chicagotribune--2020-05-25--6 injured in Eisenhower Expressway crash

Two children and two adults all in serious-to-critical condition were taken to Stroger Hospital , Schroeder said .
Two other @ @ @ @ @ were taken to Mt .
Sinai Medical Center .

Two children and four adults were taken to hospitals after a crash Sunday night on the Eisenhower Expressway, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
The crash occurred about 11 p.m. on outbound I-290 near Kostner Avenue, said Deputy District Chief Walter Schroeder.
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Two children and two adults all in serious-to-critical condition were taken to Stroger Hospital, Schroeder said. Two other adults also in serious-to-critical condition were taken to Mt. Sinai Medical Center.
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Check back for updates.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-05-25--4 people injured in South Side stabbing; 1 in custody, police say

The woman began to argue with others in the backyard of an apartment building at 9:15 p.m. in the 7600 @ @ @ @ @ in the Gresham neighborhood , according to Chicago police .
She then began stabbing several @ @ @ @ @ stabbed by another person .

Members of the Chicago Fire Department transport a person who was stabbed May 24, 2020, near the intersection of West 77th Street and South Union Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
A 46-year-old woman is in custody after an argument led to four people stabbed on the South Side, according to Chicago police.
The woman began to argue with others in the backyard of an apartment building at 9:15 p.m. in the 7600 block of South Union Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood, according to Chicago police. She then began stabbing several people before she was also stabbed by another person.
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Three men were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center with non-life threatening stab wounds, police said. The woman was also taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in fair condition.
Check back for updates.
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pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-05-25--Monty and Rose don’t waste any time as eggs already spotted in their Montrose Beach nest

After a few weeks of Monty and Rose taking turns incubating the eggs , if the birds and their new @ @ @ @ @ the chicks are on track to hatch mid-June .
The plovers can give nesting a @ @ @ @ @ summer , if there are any unexpected ruffles .

Imani, a piping plover, stands in the water in the Montrose Beach Dunes Natural Area on July 27, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Monty and Rose are nesting in place.
After dodging a music festival last summer, fledging a few chicks, wintering apart and returning to Montrose Beach, the federally endangered piping plovers are sitting on some speckled eggs.
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On Friday, Louise Clemency, a field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was out at Montrose to check up on the feathered pair. Monty sat in a new location inside the dunes. When the little bird popped up, Clemency eyed a few eggs.
That afternoon, the Chicago Park District, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture jumped into action. A protective cage was installed around the nest and cameras were put in place. Additional fencing is expected to go up this week.
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Some cage modifications were made to more securely attach it to the ground, Clemency said. “We thought the raccoons etc., might be more motivated this year to get in and get the eggs.”
Monty and Rose appeared in early May at the North Side beach, raising hopes of more plover chicks as they engaged in, as birders say, “courtship behavior." Experts started to prep for a plover summer during the pandemic.
By Sunday morning, there were three eggs in the plovers’ nest. A fourth, likely completing the clutch, is expected soon.
After a few weeks of Monty and Rose taking turns incubating the eggs, if the birds and their new cage ward off predators, the chicks are on track to hatch mid-June. The plovers can give nesting a second shot, like last summer, if there are any unexpected ruffles.
The new nesting spot came as a surprise to the monitors; Monty and Rose started scraping in the same spot as last year. But after recent storms, the birds moved from the volleyball courts to an area surrounded by native foredune vegetation, a sandy and cobbly spot higher up from the water line.
“The lake is so dynamic, we still don’t know what a big storm could do at this point,” Clemency said.
Brad Semel, an endangered species recovery specialist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, said the plovers’ new home is “just a beautiful little nest site.”
“And it is on a little bit higher dune so hopefully if there are any strong storm events the jetty will protect the nest,” he said.
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Without disturbances from beachgoers, wildlife — including plover predators — is roaming the shoreline, Semel said. He’s spotted a coyote, some Caspian terns. Once the chicks hatch, there’s still peregrine falcons and cooper’s hawks that could swoop down and strike.
"So it’s still a challenge, and you can’t predict the outcome,” Semel said. “But I guess we’re all hopeful.”
Local birding organizations are making plans for monitoring and wondering what protection plans will look like if beachgoers are allowed to return to the lakefront while the birds are still on the beach.
“I think the biggest uncertainty is when will the lakefront reopen? And how will it reopen?” said Tamima Itani, of the Illinois Ornithological Society. “So we’re working a little in the dark.”
As for Monty and Rose, Clemency said “they look great.”
“They look really healthy, good condition, plump,” she said.
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Clemency watched Monty this weekend as he sat on the nest.
“And he started making a little peeping noise that they use to communicate with each other. And within about 10 minutes Rose returned," Clemency said. "It’s easy to imagine he was thinking, I think it’s your turn.”


chicagotribune--2020-05-25--By Monday morning, 9 people had been shot and killed in Chicago, making it the deadliest  Memorial D

By Monday morning, 9 people had been shot and killed in Chicago, making it the deadliest  Memorial Day weekend since 2015

On Saturday , 17 people were shot , five fatally , police said .
A 35-year-old man was killed and @ @ @ @ @ 6:30 p.m. in the 3900 block of West Grenshaw Street in the Lawndale neighborhood , @ @ @ @ @ , ages 23 to 43 , were outside a residence when a vehicle approached and @ @ @ @ @ bullets .

Chicago police and fire work the scene where four people were stabbed near West 77th Street and South Union Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood on May 24, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
By Monday morning, nine people already had been shot and killed in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend, making it the deadliest one since 2015.
The dead are among at least 39 people shot from Friday afternoon to early Monday evening, according to Chicago police and data kept by the Tribune.
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With another night to go in the long weekend, the number of shootings was already close to 2019′s total despite the coronavirus stay-at-home order, Saturday’s severe storms and added police patrols.
Three teenagers were among those shot, among them 16-year-old Darnell Fisher, who was fatally wounded while walking shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday in the Washington Park neighborhood. One person is in custody in connection with the shooting and a gun has been recovered, police said.
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A 15-year-old girl was shot in the leg while standing on a front porch around 5 a.m. Monday in the West Pullman neighborhood and was in good conditional at Roseland Community Hospital, police said.
And a 15-year-old boy suffered gunshot wounds to the face, chest and abdomen following a verbal altercation with an unknown driver shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday in the South Shore neighborhood, authorities said. He was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition.
Both shootings remain under investigation, according to Chicago police.
Last year, 43 people were shot, seven fatally, over a holiday weekend that also included severe storms and an extra 1,200 patrol officers. The highest number of shootings in recent years was in 2016, when at least 69 were shot, six fatally. A year earlier, 12 people were shot and killed.
New police Superintendent David Brown said Friday that he expected the usual spike in violence this weekend. Patrols would be stepped up, but he would not say how many extra officers would be deployed.
Officers also were supposed be “on the lookout for large gatherings” that are not allowed because of the pandemic, Brown said.
On Saturday, 17 people were shot, five fatally, police said. A 35-year-old man was killed and three others were injured around 6:30 p.m. in the 3900 block of West Grenshaw Street in the Lawndale neighborhood, police said. The men, ages 23 to 43, were outside a residence when a vehicle approached and someone inside sprayed them with bullets.
Sunday saw 10 people shot, three fatally. There also was an incident with four people stabbed at 9:15 p.m. after an argument erupted with tenants of a Gresham apartment building in their backyard, police said.
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A 46-year-old woman took out a knife and stabbed three men before someone stabbed her, police said. They were all taken to hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening.
A bloody cloth sits on the ground at the scene where four people were stabbed near the intersection of West 77th Street and South Union Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood on May 24, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Less than an hour later and about a mile north in Englewood, officers responded to a call to disperse a large crowd in the 7000 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
It ended with officers chasing down a man who had a gun and then calling over the radio for a “10-1” — an officer needing immediate assistance — when another man fired a gun, not aimed at police.
Dozens of squad cars lined 71st Street after the call. Drivers tried to weave through the congested street as neighbors ran outside and took out their phones to capture the blue lights and hum of a helicopter.
The man who fired the gun was taken into custody, police said. Two officers suffered minor injuries.
Chicago Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair contributed.
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pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-05-25--New CDC warning old hat to Chicagoans: Rats scurry for food during COVID-19 restaurant closures

Now , hundreds of thousands of Norway rats , the kind that live in Chicago and don ’ t usually @ @ @ @ @ from burrow to food source , suddenly are changing up their routines , boldly searching @ @ @ @ @ during the day — a shift for the normally nocturnal animals , said Robert Villamil @ @ @ @ @ Pest Control Inc .
Despite the explosion in rat boldness , the business has seen @ @ @ @ @ bars and restaurants closed or limited to takeout orders , as it ’ s been @ @ @ @ @ customers .

Lisa Wiedemann, service manager with Rose Pest Solutions, holds four dead juvenile rats and a dead adult rat as she checks various traps behind a building in Chicago on April 17, 2020. Rats in Chicago are on the move now that their usual food source may be drying up because of the stay-at-home order. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
A new warning from U.S. health officials is old news to many Chicago residents who have seen rats getting increasingly bolder in their hunt for food the last couple of months.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned last week that because of coronavirus-related business closures, particularly by restaurants, “jurisdictions have reported an increase in rodent activity as rodents search for new sources of food … and may see an increase in reports of unusual or aggressive rodent behavior.”
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Residents of other cities, such as New Orleans and New York, have even reported hungry rats traveling in packs.
The CDC warns that while rodent populations may decline during natural disasters, they can snap back “as commercial activity returns to normal.”
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We’ve updated our April story below with the CDC guidance released on May 21.
The COVID-19 pandemic has commanded a new way of life, and not just for people — even Chicago’s rat population has been affected.
Restaurants can remain open for delivery and takeout under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, but plenty have reduced hours or have closed temporarily or permanently, casualties of the coronavirus outbreak.
That means some formerly reliable food sources for rats, such as dumpsters behind restaurants or overflowing outdoor garbage cans stuffed to the brim daily with Chicagoans’ food scraps, now sit empty. But rats are resilient and they’ll move into residential homes, eat dog feces, or even cannibalize dead or young rats before they’ll starve.
Now, hundreds of thousands of Norway rats, the kind that live in Chicago and don’t usually travel more than 150 feet from burrow to food source, suddenly are changing up their routines, boldly searching farther for food, including during the day — a shift for the normally nocturnal animals, said Robert Villamil, owner of Chicago-based Crow Pest Control Inc. Despite the explosion in rat boldness, the business has seen its commercial work slow with bars and restaurants closed or limited to takeout orders, as it’s been getting more business from residential customers.
“Rats have a hierarchy and they’re very territorial," said Villamil, whose overall business is down 5% to 10% because of less commercial work. "As they look for food, people are noticing them more. Rats carry disease and they’re very unsightly, so it’s a big thing. People are wanting to take steps to keep rats away from their homes.”
Rats have a “complex social hierarchy within their colonies,” said Jim Fredericks, of the National Pest Management Association. There are “alpha males,” which get to eat first and have first mating opportunities, then there are “beta males” and rats of lesser importance, which may be forced to sleep outside the safety of a nest or burrow.
“As resources become scarce, whether that be food, or harborage, nesting places, that imposes stress upon that rat community, so to speak, and when there’s stress you do see increased aggressive behavior within that rat social system,” he said.
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Fredericks said in many large cities — including, he suspects, Chicago — videos have surfaced, showing rats acting boldly on largely abandoned streets, much more visible now as they seek out new food sources.
Experts think the city could be capitalizing on the fact that rats are food stressed. Despite repeated requests for comment, Cristina Villarreal, spokeswoman for Chicago’s Department of Streets and Sanitation would not answer questions about whether the changes affect the city’s rat response.
Instead, Villarreal provided a two-sentence statement saying, in part, the department’s “aggressive rodent baiting continues every day with 16-18 crews out across the (city).”
Fredericks said he doesn’t expect the rodent population is going to be permanently or even noticeably dented by the new normal, but said it “does create a pest management opportunity.” Curtis Rand, the vice president of operations for Rose Pest Control, which operates throughout northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, also said the environment creates “a huge opportunity,” for cities with rat abatement programs to be aggressive in their use of baiting because the rats are hungrier than usual.
“Obviously, the less food source the more attractive the bait,” Rand said.
"When you put a hamburger in front of someone’s face every day, the chances of them walking over and going to get a hot dog are few and far between because they’ve got a hamburger there,” Rand said.
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Municipalities he’s aware of that have rodent programs are seeing an increase in interest in the bait being laid out, he said.
“What we’re starting to see is the rodent devices are getting a lot more activity, which is a good sign. That means we’re starting to get bait into the population. And so you’re gonna see some benefits from that,” he said.
Rand also recommended any city that has areas notoriously popular with rats should placing bait near those sites. “Hopefully we’ll come out of this with lower populations,” he said.
Rats are known to resort to cannibalism in times of food stress, such as the conditions the stay-at-home order is creating. Villamil, from Crow Pest Control, said crews have reported rats stuck in traps that have been all or partially eaten by other rats, leaving just a head behind. Cannibalism is further evidence that rodents are going hungry, Villamil said.
“Because the restaurants are closed, food is scarce,” he said.
Villamil also said there’s been an uptick in calls from homeowners noticing burrows in their yards. At homes, Villamil said he typically catches one or two rats in exterior areas or garages. On one recent call, he captured seven.
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“That tells me they’re moving from busier streets to quieter streets closer to people’s homes,” Villamil said.
In its May 21 advisory, the CDC said: “Environmental health practitioners should advise residents and business owners to eliminate conditions that may attract and support rodent presence. Preventive actions include sealing up access into homes and businesses, removing debris and heavy vegetation, keeping garbage in tightly covered bins, and removing pet and bird food from their yards. … Follow established guidelines when cleaning up after rodent infestations to prevent exposure to rodent-borne diseases."
Fredericks said homeowners should use some of their extra time at home to look for any potential entry points into their home and shove a steel wool pad in any holes larger than a quarter: a quarter-sized hole is all a rat needs to squeeze inside, while mice only need a dime-sized hole. Rats are known to chew through plastic trash bins and they’ll make a meal of dog waste because dog food is densely packed with protein and nutrients that are not all absorbed by the dog.
“Believe me, they have a wide and varied and sometimes utterly disgusting diet," Fredericks said. "It’s one of the reasons why rats are considered pests and are associated with disease and illness — and have been for centuries — because they tend to live in and feed in places that are not hospitable to what you and I might think of.”
Villarreal said anyone in Chicago who wants to report a rat concern can use the Chi311 App or call 311.
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kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-05-25--A different Memorial Day in Chicago: Crowds are out, livestreamed ceremonies are in

“ I am very proud to represent all the people who have ever served in any of the wars in @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ I also want to give a big , big thanks to all @ @ @ @ @ against COVID-19 at this time .
Together , we will defeat this war as well @ @

Hal Dardick, Sophie Sherry, Stacy St. Clair

Sabine Beechum adjusts a balloon as she celebrates her 6th birthday with friends and family driving past her Hyde Park home in Chicago on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Chicagoans marked Memorial Day in a different way Monday, as local leaders tried to balance paying respect to those who died serving their country while also respecting the coronavirus-driven stay-at-home rules.
Throughout the city and suburbs, parades and solemn ceremonies with large crowds were out, replaced by smaller events streamed online or recorded tributes. One exception unfolded at Buckingham Fountain in Chicago, where a crowd marked the holiday with a protest against the restrictions.
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In west suburban Elmhurst, the village’s long-standing parade went on, albeit in a much different form. There were no floats, no handfuls of candy tossed to the streets for kids to retrieve and no bands playing patriotic music.
Instead, a blockslong procession of military, police and fire vehicles snaked along a 16-mile journey as hundreds of spectators lined the route. The goal was to get within 2 ½ blocks of every home in town.
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For the most part, families stayed apart from one another, simply waving at the veterans and city personnel taking part.
Shelly Hurst, 47, waves an American flag as a convoy of 15 to 20 police, fire department and military vehicles passes through Elmhurst, Illinois for Memorial Day, May 25, 2020. (Raquel Zaldivar / Chicago Tribune)
“You have to honor the fallen and all those in the military,” said a mask-clad Joan Nemchock, who was watching from a small hill in a park near the starting point.
Nemchock said both her parents served in World War II, and earlier in the day, she paid them a visit. “Every Memorial Day, I put the flags on their grave,” she said.
At first, Elmhurst had planned to call off the ceremony, but Ald. Mark Mulliner, 7th, said he wasn’t ready to give up.
“I got a message that they weren’t going to do this, and I said, ‘Oh no, we’ve got to do it,’ ” he said. “We have to honor the war dead. We’ve gotta do this one way or another."
So he got Mayor Steven Morley to agree to a socially distanced parade, which marked the event’s 102nd consecutive year and was dubbed the “2020 Always Remember Memorial Day Convoy.”
Mulliner said if it had not gone on, it would be the first time the annual observance had been canceled since the first one held after World War I.
“It was a way to socially distance, still do the same thing, and we’re going 16 miles through the city, and it’s close enough that everybody can kind of walk out of their backyard and take a look at it and then walk back in,” Mulliner said.
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The usual speeches, meanwhile, were recorded separately and will be aired on the ElmhurstTV YouTube channel along with video of the parade itself.
In Lakeview, the Memorial Day parade was moved online for the first time in its 57-year history.
Although there was no marching, the Wellington-Oakdale Old Glory Marching Society’s event still featured the traditional flag-raising and Pledge of Allegiance — as well as recorded speeches from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Al Weisman started the parade in 1963, leading a handful of kids around his block in the Lakeview neighborhood. This year, son Tony Weisman kicked off the online event.
"Marchers have slogged through thunderstorms and snow, but for the first time today, we’re going virtual,” Weisman said.
This year’s event honored fallen service members as well as first responders fighting the coronavirus pandemic on the front lines. Eric Eligator, an emergency room nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital, and Vietnam veterans Frank Crescenzi and Larry Foye delivered messages.
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“I am very proud to represent all the people who have ever served in any of the wars in our nation,” Foye said. “I also want to give a big, big thanks to all of the first responders working against COVID-19 at this time. Together, we will defeat this war as well."
Maryjane Ryden kneels at the headstone of her father, Wayne Aanerud, an army veteran, after placing a flag down on Memorial Day at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois on May 25, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
There was no public event Monday at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, south of Joliet. Instead, there was a private ceremony at 7 a.m., and people in small groups could visit the gravestones of military family members.
Among them was MaryJane Ryden, who visited the grave of her father, Army veteran Wayne Aanerud. She noticed that there were not flags at the grave of each fallen soldier.
“It was very different not to see that,” Ryden said. “Usually when you see all those flags … I can’t even find the right word to describe it.”
Traditionally, cemeteries place flags ahead of Memorial Day, but this year that didn’t happen because of COVID-19 concerns. Instead, families like Ryden’s placed their own flags.
Catholic cemeteries in Chicago did not hold field Masses, but did mark the day with a Mass online.
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People attend a Reopen Illinois rally in Chicago's Grant Park on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
At a rally in front of Buckingham Fountain, a crowd protested Pritzker’s stay-at-home order as an affront to the freedoms that service members have died defending. The well-received speeches, though, frequently veered into plugs for online learning courses or political futures.
State Rep. Darren Bailey, R- Xenia, who is locked in a legal battle with the governor over the order, urged onlookers to get involved in their local government and flood the phone lines of their elected officials.
The crowd, which held signs saying “F-U-J-B” and “Fire Pritzker,” called on Bailey to run for governor. He told the audience it was “time to replace career RINOs,” a pejorative term for Republicans who aren’t considered conservative enough.
"If God opens a door, I'll go through that door," Bailey said as the crowd erupted in cheers. "But it's going to take a lot of work."
Bailey, who was removed from the House floor last week for refusing to wear a mask in violation of a bipartisan rule, also insisted he held a fondness for Chicago, which runs counter to his previous statements. He did not, for example, mention that he has supported efforts to separate the city from the rest of the state.
“I love Chicago, it’s part of Illinois,” he said. “But sometimes when you raise a wayward child, you have to discipline that child.”
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The event was organized by Anthony Delmedico, an Arizona-based entrepreneur, who promoted the event as part of a documentary called “Unconstitutional.” He has predicted pandemic-related lockdowns soon will be viewed as “the biggest blunder in American history.”
At several points during the rally, Chicago police officers wearing face masks asked unmasked protesters to maintain 6 feet of social distance. One such request, repeated over a bullhorn by organizers, was met with boos and demands for police to arrest them if they didn’t like it.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 17 An American flag stands tall on Memorial Day at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois, on May 25, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
In southwest suburban Tinley Park, officials welcomed viewers to the village’s first virtual Memorial Day ceremony.
In his opening speech, Mayor Jacob Vandenberg reflected on past Memorial Days spent watching the ceremony with his grandpa with crowds gathered in Veterans Plaza near the Metra station on 80th Avenue.
“Unfortunately, this is unprecedented times and we don’t have a large ceremony taking place here by our Hero’s Walk,” Vandenberg said.
While this year’s ceremony was closed to the public, it still featured traditional observations including the posting of colors, wreath laying and a gun salute.
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Officials also announced the names of veterans added to the village’s Hero’s Walk and unveiled honorary streets signs recognizing the service of two fallen Vietnam War veterans from the Tinley Park area. The signs are in honor of Robert A. McAllister and Edward J. Novak, both private first class Marines.
hdardick@chicagotribune.com
ssherry@chicagotribune.com
sstclair@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-25--When can Illinois reopen? Check our daily charts on where each region stands.

The metrics focus on a rolling average of positive coronavirus cases and hospitalizations to keep track of the direction of @ @ @ @ @ availability of hospital beds and ventilators that would be needed to handle a possible surge @ @ @ @ @ for testing and tracing positive tests .

Chad Yoder, Nausheen Husain, Jennifer Smith Richards, Jonathon Berlin

With each of the state’s four regions in Phase 3 of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan, the clock starts on moving on to Phase 4, where more businesses and activities are allowed. The plan to reopen Illinois — from restaurants and salons to open space to non-COVID-19 procedures at the hospital to concerts and festivals — depends on a host of metrics laid out by Pritzker.
The metrics focus on a rolling average of positive coronavirus cases and hospitalizations to keep track of the direction of the outbreak as well as availability of hospital beds and ventilators that would be needed to handle a possible surge. There are also benchmarks for testing and tracing positive tests.
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
A key element of the plan is that a region can move both forward and backward, where more parts of society can open and shut depending on the seriousness of the outbreak.
Here is a breakdown of where each region stands.


chicagotribune--2020-05-25--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

Search below by street address , ZIP code or city , then click on the map to see the number @ @ @ @ @ state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer .

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
Illinois releases the number of positive COVID-19 cases by ZIP code daily. The map below shows the cumulative cases for each area as well as other analysis of the data.
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Tracking daily Illinois coronavirus deaths, cases and tests.
Search below by street address, ZIP code or city, then click on the map to see the number of confirmed and probable cases. The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer.
Data as of June 10.
The map search tool above works best in Chrome or Firefox and may not perform consistently in Internet Explorer.
Note: Because of a coding error this map was displaying the incorrect rates for new cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people — the issue should now be resolved.. The Tribune adjusted the data shown on the map below to focus on new cases, those the state tracked in the last 7 seven days. The totals for the entire pandemic are still available, but in the pop-up after tapping or clicking on a ZIP.


chicagotribune--2020-05-25--Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 4,884 deaths, 112,017 confirmed cases, 769,564 tests,  38% ICU beds a

Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 4,884 deaths, 112,017 confirmed cases, 769,564 tests,  38% ICU beds and 71% ventilators open

As the coronavirus spreads and local , state and national governments work to contain and mitigate the outbreak , the @ @ @ @ @ .

Johns Hopkins University & Medicine tracked coronavirus cases, deaths and test totals from Jan. 22, 2020 through March 10, 2023, but is no longer providing this data. These charts will no longer be updated.
Check the Illinois Department of Public Health for the most up-to-date data for Illinois.
[ Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus ]
Can’t see these charts? Go here.


chicagotribune--2020-05-25--Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus

As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward , the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have @ @ @ @ @ Chicago area or who have connections to our region .
These are some of those @ @

They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. Many were proud grandparents. Two were sisters from a tight-knit South Side family. All were loved, relatives say, and will be forever missed.
As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward, the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have lost their lives in the Chicago area or who have connections to our region. These are some of those victims.
If you know of someone or would like to offer a remembrance of someone please share your information here. To file a death notice, go here.
Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune: Our mission is to deliver trusted and meaningful local news. Your support allows us to continue providing the award-winning, watchdog and in-depth journalism our community deserves. Subscribe here.


chicagotribune--2020-05-25--Federal judge rules Florida ex-felons can vote despite fines or fees

“ Today ’ s ruling by U.S District Judge Robert Hinkle finally clears up an argument that should not have @ @ @ @ @ Florida League of Women Voters said in a statement .
“ The voters were clear @ @ @ @ @ 64 % of the electorate voted in favor of Amendment 4 , which restored the @ @ @ @ @ ex-felons not convicted of murder and felony sexual assault .
But after the passage of @ @ @ @ @ Legislature , via SB 7066 , sought to ensure that ex-felons , without the means @ @ @ @ @ obligations , would essentially endure a lifetime ban on voting .
”

\A federal judge’s ruling Sunday opens the door for hundreds of thousands of ex-felons to be able to vote in Florida despite owing fines and fees.
Pending an appeal from Gov. DeSantis, the ruling on Amendment 4 by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle in Tallahassee is potentially one the largest expansions of the voter franchise in Florida history, and it comes just months before the state could play a deciding role in the November election for president.
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Hinkle ruled that a law passed by the Legislature and signed by DeSantis was unconstitutional because “the State of Florida has adopted a system under which nearly a million otherwise-eligible citizens can vote only if they pay an amount of money. ... Many do not know, and some may not be able to find out, how much they must pay.”
The judge called the law a “pay-to-vote system.”
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Hinkle’s order requires state election officials to allow ex-felons to request an advisory opinion on how much they owe, placing the burden on state officials to seek that information from court systems. If there’s no response within three weeks the applicant should not be barred from registering to vote, the ruling said.
“Today’s ruling by U.S District Judge Robert Hinkle finally clears up an argument that should not have taken place,'' the Florida League of Women Voters said in a statement. “The voters were clear in 2018 when more than 64% of the electorate voted in favor of Amendment 4, which restored the constitutional right to vote to ex-felons not convicted of murder and felony sexual assault. But after the passage of Amendment 4, the Florida Legislature, via SB 7066, sought to ensure that ex-felons, without the means to pay back all financial obligations, would essentially endure a lifetime ban on voting.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday the case would be appealed.
Matthew Isbell, who runs the MCI Maps website devoted to political mapmaking and analysis, said it was unclear what political effect the ruling would have this year if it is upheld.
“Yes, you’ll have an uptick in some registration,” Isbell said. “You will see a maybe a quick surge, like how there was a boost right after the amendment passed before everything kind of got put on hold by the Legislature’s law. But how far does that go? That’s what’s up in the air.”
It’s also uncertain which party would benefit the most, even as Isbell said there was a lot of “wishful thinking” among Democratic activists.
But even a relative handful of votes can make all the difference in Florida. George W. Bush won Florida by 537 votes in 2000 over Al Gore, and the 2018 Senate race between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and then-Gov. Rick Scott was decided by 10,033 votes, or 0.13%.
This year, both Republican President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, his presumptive Democratic opponent, are looking to Florida to put them over the top to victory.
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The trial stems from a lawsuit by progressive and voting rights groups claiming the fines and fees requirement in SB 7066 was racially discriminatory and the equivalent of a “poll tax” banned by the U.S. Constitution.
That controversial bill was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed into law by DeSantis in 2019. Felon voting rights advocates had claimed the amendment was self-implementing and did not need any action by the Legislature.
Hinkle had already issued an injunction in October that allowed the 17 plaintiffs to vote but did not extend it to all former felons who had an inability to pay fines and fees until this latest ruling. His ruling on Sunday made it apply to all ex-felons.
The number of ex-felons affected by the ruling is unclear. The byzantine record-keeping among 67 counties and 20 circuit courts has been a key issue in the lawsuit, with attorneys arguing many ex-felons had no idea how much they owed and couldn’t feel safe swearing on a registration form that they no longer owed money.
Daniel Smith, a researcher at the University of Florida, contended as part of the lawsuit that as many as 775,000 out of the 1.4 million total ex-felons in Florida owed fees and fines. Orlando Resident Desmond Meade, who originally pushed for Amendment 4 along with his Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, has estimated the number was somewhere between 400,000 to 600,000.
Amendment 4 is vague about the issue of fines and fees, stating only that “voting rights shall be restored upon completion of all terms of sentence, including parole or probation.”
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Supporters had long said fines and restitution would be considered part of a former felon’s sentence he or she had to complete, including at a panel sponsored by the Orlando Sentinel in October 2018.
Amendment 4 attorney Jon Mills also argued before the state Supreme Court in 2017 that completion of a sentence would include full payment of any fines, saying, “all terms means all terms.”
But while the amendment faced no real opposition in 2018, partisan lines began to be drawn during the bill-writing process in 2019.
Early draft language included much broader restrictions that had to be met before rights were restored, including fines and fees added after sentencing. The ultimate bill included only fines, fees and restitution “specifically ordered by the court as part of the sentence," and provides former felons with the right to ask a judge to convert fines and fees into community service time.
Democrats and some Amendment 4 supporters compared the law to the now-banned “poll taxes” once imposed on African Americans in the South. Such taxes were used to prevent blacks from voting during the Jim Crow era before being outlawed by the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1964.
Meade, though, specifically avoided using such comparisons and has focused on registering ex-felons who were eligible and raising money to pay fines and fees for those who weren’t. In a deposition played during the trial, Meade said he had no issues with the law.
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Several Democratic counties created a “rocket docket” system designed to quickly move ex-felons through the process of getting fines and fees waived in order for them to be able to vote.
DeSantis can appeal the decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. A previous appeal failed when Hinkle’s initial injunction was upheld by a three-judge panel, and a request by DeSantis for the full court to hear the case was denied.
It was unclear, however, if the appeals process — which could reach the U.S. Supreme Court — would be fully completed before voting for the general election begins in October with early voting and mail-in ballots.
Maria Matthews, the director of the Division of Elections, said in court, “We don’t have anything final at this point" in terms of a plan for felon voting. “We’ve just been chatting about it.”
Hinkle had angrily told state officials in a March hearing, “If the state is not going to fix it, I will."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. slemongello@orlandosentinel.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Teen essential workers juggle labor, fear, stress — and remote learning — to help support their fami

Teen essential workers juggle labor, fear, stress — and remote learning — to help support their families

“ It sounds sad , but I think the biggest lesson I ’ ve learned is just not to care @ @ @ @ @ little apathetic , ” Soto said .
“ With everything going on it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ , it ’ s really easy to be sad about everything .
We had one @ @ @ @ @ leave , I had a school trip to Spain canceled , my prom is canceled @ @ @ @ @ , everything was canceled or changed and there ’ s a lot of emotions running @ @ @ @ @ that if I became too attached to these things I would have had a really @ @ @ @ @ with that emotionally . ''

Deerfield High School junior Avery Martin brings out a food order at Cafe Zupas. "Compared to all the people like the health care workers who are really putting their lives at risk, it’s not as scary," she said of her work. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Before Amara Jackson leaves to work eight-hour shifts at the Whole Foods on the border of Chicago and Evergreen Park, she finishes the day’s remote learning schoolwork, takes her vitamins and sips a hot mug of “Immune Support” tea, adding honey to mask the taste.
The tea, vitamins and better eating habits are among the many steps she’s taking to try to stay healthy while she works through the coronavirus pandemic to help provide food for her family.
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Kenwood Academy senior Amara Jackson was working at a mall before the pandemic hit. Now she has a grocery store job to help her family. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Jackson, a senior at Kenwood Academy, got the job after COVID-19 started to spread in Chicago, anticipating she’d need to help out with money at home, where she lives with her younger brother, mother and grandmother. Jackson used to work at Water Tower Place, but the busy mall was one of the first things to close.
Soon enough, Jackson’s mom, a field representative for an insurance company, had to stop working because it was no longer safe to risk exposure by going door to door.
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As the coronavirus pandemic continues and the economic devastation worsens, many Chicago-area high school students have picked up jobs as essential workers to help out parents who have lost jobs or income. Other teenage essential workers have themselves lost other retail jobs or are trying to save for a future that has become much more uncertain.
At the same time, they’re dealing not just with the emotional toll COVID-19 is taking on them and their communities but the awareness that their jobs could put them in the virus’s path. And, on top of it all, they’re still students, still expected to participate in remote learning.
“My dad used to work 45 hours a week and now he can barely get 30 hours,” one Chicago Public Schools student wrote in an online petition seeking relief from the district’s grading policy for remote learning. “He doesn’t make enough for bills and food so I started to work two jobs of a combined 50 hours so I can help with the bills. I can’t even do homework.”
At the grocery store where Jackson works, she wears the face mask and gloves she’s provided, and employees wipe down conveyor belts and carts between customers, who aren’t allowed inside the store without a face covering. She fills orders placed by Prime Now customers, placing labeled bags in freezers for delivery drivers to grab. The pay is $17 an hour — $2 more than pre-pandemic times — and because she’s a part-time worker, she gets time-and-a-half pay when she works more than 30 in a week. Employees such as Jackson get 20% off groceries, and occasionally extra discounts of $10 or $20 off.
“I can definitely say that the virus has taught me to be more appreciative of how things were before,” Jackson said. “It doesn’t seem real to me still.”
Lincoln Park High School senior Sadie Soto has been working 30 to 35 hours a week at a Jewel-Osco. She said she's had to learn to be emotionally detached to get through all the stress of the pandemic's impact. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
At a Jewel-Osco 16 miles north, in Avondale, Sadie Soto works 30 to 35 hours a week as a stocker. The 18-year-old will soon graduate from Lincoln Park High School and needs the money for college expenses.
“I have a strong feeling (college) will be online” in the fall, Soto said. “I was excited to leave Chicago, have that genuine college experience.”
She also finds it harder to feel motivated for online learning and to have a connection with her teachers, though they’ve been responsive and helpful. But Soto said her mom, a CPS teacher, trusts her to do her work and pass her classes.
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“It sounds sad, but I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is just not to care too much, be a little apathetic,” Soto said. “With everything going on it’s really easy to become downcast, it’s really easy to be sad about everything. We had one of my favorite vice principals leave, I had a school trip to Spain canceled, my prom is canceled, senior night was canceled, everything was canceled or changed and there’s a lot of emotions running high. And I think that if I became too attached to these things I would have had a really hard time coming to terms with that emotionally."
At work, Soto sees people pulling their now-mandatory masks down below their noses or wearing them around their necks. The 6-foot social distancing rule has to be enforced, and customers often ignore the “one-way” stickers directing them around the store. It can be frustrating.
“What’s most convenient for them may not be the most healthy for the workers,” Soto said.
She wakes up about 6:30 a.m. to get ready and walk 30 minutes from her home to the store.
“When I get home, I am utterly exhausted. I thought working at a grocery store would be easier, but it’s really, really physically demanding in a way I didn’t expect." She learned how to lift safely, but her back still aches.
“When I get home, honestly, the last thing I want to do is e-learning,” she said. She just wants to get into bed, take a nap and cuddle with her dog, Vicki, a Chihuahua-Pekingese mix.
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Deerfield High School junior Avery Martin brings out a food order at Cafe Zupas. "Compared to all the people like the health care workers who are really putting their lives at risk, it’s not as scary," she said of her work. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
At Cafe Zupas, the suburban sandwich shop where Avery Martin has worked since February, business has been slow, allowing her to chip away at schoolwork during downtime. Martin, a junior at Deerfield High School, has been working more weekly shifts since her school moved online. She makes sandwiches and salads or carries them out to curbside pickup customers. Zupas also set up a table and chair outside, where she sometimes sits, with tape marking every 6 feet. When it was colder, they had a heater and tent.
Though masks are required inside the business, people who use the drive-thru don’t always wear them.
“We have to hand them the food so sometimes we have to get closer, and that’s just something people don’t think about,” Martin said.
Sometimes two customers walk in at the same time, but it’s usually not a problem to ask them to socially distance.
In addition to work and classes, Martin has been running the optional miles her cross-country coach has been suggesting, and she and a friend started a community outreach club focused on mindfulness. Writing letters to senior citizens for an hour every week is always the most relaxing part of her day, she said.
Learning without the structure of school has been more difficult. She forgot to take a test the other week — it completely slipped her mind — but her teacher let her make it up.
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“Sometimes it’s tough to go into work and sometimes it can be a little weird or scary, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Martin said. “If I’m asymptomatic, I don’t want to pass that on or receive it and pass it on to my family from working. ... Regarding the essential worker thing, I’ve thought about that before, but compared to all the people like the health care workers who are really putting their lives at risk, it’s not as scary.”
Elk Grove High School junior Kaylyn Ahn, 16, said she hears people talk about thanking essential workers, but she never thinks of what she does as anything noble.
About a month ago, Ahn got a customer service job at a Domino’s pizza, where several of her co-workers are also in high school. Though her mom has still been working, her dad gave a break on rent to a restaurant that leases space from him, and the gym where her brother taught swim lessons has closed.
“We were kind of worried about money ... but I think we are financially good now,” she said.
Her shifts have been scheduled on evenings or weekends, so she can tune in to all her classes. She’s putting most of the money she makes toward her college savings, anticipating she’ll have to pay a large portion of it, as her older brother has done. Yet the extra free time she has to work comes from canceled in-person activities, such as mock trial and DECA, an emerging leaders group.
“I’ve lost a lot of opportunities to fill up my applications with activities,” she said. But then again, so has everyone else.
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One Chicago high school student aced a physics test by sending a set of photos showing his work, according to his teacher at George Westinghouse College Prep.
"He showed all his work on napkins, which he did while working at the grocery store to support his family,” the teacher tweeted. “And it was a perfect score.”
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Column: Trump should pull GOP convention from North Carolina, put in on cruise ships off the coast o

Column: Trump should pull GOP convention from North Carolina, put in on cruise ships off the coast of Mar-a-Lago

2 ) If Trump tried to move the GOP convention to one of his Florida properties , either Mar-a-Lago or @ @ @ @ @ , the Fake News media would claim he ’ s trying to profit off the @ @ @ @ @ moves the event offshore , it won ’ t be his fault if conventiongoers decide @ @ @ @ @ Doral and get ferried — via Trump-branded Super Duper Ferries , only $ 500 each @ @ @ @ @ to the convention while wearing Trump-branded life preservers ( $ 50/per day rental , life @ @ @ @ @ taking out MAGA-approved hurricane insurance policies through Trump Insurance Service .

President Donald Trump gives a Memorial Day speech at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, where about 200 socially distanced spectators, mostly wearing masks, listened on May 25, 2020. (Amy Davis)
The Republican National Convention, a humbly massive celebration of the awesomeness of President Donald Trump, is scheduled for August in North Carolina, but it may have to relocate.
“Why?” you ask, your voice not muffled by the tyranny of a liberal coronavirus mask. Because, as President Trump tweeted on Memorial Day, taking time away from honoring his many sacrifices, the state’s “Democrat Governor” is “still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance in the Arena.”
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The nerve of that governor, suggesting that 50,000 visitors to Charlotte and a capacity crowd at the city’s 20,000-seat Spectrum Center might pose a public health threat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sure, the highly contagious virus has already killed about 100,000 Americans, and many states, including North Carolina, are still seeing increasing numbers of new cases and deaths. But what about things that really matter, like giving President Trump an enormous audience to make him feel loved?
Do North Carolinians really think their health is more important than welcoming 50,000 potential disease vectors to the state to deliver an appropriate level of presidential adoration?
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In his tweets, Trump demanded that Gov. Roy Cooper give Republicans the all-clear for August’s convention: “They must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied. If not, we will be reluctantly forced to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site.”
Cooper’s office responded: “State health officials are working with the RNC and will review its plans as they make decisions about how to hold the convention in Charlotte. North Carolina is relying on data and science to protect our state’s public health and safety.”
Data and science? Who do they think they’re dealing with, Democrats? This is about gut instinct, and Trump’s gut is telling him he’s bored of the coronavirus, the 100,000 people who died were just faking it to make him look bad and he wants to hear people chant his name loudly without masks.
So I have a perfect idea. Give North Carolina a patriotic one-finger salute, drive the GOP National Convention down the east coast of Florida, take a left at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago beach resort and keep going about 10 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean. There you will find several Carnival cruise ships tied together with Freedom Rope, ready to host thousands of eager Republicans.
Those of you who lack foresight are probably asking, “Why would the GOP want to hold its convention on conjoined cruise ships off the coast of Florida during peak hurricane season rather than just working with North Carolina health officials to provide a safe, scientifically sound event?”
You people who lack foresight sure are dumb. The reasons are quite simple:
1) By sticking with North Carolina and abiding by whatever coronavirus restrictions the state has in place, the president risks acknowledging the pandemic hasn’t magically disappeared. That would likely make him mad, and you don’t want the guest of honor to be mad. That’s Party Planning 101.
2) If Trump tried to move the GOP convention to one of his Florida properties, either Mar-a-Lago or the Trump National Doral Miami, the Fake News media would claim he’s trying to profit off the convention. But if he moves the event offshore, it won’t be his fault if conventiongoers decide to stay at Mar-a-Lago or Doral and get ferried — via Trump-branded Super Duper Ferries, only $500 each way — back and forth to the convention while wearing Trump-branded life preservers ($50/per day rental, life preservation not guaranteed) and taking out MAGA-approved hurricane insurance policies through Trump Insurance Service.
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3) Trump will be able to say the convention is helping the nation “Transition to Greatness" by boosting his friend Micky Arison’s Carnival Corp., a great American business that patriotically avoids taxes by registering as a foreign corporation. Perhaps Carnival could provide the cruise ships and the Freedom Rope, along with a daily all-you-can-eat shrimp buffet unencumbered by radical left-wing creations like sneeze guards. Carnival’s largest ships can hold about 4,000 passengers, but to demonstrate the GOP’s commitment to deregulation, it would only take three ships, each running 2,700 passengers over capacity, to accommodate the 20,000 who would have fit in the North Carolina arena.
4) By holding the convention aboard overfilled boats off the coast of Florida during hurricane season in the middle of a pandemic, the GOP would have a perfect opportunity to stick it to godless liberals and demonstrate the power of prayer. (If that didn’t work, the GOP would be able to blame godless liberals for the unfortunate tragedy, thus nullifying all insurance payouts from Trump Insurance Service.)
The only other necessary step would be to properly brand the relocated Republican National Convention.
Here’s my proposal: “The 2020 Mighty Trump Presidential Celebration-of-Victory-Over-Coronavirus Flotilla of Magnificence GOP National Convention featuring America’s Greatest President, Donald J. Trump.”
There would also be hats for sale that read: “FLOATING MAGA.” (That stands for: “Fantastic Landless Out-of-this-world Amazing Triumph In Never Grifting while Making America Great Again.”)
It’s a perfect plan. And it’s in no way a setup for future history book chapters titled: “The FLOATING MAGA Coronavirus Outbreak of 2020.”
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rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-26--Officials see signs COVID-19 is contained at Cook County Jail, while experts caution measures need t

Officials see signs COVID-19 is contained at Cook County Jail, while experts caution measures need to remain in place

“ This is a decline in positivity and that is encouraging , and that does tell you that you are @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Dr. Chris Beyrer a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg @ @ @ @ @ who also specializes in infectious disease inside prisons .
“ These close settings are going @ @ @ @ @ have to be hyper-vigilant .
...
It is fundamental to this virus : Population density @ @ @ @ @

Detainees who have tested positive for COVID-19 are held in Division 16 at the Cook County Jail's isolation and quarantine facility May 20, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Victoria Furlow took a step back so she could clearly see her patient sitting at her work station in the busy intake area of Cook County Jail.
In a calm and quiet voice, through her clear plastic face shield, Furlow, a paramedic by training who is regularly assigned to intake, told him to pick up the paper napkin on the desk next to him, in case he needed to sneeze.
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“Hold your head back,” Furlow continued as she steadied the long, thin white swab at his nose.
“You ready? You ready? It’s going to be a little bit uncomfortable,” she said. "Don’t move. Don’t flinch.”
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The patient let out a little gasp the further she pushed the swab, forcing her to stop for just a second or two.
“It’s OK, it’s OK," Furlow assured him. “Cover your mouth. Let me know when you ready, we can get the other side.”
Seconds later it was done. Furlow thanked him.
Victoria Furlow, with Cermak Health Services, administers a COVID-19 test to a detainee at the intake area of Cook County Jail in Chicago on May 20, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Victoria Furlow, paramedic with Cermak Health Services, administers a COVID-19 test to a detainee at the intake area of Cook County Jail in Chicago. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
COVID-19 tests are now standard during the intake process for all new detainees entering the jail, one of several measures that officials said has helped them turn a critical corner on the pandemic. As the virus took hold, it infected just over 700 inmates during a two-month period, including seven who died.
Two correctional officers have died, with hundreds also infected.
But Dr. Connie Mennella, who oversees medical care at the jail, told the Tribune testing data indicates the facility has moved beyond the stage of flattening the curve and into containment, with a positive test rate that is below 10%.
The news comes two months after the first public alarms sounded about the potential disaster of a major COVID-19 outbreak at the jail.
The reported turnaround has been challenged by a group of civil rights attorneys who have alleged the opposite in a federal court filing, saying jail officials failed to adequately respond to protect those in custody as the crisis overtook the sprawling, Southwest Side complex.
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The suit will likely play out over some time.
But Mennella, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and their staff made clear that they are ready to answer the challenges. They have been working since January to respond to a rapidly moving health crisis that forced them to be just as nimble, they said, shifting inmate housing assignments to open single cells, opening long-shuttered buildings for medical care, and adapting testing practices to better understand where the virus was moving.
Detainees wait in the intake area for a COVID-19 test and health screening in the Cook County Jail in Chicago on May 20, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Furlow, a 19-year-veteran, was one of those at the front lines, armed with full PPE and her faith that health care is the work God wanted her to do — and that you don’t back down when it gets tough.
“I have to admit the first day they said, you have to swab today I was terrified," Furlow said. “I believe in my God, and he says, ‘Where’s your faith?’ There is always a risk. Somebody sneezes, now it’s airborne. They cough, it’s airborne. God has brought me through other things. He is going to bring me through this too.”
Data and Testing
As of last week, fewer than 100 of the 4,000 detainees housed at Cook County Jail had tested positive and were in isolation for COVID-19, down from one-day totals of in early April of nearly 300.
Another key metric for jail and county health officials is the facility’s test-positivity rate, which they said has fallen to 6% as testing at the jail as expanded to include both symptomatic and asymptomatic detainees.
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“We’re past flattening. We’re in prevention and containment,” said Mennella.
Menella and staff at Cermak Health Care services had been monitoring health care alerts since January about the pending crisis. As soon as the first positive case was detected in Chicago on Jan. 24, jail and health officials started screening new detainees, isolating and masking anyone with flu-like symptoms.
Officers arriving for work have their temperature checked at the door entering Division 11 in the Cook County Jail in Chicago. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
At that point, testing was not available to anyone. And even when it first became available in March, tests had to be sent out to labs, taking up to two weeks to get results.
Today, testing is a main focus of intake, where detainees already get a full medical screening — including a chest X-ray — as part of Cermak’s mission to be a community health care provider, Mennella said.
Incoming detainees to the jail are tested twice for COVID-19: when they first arrive and when they leave a mandatory 14-day receiving tier where they wait to make sure symptoms don’t develop. Jail health officials also conducting contact tracing, Mennella said. If a detainee tests positive, their entire tier and any other tier they have been on is tested.
Mennella insisted, however, that testing is just one piece of responding to the virus.
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“The key to this disease was monitoring — making sure if someone had a change in condition, making sure you got them to the right level of care," she said.
The COVID-19 quarantine tier with single cells at Division 11 of the Cook County Jail in Chicago. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune )
Expert epidemiologists said the data released by the county suggested that the spread of the highly infectious disease has slowed in the complex. But they cautioned that continued success hinged on both the population at the jail remaining down and the new measures staying in place.
“This is a decline in positivity and that is encouraging, and that does tell you that you are not in an expansion mode,” said Dr. Chris Beyrer a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who also specializes in infectious disease inside prisons. “These close settings are going to remain places where we have to be hyper-vigilant. ... It is fundamental to this virus: Population density is your enemy."
Meanwhile, the attorneys who have filed the lawsuit remain skeptical that strong enough measures are in place. Among their requests in the lawsuit is that the county provide more details on testing.
“We don’t think this is a handled emergency in any sense," said Alexa Van Brunt, one of the lead attorneys.
‘Bootcamp Covid Warriors’
A full city block east of the jail, across the boulevard of California Avenue, there is a large sign on a chain-link fence.
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“Thank you CCSO staff for your unwavering sacrifice and commitment,” it reads. “You are heroes.”
In the wide, grassy area behind the fence there are rows of nondescript brown brick bureaucratic buildings, the so-called barracks area that was converted to care for those who would contract the virus.
An employee opens the door to the entrance to Division 16, the Cook County Jail's isolation and quarantine facility for detainees who have tested positive for COVID-19. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The barracks, formerly used as a boot camp for the jail, opened March 16 after three days of round-the-clock work to ready the buildings.
A leaky roof was patched and temporary medical stations were set up in closets, carving out space for computer work stations, adhesive bandages and boxes of surgical masks and bright blue gloves. Medicine cabinets were rolled in, for not only drugs, but also the once highly coveted N95 masks.
Currently, there are 50 detainees housed there who have tested positive and have mild symptoms, and who continue to be monitored by nurses who work for the Cook County Health and Hospital System.
On a recent afternoon, a group of nurses and medical assistants, who have come on temporary assignment from all over the county, sat at a long conference table quietly tapping notes into laptops. A sign on the bulletin board read ‘Bootcamp Covid Warriors 2020.’
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It wasn’t exactly easy to get staff to agree to come work in the jail. Fears about patients possibly being violent were only exacerbated by news reports of high COVID-19 numbers.
Shanna Benson, a medical assistant who has been working in the barracks since March 30, said she felt compelled to go to the jail after hearing that not a lot of medical staff was stepping up.
“I felt like, we are public servants,” she said, leaning against the wall. “That was reminding me to step up and do my role.”
Outside the barracks, a gym normally used for programming such as drum circles and photography classes was filled with 128 cots and temporary beds. And there were three sand-colored tents, each with about 20 cots marked with the Cook County seal.
But on a recent day, all the rooms were all empty. As it turned out, they were never needed.
A gym at Division 16, the Cook County Jail's isolation and quarantine facility for detainees who have tested positive for COVID-19. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
‘Like Tetris’
Back in February, no one was sure what to expect at the jail, including Sheriff Dart.
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Major preparation began in late February and early March, officials said. Meanwhile, a coordinated effort to reduce the jail’s population of 5,700 was underway in the courts through expedited bond reduction hearings and a decision by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to not prosecute low-level drug crimes.
The population started dropping, giving officials more room to work with.
Newly arrived detainees, potentially bringing the virus into the jail, began to be housed apart from the general population in the receiving tiers to monitor potential symptoms. Officials had already started a massive assessment of the jail complex to see how they could shift and separate the population to allow for social distancing and create space for isolation and quarantine areas.
“It’s like Tetris,” said Dr. Jane Gubser, the assistant executive director of programs at the sheriff’s department said, referring to the tile-shifting computer puzzle game, as she walked through the jail’s buildings on a recent day.
Before relocating a detainee or changing a tier’s population, Gubser said staff had to consider existing placement considerations, including any security concerns and mental- and medical-health needs.
In the end, the sheriff opened up 615,000 square feet of shuttered space, including eight buildings — some of which had been closed for three years.
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In one tier, the population of a 38-person open-style dorm was halved so that detainees did not have to sleep immediately next to each other.
On a recent day, some detainees sat in close quarters, but officials stressed they can’t force them to remain apart or even wear the masks that are now supplied daily.
On a quarantine tier in Division 11, detainees were assigned to single cells, reducing the population from 48 to 24. Detainees are allowed, 12 at a time, into the common area in four-hour shifts, restricted to one person at each of the stainless steel tables anchored to the floor, which during the recent visit were streaked with white bleach.
A chess game, the pieces turned over, rested on one table. Detainees now play standing up and across from each other about a foot back from the table’s edge.
Dart and Cermak officials are very careful about how they describe the turnaround in the numbers. They will not call it a success. Or even say they are proud.
“We did a remarkable job in containing this, identifying it and treating it,” Dart said recently, hours after leaving a funeral for one of the correctional officers. “(But) when you are sitting there feeling happy about taking on something so horrible, you are still left very humbled by the fact that you lost two correctional officers and you had seven detainees die."
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Was it enough?
Since the onset of the pandemic, advocates and attorneys have called for mass releases, but they’ve also been highly critical of how much the county was doing to prevent the virus from spreading.
They’ve cited continued reports from inmates about unsanitary conditions and the impossibility of consistent social distancing.
After the lawsuit was filed last month in Chicago’s federal court, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly entered an 87-page emergency order which mandated, among other things, social distancing measures, including banning double-inmate cells and group housing in most cases.
Despite the recent positive numbers reported by the county, attorneys were in federal court as recently as Thursday asking Kennelly to force officials to turn over more records to assure conditions were safe.
The lawsuit remains a sore point for Dart and other health leaders, who insist nearly all of the practices Kennelly demanded were already in motion.
Standing outside the barracks, Dart and Mennella reflected on what they said was nonstop planning and pivoting to respond to an evolving crisis, insisting there was always enough supplies.
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And he scoffed at the idea that he was shorting anyone on supplies.
“A guy who is doing all of this is going to save a couple of bucks on a 6-cent bar of soap?" Dart asked.
A detainee is held at Division 16, the Cook County Jail's isolation and quarantine facility for those who have tested positive for COVID-19. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Uncertain future
Outside a quarantine tier in Division 11, two glass doors open onto an open-air basketball court.
A random collection of disinfectant bottles lined the window sill on a recent day. A gentle breeze flowed as the sound of cars whizzed by on a nearby street.
Detainees were allowed outside to get some air, but the basketballs were still locked away, with much of the programming and activity inside the facility remaining at a standstill.
Jail officials said precautions must remain in effect to guard against a second-wave outbreak — especially with warmer days ahead and the jail population likely to spike as Chicago deals with its normal rise in gun violence.
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Dart said he has one more living unit that can be opened, but it has fewer than 150 beds.
So the empty gym and emergency tents will remain ready. Detainees will continue to be held in receiver tiers when they arrive, making sure they don’t develop symptoms.
And the COVID-19 testing at intake will continue — both the cringe-inducing swab and health information and advice about the virus that Furlow and other health care professionals try to weave into conversation with inmates.
“You have to talk to them and let them know the risk,” said Furlow, who for now is separating herself from her own young daughter by allowing her to stay with relatives.
“We don’t understand a lot about this COVID-19. We just all have to be careful."
Chicago Tribune’s Jason Meisner contributed.
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asweeney@chicagotribune.com