chicagotribune--2020-12-14--Daywatch: What it’s like to be in a COVID-19 vaccine trial, violent crime doubles on the CTA and how

Daywatch: What it’s like to be in a COVID-19 vaccine trial, violent crime doubles on the CTA and how Chicagoans can answer letters to Santa

The rate of violent crime on CTA trains and platforms has more than doubled this year , even though the @ @ @ @ @ dropped and Chicago police have stepped up patrols and surveillance , according to a Tribune @ @ @ @ @ data .

Good morning, Chicago. On Sunday, Illinois health officials announced 7,216 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 115 additional fatalities. Meanwhile, the first shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the United States headed Sunday from Michigan to distribution centers across the country.
Have coronavirus questions you want answered? The Chicago Tribune is partnering with the University of Chicago to answer readers’ questions with a Facebook Live event on Monday, Dec. 14.
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Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
For your smart speaker | Holiday gift guide | Join our COVID-19 Facebook group | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games
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Clinical research nurse Samantha Gatewood administers the second shot in an AstraZeneca vaccine trial to participant David Daly at Rush University Medical Center on Dec. 3, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Roughly half-million Americans have signed up to participate in various vaccine trials as scientists race to produce safe and effective immunizations to the coronavirus, which has so far killed more than 14,000 in Illinois and more than 1.5 million worldwide.
The first COVID-19 shots outside of a clinical trial could be given in the Chicago area within days, after federal officials Friday night gave a Pfizer vaccine emergency use authorization; however, officials caution that fully vaccinating all adults will take much longer.
As coronavirus vaccine distribution begins, prepare to carry another thing in your pocket: A COVID-19 credential to show you’ve been inoculated
in this file photo, Speaker Michael Madigan on the House floor before Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his first budget address to a joint session of the Illinois House and Senate at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
A group of 19 House Democrats hardened their opposition against veteran Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s reelection to the post, issuing a letter to colleagues saying the Democratic caucus needs to “come together” on an alternative to lead them in January.
But the “Dear Colleagues” letter issued Saturday by the Madigan dissidents stopped short of recommending a replacement when the new House is inaugurated Jan. 13 with an anticipated 73 Democratic members.
Passengers wait on the Roosevelt CTA "L" train platform at rush hour, Dec. 4, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The rate of violent crime on CTA trains and platforms has more than doubled this year, even though the number of riders has dramatically dropped and Chicago police have stepped up patrols and surveillance, according to a Tribune analysis of police and CTA data.
Illinois coach Lovie Smith, center right, talks to players and fellow coaches in the second quarter against Northwestern at Ryan Field on Dec. 12, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Lovie Smith was introduced in March 2016 as the coach who would turn around the Illinois football program after years of mediocrity and embarrassment.
After five seasons, the Illini still are spinning their wheels, and without seeing significant progress under Smith, the university announced Sunday that it has cut ties with him.
Who will be the next football coach at Illinois? Here are 10 potential candidates.
Chicago realtor Brendan Murphy started fulfilling wishes in kids' letters to Santa in 2012. Since then he and his co-workers have bought, wrapped and sent hundreds of presents through the USPS Operation Santa program. (HANDOUT)
In past years, Chicagoans could do in-person letter adoption at the Harrison Street Post Office, but due to COVID-19, letter adoptions have moved entirely online to USPSOperationSanta.com.
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Volunteers buy the gifts kids want and mail them through the Postal Service. The deadline for sending presents at a participating post office is Dec. 19.


chicagotribune--2020-12-14--Violent crime rate doubles on CTA rail system, even with stepped-up police efforts and far fewer rid

Violent crime rate doubles on CTA rail system, even with stepped-up police efforts and far fewer riders: ‘The people that are driving the crime never left the system’

“ People that are engaging in crimes and gang members — they ’ re not observing the stay-at-home order as @ @ @ @ @ , ” Cline said .
“ So whereas a lot of the working people left @ @ @ @ @ of the criminals that prey on people did not .
So that ’ s where @ @ @ @ @ our crime didn ’ t decrease at a rate that we would ’ ve liked @ @ @ @ @

Passengers wait on the Roosevelt CTA "L" train platform Dec. 4, 2020, at rush hour. As of Nov. 23, the Roosevelt station in the South Loop had about 22 violent crimes this year. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The rate of violent crime on CTA trains and platforms has more than doubled this year, even though the number of riders has dramatically dropped and Chicago police have stepped up patrols and surveillance, according to a Tribune analysis of police and CTA data.
Ridership this year on the “L” system has been down 61% through September compared with the same period in 2019, according to the CTA. In some months during the spring and summer, it was down more than 85%.
The number of crimes has dropped, too, but not nearly as much as ridership. That means those left riding the system saw a jump in their odds of becoming a victim to a crime on the “L” or at CTA platforms and stations.
From Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, there were roughly 6 violent crimes and 9 nonviolent crimes per 1 million rides on the “L.” The nonviolent crime rate saw a slight uptick, but the violent crime rate has more than doubled from last year, when both types of crime on the CTA rail system reached their highest levels of the decade.
Brian Steele, CTA’s vice president of communications, said the level of serious crime is in line with transit agencies nationwide. CTA officials meet and communicate with police regularly “to help prevent and respond to crimes,” he added.
Steele directed most questions about safety to Chicago police.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 8 The body of a shooting victim is removed from a CTA subway station at State Street and Jackson Boulevard in Chicago on Feb. 17, 2020. A man was shot and killed and two others were wounded in a CTA pedestrian tunnel, according to police. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Matthew Cline, the Chicago Police Department’s commander of public transportation, said even though there was a drastic decrease in CTA ridership during the coronavirus pandemic, “the people that are driving the crime never left the system.”
“People that are engaging in crimes and gang members — they’re not observing the stay-at-home order as much as most other folks,” Cline said. “So whereas a lot of the working people left the system, a lot of the criminals that prey on people did not. So that’s where, honestly, some of our crime didn’t decrease at a rate that we would’ve liked to have seen.”
Number of violent crimes at CTA stations For 2020, through Nov. 23 Source: Tribune analysis of CPD data. Crime incidents are limited to incidents categorized as index crimes by FBI definitions.
‘We’re arresting some people four or five times’
The Tribune analyzed CTA ridership numbers and reports of crimes considered serious enough to report to the FBI as “index” crimes, from pick-pocketing to robbery and sexual assault. Of these, cases deemed violent included robberies, homicides and more aggressive assaults and batteries. The analysis focused on crimes reported in the city of Chicago, which covers the vast majority of the CTA system.
The analysis found that the raw number of crimes on the CTA rail system this year through September was lower than previous years, with police reporting 940 serious crimes, 375 of them violent. That compares with 1,794 serious crimes — 415 of them violent — through September 2019.
But with roughly 63 million rides on the “L” this year compared with nearly 165 million during the same period last year, the number of crimes points to a troubling surge in the rate of offenses.
The increase comes after Chicago police added about 50 officers to CTA trains and platforms this spring, bringing the total number of officers assigned to patrol the “L” to about 200. Police officials also opened a new strategic decision support center in June to monitor video of CTA properties in real time.
Cline said there are seven dedicated detectives analyzing live footage of CTA properties, which has been a “game changer” in gathering better evidence and putting cases together. The CTA has about 32,000 cameras on its network, including in every rail station, bus and train car.
But deterring those crimes from happening is another issue. Cline said COVID-19 has complicated police efforts since jails aren’t holding as many people, and many of those committing crimes on the rail system are repeat offenders.
“We’re arresting some people four or five times,” Cline said. “That’s kind of a struggle across the system.”
While the arrest rate for nonviolent crimes has dropped slightly from about 4.8% to 4.1%, the initiatives may have contributed to a higher arrest rate for violent crimes this year. The arrest rate for violent crimes on the “L” through September was about 21.8%, an increase of about 3.2% from the same period last year.
Violent crimes reported on the rail system through September included at least 283 robberies, 53 aggravated cases of battery, 33 serious cases of assault, four homicides and two criminal sexual assaults. Homicide cases had the highest percentage of arrests, with three of the four resulting in at least one arrest.
Stations with the most crimes
The rise in the crime rate came as no surprise to Dagan Douglas, 24, a South Side native who rides the Red Line nearly every day to work.
On Nov. 27, Douglas was a witness to an argument between two men who didn’t seem to know each other at the Jackson Red Line station in the Loop. The altercation turned violent, and one man tossed the other in front of an oncoming train, seriously injuring him, according to a police report.
No arrests have been made, and police have not released any video and photos of the attack or the suspect.
The fight was the most violent Douglas has seen on the CTA, but he said it wasn’t shocking. He said he sees petty crimes regularly on the CTA that “can easily escalate into violence with the wrong reactions.”
“This sort of thing is starting to become increasingly common, so when I see an incident, it doesn’t really register with me all that much,” Douglas said.
Chicago police do not specifically list which crimes occur at or near which stations, and while the department provides addresses and mapping coordinates, they are approximate. Still, the Tribune was able to analyze this data to determine which stations were closest to the reported crimes.
As of Nov, 23, there were about 14 violent crimes this year at the Jackson Red Line station, making the stop one of the most violent in Chicago. It is behind only the Roosevelt station in the South Loop, which had about 22 violent crimes, and the Blue Line’s Pulaski stop in East Garfield Park, which had about 19.
The Red Line’s Chicago stop on the Near North Side had the fourth most violent crimes with about 13, followed by the Howard stop in Rogers Park, the Belmont stop in Lakeview and the 79th station on the Red Line in Chatham, which each had about nine.
Some stations, such as Clark and Lake in the Loop, saw high rates of nonviolent but still serious offenses, such as theft.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 8 An Evanston police officer investigates a fatal shooting in the 300 block of Howard Street near the CTA Howard Street station on July 23, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Though the department places more officers on fixed posts when it notices a spike in crimes, Cline said it’s harder to stop offenses at “massive stations” such as the Jackson Red Line, which has multiple tunnels and platforms spread across one area.
“There’s just a lot of geography to cover, so it does pose challenges,” Cline said. “I’d like to have more officers in some of these spots, but there’s just a lot of crime.”
Cline said the department’s focus this year has been on robberies and violent crimes. He added that the department is making better use of technology, but there’s still work to be done, including on homicide cases and in handling issues involving mental illness on the CTA rail system.
“We’re early on this,” Cline said. “Obviously, we like the direction we’re going in. We’re not satisfied yet, and I don’t think we’ll ever fully be satisfied, but we do feel like the approach we’re taking now is the right approach.”
kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KelliSmithNews
jmahr@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JoeMahr


chicagotribune--2020-12-14--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 7,216 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, 115 additional dea

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 7,216 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, 115 additional deaths reported; trucks carrying vaccine start rolling nationwide

Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 7,216 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 115 additional fatalities , bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 848,904 and the statewide confirmed death toll to 14,291 since the start of the pandemic .
The first shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the United States headed Sunday from Michigan to distribution centers across the country .
Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine will set in motion the biggest vaccination effort in American history at a critical juncture of the pandemic that has killed 1.6 million and sickened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Center could begin administering the vaccine to its workers as soon as Monday , depending on when the vaccine arrives , hospital officials said .
University of Chicago Medicine might start inoculating employees Wednesday .
Edward-Elmhurst Health , which has hospitals in west suburban Naperville and Elmhurst , is tentatively expecting to begin vaccinating its workers Tuesday .
And Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Maywood was selected as one of roughly three dozen veterans health administration sites across the country to receive initial doses , the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday that health officials worried could create COVID-19 superspreader events .
Officials have said the state is entering the period during which a possible post-Thanksgiving surge could begin to show up .
Meanwhile , here ’ s what the FDA approval of Pfizer ’ s coronavirus vaccine could mean for Chicago and the rest of Illinois .
White House , other top officials to get early vaccine access Senior U.S. government officials , including some White House officials who work in close proximity to President Donald Trump and Vice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus vaccines as soon as this week , while its public distribution is limited to front-line health workers and people in nursing homes and long-term care facilities .
Doses of the newly approved vaccine from Pfizer will be made available to those who work in close quarters with the nation ’ s top leaders , two people familiar with the matter confirmed .
They said the move was meant to prevent more COVID-19 spread in the White House , which has already suffered from several outbreaks of the virus that infected Trump and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facilities .
As coronavirus vaccine distribution begins , prepare to carry another thing in your pocket : A COVID-19 credential to show you ’ ve been inoculated Among all the tools that health agencies have developed over the years to fight epidemics , at least one has remained a constant for more than a century : paper vaccination certificates .
In the 1880s , in response to smallpox outbreaks , some public schools began requiring students and teachers to show vaccination cards .
In the 1960s , amid yellow fever epidemics , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ document , known informally as the yellow card .
Even now , travelers from certain regions are required to show a version of the card at airports .
Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 7,216 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 115 additional fatalities , bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 848,904 and the statewide confirmed death toll to 14,291 since the start of the pandemic .
Features Bar and Grill unveiled its own take on unique winter seating and dining Thursday when it began stationing dining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seat customers — outside its Chicago Avenue location .
The project is a joint effort by the restaurant , Naperville Public Works , the Downtown Naperville Alliance , the Naperville Development Partnership , and private contractors .
COVID-19 testing sites continue to pop up around south suburbs As the promised rollout of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus nears , testing centers remain busy this holiday season following a recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases .
While usually focused on treating children ’ s ailments , Alzein Pediatrics ’ staff in recent weeks were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and grandparents about where they could go for COVID-19 testing .
“ We had a lot of patients looking for places to get tested out of concern about being around their children or grandchildren , ” said Marie Armstrong , clinical manager for the practice , which has offices in Evergreen Park and Oak Lawn .
Trucks with first COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the US roll out of Pfizer manufacturing plant in Michigan The first trucks carrying a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the United States pulled out of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shots that are critical to stopping the nation ’ s coronavirus outbreak destined to reach states a day later .
Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine will set in motion the biggest vaccination effort in American history at a critical juncture of the pandemic that has killed 1.6 million and sickened 71 million worldwide .
COVID-19 vaccine will start arriving in states Monday , officials say , as US surpasses 16 million total confirmed cases The nation ’ s first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning , U.S. officials said Saturday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans .
Initially , about 3 million doses were expected to be shipped nationwide .
It was unclear exactly who would receive the first shots , though health care workers and nursing home residents were the priority .
Perna said health authorities would decide .
The announcement Saturday kicks off a massive logistical operation involving the federal and state governments , private companies and health care workers to quickly distribute limited vaccine supplies throughout the U.S .
It offers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 infections and deaths , which are overwhelming hospitals and raising fears that things will only get worse as people gather over the holidays .
The U.S. has recorded more than 16 million cases of COVID-19 , by far the most of any country in the world , according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University , and also leads the world in deaths related to the coronavirus at more than 297,600 , including a record 3,309 recorded on Friday .
The coronavirus has caused more than 1.6 million global deaths .
Charley @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black star , dies at 86 of COVID-19 complications Charley Pride , one of country music ’ s first Black superstar whose rich baritone on such hits as “ Kiss an Angel Good Morning ” helped sell millions of records and made him the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame , has died .
He was 86 .
Pride died Saturday in Dallas of complications from Covid-19 , according to Jeremy Westby of the public relations firm 2911 Media .
“ I ’ m so heartbroken that one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pride , has passed away .
It ’ s even worse to know that he passed away from COVID-19 .
What a horrible , horrible virus .
Charley , we will always love you , ” Dolly Parton tweeted .
127 new deaths , 8,737 new cases of COVID-19 reported Illinois health officials announced Saturday 8,737 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-10 and 127 new fatalities , bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 841,688 and the statewide death toll to 14,177 since the beginning of the pandemic .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced Chicago-area hospitals were getting ready to deliver the first COVID-19 vaccines to their employees during the first few days of next week .
The nation ’ s first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning , U.S. officials said Saturday , after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end the outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans .
Pritzker put on defensive by COVID-19 outbreak that tore through LaSalle VA home with terrifying speed Beginning Oct. 31 , as the coronavirus pandemic was surging once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ LaSalle County , an outbreak tore through the home with terrifying speed , infecting more than 200 residents and staff members and killing at least 33 veterans , including Jerome Liesse .
The fallout has been equally swift .
Initial inspections by federal and state inspections identified myriad problems at the home , including lax use of personal protective equipment and poor social distancing .
State legislators have set hearings , and an investigation by a state inspector general has been launched .
Gov .
J.B. Pritzker , who in his 2018 campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican predecessor Bruce Rauner ’ s handling of a deadly Legionnaires ’ disease outbreak at another state veterans home , is now on the defensive over his own VA home crisis .
“ The governor owns this .
This is his job , ” said state Rep. Jim Durkin of Western Springs , the Illinois House Republican leader .
“ It ’ s the state ’ s job to provide for the care of the men and women who live and also work within that facility.
” ‘ We just pray that we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by day.
’ Family cancels pilgrimage after third brother dies of coronavirus Tragedy has once again struck the family who started the pilgrimage from Chicago to Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine in Des Plaines .
In September , 63-year-old Ricardo Alanis , founder of the first and largest yearly pilgrimage from Chicago to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines , died of COVID-19 .
Two months after Ricardo Alanis died , one of his brothers died from COVID-19 in Mexico .
And on Friday , a third brother , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Amita Health St. Francis Hospital in Evanston , according to a family member .
Chicago-area hospitals are gearing up to give the first COVID-19 vaccination shots to their employees as soon as early next week now that emergency use authorization has been granted by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration .
Read more here .
—Madeline Buckley , Lisa Schencker and Angie Leventis Lourgos Walgreens to hire 25,000 as part of plan to start giving COVID-19 vaccine to nursing home residents and staff before Christmas Walgreens expects to receive its first doses of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to inoculate nursing home residents and workers at more than 30,000 longterm care facilities nationwide .
Deerfield-based Walgreens plans to hire about 25,000 workers across the U.S. , including up to 9,000 pharmacists and other health care workers , to administer the vaccine , once approved , to longterm care facilities through a partnership with pharmacy service provider PharMerica , the companies said during a panel discussion Friday on the vaccine rollout .
Pandemic puppies , holiday tamales and binge-watching TV from a cardboard ‘ yacht ’ : How 39 Chicagoans made it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been difficult for a host of reasons , from the quarter-million lives lost due to the coronavirus pandemic to the continuing fight against racial injustice .
How did people make it through this year ?
We asked Illinois residents to tell us what they did to get through 2020 .
Some adopted dogs , some volunteered in their neighborhoods and others discovered a new hobby .
Here ’ s what they had to say .
Here are five things that happened Friday related to COVID-19 :

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 7,216 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 115 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 848,904 and the statewide confirmed death toll to 14,291 since the start of the pandemic.
The first shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the United States headed Sunday from Michigan to distribution centers across the country.
Advertisement
Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine will set in motion the biggest vaccination effort in American history at a critical juncture of the pandemic that has killed 1.6 million and sickened 71 million worldwide.
Chicago-area hospitals are gearing up to give the first COVID-19 vaccination shots to their employees as soon as early this week now that emergency use authorization has been granted by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration.
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Rush University Medical Center could begin administering the vaccine to its workers as soon as Monday, depending on when the vaccine arrives, hospital officials said. University of Chicago Medicine might start inoculating employees Wednesday. Edward-Elmhurst Health, which has hospitals in west suburban Naperville and Elmhurst, is tentatively expecting to begin vaccinating its workers Tuesday.
And Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Maywood was selected as one of roughly three dozen veterans health administration sites across the country to receive initial doses, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Friday.
[ Doctors to answer reader questions about COVID-19 vaccinations Dec. 14 and 16 on Facebook Live ]
The numbers come two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday that health officials worried could create COVID-19 superspreader events. Officials have said the state is entering the period during which a possible post-Thanksgiving surge could begin to show up.
Meanwhile, here’s what the FDA approval of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine could mean for Chicago and the rest of Illinois.
Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
White House, other top officials to get early vaccine access
Senior U.S. government officials, including some White House officials who work in close proximity to President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, will be offered coronavirus vaccines as soon as this week, while its public distribution is limited to front-line health workers and people in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
Doses of the newly approved vaccine from Pfizer will be made available to those who work in close quarters with the nation’s top leaders, two people familiar with the matter confirmed. They said the move was meant to prevent more COVID-19 spread in the White House, which has already suffered from several outbreaks of the virus that infected Trump and other top officials, and other critical facilities.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Advertisement
As coronavirus vaccine distribution begins, prepare to carry another thing in your pocket: A COVID-19 credential to show you’ve been inoculated
Among all the tools that health agencies have developed over the years to fight epidemics, at least one has remained a constant for more than a century: paper vaccination certificates.
In the 1880s, in response to smallpox outbreaks, some public schools began requiring students and teachers to show vaccination cards. In the 1960s, amid yellow fever epidemics, the World Health Organization introduced an international travel document, known informally as the yellow card. Even now, travelers from certain regions are required to show a version of the card at airports.
Read more here. —The New York Times
7,216 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, 115 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 7,216 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 115 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 848,904 and the statewide confirmed death toll to 14,291 since the start of the pandemic.
—Chicago Tribune staff
Downtown Naperville’s Features Bar and Grill unveils rail cars for winter dining
Features Bar and Grill unveiled its own take on unique winter seating and dining Thursday when it began stationing dining cars — actual rail cars refurbished to seat customers — outside its Chicago Avenue location.
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The project is a joint effort by the restaurant, Naperville Public Works, the Downtown Naperville Alliance, the Naperville Development Partnership, and private contractors.
Read more here —Rafael Guerrero, Naperville Sun
COVID-19 testing sites continue to pop up around south suburbs
As the promised rollout of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus nears, testing centers remain busy this holiday season following a recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
While usually focused on treating children’s ailments, Alzein Pediatrics’ staff in recent weeks were getting questions from children’s parents and grandparents about where they could go for COVID-19 testing.
“We had a lot of patients looking for places to get tested out of concern about being around their children or grandchildren,” said Marie Armstrong, clinical manager for the practice, which has offices in Evergreen Park and Oak Lawn.
Read more here —Mike Nolan, Daily Southtown
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Trucks with first COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the US roll out of Pfizer manufacturing plant in Michigan
The first trucks carrying a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the United States pulled out of a Michigan manufacturing facility Sunday, with the shots that are critical to stopping the nation’s coronavirus outbreak destined to reach states a day later.
Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine will set in motion the biggest vaccination effort in American history at a critical juncture of the pandemic that has killed 1.6 million and sickened 71 million worldwide.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Saturday
COVID-19 vaccine will start arriving in states Monday, officials say, as US surpasses 16 million total confirmed cases
The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning, U.S. officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.
Initially, about 3 million doses were expected to be shipped nationwide. It was unclear exactly who would receive the first shots, though health care workers and nursing home residents were the priority. Perna said health authorities would decide.
The announcement Saturday kicks off a massive logistical operation involving the federal and state governments, private companies and health care workers to quickly distribute limited vaccine supplies throughout the U.S. It offers hope in a country grappling with surging COVID-19 infections and deaths, which are overwhelming hospitals and raising fears that things will only get worse as people gather over the holidays.
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The U.S. has recorded more than 16 million cases of COVID-19, by far the most of any country in the world, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University, and also leads the world in deaths related to the coronavirus at more than 297,600, including a record 3,309 recorded on Friday. The coronavirus has caused more than 1.6 million global deaths.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Charley Pride, country music’s first Black star, dies at 86 of COVID-19 complications
Charley Pride, one of country music’s first Black superstar whose rich baritone on such hits as “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” helped sell millions of records and made him the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, has died. He was 86.
Pride died Saturday in Dallas of complications from Covid-19, according to Jeremy Westby of the public relations firm 2911 Media.
“I’m so heartbroken that one of my dearest and oldest friends, Charley Pride, has passed away. It’s even worse to know that he passed away from COVID-19. What a horrible, horrible virus. Charley, we will always love you,” Dolly Parton tweeted.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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127 new deaths, 8,737 new cases of COVID-19 reported
Illinois health officials announced Saturday 8,737 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-10 and 127 new fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 841,688 and the statewide death toll to 14,177 since the beginning of the pandemic.
The figures come a day after officials announced Chicago-area hospitals were getting ready to deliver the first COVID-19 vaccines to their employees during the first few days of next week.
The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning, U.S. officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end the outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.
—Rosemary Sobol
Pritzker put on defensive by COVID-19 outbreak that tore through LaSalle VA home with terrifying speed
Beginning Oct. 31, as the coronavirus pandemic was surging once again across the state, including in LaSalle County, an outbreak tore through the home with terrifying speed, infecting more than 200 residents and staff members and killing at least 33 veterans, including Jerome Liesse.
The fallout has been equally swift. Initial inspections by federal and state inspections identified myriad problems at the home, including lax use of personal protective equipment and poor social distancing. State legislators have set hearings, and an investigation by a state inspector general has been launched.
Advertisement
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who in his 2018 campaign for governor was highly critical of his Republican predecessor Bruce Rauner’s handling of a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at another state veterans home, is now on the defensive over his own VA home crisis.
“The governor owns this. This is his job,” said state Rep. Jim Durkin of Western Springs, the Illinois House Republican leader. “It’s the state’s job to provide for the care of the men and women who live and also work within that facility.”
Read more here. —Rick Pearson and Dan Petrella
Friday
‘We just pray that we get the strength to keep going day by day.’ Family cancels pilgrimage after third brother dies of coronavirus
Tragedy has once again struck the family who started the pilgrimage from Chicago to Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine in Des Plaines.
In September, 63-year-old Ricardo Alanis, founder of the first and largest yearly pilgrimage from Chicago to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, died of COVID-19.
Two months after Ricardo Alanis died, one of his brothers died from COVID-19 in Mexico. And on Friday, a third brother, Jose Alanis, died of COVID-19 complications at Amita Health St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, according to a family member.
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Read more here. —Javonte Anderson
Local hospitals ready to give first COVID-19 vaccines to employees as soon as next week
Chicago-area hospitals are gearing up to give the first COVID-19 vaccination shots to their employees as soon as early next week now that emergency use authorization has been granted by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration.
Rush University Medical Center could begin administering the vaccine to its workers as soon as Monday, depending on when the vaccine arrives, hospital officials said. University of Chicago Medicine might start inoculating employees Wednesday. Edward-Elmhurst Health, which has hospitals in west suburban Naperville and Elmhurst, is tentatively expecting to begin vaccinating its workers Tuesday.
And Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Maywood was selected as one of roughly three dozen veterans health administration sites across the country to receive initial doses, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Friday. The west suburban hospital was the only VA hospital in Illinois to make the list, in part because it has the capacity to store the vaccine at extremely cold temperatures, the hospital said in a news release.
Read more here. —Madeline Buckley, Lisa Schencker and Angie Leventis Lourgos
Walgreens to hire 25,000 as part of plan to start giving COVID-19 vaccine to nursing home residents and staff before Christmas
Walgreens expects to receive its first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Dec. 21 and plans to inoculate nursing home residents and workers at more than 30,000 longterm care facilities nationwide.
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Deerfield-based Walgreens plans to hire about 25,000 workers across the U.S., including up to 9,000 pharmacists and other health care workers, to administer the vaccine, once approved, to longterm care facilities through a partnership with pharmacy service provider PharMerica, the companies said during a panel discussion Friday on the vaccine rollout.
Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez
Pandemic puppies, holiday tamales and binge-watching TV from a cardboard ‘yacht’: How 39 Chicagoans made it through 2020
Few would deny that 2020 has been difficult for a host of reasons, from the quarter-million lives lost due to the coronavirus pandemic to the continuing fight against racial injustice.
How did people make it through this year? We asked Illinois residents to tell us what they did to get through 2020. Some adopted dogs, some volunteered in their neighborhoods and others discovered a new hobby. Here’s what they had to say.
Read more here. —Hannah Herrera Greenspan
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
In case you missed it
Here are five things that happened Friday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--How full are hospitals in Illinois? Search our list to find out.

The figures cover all adult inpatient beds that a hospital is staffing , as well as the subset of beds @ @ @ @ @ unit .
COVID-19 patients include confirmed cases as well as those considered to be under @ @ @ @ @

Amid pandemic fears of overrun hospitals, federal regulators have released figures that show how full each hospital is — including with COVID-19 patients — and how many beds each has to spare.
The figures cover all adult inpatient beds that a hospital is staffing, as well as the subset of beds staffed in an intensive care unit. COVID-19 patients include confirmed cases as well as those considered to be under investigation for the virus.
The data covers the most recent Friday-to-Thursday period, and the figures are a daily average from that week.
Search below for any hospital in Illinois, then click on the name to get more detailed information. (Figures weren’t provided for hospitals with very small patient loads.)
Data as of Dec. 21.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Data limited to only hospitals with an average of four or more patients in a category. For more information, see this website.


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--Chicago police’s homicide clearance rate dips in 2020 after improvement in recent years

The drop — from 50.3 % solved in 2019 to 44.5 % this year— comes after three years of improvement @ @ @ @ @ also happening at an unprecedented moment , with violence spiking across the country in the @ @ @ @ @ and national protests over policing , leaving experts predicting other cities will see dips in @ @ @ @ @

After chipping away at a persistently low homicide clearance rate, the number of murders solved by Chicago police has dropped in 2020, department officials said Monday.
The drop — from 50.3% solved in 2019 to 44.5% this year— comes after three years of improvement. But the reversal is also happening at an unprecedented moment, with violence spiking across the country in the wake of both the pandemic and national protests over policing, leaving experts predicting other cities will see dips in clearance rates as well.
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Despite the decline, Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan on Monday pointed out that the 2020 rate still puts Chicago police ahead of its 2016 rate of about 29%. And he noted that the total number of murders solved so far this year, 329, is the most in one year since 2005, crediting structural changes as well as investments in technology.
“So far, 329 murders have been cleared, more than the department has solved in 15 years,” he said. “Something changed.”
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Not all cases are cleared with an arrest and charges, however. Of the 329 cases, 134 were cleared by a category the department calls “exceptional,” which means police have identified a suspect, but either the suspect is dead or prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to approve charges.
This year’s figure includes cases from prior years that were solved in 2020.
Police investigate the scene of a homicide in the 6200 block of South Claremont Avenue in the West Englewood neighborhood on June 9, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago’s homicide clearance rates have come under intense scrutiny in recent years, with a variety of factors said to have led to rates that put the city about 20 percentage points below national averages. Low hiring rates, insufficient training and supervision, and inadequate technology were cited as issues.
So, too, was a daunting problem — a lack of community trust in the police.
Over the past year or so, the department has received grant money to open technology hubs at all five of its detective areas, improving, for example, the ability to download and absorb video and cellphone evidence.
And the department has created new, focused homicide teams supervised by lieutenants and sergeants that work exclusively on murders.
Officers who specialize in gang intelligence are now assigned to each of those homicide teams to investigate cases under the direction of the homicide lieutenant. Deenihan said the gang intelligence officers provide real-time knowledge of current conflicts on the street and those involved.
“They report to (the area) every day and check in with the lieutenant and sergeants,” Deenihan said. “Under the old structure ... they were reporting to a different building.”
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When asked about the slip in the clearance rate this year, despite the implemented changes, Deenihan cited a “massive” increase in the workload for his detectives as shootings and homicides soared. So far, there have been more than 700 homicides in Chicago.
David Carter, a criminal justice professor at Michigan State University, applauded the changes Chicago has made, and noted that such a sharp increase in violence this year was bound to affect the speed at which detectives can solve cases.
“As a result of that, your clearance rates are going to go down simply because (of) less staff hours on investigations,” said Carter, who has studied clearance rates nationally.
Carter also said that it is “without question” that the stronger the relationship between police and the community, the higher a department’s clearance rate will be. With more trust and communication, he said, residents feel more comfortable working with police.
And that, one community organizer agreed, is an area the department is working on, but still needs to improve.
“‘This has to be the mantra of every single police officer who is sworn: that we are invested in the community,” said Mecole Jordan-McBride, advocacy director for New York University’s School of Law Policing Project, which is working in Chicago on community policing programs.
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asweeney@chicagotribune.com
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--FBI: Suspect in McCormick Place Metra platform rifle incident turns himself in

Last Wednesday , the federal agency released still video images of the man captured on surveillance at the Metra platform @ @ @ @ @ asking the public to help apprehend the man .
Around 10 a.m. on Dec. 1 @ @ @ @ @ man removing the rifle from a backpack and firing one shot .

Surveillance video released by the FBI of a man taking a rifle out of a backpack and firing a shot Dec. 1, 2020 at the McCormick Place Metra station in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
A man arrested for firing a single shot from a collapsible rifle at a South Loop Metra station told authorities “he does stupid stuff when he drinks,” prosecutors said Tuesday.
Shawn Kimbrough’s alleged statement following the Dec. 1 shooting at the McCormick Place Metra station appeared to fall flat with Judge Mary C. Marubio, who ordered him held on $500,000 bail, plus house arrest, during a hearing broadcast on YouTube.
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“This statement,” Marubio said, “is an understatement. This isn’t the type of accidental discharge that we sometimes see in bond court. This is a very deliberate set of actions.”
The judge said her high bail was due to the danger such a shooting posed, as well as “the amount of effort it took for him to discharge that gun in the manner he did.”
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Surveillance video of a man the FBI says fired a shot at the McCormick Place Metra station about 10 a.m. Dec. 1, 2020. (FBI)
Kimbrough, 40, of Chicago’s University Village/Little Italy neighborhood, faces charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a firearm with a revoked firearm owner’s identification card and reckless discharge of a firearm.
Kimbrough was the subject of an FBI community alert after the agency released video and still images of the man captured on surveillance at the Metra platform in the South Loop. He turned himself in to authorities Monday after negotiating terms through his private attorney.
In court, prosecutors told the judge that Metra cameras caught Kimbrough assembling a Kel-Tec SU-16 rifle on the platform and firing a shot across the rail tracks at a high concrete wall before breaking it back down and “stumbling” away.
Before the shooting, Kimbrough told a Metra conductor that he had a gun in his backpack, but the conductor — who suspected that Kimbrough had been drinking — didn’t believe him, said Assistant State’s Attorney Jocelyn Schieve.
Authorities locally and around the country have worked in coordination with federal authorities to prevent possible domestic threats following a year of anxieties related to the pandemic, police use of force, looting and the presidential election.
The FBI’s domestic terrorism task force joined the investigation after the shot was fired around 10:45 a.m., but found no credible links to terrorism. An anonymous tip led authorities to Kimbrough, who was visiting his father in the Carolinas, according to his attorney Jeff Aprati.
Police interviewed Kimbrough’s wife, who identified her husband from the surveillance. Kimbrough later made contact with a federal agent by phone, saying he knew police were looking for him, that he wanted to turn himself in and that “he does stupid stuff when he drinks,” Schieve said.
Authorities later recovered the rifle from inside a home safe after Kimbrough provided them with a key.
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Kimbrough’s FOID card had been revoked following a misdemeanor gun conviction from an incident in August 2019. He allegedly brandished a handgun on the street and asked a tourist whether he could take out a sniper at the Marina City building downtown, prosecutors said.
Kimbrough’s attorney said his client was laid off from his longtime catering job and now works for a company caring for the elderly and disabled.
He was expected to return to court on Dec. 23.


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Chicago and other areas of state receive first shipments of Pfizer

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Chicago and other areas of state receive first shipments of Pfizer vaccine as officials report 7,214 new COVID-19 cases and 103 additional deaths

Illinois has received its first shipments of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine that federal regulators approved for emergency use late last week , according to Gov .
J.B. Pritzker ’ s office .
Together with direct shipments expected from the federal government to health departments in Cook , Lake , Madison and St. Clair counties in coming days , roughly 100,000 doses are expected to arrive in the state this week , with hundreds of thousands more doses arriving in the coming weeks .
The state ’ s initial doses of the vaccine are reserved for health care workers and nursing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen the highest per capita death rates from COVID-19 .
On Monday , Illinois health officials announced 7,214 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 103 additional fatalities , bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 856,118 and the statewide death toll to 14,394 since the start of the pandemic .
Separately , Loretto Hospital , a 122-bed medical facility in the Austin community , will administer Chicago ’ s ceremonial first COVID-19 vaccination Tuesday , sources told the Tribune .
Chicago-area hospitals have been gearing up to give @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Additionally , residents of suburban Cook County will likely receive vaccines in a variety of places in the coming months , including from their own doctors and in parking lots and churches , county health leaders said .
6:50 p.m. : Vaccines are coming .
But inside the ICU at Aurora ’ s Rush Copley hospital , the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over .
Just beyond a short yellow barrier reminding Rush Copley intensive care unit staff which rooms are for COVID-19 patients and which are “ clean , ” a masked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caregivers meets in a corner to review each critical care patient ’ s needs .
They calmly discuss the virus patients , each one behind tightly-closed , curtained glass doors nearby , but there ’ s an urgency to the team ’ s work .
In the previous six days in this ICU , five COVID-19 patients died .
It has taken a toll on nurses like Christine Jewell .
By now she is used to the routine of pandemic life , but she becomes emotional talking about her patients who have died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been one of the worst things I ’ ve dealt with in my career , ” Jewell said .
“ Seeing people die alone is really emotional for me .
It ’ s really hard .
I just can ’ t imagine my family member or myself going through that.
” Nine months into the pandemic Rush Copley staff have settled into the logistics of COVID-19 care .
But for the doctors and nurses working with virus patients every day , the pandemic grind is far from over , despite the promise of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Employers can require COVID-19 vaccination .
Here ’ s what companies and workers need to know .
With COVID-19 vaccinations expected to start in Chicago Tuesday , employers eager to return to some semblance of business as usual are contemplating how best to urge workers to get inoculated — and whether to make it mandatory .
Can they require the vaccine ?
The short answer is yes , with some exceptions , attorneys say .
The trickier question is whether they should .
While many people are eager to get vaccinated , polls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a vaccine that was developed so quickly .
Companies are mulling how to create a safe workplace for all while respecting those concerns .
“ There is an enormous amount of anxiety out there , ” said Barry Hartstein , an attorney in the Chicago office of the labor and employment firm Littler Mendelson .
“ Employers want a quick fix , they want employees coming back to work , they don ’ t want employees scared to come back to work , ” Hartstein said .
The U.S. death toll from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country began dispensing COVID-19 shots in a monumental campaign to conquer the outbreak .
The number of dead rivals the population of St. Louis or Pittsburgh .
It is equivalent to repeating a tragedy on the scale of Hurricane Katrina every day for 5 1/2 months .
It is more than five times the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War .
It is equal to a 9/11 attack every day for more than 100 days .
“ The numbers are staggering -- the most impactful respiratory pandemic that we have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the iconic 1918 Spanish flu , ” Dr. Anthony Fauci , the government ’ s top infectious-disease expert , said days before the milestone .
The U.S. crossed the threshold on the same day health care workers rolled up their sleeves for Pfizer ’ s COVID-19 shot , marking the start of the biggest vaccination campaign in American history .
If a second vaccine is authorized soon , as expected , 20 million people could be immunized by month ’ s end .
Illinois on Monday received its first shipments of the Pfizer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergency use late last week .
The state received about 43,000 doses of the vaccine at its outpost of the Strategic National Stockpile , according to Gov .
J.B. Pritzker ’ s office.The state is not disclosing the outpost ’ s location for security reasons .
The city of Chicago received its own shipment of the vaccine Monday , the state said .
Together with direct shipments expected from the federal government to health departments in Cook , Lake , Madison and St. Clair counties in coming days , roughly 100,000 doses are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week , with hundreds of thousands more doses arriving in the coming weeks .
The state ’ s initial doses of the vaccine are reserved for health care workers and nursing home residents in 50 counties that have seen the highest per capita death rates from COVID-19 .
1:54 p.m. : Parking lots , churches , pharmacies among places suburban Cook County residents will be able to receive COVID-19 vaccine Residents of suburban Cook County will likely receive vaccines in a variety of places in the coming months , including from their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , county health leaders said Monday .
Suburban Cook County expects 20,000 doses this week , which will go to workers at 15 hospitals .
Next , residents and staff of long-term care facilities will be vaccinated by Walgreens and CVS Health workers .
Other health care workers , such as EMS workers , will then likely get the vaccine , followed by essential workers , including first responders , corrections officers , education , transportation , food and agricultural workers , said Dr. Kiran Joshi , colead of the Cook County Department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conference Monday .
High-risk adults might then follow , though the exact order of vaccinations may depend on further recommendations expected from a CDC advisory committee in coming weeks .
Progress was being reported on other fronts , too , as lawmakers cobbled together a year-end catchall funding package that will be the basis for the last significant legislation of the Trump presidency .
The dozen or so lawmakers sealed agreement on their COVID relief plan over the weekend and decided to offer two bills .
One is a $ 748 billion aid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the unemployed , schools , and for vaccine distribution .
The other bill proposes a $ 160 billion aid package for state and local governments and provisions shielding businesses from COVID-related lawsuits , a dynamic favored by Senate Republicans .
The community hospital , which treats all patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay , was chosen because of the care it has provided to communities hit hardest by the virus , sources familiar with the decision said .
Home to the first testing center on the West Side , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tests , expanded an intensive care unit and created a 15-bed coronavirus ward to handle the onslaught of cases over the past 10 months .
Austin ’ s main ZIP Code has among the highest death rates in the city , with one in every 468 residents killed by the virus , according to data maintained by the Chicago Public Health Department .
The neighborhood death rate is about 62 % higher than that of the entire city , a reflection of the deadly consequences that underserved Black communities have endured for generations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus vaccines , and Chicago officials aim to vaccinate all adults in 2021 , we ’ re approaching the next bend in the road of a pandemic that has upended our way of life and cost more than a quarter-of-a-million lives .
While the aftermath of Thanksgiving gatherings comes into focus , it ’ s still unclear just how severely the coronavirus will continue to shape our world into 2021 .
But with a new phase of the pandemic comes a host of new questions : Who will receive the vaccine , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me , and how might it affect my health ?
Dr. Emily Landon , who specializes in infectious diseases at University of Chicago Medicine and leads the academic health system ’ s infection control and prevention efforts , answers those questions and more on Monday ’ s Facebook Live with the Tribune ’ s Ariel Cheung .
If you have COVID-19-related questions , please submit them to us at chicagotribune.com/ask , or check our continuously updated Q & A .
1:18 p.m. : Illinois receives its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine Illinois @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 103 additional fatalities , bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 856,118 and the statewide death toll to 14,394 since the start of the pandemic .
Officials also reported 92,256 new tests in the last 24 hours .
11:59 a.m. : They turned their van into a ‘ mobile dining room ’ to help support restaurants and bars For many , dining out is at the heart of good times and memories .
The suspension of indoor dining at restaurants and bars because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Kim and Doug White .
It took away date nights , a way the Lombard couple communicates .
“ It ’ s Doug ’ s love language , ” said Kim White .
“ From the very beginning , we love to go out to eat .
It ’ s been the thing that we do.
” Like many others , they sought ways to find happiness and some normalcy during an isolating time .
Their solution : turn their Ford Transit van into a mobile dining room .
Since October , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parking lots and eating their takeout at the table covered in a red-and-white checkered table cloth in the back of their van .
To help support the restaurants , they ’ ve been posting their date nights on Facebook and Instagram , logging their favorite dishes .
“ Eating out for us is that little teeny tiny bit of normalcy , ” said Kim White , who talked about being dealt another blow this year .
11:51 a.m. : Pandemic necessitates new procedures , but calls are down in 2020 for south suburban @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the way paramedics look and act when called to the scene of a medical emergency , but despite some spikes those calls have been down overall in 2020 , according to area fire departments and districts .
Tinley Park calls were down “ probably 25 % or more ” across police , fire and emergency management over last year , said Pat Carr , director of the village ’ s emergency management agency and 911 communications .
The Mokena Fire Protection District has seen a decrease of 3 % over the course of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 57 % drop in April numbers compared to last year , an 18 % drop in June and an 18 % increase in September , said Chief Howard Stephens .
Carr said it is hard to say why call volume has been down in 2020 , though he acknowledged it could have something to do with people who are observing restrictions being less likely to participate in activities that might lead to medical events .
Conversely , he said there has been an increase in the past couple of weeks of slips , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are out decorating or doing other projects .
” The Mokena Fire Protection District attributes the decrease in responses this year due to the community staying home , being safe , wearing masks and washing hands , ” he said .
11:08 a.m. : Trump administration rushes to roll out a $ 250 million public education effort to encourage Americans to get vaccinated he Trump administration , scrambling to make up for lost time after a halting start , is rushing to roll out a $ 250 million public education campaign to encourage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which will reach the first patients in the United States this week .
Federal officials acknowledge the effort will be a complicated one .
It must compete with public doubt and mistrust of government programs amid deep political divisions created in part by a president who has spent much of the year belittling government scientists , promoting ineffective treatments and dismissing the seriousness of the pandemic — and is now rushing to claim credit for a vaccine that he has made a priority .
“ When you have an anti-science element together with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be challenging , ” Dr. Anthony Fauci , the government ’ s top infectious disease expert , said in an interview Friday , while declining to talk specifically about President Donald Trump .
“ But you know , we ’ ve done challenging things before.
” 10:41 a.m. : Cooped up inside , Chicago renters and condo owners find new ways to come together , such as houseplant pop-ups and virtual baking classes Staying home and avoiding large indoor gatherings has been a vital way to combat COVID-19 , and the holidays @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are finding new ways to gather with those already in their residential buildings , as multifamily communities do what they can to keep residents engaged and active during these times of mitigation .
“ Home is really important , now more than ever , so experiences within their home ( are ) continuing to evolve , ” said Haley Rafferty , who oversees four Related Midwest buildings in Chicago , including One Bennett Park and 500 Lake Shore Drive .
“ We ’ ve been adapting and pivoting programming with ... residents ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just safety , but what do they want ?
What ’ s lacking in their lives ?
What are they craving ?
” For many , that means safely socializing or finding ways to enjoy activities that don ’ t put them at risk for contracting the virus .
9:41 a.m. : Health care workers begin receiving COVID-19 vaccine as largest vaccination campaign in US history now underway : ‘ I feel hopeful today ’ The largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history got underway Monday as health workers in select hospitals rolled up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from COVID-19 and start beating back the pandemic — a day of optimism even as the nation ’ s death toll neared 300,000 .
“ I feel hopeful today .
Relieved , ” said critical case nurse Sandra Lindsay after getting a shot in the arm at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York .
Shipments of precious frozen vials of vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech began arriving at hospitals around the country Monday .
“ This is the light at the end of the tunnel .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo said as he watched Lindsay ’ s vaccination via video .
Several other countries also have OK ’ d the vaccine , including the U.K. , which started vaccinating last week .
For health care workers who , along with nursing home residents , will be first in line for vaccination , hope is tempered by grief and the sheer exhaustion of months spent battling a coronavirus that still is surging in the U.S. and around the world .
“ This is mile 24 of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But we also recognize that this end is in sight , ” said Dr. Chris Dale of Swedish Health Services in Seattle .
“ Some of them are going through some rough times .
Some have spouses or partners who have been very negatively impacted .
...
It ’ d be a missed opportunity to not show you care , especially with virtual opportunities , ” Cain said .
For businesses large and small , it ’ s been a tough year of layoffs , furloughs , and salary cuts , as some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Health concerns and tight finances may have scrapped traditional holiday parties , as well as year-end bonuses at some companies , but employers are looking for creative ways to offer some sort of cheer at the end of a difficult year .
7:15 a.m. : Cook County to detail plans for vaccine distribution as doses to begin arriving in Illinois Cook County officials were scheduled Monday to detail plans for distribution of the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines in suburbs in the county , after Chicago officials last week provided some information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to start vaccinating their workers as soon as Monday .
City officials last week said they expect to receive 23,000 doses in their initial batch and additional doses of the vaccine every subsequent week , with all 34 hospitals in Chicago receiving some of the initial doses , city officials said Friday .
Rush University Medical Center officials last week said they could begin vaccinating health care workers there as soon as Monday , while other hospitals said they were looking at midweek starts .
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and leaders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were scheduled to hold a Monday afternoon news conference to detail plans for distribution in Cook County suburbs .
Hines VA Hospital in the west suburbs on Friday said it was one of 37 Veterans Administration sites selected to receive initial doses of the vaccine .
7:05 a.m. : ComEd , state offer grants to small businesses hit by COVID-19 In light of the economic hardships brought about by COVID-19 , starting Wednesday , ComED is accepting applications for its Small Business Assistance Program , which provides eligible small business customers , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ towards a past-due balance .
Eligible customers also may place a remaining balance into a payment plan of up to 6 months .
Call 877-426-6331to apply ; go to www.comed.com for more information .
In addition , the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity reminds small businesses and communities that applications for the Business Interruption Grant program are due by 5 p.m. Tuesday .
DCEO and its grant administrators Accion and WBDC have developed a menu of resources and technical assistance to help small businesses in need qualify for grants .
Go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eligibility , how to receive assistance with submitting your application , and to review the application .
BIG grants , leveraging federal CARES Act dollars , provide grants ranging from $ 5,000 to $ 150,000 .
The average grant provided to date is $ 25,000 .
Grant funds may be used toward operational expenses , including PPE , rent and utilities , payroll , and more .
5 a.m. : Violent crime rate doubles on CTA rail system in 2020 , even with stepped-up police efforts and far fewer riders The rate of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has more than doubled this year , even though the number of riders has dramatically dropped and Chicago police have stepped up patrols and surveillance , according to a Tribune analysis of police and CTA data .
Ridership this year on the “ L ” system has been down 61 % through September compared with the same period in 2019 , according to the CTA .
In some months during the spring and summer , it was down more than 85 % .
The number of crimes has dropped , too , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That means those left riding the system saw a jump in their odds of becoming a victim to a crime on the “ L ” or at CTA platforms and stations .
Read more here .
—Kelli Smith and Joe Mahr Here are three things that happened this weekend related to COVID-19 :

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois has received its first shipments of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine that federal regulators approved for emergency use late last week, according to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office.
Together with direct shipments expected from the federal government to health departments in Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties in coming days, roughly 100,000 doses are expected to arrive in the state this week, with hundreds of thousands more doses arriving in the coming weeks.
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The state’s initial doses of the vaccine are reserved for health care workers and nursing home residents in 50 counties that have seen the highest per capita death rates from COVID-19.
On Monday, Illinois health officials announced 7,214 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 103 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 856,118 and the statewide death toll to 14,394 since the start of the pandemic.
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Separately, Loretto Hospital, a 122-bed medical facility in the Austin community, will administer Chicago’s ceremonial first COVID-19 vaccination Tuesday, sources told the Tribune. Chicago-area hospitals have been gearing up to give the first shots to their employees.
Additionally, residents of suburban Cook County will likely receive vaccines in a variety of places in the coming months, including from their own doctors and in parking lots and churches, county health leaders said.
Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
6:50 p.m.: Vaccines are coming. But inside the ICU at Aurora’s Rush Copley hospital, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over.
Just beyond a short yellow barrier reminding Rush Copley intensive care unit staff which rooms are for COVID-19 patients and which are “clean,” a masked team of doctors, pharmacists and other caregivers meets in a corner to review each critical care patient’s needs.
They calmly discuss the virus patients, each one behind tightly-closed, curtained glass doors nearby, but there’s an urgency to the team’s work. In the previous six days in this ICU, five COVID-19 patients died.
It has taken a toll on nurses like Christine Jewell. By now she is used to the routine of pandemic life, but she becomes emotional talking about her patients who have died alone.
“It’s honestly been one of the worst things I’ve dealt with in my career,” Jewell said. “Seeing people die alone is really emotional for me. It’s really hard. I just can’t imagine my family member or myself going through that.”
Nine months into the pandemic Rush Copley staff have settled into the logistics of COVID-19 care. But for the doctors and nurses working with virus patients every day, the pandemic grind is far from over, despite the promise of the new vaccine.
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Read more here. —Sarah Freishtat
4:30 p.m.: Employers can require COVID-19 vaccination. Here’s what companies and workers need to know.
With COVID-19 vaccinations expected to start in Chicago Tuesday, employers eager to return to some semblance of business as usual are contemplating how best to urge workers to get inoculated — and whether to make it mandatory.
Can they require the vaccine? The short answer is yes, with some exceptions, attorneys say. The trickier question is whether they should.
While many people are eager to get vaccinated, polls show a substantial minority fear the safety of a vaccine that was developed so quickly. Companies are mulling how to create a safe workplace for all while respecting those concerns.
“There is an enormous amount of anxiety out there,” said Barry Hartstein, an attorney in the Chicago office of the labor and employment firm Littler Mendelson.
“Employers want a quick fix, they want employees coming back to work, they don’t want employees scared to come back to work,” Hartstein said.
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Read more here. —Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
3:40 p.m.: US COVID-19 deaths top 300,000 just as vaccinations begin
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 300,000 Monday just as the country began dispensing COVID-19 shots in a monumental campaign to conquer the outbreak.
The number of dead rivals the population of St. Louis or Pittsburgh. It is equivalent to repeating a tragedy on the scale of Hurricane Katrina every day for 5 1/2 months. It is more than five times the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War. It is equal to a 9/11 attack every day for more than 100 days.
“The numbers are staggering -- the most impactful respiratory pandemic that we have experienced in over 102 years, since the iconic 1918 Spanish flu,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, said days before the milestone.
The U.S. crossed the threshold on the same day health care workers rolled up their sleeves for Pfizer’s COVID-19 shot, marking the start of the biggest vaccination campaign in American history. If a second vaccine is authorized soon, as expected, 20 million people could be immunized by month’s end.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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1:55 p.m.: Illinois and Chicago receive first shipments of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine
Illinois on Monday received its first shipments of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine that federal regulators approved for emergency use late last week.
The state received about 43,000 doses of the vaccine at its outpost of the Strategic National Stockpile, according to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office.The state is not disclosing the outpost’s location for security reasons.
The city of Chicago received its own shipment of the vaccine Monday, the state said.
Together with direct shipments expected from the federal government to health departments in Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties in coming days, roughly 100,000 doses are expected to arrive in the state this week, with hundreds of thousands more doses arriving in the coming weeks.
The state’s initial doses of the vaccine are reserved for health care workers and nursing home residents in 50 counties that have seen the highest per capita death rates from COVID-19.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella and Jamie Munks
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1:54 p.m.: Parking lots, churches, pharmacies among places suburban Cook County residents will be able to receive COVID-19 vaccine
Residents of suburban Cook County will likely receive vaccines in a variety of places in the coming months, including from their own doctors and in parking lots and churches, county health leaders said Monday.
Suburban Cook County expects 20,000 doses this week, which will go to workers at 15 hospitals. Next, residents and staff of long-term care facilities will be vaccinated by Walgreens and CVS Health workers. Other health care workers, such as EMS workers, will then likely get the vaccine, followed by essential workers, including first responders, corrections officers, education, transportation, food and agricultural workers, said Dr. Kiran Joshi, colead of the Cook County Department of Public Health, during a news conference Monday.
High-risk adults might then follow, though the exact order of vaccinations may depend on further recommendations expected from a CDC advisory committee in coming weeks.
Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
1:51 p.m.: Crunch time for COVID-19 relief as bipartisan bills are unveiled
A bipartisan group of lawmakers was unveiling a detailed COVID-19 aid proposal Monday as Congress labored toward a final agreement on a new round of virus relief.
Progress was being reported on other fronts, too, as lawmakers cobbled together a year-end catchall funding package that will be the basis for the last significant legislation of the Trump presidency.
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The dozen or so lawmakers sealed agreement on their COVID relief plan over the weekend and decided to offer two bills. One is a $748 billion aid package containing money for struggling businesses, the unemployed, schools, and for vaccine distribution. The other bill proposes a $160 billion aid package for state and local governments and provisions shielding businesses from COVID-related lawsuits, a dynamic favored by Senate Republicans.
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:46 p.m.: Chicago picks Loretto Hospital for ceremonial first COVID-19 vaccination
The Loretto Hospital, a 122-bed medical facility in the Austin neighborhood, will administer Chicago’s ceremonial first COVID-19 vaccination Tuesday, sources told the Tribune.
The community hospital, which treats all patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay, was chosen because of the care it has provided to communities hit hardest by the virus, sources familiar with the decision said.
Home to the first testing center on the West Side, Loretto staff have performed more than 18,000 tests, expanded an intensive care unit and created a 15-bed coronavirus ward to handle the onslaught of cases over the past 10 months.
Austin’s main ZIP Code has among the highest death rates in the city, with one in every 468 residents killed by the virus, according to data maintained by the Chicago Public Health Department. The neighborhood death rate is about 62% higher than that of the entire city, a reflection of the deadly consequences that underserved Black communities have endured for generations.
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Read more here. —Gregory Pratt and Stacy St. Clair
1:38 p.m.: Readers’ questions about COVID-19 vaccination answered on Facebook Live with UChicago Medicine’s Dr. Emily Landon
As the country starts rolling out coronavirus vaccines, and Chicago officials aim to vaccinate all adults in 2021, we’re approaching the next bend in the road of a pandemic that has upended our way of life and cost more than a quarter-of-a-million lives. While the aftermath of Thanksgiving gatherings comes into focus, it’s still unclear just how severely the coronavirus will continue to shape our world into 2021.
But with a new phase of the pandemic comes a host of new questions: Who will receive the vaccine, and when? Is the vaccine safe for me, and how might it affect my health?
Dr. Emily Landon, who specializes in infectious diseases at University of Chicago Medicine and leads the academic health system’s infection control and prevention efforts, answers those questions and more on Monday’s Facebook Live with the Tribune’s Ariel Cheung.
If you have COVID-19-related questions, please submit them to us at chicagotribune.com/ask, or check our continuously updated Q&A.
—Ariel Cheung
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1:18 p.m.: Illinois receives its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine
Illinois has received its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine: 43K doses have arrived at the Illinois Strategic National Stockpile. Chicago & local health depts in Cook, Lake, Madison & St. Clair counties received direct shipments, for a total of about 100k doses statewide. — Jamie Munks (@by_jamiemunks) December 14, 2020
12:09 p.m.: 7,214 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 103 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Monday announced 7,214 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 103 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 856,118 and the statewide death toll to 14,394 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 92,256 new tests in the last 24 hours.
The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 8.7% for the period ending Sunday.
—Chicago Tribune staff
11:59 a.m.: They turned their van into a ‘mobile dining room’ to help support restaurants and bars
For many, dining out is at the heart of good times and memories. The suspension of indoor dining at restaurants and bars because of the coronavirus has stolen that joy from Kim and Doug White. It took away date nights, a way the Lombard couple communicates. “It’s Doug’s love language,” said Kim White. “From the very beginning, we love to go out to eat. It’s been the thing that we do.”
Like many others, they sought ways to find happiness and some normalcy during an isolating time. Their solution: turn their Ford Transit van into a mobile dining room. Since October, the two have been pulling into restaurant parking lots and eating their takeout at the table covered in a red-and-white checkered table cloth in the back of their van. To help support the restaurants, they’ve been posting their date nights on Facebook and Instagram, logging their favorite dishes.
“Eating out for us is that little teeny tiny bit of normalcy,” said Kim White, who talked about being dealt another blow this year.
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Read more here. —Alison Bowen
11:51 a.m.: Pandemic necessitates new procedures, but calls are down in 2020 for south suburban paramedics
The spread of COVID-19 has changed the way paramedics look and act when called to the scene of a medical emergency, but despite some spikes those calls have been down overall in 2020, according to area fire departments and districts.
Tinley Park calls were down “probably 25% or more” across police, fire and emergency management over last year, said Pat Carr, director of the village’s emergency management agency and 911 communications.
The Mokena Fire Protection District has seen a decrease of 3% over the course of the year, though there was a 57% drop in April numbers compared to last year, an 18% drop in June and an 18% increase in September, said Chief Howard Stephens.
Carr said it is hard to say why call volume has been down in 2020, though he acknowledged it could have something to do with people who are observing restrictions being less likely to participate in activities that might lead to medical events. Conversely, he said there has been an increase in the past couple of weeks of slips, trips and falls, likely because people are out decorating or doing other projects.
Stephens said people staying home may drive down numbers in other ways.
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”The Mokena Fire Protection District attributes the decrease in responses this year due to the community staying home, being safe, wearing masks and washing hands,” he said.
Read more here. —Bill Jones
11:08 a.m.: Trump administration rushes to roll out a $250 million public education effort to encourage Americans to get vaccinated
he Trump administration, scrambling to make up for lost time after a halting start, is rushing to roll out a $250 million public education campaign to encourage Americans to take the coronavirus vaccine, which will reach the first patients in the United States this week.
Federal officials acknowledge the effort will be a complicated one. It must compete with public doubt and mistrust of government programs amid deep political divisions created in part by a president who has spent much of the year belittling government scientists, promoting ineffective treatments and dismissing the seriousness of the pandemic — and is now rushing to claim credit for a vaccine that he has made a priority.
“When you have an anti-science element together with a divisiveness in the country, it will be challenging,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said in an interview Friday, while declining to talk specifically about President Donald Trump. “But you know, we’ve done challenging things before.”
Read more here. —The New York Times
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10:41 a.m.: Cooped up inside, Chicago renters and condo owners find new ways to come together, such as houseplant pop-ups and virtual baking classes
Staying home and avoiding large indoor gatherings has been a vital way to combat COVID-19, and the holidays have been no exception.
But some are finding new ways to gather with those already in their residential buildings, as multifamily communities do what they can to keep residents engaged and active during these times of mitigation.
“Home is really important, now more than ever, so experiences within their home (are) continuing to evolve,” said Haley Rafferty, who oversees four Related Midwest buildings in Chicago, including One Bennett Park and 500 Lake Shore Drive. “We’ve been adapting and pivoting programming with ... residents’ safety and comfort in mind — not just safety, but what do they want? What’s lacking in their lives? What are they craving?”
For many, that means safely socializing or finding ways to enjoy activities that don’t put them at risk for contracting the virus.
Read more here. —Darcel Rockett
9:41 a.m.: Health care workers begin receiving COVID-19 vaccine as largest vaccination campaign in US history now underway: ‘I feel hopeful today’
The largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history got underway Monday as health workers in select hospitals rolled up their sleeves for shots to protect them from COVID-19 and start beating back the pandemic — a day of optimism even as the nation’s death toll neared 300,000.
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“I feel hopeful today. Relieved,” said critical case nurse Sandra Lindsay after getting a shot in the arm at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York.
Shipments of precious frozen vials of vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech began arriving at hospitals around the country Monday.
“This is the light at the end of the tunnel. But it’s a long tunnel,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as he watched Lindsay’s vaccination via video.
Several other countries also have OK’d the vaccine, including the U.K., which started vaccinating last week.
For health care workers who, along with nursing home residents, will be first in line for vaccination, hope is tempered by grief and the sheer exhaustion of months spent battling a coronavirus that still is surging in the U.S. and around the world.
“This is mile 24 of a marathon. People are fatigued. But we also recognize that this end is in sight,” said Dr. Chris Dale of Swedish Health Services in Seattle.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
8 a.m.: Zoom scavenger hunts, Champagne deliveries: With office parties canceled, Chicago companies get creative
Kelly Cain normally goes all out for her staff of about 20 at the holidays, renting a suite at United Center for Chicago Blackhawks games or organizing a group trip to the theater.
The tab for these year-end festivities at Supply & Equipment Foodservice Alliance typically runs $400 to $600 per employee, said Cain, CEO of the Schaumburg-based company.
This year, the celebration will be on Zoom, since the coronavirus pandemic has nixed an in-person gathering. The company also plans to mail employees gift baskets filled with an assortment of food products, Cain said.
“Some of them are going through some rough times. Some have spouses or partners who have been very negatively impacted. ... It’d be a missed opportunity to not show you care, especially with virtual opportunities,” Cain said.
For businesses large and small, it’s been a tough year of layoffs, furloughs, and salary cuts, as some companies struggle to keep the doors open. Health concerns and tight finances may have scrapped traditional holiday parties, as well as year-end bonuses at some companies, but employers are looking for creative ways to offer some sort of cheer at the end of a difficult year.
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Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez
7:15 a.m.: Cook County to detail plans for vaccine distribution as doses to begin arriving in Illinois
Cook County officials were scheduled Monday to detail plans for distribution of the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines in suburbs in the county, after Chicago officials last week provided some information on city plans and hospitals geared up to start vaccinating their workers as soon as Monday.
City officials last week said they expect to receive 23,000 doses in their initial batch and additional doses of the vaccine every subsequent week, with all 34 hospitals in Chicago receiving some of the initial doses, city officials said Friday. Rush University Medical Center officials last week said they could begin vaccinating health care workers there as soon as Monday, while other hospitals said they were looking at midweek starts.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and leaders of the county’s health department were scheduled to hold a Monday afternoon news conference to detail plans for distribution in Cook County suburbs. Hines VA Hospital in the west suburbs on Friday said it was one of 37 Veterans Administration sites selected to receive initial doses of the vaccine.
—Chicago Tribune staff
7:05 a.m.: ComEd, state offer grants to small businesses hit by COVID-19
In light of the economic hardships brought about by COVID-19, starting Wednesday, ComED is accepting applications for its Small Business Assistance Program, which provides eligible small business customers, with a one-time grant up to $2,000 towards a past-due balance. Eligible customers also may place a remaining balance into a payment plan of up to 6 months.
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Call 877-426-6331to apply; go to www.comed.com for more information.
In addition, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity reminds small businesses and communities that applications for the Business Interruption Grant program are due by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
DCEO and its grant administrators Accion and WBDC have developed a menu of resources and technical assistance to help small businesses in need qualify for grants. Go to www2.illinois.gov for more information on BIG eligibility, how to receive assistance with submitting your application, and to review the application.
BIG grants, leveraging federal CARES Act dollars, provide grants ranging from $5,000 to $150,000. The average grant provided to date is $25,000. Grant funds may be used toward operational expenses, including PPE, rent and utilities, payroll, and more.
—The Daily Gazette, via Tribune Content Agency
5 a.m.: Violent crime rate doubles on CTA rail system in 2020, even with stepped-up police efforts and far fewer riders
The rate of violent crime on CTA trains and platforms has more than doubled this year, even though the number of riders has dramatically dropped and Chicago police have stepped up patrols and surveillance, according to a Tribune analysis of police and CTA data.
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Ridership this year on the “L” system has been down 61% through September compared with the same period in 2019, according to the CTA. In some months during the spring and summer, it was down more than 85%.
The number of crimes has dropped, too, but not nearly as much as ridership. That means those left riding the system saw a jump in their odds of becoming a victim to a crime on the “L” or at CTA platforms and stations.
Read more here. —Kelli Smith and Joe Mahr
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chicagotribune--2020-12-15--Illinois House panel adjourns after a party-line vote fails to uphold charges that Madigan acted imp

Illinois House panel adjourns after a party-line vote fails to uphold charges that Madigan acted improperly in ComEd case

“ We can not allow a vague assertion that this will somehow complicate a federal criminal investigation to deter this @ @ @ @ @ , especially when time and time again the U.S. attorney ’ s office has confirmed @ @ @ @ @ job to do , and they do not object to us doing that job , @ @ @ @ @ The special investigative committee exists for one reason : to conduct an investigation .
No @ @ @ @ @ a thorough investigation involves hearing from only one witness .
”

Illinois state Rep. Grant Wehrli, R-Naperville, holds up his arms as Illinois state Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, takes the vote on issuing a blanket subpoena during a committee hearing on House Speaker Michael Madigan's role in a bribery scandal involving utility giant Commonwealth Edison. (Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register)
A vote by a special Illinois House committee to charge embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan with conduct unbecoming a legislator failed along party lines on Monday, effectively ending a monthslong process that’s been characterized by intense partisan rancor.
It was the third and final meeting of the special investigative panel, created as the result of a petition House Republican Leader Jim Durkin filed this summer after Madigan was implicated in a sweeping federal bribery case involving Commonwealth Edison.
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Over the course of its three meetings, the committee heard from just one witness, David Glockner, ComEd parent Exelon’s executive vice president for compliance and audit, who confirmed many of the allegations made by federal prosecutors that the utility sought to influence Madigan by providing payments and jobs to his allies. Madigan declined an invitation to testify.
The committee’s Democratic chair, Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside, said additional testimony would likely interfere with the federal probe. Welch, who has accused Republicans of engaging in “political theater” throughout the process, on Monday called it a “show trial.”
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“It’s a stunt. It’s a joke. And that joke ends today,” Welch said during the meeting.
Illinois state Rep. Grant Wehrli, R-Naperville, delivers remarks Dec. 14, 2020, during a committee looking into House Speaker Michael Madigan's role in a bribery scandal involving utility giant Commonwealth Edison. (Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register)
Rep. Tom Demmer, the Republican spokesman on the committee, said the argument that the panel’s work interfered with the federal investigation had been used “since the very inception of this committee as a way to delay and defer action and throw roadblocks in the way of this committee doing its job time and time again.”
“We cannot allow a vague assertion that this will somehow complicate a federal criminal investigation to deter this committee from doing its job, especially when time and time again the U.S. attorney’s office has confirmed that this committee has a job to do, and they do not object to us doing that job,” Demmer said. “The special investigative committee exists for one reason: to conduct an investigation. No one here can say that a thorough investigation involves hearing from only one witness.”
At least one Democrat on the bipartisan six-member committee would have had to vote against Madigan for the charges alleged in Durkin’s petition to be authorized. Despite growing opposition to Madigan in the Democratic House caucus, that had been seen as unlikely ever since the panel was formed.
Democratic committee member Rep. Natalie Manley made the motion to authorize the charge stated in Durkin’s petition against Madigan, but she joined her two fellow Democrats on the committee in voting against it, effectively killing the motion.
Illinois state Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez, D-Cicero, delivers remarks Dec. 14, 2020, during the committee hearing. (Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register)
More than 200 pages of emails released by ComEd to the investigative committee the day before Thanksgiving showed how one of Madigan’s closest confidants, Michael McClain, pushed ComEd on positions from internships to a seat on the board of directors. The document release came days after McClain was charged with bribery conspiracy and bribery.
Madigan has staunchly defended his right to make job recommendations. The longest-serving speaker in the nation, Madigan has repeatedly denied wrongdoing connected to the federal investigation, but with 19 members of his caucus saying they won’t support him for another term as speaker, he finds himself short of the number of votes needed to lengthen his tenure.
Committee Democrats on Monday sought multiple times to redirect the attention from Madigan to Durkin. Durkin’s name also surfaced in the emails ComEd released late last month, as someone who made a job recommendation that was pushed by McClain.
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Madigan emphasized that point in a statement issued late Monday.
“Jim Durkin insisted on initiating this political theater, and through this process we’ve come to learn that he was involved in the very conduct he claims to be so offended by — recommending people for various jobs,” Madigan said.
“If Jim Durkin actually believes it is conduct unbecoming of a legislator to recommend people for jobs or help constituents, he might want to review his own hypocritical behavior. Rather than finger pointing, I suggest we focus on the important work that lies ahead of us,” the statement said.
In his own statement, Durkin called on Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker “to finally demand Speaker Madigan resign as it is clear he refuses to answer any questions about his corrupt practices.”
“The Democratic Party shows again today there is no limit to the lengths they will go to protect Speaker Madigan,” Durkin said. “Chairman Welch, Rep. Hernandez and Rep. Manley have turned the rule of law on its head by refusing to investigate the charges and demand the testimony of Speaker Madigan in this scandal.”
jmunks@chicagotribune.com