped it back and plucked the gum out of his mouth .
He yelled , “ Breathe !
Breathe !
” And somehow he did .
The train ’ s lead car finally came to a stop a quarter mile down the track .
The force of the collision had ejected four students from the bus .
All died .
Ambulances , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either side of Route 14 to carry away the injured and dying .
Parents , desperate , huddled at the Fox River Grove fire department a short walk from the crash site .
The coroner held a clipboard with a grim inventory from the dead : a description of a piece of jewelry , a distinctive shirt , a marking on the skin .
“ Moms crying out , dropping to their knees and begging God not to let it be their kid , ” is how Bob Kreher , the department ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remembers it .
Debbie Owens was there .
Her oldest daughter Stephanie — who loved to sing and dance and whose feelings were easily hurt — had been on the bus .
“ There was a comfort in all the people we knew that were all together , ” says Owens , who ’ d been told the dead were all boys .
Two hours later , she learned her daughter had been airlifted to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge .
She died there the following day .
A peace symbol tattoo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kept secret from her parents , was used to identify her .
Before she died , her father called Stephanie ’ s younger sisters Christina and Michelle , who were staying with friends .
He asked if they wanted to come to the hospital to say goodbye .
They didn ’ t go in to her room .
Christina Bailey , now 37 and living in Arizona , says she was too afraid .
“ No one needs those kinds of memories , ” she says .
A year after the crash , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ findings on the cause .
In an 82-page report , it highlighted a lack of safety training for bus drivers stopped at railroad crossings , a traffic light that didn ’ t give drivers enough time to cross the tracks and a poorly designed intersection .
“ After the crash , everything changed , ” says Brian Vercruysse , the rail safety program administrator for the Illinois Commerce Commission .
The changes included creating a standardized system nationwide connecting traffic signals to railroad warning devices , Vercruysse says .
In Fox River Grove @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were added at the crossing .
And changes were made so the traffic light gave drivers more time to get off the tracks as a train approached .
At the time of the crash , Dotson had been a train engineer for 19 years .
He ’ d been involved in accidents before — mostly suicides , none he could do anything to prevent .
The first one especially rattled him .
But a veteran engineer told him , “ Ford , it ain ’ t like you ran this train onto the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It didn ’ t really make it any easier the next time — just not so awful he couldn ’ t climb back in the cab .
The school bus crash , though , was different .
“ These kids are dead and hurt , and they had no control of their lives , ” he says .
“ The kids didn ’ t have a decision in this.
” His boss told him to take off as much time as he needed .
But he figured the longer he stayed away , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back in the cab .
He stayed away from work for only a week before coming back .
The first time he made the run through the crash site , he asked to have an engineer friend with him in the cab .
The dream kept replaying , sometimes twice in a night .
Dotson thought about quitting the railroad .
He says a peer support group helped him cope .
He retired five years ago , after more than four decades .
He still has the dream , though not as often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it took a part of my life away , ” he says .
“ That ’ s gone , and I ’ m never going to be able to replace that.
” Debbie Owens keeps memories of her daughter , irreplaceable things , in a cedar chest at the foot of her bed : some of her high school artwork , a T-shirt from a 1990s rock concert , flowers tied with a pink ribbon from Stephanie ’ s funeral , old VHS tapes .
“ It ’ s wonderful to hear her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her screaming , ‘ Oh , I got what I wanted !
’ ” says Owens , who now lives in Palatine .
She ’ s haunted by a drawing Stephanie sketched about a week before she died , a pastel of a set of weeping eyes .
“ Of course , my thought was : God , did she know ?
Did she have a feeling ?
I hope that ’ s not the case.
” Owens doesn ’ t open the chest much any more .
Things are especially hard for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would have turned 40 on Oct. 8 .
She says she drank a lot after her daughter ’ s death .
Then , one day , five years after the crash , she just stopped — after her “ favorite glass ” slipped from her hand and shattered .
“ A switch went off in my head , ” she says .
Her daughter Christina puts it this way : “ She decided to live and not die .
She ’ s an amazing woman.
” Bailey had her own struggles with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I would steal her clothes , take her stuff .
I wanted to be just like her , ” says Bailey , a single mother of three young kids .
Her father died in 2008 .
“ I say he died of a broken heart , ” she says .
After his death , there was a reception and luncheon at Galati ’ s Pizza & Pasta in Cary .
The restaurant didn ’ t charge the family a dime .
“ They covered the whole reception , and they never said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I was blown away.
” When Michael Lucas awoke in a hospital after 10 days in a coma , the people at his bedside — his mother and father — were strangers to him .
“ There was no emotional attachment to anybody , ” he says .
“ I knew that I was loved because my mom never left my side.
” His skull had been fractured from ear to ear .
He had bleeding on the brain and suffered multiple spinal fractures .
“ There were so many reasons I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he says .
“ And I didn ’ t. ” To this day , he says he wakes up every morning in pain .
“ My muscles are in a state of perpetual spasm , ” he says .
Doctors told him his memories would likely trickle back over the first few months of recovery .
They never did .
He is a Christian , but Christmas isn ’ t something he looks forward to .
His mother , so many years later , will often ask , “ Mikey , do you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you used to do this ... ?
” “ I hear stories about the person I was and the person I could have been , ” he says .
The person he became is a firefighter-paramedic with the Crystal Lake Fire-Rescue Department , where is brother Brian also works .
Lucas is married with two children .
On occasion , he ’ s been called to respond to school bus crashes .
“ I ’ m literally shaking as I ’ m walking on the bus , ” he says of those times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know why because I don ’ t remember ” the crash .
Kids sometimes ask about the scars on his shaven head .
He ’ ll change the subject or cut the conversation short .
“ I don ’ t want people to pity me , ” he says .
“ It ’ s about me rising from the ashes and finding joy in all that you do and the people who surround you.
” On Sunday , Lucas plans to be among those at the crash site , where stones encircle a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Then , he ’ ll head to Windridge Memorial Park in Cary , where five of the teenagers who died 25 years ago are buried .
“ I ’ ll make sure I clean up everyone ’ s grave , ” he says .
“ And I ’ ll put a single rose by each grave , and then I ’ ll say a prayer .
”

The dream that has visited Ford Dotson Jr. thousands of times always starts the same way.
It’s a crisp October morning. Beneath clear skies, leaves shimmer copper, gold and red.
It’s long before sunrise, and Dotson sets off from home. He’s happy anyway because there are no weekend shifts, no one bugging him to work holidays. He climbs into the cab of Metra’s Union Pacific Northwest Line train No. 624 heading to Chicago from Crystal Lake. At the end of the run, he’ll curl up on a cot for a few hours before making the return trip.
The 200-ton locomotive at the rear of the train pushes six passenger cars and the cab control car. It’s an express, and ahead the signals are green. So Dotson “jumps it up” to the maximum speed — 70 mph. He crosses the Fox River, which sparkles in the sunlight.
In the distance, he sees a school bus. It’s moving slowly across the tracks, but there’s no reason to panic. Dotson nudges the brake handle — just in case — and blows the train whistle: two long blasts, a short, another long.
But something is wrong. The rear of the bus remains on the tracks. Dotson pumps several short blasts on the airhorn. He keeps at it because the bus isn’t moving. As the train hurtles forward, he slams the brake handle all the way.
That’s the point in the dream when he always wakes up, shaking, just before the impact.
Twenty-five years ago Sunday, Ford Dotson Jr.’s train smashed into a school bus in Fox River Grove. It wasn’t any dream. Seven teenagers, all of them students at Cary-Grove High School, were killed: Jeffrey Clark, Stephanie Fulham, Susanna Guzman, Michael Hoffman, Joe Kalte, Shawn Robinson and Tiffany Schneider. The bus driver and 24 other passengers were injured.
The images from that day will haunt Dotson forever.
“I remember just like it was yesterday,” says Dotson, now 70 and living in Hazel Crest.
On Sunday, some will gather at the spot where the crumpled bus — sheared from its undercarriage — came to rest after the impact.
Dotson won’t be there. “No, no, no, no, that would be one of the last things I would want to do — because of what happened there,” he says.
Michael Lucas, one of the survivors, will be there even though his memory of what happened the morning of Oct. 25, 1995, was taken by the crash — along with 14 years of his past.
“I am 39 years old, and I have 25 years worth of memories,” Lucas says.
Metra train No. 624 crashed into a school bus on Oct. 25, 1995, at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove. Seven teenagers died, and the bus driver and 24 passengers were hurt. Robert A. Davis / Sun-Times file
The railroad crossing just southeast of the Fox River Grove Metra station, where Algonquin Road meets U.S. Route 14, had a gate, a bell and flashing red lights. It also had a history of problems. The railroad had cited safety concerns over a 1989 project that widened Route 14, narrowing the space that separated it from the tracks.
There also had been complaints from drivers that they barely had time to cross the tracks before the stoplight at the intersection changed to red. A month before the deadly collision, another train had sheared the bumper off a pickup truck whose back end hadn’t made it fully over the tracks.
As Dotson’s 7 a.m. train from Crystal Lake, with 120 passengers and three crew members, headed down the tracks toward the Algonquin crossing that day 25 years ago, Brian Marino, a Cary-Grove High School freshman, was delighted. That was because he and his identical twin brother Michael would be late to school, but no one could blame them. Bus driver Patricia Catencamp — a substitute who’d never driven the route before — was running 20 minutes behind schedule.
Marino was sitting near the front of the bus. He’d been heading for the back but was pulled into the seat by two friends. His twin continued down the aisle.
Catencamp stopped before coming to the tracks, looked left and right, she’d later recall, then began to pull across. She stopped on the other side because the light was red, not realizing her bus hadn’t fully cleared the tracks.
“It never entered my mind that there wasn’t enough room for that bus to fit,” Catencamp, who couldn’t be reached for this story, would later tell investigators.
When the bell began to clang and the gate arm banged the top of the bus, some of the students called out to her, “We’re still on the tracks!” But all she heard was a garble of chatter.
“Move the bus! Move the bus!” students, now panicked, yelled.
By then, it was too late.
The train was going 69 mph when it hit the rear left of the bus, spinning it 180 degrees and slicing the cab from the chassis like a machete through cake.
“I looked over my left shoulder just in time to see the train approaching,” says Marino, now 39.
It took just seconds, and then it was over. But he remembers each indelible moment. The shudder of the train. The crunch of metal. The ringing in his ears. The screams.
“It was the most violent, abrupt thing you can imagine,” Marino says. “It’s like when you crest on a roller coaster, and you’re going down, and your breath is taken away.”
The impact snapped his head around with a violence that would leave him with a lifetime of pain.
Amid the shattered glass, his head filled with the stench of burning wire, he found his brother slumped over a seat, not breathing. Marino quickly laid his twin’s head on his lap, tipped it back and plucked the gum out of his mouth. He yelled, “Breathe! Breathe!” And somehow he did.
Identical twin brothers Michael Lucas (left) and Brian Marino survived the 1995 Fox River Grove bus/train collision that took the lives of seven fellow students. The brothers are now Crystal Lake firefighter-paramedics. Mark Black / Sun-Times
The train’s lead car finally came to a stop a quarter mile down the track.
The force of the collision had ejected four students from the bus. All died.
Ambulances, 30 of them, lined up on either side of Route 14 to carry away the injured and dying.
Parents, desperate, huddled at the Fox River Grove fire department a short walk from the crash site.
The coroner held a clipboard with a grim inventory from the dead: a description of a piece of jewelry, a distinctive shirt, a marking on the skin.
“Moms crying out, dropping to their knees and begging God not to let it be their kid,” is how Bob Kreher, the department’s fire chief then and now, remembers it.
Debbie Owens was there. Her oldest daughter Stephanie — who loved to sing and dance and whose feelings were easily hurt — had been on the bus.
“There was a comfort in all the people we knew that were all together,” says Owens, who’d been told the dead were all boys.
Two hours later, she learned her daughter had been airlifted to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. She died there the following day. A peace symbol tattoo on her hip, which Stephanie had kept secret from her parents, was used to identify her.
Before she died, her father called Stephanie’s younger sisters Christina and Michelle, who were staying with friends. He asked if they wanted to come to the hospital to say goodbye. They didn’t go in to her room. Christina Bailey, now 37 and living in Arizona, says she was too afraid.
“No one needs those kinds of memories,” she says.
Kimberly Schneider waits for word about her daughter, Tiffany, after Metra train No. 624 crashed into a school bus at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove on Oct. 25, 1995. | Sun-Times file photo 1 of 19 Retired train engineer Ford Dotson Jr., who was operating Metra Train No. 624 when it crashed into a school bus on Oct. 25, 1995 in Fox River Grove, poses for a portrait outside his Hazel Crest home, Monday morning, Oct. 19, 2020. The crash killed seven teenagers and injured the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times 2 of 19 Identical twin brothers Michael Lucas and Brian Marino survived the 1995 Fox River Grove bus/train collision that took the lives of 7 fellow students. The brothers are now Crystal Lake Firefighter/Paramedics. | Mark Black/For the Sun-Times 3 of 19 Metra Train No. 624 crashed into a school bus on Oct. 25, 1995 at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove. The crash killed seven teenagers and injured the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Sun-Times file photo 4 of 19 Fox River Grove Fire Protection District Chief Bob Kreher, left, and his brother, Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District Chief Jim Kreher. Both were with Fox River Grove fire back in 1995. The fire house is less than a block away from the crash site. | Stefano Esposito/Sun-Times 5 of 19 Metra Train No. 624 crashed into a school bus on Oct. 25, 1995 at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove. The crash killed seven teenagers and injured the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Sun-Times file photo 6 of 19 An outbound Metra train travels past a memorial at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove, Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 21, 2020. On Oct. 25, 1995, inbound Metra train No. 624 crashed into a school bus at that intersection, killing seven teenagers and injuring the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times 7 of 19 Metra Train No. 624 crashed into a school bus on Oct. 25, 1995 at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove. The crash killed seven teenagers and injured the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Sun-Times file photo 8 of 19 Retired train engineer Ford Dotson Jr., who was operating Metra Train No. 624 when it crashed into a school bus on Oct. 25, 1995 in Fox River Grove, poses for a portrait outside his Hazel Crest home, Monday morning, Oct. 19, 2020. The crash killed seven teenagers and injured the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times 9 of 19 Metra Train No. 624 crashed into a school bus on Oct. 25, 1995 at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove. The crash killed seven teenagers and injured the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Sun-Times file photo 10 of 19 A memorial sits near train tracks at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove, Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 21, 2020. On Oct. 25, 1995, inbound Metra train No. 624 crashed into a school bus at that intersection, killing seven teenagers and injuring the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times 11 of 19 Metra Train No. 624 crashed into a school bus on Oct. 25, 1995 at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove. The crash killed seven teenagers and injured the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Sun-Times file photo 12 of 19 A memorial sits near train tracks at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove, Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 21, 2020. On Oct. 25, 1995, inbound Metra train No. 624 crashed into a school bus at that intersection, killing seven teenagers and injuring the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times 13 of 19 Metra Train No. 624 crashed into a school bus on Oct. 25, 1995 at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove. The crash killed seven teenagers and injured the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Sun-Times file photo 14 of 19 Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena and Jolene Molitoris, administrator for the Federal Railroad Administration examine the railroad crossing in Fox River Grove where 7 students from Cary-Grove High School died when a Metra train collided with a school bus in October 1995. | Sun-Times file photo 15 of 19 A memorial sits near train tracks at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove, Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 21, 2020. On Oct. 25, 1995, inbound Metra train No. 624 crashed into a school bus at that intersection, killing seven teenagers and injuring the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times 16 of 19 A memorial sits near train tracks at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove, Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 21, 2020. On Oct. 25, 1995, inbound Metra train No. 624 crashed into a school bus at that intersection, killing seven teenagers and injuring the bus driver and 24 passengers. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times 17 of 19 The school bus involved in a crash with a Metra train in Fox River Grove rests in the McHenry County Impound lot near Woodstock in October 1996, one year after the incident. Seven teenagers died in the crash. | Sun-Times file photo 18 of 19 The school bus involved in a crash with a Metra train in Fox River Grove rests in the McHenry County Impound lot near Woodstock in October 1996, one year after the incident. Seven teenagers died in the crash. | Sun-Times file photo 19 of 19
A year after the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board released its findings on the cause. In an 82-page report, it highlighted a lack of safety training for bus drivers stopped at railroad crossings, a traffic light that didn’t give drivers enough time to cross the tracks and a poorly designed intersection.
“After the crash, everything changed,” says Brian Vercruysse, the rail safety program administrator for the Illinois Commerce Commission.
The changes included creating a standardized system nationwide connecting traffic signals to railroad warning devices, Vercruysse says. In Fox River Grove, more warning signs and road stripping were added at the crossing. And changes were made so the traffic light gave drivers more time to get off the tracks as a train approached.
At the time of the crash, Dotson had been a train engineer for 19 years. He’d been involved in accidents before — mostly suicides, none he could do anything to prevent. The first one especially rattled him. But a veteran engineer told him, “Ford, it ain’t like you ran this train onto the street and ran over this guy.”
It didn’t really make it any easier the next time — just not so awful he couldn’t climb back in the cab.
The school bus crash, though, was different.
“These kids are dead and hurt, and they had no control of their lives,” he says. “The kids didn’t have a decision in this.”
His boss told him to take off as much time as he needed. But he figured the longer he stayed away, the harder it would be to get back in the cab. He stayed away from work for only a week before coming back.
The first time he made the run through the crash site, he asked to have an engineer friend with him in the cab.
The dream kept replaying, sometimes twice in a night. Dotson thought about quitting the railroad. He says a peer support group helped him cope.
He retired five years ago, after more than four decades.
He still has the dream, though not as often these days.
“That accident, it took a part of my life away,” he says. “That’s gone, and I’m never going to be able to replace that.”
Retired train engineer Ford Dotson Jr., who was operating Metra train No. 624 when it crashed with a school bus on Oct. 25, 1995, in Fox River Grove. Ashlee Rezin Garcia / Sun-Times
Debbie Owens keeps memories of her daughter, irreplaceable things, in a cedar chest at the foot of her bed: some of her high school artwork, a T-shirt from a 1990s rock concert, flowers tied with a pink ribbon from Stephanie’s funeral, old VHS tapes.
“It’s wonderful to hear her voice — the Christmas morning videos, her screaming, ‘Oh, I got what I wanted!’ ” says Owens, who now lives in Palatine.
She’s haunted by a drawing Stephanie sketched about a week before she died, a pastel of a set of weeping eyes.
“Of course, my thought was: God, did she know? Did she have a feeling? I hope that’s not the case.”
Owens doesn’t open the chest much any more.
Things are especially hard for her this time of year. Stephanie would have turned 40 on Oct. 8.
She says she drank a lot after her daughter’s death. Then, one day, five years after the crash, she just stopped — after her “favorite glass” slipped from her hand and shattered.
Stephanie Fulham, 14 (left) and her sister Christina, then 12, the year Stephanie died. Provided
“A switch went off in my head,” she says.
Her daughter Christina puts it this way: “She decided to live and not die. She’s an amazing woman.”
Bailey had her own struggles with the death of a sister she worshiped.
“I would steal her clothes, take her stuff. I wanted to be just like her,” says Bailey, a single mother of three young kids.
Her father died in 2008. “I say he died of a broken heart,” she says.
After his death, there was a reception and luncheon at Galati’s Pizza & Pasta in Cary. The restaurant didn’t charge the family a dime.
“They covered the whole reception, and they never said a word,” Bailey says. “I was blown away.”
Debbie Owens has a cedar chest that contains many of her memories of daughter Stephanie, including pictures, flowers from her funeral and VHS tapes. Provided
When Michael Lucas awoke in a hospital after 10 days in a coma, the people at his bedside — his mother and father — were strangers to him.
“There was no emotional attachment to anybody,” he says. “I knew that I was loved because my mom never left my side.”
His skull had been fractured from ear to ear. He had bleeding on the brain and suffered multiple spinal fractures.
“There were so many reasons I should have died that day,” he says. “And I didn’t.”
To this day, he says he wakes up every morning in pain.
“My muscles are in a state of perpetual spasm,” he says.
Doctors told him his memories would likely trickle back over the first few months of recovery. They never did.
He is a Christian, but Christmas isn’t something he looks forward to.
His mother, so many years later, will often ask, “Mikey, do you remember when you were little, and you used to do this ... ?”
He doesn’t.
“I hear stories about the person I was and the person I could have been,” he says.
The person he became is a firefighter-paramedic with the Crystal Lake Fire-Rescue Department, where his brother Brian also works. Lucas is married with two children.
On occasion, he’s been called to respond to school bus crashes.
“I’m literally shaking as I’m walking on the bus,” he says of those times. “I don’t even know why because I don’t remember” the crash.
Kids sometimes ask about the scars on his shaven head. He’ll change the subject or cut the conversation short.
“I don’t want people to pity me,” he says. “It’s about me rising from the ashes and finding joy in all that you do and the people who surround you.”
On Sunday, Lucas plans to be among those at the crash site, where stones encircle a plaque and seven tiny clay angels. Then, he’ll head to Windridge Memorial Park in Cary, where five of the teenagers who died 25 years ago are buried.
“I’ll make sure I clean up everyone’s grave,” he says. “And I’ll put a single rose by each grave, and then I’ll say a prayer.”


chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--Bears’ latest unheralded D-line gem? Mario Edwards Jr.

Mario Edwards Jr. picked the Bears in early September for many reasons — but mostly so he could rush the passer with an old friend .
“ When I found out the Bears were interested , it was good to come back and play with Khalil [ Mack ] , ” he said .
“ That was one of the main reasons I made my decision.
” On Sunday , his addition continued to pay off .
Edwards got his first sack of the year against the Panthers on a third down in the fourth quarter , forcing a field @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to seven .
He ’ d made his presence felt earlier , too , hitting the quarterback in games against the Falcons and Buccaneers .
Edwards is the son of the former Cowboys cornerback of the same name .
At one point , he was the top high school recruit in America before committing to Florida State .
After being drafted in the second round by the Raiders in 2015 , Edwards lined up opposite Mack — the star was the right defensive end , Edwards was the left — from 2015 to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ second season slowed him down , and Edwards spent 2018 with the Giants and last year with the Saints .
Cut in September , the Bears pounced , needing defensive-line depth .
They ’ ve used him as a pass-rush specialist in a lethal late-game lineup that includes Mack , Robert Quinn and Akiem Hicks .
“ You really have to go out there and throw your best move right there because they have to pick their poison on who they want to slide to or double , ” Edwards said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ type of talent we have on that line.
” Edwards could be the latest reclamation project by defensive line coach Jay Rodgers , who last year turned journeyman Nick Williams into someone whom the Lions deemed worthy of a two-year , $ 10 million deal .
“ That ’ s a credit to the culture we ’ ve built in the D-line room , ’ ’ defensive tackle Bilal Nichols said .
‘ ‘ We have a lot of talent ; we ’ re able to sub guys out without any drop-off at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Edwards has the following game circled : against the Saints .
“ If you love football , ” he said , “ you definitely have got to get fired up for a team that released you when you get a chance to play them again .
”

Mario Edwards Jr. picked the Bears in early September for many reasons — but mostly so he could rush the passer with an old friend.
“When I found out the Bears were interested, it was good to come back and play with Khalil [Mack],” he said. “That was one of the main reasons I made my decision.”
On Sunday, his addition continued to pay off. Edwards got his first sack of the year against the Panthers on a third down in the fourth quarter, forcing a field goal that cut the Bears’ lead to seven. He’d made his presence felt earlier, too, hitting the quarterback in games against the Falcons and Buccaneers.
Edwards is the son of the former Cowboys cornerback of the same name. At one point, he was the top high school recruit in America before committing to Florida State.
After being drafted in the second round by the Raiders in 2015, Edwards lined up opposite Mack — the star was the right defensive end, Edwards was the left — from 2015 to 2017. A hip injury in his second season slowed him down, and Edwards spent 2018 with the Giants and last year with the Saints. Cut in September, the Bears pounced, needing defensive-line depth. They’ve used him as a pass-rush specialist in a lethal late-game lineup that includes Mack, Robert Quinn and Akiem Hicks.
“You really have to go out there and throw your best move right there because they have to pick their poison on who they want to slide to or double,” Edwards said. “So anybody can come free with the type of talent we have on that line.”
Edwards could be the latest reclamation project by defensive line coach Jay Rodgers, who last year turned journeyman Nick Williams into someone whom the Lions deemed worthy of a two-year, $10 million deal.
“That’s a credit to the culture we’ve built in the D-line room,’’ defensive tackle Bilal Nichols said. ‘‘We have a lot of talent; we’re able to sub guys out without any drop-off at all.
After “Monday Night Football,” Edwards has the following game circled: against the Saints.
“If you love football,” he said, “you definitely have got to get fired up for a team that released you when you get a chance to play them again.”


chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--NB Lake Shore Drive reopens after Gold Coast rollover

All northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive have reopened following a rollover crash that left a man critically injured early @ @ @ @ @ .
A 38-year-old man was speeding about 2:30 a.m. in the northbound lanes of the @ @ @ @ @ Shore Drive when he hit a second vehicle , causing that vehicle to roll onto @ @ @ @ @ Chicago police .
The driver of the first vehicle was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital @ @ @ @ @ Chicago Fire Department said he was in critical condition .
The two occupants of the @ @ @ @ @ medical treatment , police said .
All northbound lanes of Lake Shore Driver were blocked @ @ @ @ @ have since been reopened , police said .
Citations are expected to be issued against @ @ @ @ @ , according to police .

All northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive have reopened following a rollover crash that left a man critically injured early Friday in the Gold Coast.
A 38-year-old man was speeding about 2:30 a.m. in the northbound lanes of the 1200 block of North Lake Shore Drive when he hit a second vehicle, causing that vehicle to roll onto its roof, according to Chicago police.
The driver of the first vehicle was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said. The Chicago Fire Department said he was in critical condition.
The two occupants of the vehicle that rolled over declined medical treatment, police said.
All northbound lanes of Lake Shore Driver were blocked while authorities investigated, but have since been reopened, police said.
Citations are expected to be issued against the driver who was hospitalized, according to police.


chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--12 shot, 2 fatally, Thursday in Chicago

12 shot, 2 fatally, Thursday in Chicago

Two people were killed and ten others were injured in shootings Thursday in Chicago .
In the latest fatal shooting , a 34-year-old man was killed in Roseland on the South Side , according to Chicago police .
The man was shot in the abdomen about 6 p.m. in the 10900 block of South Wentworth Avenue , police said .
He was taken to a hospital , where he died shortly after .
Earlier Thursday , a 53-year-old man was killed in a shooting in Chatham on the South Side .
The 53-year-old was found in an alley with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a.m. in the 7500 block of South Champlain Avenue , police said .
He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center , where he was pronounced dead about 12:30 p.m. , according to police and the Cook County medical examiner ’ s office .
In the latest nonfatal attack , a person was shot on an I-57 offramp in Morgan Park on the Far South Side .
The shooting happened at 11:53 p.m. on the ramp from southbound I-57 to 111th Street , according to Illinois State Police .
One person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oak Lawn and stabilized , state police said .
Another person was shot in the hand while driving in Englewood on the South Side .
About 10:25 p.m. , the male was driving in the 7100 block of South Throop Street when a silver SUV approached and someone fired shots into the man ’ s vehicle , police said .
He suffered a gunshot wound to the right hand and was brought to Little Company of Mary Medical Center in good condition .
About 9:35 p.m. , two people were injured in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ South Side .
Two men , 25 and 40 , were in a vehicle in the 500 block of West 123rd Street when someone opened fire , police said .
The 25-year-old was struck in the hand and neck , while the 40-year-old was struck several times in the body .
They drove to Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey , where the younger man was in critical condition and the older man was in good condition .
About 30 minutes earlier , a man was wounded in a shooting in Austin on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , was standing at a gas station about 9 p.m. in the 5100 block of West Chicago Avenue when someone in a vehicle opened fire , police said .
He was struck in the lower leg and taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park , where he was in good condition .
Another man was shot 15 minutes earlier in East Ukrainian Village .
The man , 19 , was walking to his vehicle about 8:45 p.m. in the 900 block of North Ashland Avenue when someone got out of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , police said .
The man was struck in the buttocks and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition .
About 8:05 p.m. , a 45-year-old man was shot in West Rogers Park on the North Side .
He was shot in the 6200 block of North California Avenue and taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital in good condition , police said .
Earlier Thursday afternoon , a 27-year-old man was shot several times in Marquette Park on the Southwest Side .
The shooting happened about 3:50 p.m. in the 6300 block of South @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in good condition with gunshot wounds to his shoulder , leg , face and buttocks .
Another man was shot about 2:15 p.m. in Grand Crossing on the South Side .
He was in the 6800 block of South Stony Island Avenue when he was shot in the leg , according to police .
He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition .
About noon , a 39-year-old man was shot in West Englewood on the South Side @ @ @ @ @ @ @ block of South Oakley Avenue when someone fired shots , striking him in the hand , police said .
The man took himself to Holy Cross Hospital , where he was treated and released .
On Wednesday , seven people were injured by gunfire throughout the city .
Read more on crime , and track the city ’ s homicides .

Two people were killed and ten others were injured in shootings Thursday in Chicago.
In the latest fatal shooting, a 32-year-old man was killed in Roseland on the South Side.
Vincent Blackmon was shot in the abdomen about 5:41 p.m. in the 10900 block of South Wentworth Avenue, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Blackmon, who lived in Gresham, was dead at the scene.
Earlier Thursday, a 53-year-old man was killed in a shooting in Chatham on the South Side.
Dewayne Winfrey was found in an alley with a gunshot wound to the chest about 11:55 a.m. in the 7500 block of South Champlain Avenue, authorities said. Winfrey, who lived in Chatham, was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about 12:30 p.m.
In the latest nonfatal attack, a person was shot on an I-57 offramp in Morgan Park on the Far South Side.
The shooting happened at 11:53 p.m. on the ramp from southbound I-57 to 111th Street, according to Illinois State Police. One person was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and stabilized, state police said.
Another person was shot in the hand while driving in Englewood on the South Side.
About 10:25 p.m., the male was driving in the 7100 block of South Throop Street when a silver SUV approached and someone fired shots into the man’s vehicle, police said. He suffered a gunshot wound to the right hand and was brought to Little Company of Mary Medical Center in good condition.
About 9:35 p.m., two people were injured in a shooting in West Pullman on the Far South Side.
Two men, 25 and 40, were in a vehicle in the 500 block of West 123rd Street when someone opened fire, police said. The 25-year-old was struck in the hand and neck, while the 40-year-old was struck several times in the body. They drove to Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, where the younger man was in critical condition and the older man was in good condition.
About 30 minutes earlier, a man was wounded in a shooting in Austin on the West Side.
The man, 28, was standing at a gas station about 9 p.m. in the 5100 block of West Chicago Avenue when someone in a vehicle opened fire, police said. He was struck in the lower leg and taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where he was in good condition.
Another man was shot 15 minutes earlier in East Ukrainian Village.
The man, 19, was walking to his vehicle about 8:45 p.m. in the 900 block of North Ashland Avenue when someone got out of a Jeep that pulled up and opened fire, police said. The man was struck in the buttocks and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition.
About 8:05 p.m., a 45-year-old man was shot in West Rogers Park on the North Side.
He was shot in the 6200 block of North California Avenue and taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital in good condition, police said.
Earlier Thursday afternoon, a 27-year-old man was shot several times in Marquette Park on the Southwest Side.
The shooting happened about 3:50 p.m. in the 6300 block of South Artesian Avenue, police said. The man was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in good condition with gunshot wounds to his shoulder, leg, face and buttocks.
Another man was shot about 2:15 p.m. in Grand Crossing on the South Side.
He was in the 6800 block of South Stony Island Avenue when he was shot in the leg, according to police. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.
About noon, a 39-year-old man was shot in West Englewood on the South Side.
He was driving in the 6600 block of South Oakley Avenue when someone fired shots, striking him in the hand, police said. The man took himself to Holy Cross Hospital, where he was treated and released.
On Wednesday, seven people were injured by gunfire throughout the city.
Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.


chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--Fire breaks out at Chatham Home Depot

Fire breaks out at Chatham Home Depot

No one was injured in a fire Thursday night at a Home Depot store in Chatham on the South Side @ @ @ @ @ shortly after 11 p.m. at the store , 200 W. 87th St. , according to @ @ @ @ @ The fire , which damaged the store ’ s stock , was brought under control @ @ @ @ @ out by 11:30 p.m. , fire officials said .
A ventilation truck was brought in @ @ @ @ @ of the store , according to the fire department .
No injuries were reported .
@ @ @ @ @ remains under investigation .

No one was injured in a fire Thursday night at a Home Depot store in Chatham on the South Side.
The fire was reported shortly after 11 p.m. at the store, 200 W. 87th St., according to the Chicago Fire Department.
The fire, which damaged the store’s stock, was brought under control by sprinklers and was put out by 11:30 p.m., fire officials said.
A ventilation truck was brought in to clear heavy smoke out of the store, according to the fire department. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.


chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--Half of all counties in Illinois have reached a warning level for the coronavirus (LIVE UPDATES)

Half of all Illinois counties at coronavirus warning level as state reports 3,874 more cases Public health officials on Friday warned that half of all counties in Illinois have reached a warning level for the coronavirus as 3,874 more people tested positive for COVID-19 statewide .
While that ’ s Illinois ’ seventh highest daily caseload of the pandemic , they were detected among the state ’ s second-largest batch of tests ever : 82,256 .
As a result , the seven-day average statewide positivity rate went down for the first time since Oct. 4 — a rare move in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ severe COVID-19 resurgence along with other Midwest states .
The Illinois Department of Public Health also announced 31 more deaths have been attributed to the virus , including a Cook County man in his 30s .
The pandemic death toll has risen to 9,418 since March and it ’ s poised to balloon at an increasingly troubling rate as Illinois hospitals treat the most coronavirus patients they ’ ve seen since early June .
Nearly 2,500 hospital beds were occupied by coronavirus patients as of Thursday night , with 511 in intensive care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case numbers , busy hospitals , shuttering businesses , mounting death tolls and a deadly virus traveling through the air from face to maskless face .
Seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic , it ’ s beginning to feel a lot like March again in the Land of Lincoln .
The state ’ s top doctor fought back tears Friday while making her most impassioned plea yet for residents to follow basic health guidelines as Illinois ’ autumn coronavirus resurgence means many front-line health care workers “ are seeing history repeat itself.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said , turning her back and pausing for nearly 40 seconds during the daily briefing , as Gov .
J.B. Pritker and others offered her tissues .
Ezike apologized when she resumed , acknowledging the difficulty in running a race “ when you can ’ t actually see the endpoint.
” 6:53 p.m. Catholic elementary schools will switch to virtual learning for two weeks after Christmas break Catholic elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago will pivot to remote learning for two weeks at the start @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Jan. 4 and will return on Jan. 19 after the Martin Luther King Day holiday .
In a letter to parents sent Friday , Jim Rigg , superintendent of Catholic Schools , said the switch was made to allow families who travel or have large family gatherings during Thanksgiving and Christmas to quarantine for 14 days to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 in its schools .
“ Moving to virtual learning for two weeks will allow families who choose to travel or attend family gatherings over the holidays to quarantine for 14 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or learning time and without jeopardizing the health of other students and staff in their school , ” Rigg wrote in the letter .
“ It is my hope that this decision enables all families and employees to enjoy the upcoming holidays and return safely for in-person instruction.
” While Chicago Public Schools has used remote learning this fall , Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools students have been meeting mostly in person .
4:36 p.m. Laid-off hotel workers rally after health insurance yanked : ‘ We ’ ve been thrown out like yesterday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers who ’ d been laid off — but promised their jobs back when the hotel industry rebounds — gathered in Grant Park Friday to call on their employers to continue providing health insurance .
They are among about 7,000 Chicago hotel workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 1 who are out of work and , since Oct. 1 , without health insurance .
“ I have really , really bad arthritis and only four pills left , and I have a daughter who needs her braces taken off , ” said Shawan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over rooms at the Hilton Chicago for six years until she was laid off in March .
“ When you work for a company for many , many years and once a pandemic hits they just say , ‘ Well , forget it , no more healthcare , no more anything.
’ ...
It ’ s like insult to injury , ” said Johnson .
Jesus Morales , who ’ d worked as a banquet server at the Drake Hotel for 33 years until he lost his job in March , said he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his wife , who had brain surgery a few years ago , and daughter , who was recently in a car accident , both depend on him for health insurance .
12:21 p.m. How Chicagoans view the prospect of COVID restrictions once again being tightened Now that Chicago is experiencing a “ second surge ” of coronavirus cases , we asked Chicagoans what they thought about the prospect of restrictions being tightened again .
Then on Thursday , Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced another clampdown for bars and restaurants .
Some answers have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I think that maybe the city shouldn ’ t have loosened restrictions on bars and restaurants .
It sends the wrong message as well as being an avenue for the virus to spread.
” — Mark Simons “ I ’ m extremely concerned that CPS wants to bring children and staff back when we ’ re in a second surge.
” — Dana Marie Miroballi “ If it needs to be done , we do it .
Money is never more important than human lives.
” — Michelle Hrad “ This second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ Oh , a little get-together won ’ t hurt , ’ or ‘ Oops , forgot my mask , whatever ’ or ‘ you don ’ t seriously believe this coronavirus business is real ?
’ Or my favorite : ‘ Cain ’ t nobody tell me what I can or cain ’ t do !
’ Obviously , they all add up .
The result is a second wave.
” — Debrah Ross See what else Chicagoans said .
10:11 a.m. Food fight : Pritzker vows to crack down on restaurants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through dining defiance As Illinois smashed another daily record with 4,942 new coronavirus cases reported Thursday , Gov .
J.B. Pritzker threw down the gauntlet to suburban bar and restaurant owners threatening to flout his latest restrictions on indoor drinking and dining .
The Democratic governor issued his harshest warning yet to potential scofflaws before his indoor dining ban goes into effect Friday in Will , Kankakee , Kane and DuPage counties , where COVID-19 infection rates are soaring to new highs .
But some owners say they will still seat customers inside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ death sentence ” for their businesses after months of struggling to stay afloat while following guidelines and avoiding outbreaks .
“ If people are going to force us , because they won ’ t follow the mitigations , and they ’ re going to let people get sick in their business , then we ’ re going to take this very seriously , ” Pritzker said at a downstate coronavirus briefing .
“ If we have to stop them from doing business because they ’ re helping to spread this disease and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s what we ’ re going to do.
” “ We are now seeing the entire state is moving up in terms of hospitalizations , in terms of ICU beds , ventilators and death , ” Pritzker said , pointing to “ dozens of studies ” showing bars and restaurants have proven to be fertile grounds for COVID-19 transmission .
The Illinois Department of Public Health attributed 44 more deaths to the virus , while the state ’ s average seven-day positivity rate has shot up this month more than two full percentage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state has seen its five largest daily caseloads of the entire pandemic over the last week alone , hospitals across the state are treating the most COVID-19 patients they ’ ve seen since early June .
9:28 a.m. CPS refusing to allow teachers union to inspect schools , bargain over reopening , complaint says The Chicago Teachers Union is accusing city officials of illegally refusing to bargain over school reopening conditions during the coronavirus pandemic as a return to classrooms for some students is expected next month .
The union ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ practice complaint this academic year and also alleges Chicago Public Schools officials have canceled several scheduled appointments for a union-hired inspector to visit school buildings and conduct air quality checks .
“ CPS today formally told us that it is going to refuse to bargain with us over the decision as to when and how to safely resume in-person instruction , ” said CTU deputy general counsel Thad Goodchild .
“ That decision is a mandatory subject of bargaining under Illinois law .
“ Their position is absurd , ” he said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ there are countless health and safety factors that go into a reopening decision , while CPS views the issue more narrowly and one that falls under its sole discretion .
8:06 a.m. Illinois to begin releasing data on coronavirus outbreaks in schools The Illinois Department of Public Health will begin releasing data on coronavirus outbreaks connected to schools , department spokesperson Melaney Arnold confirmed Thursday .
Outbreaks are tracked internally by IDPH through their Outbreak Reporting System , and are defined as two or more cases connected to a single location .
Arnold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ include “ number of cases and outbreaks ” and that officials “ look forward to having that live in the coming weeks.
” IDPH has been publicly providing data on “ youth cases , ” or cases in individuals under 20 years old , in order for school and local health officials to make decisions on e-learning .
But the state previously has not disclosed any data connected to specific schools .
• Illinois smashed another daily record Thursday with 4,942 new coronavirus cases reported • Also Thursday , the Illinois Department of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus , while the state ’ s average seven-day positivity rate has shot up this month more than two full percentage points to 5.7 % .
8:54 a.m .
The simple math of ‘ excess mortality ’ — this pandemic kills Just how deadly is COVID-19 ?
The answer to that question should guide every decision our nation makes as to how to keep ourselves and others safe , yet it has proven maddeningly difficult to nail down and agree upon .
In part , the problem has been one of science @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been revised , up and down , as scientists and health professionals have collected and analyzed new data and devised better medical treatments .
The problem has also been one of politics .
From the very beginning , there has been desire by many political leaders , mostly on the right and most obviously President Trump , to downplay the deadliness of the virus .
They have found it more expedient to denigrate the science of the disease than to take the bold measures required — actions derided by anti-government conservatives and libertarians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the disease .
The basic argument made by those who seek to minimize the dangers of COVID-19 is that most people killed by the virus are quite old and already quite sick and on the verge of death anyway .
And if a younger person who has the virus were to jump out of a plane and his parachute failed to open , the skeptics joke , some liberal doctor would record the cause of death as COVID-19 .
Given this disagreement and doubt , it ’ s important to stress that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emerging gold standard for measuring the deadliness of COVID-19 — something researchers call “ excess deaths.
” And by that sturdy standard , according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control , the virus actually is more deadly than most news reports would suggest .
That ’ s a profoundly important message , from what traditionally has been one of our nation ’ s most trusted research institutions , at a time when rates of COVID-19 are surging again in the United States , including in Illinois .

Another 3,874 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Illinois. That high number comes as restaurant and hospitality workers are facing new struggles.
Here’s all the news you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic in Chicago and around Illinois.
News
8:57 p.m. Half of all Illinois counties at coronavirus warning level as state reports 3,874 more cases
AP Photos
Public health officials on Friday warned that half of all counties in Illinois have reached a warning level for the coronavirus as 3,874 more people tested positive for COVID-19 statewide.
While that’s Illinois’ seventh highest daily caseload of the pandemic, they were detected among the state’s second-largest batch of tests ever: 82,256. As a result, the seven-day average statewide positivity rate went down for the first time since Oct. 4 — a rare move in the right direction as Illinois weathers a severe COVID-19 resurgence along with other Midwest states.
The Illinois Department of Public Health also announced 31 more deaths have been attributed to the virus, including a Cook County man in his 30s.
The pandemic death toll has risen to 9,418 since March and it’s poised to balloon at an increasingly troubling rate as Illinois hospitals treat the most coronavirus patients they’ve seen since early June. Nearly 2,500 hospital beds were occupied by coronavirus patients as of Thursday night, with 511 in intensive care units and 197 using ventilators.
Read Mitchell Armentrout’s full story here.
8:29 p.m. If restaurants are COVID super spreaders, owners ask, where’s the proof?
Scott Weiner, who runs 20 restaurants in Chicago, feels like a scapegoat in a pandemic.
Like other operators, he sees a real possibility that the city’s bars and restaurants may be forced to completely shut down because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases. He’d also like to see proof that his businesses, which include Roots Handmade Pizza and West Town Bakery, are contributing to the problem.
“On top of poor data, you get the feeling people are making decisions without really knowing,” said Weiner, co-owner of the Fifty/50 Restaurant Group.
Government data are at the center of confusion about safety of restaurants and bars as coronavirus cases are on the rise. On Friday, a defensive Gov. J.B. Pritzker said “bars and restaurants are super spreader locations,” a term that makes those in the industry cringe because they say there is no conclusive proof. Pritzker has shut down indoor restaurant dining in DuPage, Kane and Will Counties as well as other parts of the state.
Reporter Brett Chase has the full story.
7:43 p.m. Land of tears: ‘Desperate’ Illinois health care workers ‘seeing history repeat itself’
Ugly case numbers, busy hospitals, shuttering businesses, mounting death tolls and a deadly virus traveling through the air from face to maskless face.
Seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s beginning to feel a lot like March again in the Land of Lincoln.
The state’s top doctor fought back tears Friday while making her most impassioned plea yet for residents to follow basic health guidelines as Illinois’ autumn coronavirus resurgence means many front-line health care workers “are seeing history repeat itself.”
“Excuse me, please,’ Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said, turning her back and pausing for nearly 40 seconds during the daily briefing, as Gov. J.B. Pritker and others offered her tissues.
Ezike apologized when she resumed, acknowledging the difficulty in running a race “when you can’t actually see the endpoint.”
Reporter Mitch Armentrout has the full story.
6:53 p.m. Catholic elementary schools will switch to virtual learning for two weeks after Christmas break
Catholic elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago will pivot to remote learning for two weeks at the start of 2021.
Schools will begin e-learning on Jan. 4 and will return on Jan. 19 after the Martin Luther King Day holiday.
In a letter to parents sent Friday, Jim Rigg, superintendent of Catholic Schools, said the switch was made to allow families who travel or have large family gatherings during Thanksgiving and Christmas to quarantine for 14 days to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 in its schools.
“Moving to virtual learning for two weeks will allow families who choose to travel or attend family gatherings over the holidays to quarantine for 14 days without a loss of school days or learning time and without jeopardizing the health of other students and staff in their school,” Rigg wrote in the letter. “It is my hope that this decision enables all families and employees to enjoy the upcoming holidays and return safely for in-person instruction.”
While Chicago Public Schools has used remote learning this fall, Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools students have been meeting mostly in person.
Reporter Manny Ramos has the full story.
4:36 p.m. Laid-off hotel workers rally after health insurance yanked: ‘We’ve been thrown out like yesterday’s garbage’
About 150 hotel workers who’d been laid off — but promised their jobs back when the hotel industry rebounds — gathered in Grant Park Friday to call on their employers to continue providing health insurance.
They are among about 7,000 Chicago hotel workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 1 who are out of work and, since Oct. 1, without health insurance.
“I have really, really bad arthritis and only four pills left, and I have a daughter who needs her braces taken off,” said Shawan Johnson, 41, who worked turning over rooms at the Hilton Chicago for six years until she was laid off in March.
“When you work for a company for many, many years and once a pandemic hits they just say, ‘Well, forget it, no more healthcare, no more anything.’ ... It’s like insult to injury,” said Johnson.
Jesus Morales, who’d worked as a banquet server at the Drake Hotel for 33 years until he lost his job in March, said he’s in a tough spot because his wife, who had brain surgery a few years ago, and daughter, who was recently in a car accident, both depend on him for health insurance.
Reporter Mitch Dudek has the full story.
12:21 p.m. How Chicagoans view the prospect of COVID restrictions once again being tightened
Now that Chicago is experiencing a “second surge” of coronavirus cases, we asked Chicagoans what they thought about the prospect of restrictions being tightened again.
Then on Thursday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced another clampdown for bars and restaurants.
Some answers have been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
“I think that maybe the city shouldn’t have loosened restrictions on bars and restaurants. It sends the wrong message as well as being an avenue for the virus to spread.” — Mark Simons
“I’m extremely concerned that CPS wants to bring children and staff back when we’re in a second surge.” — Dana Marie Miroballi
“If it needs to be done, we do it. Money is never more important than human lives.” — Michelle Hrad
“This second surge was probably fostered by the occasional ‘Oh, a little get-together won’t hurt,’ or ‘Oops, forgot my mask, whatever’ or ‘you don’t seriously believe this coronavirus business is real?’ Or my favorite: ‘Cain’t nobody tell me what I can or cain’t do!’ Obviously, they all add up. The result is a second wave.” — Debrah Ross
See what else Chicagoans said.
10:11 a.m. Food fight: Pritzker vows to crack down on restaurants ‘helping to spread this disease’ through dining defiance
As Illinois smashed another daily record with 4,942 new coronavirus cases reported Thursday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker threw down the gauntlet to suburban bar and restaurant owners threatening to flout his latest restrictions on indoor drinking and dining.
The Democratic governor issued his harshest warning yet to potential scofflaws before his indoor dining ban goes into effect Friday in Will, Kankakee, Kane and DuPage counties, where COVID-19 infection rates are soaring to new highs.
But some owners say they will still seat customers inside, arguing the latest rollback means a “death sentence” for their businesses after months of struggling to stay afloat while following guidelines and avoiding outbreaks.
“If people are going to force us, because they won’t follow the mitigations, and they’re going to let people get sick in their business, then we’re going to take this very seriously,” Pritzker said at a downstate coronavirus briefing. “If we have to stop them from doing business because they’re helping to spread this disease and get people sick, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
“We are now seeing the entire state is moving up in terms of hospitalizations, in terms of ICU beds, ventilators and death,” Pritzker said, pointing to “dozens of studies” showing bars and restaurants have proven to be fertile grounds for COVID-19 transmission.
The Illinois Department of Public Health attributed 44 more deaths to the virus, while the state’s average seven-day positivity rate has shot up this month more than two full percentage points to 5.7%. And as the state has seen its five largest daily caseloads of the entire pandemic over the last week alone, hospitals across the state are treating the most COVID-19 patients they’ve seen since early June.
Read Mitchell Armentrout’s story here.
9:28 a.m. CPS refusing to allow teachers union to inspect schools, bargain over reopening, complaint says
The Chicago Teachers Union is accusing city officials of illegally refusing to bargain over school reopening conditions during the coronavirus pandemic as a return to classrooms for some students is expected next month.
The union’s claim comes in its third unfair labor practice complaint this academic year and also alleges Chicago Public Schools officials have canceled several scheduled appointments for a union-hired inspector to visit school buildings and conduct air quality checks.
“CPS today formally told us that it is going to refuse to bargain with us over the decision as to when and how to safely resume in-person instruction,” said CTU deputy general counsel Thad Goodchild. “That decision is a mandatory subject of bargaining under Illinois law.
“Their position is absurd,” he said.
The CTU’s stance is that there are countless health and safety factors that go into a reopening decision, while CPS views the issue more narrowly and one that falls under its sole discretion.
Read Nader Issa’s full story here.
8:06 a.m. Illinois to begin releasing data on coronavirus outbreaks in schools
The Illinois Department of Public Health will begin releasing data on coronavirus outbreaks connected to schools, department spokesperson Melaney Arnold confirmed Thursday.
Outbreaks are tracked internally by IDPH through their Outbreak Reporting System, and are defined as two or more cases connected to a single location.
Arnold said Thursday that the school-level data will include “number of cases and outbreaks” and that officials “look forward to having that live in the coming weeks.”
IDPH has been publicly providing data on “youth cases,” or cases in individuals under 20 years old, in order for school and local health officials to make decisions on e-learning. But the state previously has not disclosed any data connected to specific schools.
Reporter Caroline Hurley has the full story.
New Cases
Illinois smashed another daily record Thursday with 4,942 new coronavirus cases reported
Also Thursday, the Illinois Department of Public Health attributed 44 more deaths to the virus, while the state’s average seven-day positivity rate has shot up this month more than two full percentage points to 5.7%.
Analysis & Commentary
8:54 a.m. The simple math of ‘excess mortality’ — this pandemic kills
Just how deadly is COVID-19?
The answer to that question should guide every decision our nation makes as to how to keep ourselves and others safe, yet it has proven maddeningly difficult to nail down and agree upon.
In part, the problem has been one of science. Estimated mortality rates from COVID-19 have been revised, up and down, as scientists and health professionals have collected and analyzed new data and devised better medical treatments.
The problem has also been one of politics. From the very beginning, there has been desire by many political leaders, mostly on the right and most obviously President Trump, to downplay the deadliness of the virus. They have found it more expedient to denigrate the science of the disease than to take the bold measures required — actions derided by anti-government conservatives and libertarians — to slow and contain the spread of the disease.
The basic argument made by those who seek to minimize the dangers of COVID-19 is that most people killed by the virus are quite old and already quite sick and on the verge of death anyway. And if a younger person who has the virus were to jump out of a plane and his parachute failed to open, the skeptics joke, some liberal doctor would record the cause of death as COVID-19.
Given this disagreement and doubt, it’s important to stress that there is, in fact, an emerging gold standard for measuring the deadliness of COVID-19 — something researchers call “excess deaths.” And by that sturdy standard, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control, the virus actually is more deadly than most news reports would suggest.
That’s a profoundly important message, from what traditionally has been one of our nation’s most trusted research institutions, at a time when rates of COVID-19 are surging again in the United States, including in Illinois.
Read the full editorial here.


chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--Court orders Dorothy Brown to halt planned updates to ‘problematic’ new case management system

Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown has been barred from further implementing her office ’ s new case management system after she apparently rejected concerns from the Office of the Chief Judge over its continued rollout .
Chief Judge Tim Evans on Thursday issued an order telling Brown not to add new civil and traffic division portals to the case management system without prior approval — or face contempt of court .
The order suggests a battle could be brewing between two just a few months before the beleaguered Brown will leave office .
Brown told the chief judge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ planned to move forward despite the office ’ s concerns that expanding the system would be “ significantly detrimental to the administrative , operational needs of the court ” and would cause “ irreparable harm to the court ’ s ability to administer justice , ” according to the filing .
In a statement Friday , a spokeswoman for Brown said the longtime clerk was “ disappointed ” the judge had issued the order but would respect it .
“ The clerk ’ s office has been engaged with the chief judge ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its acquisition and implementation of all the phases , ” spokeswoman Jalyne Strong said .
The new $ 36 million case management system allows the public and court personnel to file , search and review court filings .
At its 2018 rollout , Brown promised it would bring her office ’ s notoriously archaic 40-year-old filing system into the 21st Century .
Late last year , after Brown ’ s office updated the system to include criminal court filings , the records available were often incomplete and took significantly longer to be updated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the criminal division portal at the nation ’ s second-largest courthouse “ continues to be problematic.
” “ The clerk ’ s office is not experiencing any technical difficulties with the current system , ” Strong said .
“ Of course , as with any new system implementation , there were issues that had to be fixed early on , during our post-implementation phase .
The criminal system is a very complex system that has thousands of individuals , both internally and externally , using it successfully every day.
” Strong said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the new features would just result in “ a waste of taxpayer money.
” Candidates running to replace Brown — who announced last year under a cloud of federal investigations that she would not seek re-election after nearly 20 years in the job — have pledged to reform and further modernize the office .

Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown has been barred from further implementing her office’s new case management system after she apparently rejected concerns from the office of the chief judge over its continued rollout.
Chief Judge Tim Evans on Thursday issued an order telling Brown not to add new civil and traffic division portals to the case management system without prior approval — or face contempt of court.
The order suggests a battle could be brewing between Evans and Brown just a few months before the beleaguered Brown will leave office.
Brown told the chief judge’s office earlier Thursday she planned to move forward despite the office’s concerns that expanding the system would be “significantly detrimental to the administrative, operational needs of the court” and would cause “irreparable harm to the court’s ability to administer justice,” according to the filing.
In a statement Friday, a spokeswoman for Brown said the longtime clerk was “disappointed” the judge had issued the order but would respect it.
“The clerk’s office has been engaged with the chief judge’s office regarding the new system throughout its acquisition and implementation of all the phases,” spokeswoman Jalyne Strong said.
The new $36 million case management system allows the public and court personnel to file, search and review court filings. At its 2018 rollout, Brown promised it would bring her office’s notoriously archaic 40-year-old filing system into the 21st century.
Late last year, after Brown’s office updated the system to include criminal court filings, the records available were often incomplete and took significantly longer to be updated.
In his order, Evans said the criminal division portal at the nation’s second-largest courthouse “continues to be problematic.”
Brown’s office disputed that.
“The clerk’s office is not experiencing any technical difficulties with the current system,” Strong said. “Of course, as with any new system implementation, there were issues that had to be fixed early on, during our post-implementation phase. The criminal system is a very complex system that has thousands of individuals, both internally and externally, using it successfully every day.”
Strong said the judge’s imposed delay in adding the new features would just result in “a waste of taxpayer money.”
Candidates running to replace Brown — who announced last year under a cloud of federal investigations she would not seek re-election after nearly 20 years in the job — have pledged to reform and further modernize the office.
A spokeswoman for Evans’ office declined to comment.


chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--‘Batman’ filming brings more road closures

Filming of “ The Batman ” in downtown Chicago this weekend will lead to several street closures and possible traffic @ @ @ @ @ about 6 p.m. Friday .
They will be intermittent until 9 a.m. Saturday , primarily @ @ @ @ @ Boulevard and Washington Street , the Chicago Department of Transportation said in a statement .
@ @ @ @ @ shut down from Kinzie to Randolph streets from 8 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday @ @ @ @ @ and Communications spokeswoman Mary May said .
Drivers should expect delays and limited parking when @ @ @ @ @ CDOT said .
“ The Batman ” stars Robert Pattinson , Zoe Kravitz and Colin @ @ @ @ @ supposed to hit theaters next year but was pushed back to 2022 .

Filming of “The Batman” in downtown Chicago this weekend will lead to several street closing and traffic delays.
Some closings started about 6 p.m. Friday.
They will be intermittent until 9 a.m. Saturday, primarily on LaSalle Street between Jackson Boulevard and Washington Street, the Chicago Department of Transportation said in a statement.
LaSalle will be shut down from Kinzie to Randolph streets from 8 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday, Office of Emergency Management and Communications spokeswoman Mary May said.
Drivers should expect delays and limited parking when traveling through the area, CDOT said.
“The Batman” stars Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz and Colin Farrell. The film was supposed to hit theaters next year but was pushed back to 2022.


chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--So far, 1.8 million Illinois ballots cast, bringing state closer to a ‘fairly clear picture’ of resu

So far, 1.8 million Illinois ballots cast, bringing state closer to a ‘fairly clear picture’ of results on election night

Over 1.8 million Illinois residents have cast ballots 11 days before what some are calling one of the most important elections in U.S. history .
As of Friday morning , 1,045,381 voters from across the state had voted by mail — and that ’ s less than half the 2,310,132 requests for ballots .
Another 760,291 people have cast ballots in person at early voting sites across Illinois .
In Chicago , 271,986 people have returned their mail ballots while 161,294 have voted early in the city .
Matt Dietrich , spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” considering Election Day is a little over a week away .
“ I think what it says is that we should have a fairly clear picture of what the final count will be on election night , but , again , that really depends on how many of the 1.25 million ballots ... are sent back ... prior to Election Day to be processed , ” Dietrich said .
Dietrich said he ’ s optimistic the “ pattern of early returns will continue ... but who knows ?
” He expects an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between now and Thursday since “ there are always people on the fence ” about whether to vote in person or by mail .
The more ballots returned by Election Day , the more likely it is tallies won ’ t change “ drastically ” as authorities count mail ballots that trickle in after the election .
Election officials at the city and state levels have urged residents to cast their ballots early or by mail if possible to avoid crowded Election Day polling places amid COVID-19 concerns .
The city dropped about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ September , which was the start of election authorities around the state sending out ballots to those who requested them .
Voters can change their minds and vote in person .
A voter who decides not to use their vote-by-mail ballot needs to bring it with them to an early voting site or Election Day polling place and exchange for a regular ballot .

Over 1.8 million Illinois residents have cast ballots 11 days before what some are calling one of the most important elections in U.S. history.
As of Friday morning, 1,045,381 voters from across the state had voted by mail — and that’s less than half the 2,310,132 requests for ballots.
Another 760,291 people have cast ballots in person at early voting sites across Illinois. In Chicago, 271,986 people have returned their mail ballots while 161,294 have voted early in the city.
Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections, called the early returns “pretty remarkable” considering Election Day is a little over a week away.
“I think what it says is that we should have a fairly clear picture of what the final count will be on election night, but, again, that really depends on how many of the 1.25 million ballots ... are sent back ... prior to Election Day to be processed,” Dietrich said.
Dietrich said he’s optimistic the “pattern of early returns will continue ... but who knows?”
He expects an uptick in people requesting a mail ballot between now and Thursday since “there are always people on the fence” about whether to vote in person or by mail.
The mailbox at the corner of East 53rd St. and South Cornell Ave. in East Hyde Park, in September. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file
The more ballots returned by Election Day, the more likely it is tallies won’t change “drastically” as authorities count mail ballots that trickle in after the election.
Election officials at the city and state levels have urged residents to cast their ballots early or by mail if possible to avoid crowded Election Day polling places amid COVID-19 concerns.
The city dropped about 245,000 ballots in the mail in late September, which was the start of election authorities around the state sending out ballots to those who requested them.
Voters can change their minds and vote in person. A voter who decides not to use their vote-by-mail ballot needs to bring it with them to an early voting site or Election Day polling place and exchange for a regular ballot.


chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--Land of tears: ‘Desperate’ Illinois health care workers ‘seeing history repeat itself’

Ugly case numbers , busy hospitals , shuttering businesses , mounting death tolls and a deadly virus traveling through the air from face to maskless face .
Seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic , it ’ s beginning to feel a lot like March again in the Land of Lincoln .
The state ’ s top doctor fought back tears Friday while making her most impassioned plea yet for residents to follow basic health guidelines as Illinois ’ autumn coronavirus resurgence means many front-line health care workers “ are seeing history repeat itself.
” “ Excuse me , please , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ezike said , turning her back and pausing for nearly 40 seconds during the daily briefing , as Gov .
J.B. Pritker and others offered her tissues .
Ezike apologized when she resumed , acknowledging the difficulty in running a race “ when you can ’ t actually see the endpoint.
” “ If you ’ re talking about COVID fatigue from having to keep wearing a mask , think about the COVID fatigue for health care workers , respiratory therapists , who are going to have to go through this whole episode @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s lives , because we couldn ’ t figure out how to control this virus by doing some of the simple measures that have been prescribed , ” Ezike said .
“ These people have to go to work every day as the disease is increasing throughout the state , and they ’ re the ones that will be dying , ” Ezike said , as she outlined the latest 3,874 cases of the disease confirmed statewide .
The seventh highest caseload of the entire pandemic capped a week of record-breaking infection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up statewide .
“ I ’ m desperate to find the message that will work , ” Ezike said .
“ We don ’ t have the vaccine yet .
But we have a mask , and we ’ re asking people to use that , and I don ’ t know what else we can say.
” Friday ’ s new cases were confirmed among 82,256 tests submitted to the Illinois Department of Public Health , the second highest testing total ever .
As a result , the seven-day average statewide positivity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right direction — down , just slightly — for the first time since Oct. 4 , from 5.7 % to 5.6 % .
But that ’ s still up from 3.3 % a few weeks ago , while public health officials say half of the state ’ s 102 counties have hit their designated coronavirus “ warning level.
” Officials also announced 31 more deaths have been attributed to the virus , including a Cook County man in his 30s .
The pandemic death toll has risen to 9,418 since March , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an increasingly troubling rate as Illinois hospitals treat the most coronavirus patients they ’ ve seen since early June .
Nearly 2,500 hospital beds were occupied by coronavirus patients as of Thursday night , with 511 in intensive care units and 197 using ventilators .
During the worst days of the first peak of the pandemic in mid-May , Illinois hospitals were treating close to 5,000 patients per night .
That number hovered around 1,400 just a month ago .
Gov .
J.B. Pritzker has pointed to surges in neighboring Midwest states , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s administration and overall “ pandemic fatigue ” as drivers of Illinois ’ viral rebound .
He ’ s also blamed outbreaks at “ super spreading locations ” such as bars and restaurants , where indoor service has been banned in four of the state ’ s 11 regions — including many of Chicago ’ s south and west suburbs — for surpassing 8 % positivity .
Pritzker ’ s health team says that ’ s the case in the 51 warning-level counties where numbers are trending in the wrong direction , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Will .
Officials have said they ’ ve observed “ businesses blatantly disregarding mitigation measures , people not social distancing , gathering in large groups , and not using face coverings.
” Some restaurant and bar operators have said they ’ ll blatantly disregard Pritzker ’ s indoor dining ban that went into effect Friday in the Kane-DuPage County region , which is up to 9.4 % positivity , and the Will-Kankakee County region , which is at 9.2 % .
Pritzker has vowed to go after potential scofflaws ’ liquor and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State Police don ’ t put them in line .
“ We ’ re going to ask the businesses to do as the regulation outlines what they ’ re supposed to do , and we ’ ll hold them responsible if they ’ re not , ” Pritzker said .
Chicago is at 7 % positivity and suburban Cook County at 7.2 % , both rising consistently for a week along with the rest of the state .
More than 7.1 million coronavirus tests have been administered in Illinois , with 364,033 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last seven months — about 2.9 % of the state ’ s population .

Ugly case numbers, busy hospitals, shuttering businesses, mounting death tolls and a deadly virus traveling through the air from face to maskless face.
Seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s beginning to feel a lot like March again in the Land of Lincoln.
The state’s top doctor fought back tears Friday while making her most impassioned plea yet for residents to follow basic health guidelines as Illinois’ autumn coronavirus resurgence means many front-line health care workers “are seeing history repeat itself.”
“Excuse me, please,’ Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said, turning her back and pausing for nearly 40 seconds during the daily briefing, as Gov. J.B. Pritker and others offered her tissues.
Ezike apologized when she resumed, acknowledging the difficulty in running a race “when you can’t actually see the endpoint.”
“If you’re talking about COVID fatigue from having to keep wearing a mask, think about the COVID fatigue for health care workers, respiratory therapists, who are going to have to go through this whole episode again of trying to fight for people’s lives, because we couldn’t figure out how to control this virus by doing some of the simple measures that have been prescribed,” Ezike said.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike is offered tissues during Friday’s daily coronavirus briefing. Screen image.
“These people have to go to work every day as the disease is increasing throughout the state, and they’re the ones that will be dying,” Ezike said, as she outlined the latest 3,874 cases of the disease confirmed statewide. The seventh highest caseload of the entire pandemic capped a week of record-breaking infection numbers that sent testing positivity rates shooting up statewide.
“I’m desperate to find the message that will work,” Ezike said. “We don’t have the vaccine yet. But we have a mask, and we’re asking people to use that, and I don’t know what else we can say.”
Graph not displaying properly? Click here.
Friday’s new cases were confirmed among 82,256 tests submitted to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the second highest testing total ever. As a result, the seven-day average statewide positivity rate took a rare move in the right direction — down, just slightly — for the first time since Oct. 4, from 5.7% to 5.6%.
But that’s still up from 3.3% a few weeks ago, while public health officials say half of the state’s 102 counties have hit their designated coronavirus “warning level.”
Officials also announced 31 more deaths have been attributed to the virus, including a Cook County man in his 30s.
The pandemic death toll has risen to 9,418 since March, and it’s poised to balloon at an increasingly troubling rate as Illinois hospitals treat the most coronavirus patients they’ve seen since early June. Nearly 2,500 hospital beds were occupied by coronavirus patients as of Thursday night, with 511 in intensive care units and 197 using ventilators.
During the worst days of the first peak of the pandemic in mid-May, Illinois hospitals were treating close to 5,000 patients per night. That number hovered around 1,400 just a month ago.
Counties considered to be at a coronavirus warning level are marked orange. Illinois Department of Public Health
Pritzker has pointed to surges in neighboring Midwest states, alleged mismanagement by President Donald Trump’s administration and overall “pandemic fatigue” as drivers of Illinois’ viral rebound.
He’s also blamed outbreaks at “super spreading locations” such as bars and restaurants, where indoor service has been banned in four of the state’s 11 regions — including many of Chicago’s south and west suburbs — for surpassing 8% positivity.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker adjusts his mask during a Chicago news conference in July. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file
Pritzker’s health team says that’s the case in the 51 warning-level counties where numbers are trending in the wrong direction, including DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, McHenry and Will. Officials have said they’ve observed “businesses blatantly disregarding mitigation measures, people not social distancing, gathering in large groups, and not using face coverings.”
Some restaurant and bar operators have said they’ll blatantly disregard Pritzker’s indoor dining ban that went into effect Friday in the Kane-DuPage County region, which is up to 9.4% positivity, and the Will-Kankakee County region, which is at 9.2%.
Pritzker has vowed to go after potential scofflaws’ liquor and video gambling licenses if citations from Illinois State Police don’t put them in line.
“We’re going to ask the businesses to do as the regulation outlines what they’re supposed to do, and we’ll hold them responsible if they’re not,” Pritzker said.
Chicago is at 7% positivity and suburban Cook County at 7.2%, both rising consistently for a week along with the rest of the state.
More than 7.1 million coronavirus tests have been administered in Illinois, with 364,033 people confirmed to carry the virus over the last seven months — about 2.9% of the state’s population.


chicagosun-times--2020-10-23--Laid-off hotel workers rally after health insurance yanked: ‘We’ve been thrown out like yesterday’s

Laid-off hotel workers rally after health insurance yanked: ‘We’ve been thrown out like yesterday’s garbage’

About 150 hotel workers who ’ d been laid off — but promised their jobs back when the hotel industry rebounds — gathered in Grant Park Friday to call on their employers to continue providing health insurance .
They are among about 7,000 Chicago hotel workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 1 who are out of work , most since March .
Their health insurance lasted until Oct. 1 , and workers are now calling on hotel operators to extend benefits .
A union spokeswoman could not immediately say how long they were hoping a possible extension would last .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ arthritis and only four pills left , and I have a daughter who needs her braces taken off , ” said Shawan Johnson , 41 , who worked turning over rooms at the Hilton Chicago for six years until she was laid off in March .
“ When you work for a company for many , many years and once a pandemic hits they just say , ‘ Well , forget it , no more healthcare , no more anything.
’ ...
It ’ s like insult to injury , ” said Johnson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worked as a banquet server at the Drake Hotel for 33 years until he lost his job in March , said he ’ s in a tough spot because his wife , who had brain surgery a few years ago , and daughter , who was recently in a car accident , both depend on him for health insurance .
“ We have spent years and decades of our lives working for these companies , and now we ’ ve been thrown out like yesterday ’ s garbage , ” he said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ re treating us.
” The crowd chanted , “ We deserve better !
” before marching under a light drizzle several blocks around the Hilton Chicago , 720 S. Michigan Ave .
The majority of workers represented by the union are women of color , according to Unite Here spokeswoman Sarah Lyons .
The workers are , in part , room attendants , bartenders , cooks , servers , bellmen and doormen .
Their jobs are spread among dozens of hotels , but the largest chunk of them work for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Lyons said .
“ The well-being of our team members remains our highest priority , especially during these challenging times , ” a Hilton spokeswoman said in an email .
“ Throughout the pandemic , temporary healthcare benefits have been provided to hotel employees by drawing on multi-employer health and welfare fund reserves that exist due to the financial contributions of hotel owners , Hilton , and other employers .
Unfortunately , the economic impact of the pandemic does not allow these temporary benefits to be sustained indefinitely.
” The spokeswoman said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ travel resumes .
“ Until then , to further assist those unable to work through no fault of their own , we have created the Hilton Workforce Resource Center to connect hotel employees with new potential work opportunities , ” she said .
Representatives of Hyatt and Marriott did not immediately return requests for comment .

About 150 hotel workers who’d been laid off — but promised their jobs back when the hotel industry rebounds — gathered in Grant Park Friday to call on their employers to continue providing health insurance.
They are among about 7,000 Chicago hotel workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 1 who are out of work, most since March.
Their health insurance lasted until Oct. 1, and workers are now calling on hotel operators to extend benefits.
A union spokeswoman could not immediately say how long they were hoping a possible extension would last.
“I have really, really bad arthritis and only four pills left, and I have a daughter who needs her braces taken off,” said Shawan Johnson, 41, who worked turning over rooms at the Hilton Chicago for six years until she was laid off in March.
“When you work for a company for many, many years and once a pandemic hits they just say, ‘Well, forget it, no more healthcare, no more anything.’ ... It’s like insult to injury,” said Johnson.
Jesus Morales, who’d worked as a banquet server at the Drake Hotel for 33 years until he lost his job in March, said he’s in a tough spot because his wife, who had brain surgery a few years ago, and daughter, who was recently in a car accident, both depend on him for health insurance.
“We have spent years and decades of our lives working for these companies, and now we’ve been thrown out like yesterday’s garbage,” he said. “They should be ashamed of how they’re treating us.”
Jesus Morales, a banquet server at The Drake, took part in a rally with other hotel workers who are demanding health insurance in the Loop, Friday afternoon, Oct. 23, 2020. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The crowd chanted, “We deserve better!” before marching under a light drizzle several blocks around the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Ave.
The majority of workers represented by the union are women of color, according to Unite Here spokeswoman Sarah Lyons. The workers are, in part, room attendants, bartenders, cooks, servers, bellmen and doormen.
Hotel workers and their supporters march to demand health insurance in the Loop, Friday afternoon, Oct. 23, 2020. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Their jobs are spread among dozens of hotels, but the largest chunk of them work for the Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt hotel chains, Lyons said.
“The well-being of our team members remains our highest priority, especially during these challenging times,” a Hilton spokeswoman said in an email. “Throughout the pandemic, temporary healthcare benefits have been provided to hotel employees by drawing on multi-employer health and welfare fund reserves that exist due to the financial contributions of hotel owners, Hilton, and other employers. Unfortunately, the economic impact of the pandemic does not allow these temporary benefits to be sustained indefinitely.”
The spokeswoman said Hilton hopes to bring workers back when travel resumes.
“Until then, to further assist those unable to work through no fault of their own, we have created the Hilton Workforce Resource Center to connect hotel employees with new potential work opportunities,” she said.
Representatives of Hyatt and Marriott did not immediately return requests for comment.