chicagosun-times--2020-05-15--Lightfoot’s ‘helluva’ first year culminates in pandemic that will define her tenure

No matter how long it lasts or what else she says and does , Lori Lightfoot ’ s tenure as mayor of Chicago will be defined by the coronavirus .
Shutting down the lakefront .
Cutting off citywide liquor sales .
Driving around the city to personally break up large gatherings , inspiring a hilarious string of memes that softened her hard edges .
Her self-declared war on poverty made infinitely more difficult in black and Hispanic neighborhoods that have borne the brunt of the layoffs and deaths .
The stay-at-home shutdown of the Chicago economy that will blow a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The strike-shortened school year cut even shorter .
And a Chicago City Council rebellion that gained steam during the mayor ’ s 29-to-21 fight for emergency contracting and spending authority .
“ If she is able to guide us through this incredibly difficult time and Chicago emerges stronger , she is going to be viewed historically as one of the city ’ s greatest mayors , ” said former Ald .
Joe Moore ( 49th ) .
“ But , boy , it is daunting.
” Democratic political consultant Peter Giangreco said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ executive is to show strong leadership ” during a crisis , and Lightfoot has “ hit that one out of the park .
“ She ’ s got to keep leveling with people , ” said Giangreco , who advised Susan Mendoza ’ s losing mayoral campaign against Lightfoot .
“ She ’ s at her best when she ’ s telling people inconvenient truths.
” Wednesday will mark the one-year anniversary of Lightfoot ’ s historic inauguration as the first African American female and first openly gay mayor of Chicago .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Lightfoot told the Chicago Sun-Times .
“ Nobody comes into office thinking they ’ re gon na have to deal with a pandemic before they even hit their one-year anniversary… It ’ s been a humbling experience .
“ I ’ m not gon na say that there haven ’ t been days where I shed a tear .
I have .
I ’ ve wept for the loss .
I ’ ve wept for the hardship that so many people are suffering .
But I know that they rely upon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into the fight every single day.
” It seems forever ago that Lightfoot used her inaugural address to portray the city council as corrupt , stripped aldermen of their “ prerogative ” over licensing and permitting in their wards and used her first council meeting to humiliate now-indicted Ald .
Edward Burke ( 14th ) .
Since then , Lightfoot has been faced so many controversies that she jokingly has compared herself to the central character in the bible ’ s Book of Job .
She erased what she said was an $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ property tax increase — by balancing her $ 11.6 billion budget with assumptions and one-time revenues .
During the budget battle , Lightfoot angrily accused ride-hailing giant Uber of “ paying off ” black ministers with an offer of $ 54 million to kill her $ 40 million congestion fee .
The unsubstantiated charge offended the ministers , a powerful political force .
After the council vote , the mayor again showed how intolerant she is to dissent .
She used her political action committee to shame the 11 aldermen who dared to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woefully underfunds ” affordable housing and mental health .
Lightfoot also endured an 11-day teachers strike that ended , only after she lost the public relations battle to a machine-like Chicago Teachers Union and essentially gave away the store to the union that backed her vanquished opponent Toni Preckwinkle , the Cook County Board president .
The end came only after Lightfoot removed the line she had stubbornly drawn in the sand by compensating teachers for five of the 11 days they had spent on strike .
Still , the six-day pay cut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stand with the mayor when the agreement was announced .
Bitterness from that episode still lingers on both sides .
The firing of police Supt .
Eddie Johnson was another key moment in Lightfoot ’ s first year .
Even after Johnson was found slumped over the wheel of his police SUV near his Bridgeport home — and told the mayor that happened after he had dinner and drinks with friends — Lightfoot allowed Johnson to announce his own retirement and held a celebratory news conference in his honor .
A few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Johnson after accusing the superintendent she inherited of “ lying to me and lying to the public ” about the circumstances surrounding the Oct. 17 , 2019 , incident .
She got even with a vengeance , placing Johnson on City Hall ’ s do-not-hire list .
To David Greising , the Better Government Association ’ s president and chief executive officer , the ugly firing of one of Chicago ’ s most popular police superintendents showed Lightfoot “ maturing ” on the job .
“ She went from being doubtful he could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to rely on him through the summer , then deciding he wasn ’ t the person going forward , yet trusting his first version of what happened at the asleep-behind-the-wheel-of-a-parked-car episode to then being lied to and , in a pique , saying more than she needed to about what had gone on there , ” Greising said .
“ It was not her finest hour.
” Garry McCarthy , the former police superintendent-turned-mayoral candidate , doesn ’ t care about the circuitous path Lightfoot took to get rid of Johnson .
What @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the right place .
“ You can ’ t hold police officers accountable for lying and not hold the police chief accountable for the same thing , ” he said .
Johnson ’ s firing hastened the arrival of retired Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck , a policing heavyweight lured by Lightfoot ’ s public safety gravitas .
Beck didn ’ t just sit there .
Taking on the dirty work , he ended merit promotions and engineered a massive police shakeup while running things until the arrival of former Dallas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in which Lightfoot got her choice , in Brown , generated its own controversy .
A former Chicago Police Board president whose recommendations were ignored by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel , Lightfoot said the selection process “ only has legitimacy if you follow it.
” Lightfoot had her eye on Brown from the moment she fired Johnson .
She chose Brown one day after the board made public its list of three finalists and made certain the other two finalists had nowhere near Brown ’ s experience so that the choice would appear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transparency ” she had promised .
Before returning to Los Angeles , Beck said there were “ two pandemics that face Chicago — and only one of them is virus-induced.
” Now , Brown is on the clock to find a solution for the pandemic induced by gangs and gun violence .
“ The courts are effectively closed , ” Lightfoot said .
“ The jail is closed .
Our federal partners that we rely upon are at home and not doing what they normally do from a criminal justice standpoint .
Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And guess what ?
They ’ re human beings .
They ’ ve been getting sick .
Some have died .
“ Trying to figure out how you police in this really difficult environment is the challenge of a lifetime .
I joked with David Brown the other day .
I called and said , ‘ I hope you ’ re not heading back to Dallas.
’ ” The April 11 demolition debacle in Little Village triggered , yet another controversy , this one at the worst possible time .
Armed with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mike Rodriguez ( 22nd ) tried to block , a subcontractor hired by Hilco Redevelopment Partners demolished a 95-year-old smokestack at the site of a shuttered coal-fired power plant without abiding by the safety measures it had promised to implement .
A giant plume of dust rained down on the community , making it difficult to breathe during a coronavirus pandemic that does the same .
Desperate to minimize the political fallout , Lightfoot blamed Hilco , slapped the company with $ 68,000 in fines and vowed to overhaul the city ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her executive order stripping aldermen of control over licensing and permitting had set the stage for the demolition disaster and lashed out at aldermen who said otherwise .
Council members who pushed back against Lightfoot ’ s request for expanded spending and contracting authority for the duration of the pandemic similarly were denounced as “ shameful , ” “ selfish ” grandstanders willing to put politics over public health .
Lightfoot got her way after a 29-to-21 vote not seen since the 1980 ’ s power struggle known as Council Wars that saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , thwart former Mayor Harold Washington ’ s every move .
But the close vote and thin-skinned prelude to it signals trouble may be ahead when the shutdown ends and painful , budget-balancing decisions begin .
“ She is willing to put opponents in their place in order to make a point about the power dynamic between her and her opponent , ” Greising said .
“ Does she do that to make an important point , as she did in her smackdown of Ed Burke ?
Or does she just do that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way that ’ s not constructive ?
“ If she has unnecessarily dismissed people or embarrassed them or called into question their value as representatives of their wards , has she cost herself in terms of being able to advance her agenda ?
” Apparently referring to earlier skirmishes with aldermen over aldermanic prerogative , recreational marijuana and gay setasides , Moore agreed that Lightfoot “ has to do a better job of relating to the city council ” because her “ margin for error is diminishing .
“ Clearly , there are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are gon na vote against her no matter what because she is adopting a very pragmatic governing style , ” he said .
“ But a few of those 21 votes were — based on my conversations with my former colleagues — just aldermen who feel like they ’ re being disrespected .
“ That would be the one area that…she needs improvement on .
But , overall , ironically , she ’ s governing in the same pragmatic style as Rahm Emanuel .
She may not like the comparison , but it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policy .
The only difference is Rahm…did a very good job of building relationships with members of the city council , [ and it showed ] when they were called upon to cast difficult votes.
” Former Ald .
Pat O ’ Connor ( 40th ) , who was Emanuel ’ s floor leader , said the council “ could become a growing problem ” for Lightfoot but not until life in Chicago returns to some semblance of normalcy .
“ If you ’ ve got a life-threatening infection , you ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve got a hangnail somewhere , ” O ’ Connor said .
“ She ’ s not gon na worry about what she needs from them until she needs it , while she can do the things with the pandemic that she ’ s got to do.
” Until the pandemic brought normal life to a halt , Lightfoot ’ s biggest concern was her war on poverty and her plan to target 10 inner-city neighborhoods for an unprecedented $ 250 million city investment and $ 500 million more from other government agencies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wage and a predictable scheduling ordinance — signature victories for organized labor .
She pushed through the first installment of her plan to go easier on scofflaws .
But she still was being pressured from the left to deliver civilian police review , a police contract that makes it easier to discipline officers and more money for the homeless and affordable housing .
Now , COVID-19 occupies nearly every waking moment for Lightfoot and makes intransigent problems worse .
“ The vulnerabilities of our city — poverty , the lack of access to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jobs — those vulnerabilities are flashing like a neon sign every single day , ” the mayor said .
“ Black people are dying at an absolutely unfathomably high rate .
Now , we ’ re seeing this huge surge of cases in the Latinx community…We ’ ve got to speed up the work .
We don ’ t have the time to contemplate and think great thoughts.
” Jacky Grimshaw , who was one of Washington ’ s closest advisers , said Lightfoot “ bit the bullet to do something that other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wouldn ’ t , confronting “ inequities in the city and the way services are delivered.
” One element of that was appointing a chief equity officer .
Grimshaw said Lightfoot ’ s nonbinding “ Housing Solidarity Pledge ” was a disappointment and that she ’ s worried about a spike in foreclosures , evictions and homelessness tied to the coronavirus unless there is real rent relief .
But she said , “ Maybe this was the best deal she could get .
At least , she was trying to get something in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t go far enough.
” Grimshaw was particularly impressed with the stay-at-home public service announcements engineered by marketing guru Michael Fassnacht .
They have turned Lightfoot into an international celebrity .
“ It wasn ’ t her doing in terms of creating the memes , ” said Grimshaw , vice president for government affairs at the Center for Neighborhood Technology .
“ But she had the right person ….to help her , and she was willing to take his suggestions .
“ She understood that it was a harsh thing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ couldn ’ t just be mean about it .
You had to try and give people an understanding of why you had to make the decisions you made.
” Lightfoot ’ s tough-love message is not getting through to millennials , though .
They have continued to party , oblivious to the stay-at-home order .
That ’ s like to only get worse as temperatures rise and the lakefront remains closed .
She has been criticized for strolling up to a playground and lecturing African American men playing basketball during the pandemic .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ apologies .
She said she is just trying to be “ who I am : strong and steady.
” Lightfoot said it ’ s been a “ different year than I would have predicted , but she “ wouldn ’ t trade a second of it — except for the loss of life .
“ Not just from the pandemic , ” she said .
“ The loss of life for gun violence .
That still haunts me .
”

No matter how long it lasts or what else she says and does, Lori Lightfoot’s tenure as mayor of Chicago will be defined by the coronavirus.
Shutting down the lakefront. Cutting off citywide liquor sales. Driving around the city to personally break up large gatherings, inspiring a hilarious string of memes that softened her hard edges.
Her self-declared war on poverty made infinitely more difficult in black and Hispanic neighborhoods that have borne the brunt of the layoffs and deaths.
The stay-at-home shutdown of the Chicago economy that will blow a giant hole in her precariously balanced budget. The strike-shortened school year cut even shorter. And a Chicago City Council rebellion that gained steam during the mayor’s 29-to-21 fight for emergency contracting and spending authority.
Former Ald. Joe Moore. Brian Jackson / Sun-Times
“If she is able to guide us through this incredibly difficult time and Chicago emerges stronger, she is going to be viewed historically as one of the city’s greatest mayors,” said former Ald. Joe Moore (49th). “But, boy, it is daunting.”
Democratic political consultant Peter Giangreco said the “most important measure of any executive is to show strong leadership” during a crisis, and Lightfoot has “hit that one out of the park.
“She’s got to keep leveling with people,” said Giangreco, who advised Susana Mendoza’s losing mayoral campaign against Lightfoot. “She’s at her best when she’s telling people inconvenient truths.”
Wednesday will mark the one-year anniversary of Lightfoot’s historic inauguration as the first African American female and first openly gay mayor of Chicago.
“It’s been a helluva year,” Lightfoot told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Nobody comes into office thinking they’re gonna have to deal with a pandemic before they even hit their one-year anniversary… It’s been a humbling experience.
“I’m not gonna say that there haven’t been days where I shed a tear. I have. I’ve wept for the loss. I’ve wept for the hardship that so many people are suffering. But I know that they rely upon me to…pick myself up and get back into the fight every single day.”
It seems forever ago that Lightfoot used her inaugural address to portray the city council as corrupt, stripped aldermen of their “prerogative” over licensing and permitting in their wards and used her first council meeting to humiliate now-indicted Ald. Edward Burke (14th).
Since then, Lightfoot has been faced with so many controversies that she jokingly has compared herself to the central character in the bible’s Book of Job.
She erased what she said was an $838 million shortfall — without a massive property tax increase — by balancing her $11.6 billion budget with assumptions and one-time revenues.
During the budget battle, Lightfoot angrily accused ride-hailing giant Uber of “paying off” black ministers with an offer of $54 million to kill her $40 million congestion fee. The unsubstantiated charge offended the ministers, a powerful political force.
After the council vote, the mayor again showed how intolerant she is to dissent. She used her political action committee to shame the 11 aldermen who dared to vote against a budget they said “woefully underfunds” affordable housing and mental health.
Lightfoot also endured an 11-day teachers strike that ended, only after she lost the public relations battle to a machine-like Chicago Teachers Union and essentially gave away the store to the union that backed her vanquished opponent Toni Preckwinkle, the Cook County Board president.
After a bitterly fought mayoral campaign, the next morning found newly elected Lori Lightfoot (left) and Toni Preckwinkle, the opponent she thrashed at the polls, giving a sign of unity during a prayer at Rainbow PUSH on April 3, 2019. Ashlee Rezin. Garcia / Sun-Times file
The end came only after Lightfoot removed the line she had stubbornly drawn in the sand by compensating teachers for five of the 11 days they had spent on strike. Still, the six-day pay cut so infuriated CTU leaders that they refused to stand with the mayor when the agreement was announced. Bitterness from that episode still lingers on both sides.
The firing of police Supt. Eddie Johnson was another key moment in Lightfoot’s first year. Even after Johnson was found slumped over the wheel of his police SUV near his Bridgeport home — and told the mayor that happened after he had dinner and drinks with friends — Lightfoot allowed Johnson to announce his own retirement and held a celebratory news conference in his honor.
A few weeks later, a livid Lightfoot fired Johnson after accusing the superintendent she inherited of “lying to me and lying to the public” about the circumstances surrounding the Oct. 17, 2019, incident. She got even with a vengeance, placing Johnson on City Hall’s do-not-hire list.
To David Greising, the Better Government Association’s president and chief executive officer, the ugly firing of one of Chicago’s most popular police superintendents showed Lightfoot “maturing” on the job.
“She went from being doubtful he could do the job to learning she needed to rely on him through the summer, then deciding he wasn’t the person going forward, yet trusting his first version of what happened at the asleep-behind-the-wheel-of-a-parked-car episode to then being lied to and, in a pique, saying more than she needed to about what had gone on there,” Greising said. “It was not her finest hour.”
Garry McCarthy praises Lori Lightfoot for holding former police Supt. Eddie Johnson accountable. Rich Hein / Sun-Times file
Garry McCarthy, the former police superintendent-turned-mayoral candidate, doesn’t care about the circuitous path Lightfoot took to get rid of Johnson. What matters to McCarthy is she ended up in the right place.
“You can’t hold police officers accountable for lying and not hold the police chief accountable for the same thing,” he said.
Johnson’s firing hastened the arrival of retired Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck, a policing heavyweight lured by Lightfoot’s public safety gravitas.
Beck didn’t just sit there. Taking on the dirty work, he ended merit promotions and engineered a massive police shakeup while running things until the arrival of former Dallas police Chief David Brown.
The manner in which Lightfoot got her choice, in Brown, generated its own controversy. A former Chicago Police Board president whose recommendations were ignored by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Lightfoot said the selection process “only has legitimacy if you follow it.”
Lightfoot had her eye on Brown from the moment she fired Johnson. She chose Brown one day after the board made public its list of three finalists and made certain the other two finalists had nowhere near Brown’s experience so that the choice would appear obvious. It was hardly the “transparency” she had promised.
Before returning to Los Angeles, Beck said there were “two pandemics that face Chicago — and only one of them is virus-induced.”
Now, Brown is on the clock to find a solution for the pandemic induced by gangs and gun violence.
“The courts are effectively closed,” Lightfoot said. “The jail is closed. Our federal partners that we rely upon are at home and not doing what they normally do from a criminal justice standpoint. Our Chicago Police Department is standing effectively alone. And guess what? They’re human beings. They’ve been getting sick. Some have died.
“Trying to figure out how you police in this really difficult environment is the challenge of a lifetime. I joked with David Brown the other day. I called and said, ‘I hope you’re not heading back to Dallas.’ ”
The April 11 demolition debacle in Little Village triggered, yet another controversy, this one at the worst possible time.
Armed with a city demolition permit that Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd) tried to block, a subcontractor hired by Hilco Redevelopment Partners demolished a 95-year-old smokestack at the site of a shuttered coal-fired power plant without abiding by the safety measures it had promised to implement.
A giant plume of dust rained down on the community, making it difficult to breathe during a coronavirus pandemic that does the same.
Desperate to minimize the political fallout, Lightfoot blamed Hilco, slapped the company with $68,000 in fines and vowed to overhaul the city’s regulatory system. She also denied that her executive order stripping aldermen of control over licensing and permitting had set the stage for the demolition disaster and lashed out at aldermen who said otherwise.
Council members who pushed back against Lightfoot’s request for expanded spending and contracting authority for the duration of the pandemic similarly were denounced as “shameful,” “selfish” grandstanders willing to put politics over public health.
Lightfoot got her way after a 29-to-21 vote not seen since the 1980’s power struggle known as Council Wars that saw 29 aldermen, most of them white, thwart former Mayor Harold Washington’s every move.
But the close vote and thin-skinned prelude to it signals trouble may be ahead when the shutdown ends and painful, budget-balancing decisions begin.
David Greising: “She is willing to put opponents in their place in order to make a point about the power dynamic between her and her opponent.” Rich Hein / Sun-Times file
“She is willing to put opponents in their place in order to make a point about the power dynamic between her and her opponent,” Greising said. “Does she do that to make an important point, as she did in her smackdown of Ed Burke? Or does she just do that to kind of show off in a way that’s not constructive?
“If she has unnecessarily dismissed people or embarrassed them or called into question their value as representatives of their wards, has she cost herself in terms of being able to advance her agenda?”
Apparently referring to earlier skirmishes with aldermen over aldermanic prerogative, recreational marijuana and gay setasides, Moore agreed that Lightfoot “has to do a better job of relating to the city council” because her “margin for error is diminishing.
“Clearly, there are lot more socialists and uber-left progressives who are gonna vote against her no matter what because she is adopting a very pragmatic governing style,” he said. “But a few of those 21 votes were — based on my conversations with my former colleagues — just aldermen who feel like they’re being disrespected.
“That would be the one area that…she needs improvement on. But, overall, ironically, she’s governing in the same pragmatic style as Rahm Emanuel. She may not like the comparison, but it’s very similar in terms of policy. The only difference is Rahm…did a very good job of building relationships with members of the city council, [and it showed] when they were called upon to cast difficult votes.”
Former Ald. Pat O’Connor says the Chicago City Council “could become a growing problem” for Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Ashlee Rezin Garcia / Sun-times
Former Ald. Pat O’Connor (40th), who was Emanuel’s floor leader, said the council “could become a growing problem” for Lightfoot but not until life in Chicago returns to some semblance of normalcy.
“If you’ve got a life-threatening infection, you’re not worried about the fact you’ve got a hangnail somewhere,” O’Connor said. “She’s not gonna worry about what she needs from them until she needs it, while she can do the things with the pandemic that she’s got to do.”
Until the pandemic brought normal life to a halt, Lightfoot’s biggest concern was her war on poverty and her plan to target 10 inner-city neighborhoods for an unprecedented $250 million city investment and $500 million more from other government agencies.
She delivered a $15-an-hour minimum wage and a predictable scheduling ordinance — signature victories for organized labor. She pushed through the first installment of her plan to go easier on scofflaws.
But she still was being pressured from the left to deliver civilian police review, a police contract that makes it easier to discipline officers and more money for the homeless and affordable housing.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot touring the coronavirus field hospital at McCormick Place in April. Tyler LaRiviere / Sun-Times
Now, COVID-19 occupies nearly every waking moment for Lightfoot and makes intransigent problems worse.
“The vulnerabilities of our city — poverty, the lack of access to health care, disparities in investment and jobs — those vulnerabilities are flashing like a neon sign every single day,” the mayor said.
“Black people are dying at an absolutely unfathomably high rate. Now, we’re seeing this huge surge of cases in the Latinx community…We’ve got to speed up the work. We don’t have the time to contemplate and think great thoughts.”
Jacky Grimshaw: “At least, she was trying to get something in terms of relief, even though it didn’t go far enough.” Center for Neighborhood Technology
Jacky Grimshaw, who was one of Washington’s closest advisers, said Lightfoot “bit the bullet to do something that other mayors, really since Harold,” wouldn’t, confronting “inequities in the city and the way services are delivered.”
One element of that was appointing a chief equity officer.
Grimshaw said Lightfoot’s nonbinding “Housing Solidarity Pledge” was a disappointment and that she’s worried about a spike in foreclosures, evictions and homelessness tied to the coronavirus unless there is real rent relief.
But she said, “Maybe this was the best deal she could get. At least, she was trying to get something in terms of relief, even though it didn’t go far enough.”
Grimshaw was particularly impressed with the stay-at-home public service announcements engineered by marketing guru Michael Fassnacht. They have turned Lightfoot into an international celebrity.
“It wasn’t her doing in terms of creating the memes,” said Grimshaw, vice president for government affairs at the Center for Neighborhood Technology. “But she had the right person ….to help her, and she was willing to take his suggestions.
“She understood that it was a harsh thing to cut off the lakefront, and you couldn’t just be mean about it. You had to try and give people an understanding of why you had to make the decisions you made.”
Lightfoot’s tough-love message is not getting through to millennials, though. They have continued to party, oblivious to the stay-at-home order. That’s likely to only get worse as temperatures rise and the lakefront remains closed.
She has been criticized for strolling up to a playground and lecturing African American men playing basketball during the pandemic.
Chicago’s steely-eyed mayor makes no apologies. She said she is just trying to be “who I am: strong and steady.”
Lightfoot said it’s been a “different year than I would have predicted,” but she “wouldn’t trade a second of it — except for the loss of life.
“Not just from the pandemic,” she said. “The loss of life for gun violence. That still haunts me.”


chicagosun-times--2020-05-15--Ruh-roh! Boisterous ‘Scoob!’ movie needs a muzzle

Scooby Dooby Doo , where are you ?
Answer : At home with the rest of us .
The Warner Bros. Pictures computer-animated feature-length film based on the quartet of crime-solving teenagers known as Mystery Inc. and that goofy , lovable anthropomorphic Great Dane was scheduled for a May 15 theatrical release , but due to the COVID-19 pandemic , it ’ s available for a 48-hour rental for $ 19.99 , or digital ownership for $ 24.99 .
( You might experience a little sticker shock at that price , but if a family of four attended a theatrical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than that . )
Kudos to the marketing and PR folks for creating ancillary events to keep homebound families entertained , including a Twitter premiere event on Friday night featuring voice stars from the movie such as Mark Wahlberg and Gina Rodriguez ; and a website featuring all sorts of games and puzzles and recipes and mazes .
The only problem is , the movie as a movie ain ’ t much of a movie .
It ’ s a breezy but noisy and uninvolving sci-fi comedy romp , filled with ho-hum action @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with an origins story prologue , in which we learn how a lonely boy named Shaggy Rogers came to be best friends with a lost Great Dane pup Shaggy christens Scooby-Doo .
Cut to about a decade later , with the teenager Shaggy ( Will Forte ) hanging out with his crime-fighting friends : Velma ( Gina Rodriguez ) ; Fred ( Zac Efron ) ; Daphne ( Amanda Seyfried ) and of course Scooby ( the venerable Frank Welker , who voiced Fred in the original “ Scooby ” cartoon and has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since the early 2000s . )
One day the gang receives a visit from one Simon Cowell .
That ’ s right : We get an animated version of Simon Cowell in this movie , complete with the snarky voice and the open shirt and even cartoon chest hair , eeeeesh .
Shaggy and Scooby try to impress Simon by dueting on “ Shallow , ” but Simon isn ’ t looking for the next American Idol , he ’ s considering investing in the gang ’ s Mystery Inc. , but he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are too unreliable .
Wait , what ?
The main adventure , such as it is , involves the veteran Hanna-Barbera villain Dick Dastardly ( Jason Isaacs ) who will stop at nothing to obtain the Precious , I mean the Infinity Stones , I mean the Maltese Falcon , I mean three skulls , which will unlock the door to a legendary treasure .
Dastardly ’ s dastardly mission puts the gang in peril , even as they team up with the fledgling and rather dim superhero Blue Falcon ( Mark Wahlberg @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s mantle but little of his bravery .
“ Scoob !
” is filled with pop culture references aimed for the parents , from Blue Falcon using the same entrance music as the Michael Jordan Bulls to Velma noting Dastardly is such a bad guy , “ he ’ s been stealing from his mother ’ s Netflix account ” to someone mentioning Middle-Earth and another character cautioning about “ copyright infringement , ” to the following line , and I ’ m not kidding : “ Brian , last time you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you thought Tinder was an app that delivered firewood !
” The occasionally clever dialogue and the peppy voice performances are the best things about “ Scoob !
, ” but not nearly enough to overcome the loud and convoluted overall tone .
My favorite line is when an apathetic clerk at a bowling alley is asked to describe Shaggy and says the kid sounded “ almost as though he was some middle-aged man ’ s idea of how a teenager talks.
” Exactly .

Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?
Answer: At home with the rest of us.
The Warner Bros. Pictures computer-animated feature-length film based on the quartet of crime-solving teenagers known as Mystery Inc. and that goofy, lovable anthropomorphic Great Dane was scheduled for a May 15 theatrical release, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s available for a 48-hour rental for $19.99, or digital ownership for $24.99. (You might experience a little sticker shock at that price, but if a family of four attended a theatrical showing, it certainly would cost more than that.)
‘Scoob!’
Untitled Warner Bros. presents a film directed by Tony Cervone and written by Adam Sztykiel, Jack C. Donaldson, Derek Elliott and Matt Lieberman. Rated PG (for some action, language and rude/suggestive humor). Running time: 94 minutes. Now available on demand.
Kudos to the marketing and PR folks for creating ancillary events to keep homebound families entertained, including a Twitter premiere event on Friday night featuring voice stars from the movie such as Mark Wahlberg and Gina Rodriguez; and a website featuring all sorts of games and puzzles and recipes and mazes. The only problem is, the movie as a movie ain’t much of a movie. It’s a breezy but noisy and uninvolving sci-fi comedy romp, filled with ho-hum action sequences.
“Scoob!” stars with an origins story prologue, in which we learn how a lonely boy named Shaggy Rogers came to be best friends with a lost Great Dane pup Shaggy christens Scooby-Doo. Cut to about a decade later, with the teenager Shaggy (Will Forte) hanging out with his crime-fighting friends: Velma (Gina Rodriguez); Fred (Zac Efron); Daphne (Amanda Seyfried) and of course Scooby (the venerable Frank Welker, who voiced Fred in the original “Scooby” cartoon and has been Scooby in a number of projects since the early 2000s.) One day the gang receives a visit from one Simon Cowell. That’s right: We get an animated version of Simon Cowell in this movie, complete with the snarky voice and the open shirt and even cartoon chest hair, eeeeesh.
Shaggy and Scooby try to impress Simon by dueting on “Shallow,” but Simon isn’t looking for the next American Idol, he’s considering investing in the gang’s Mystery Inc., but he’s passing because Shaggy and Scooby are too unreliable. Wait, what?
The main adventure, such as it is, involves the veteran Hanna-Barbera villain Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs) who will stop at nothing to obtain the Precious, I mean the Infinity Stones, I mean the Maltese Falcon, I mean three skulls, which will unlock the door to a legendary treasure. Dastardly’s dastardly mission puts the gang in peril, even as they team up with the fledgling and rather dim superhero Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg), who has inherited his father’s mantle but little of his bravery.
“Scoob!” is filled with pop culture references aimed for the parents, from Blue Falcon using the same entrance music as the Michael Jordan Bulls to Velma noting Dastardly is such a bad guy, “he’s been stealing from his mother’s Netflix account” to someone mentioning Middle-Earth and another character cautioning about “copyright infringement,” to the following line, and I’m not kidding: “Brian, last time you listened to someone on the Internet, you thought Tinder was an app that delivered firewood!”
The occasionally clever dialogue and the peppy voice performances are the best things about “Scoob!,” but not nearly enough to overcome the loud and convoluted overall tone. My favorite line is when an apathetic clerk at a bowling alley is asked to describe Shaggy and says the kid sounded “almost as though he was some middle-aged man’s idea of how a teenager talks.” Exactly.


chicagosun-times--2020-05-15--Man charged in Englewood domestic shooting

A man has been charged with shooting someone he knows Thursday in Englewood on the South Side .
Ernest Wilson @ @ @ @ @ with one felony count each of aggravated battery with a firearm and attempted first-degree murder @ @ @ @ @ .
Wilson is accused of shooting the 20-year-old man while they stood outside about 7:25 @ @ @ @ @ of South Perry Avenue , police said .
Authorities said the incident appeared to be @ @ @ @ @ man was taken to St. Bernard Hospital with a gunshot wound in his leg , @ @ @ @ @ stabilized .
Wilson , who lives in Englewood , left the scene but was taken @ @ @ @ @ in the 6600 block of South Bell Avenue , police said .
He is scheduled @ @ @ @ @ a bond hearing on Friday .
Read more on crime , and track the city @ @ @ @

A man has been charged with shooting someone he knows Thursday in Englewood on the South Side.
Ernest Wilson, 52, is charged with one felony count each of aggravated battery with a firearm and attempted first-degree murder, according to Chicago police.
Wilson is accused of shooting the 20-year-old man while they stood outside about 7:25 a.m. in the 6700 block of South Perry Avenue, police said. Authorities said the incident appeared to be domestic in nature.
The man was taken to St. Bernard Hospital with a gunshot wound in his leg, police said. His condition stabilized.
Wilson, who lives in Englewood, left the scene but was taken into custody at 7:41 a.m. in the 6600 block of South Bell Avenue, police said.
He is being held without bail at Cook County Jail and was scheduled to appear in court May 22.
Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.


chicagosun-times--2020-05-15--8 shot Thursday in Chicago

8 shot Thursday in Chicago

Eight people were wounded Thursday in shootings across Chicago , including a 13-year-old boy who was shot in Washington Park on the South Side .
The boy was indoors about 1:35 a.m. when gunfire erupted outside , sending at least one bullet into the home on South Calumet Avenue , Chicago police said .
He was struck in the thigh and taken to Comer Children ’ s Hospital in good condition .
Five people were shot within a two-hour span Thursday evening .
The latest shooting happened in West Englewood , where a 34-year-old man was wounded .
About 10:45 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his vehicle in the 7300 block of South Winchester Avenue when someone fired shots , striking him in the shoulder , police said .
He took himself to Holy Cross Hospital , where he was in fair condition .
Earlier in the evening , a man was critically wounded after being shot in Chatham on the South Side .
Someone walked up to the 25-year-old about 9:55 p.m. in the 7800 block of South King Drive and shot him in the abdomen and foot , police said .
He was found in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the University of Chicago Medical Center .
Less than an hour before that , a woman was shot in Little Village on the Southwest Side .
The 53-year-old was outside a home about 9:02 p.m. in the 2800 block of South Spaulding Avenue when someone in a passing gray Chevrolet Tahoe opened fire , police said .
She was struck in the leg and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition .
Police sources said the woman may not have been the intended target of the shooting .
Two minutes earlier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Garfield Park on the West Side .
The pair was with a group about 9 p.m. near an alley in the 4400 block of West Gladys Avenue when two people walked up with guns and fired shots , police said .
One man , 27 , was struck in the leg while the other , 35 , was struck in the foot .
They took themselves to Stroger Hospital , where they were both in good condition .
On Thursday afternoon , a woman was shot in Austin on the West Side .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ about a crash about 5:09 p.m. in the 4800 block of West Division Street when someone in a dark-colored vehicle opened fire , police said .
The 30-year-old was struck in the leg and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition .
She was not thought to be the intended target of the shooting .
A man was shot Thursday morning in Englewood on the South Side .
The man , 20 , was shot by someone he knew while standing outside about 7:25 a.m. in the 6700 block of South Perry Avenue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to St. Bernard Hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg , and his condition was stabilized .
The alleged shooter , 52-year-old Ernest Wilson , was taken into custody and charged with aggravated battery with a firearm as well as attempted first-degree murder , police said .
He is due in bond court Friday .
Fifteen people were shot Wednesday in Chicago , one of them fatally .
Read more on crime , and track the city ’ s homicides .

Eight people were wounded Thursday in shootings across Chicago, including a 13-year-old boy who was shot in Washington Park on the South Side.
The boy was indoors about 1:35 a.m. when gunfire erupted outside, sending at least one bullet into the home on South Calumet Avenue, Chicago police said. He was struck in the thigh and taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good condition.
Five people were shot within a two-hour span Thursday evening.
The latest shooting happened in West Englewood, where a 34-year-old man was wounded.
About 10:45 p.m., the man was walking to his vehicle in the 7300 block of South Winchester Avenue when someone fired shots, striking him in the shoulder, police said. He took himself to Holy Cross Hospital, where he was in fair condition.
Earlier in the evening, a man was critically wounded after being shot in Chatham on the South Side.
Someone walked up to the 25-year-old about 9:55 p.m. in the 7800 block of South King Drive and shot him in the abdomen and foot, police said. He was found in the doorway of a gas station and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Less than an hour before that, a woman was shot in Little Village on the Southwest Side.
The 53-year-old was outside a home about 9:02 p.m. in the 2800 block of South Spaulding Avenue when someone in a passing gray Chevrolet Tahoe opened fire, police said. She was struck in the leg and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition.
Police sources said the woman may not have been the intended target of the shooting.
Two minutes earlier, two men were shot in West Garfield Park on the West Side.
The pair was with a group about 9 p.m. near an alley in the 4400 block of West Gladys Avenue when two people walked up with guns and fired shots, police said. One man, 27, was struck in the leg while the other, 35, was struck in the foot. They took themselves to Stroger Hospital, where they were both in good condition.
On Thursday afternoon, a woman was shot in Austin on the West Side.
She was on the sidewalk exchanging information about a crash about 5:09 p.m. in the 4800 block of West Division Street when someone in a dark-colored vehicle opened fire, police said. The 30-year-old was struck in the leg and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition. She was not thought to be the intended target of the shooting.
A man was shot Thursday morning in Englewood on the South Side.
The man, 20, was shot by someone he knew while standing outside about 7:25 a.m. in the 6700 block of South Perry Avenue, police said. He was taken to St. Bernard Hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg, and his condition was stabilized.
The alleged shooter, 52-year-old Ernest Wilson, was taken into custody and charged with aggravated battery with a firearm as well as attempted first-degree murder, police said. He is due in bond court Friday.
Fifteen people were shot Wednesday in Chicago, one of them fatally.
Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.


chicagosun-times--2020-05-15--3 hurt in Lockport Township shooting

3 hurt in Lockport Township shooting

Three people , including a teenage boy , were wounded in a shooting Wednesday in an unincorporated area of southwest suburban Lockport Township .
Authorities were called about the shooting at 10:04 p.m. on Robson Drive , according to the Will County sheriff ’ s office .
A 25-year-old man was shot in the back and taken to a hospital in critical condition , authorities said .
He underwent surgery and was stabilized .
The 17-year-old boy was hit in the buttocks and was taken to a hospital , where he was treated and released , the sheriff ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whose age and gender was not specified , suffered a graze wound to the hand and declined treatment at the scene .
Several nearby houses were also damaged by gunfire , but no one inside was injured , according to the sheriff ’ s office .
The houses did not appear to be the intended targets in the shooting .
No one is in custody and the investigation is in its “ early stages , ” the sheriff ’ s office said .
Read more on crime , and track the city ’ @ @ @

Three people, including a teenage boy, were wounded in a shooting Wednesday in an unincorporated area of southwest suburban Lockport Township.
Authorities were called about the shooting at 10:04 p.m. on Robson Drive, according to the Will County sheriff’s office.
A 25-year-old man was shot in the back and taken to a hospital in critical condition, authorities said. He underwent surgery and was stabilized.
The 17-year-old boy was hit in the buttocks and was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released, the sheriff’s office said. The third victim, whose age and gender was not specified, suffered a graze wound to the hand and declined treatment at the scene.
Several nearby houses were also damaged by gunfire, but no one inside was injured, according to the sheriff’s office. The houses did not appear to be the intended targets in the shooting.
No one is in custody and the investigation is in its “early stages,” the sheriff’s office said.
Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.


chicagosun-times--2020-05-15--Overnight storms prompt flash flood watch for Chicago area

Heavy rains are expected to continue falling over the Chicago area Friday morning , leading the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood watch .
The weather advisory covers northeast Illinois and parts of northwest Indiana , and is in effect until 7 a.m. , the weather service said .
Several rounds of thunderstorms late Thursday and early Friday have already flooded roadways in the area .
Officials believe the storms also caused lightning to strike a radar system at the National Weather Service Chicago office in Romeoville early Friday , the agency said in a tweet .
Forecasters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ Hare and Midway airports and other adjacent NWS radars until it can be repaired .
The rain is expected to taper off after about 9 a.m. Friday , the weather service said .
Temperatures will rise as high as 71 degrees , before falling to a low of about 48 degrees .
The reprieve from the rain will be brief , with a new round of showers and thunderstorms expected Saturday and Sunday , the weather service said .
Saturday ’ s high temperature will be around 60 degrees , and climb @ @ @ @ @ @

Heavy rains are expected to continue falling over the Chicago area Friday morning, leading the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood watch.
The weather advisory covers northeast Illinois and parts of northwest Indiana, and is in effect until 7 a.m., the weather service said. Several rounds of thunderstorms late Thursday and early Friday have already flooded roadways in the area.
Ongoing flash flooding in Carol Stream, IL. A common scene through the rest of overnight for northern Illinois. DO NOT cross flooded roadways. #ILwx https://t.co/DqLCrsVClq — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) May 15, 2020
Officials believe the storms also caused lightning to strike a radar system at the National Weather Service Chicago office in Romeoville early Friday, the agency said in a tweet. Forecasters are relying on radar systems at O’Hare and Midway airports and other adjacent NWS radars until it can be repaired.
Our radar likely took a lightning strike around 12:40am and is currently inoperable. The technician has been contacted and we are troubleshooting. Our operations continue here though, and we are using the O'Hare/Midway TDWRs and adjacent NWS radars. — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) May 15, 2020
The rain is expected to taper off after about 9 a.m. Friday, the weather service said. Temperatures will rise as high as 71 degrees, before falling to a low of about 48 degrees.
The reprieve from the rain will be brief, with a new round of showers and thunderstorms expected Saturday and Sunday, the weather service said. Saturday’s high temperature will be around 60 degrees, and climb to 67 degrees on Sunday.


chicagosun-times--2020-05-15--DePaul, Loyola releases plans for fall semester (LIVE UPDATES)

As coronavirus cases continue to increase statewide , two Chicago universities are planning to have students on campus this fall .
DePaul University and Loyola University of Chicago have consulted with public health experts and state and local officials to devise their plans for the fall semester .
DePaul expects to have limited in-person learning and reduced occupancy in the dorms this fall .
Meanwhile , Loyola hopes to offer both on-campus and online classes .
Both universities said they ’ ll share more details about the fall semester in the coming weeks .
Loyola also announced its “ Loyola @ @ @ @ @ @ @ program , funded by the university and its donors , which will help students who have been affected by the economic downturn amid the pandemic .
“ As unemployment rises along with uncertainty about our economic outlook , we will see a sharp increase in students and families whose plans about attending Loyola might be hindered .
Dreams are being crushed by diminished family finances , ” Loyola provost Norberto Grzywacz wrote in an email to students .
“ The scale of this crisis and its financial impact on families will have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ backgrounds .
In particular , it is expected to impact enrollment and our desire for a vibrant and diverse community as a place of growth , experience , and opportunity.
” 7:34 p.m. White Sox ’ Eloy Jimenez says thank you with gifts for mask-making shop in Little Village In a show of gratitude to a local bridal shop , Novias Davila in Little Village , Jimenez donated official Sox uniforms and funds to the shop , which is making face masks needed for the community during the coronavirus pandemic .
Shop owner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jiménez on Friday , thanking her team for their commitment to the community .
Jimenez gave each of seven workers a $ 500 Jewel-Osco gift card and $ 500 in cash to provide support during this time .
The Little Village area had the most confirmed coronavirus cases of any single ZIP code in the state as of May 6 .
Jiménez asked that the face masks are donated to first responders in the neighborhood .
Former Chicago Ald .
Ambrosio Medrano , convicted three times in corruption scandals , left prison this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ release inmates who are at-risk of contracting the coronavirus .
Federal Bureau of Prisons records show Medrano has been assigned to a residential re-entry management office in the Chicago area .
Gal Pissetzky , the attorney who defended Medrano when he was sentenced in federal court six years ago , said Medrano is in a halfway house .
But for the rest of Medrano ’ s sentence , Pissetzky said , “ he ’ s going to be on home confinement.
” Medrano ’ s official release date isn ’ t until Sept. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Read the full story from reporter Jon Seidel here .
5:53 p.m. ‘ Stories from Six Feet ’ documents search for connection in coronavirus isolation It ’ s Angela Conners Treimer ’ s job to take photos of the most beautiful places on Earth .
As a commercial resort photographer , she travels over 100,000 miles each year , capturing luxurious images in places like Cabo and the Maldives .
So when the coronavirus started to spread and travel bans went into effect , Treimer was furloughed — for three months at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For the first time in three years , I wasn ’ t living on an airplane , you know ?
Whenever we were advised by the CDC to not travel , my world kind of flipped upside down , ” she said .
“ I just started brainstorming : What am I going to do for the next three months ?
This is the first time in my life that I haven ’ t had a 9 to 5.
” Searching for normalcy and human connection , she decided to look for beauty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ project , “ Stories from Six Feet , ” came to be .
“ Stories from Six Feet ” is a photo series that documents the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Chicago through the eyes of its residents in isolation .
The project lives on Instagram under the handle @ StoriesFromSixFeet .
See more photos from and read the full story from reporter Ella Lee here .
Seven more employees of Cook County ’ s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center have tested positive for COVID-19 , officials said Friday .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the facility that have contracted the coronavirus , according to the Circuit Court of Cook County ’ s Office of the Chief Judge spokesman Pat Milhizer .
Six of the employees tested positive after receiving on-site tests that began last week for all employees at the detention center , Milhizer said .
No one showed symptoms when they were tested .
Read the full story from reporter David Struett here .
4:23 p.m. Library workers return to work Wednesday to prepare for eventual reopening .
Exactly when ?
Unclear .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ libraries will reopen , but staff are returning to their jobs Wednesday to prepare for the day when doors will be flung open and patrons will be welcomed back .
“ Absolutely no date has been set to open libraries to the public , and any reopening decision would be consistent with public health guidance and dependent on where our data is at that time , ” Jordan Troy , a spokesman for Mayor Lightfoot , said in an email Friday .
“ As the mayor has stated since the beginning of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city government will be guided by science and data.
” Libraries have been closed since March 21 .
Read more on libraries from reporter Mitch Dudek here .
3:15 p.m. President Trump still confident in Abbott ’ s virus test despite false negatives Trump expressed his confidence in the test from Abbott Laboratories after a preliminary study by New York University researchers reported problems with it .
Trump and his deputies have have promoting the 15-minute test as a “ game changer.
” The Food and Drug Administration announced late Thursday it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can miss COVID-19 cases , falsely clearing infected patients .
“ Abbott is a great test ; it ’ s a very quick test , ” Trump said at a Rose Garden event to highlight his administration ’ s efforts to develop a vaccine for the virus .
“ And it can always be very rapidly double checked.
” The test is used daily at the White House to test Trump , key members of his staff as well as any visitor to the White House complex who comes in close proximity to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Read the full story by the Associated Press here .
2:45 p.m. Coronavirus now in 100 Illinois counties as state tops 4K deaths , 90K cases COVID-19 is now in 100 of Illinois ’ 102 counties , as Friday marked the fourth day in a row that the state has seen more than 100 lives lost — and the 18th such day since the pandemic began .
With the latest 130 deaths , the state has lost 1,727 people so far in May , and 4,058 overall .
There were also 2,432 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ batch of 26,565 test results , officials said .
And Edgar County became the 100th county to record positive cases in the state .
There have been 90,369 confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began .
The state ’ s overall positivity rate — the number of positive cases compared to total tests received — was 9.1 % .
And the Northeast region , home to Chicago , Cook and the collar counties , remained under 20 % , a benchmark set for further to enter the next phase of Gov .
J.B. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Read the full report from Tina Sfondeles here .
2:36 p.m. Cook County surpasses Queens , NY , as county with most COVID-19 cases in U.S. Cook County has surpassed Queens County in New York as the U.S. county with the most coronavirus cases based on Sun-Times analysis of the latest public data .
There have been 58,457 total cases of COVID-19 recorded in Cook County , which includes all of Chicago and many of its suburbs , after officials added 2,051 new cases in the last 24 hours .
Queens , by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same time frame to bring its total to 58,084 .
Cook County still has a lower rate of COVID-19 per capita given its population ( 5.1 million ) is more than twice as large as Queens ( 2.25 million ) .
But Queens also has a much higher population density with 20,500 people per square mile compared to 5,500 per square mile in Cook County , which can make social distancing measures more challenging to maintain .
Read the full report from Caroline Hurley and Satchel Price here .
1:55 p.m. Lightfoot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Is Mayor Lori Lightfoot planning to close streets and sidewalks so restaurants can safely reopen and give residents a place to run , walk and play ?
Sure sounds like it .
“ People are itching to get outside .
Businesses are looking at creative ways to serve customers .
The key is how we do it , ” the mayor tweeted Friday .
“ Stay tuned for some changes to our streets and sidewalks .
Transportation is more than just cars .
We ’ ll show how Chicago can be safer and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia urged Gov .
J.B. Pritzker to relax his five-step plan to reopen Illinois by allowing restaurants to open at 25 % of capacity beginning June 1 with strict safeguards for restaurant employees , including face masks and daily temperature checks .
At the time , Toia teased the street closing idea .
Read the full report from Fran Spielman here .
1:27 p.m. Lightfoot warns religious leaders she is prepared to enforce stay-at-home order Mayor Lori Lightfoot has appealed to religious leaders to not defy Gov @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — and warned she is prepared to “ enforce the rules ” if they don ’ t .
In a “ Dear Members of the Chicago Faith Community ” letter sent Thursday , Lightfoot urged religious leaders to continue holding virtual services rather than in-person services , where it is difficult , if not impossible , to maintain social distance .
“ I am urging you to stay the course .
If there is a problem , I would rather be in conversation than in conflict .
But to be clear , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rules of the governor ’ s stay-at-home order .
To be fair to all , I simply can not look away from non-compliance , no matter the source or the intention , ” she wrote .
On Monday , Lightfoot responded to Sunday service defiance by saying she hoped to educate religious leaders into compliance , avoiding mass arrests .
“ We ’ re not gon na send in the police to arrest parishioners .
People are exercising their faith , and I understand that , ” she said then .
But the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear she was serious about enforcing the governor ’ s order and she would do what she must .
Read the full report from Fran Spielman here .
12:59 p.m. Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts not sure baseball will be played this season : report Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts told season-ticket holders he is not sure baseball will be played this year .
According to a story published by The Athletic , Ricketts said the effects of the coronavirus pandemic , conflicts over the best time to reopen businesses , and continuing negotiations between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prevent the start of the season .
“ I don ’ t think anyone can answer that question just yet , ” Ricketts said during a virtual forum with season-ticket holders Thursday .
“ The current thinking and the current discussions ( among owners ) have been all around trying to get back into our home ballparks for this season .
Obviously , without fans .
Now that creates three specific problems that we have to address.
” The team has been consulting with health professionals on the best way to make Wrigley @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Cubs president Crane Kenney obtained by The Athletic .
In a letter to the Sun-Times editors , Tom Gregg of Niles writes : Before the quarantine , I was visiting my 99-year-old mother twice a day in our retirement home , and she was holding her own in terms of her health .
She is vision-impaired , hearing-impaired , arthritic and suffering from mild dementia , certainly , but for 13 years in two homes she had largely been able to avoid hospital stays for life-threatening problems .
Plus , her interaction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minimizing her spells of confusion .
But now , during our relatively brief period of enforced separation — I live on a lower floor while she lives up on an assisted living floor — she has contracted pneumonia , for which she has been in and out of hospital , and her spells of confusion seem to be worsening .
Symptomatic , doubtless , of the unprecedented disorientation .
My mother remains among the living today , but for how long if she remains so isolated ?
Now multiply this single case by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have seen their precious interactive routines disappear .
It is a situation that many of them , given their cognitive limitations , have difficulty grasping .
This potentially lethal hardship is worth noting when we are formulating pandemic recovery plans .
The cure of the quarantine shouldn ’ t cost more than the contagion itself , should it ?
Read this and more letters here .
11:44 a.m. What ’ s the first meal you ’ ll want at a restaurant post-pandemic ?
We asked , Chicagoans answered .
With eat-in dining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state ’ s coronavirus stay-at-home order , the next time you ’ ll be waited on at a restaurant probably won ’ t be for a while .
Gov .
J.B. Pritzker ’ s five-phase plan for reopening Illinois businesses puts restaurant reopenings in Phase 4 .
We ’ re now in Phase 2 .
So with Chicagoans craving a meal out , we asked : Once restaurants reopen for dining in , what ’ s the first meal you ’ ll want to eat out , and from where ?
Some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ edited for clarity .
“ Breakfast at a Greek joint : feta cheese-and-spinach omelet , hashbrowns and an English muffin or pancakes.
” — Rose Panieri Read more answers from our readers here .
10:08 a.m. How we should honor our youngest COVID-19 victim Ernesto Guzman , age 12 , suffered from asthma and obstructive sleep apnea , two other underlying health problems with potentially serious consequences that have figured into many other COVID-19 deaths , according to the Cook County Medical Examiner ’ s office .
But make no mistake , doctors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pneumonia that took Ernesto ’ s life early Thursday morning at Advocate Christ Medical Center , Oak Lawn .
Because his death occurred after midnight , it is not yet counted among the 3,928 official COVID-19 deaths in Illinois , but it was listed among the single-day record high of 126 deaths reported Thursday from Cook County by the medical examiner .
Will the death of a 12-year-old boy cause more people to take this disease seriously ?
Mark Brown says he doubts it .
But he hopes that will change .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he wrote .
“ Take it very seriously , because the life you risk may not be your own.
” The federal Food and Drug Administration issued a warning Thursday night that early data suggests Abbott Laboratories ’ rapid coronavirus test , touted by the Trump administration as a game changer , may return inaccurate and false negative results — findings the Chicago-area firm vehemently denied .
The Abbott ID NOW test — which can provide results in minutes — is used by the White House to quickly test anyone who comes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump has lavished attention on the Abbott ID NOW test and featured it at a White House event three days after the FDA fast-tracked its approval by granting an emergency use authorization on March 27 .
In just a few weeks time , Abbott has shipped 1.8 million of the ID NOW tests , which is used at several Chicago-area testing sites .
The FDA warning came a day after a New York University preliminary study raised questions about its accuracy .
The study was not subject to peer review , a process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a study as well as its findings .
7:03 a.m. ‘ Grandstanding ’ by Grand Old Party ?
Or is Pritzker masking his decisions ?
SPRINGFIELD — After weeks of nudges from Republican legislators , the General Assembly is planning to return to Springfield to get back to work .
And as they prepare for the Legislature ’ s long-sought session next week , Republicans said Thursday they are willing to comply with safety guidelines issued by the Democrats – but they want an examination of their own .
GOP lawmakers said they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 tests and temperature checks and follow other safety measures when they return to Springfield , but they balked at signing a pledge to follow those recommendations as requested by House Speaker Mike Madigan .
And Republicans want to put Gov .
J.B. Pritzker ’ s “ Restore Illinois ” plan under the microscope with a public hearing .
GOP lawmakers have criticized Pritzker ’ s “ Restore Illinois ” plan as “ arbitrary , ” saying the dates in which parts of the states can begin to reopen don ’ t make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ differences in COVID-19 ’ s impact .
Read the full story by Neal Earley here .
6:45 a.m. With the focus on the coronavirus , Lightfoot opts for bare-bones capital plan Singularly focused on the war against the coronavirus , Mayor Lori Lightfoot has opted for a $ 100 million , bare bones capital plan — bankrolled by an existing line of credit — to pay for new vehicles , sidewalks and the treasured aldermanic menu program .
Normally , the city issues general obligation bonds backed by property taxes to cover a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not normal times .
The Lightfoot administration is preoccupied with the city ’ s response to the coronavirus and the budget crisis triggered by the stay-at-home shutdown of the Chicago economy .
So the decision was made to proceed only with those capital projects and purchases that absolutely needed to get done and to finance it with a line of credit that remained , even after Lightfoot saved $ 22 million by eliminating a $ 1.4 billion line of credit negotiated by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel .
Read the full story by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boy who died early Thursday became the youngest known person to die from a COVID-19 infection in Cook County .
• Health officials said another 138 people have died of COVID-19 in Illinois Thursday , raising the state ’ s death toll to 3,928 .
• As of Thursday , the county assumed the ominous moniker of having the most COVID-19 cases of any county in the United States with 58,457 .
• Chicago police announced four more cases of COVID-19 Wednesday , bringing the number of cases in the department to 508 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 85 workers at CPS schools who have tested positive for COVID-19 , officials say .
• Seven more employees of Cook County ’ s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center have tested positive for COVID-19 .
For many weeks after the beginning of this COVID-19 crisis , Gov .
J.B. Pritzker proved adept at telegraphing his every move .
Pritzker waited until people practically begged him to shut down the schools on March 15 .
He talked about issuing a stay-at-home order for days , and then acted on March 21 only after California jumped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he would extend his stay-at-home order another month starting April 1 .
He talked for well over a week about a mask-wearing requirement , always noting that he was being lobbied by Republican state Rep. Mark Batinick before finally announcing the order on April 23 .
People did not always agreed with him , but they always had a sense of where he was going .
Pritzker did get out over his skis when his Illinois Workers ’ Compensation Commission dramatically altered the burden of proof on COVID-19 illnesses in favor of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to business groups .
But most regular folks never noticed that and a court intervened and stopped the order anyway .
Otherwise , the governor did a remarkably good job of making sure the public was always aware in advance of his leadership direction .
And then on May 5 he announced his “ Restore Illinois ” roadmap to gradually reopen the state .
Read the full column from Rich Miller here .
6:53 a.m. Chicago ’ s flag , civic pride and the fight against COVID-19 If Chicago were to add a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flag , an awful lot of hipsters would have to get their tattoos reworked .
Maybe it ’ s best we just leave the flag as it is , even if the city manages to prevail against COVID-19 .
Last Friday and again on Wednesday , Mayor Lori Lightfoot floated the idea of adding a fifth red star to Chicago ’ s flag to mark the city ’ s response to the coronavirus pandemic .
She was trying to rally the city .
If Chicago ’ s effort to beat the virus is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it will “ truly warrant a fifth star on our flag.
” But let ’ s be blunt .
Chicago ’ s not about to be terrifically successful anytime soon .
Nobody is .
This is a global public health war that ’ s sure to be fought for years , and a lot of people are setting us up to lose .
6:10 a.m. Navy Pier is an arm of government , no matter what it claims — so let ’ s see every contract Now that the nonprofit that runs Navy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of nearly $ 2.5 million , it ’ s really way past time that it opened its books to the public completely .
Navy Pier Inc. , which leases the 104-year-old pier from the public , is a government body that masquerades as a nonprofit organization .
As such , it has been allowed to hide its workings from public scrutiny while benefiting from public support .
Navy Pier Inc. pays just $ 1 a year to the state and city to lease the pier .
And just this week , Sun-Times reporters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the organization , whose president is paid more than $ 540,000 a year , has received a nearly $ 2.5 million coronavirus stimulus loan from the federal government ’ s Paycheck Protection Program .
Like all nonprofits , Navy Pier Inc. must disclose much of its finances by filing 990 forms , but it does not have to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests or disclose the terms of contracts .

COVID-19 is now in 100 of Illinois’ 102 counties, as Friday marked the fourth day in a row the state has seen more than 100 lives lost — and the 18th such day since the pandemic began.
With the latest 130 deaths, the state’s toll so far in May alone is 1,727 people, and 4,058 overall.
Here’s what went down Friday in the ongoing fight against the coronavirus pandemic in Illiois.
News
8:57 p.m. DePaul, Loyola releases plans for fall semester
DePaul University /Jeff Carrion
As coronavirus cases continue to increase statewide, two Chicago universities are planning to have students on campus this fall.
DePaul University and Loyola University of Chicago have consulted with public health experts and state and local officials to devise their plans for the fall semester.
DePaul expects to have limited in-person learning and reduced occupancy in the dorms this fall. Meanwhile, Loyola hopes to offer both on-campus and online classes.
Both universities said they’ll share more details about the fall semester in the coming weeks.
Loyola also announced its “Loyola Commitment,” a new financial aid program, funded by the university and its donors, which will help students who have been affected by the economic downturn amid the pandemic.
“As unemployment rises along with uncertainty about our economic outlook, we will see a sharp increase in students and families whose plans about attending Loyola might be hindered. Dreams are being crushed by diminished family finances,” Loyola provost Norberto Grzywacz wrote in an email to students. “The scale of this crisis and its financial impact on families will have a profound effect on many students from various backgrounds. In particular, it is expected to impact enrollment and our desire for a vibrant and diverse community as a place of growth, experience, and opportunity.”
— Madeline Kenney
8:13 p.m. Work-from-home Congress: House OKs proxy voting for first time
WASHINGTON — Neither Civil War nor Great Depression nor any other national crisis has pushed the House to allow lawmakers to vote by proxy — without being “present,” as the Constitution requires. That’s about to change during the coronavirus pandemic.
The House approved Friday a package of historic rules changes so Congress can keep functioning even while it’s partly closed. The shift will dramatically change the look, if not the operation, of the legislative branch — launching a 21st century WFH House, like others, “working from home.”
“This House must continue legislating,” Rep. Jim McGovern, the chairman of the House Rules Committee, said during a lengthy session ahead of the vote. “And we have to do so in a way that is safe for all those around us.”
Debate over the changes has been fierce. As President Donald Trump encourages Americans back to work, the 435-member House has stayed away due to health risks while the smaller Senate has resumed operations.
Read the full report here.
7:34 p.m. White Sox’ Eloy Jimenez says thank you with gifts for mask-making shop in Little Village
Photo courtesy of White Sox
White Sox outfielder Eloy Jiménez honored a good cause with a good deed.
In a show of gratitude to a local bridal shop, Novias Davila in Little Village, Jimenez donated official Sox uniforms and funds to the shop, which is making face masks needed for the community during the coronavirus pandemic.
Shop owner Tania Hernández received a video message from Jiménez on Friday, thanking her team for their commitment to the community. Jimenez gave each of seven workers a $500 Jewel-Osco gift card and $500 in cash to provide support during this time.
The Little Village area had the most confirmed coronavirus cases of any single ZIP code in the state as of May 6. Jiménez asked that the face masks are donated to first responders in the neighborhood.
Reporter Daryl Van Schouwen has the full story.
6:41 p.m. Corrupt ex-Ald. Ambrosio Medrano released from prison over coronavirus concerns
Former Chicago Ald. Ambrosio Medrano, convicted three times in corruption scandals, left prison this week as part of an effort to release inmates who are at-risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Federal Bureau of Prisons records show Medrano has been assigned to a residential re-entry management office in the Chicago area. Gal Pissetzky, the attorney who defended Medrano when he was sentenced in federal court six years ago, said Medrano is in a halfway house.
But for the rest of Medrano’s sentence, Pissetzky said, “he’s going to be on home confinement.” Medrano’s official release date isn’t until Sept. 14, 2025, prison records show.
Read the full story from reporter Jon Seidel here.
5:53 p.m. ‘Stories from Six Feet’ documents search for connection in coronavirus isolation
Sameka Gates and her kids, Kylee, 11, and Ethan, 5, sit on their front steps in Hermosa. Angela Conners Treimer
It’s Angela Conners Treimer’s job to take photos of the most beautiful places on Earth.
As a commercial resort photographer, she travels over 100,000 miles each year, capturing luxurious images in places like Cabo and the Maldives.
So when the coronavirus started to spread and travel bans went into effect, Treimer was furloughed — for three months at least, and maybe longer.
“For the first time in three years, I wasn’t living on an airplane, you know? Whenever we were advised by the CDC to not travel, my world kind of flipped upside down,” she said. “I just started brainstorming: What am I going to do for the next three months? This is the first time in my life that I haven’t had a 9 to 5.”
Searching for normalcy and human connection, she decided to look for beauty elsewhere.
That’s how her project, “Stories from Six Feet,” came to be.
“Stories from Six Feet” is a photo series that documents the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Chicago through the eyes of its residents in isolation. The project lives on Instagram under the handle @StoriesFromSixFeet.
See more photos from and read the full story from reporter Ella Lee here.
5:16 p.m. 7 more workers at Juvenile Detention Center contract COVID-19
Seven more employees of Cook County’s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Friday.
There are now six detainees and 17 employees at the facility that have contracted the coronavirus, according to the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Office of the Chief Judge spokesman Pat Milhizer.
Six of the employees tested positive after receiving on-site tests that began last week for all employees at the detention center, Milhizer said. No one showed symptoms when they were tested.
Read the full story from reporter David Struett here.
4:23 p.m. Library workers return to work Wednesday to prepare for eventual reopening. Exactly when? Unclear.
It’s unclear when Chicago’s 81 libraries will reopen, but staff are returning to their jobs Wednesday to prepare for the day when doors will be flung open and patrons will be welcomed back.
“Absolutely no date has been set to open libraries to the public, and any reopening decision would be consistent with public health guidance and dependent on where our data is at that time,” Jordan Troy, a spokesman for Mayor Lightfoot, said in an email Friday.
“As the mayor has stated since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, every decision made in city government will be guided by science and data.”
Libraries have been closed since March 21.
Read more on libraries from reporter Mitch Dudek here.
3:15 p.m. President Trump still confident in Abbott’s virus test despite false negatives
Trump expressed his confidence in the test from Abbott Laboratories after a preliminary study by New York University researchers reported problems with it. Trump and his deputies have have promoting the 15-minute test as a “game changer.”
The Food and Drug Administration announced late Thursday it was investigating preliminary data suggesting the Abbott test can miss COVID-19 cases, falsely clearing infected patients.
“Abbott is a great test; it’s a very quick test,” Trump said at a Rose Garden event to highlight his administration’s efforts to develop a vaccine for the virus. “And it can always be very rapidly double checked.”
The test is used daily at the White House to test Trump, key members of his staff as well as any visitor to the White House complex who comes in close proximity to the president or Vice President Mike Pence.
Read the full story by the Associated Press here.
2:45 p.m. Coronavirus now in 100 Illinois counties as state tops 4K deaths, 90K cases
COVID-19 is now in 100 of Illinois’ 102 counties, as Friday marked the fourth day in a row that the state has seen more than 100 lives lost — and the 18th such day since the pandemic began.
With the latest 130 deaths, the state has lost 1,727 people so far in May, and 4,058 overall.
There were also 2,432 more people testing positive among the latest batch of 26,565 test results, officials said. And Edgar County became the 100th county to record positive cases in the state.
There have been 90,369 confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
The state’s overall positivity rate — the number of positive cases compared to total tests received — was 9.1%. And the Northeast region, home to Chicago, Cook and the collar counties, remained under 20%, a benchmark set for further to enter the next phase of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s regional reopening plan.
Read the full report from Tina Sfondeles here.
2:36 p.m. Cook County surpasses Queens, NY, as county with most COVID-19 cases in U.S.
Cook County has surpassed Queens County in New York as the U.S. county with the most coronavirus cases based on Sun-Times analysis of the latest public data.
There have been 58,457 total cases of COVID-19 recorded in Cook County, which includes all of Chicago and many of its suburbs, after officials added 2,051 new cases in the last 24 hours. Queens, by comparison, added only 336 cases over the same time frame to bring its total to 58,084.
Cook County still has a lower rate of COVID-19 per capita given its population (5.1 million) is more than twice as large as Queens (2.25 million). But Queens also has a much higher population density with 20,500 people per square mile compared to 5,500 per square mile in Cook County, which can make social distancing measures more challenging to maintain.
1:55 p.m. Lightfoot hints at street closures to help restaurants
Is Mayor Lori Lightfoot planning to close streets and sidewalks so restaurants can safely reopen and give residents a place to run, walk and play? Sure sounds like it.
“People are itching to get outside. Businesses are looking at creative ways to serve customers. The key is how we do it,” the mayor tweeted Friday.
“Stay tuned for some changes to our streets and sidewalks. Transportation is more than just cars. We’ll show how Chicago can be safer and easier to get around.”
Last week, Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia urged Gov. J.B. Pritzker to relax his five-step plan to reopen Illinois by allowing restaurants to open at 25% of capacity beginning June 1 with strict safeguards for restaurant employees, including face masks and daily temperature checks.
At the time, Toia teased the street closing idea.
Read the full report from Fran Spielman here.
1:27 p.m. Lightfoot warns religious leaders she is prepared to enforce stay-at-home order
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has appealed to religious leaders to not defy Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order — and warned she is prepared to “enforce the rules” if they don’t.
In a “Dear Members of the Chicago Faith Community” letter sent Thursday, Lightfoot urged religious leaders to continue holding virtual services rather than in-person services, where it is difficult, if not impossible, to maintain social distance.
“I am urging you to stay the course. If there is a problem, I would rather be in conversation than in conflict. But to be clear, I am resolute that I must enforce the rules of the governor’s stay-at-home order. To be fair to all, I simply cannot look away from non-compliance, no matter the source or the intention,” she wrote.
On Monday, Lightfoot responded to Sunday service defiance by saying she hoped to educate religious leaders into compliance, avoiding mass arrests.
“We’re not gonna send in the police to arrest parishioners. People are exercising their faith, and I understand that,” she said then.
But the next day, the mayor made it clear she was serious about enforcing the governor’s order and she would do what she must.
Read the full report from Fran Spielman here.
12:59 p.m. Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts not sure baseball will be played this season: report
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts told season-ticket holders he is not sure baseball will be played this year.
According to a story published by The Athletic, Ricketts said the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, conflicts over the best time to reopen businesses, and continuing negotiations between the owners and players could combine to prevent the start of the season.
“I don’t think anyone can answer that question just yet,” Ricketts said during a virtual forum with season-ticket holders Thursday. “The current thinking and the current discussions (among owners) have been all around trying to get back into our home ballparks for this season. Obviously, without fans. Now that creates three specific problems that we have to address.”
The team has been consulting with health professionals on the best way to make Wrigley Field safe, according to a recording of Cubs president Crane Kenney obtained by The Athletic.
— Sun-Times Staff
12:26 p.m. The high cost of quarantine
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
In a letter to the Sun-Times editors, Tom Gregg of Niles writes:
Before the quarantine, I was visiting my 99-year-old mother twice a day in our retirement home, and she was holding her own in terms of her health. She is vision-impaired, hearing-impaired, arthritic and suffering from mild dementia, certainly, but for 13 years in two homes she had largely been able to avoid hospital stays for life-threatening problems. Plus, her interaction with me seemed to greatly help in minimizing her spells of confusion.
But now, during our relatively brief period of enforced separation — I live on a lower floor while she lives up on an assisted living floor — she has contracted pneumonia, for which she has been in and out of hospital, and her spells of confusion seem to be worsening. Symptomatic, doubtless, of the unprecedented disorientation.
My mother remains among the living today, but for how long if she remains so isolated? Now multiply this single case by all the other seniors around the country who have seen their precious interactive routines disappear. It is a situation that many of them, given their cognitive limitations, have difficulty grasping.
This potentially lethal hardship is worth noting when we are formulating pandemic recovery plans. The cure of the quarantine shouldn’t cost more than the contagion itself, should it?
Read this and more letters here.
11:44 a.m. What’s the first meal you’ll want at a restaurant post-pandemic? We asked, Chicagoans answered.
With eat-in dining at restaurants on hold because of the state’s coronavirus stay-at-home order, the next time you’ll be waited on at a restaurant probably won’t be for a while.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s five-phase plan for reopening Illinois businessesputs restaurant reopenings in Phase 4. We’re now in Phase 2.
So with Chicagoans craving a meal out, we asked: Once restaurants reopen for dining in, what’s the first meal you’ll want to eat out, and from where? Some of these answers have been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
“Breakfast at a Greek joint: feta cheese-and-spinach omelet, hashbrowns and an English muffin or pancakes.” — Rose Panieri
“A hamburger from Charlie Beinlich’s in Glencoe.” — Elena Zaremski
“Tango Sur — the filet with spinach mashed potatoes.” — Marcela Guzman
Read more answers from our readers here.
10:08 a.m. How we should honor our youngest COVID-19 victim
Ernesto Guzman, age 12, suffered from asthma and obstructive sleep apnea, two other underlying health problems with potentially serious consequences that have figured into many other COVID-19 deaths, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
But make no mistake, doctors say it was the coronavirus that caused the pneumonia that took Ernesto’s life early Thursday morning at Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn.
Because his death occurred after midnight, it is not yet counted among the 3,928 official COVID-19 deaths in Illinois, but it was listed among the single-day record high of 126 deaths reported Thursday from Cook County by the medical examiner.
Will the death of a 12-year-old boy cause more people to take this disease seriously? Mark Brown says he doubts it. But he hopes that will change.
“Take this seriously, folks,” he wrote. “Take it very seriously, because the life you risk may not be your own.”
Read Mark Brown’s full column here.
8:49 a.m. Abbott rapid COVID-19 test may yield false negatives, FDA warns
The federal Food and Drug Administration issued a warning Thursday night that early data suggests Abbott Laboratories’ rapid coronavirus test, touted by the Trump administration as a game changer, may return inaccurate and false negative results — findings the Chicago-area firm vehemently denied.
The Abbott ID NOW test — which can provide results in minutes — is used by the White House to quickly test anyone who comes into proximity of President Donald Trump. Trump has lavished attention on the Abbott ID NOW test and featured it at a White House event three days after the FDA fast-tracked its approval by granting an emergency use authorization on March 27.
In just a few weeks time, Abbott has shipped 1.8 million of the ID NOW tests, which is used at several Chicago-area testing sites.
The FDA warning came a day after a New York University preliminary study raised questions about its accuracy. The study was not subject to peer review, a process that checks on the procedures used for a study as well as its findings.
Read the full story here.
7:03 a.m. ‘Grandstanding’ by Grand Old Party? Or is Pritzker masking his decisions?
SPRINGFIELD — After weeks of nudges from Republican legislators, the General Assembly is planning to return to Springfield to get back to work.
And as they prepare for the Legislature’s long-sought session next week, Republicans said Thursday they are willing to comply with safety guidelines issued by the Democrats – but they want an examination of their own.
GOP lawmakers said they will wear face coverings, submit to COVID-19 tests and temperature checks and follow other safety measures when they return to Springfield, but they balked at signing a pledge to follow those recommendations as requested by House Speaker Mike Madigan.
And Republicans want to put Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” plan under the microscope with a public hearing.
GOP lawmakers have criticized Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” plan as “arbitrary,” saying the dates in which parts of the states can begin to reopen don’t make sense, and its metrics ignore geographical differences in COVID-19’s impact.
Read the full story by Neal Earley here.
6:45 a.m. With the focus on the coronavirus, Lightfoot opts for bare-bones capital plan
Singularly focused on the war against the coronavirus, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has opted for a $100 million, bare bones capital plan — bankrolled by an existing line of credit — to pay for new vehicles, sidewalks and the treasured aldermanic menu program.
Normally, the city issues general obligation bonds backed by property taxes to cover a more sweeping capital program. But these are not normal times.
The Lightfoot administration is preoccupied with the city’s response to the coronavirus and the budget crisis triggered by the stay-at-home shutdown of the Chicago economy.
So the decision was made to proceed only with those capital projects and purchases that absolutely needed to get done and to finance it with a line of credit that remained, even after Lightfoot saved $22 million by eliminating a $1.4 billion line of credit negotiated by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Read the full story by Fran Spielman here.
New cases
Analysis & Commentary
7:47 p.m. Everything must be on the table as city, state fight back from financial devastation
Washington to cities and states: You’re on your own.
For months, the Trump administration has failed to take the lead in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, punting responsibility to the states. Now the president and his Republican Party are looking to do the same when it comes to helping states and cities survive the pandemic’s financial devastation.
A $3 trillion stimulus package expected to be approved by the Democratic-controlled House looks dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled Senate, and President Donald Trump is making clear he would never sign such a bill.
Why? Because the package to rescue drowning cities, suburbs, states, small businesses and unemployed Americans would be fiscally imprudent, they claim.
We couldn’t disagree more. And, yes, this is the same Senate and president who rewrote the federal tax code in 2017 to give billions of dollars in tax cuts to the wealthiest one percent of Americans, ballooning the federal deficit.
So what does all this mean for Illinois and Chicago, as well as for towns and counties statewide?
Read the full editorial from the CST Editorial Board here.
6:35 p.m. Gov. Pritzker fumbles rollout of ‘Restore Illinois’
For many weeks after the beginning of this COVID-19 crisis, Gov. J.B. Pritzker proved adept at telegraphing his every move.
Pritzker waited until people practically begged him to shut down the schools on March 15. He talked about issuing a stay-at-home order for days, and then acted on March 21 only after California jumped first.
It was clear for days that he would extend his stay-at-home order another month starting April 1. He talked for well over a week about a mask-wearing requirement, always noting that he was being lobbied by Republican state Rep. Mark Batinick before finally announcing the order on April 23.
People did not always agreed with him, but they always had a sense of where he was going. Pritzker did get out over his skis when his Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission dramatically altered the burden of proof on COVID-19 illnesses in favor of employees without so much as a heads-up to business groups. But most regular folks never noticed that and a court intervened and stopped the order anyway.
Otherwise, the governor did a remarkably good job of making sure the public was always aware in advance of his leadership direction.
And then on May 5 he announced his “Restore Illinois” roadmap to gradually reopen the state.
Read the full column from Rich Miller here.
6:53 a.m. Chicago’s flag, civic pride and the fight against COVID-19
If Chicago were to add a fifth star to the city’s flag, an awful lot of hipsters would have to get their tattoos reworked.
Maybe it’s best we just leave the flag as it is, even if the city manages to prevail against COVID-19.
Last Friday and again on Wednesday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot floated the idea of adding a fifth red star to Chicago’s flag to mark the city’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. She was trying to rally the city. If Chicago’s effort to beat the virus is terrifically successful, she said Friday, it will “truly warrant a fifth star on our flag.”
But let’s be blunt. Chicago’s not about to be terrifically successful anytime soon. Nobody is. This is a global public health war that’s sure to be fought for years, and a lot of people are setting us up to lose.
Read the full Sun-Times editorial here.
6:10 a.m. Navy Pier is an arm of government, no matter what it claims — so let’s see every contract
Now that the nonprofit that runs Navy Pier is getting a federal stimulus loan of nearly $2.5 million, it’s really way past time that it opened its books to the public completely.
Navy Pier Inc., which leases the 104-year-old pier from the public, is a government body that masquerades as a nonprofit organization. As such, it has been allowed to hide its workings from public scrutiny while benefiting from public support.
Navy Pier Inc. pays just $1 a year to the state and city to lease the pier.
And just this week, Sun-Times reporters Tim Novak and Robert Herguth revealed that the organization, whose president is paid more than $540,000 a year, has received a nearly $2.5 million coronavirus stimulus loan from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program.
Like all nonprofits, Navy Pier Inc. must disclose much of its finances by filing 990 forms, but it does not have to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests or disclose the terms of contracts.
Read the full editorial here.


chicagosun-times--2020-05-15--Man missing from Northwest Side

Man missing from Northwest Side

A 41-year-old man was reported missing from Dunning on the Northwest Side .
Ervin Sims was last seen April 29 @ @ @ @ @ 3400 block of North Narragansett Avenue , Chicago police said .
His cellphone is off @ @ @ @ @ family .
He is 6-foot-2 , 185 pounds with black and gray hair and brown @ @ @ @ @ is asked to call Area Five detectives at 312-746-6554 .

A 41-year-old man was reported missing from Dunning on the Northwest Side.
Ervin Sims was last seen April 29 near his home in the 3400 block of North Narragansett Avenue, Chicago police said. His cellphone is off and he has not contacted family.
He is 6-foot-2, 185 pounds with black and gray hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information is asked to call Area Five detectives at 312-746-6554.