chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Security guard’s shots killed co-worker, patient in Munster hospital room shooting, prosecutor says

“ My heart is torn off , ” Stewart said .
“ Ryan worked for me under the Warrants , @ @ @ @ @ wedding .
We just saw each other a few weeks ago ; his daughter just @ @ @ @ @ and ( the other officer ) were really close , too .
This is just @ @ @

A retired Lake County Sheriff’s Police officer was killed early Tuesday after a fellow security guard at Community Hospital in Munster fired at a patient who had the man in a chokehold during an altercation in the patient’s room, according to the Lake County Prosecutor’s office.
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At approximately 1:15 a.m. Munster Police officers were dispatched to Munster Community Hospital, 901 McArthur Blvd., about a physical disturbance between a patient and staff, according to a release from the Munster Police. Two armed hospital security guards had already responded to the scene; one of them, along with the patient, were found dead when Munster and Lake County Sheriff’s officers arrived, Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said Tuesday.
According to a release late Tuesday afternoon from Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, the patient, identified as Jamal Williams, 22, of Lansing, Illinois, was beating a nurse when the two security officers arrived and tried to pull the patient away from the nurse.
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The security guards were overpowered, the release said, and Williams had Ryan Askew, 59, of Crown Point, in a chokehold.
Williams lifted Askew off the ground and continued striking him, the release said.
At that point, the other security guard fired two shots at Williams striking him in the face and Askew in the arm, the release said.
The release said the bullet traveled into Askew’s chest, killing him.
Ryan Askew (Lake County Sheriffs Dept. / Post-Tribune)
The second officer, who Martinez declined to name pending the investigation, was subsequently hospitalized and “is in stable condition,” Martinez said.
Askew, who retired from Lake County in 2004, made a distinguished career for himself, rising through the ranks to Civil Division Commander, former Sheriff Roy Dominguez said. He was a detective when Dominguez promoted him and served under Dominguez for two years, he said. Askew also served in the Warrants division and as a sergeant in the Patrol division before retiring at 43, Dominguez said.
“He was a nice guy, very professional and extremely well-liked by the troops,” Dominguez said Tuesday. “He had a distinguished career with the county and I offer my condolences to his family.”
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The second officer also had a distinguished career with the Sheriff’s Department as a former sniper on the department’s SWAT, Dominguez said.
“Both men rose to the ranks of Commander (during my tenure), Dominguez said. “(The second officer) held the elite position of sniper, a position for which many don’t make it through the training.”
Willie Stewart, now the Chief Deputy Coroner, said he’s been friends with Askew and the other officer for years. He was on his way to Askew’s family’s house Tuesday when he spoke with the Post-Tribune.
“My heart is torn off,” Stewart said. “Ryan worked for me under the Warrants, and he was in my wedding. We just saw each other a few weeks ago; his daughter just graduated from college. He and (the other officer) were really close, too. This is just really tragic.
“Ryan was a good cop and down-to-earth guy. You couldn’t get better. And thank God (the other officer) was there, or (Williams) could’ve decided to shoot more people on that floor or throughout the hospital.”
Martinez said the department is “deeply saddened” and also offered his sympathies to the family.
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“With 20 years of service, a lot of officers looked up to (Askew),” Martinez said. “I’m still in shock.”
In a communication sent to employees Tuesday morning, the hospital said “a patient on the 4th floor at Community Hospital died from an apparent gunshot wound that occurred in the patient’s hospital room following an altercation with security officers, in which a security officer was fatally wounded.”
The hospital’s risk management department is assisting law enforcement, the communication said.
“Onsite grief counseling has been offered to the staff to help cope with this tragic event,” the communication said.
Askew leaves behind a wife, a 23-year-old daughter and two foster children, Martinez said.


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--5 million Illinois voters to receive mail-in ballot applications after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs temp

5 million Illinois voters to receive mail-in ballot applications after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs temporary vote-by-mail expansion

Still , “ more voters will be able to participate in a very important aspect of their citizenry — their @ @ @ @ @ we have a plan in place to allow them to do so safely , ” @ @ @ @ @ Tuesday .
“ We must be prepared , because we don ’ t know how @ @ @ @ @ people to be this fall .
”

Roughly 5 million Illinois voters will receive applications to vote by mail for the November election as a result of legislation Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Tuesday aimed at encouraging mail-in voting amid the ongoing pandemic.
The measure, approved by the General Assembly in its brief special session last month, applies only to the Nov. 3 general election. The new law also makes Nov. 3 a government and school holiday to allow empty schools to be used as polling places as a safety precaution for students and teachers.
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Local election authorities will automatically send vote-by-mail applications by Aug. 1 to those who voted in the 2018 general election, the 2019 municipal election or the March 17 primary. Applications also will go out to anyone who registered to vote or updated their address after the primary.
"In the face of a pandemic, massive economic upheaval, and renewed calls for racial justice, it’s more important than ever that Illinoisans can hold accountable a truly representative and transparent government — and that means ensuring all eligible residents can wield their right to vote in a way that doesn’t risk their personal health,” Pritzker said in a statement.
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The law will allow local election authorities to set up secure drop-boxes for collecting mail-in ballots without postage and to establish curbside voting. They will be required to establish a central voting location where people who live in the jurisdiction can cast a ballot and to expand early voting hours.
The legislation didn’t go as far as some supporters, such as Democratic state Sen. Julie Morrison of Lake Forest, would have liked. Morrison and other backers originally wanted to send ballots to registered voters rather than applications.
Still, “more voters will be able to participate in a very important aspect of their citizenry — their right to vote — because we have a plan in place to allow them to do so safely,” Morrison said in a statement Tuesday. “We must be prepared, because we don’t know how safe it will be for people to be this fall.”
Despite attempts at compromise, Republicans, with the exception of state Rep. Brad Stephens of Rosemont, opposed the legislation, largely over concerns about potential voter fraud.
“I’m not a person that believes in ultimate certainties, but there are two certainties in life,” House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said in May after hours of debate on the issue. “One, that we will see the sun rise in the morning, and the second one is that we’ll see voter fraud in November, particularly in Illinois, in robust nature, particularly with this bill.”
Mail-in voting has become a partisan flashpoint during the pandemic, with President Donald Trump railing against expansion efforts despite having voted by mail in Florida’s March primary.
Pritzker faced criticism in March from both Republican lawmakers and Chicago election officials for allowing the primaries to go forward while the coronavirus was on the rise. The governor said he did not have the authority to unilaterally postpone the election.
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 623 new known cases and 72 more deaths reported as Illinois AG Kwam

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 623 new known cases and 72 more deaths reported as Illinois AG Kwame Raoul tests positive for COVID-19

“ We have heard from tens of thousands of Chicagoans who want to divest from CPD and invest instead in @ @ @ @ @ the letter reads in part .
“ This demand becomes even more important in the @ @ @ @ @ funds — we want to ensure that dollars that could otherwise go to rental assistance @ @ @ @ @ police pay or offsetting eligible costs incurred by CPD .
”

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
The Fulton Market area of Chicago is no longer the ghost town it was during the depths of the COVID-19 virus pandemic shutdown. As restrictions on restaurants are eased, a worker takes a woman's temperature before she can enter Federales restaurant on Morgan Street on July 1, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced Tuesday. The Chicago Democrat didn’t feel well over the weekend and was tested Monday, his office said. Raoul has been self-isolating since he began experiencing coronavirus symptoms.
Meanwhile, state health officials on Tuesday announced 623 new known cases of COVID-19 and 72 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known cases to 133,639 and the death toll to 6,398 statewide since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 18,729 new tests in the last 24 hours.
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[ When can Illinois move to phase 4? Here's where each region stands. ]
[ How will Illinois reopen? Three charts breaking down Pritzker’s plan ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ As the coronavirus spreads, the Tribune is tracking Illinois cases here ]
Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
5:18 p.m.: Will CPS reopen in the fall? Teachers union says the district has been slow to prepare.
Face masks, daily temperature checks and “stringent cleaning” will be the new reality when Chicago Public Schools reopens its buildings — but whether that happens this fall is still undetermined.
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And the Chicago Teachers Union believes CPS is not doing nearly enough to prepare for the realities of the coming school year amid the continued presence of the coronavirus that shut down schools in March.
“I think it would be a moral failure for our mayor to create a plan for students to just be pushed back into our school communities without the proper support and the proper infrastructure to keep them safe," CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates told the Tribune on Tuesday.
CPS CEO Janice Jackson said in a Friday community message that the district is still developing “draft guidelines" for the next school year but “remains committed” to the new school year commencing on Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day.
“What that looks like and how many students will be able to return at a time is also dependent on the phasing of Illinois’ reopening,” Jackson wrote.
Despite Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s expressed goal to reopen schools this fall, Jackson wrote that a school system "as large and complex as ours requires thorough guidance that accounts for the wide variety of needs in our schools, and we are working through those scenarios so that in the weeks ahead we can present you with draft guidelines for reopening school buildings,” her statement read.
When schools do reopen, based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, CPS will require that students, teachers and staff wear face coverings in the buildings, and Jackson’s message said the district would provide a “limited set” of PPE to the schools at the beginning of the year.
CPS adds that hand sanitizer will be readily available throughout schools and there will be “stringent cleaning and disinfection protocols.” Students and staff members will also receive daily temperature checks.
Because of the uncertainty, Davis Gates said the district needs to do more to prepare for the possible continuation of remote learning.
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Read more here. —Sophie Sherry
5:03 p.m.: Major airlines, including United, say face mask scofflaws can’t fly. But enforcement may be tricky.
Airlines say they’re cracking down on passengers who flout rules requiring face coverings on flights, with some threatening to ban travelers who refuse to comply.
Major U.S. airlines have been requiring passengers to wear masks for weeks in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 and make travelers comfortable flying. Still, travelers have complained on social media that not everyone is following the rules.
Industry group Airlines for America said airlines would put "rigor” around policies requiring face coverings, as consumers cautiously resume air travel, which plummeted amid the pandemic.
There’s only so much airlines can do to force a passenger to keep a mask on after takeoff. Still, seven major U.S. carriers agreed to ensure passengers are warned about face covering policies before they get to the airport. The airlines also agreed to impose penalties on those who don’t comply.
Consequences could include a ban on flying, but it’s up to each airline to determine their rules, Airlines for America said.
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Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
4:45 p.m.: 5 million Illinois voters to receive mail-in ballot applications after Pritzker signs temporary vote-by-mail expansion
Roughly 5 million Illinois voters will receive applications to vote by mail for the November election as a result of legislation Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Tuesday aimed at encouraging mail-in-voting amid the ongoing pandemic.
The measure, approved by the General Assembly in its brief special session last month, applies only to the Nov. 3 general election. The new law also makes Nov. 3 a government and school holiday to allow empty schools to be used as polling places as a safety precaution for students and teachers.
Local election authorities will automatically send vote-by-mail applications by Aug. 1 to those who voted in the 2018 general election, the 2019 municipal election or the March 17 primary. Applications also will go out to anyone who registered to vote or updated their address after the primary.
"In the face of a pandemic, massive economic upheaval, and renewed calls for racial justice, it’s more important than ever that Illinoisans can hold accountable a truly representative and transparent government — and that means ensuring all eligible residents can wield their right to vote in a way that doesn’t risk their personal health,” Pritzker said in a statement.
The law will allow local election authorities to set up secure drop-boxes for collecting mail-in ballots without postage and to establish curbside voting. They will be required to establish a central voting location where people who live in the jurisdiction can cast a ballot and to expand early voting hours.
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Read more here. —Dan Petrella
3:55 p.m.: Mercury Theater Chicago closing down, felled by pandemic shutdown
The Mercury Theater Chicago in the Southport Corridor, an operation known for homegrown productions of musicals such “Avenue Q” and “Spamalot,” announced Tuesday it is closing at the end of June.
Executive director L. Walter Stearns, in a statement with theater business manager Eugene Dizon, said the reason was the impact from the coronavirus shutdown.
As a mid-size, Equity-affiliated commercial theater, the Mercury is the largest Chicago theater to be closed by the pandemic. The theater had recently expanded, adding a cabaret space.
Read more here. —Doug George
3:48 p.m.: Riot Fest ‘postponed’ until 2021, with this year’s lineup intact
There will be no Riot Fest for 2020, dashing hopes of outdoor festival music fans that the punk-focused festival might be able to find a way to continue, even after all the others, most notably Lollapalooza, have been canceled in the face of COVID-19.
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Organizers are calling the move a “postponement” rather than a cancellation. Riot Fest was scheduled for Sept. 11-13 at Douglas Park. The 2021 dates will be Sept. 17-19, still at Douglas. Many headliners for 2020 will continue for the 2021 event, including My Chemical Romance, Smashing Pumpkins, Run the Jewels, Pixies, Vic Mensa, Lupe Fiasco and others.
Fans who have already purchased 2020 tix can either sit tight, or they have until July 16 to request a refund. What’s interesting about the way this is being handled is that most festivalgoers make attendance decisions based on a lineup, which makes the 2021 decision easy for music fans.
Read more here. —Kevin Williams
3:28 p.m.: City Council set to consider Lightfoot’s $1.1 billion COVID-19 spending plan
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is facing push back from some aldermen who want promises that none of the money in her proposed $1.1 billion COVID-19 spending plan will go to Police Department costs, part of a crowded Wednesday City Council agenda.
Lightfoot administration finance officials last week declined to guarantee that none of the federal CARES Act funds coming to Chicago would go to police overtime or other Police Department costs, saying only that none of the money is now earmarked for policing.
On Tuesday, 11 aldermen sent Lightfoot a letter, saying they would vote against the package unless she makes such a commitment.
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“We have heard from tens of thousands of Chicagoans who want to divest from CPD and invest instead in critical social services,” the letter reads in part. “This demand becomes even more important in the context of federal coronavirus relief funds — we want to ensure that dollars that could otherwise go to rental assistance do not instead go towards police pay or offsetting eligible costs incurred by CPD.”
Eleven aldermen is far from the 26-vote majority needed to derail Lightfoot’s proposal, and the mayor repeatedly has said she’s not going to bargain with council members simply to build bigger majorities as long as she has enough support to get her ordinances passed.
But the objections to the mayor’s CARES Act proposal point to the broader dissent in the council over the pandemic response and the city’s reaction to George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Read more here. —John Byrne
3 p.m.: Evanston businessman charged with federal fraud related to COVID-19 relief application
An Evanston businessman has been hit with federal fraud charges alleging he lied on an application for nearly half a million dollars in financial relief related to the COVID-19 crisis.
Rahul Shah, 51, is the first Chicago-area resident to be charged in U.S. District Court with fraud related to the federal government’s financial relief efforts stemming from the ongoing pandemic.
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According to a 10-page criminal complaint, Shah, who owns the Evanston-based technology company N2N Holdings, falsified paperwork in April seeking a $441,000 loan under the Paycheck Protection Program.
N2N, located at 500 Davis St. in Evanston, does business under the name Boardshare and specializes in “interactive whiteboards,” online records show.
Read more here. —Jason Meisner
2:35 p.m.: 623 new known COVID-19 cases and 72 more deaths reported
Illinois officials on Tuesday announced 623 new known cases of COVID-19 and 72 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known cases to 133,639 and the death toll to 6,398 statewide since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 18,729 new tests in the last 24 hours.
2 p.m.: Calling Pritzker an ‘unaccountable king,’ Illinois GOP sues over 10-person gathering limit
Illinois Republicans allege in a federal lawsuit that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive order limiting in-person gatherings to 10 or fewer people unfairly curtails the rights of political organizations to free speech and assembly.
The lawsuit, filed late Monday by the state GOP and three local Republican organizations, asks the court to exempt political parties from the cap on gatherings and seeks permission to hold in-person events without size restrictions in the runup to the November election.
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Republicans criticized Pritzker last week for attending a march with hundreds of other people June 8 in south suburban Matteson amid the response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer.
For their part, Illinois Republicans held a virtual state convention Saturday to comply with the governor’s executive order.
State GOP Chairman Tim Schneider said during an online news conference Tuesday morning that Pritzker is picking and choosing who gets to fully exercise their First Amendment rights, noting the governor’s participation in the protest march and an exemption to the gathering limit for religious groups.
“Gov. Pritzker is ruling Illinois like an unaccountable king, where he only gets to decide which violations of his executive order have his blessing,” Schneider said.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella
12:52 p.m.: Illinois AG Kwame Raoul tests positive for coronavirus
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his office announced Tuesday.
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The Chicago Democrat felt unwell over the weekend and was tested Monday, his office said. Raoul began self-isolating when he began experiencing symptoms.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella
I know we have moved phase 3, but I am an example that nobody is out of its reach and we must continue to take precautions. Today I tested positive for Covid 19. I am coping just fine and appreciate all of the well wishes. — Kwame Raoul (@KwameRaoul) June 16, 2020
11:30 a.m.: Joffrey Ballet cancels ‘Nutcracker'; Lyric Opera cancels remainder of 2020 season
In a double blow to the performing arts in Chicago, Lyric Opera and the Joffrey Ballet have canceled all performances for the rest of the year.
The Joffrey Ballet’s cancellations include Kenneth MacMillan’s “Manon” (Oct. 14-25) and Christopher Wheeldon’s “The Nutcracker” (Dec. 5-27), the Chicago company announced Tuesday. Winter and spring performance dates for February, April and May, 2021, “will continue as planned,” according to a Joffrey statement.
The value of tickets for canceled Lyric performances will automatically be transferred to ticket-holder accounts; the credit can be used for future performances, donated or refunded.
Read more here. —Howard Reich
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10:25 a.m.: Widely available steroid reduced COVID-19 deaths by up to one third in severely ill patients, study shows
Researchers in England say they have the first evidence that a drug can improve COVID-19 survival: A cheap, widely available steroid called dexamethasone reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill hospitalized patients.
Results were announced Tuesday and researchers said they would publish them soon. The study is a large, strict test that randomly assigned 2,104 patients to get the drug and compared them with 4,321 patients getting only usual care.
The drug was given either orally or through an IV. After 28 days, it had reduced deaths by 35% in patients who needed treatment with breathing machines and by 20% in those only needing supplemental oxygen. It did not appear to help less ill patients.
Read more here. —Associated Press
10:25 a.m.: Tours resume at Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Robie House
With the state of Illinois moving into a new reopening phase, tours have resumed at two local Frank Lloyd Wright properties.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, which operate’s the famed architect’s Home and Studio, 951 Chicago Ave., in Oak Park, and the Frederick C. Robie House, 5757 S. Woodlawn Ave., in Chicago, said outdoor tours are now running at both sites.
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Tickets for the outdoor tours at both locations may be purchased on site at the museum shops or in advance online. Outdoor neighborhood audio walking tours will be available for purchase on site only.
Beginning June 20, Pedal Oak Park bike tours through Oak Park’s historic neighborhoods will also resume.
Read more here. —Steve Schering
9:55 a.m.: Americans are the unhappiest they’ve been in 50 years, COVID-19 response study finds: ‘It’s been one thing after another’
Spoiler alert: 2020 has been rough on the American psyche. Folks in the U.S. are more unhappy today than they’ve been in nearly 50 years.
This bold — yet unsurprising — conclusion comes from the COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they’re very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018. That year, 23% said they’d often or sometimes felt isolated in recent weeks. Now, 50% say that.
The survey, conducted in late May, before the death of George Floyd touched off nationwide protests, draws on nearly a half-century of research from the General Social Survey, which has collected data on American attitudes and behaviors at least every other year since 1972. No less than 29% of Americans have ever called themselves very happy in that survey.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
6:40 a.m.: Pandemic learning: How one Chicago high school reeled in nearly 2,800 students
Allison Tingwall bangs on the door of a Chicago Lawn house, curtains drawn on all windows. Her face cloaked by a black mask, the Curie Metropolitan High School principal steps back and waits.
Most of Curie’s 2,800 students have at least emailed a teacher since the pandemic shuttered the school and shifted learning online a month earlier, but about 110 seem to have vanished. Now, Tingwall and her assistant principals have deployed to track them down.
For the school, in the predominantly Latino immigrant neighborhood of Archer Heights on Chicago’s Southwest Side, a lot rides on a bid to reel in its scattered students. Six years ago, Curie accounted for 10% of school arrests in the city. By last September, the school had become a fledgling success story, with fights and arrests dramatically down, and the on-time graduation rate up; Tingwall saw a surge of “Condor pride” among students.
Read more here. —Mila Koumpilova, Chalkbeat Chicago
6:30 a.m.: The Lakefront Trail will reopen. Now it’s time to change how the City that Works gets to work.
It was a giddy, guilty pleasure to be one of the hundreds of people who on Sunday defied Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s order to stay off the Lakefront Trail.
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Astute observers interpreted the lack of enforcement as a sign that Lightfoot was ready to lift the ban, which initially made sense but increasingly looked like a heavy-handed response to the coronavirus. And that’s what happened Monday when City Hall announced that the 18-mile trail will reopen to walkers, runners, cyclists and rollerbladers on June 22.
But in the spirit of Danny B, who was famous for making no little plans, why stop at just reopening the trail? It’s time to think big and explore a paradigm shift in downtown Chicago’s commuting patterns.
Read more here. —Blair Kamin
6:20 a.m.: Chicago announces Lakefront Trail set to reopen June 22, bars and breweries on Wednesday
The city of Chicago continued its slow return to normal on Monday as officials reopened Millennium Park, announced that bars and brewers will be allowed to serve outdoor customers on Wednesday and set the reopening of Chicago’s iconic Lakefront Trail for June 22.
But all three moves will come with restrictions aimed at preventing a resurgence in the coronavirus and could be rolled back if the city sees COVID-19 cases spike down the line.
The Lakefront Trail will reopen solely for exercise and transit, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. starting Monday, but residents must “keep it moving,” either while walking, running, biking or rollerblading on the trail, the mayor’s office said in a news release. Beaches and parks east of Lake Shore Drive, however, will remain closed.
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Read more here. —Gregory Pratt, Josh Noel and Jessica Villagomez


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Will CPS reopen in the fall? Teachers union says students shouldn’t be ‘pushed back’ into schools wi

Will CPS reopen in the fall? Teachers union says students shouldn’t be ‘pushed back’ into schools without ‘proper support to keep them safe’

Despite Mayor Lori Lightfoot ’ s expressed goal to reopen schools this fall , Jackson wrote that a school system @ @ @ @ @ as ours requires thorough guidance that accounts for the wide variety of needs in our @ @ @ @ @ working through those scenarios so that in the weeks ahead we can present you with @ @ @ @ @ buildings , ” her statement read .

The Chicago Teachers Union says Chicago Public Schools is behind in providing the infrastructure needed for fall classes, whether they're in school, remote or some combination. (José M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
Face masks, daily temperature checks and “stringent cleaning” will be the new reality when Chicago Public Schools reopens its buildings — but whether that happens this fall is still undetermined.
And the Chicago Teachers Union believes CPS is not doing nearly enough to prepare for the realities of the coming school year amid the continued presence of the coronavirus that shut down schools in March.
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“I think it would be a moral failure for our mayor to create a plan for students to just be pushed back into our school communities without the proper support and the proper infrastructure to keep them safe," CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates told the Tribune Tuesday.
CPS CEO Janice Jackson said in a Friday community message that the district is still developing “draft guidelines” for the next school year but “remains committed” to the new school year commencing Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day.
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“What that looks like and how many students will be able to return at a time is also dependent on the phasing of Illinois’ reopening,” Jackson wrote.
Despite Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s expressed goal to reopen schools this fall, Jackson wrote that a school system "as large and complex as ours requires thorough guidance that accounts for the wide variety of needs in our schools, and we are working through those scenarios so that in the weeks ahead we can present you with draft guidelines for reopening school buildings,” her statement read.
When schools do reopen, based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, CPS will require that students, teachers and staff wear face coverings in the buildings, and Jackson’s message said the district would provide a “limited set” of PPE to the schools at the beginning of the year.
CPS adds that hand sanitizer will be readily available throughout schools and there will be “stringent cleaning and disinfection protocols.” Students and staff members will also receive daily temperature checks.
Because of the uncertainty, Davis Gates said the district needs to do more to prepare for the possible continuation of remote learning.
More of the money coming into the city and district from the CARES Act, the federal coronavirus relief bill should be spent on expanding broadband service across the city and ensuring all students have their own device, according to Davis Gates.
At the start of the stay-at-home order, CPS estimated 115,000 students were in need of computers for e-learning. And over two months later, CPS was still unable to contact more than 2,250 students to determine whether they had digital access. According to data provided by CPS, digital engagement was the lowest among Latino and black students, and those in temporary living situations.
Davis Gates also notes that there also is still not a nurse or social worker in every Chicago public school. The union won that provision during its 11-day strike last fall, though the district has several years to put the staffing in place.
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“It’s June and we are not in the space where we are drafting policies,” Davis Gates said. “We are behind providing the infrastructure that our students will need going back into the schools."
Jackson said CPS is seeking community feedback through a series of surveys and focus groups on how schools might look in the fall.
ssherry@chicagotribune.com


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· A review on Page 2 of Tuesday’s Arts + Entertainment section about Dave Chappelle’s YouTube special of “8:46” misidentified the state where the performance took place and the state where John Crawford III was killed. Both took place in Ohio.
The Tribune regrets the errors.
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chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Reputed El Chapo aide makes appearance in Chicago courtroom in trafficking case

The indictment against Sarabia , which also names El Chapo and several of his top henchmen , alleged that the @ @ @ @ @ submarines and tunnels to smuggle massive amounts of drugs into the U.S. , much of @ @ @ @ @ wholesale quantities in Chicago .

Nearly a decade after his arrest in Mexico, a reputed top aide to former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman finally faced drug trafficking charges Tuesday in a Chicago courtroom.
Felipe Cabrera Sarabia, nicknamed “The Engineer,” was extradited to the United States last week and is in federal custody in Chicago, according to court records.
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Sarabia, 50, who allegedly had overseen cartel marijuana operations in the mountains of Mexico before his arrest in 2011, appeared via telephone before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez, court records show.
Sarabia pleaded not guilty to the charges through his attorney, Ralph Meczyk. If convicted, he could face life behind bars.
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Asked by the judge if he understood the charges, Sarabia responded through a Spanish interpreter, “I don’t understand anything but I know there will be more court.”
Valdez ordered Sarabia held without bond pending trial.
The indictment against Sarabia, which also names El Chapo and several of his top henchmen, alleged that the cartel used jumbo jets, submarines and tunnels to smuggle massive amounts of drugs into the U.S., much of which was later distributed in wholesale quantities in Chicago.
The cartel members then laundered billions of dollars in proceeds back to Mexico, according to the charges.
Guzman was convicted in New York last year of murder conspiracy and drug trafficking charges and sentenced to life in prison.
Meanwhile, officials had been trying for years to extradite Sarabia, who was considered to be one of Guzman’s chief aides and allegedly headed up security for a large section of the cartel’s operations.
At the time of Sarabia’s arrest in 2011, officials in Mexico said he and three of his brothers had started out as marijuana growers and that Sarabia rose through the Sinaloa ranks by using violence against his rivals.
One of Sarabia’s brothers was killed in a gunfight with soldiers in Durango months after Sarabia’s arrest.
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For years, Chicago was the American distribution hub of El Chapo’s vast illicit narcotics network that brought tons of drugs into the city.
At the top were Pedro and Margarito Flores, twin brothers who rose from the obscurity of the Little Village neighborhood on the West Side to working directly for El Chapo before cutting a secret cooperation deal with the government.
In his testimony at Guzman’s trial in December 2018, Pedro Flores described how he and his brother could barely keep up with the shipments that arrived to the United States via submarine, vegetable trucks and even a load of live sheep.
According to one estimate by federal agents, the twins helped smuggle at least 71 tons of cocaine and heroin and nearly $2 billion in cash.
The Flores brothers’ cooperation also led to the arrest of Vicente Zambada-Niebla, one of El Chapo’s most trusted associates who was recorded by the twins talking about massive drug shipments, obtaining grenades and explosives, and even attacking government buildings in Mexico in retaliation against law enforcement.
Zambada-Niebla pleaded guilty in Chicago and cooperated against his former boss. He was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison.
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The Flores twins, meanwhile, both pleaded guilty and were sentenced in 2015 to 14 years in prison. They’re scheduled to be released into the witness protection program later this year.
Tribune wires contributed
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--The Spin: President Trump meets with family of security guard killed by suburban police  |  Kwame Ra

The Spin: President Trump meets with family of security guard killed by suburban police  |  Kwame Raoul tests positive for COVID-19 | Survey says? Americans really unhappy amid the coronavirus

*Mayor Lightfoot ’ s tenant ordinance advances after a bureaucratic-political fight : The proposed measure would require more notice and @ @ @ @ @ renters from landlords who are not renewing their leases .
Today , council progressives who @ @ @ @ @ t go far enough to help renters tried to get the measure sent to the @ @ @ @ @ of legislative purgatory - but the mayor had the 35 votes necessary to get it @ @ @ @ @ for a likely hearing before the July City Council meeting , Byrne notes .
All @ @ @ @ @ a schism in the council between the mayor and frustrated progressive aldermen who say she @ @ @ @ @ to a promise to promote free and open debate in the body , ” Byrne @ @ @ @ @ here .

Illinois’ top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, has tested positive for COVID-19. His office says his symptoms are mild and that he’ll be working from home as he recovers.
Before signing an executive order aimed at encouraging better police practices, President Donald Trump today met with relatives of African Americans killed by police, including Jemel Roberson, a black security guard who in 2018 was fatally shot by a white police officer while subduing an alleged gunman in the parking lot of a suburban Robbins bar.
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The president balanced his message of consoling grieving families — “to all of the hurting families, I want you to know that all Americans mourn by your side” — while staying on his GOP law-and-order message, citing law enforcement officers as selfless people and pointing to rescue efforts during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City.
But the president steered clear of addressing the calls for social justice — and an end to the systemic racism — that has flared anew after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, one in a line of unarmed black men killed by police officers.
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And U.S. residents are more unhappy today than they’ve been in nearly 50 years, according to a COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they’re very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018. Read the not-surprising news here.
Welcome to The Spin.
Friends and family remember Jemel Roberson as caring and playful. (Myeisha Green photo / Family photo)
“I’ve just concluded a meeting with incredible families. Just incredible families that have been through so much,” President Donald Trump said before mentioning Jemel Roberson and others, adding “it’s so sad, many of these families lost their loved ones in deadly interactions with police.”
Trump made the remarks during a ceremony early this afternoon to sign an executive order establishing a database that tracks police officers who garner complaints about excessive use of force in their records, The Associated Press reported. It would also establish a national credentialing system that would give police departments a financial incentive to adopt best practices.
Just last week, as protesters across the country took to the streets to decry police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last month, activists gathered outside the Midlothian police station to demand justice for Roberson’s 2018 killing, the Daily Southtown’s Zak Koeske reported.
He writes: “Police officials have called the shooting a ‘friendly fire incident’ and said Roberson died a hero, but his family and their supporters want more than kind words and condolences. They want Ian Covey, the white Midlothian officer who shot Roberson, to be fired and charged in his death.”
Prosecutor’s office still weighing case: More than 18 months since the shooting, Covey still has a job and the Cook County state’s attorney has yet to decide whether to bring charges.
Police watchdog agency sacks investigator accused of firing shots at car thieves on West Side: It comes a day after the Tribune reported that authorities were looking into allegations that the 39-year-old employee with the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability fired a gun at car thieves in the Lawndale neighborhood, officials said.
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Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul talks to reporters March 17, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
My Tribune colleague Dan Petrella reports that the Chicago Democrat felt unwell over the weekend and was tested Monday, his office said. Raoul began self-isolating when he began experiencing symptoms.
In a statement, Raoul said: “My symptoms continue to be mild, and I am in regular contact with my staff in order to continue to manage the operations of my office. As I join the countless Illinois residents working from home, the programs and services provided by the Attorney General’s office will continue uninterrupted.”
To date, Raoul is the most high profile Illinois politician known to contract the virus. His illness comes as the state and Chicago begin loosening restrictions tied to the pandemic.
Related: Widely available steroid reduced COVID-19 deaths by up to one-third in severely ill patients, study shows: Read The Associated Press story here.
COVID-19 vaccine testing to start at UIC next month: The Tribune’s Lisa Schencker with the latest here.
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Column: Now that the Lakefront Trail is opening, let’s reimagine biking to work in Chicago: The Tribune’s Blair Kamin shares some ideas here.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker took part in a march in Matteson where hundreds demanded an end to racial inequality. (Mike Nolan / Daily Southtown)
Illinois Republicans filed a federal lawsuit late yesterday saying Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s attendance cap on gatherings violates First Amendment rights.
Veering from legal points, “Republicans criticized Pritzker last week for attending a march with hundreds of other people June 8 in south suburban Matteson amid the response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer,” the Tribune’s Dan Petrella writes.
For their part, Illinois Republicans held a virtual state convention Saturday to comply with the governor’s executive order, Petrella notes, adding: State GOP Chairman Tim Schneider said during an online news conference this morning that “Gov. Pritzker is ruling Illinois like an unaccountable king, where he only gets to decide which violations of his executive order have his blessing.” Pritzker has defended his decision to participate in the march.
Background: The Illinois Republican Party along with the Schaumburg Township Republican Organization, the Northwest Side GOP Club and the Will County Republican Central Committee are being represented in the lawsuit by the conservative-leaning Liberty Justice Center, Petrella notes. The group is best known for its 2018 U.S. Supreme Court victory in a case that struck down the requirement for fees to public-sector labor unions from workers who choose not to join. The so-called fair share fees were a prime target of then-Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Three members of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's staff prepare for the city's first virtual City Council meeting on April 15, 2020 at City Hall. Forty-one aldermen can be seen on a computer screen. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune) (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s John Byrne: “Mayor Lori Lightfoot is facing push back from some aldermen who want promises that none of the money in her proposed $1.1 billion COVID-19 spending plan will go to Police Department costs, part of a crowded Wednesday City Council agenda.
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“Lightfoot administration finance officials last week declined to guarantee that none of the federal CARES Act funds coming to Chicago would go to police overtime or other Police Department costs, saying only that none of the money is now earmarked for policing.” Read the full story here.
*Cops out of Chicago schools? South Side Ald. Roderick Sawyer plans to introduce a measure at tomorrow’s meeting that would require the Police Department to end its $33 million agreement with Chicago Public Schools to post resource officers inside schools. Whether it will go anywhere remains to be seen. As the Tribune’s John Byrne writes: “Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said she opposes removing police from schools, an idea that has gained traction among protesters and some elected officials around the country in the weeks since Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, touching off protests. The mayor said officers are needed to make sure schools are safe.” Read the full story here.
*And council members are planning to bring forward their own tenant protection plan after deeming Lightfoot’s “Fair Notice” ordinance insufficient to protect renters’ rights. You can read more about that here.
*Mayor Lightfoot’s tenant ordinance advances after a bureaucratic-political fight: The proposed measure would require more notice and in some cases payments to renters from landlords who are not renewing their leases. Today, council progressives who say the measure doesn’t go far enough to help renters tried to get the measure sent to the Rules Committee – a kind of legislative purgatory - but the mayor had the 35 votes necessary to get it shopped to the Housing Committee for a likely hearing before the July City Council meeting, Byrne notes. All the maneuvering “laid bare a schism in the council between the mayor and frustrated progressive aldermen who say she isn’t living up to a promise to promote free and open debate in the body,” Byrne writes. Read his story here.
Other government news: In letter to Gov. Pritzker, Chicago Ald. Garza pushes to delay General Iron’s move to Southeast Side - “Additional emissions on the Southeast Side only serve to further the environmental injustice, all the more glaring as this facility considers moving from the wealthy and overwhelmingly white North Side to the working-class and majority Latinx South East Side,” Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza wrote in a letter to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency boss John Kim. The Chicago Sun-Times’ Brett Chase has the details — including the fact that Sadlowski Garza “hasn’t opposed the General Iron facility, and, in fact, seemed to initially embrace it” — here.
Erek Slater, a bus operator and a shop steward with the Chicago Transit Authority, speaks at a news conference at Federal Plaza in Chicago on June 8, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
My Tribune colleague Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz writes that the First Amendment right to free speech does not apply to private-sector employees when it comes to their jobs, but public-sector employees — those who work for the government — do have free speech protections.
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She writes: “All employers are bound by anti-discrimination laws that protect workers from unequal treatment based on race, religion and other protected classes.”
Example: “Starbucks risked running afoul of such laws when it sent a memo to employees warning them not to wear accessories bearing messages of the Black Lives Matter movement, saying its dress code policy prohibits buttons that ‘advocate a religious, political or personal issue.’ The response from some employees was that the company had allowed, and even encouraged, employees to wear LGBTQ buttons and attire supporting marriage equality, according to BuzzFeed News.” Read the full story here.
The Field Foundation named its 2020 Leaders for a New Chicago winners. The $50,000 award is given to each recipient and to be divided in half — $25,000 for personal use and $25,000 for the winner's affiliated organization. (Samantha Cabrera Friend / HANDOUT)
The Tribune’s Darcel Rockett writes: "In a time when protests for social inequities are everywhere, some Chicagoans are protesting through their daily passions.
"Bronzeville resident Dorothy Burge is protesting through the art of quilting. A member of the Women of Color Quilters Network, the recent retiree is transitioning her hobby of quilting with a message into a full-time endeavor thanks to The Field Foundation’s Leaders for a New Chicago award, announced Tuesday by the Field Foundation, in partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
“The $50,000 award is divided in half — $25,000 for personal use and $25,000 for their affiliated organization’s general operations. Burge’s organization is Chicago Torture Justice Memorials, a grassroots collective centered on seeking justice and reparations for the dozens of African American men and women who endured torture tactics while in police custody under former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge.” Read about the 10 other recipients here.
The Rockefeller Foundation to invest $10 million in 10 U.S. cities, including Chicago, to promote economic equity: My Tribune colleague Abdel Jimenez writes: “The program, called the Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective, plans to allocate funds to nonprofits, businesses, faith-based organizations and government institutions with the goal of helping minority-owned small businesses gain access to credit and preventing commercial gentrification in communities of color.” Read the full story here.
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Lovie Smith’s Illinois staff has 8 black coaches — more than any FBS program. Can it be an example that helps close the racial disparity in college football? Read my Tribune colleague Shannon Ryan’s piece here.
Thousands of Chicago employees will get a day off Friday to observe Juneteenth, in the wake of George Floyd’s death. ‘I don’t think that companies knew until now.’: My Tribune colleague Ally Marotti has the details here.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--South Loop business gets artist treatment

Last week , local artist Beth Swanson put out a call on Instagram asking for local artists interested in painting @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus pandemic , Swanson , who is owner and founder of Rostrum 312 , @ @ @ @ @ ’ work to empty storefronts , transforming unused spaces into galleries and giving artists platforms @ @ @ @ @ Once businesses closed in March and boarded up their storefronts , Swanson says she wanted @ @ @ @ @ plywood into art .
“ It ’ s usually the artists that come together at @ @ @ @ @ make beauty out of it , ” Swanson said .
About 20 artists who answered @ @ @ @ @ Monday and painted the plywood panels around the Showplace Icon Theatre at the Roosevelt Collection @ @ @ @ @ .
Each artist picked a set of panels surrounding the theatre and created murals in @ @ @ @ @

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chicagotribune--2020-06-16--A white Aurora police officer was suspended for 10 days after an African-American man’s eye socket w

A white Aurora police officer was suspended for 10 days after an African-American man’s eye socket was broken during 2019 arrest

Police video shows the driver stopped on Monroe Street and Oak Street in North Aurora .
The officer walked to @ @ @ @ @ driver he saw the vehicle make several lane violations and drive into oncoming traffic , @ @ @ @ @ asked the men for their IDs and the men asked repeatedly asked why .
He @ @ @ @ @ driver and Randle , a passenger , and returned to his squad car .

Marcus Randle, pictured in October, said small facial bones around his eye socket were broken during an arrest last year. An Aurora Police Department officer was suspended for 10 days as a result of the incident, police records show. (Marcus Randle / HANDOUT)
A white Aurora police officer was suspended for 10 days after an African American man suffered lacerations and injuries to his face during a traffic stop in September, police documents obtained by the Beacon-News show.
Marcus Randle, 36, who lives in Bolingbrook, said small bones around his eye socket were broken during the arrest, and he is still receiving treatment. For a few weeks after, he was unable to look into the sunlight and had blurry vision, he said.
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The officer, Kyriako Vogiatzis, was suspended without pay after it was determined he violated the department’s use-of-force policies during the Sept. 28, 2019, traffic stop. The department closed its investigation into the incident March 10.
The Beacon-News learned of the incident last year and requested documents at that time through an open records request. The details on the suspension were obtained by the Beacon-News last week.
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Randle said he and three other men were driving home from a gathering after a friend’s funeral around 11 p.m. when a North Aurora police officer pulled them over. The traffic stop was captured on multiple squad car dashboard cameras.
Police video shows the driver stopped on Monroe Street and Oak Street in North Aurora. The officer walked to the car and told the driver he saw the vehicle make several lane violations and drive into oncoming traffic, the video shows. He asked the men for their IDs and the men asked repeatedly asked why. He received the names of the driver and Randle, a passenger, and returned to his squad car.
The officer gave Randle’s name to the dispatch and learned that police had an interaction with Randle a few hours earlier when Randle allegedly pointed a gun at someone, according to police reports. Randle was not charged in that incident and told the Beacon-News he never had a gun on him at any point during that day.
Aurora officers then came to assist the North Aurora police officer and after several warnings that the passengers would be arrested if they did not exit the car, six officers are seen trying to remove the men out of the vehicle.
Vogiatzis said in police reports he was helping officers handcuff the driver when he saw two officers attempting to gain control of Randle’s hands. Vogiatzis said he feared Randle might be armed and kicked Randle twice in the torso.
In a statement released last week, police officials said Vogiatzis used force inconsistent with the department’s policies, and Randle sustained a facial injury as a result. Police reports said Randle had lacerations on his nose and eyes.
The case was reviewed by the Kane County state’s attorney’s office, and it was determined there was no criminal negligence on behalf of the officer, police officials said.
Randle was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest, and his case is still pending.
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Vogiatzis, an officer with the Aurora police force since 2008, also received a two-day suspension after he took a North Aurora woman’s cell phone who was standing outside recording the incident and impeded her right to record, police documents show.
Randle said that while the department put out a short statement, they did not take responsibility. He has attended a few protests over the last two weeks in Aurora and spoken about how he was treated during his arrest.
“If they hold the police accountable as they do to the rest of the citizens, it would help a lot. It wouldn’t come to this point," Randle said.
Randle admits he and the men he was with have checkered backgrounds, but he does not believe they deserved the treatment received.
Randle, who grew up in Aurora, is the founder of Operation Our Kids in Aurora, which helps youths with school supplies, backpacks, and haircuts.
“I want to help clean up the community I tore up before," Randle said.
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mejones@chicagotribue.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Chicago City Council set to consider Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $1.1 billion COVID spending plan

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is facing pushback from some aldermen who want promises that none of the money in her proposed $1.1 billion COVID-19 spending plan will go to Police Department costs, part of a crowded Wednesday City Council agenda.
Lightfoot administration finance officials last week declined to guarantee that none of the federal CARES Act funds coming to Chicago would go to police overtime or other Police Department costs, saying only that none of the money is now earmarked for policing.
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On Tuesday, 11 aldermen sent Lightfoot a letter, saying they would vote against the package unless she makes such a commitment.
“We have heard from tens of thousands of Chicagoans who want to divest from CPD and invest instead in critical social services,” the letter reads in part. “This demand becomes even more important in the context of federal coronavirus relief funds — we want to ensure that dollars that could otherwise go to rental assistance do not instead go towards police pay or offsetting eligible costs incurred by CPD.”
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Eleven aldermen is far from the 26-vote majority needed to derail Lightfoot’s proposal, and the mayor repeatedly has said she’s not going to bargain with council members simply to build bigger majorities as long as she has enough support to get her ordinances passed.
But the objections to the mayor’s CARES Act proposal point to the broader dissent in the council over the pandemic response and the city’s reaction to George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Aldermen also are expected on Wednesday to introduce an ordinance calling for Chicago police officers to stop serving inside Chicago Public Schools, a change that’s been gaining momentum during protests over Floyd’s death that the mayor opposes on the grounds the schools need cops for safety purposes.
And council members are planning to bring forward their own tenant protection plan after deeming Lightfoot’s “Fair Notice” ordinance insufficient to protect renters’ rights.
After two aldermen shunted the mayor’s renter ordinance to the Rules Committee to try to stall it, Lightfoot on Tuesday easily parried that parliamentary maneuver, mustering 35 votes to send it instead to the Housing Committee for consideration.
The mayor’s COVID-19 renter protection plan also has drawn grumbling, both from aldermen who say it’s far too weak to stop tenants who’ve lost their jobs during the economic upheaval from the virus from getting evicted, and those who say it doesn’t do enough to protect small landlords.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Major airlines, including United, say face mask scofflaws can’t fly. But enforcement may be tricky.

There ’ s only so much airlines can do to force a passenger to keep a mask on after takeoff @ @ @ @ @ U.S. carriers agreed to ensure passengers are warned about face covering policies before they get @ @ @ @ @ airlines also agreed to impose penalties on those who don ’ t comply .

Airlines say they’re cracking down on passengers who flout rules requiring face coverings on flights, with some threatening to ban travelers who refuse to comply.
Major U.S. airlines have been requiring passengers to wear masks for weeks in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 and make travelers comfortable flying. Still, travelers have complained on social media that not everyone is following the rules.
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Industry group Airlines for America said airlines would put "rigor” around policies requiring face coverings, as consumers cautiously resume air travel, which plummeted amid the pandemic.
There’s only so much airlines can do to force a passenger to keep a mask on after takeoff. Still, seven major U.S. carriers agreed to ensure passengers are warned about face covering policies before they get to the airport. The airlines also agreed to impose penalties on those who don’t comply.
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Consequences could include a ban on flying, but it’s up to each airline to determine their rules, Airlines for America said.
United Airlines said it would begin placing passengers who fail to comply with instructions to wear a mask on an “internal travel restriction list” starting Thursday.
In most cases, the ban would last as long as the face covering policy remains in place, which is expected to be at least 60 days, said United spokeswoman Nicole Carriere.
“Every reputable heath institution says wearing a mask is one of the most effective things people can do to protect others from contracting COVID-19, especially in places like an aircraft where social distancing is a challenge,” United Chief Customer Officer Toby Enqvist said in a news release.
The Chicago-based airline said flight attendants will give passengers who are not covering their faces multiple warnings before filing a report. After the flight, an airline security team will investigate the incident to determine whether to block travelers from flying, United said.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines also said travelers who refuse to comply with mask policies may face restrictions on future travel.
American declined to say how it will decide when to block customers from future flights, or how long a ban would last. The airline already won’t let passengers board if they don’t cover their faces at the gate, American said.
Passengers don’t need to cover their faces while eating or drinking, and airlines’ policies include exemptions for young children and travelers with a medical condition or disability that prevents them from wearing a mask. United and Delta said they do not require customers prove they have such a medical condition.
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Other airlines planning to crack down on mask enforcement are JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.
Unions representing flight attendants and pilots praised the move, but said they still wanted to see the federal government make masks mandatory for all passengers.
Most passengers have complied with policies requiring face coverings since airlines began enforcing them at the boarding gate. Still, pilots worry about the risk of conflict between a maskless passenger and others nearby, said Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association.
“There’s a big difference when you approach someone and say it’s a federal mandate,” he said.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 6,398 deaths, 133,639 confirmed cases, 1.23 million tests, 6.23% posi

Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 6,398 deaths, 133,639 confirmed cases, 1.23 million tests, 6.23% positivity rate for Northeast region

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--2020-06-16--Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tenant notice ordinance saved from legislative purgatory over progressi

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tenant notice ordinance saved from legislative purgatory over progressives’ objections

“ What I want to point out is the hypocrisy and the fallacy , '' said Ald .
Carlos Ramirez-Rosa @ @ @ @ @ is not the light .
This is not reform .
This is not change .
@ @ @ @ @ part of the Progressive Caucus last term and decried these things when Mayor Rahm Emanuel @ @ @ @ @ s sad to see them go along now when another mayor does it .
”

An ordinance introduced in April by Ald. Matt Martin, 47th, that would give tenants up to a year to pay back rent, got sent to the Rules Committee by mayoral allies. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Aldermen moved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s tenant notice ordinance a step closer to passage Tuesday, over the objections of opponents who say it doesn’t do enough to protect renters and that the administration is blocking measures that would do more.
Lightfoot’s ordinance that would require more notice and in some cases payments to renters from landlords who are not renewing their leases will be sent from the Rules Committee to the Housing Committee, where it likely will get a hearing before the July City Council meeting.
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The Tuesday fight in the Rules Committee was a classic example of an insider parliamentary joust. But it also laid bare a schism in the council between the mayor and frustrated progressive aldermen who say she isn’t living up to a promise to promote free and open debate in the body.
The mayor introduced her plan last month and called for a hearing in the Housing Committee, but progressive freshmen aldermen Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, and Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, used a council maneuver to instead shunt it to the Rules Committee.
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They complained progressives and housing advocates had been working with Lightfoot’s staff for months to craft a stronger version of the ordinance, only to see the administration unilaterally go ahead with its own plan.
The Rules Committee is where mayors have long sent proposals they don’t like to die without a hearing, a kind of legislative purgatory.
And in fact, an ordinance introduced in April by Ald. Matt Martin, 47th, that would give tenants up to a year to pay back rent, got sent to the Rules Committee by mayoral allies.
So Lightfoot mustering the votes to free her tenant notice package from that committee rankled aldermen who’ve long seen their ideas wither on the vine there.
“What I want to point out is the hypocrisy and the fallacy," said Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th. “This is not the light. This is not reform. This is not change. And my colleagues who were part of the Progressive Caucus last term and decried these things when Mayor Rahm Emanuel did it, it’s sad to see them go along now when another mayor does it.”
Sigcho-Lopez tried to also move four other ordinances out of the Rules Committee, including Martin’s rent relief measure. But committee Chair Ald. Michelle Harris, 8th, said doing so would violate the Illinois Open Meetings Act because they weren’t on the agenda ahead of time.
Sigcho-Lopez has been outspoken in his frustration with the mayor’s tenant notice plan. He and others wanted to move forward months ago with a “Just Cause” ordinance with much stronger pro-tenant rules, including $10,600 payments to those not renewed for a considerably broader range of reasons than the ones covered in the mayor’s proposal.
But he said the administration convinced them to instead negotiate on a compromise, only to introduce its own plan when talks broke down.
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Lightfoot has argued her ordinance strikes a good balance between the rights of tenants and the needs of landlords to collect rent to make mortgage payments. She has said she has the votes to pass it without making changes.
On Tuesday, 35 aldermen voted to move Lightfoot’s plan to the Housing Committee, and just nine opposed it.
Sigcho-Lopez and others plan to introduce their own tenant protection package to the City Council on Wednesday.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul tests positive for coronavirus

Raoul was been working out of the downtown Chicago office over the past couple weeks , Thompson said in an @ @ @ @ @ his meetings have been held via videoconference , he attended the South Suburban Day of @ @ @ @ @ June 6 and a personal protective equipment giveaway at the Edward G. Irvin Foundation in @ @ @ @ @ , Thompson said .

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul at a hearing in 2019 at the Michael A. Bilandic Building in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his office announced Tuesday.
The Chicago Democrat didn’t feel well over the weekend and was tested Monday, his office said. Raoul has been self-isolating since he began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. He was advised during a telehealth appointment to get tested.
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“My symptoms continue to be mild, and I am in regular contact with my staff in order to continue to manage the operations of my office," Raoul said in a statement. “As I join the countless Illinois residents working from home, the programs and services provided by the attorney general’s office will continue uninterrupted.”
Spokeswoman Annie Thompson said the office is “notifying the handful of individuals who have been working in the attorney general’s vicinity in our Thompson Center office so that those individuals can contact their health care providers for medical advice and self-quarantine for 14 days.”
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Raoul was been working out of the downtown Chicago office over the past couple weeks, Thompson said in an email. Although most of his meetings have been held via videoconference, he attended the South Suburban Day of Action in Calumet City on June 6 and a personal protective equipment giveaway at the Edward G. Irvin Foundation in the Woodlawn community area Saturday, Thompson said.
“The attorney general wore a mask at both events, and we have notified organizers so that individuals who came into contact with the attorney general can seek the advice of their medical providers and self-quarantine,” she said.
Raoul, who was elected attorney general in 2018 after serving 15 years in the state Senate, is the highest-ranking Illinois politician to announce a positive test for the coronavirus.
Recently appointed state Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, a Chicago Democrat, missed the General Assembly’s special legislative session in May after testing positive for the virus.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker went into self-isolation earlier that month after a staffer tested positive. But the governor twice tested negative, according to his office.
Pritzker also attended the Calumet City event on June 6.
“The governor always wears a mask and will be tested again today after attending a march and other public events,” spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in an email.
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Evanston businessman charged with federal fraud related to COVID-19 relief application

The company ’ s PPP application , which was submitted by Shah ’ s wife , falsely claimed that thousands @ @ @ @ @ to several former employees of unaffiliated companies owned by Shah who in fact had not @ @ @ @ @ according to the complaint .

An Evanston businessman has been hit with federal fraud charges alleging he lied on an application for nearly half a million dollars in financial relief related to the COVID-19 crisis.
Rahul Shah, 51, is the first Chicago-area resident to be charged in U.S. District Court with fraud related to the federal government’s financial relief efforts stemming from the ongoing pandemic.
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According to a 10-page criminal complaint, Shah, who owns the Evanston-based technology company N2N Holdings, falsified paperwork in April seeking a $441,000 loan under the Paycheck Protection Program.
N2N, located at 500 Davis St., does business under the name Boardshare and specializes in “interactive whiteboards,” online records show.
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The company’s PPP application, which was submitted by Shah’s wife, falsely claimed that thousands of dollars in wages went to several former employees of unaffiliated companies owned by Shah who in fact had not been paid by N2N, according to the complaint.
When confronted by agents about the discrepancies last month, Shah tried to claim that the tax information submitted with the application had come from “employees in India,” the complaint stated.
During the interview, an agent pointed out that Shah’s claims didn’t add up and asked if he’d actually submitted the information himself “thinking ‘it will keep our business alive,’ ” according to the complaint.
“I would say so, yeah,” Shah responded, according to the charges.
The bank that processed the PPP loan for N2N ultimately did not approve it, the complaint alleged.
Shah could not immediately be reached for comment, and no lawyer is listed for him in the court record.
His wife was not charged.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Aldermen, activists press for moving police out of Chicago Public Schools

“ We ’ re talking about once ( students ) get into school , once they pass a metal detector @ @ @ @ @ and do all the things that they have to do to get into the school @ @ @ @ @ to focus on learning , focus on being a good person , focus on the @ @ @ @ @ have to succeed in life , ” Sawyer said at a news conference outside City @ @

Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, speaks to the media outside of City Hall in Chicago regarding an ordinance he is introducing to end an agreement with Chicago Police Department with Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. coronavirus, COVID-19 (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Aldermen who want Chicago police out of public schools joined youth activists outside City Hall on Tuesday to make their case.
South Side Ald. Roderick Sawyer argued the ordinance he plans to introduce Wednesday to the City Council, which would require the Police Department to end its $33 million agreement with Chicago Public Schools to post resource officers inside schools, is not an anti-police measure.
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“We’re talking about once (students) get into school, once they pass a metal detector and a wand check, and do all the things that they have to do to get into the school, we need those kids to focus on learning, focus on being a good person, focus on the skills we want them to have to succeed in life,” Sawyer said at a news conference outside City Hall.
Protesters outside Chicago City Hall demand early child care education funding on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. At a second protest around the corner, Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, was preparing to speak to the media about an ordinance he is introducing to end an agreement that places Chicago police officers in Chicago Public Schools. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
“And one of those skills is not ... how to put your hands behind your back,” he said. “That’s not the skill we should be teaching our children how to do.”
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said she opposes removing police from schools, an idea that has gained traction among protesters and some elected officials around the country in the weeks since Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, touching off protests. The mayor said officers are needed to make sure schools are safe.
Asked Tuesday how likely the police-out-of-schools ordinance is to succeed in the face of mayoral opposition, Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th, said members of the council’s Black Caucus back the proposal. “We’re talking about it in the Black Caucus, it makes sense,” Taylor said.
The ordinance that Sawyer, Taylor and Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rose, 35th, plan to introduce to the City Council on Wednesday would order police Superintendent David Brown to end the deal that assigns police to schools within 75 days.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Calling Gov. J.B. Pritzker an ‘unaccountable king,’ Illinois GOP sues over 10-person gathering limit

As it stands , gatherings of more than 50 people would not be allowed to resume until Illinois reaches the @ @ @ @ @ Pritzker ’ s plan , which would require a vaccine for the coronavirus , an @ @ @ @ @ , or the elimination of new cases for a sustained period .

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks with community members on Thursday, June 4, 2020, during an event in the Austin neighborhood. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois Republicans allege in a federal lawsuit that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive order limiting in-person gatherings to 10 or fewer people unfairly curtails the rights of political organizations to free speech and assembly.
The lawsuit, filed late Monday by the state GOP and three local Republican organizations, asks the court to exempt political parties from the cap on gatherings and seeks permission to hold in-person events without size restrictions in the runup to the November election.
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Republicans criticized Pritzker last week for attending a march with hundreds of other people June 8 in south suburban Matteson amid the response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer.
For their part, Illinois Republicans held a virtual state convention Saturday to comply with the governor’s executive order.
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State GOP Chairman Tim Schneider said during an online news conference Tuesday morning that Pritzker is picking and choosing who gets to fully exercise their First Amendment rights, noting the governor’s participation in the protest march and an exemption to the gathering limit for religious groups.
“Gov. Pritzker is ruling Illinois like an unaccountable king, where he only gets to decide which violations of his executive order have his blessing,” Schneider said.
The 10-person limit is part of Pritzker’s May 29 executive order, which eased some restrictions he put in place to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. The state is on track to move to the next phase of the reopening plan, when gatherings of up to 50 people would be allowed, on June 26.
Republicans are seeking a temporary restraining order blocking the restriction and also want the court to declare the entire order invalid because they allege Pritzker has exceeded his authority to extend a disaster proclamation beyond the initial 30 days.
The lawsuit alleges that Pritzker’s May 29 order violates the First and 14th Amendment rights of political parties by treating them differently from religious groups or protesters.
“Political parties are for political expression what churches are for religious expression: the corporate manifestation of speech and interaction within a community of shared belief,” the lawsuit says. “Political parties’ events and rallies are also like protest rallies and marches. And like churches and marches, political parties operate in a world where time matters; the 2020 election is only months away.”
While many Republicans initially held off on criticizing Pritzker’s stay-at-home order when he first issued it in March, tension has grown over the past three months as GOP officials have pushed the state to reopen its economy more quickly. Pritzker has faced a barrage of lawsuits over his orders, including from two Republican state representatives and from various church groups.
The Illinois Republican Party along with the Schaumburg Township Republican Organization, the Northwest Side GOP Club and the Will County Republican Central Committee are being represented in the lawsuit by the conservative-leaning Liberty Justice Center.
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The group is best known for its 2018 U.S. Supreme Court victory in a case that struck down the requirement for fees to public-sector labor unions from workers who choose not to join. The so-called fair share fees were a prime target of then-Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
“Every American has a right to free speech, and the Constitution doesn’t allow this governor to create special exceptions for churches or protesters because they have a high media profile, because they’ve got good lobbyists or because he agrees with their political viewpoint," Daniel Suhr, an attorney with the Liberty Justice Center, said during the online news conference.
Pritzker’s initial statewide stay-at-home order took effect March 21. The state moved into phase three of Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” reopening plan May 29. The stay-at-home order has largely been upheld so far in the face of legal challenges by churches and religious organizations, businesses and Republican lawmakers.
The U.S. Supreme Court even weighed in, denying an appeal from two Chicago-area churches seeking to overturn a previous executive order that placed the 10-person limit on religious gatherings. Before the high court ruled, however, Pritzker lifted the size limit on religious gatherings in favor of safety guidelines from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Pritzker last week defended his decision to take part in the Matteson march, saying he was "not going to run away” from taking a stand at a time when people across the U.S. are pushing for major changes to the way police interact with African Americans and other minorities.
“I go places, and it’s very difficult to get socially distant when an awful lot of people show up, and I’m not going to run away,” the governor said June 9 at an event in Decatur.
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“Especially at this moment, it’s important to express ourselves. It’s important to stand up for people’s First Amendment rights,” he said.
Pritzker was critical of rallies that took place outside the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago and the Illinois Capitol in Springfield protesting his stay-at-home order — some of which included signs comparing the governor, who is Jewish, to Adolf Hitler — but his administration did not take any action to stop them from happening.
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in a statement Tuesday that the GOP lawsuit “is about scoring political points and criticizing civil rights protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.”
“The courts have repeatedly upheld the governor’s executive orders as based on public health guidance,” Abudayyeh said. “And as the Republicans who attended protests against the public health guidance are well aware, the state has never prevented people from exercising their First Amendment rights.”
State health officials on Tuesday reported 623 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 72 more fatalities, bringing the total number of known cases to 133,639 and the statewide death toll to 6,398 since the pandemic began.
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While Tuesday’s fatalities were a large jump from the 19 reported the previous day, the number of daily deaths has been below 100 for 12 straight days. The number of newly confirmed cases has been less than 1,000 for 11 straight days.
On Monday, the governor argued that the steps he’s taken to slow the spread of the coronavirus have helped Illinois see a decline in new infections and deaths while other states that have reopened more quickly are seeing new spikes.
“You wouldn’t want political decisions made, in my opinion, about how to manage through a pandemic,” Pritzker said at an unrelated event in West Frankfort in southern Illinois. “It’s not really about politics; it should be about science. And as a result of following the data, I think we’ve been doing this right.”
As it stands, gatherings of more than 50 people would not be allowed to resume until Illinois reaches the fifth and final phase of Pritzker’s plan, which would require a vaccine for the coronavirus, an effective and widely available treatment, or the elimination of new cases for a sustained period.
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture school  seeks to move to new locations in Arizona

In recent years , however , the school ’ s leaders have been at loggerheads over finances and educational priorities @ @ @ @ @ Wright Foundation , which owns the two Taliesins .
In January , the school announced @ @ @ @ @ its board reversed that decision in March , leaving the revered institution ’ s future @ @ @ @ @

The drafting room at Taliesin West in 2017 in Scottsdale, Ariz., the winter home of architect Frank Lloyd Wright and the architecture school he founded. (Anita Snow photo/AP)
After months of controversy, the architecture school founded by Frank Lloyd Wright has announced plans to move from its longtime homes — Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisc., and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz., — to new locations in Arizona. The school also will change its name.
Founded in 1932 by Wright and his wife, Olgivanna, the private accredited graduate School of Architecture at Taliesin offered a unique educational model that combined living and learning. For years, its students, who Wright called “apprentices," raised crops, cooked meals, cleaned house and built the structures of the ever-growing Taliesin compounds, including their magnificent skylit drafting rooms.
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In recent years, however, the school’s leaders have been at loggerheads over finances and educational priorities with the Scottsdale-based Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which owns the two Taliesins. In January, the school announced it would close, but its board reversed that decision in March, leaving the revered institution’s future up in the air.
Finally, on Monday, the school announced it is seeking approval from state and accreditation officials to move to the ecology-oriented sites of Cosanti in Paradise Valley, and Arcosanti near Cordes Junction, both in Arizona. The Italian-American architect and former Wright apprentice Paolo Soleri founded the nonprofit Cosanti Foundation, which runs the sites, in 1965.
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Chris Lasch, the school’s dean, said in a prepared statement that the school’s collaboration with the foundation “will continue to provide an exceptional educational experience that lives up to Frank Lloyd Wright’s revolutionary vision, and also draws inspiration from the innovative urban planning theories” of Soleri.
The Architect’s Newspaper, which first reported the story, said the school would change its name. A spokeswoman said Tuesday that the school is obligated to change its name by July 31 and has not yet determined a new one.
For its part, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has stressed that it will continue to run educational programs at the Taliesin compounds.
Taliesin in Wisconsin opened for tours on June 1, but Taliesin West remains closed because of the coronavirus crisis.
The sites were among a group of Wright-designed buildings that last year were named to the prestigious World Heritage List.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--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--2020-06-16--Americans are the unhappiest they’ve been in 50 years, COVID-19 response study finds: ‘It’s been one

Americans are the unhappiest they’ve been in 50 years, COVID-19 response study finds: ‘It’s been one thing after another’

— About twice as many Americans report being lonely today as in 2018 , and not surprisingly given the lockdowns @ @ @ @ @ spread of the coronavirus , there ’ s also been a drop in satisfaction with @ @ @ @ @ Compared with 2018 , Americans also are about twice as likely to say they sometimes @ @ @ @ @ lack of companionship ( 45 % vs. 27 % ) and felt left out ( @ @ @ @ @ ) in the past four weeks .

Rain begins to fall as people wearing face masks walk in the 1500 block of North Milwaukee Avenue on May 26, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It’s been a rough year for the American psyche. Folks in the U.S. are more unhappy today than they’ve been in nearly 50 years.
This bold — yet unsurprising — conclusion comes from the COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they're very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018. That year, 23% said they'd often or sometimes felt isolated in recent weeks. Now, 50% say that.
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The survey, conducted in late May, draws on nearly a half-century of research from the General Social Survey, which has collected data on American attitudes and behaviors at least every other year since 1972. No less than 29% of Americans have ever called themselves very happy in that survey.
Most of the new survey’s interviews were completed before the death of George Floyd touched off nationwide protests and a global conversation about race and police brutality, adding to the feelings of stress and loneliness Americans were already facing from the coronavirus outbreak — especially for black Americans.
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Lexi Walker, a 47-year-old professional fiduciary who lives near Greenville, South Carolina, has felt anxious and depressed for long stretches of this year. She moved back to South Carolina late in 2019, then her cat died. Her father passed away in February. Just when she thought she’d get out and socialize in an attempt to heal from her grief, the pandemic hit.
“It’s been one thing after another,” Walker said. “This is very hard. The worst thing about this for me, after so much, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
(K. Perry/AP)
Among other finding from the new poll about life in the pandemic:
— The public is less optimistic today about the standard of living improving for the next generation than it has been in the past 25 years. Only 42% of Americans believe that when their children reach their age, their standard of living will be better. A solid 57% said that in 2018. Since the question was asked in 1994, the previous low was 45% in 1994.
— Compared with surveys conducted after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Americans are less likely to report some types of emotional and psychological stress reactions following the COVID-19 outbreak. Fewer report smoking more than usual, crying or feeling dazed now than after those two previous tragedies, though more report having lost their temper or wanting to get drunk.
— About twice as many Americans report being lonely today as in 2018, and not surprisingly given the lockdowns that tried to contain the spread of the coronavirus, there’s also been a drop in satisfaction with social activities and relationships. Compared with 2018, Americans also are about twice as likely to say they sometimes or often have felt a lack of companionship (45% vs. 27%) and felt left out (37% vs. 18%) in the past four weeks.
What is surprising, said Louise Hawkley, a senior research scientist with NORC at the University of Chicago, was that loneliness was not even more prevalent.
“It isn’t as high as it could be," she said. “People have figured out a way to connect with others. It’s not satisfactory, but people are managing to some extent.”
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The new poll found that there haven't been significant changes in Americans’ assessment of their families' finances since 2018 and that Americans' satisfaction with their families’ ability to get along financially was as high as it's been over nearly five decades.
Jonathan Berney, of Austin, Texas, said that the pandemic — and his resulting layoff as a digital marketing manager for a law firm — caused him to reevaluate everything in his life. While he admits that he’s not exactly happy now, that’s led to another uncomfortable question: Was he truly happy before the pandemic?
“2020 just fast forwarded a spiritual decay. When things are good, you don’t tend to look inwards,” he said, adding that he was living and working in the Miami area before the pandemic hit. As Florida dealt with the virus, his girlfriend left him and he decided to leave for Austin. “I probably just wasn’t a nice guy to be around from all the stress and anxiety. But this forced an existential crisis.”
Berney, who is looking for work, said things have improved from those early, dark days of the pandemic. He’s still job hunting but has a little savings to live on. He said he's trying to kayak more and center himself so he’s better prepared to deal with any future downturn in events.
Reimagining happiness is almost hard-wired into Americans’ DNA, said Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside.
“Human beings are remarkably resilient. There’s lots and lots of evidence that we adapt to everything. We move forward,” she said, adding that she’s done happiness studies since the pandemic started and found that some people are slightly happier than last year.
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Melinda Hartline, of Tampa, who was laid off from her job in public relations in March, said she was in a depressed daze those first few weeks of unemployment. Then she started to bike and play tennis and enrolled in a college course on post-crisis leadership.
Today, she’s worried about the state of the world and the economy, and she wonders when she can see her kids and grandkids who live on the West Coast — but she also realizes that things could be a lot worse.
“Anything can happen. And you have to be prepared,” she said. “Whether it’s your health, your finances, whether it’s the world. You have to be prepared. And always maintain that positive mental attitude. It’s going to get you through it.”
The survey of 2,279 adults was conducted May 21-29 with funding from the National Science Foundation. It uses a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Chicago area could reach 94 degrees this week as ‘warming trend’ builds up to weekend storms

The high temperature is expected to rise a bit each day , according to the National Weather Service .
Though @ @ @ @ @ the lake , later today the high could hit 87 degrees , while Wednesday ’ @ @ @ @ @ .
Thursday may hit 93 and Friday could see 94 , when a storm system @ @ @ @ @ .

Visitors to Chicago's Millennium Park relax in the sun on June 15, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago area is in for a “warming trend” this week, with temperatures maybe hitting 94 by Friday, ahead of a weekend of stormy weather.
The high temperature is expected to rise a bit each day, according to the National Weather Service. Though it will remain cooler by the lake, later today the high could hit 87 degrees, while Wednesday’s expected high is 88. Thursday may hit 93 and Friday could see 94, when a storm system should move across northern Illinois.
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“There will be increasing chances for showers and thunderstorms Friday into this weekend,” the weather service said.
There is a 20% chance of storms and showers Friday, when it will begin to feel unusually muggy, forecasters said. On Saturday, there is a 50% chance of thunderstorms.
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Check back for updates and visit the Tribune’s weather page for more.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Chicago police officer shot in knee after approaching suspect on South Side

About 6:30 p.m. , officers tried to stop someone in the 5000 block of South King Drive in the Bronzeville @ @ @ @ @ aggravated assault with a handgun on June 10 in the 5000 block of South Washington @ @ @ @ @ said .

A Chicago police officer was shot in the knee Monday night on the South Side.
About 6:30 p.m., officers tried to stop someone in the 5000 block of South King Drive in the Bronzeville neighborhood who was wanted for aggravated assault with a handgun on June 10 in the 5000 block of South Washington Park Court, Chicago police said.
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As officers approached, the person pulled out a gun and fired shots at the officers, hitting one in the right knee.
The officer was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said.
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The officers did not fire shots during the incident, police said.
Two people are being questioned by detectives about the shooting, police said.
A weapon was not recovered, police said.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-06-16--Man fatally shot while riding bike in Rogers Park, police say

The man , 54 , was shot in the head just before 3 a.m. Tuesday in the 7600 block of @ @ @ @ @ said .
The shooting occurred after a car stopped and someone inside began talking to @ @ @ @ @ the street .

A man riding a bike died early Tuesday after he was caught up in a Rogers Park shooting, according to Chicago police.
The man, 54, was shot in the head just before 3 a.m. Tuesday in the 7600 block of North Marshfield Avenue, police said. The shooting occurred after a car stopped and someone inside began talking to a group of men in the street.
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The group began shooting at the car, and a 27-year-old man inside was shot in the leg, police said. He went to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston and was reported in fair condition.
The 54-year-old man was nearby and did not appear to be involved with either party, police said. He was taken to St. Francis Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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No arrests have been made.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry