chicagotribune--2020-12-02--How did your neighbors vote for president, Senate and the graduated-rate income tax amendment? Searc

How did your neighbors vote for president, Senate and the graduated-rate income tax amendment? Search our city and suburban map to find out.

This map was assembled using data from each county and the city of Chicago .
Vote totals were pulled at @ @ @ @ @ to now , so totals may have updated slightly from what counties have posted in @ @ @ @ @ geography is from OpenPrecincts except when boundaries changed .
The Tribune will continue to add @ @ @ @ @ .

Joe Biden won Illinois by nearly 17 percentage points, Sen. Dick Durbin sailed to reelection over Republican challenger Mark Curran and the graduated-rate income tax amendment fell by a wide margin.
The statewide results were mirrored in final tallies from Chicago and the collar counties. Biden defeated President Donald Trump in those areas by a 57.4% to 40.7% margin; Durbin had 54.5% of the vote to Curran’s 38.8%; and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed income tax amendment fell 53.4% to 46.6%.
But break down the vote behind those apparent landslides into the smallest electoral pieces — precincts — and a more nuanced picture emerges. Solidly Democratic precincts in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood saw the tax amendment fall by a wide margin. Same story in parts of Libertyville. Pockets of Niles went for Trump but saw Durbin finish ahead in the race for U.S. Senate. Parts of Lake Forest went for Biden but not for Durbin.
Search for your address, ZIP code or town to see how your neighborhood compares. The buttons above the map allow you to switch from the race for president, U.S. Senate and the tax vote.
This map was assembled using data from each county and the city of Chicago. Vote totals were pulled at different times from Nov. 3 to now, so totals may have updated slightly from what counties have posted in final canvases. The precinct geography is from OpenPrecincts except when boundaries changed. The Tribune will continue to add counties as they are available.


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Illinois hospitals are deciding which workers will get COVID-19 vaccines first, saying shots won’t l

Illinois hospitals are deciding which workers will get COVID-19 vaccines first, saying shots won’t likely be mandatory

Amita Health , which has 19 hospitals in Illinois , plans to give the first vaccines to workers in emergency @ @ @ @ @ and those who care for COVID-19 patients — in line with guidance from the Chicago @ @ @ @ @ the National Academies of Sciences , Engineering , and Medicine .
Those front line workers @ @ @ @ @ and nonmedical employees , such as custodians and those who deliver food to patients , @ @ @

With a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines potentially arriving in Chicago this month, many area hospitals are finalizing plans for which workers will get them first and how they’ll be stored and distributed.
Hospitals will prioritize vaccines for front line workers who deal directly with patients. And at least a handful of Chicago-area hospital systems said Wednesday the vaccine won’t be mandatory for employees, for now — even though many require employees to get flu shots each year.
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Neal Browning receives a shot in the first-stage safety study clinical trial of a potential vaccine for COVID-19 at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren/AP)
Unlike the flu shot, if a COVID-19 vaccine is approved, it will be approved under an emergency use authorization, which is when the FDA allows products that have not gone through the regular approval process to be used in emergencies.
“We don’t really feel like we can make it mandatory while it’s under EUA (emergency use authorization),” said Dr. Michael Kelleher, who leads Amita Health’s COVID-19 vaccine steering committee. “Once it’s approved by the FDA, we will probably make it mandatory, but I think we need to wait and see what happens with that.”
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In an email sent to faculty, staff and students Wednesday, University of Chicago Medicine leaders said the vaccine will be optional, although they encouraged employees to consider it.
Advocate Aurora Health and Rush University Medical Center don’t initially plan to require employees to get COVID-19 vaccines.
“We didn’t think this was the year to mandate vaccination for everyone,” said Dr. John Segreti, medical director of infection prevention and control for Rush. “We strongly encourage everyone to get it.”
Amita Health, which has 19 hospitals in Illinois, plans to give the first vaccines to workers in emergency departments, intensive care units and those who care for COVID-19 patients — in line with guidance from the Chicago Department of Public Health and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Those front line workers could ultimately include both medical and nonmedical employees, such as custodians and those who deliver food to patients, Kelleher said.
If Amita does not get enough vaccines, at first, to vaccinate all those people, those who participate in procedures that can generate aerosols will be first in line, he said.
“That would be the absolute No. 1 priority because those are the people at greatest risk of contracting COVID in the health care setting,” Kelleher said.
Advocate, which has 10 hospitals in Illinois, plans to prioritize nurses and respiratory therapists who work in high-risk areas such as ICUs, emergency departments and COVID-19 units, especially those who are at the highest risk of becoming ill because of their ages or chronic medical conditions, said Dr. Robert Citronberg, executive medical director of infectious disease and prevention.
Citronberg said the system is putting nurses at the front of the line because they spend so much time with patients, and Advocate’s biggest staffing challenge during the pandemic has been with nurses.
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He said, however, he anticipates that it won’t be long before many more health workers can get the vaccines.
“We’re triaging,” Citronberg said of the current plan. “Probably within three months or so, every team member who wants a vaccine will get one.”
NorthShore University HealthSystem plans to prioritize ICU and emergency department workers who participate in aerosolizing procedures, said Dr. Kamaljit Singh, NorthShore director of infectious disease and microbiology research. Next on the list will be people who work at the system’s Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview, which the system has converted into a COVID-19-only hospital, and those who work in emergency departments across NorthShore’s other four hospitals, he said.
Sinai Chicago, which runs Mt. Sinai and Holy Cross hospitals, will focus first on employees who are at high risk of getting and transmitting COVID-19 based on their own health histories, exposure and jobs, spokesman Dan Regan said in an email.
Advocate and Amita have ordered additional ultracold freezers to store a potential vaccine made by Pfizer, which requires a storage temperature of negative 70 degrees Celsius. NorthShore ordered more ultracold freezers several months ago as backups to their current freezers, Singh said. University of Chicago Medicine said in an email to faculty, staff and students Wednesday that ultracold storage space would be available for the vaccine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is meeting Dec. 10 to consider emergency use authorization of the Pfizer vaccine, and is set to meet again a week later to consider a second vaccine made by Moderna. Both have been shown in trials to be more than 90% effective.
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Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday that the first distribution in Chicago is expected to go to health care workers at hospitals, potentially by the third week of December. Initially, the city expects to get enough vaccines for 20,000 to 25,000 people, and the state of Illinois may initially get enough for another 109,00 people, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday.
Both the city and state will follow federal guidelines on vaccine distribution. An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Tuesday to recommend health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities get COVID-19 vaccines first.
Dan Petrella contributed to this report.


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--City releases summary of possible Chicago casino operators’ responses

In all , 11 organizations responded to the city ’ s request for information from interested parties .
Eight said @ @ @ @ @ in or near downtown , while one preferred a Southeast Side site near Lake Calumet @ @ @ @ @ respond , according to the city , which did not specify what each party said @

Most companies that have expressed interest in building and operating a Chicago casino would want to do so downtown, according to a summary of responses released by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration Wednesday.
In all, 11 organizations responded to the city’s request for information from interested parties. Eight said the casino should be built in or near downtown, while one preferred a Southeast Side site near Lake Calumet. One didn’t respond, according to the city, which did not specify what each party said.
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As for the pandemic, the city’s summary says “All respondents believe (hope) that the current COVID-19 pandemic will have no or a minimal impact on the casino facility given the timing for selection and licensing of the casino operator and construction of the casino complex (respondents estimate construction timeline of 24 to 36 months).”
Six of the 11 said they would want to operate a temporary casino while building what’s expected to be a huge permanent gambling hall, citing the cash flow to help pay for the bigger project, the early tax revenue and job creation.
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Three others opted against the temporary casino, pointing to the additional cost and saying it could detract from the permanent facility and cause confusion in the marketplace.
An aerial shows the lChicago lakefront and downtown area near at the mouth of the Chicago River. Most casino organizations said the casino should be built in or near downtown. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)
Among the respondents were four casino operators: Hard Rock International, MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts and a partnership between Rush Street Gaming — an affiliate of Rivers Casino — and developer Related Midwest.
Real estate developers D3 Realty, Development Management Associates, JDL and R2 Companies also responded to this initial step from the Lightfoot administration to assess interest before putting out a request for proposals next year.
Ten of the 11 respondents said the casino should definitely have a hotel, while one said it would initially use existing Chicago hotels but perhaps build one later.
The request for information from the prospective operators was the next step after Springfield lawmakers came through with the changes to the casino tax structure the mayor wanted to the legislation that allowed a gambling hall in the city.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Should pregnant women get a COVID-19 vaccine? What about women considering pregnancy? Guidance is ha

Should pregnant women get a COVID-19 vaccine? What about women considering pregnancy? Guidance is hard to find because trials exclude pregnancy.

“ There isn ’ t a simple answer to questions about whether pregnant people , or those considering pregnancy , @ @ @ @ @ , especially since no vaccine is currently approved , ” Christopher Zahn , the vice @ @ @ @ @ the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists , said in a statement .
“ When @ @ @ @ @ available , unfortunately , we have no data on the safety of the vaccine in @ @ @ @ @ they were excluded .
”

Hospital workers are under an immense amount of stress this year. But help might be on the way soon as a federal advisory committee recommended Tuesday that they be first in line for vaccines.
But what if they are pregnant?
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Like all pregnant women, health care workers will be operating without much data, as pregnant women have been excluded from clinical trials so far.
Pregnant women are commonly excluded from research, something that has frustrated Dr. Emily Miller for years. Miller is the assistant professor in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Northwestern Medicine’s Feinberg School of Medicine, where she has been closely following the lack of data on pregnant women and new vaccines.
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“As it turns out, pregnant women can be doctors and nurses and respiratory therapists,” she said. “This is putting our pregnant health care workers in a place where they haven’t been given a lot of concrete guidance because they’ve been systematically excluded.”
This essentially results in “clinical experimentation on pregnant women, as vaccines are distributed and administered without the safeguards of research in place,” according to a Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine statement released Tuesday. Miller is a member of the task force.
In a conference call on vaccine progress Thursday morning with the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Dr. Kathleen Neuzil, co-director of the National Institutes of Health’s COVID-19 Prevention Network, acknowledged pregnant women should be included in vaccine research.
“We know that women of childbearing age make up a large proportion of health care workers, make up a large proportion of front-line responders,” she said. “So we really don’t have a vaccine for everyone, until we have a vaccine for pregnant women.”
The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine statement recommended that health care workers be offered the vaccine if pregnant.
In general, for pregnant women, the group recommended access to COVID-19 vaccines in all phases of future vaccine campaigns.
The statement noted that with mRNA vaccines, likely to be the first available and which induce an immune response, the theoretical risk of fetal harm is very low.
Miller acknowledged that people have “lingering questions” about COVID-19 and the new vaccines.
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“It has to be balanced against the risk of not getting the vaccine, which is the risk of acquisition of (COVID-19), which has concrete and well-documented risks,” she said. “Through that lens, if we can remember that there is no zero-risk option, then the balance at this point favors receiving the vaccine.”
The society criticized the lack of available data and noted that if multiple vaccines become available, “some vaccines may be more suitable for pregnant women.”
As much as the limited data frustrates Miller, she emphasized that what is known is that if women are pregnant, or become pregnant, and contract COVID-19, they are at risk of getting very sick.
“That’s super worrisome,” she said.
Women considering becoming pregnant will similarly have no available information on pregnancy after getting the vaccine.
Dr. Ann Borders, an OB-GYN and executive director of the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative, said she expects vaccination will be recommended for women considering pregnancy, as they are entering a high-risk category. Borders plans to bring up the topic on a call this Friday with the collaborative.
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Lactating women also have been left out of clinical trials, even though, as the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s statement noted, “there is no biological plausibility for the exclusion of lactating women.”
Miller said this highlights that women deserve more information.
“We need to be shifting our mindset from this mantra of we need to protect pregnant women from participating in trials, and instead shift it to we need to protect pregnant women from being excluded from these trials,” she said.
Miller said she will be watching closely to see if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices offers any pregnancy-specific guidance. She also expects that, out of the many people involved in trials, some will become pregnant after taking the vaccine.
Patients should discuss options with their OB-GYNs.
“There isn’t a simple answer to questions about whether pregnant people, or those considering pregnancy, should take the COVID-19 vaccine, especially since no vaccine is currently approved,” Christopher Zahn, the vice president of practice activities of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement. “When the vaccines do become widely available, unfortunately, we have no data on the safety of the vaccine in pregnant and lactating individuals because they were excluded.”
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Zahn said patients should consider any available data, patients’ individual risk factors and their “unique needs, desires and values.”
The CDC’s general guidelines for vaccinating pregnant women, which were last updated in 2016, notes that the benefits, in general, “usually outweigh potential risks when the likelihood of disease exposure is high.”
Already, OB-GYNs strongly encourage, for example, a flu vaccine, as pregnant women are similarly more prone to getting sicker from the flu, because of changes in the immune system, heart and lungs during pregnancy.
The Illinois Department of Public Health has long emphasized the importance of health care providers’ advice to pregnant women, noting that women who received a recommendation for a flu vaccine and an offer of vaccination were six times more likely to be vaccinated, compared with women who did not receive a recommendation or an offer of vaccination.
Miller hopes women feel empowered by discussing this issue with their provider.
“Getting COVID-19 in pregnancy is incredibly serious,” she said. “Let’s empower you to do everything, to use every tool in the toolbox to stay safe.”
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abowen@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Firings of two officers in Laquan McDonald case upheld in Cook County court

The circuit court judges ’ decisions last month focused on Franko and Sebastian .
Franko had been dismissed by the @ @ @ @ @ officers ’ reports that didn ’ t match up with the video footage of the @ @ @ @ @ , the board criticized him for testifying at his disciplinary hearing that he had viewed @ @ @ @ @ ” of dashcam video of the shooting before signing off on officers ’ falsified reports @

A pair of Cook County judges have decided not to overturn the firings of two Chicago police officers accused of helping to cover up the fatal shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald.
The judges, handling the cases separately, affirmed last month the decisions of the Chicago Police Board to fire Sgt. Stephen Franko and Officer Daphne Sebastian, records show. They were among four cops fired by the police board last year for infractions that included filing or approving false or misleading reports on the Oct. 20, 2014, shooting.
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The two other cops fired in the shooting case, Officers Ricardo Viramontes and Janet Mondragon, are still awaiting judges’ decisions on their appeals in Cook County Circuit Court. It’s not uncommon for Chicago police officers to appeal their firings.
The nine members of the police board found that the four officers exaggerated the threat posed by the 17-year-old in order to justify the actions of Officer Jason Van Dyke in shooting the teen 16 times. In a killing captured on video, McDonald refused police commands to drop a knife while walking away from officers on a Southwest Side street before he was gunned down.
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Van Dyke had originally faced firing but left the Police Department upon being found guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated battery in McDonald’s death. He was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.
The circuit court judges’ decisions last month focused on Franko and Sebastian. Franko had been dismissed by the police board mainly for approving officers’ reports that didn’t match up with the video footage of the shooting. In firing Franko, the board criticized him for testifying at his disciplinary hearing that he had viewed only “bits and pieces” of dashcam video of the shooting before signing off on officers’ falsified reports.
As for Sebastian, the police board found she made misleading statements to an investigator when she omitted key facts about the shooting. But the board also ruled her statements were not “willfully false.”
Franko could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning, but one of his lawyers declined to comment when contacted by the Tribune. Reached by telephone, Sebastian declined to immediately comment on her case, and a lawyer for her could not be reached.
Court records don’t offer any details about why Judge Sanjay Tailor on Nov. 23 rejected Sebastian’s appeal. But the judge in Franko’s case gave several reasons for her decision, made three days earlier.
Franko had argued that Police Board Hearing Officer Thomas Johnson erred when he consolidated his case with those of Sebastian, Viramontes and Mondragon. Franko believed his case should have been treated separately, partly because unlike the three other cops, he did not arrive to the crime scene until after the shooting, and because his disciplinary charges related to his role as a supervisor.
But in a seven-page ruling, Judge Celia Gamrath disagreed with Franko, saying that he and the three other cops were all being scrutinized for making false statements or reports.
Gamrath also disputed Franko’s contention that the police board’s findings were “against the manifest weight of the evidence” and that its decision was “clearly erroneous and not reasonable,” according to the ruling. Gamrath wrote that she believed the board’s decision was “supported by ample evidence in the record.”
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She noted that the board’s decision makes clear that Franko’s case is not about Van Dyke’s conduct but rather his own actions as a supervisor “in approving five false reports and failing to supervise his subordinates with respect to use of the audio on the in-car (dashcam) monitoring systems and failing to maintain an accurate Supervisor’s Management Log.”
Franko also argued the charges against him were “not sufficiently precise” and did not leave him adequately informed on the details of the case against him. Gamrath, however, didn’t agree with either claim, writing that Franko did not point out how he was prejudiced.
“The case proceeded to a three-day hearing without Franko voicing any objection as to the specificity of charges. ... It is dubious to now complain he was deprived of due process,” Gamrath wrote.
Van Dyke was the first Chicago cop in half a century to be convicted of an on-duty murder in October 2018. But a judge cleared Officer Joseph Walsh, who was Van Dyke’s partner, Officer Thomas Gaffney and Detective David March of criminal conspiracy charges related to the shooting in a controversial ruling a few months later.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Some Munster health care workers could see COVID-19 vaccine later this month, official says

Drug giants Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are both seeking emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration .
The @ @ @ @ @ Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is scheduled to consider the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 10 @ @ @ @ @ on Dec. 17 .
If approved , Pfizer said their vaccine could start to be @ @ @ @ @ end of December 2020.
” Moderna said it could be out as soon as Dec. @ @

Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana Health Commissioner, answers questions about COVID-19 infections and its impact on the state as Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb listens during a briefing at the Statehouse in Indianapolis, Tuesday, March 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) (Michael Conroy/AP)
Some frontline staff at Community Hospital in Munster could see their first of two COVID-19 vaccine shots if it gets emergency approval later this month.
Drug giants Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are both seeking emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is scheduled to consider the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 10, and Moderna’s on Dec. 17. If approved, Pfizer said their vaccine could start to be given in “middle to end of December 2020.” Moderna said it could be out as soon as Dec. 21.
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Indiana was told by the federal government to be prepared to receive doses “in as little as 48 hours,” Indiana State Health Commissioner Kristina Box said last week.
Indiana’s plan reserves it first for frontline health care workers, then vulnerable populations like nursing home residents. Box said Wednesday that Indiana could get a “limited supply” as early as mid-December. They are hoping to have enough to cover both groups, she said.
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“Things are moving quickly and that’s incredibly exciting,” Box said.
Lake County has consistently been near the top of Indiana’s largest virus hot spots. With a 15% positivity rate, it officially cracked 30,000 cases to date Wednesday, reporting 375 new cases with five new deaths totaling 480.
Community Hospital is one of five pilot hospitals picked to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine to frontline hospital workers.
Nearly 50 other hospitals have volunteered for shipments to immunize frontline staff, health care workers in other hospitals and other health care workers in their communities, she said. Pharmacies CVS and Walgreens are partnering with Indiana to help immunize long term care staff and residents.
Last month, federal health officials reached an agreement with pharmacies across the U.S. to distribute free coronavirus vaccines after they are approved and become available to the public.
Unlike most vaccines, they have to be given in two separate shots to fully work, either 21 or 28 days apart, Box said. Both companies said their vaccines appeared at least 94% effective in study trials.
Any vaccine would undergo a “thorough review of their safety at the federal and state level” before approval for the general public, Box said. Possible side effects could include fatigue, headache and fever.
“This is normal, it doesn’t mean the vaccine gave you COVID,” she said previously.
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A Community spokeswoman last month declined to elaborate how the vaccine would be distributed to health care workers in other local hospitals, or if they would be adding more shifts.
“We do not have answers to the questions ... at this time. As we gain additional information, we will be sending out an updated press release/communication,” spokeswoman Marie Forszt said.
The Indiana State Department of Health declined to say how many doses could get shipped.
“The vaccine allocation changes frequently, and we continue to adjust based on the latest estimates,” spokeswoman Megan Wade-Taxter said.
The Associated Press contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives a COVID-19 update

Illinois Gov .
J.B. Pritzker will give an update on the state ’ s response to the coronavirus in a @ @ @ @ @ Get the latest updates on COVID-19 in Illinois here .

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chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Did Lori Lightfoot bet on Chicago teachers strike? Email lays out scotch-and-cigars wager, but mayor

Did Lori Lightfoot bet on Chicago teachers strike? Email lays out scotch-and-cigars wager, but mayor and top aide deny bet.

Previously , the Illinois attorney general ’ s office ruled the City Council violated the state ’ s open meetings @ @ @ @ @ series of conference calls with Lightfoot during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic .
@ @ @ @ @ to release the inspector general ’ s report on the night when then-police Superintendent Eddie @ @ @ @ @ his car after drinking at a downtown bar known for heavy pours , despite calls @ @ @ @ @ and some aldermen to do so .

In this file photo, Mayor Lori Lightfoot stands with Chicago Public Schools leaders at a news conference about contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union, at City Hall on Oct. 7, 2019. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Two days before the Chicago Teachers Union officially went on strike in 2019, one of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s top aides sent her a note about what he called “The Bet.”
In the email, Lightfoot senior adviser and legal counsel Michael Frisch laid out a wager and its stakes.
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“The Bet: 3 cigars and a bottle of scotch of the winner’s choosing. Under: Strike ends before next Weds. Over: Strike extends past Weds,” Frisch wrote in the email, which had “confirming our agreement” in the subject line.
Referencing Lightfoot’s chief of staff, Maurice Classen, who was also on the email, Frisch wrote, “Frisch and Maurice have the Under, MLL has the Over. Now no one can back out ...” using an acronym for Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
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Neither Lightfoot nor Classen responded to the email, according to what Lightfoot’s office released. A Lightfoot spokeswoman said the mayor “does not have any recollection of the email in question” but took the CTU strike “very seriously” and “of course never participated in any bet nor would she.”
During the strike, which lasted for roughly two weeks, Frisch served as a high-ranking member of Lightfoot’s bargaining team. In response to follow-up questions, including why Frisch thought there was a bet, the Lightfoot administration released a statement on his behalf apologizing.
“My email reflected a failed attempt on my part to inject some levity into a high stress, tense and serious situation,” Frisch said. “There was no actual bet--this was intended to be a joke that clearly did not land. It was in poor taste, and I apologize.”
If there had been a bet, Lightfoot would’ve won under the terms outlined in Frisch’s email, though the long strike wasn’t exactly a political win.
Much of Lightfoot’s tenure has been marked by conflict with CTU, and the email is unlikely to improve the relationship.
News of the email also comes at a time when union officials complain that Lightfoot’s team at Chicago Public Schools hasn’t worked with them enough on potential coronavirus pandemic reopening plans.
Told of the email, CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said, “This is the type of irreverence the mayor and her CPS team demonstrate all the time.”
“If this is how the mayor and her leaders behave when no one is looking, it’s no wonder it is taking us so long to agree on a credible safe plan to reopen our school buildings or to make remote learning more sustainable for students, their families and school staff,” she said.
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During her run for mayor, Lightfoot campaigned on a pledge to “bring in the light” and promised to boost transparency at City Hall and reform local government. Since taking office, however, Lightfoot has faced criticism over her handling of some key open government issues, and her administration sought to keep secret Frisch’s email that mentioned the bet.
Previously, the Illinois attorney general’s office ruled the City Council violated the state’s open meetings law when it held a series of conference calls with Lightfoot during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Lightfoot also has repeatedly refused to release the inspector general’s report on the night when then-police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep in his car after drinking at a downtown bar known for heavy pours, despite calls from activists, media outlets and some aldermen to do so.
In this case, the mayor’s office redacted Frisch’s email while denying a Tribune open records request, citing exemptions to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act that protect policymaking discussions and attorney-client privilege.
But the Illinois attorney general’s office ruled late last month that the city improperly withheld the email and ordered its release.
Ben Silver, an attorney with the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst, said the city’s actions in hiding the email could create credibility issues for the administration.
“When you see a situation like this where they’re pretty clearly abusing the exemptions, essentially to cover up something that’s going to be embarrassing, it usually amplifies the problem by the time you get to the bottom of it,” Silver said. “You take an embarrassing situation and turn it into a problem of public trust.”
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David Melton, a senior adviser at watchdog group Reform for Illinois, where Lightfoot was previously a board member, agreed that the city misused FOIA exemptions to withhold the email.
“It sounds to me like it was a silly personal thing that they should’ve just owned up to and produced it,” Melton said.
Although Lightfoot through a spokeswoman denied betting on the strike, she has publicly acknowledged her appreciation for scotch and cigars. Most recently, Lightfoot said she would celebrate the City Council passing her budget with a scotch, a cigar and a steak.
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Lightfoot isn’t the first Chicago mayor to have a contentious relationship with CTU. The union went on strike during former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s tenure, and he famously told CTU president Karen Lewis “f--- you” during a meeting.
But Lightfoot has had an especially contentious relationship with the union. The CTU endorsed Lightfoot’s opponent, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, in the 2019 mayoral race and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars against her.
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Since Lightfoot’s win, the union has repeatedly criticized her for failing to live up to progressive campaign promises, accusing her of campaigning one way but governing another. In turn, Lightfoot has accused the union of attempting to harm her politically by propping up her critics.
CTU’s strike last year marked the longest since the 1980s, and ended bitterly when Lightfoot refused to allow teachers to make up all their strike days.
During a post-strike interview with the Tribune, Lightfoot said the union was going to walk out “no matter what,” and said she expects the CTU to “come after” her in 2023.
The back-and-forth over labor issues also has continued into 2020. CTU threatened to strike if Lightfoot reopened schools for in-person learning to start the new year.
This past June, Lightfoot lambasted as “clearly racist” and “deeply offensive” a tweet by the union depicting an apparent cartoon version of her tied up, wearing a police uniform and being unmasked by the characters from the “Scooby-Doo” TV show.
The tweet depicted the Black mayor bound with rope, surrounded by the white characters, who have taken a cop mask off her head to reveal that the officer is actually Lightfoot. It’s a play on the scene at the end of each episode of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, when the team of youngsters would solve the mystery by unmasking a villain to show it was actually a person they’d met earlier in the episode.
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Then, on Election Day this year, Lightfoot mixed it up with an activist outside a Far North Side polling place over Cook County Judge Michael Toomin, who was up for retention but opposed by the Cook County Democratic Party led by Preckwinkle.
In a scene captured on a video posted to Twitter by teachers union activist Mary Difino, Lightfoot approached Difino after she criticized Toomin’s candidacy for retention. Lightfoot repeatedly stepped toward Difino and said, “You’ve got your facts wrong, you’ve got your facts wrong.”
Two members of Lightfoot’s security detail then stepped between Lightfoot and the activist as the mayor pointed her finger toward Difino and added, “Your teachers union is wrong about that.”
A CTU spokeswoman later said the union doesn’t endorse judicial candidates.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--People wary of COVID-19 are avoiding the ER, and that has doctors worried. Here’s what Chicago-area

People wary of COVID-19 are avoiding the ER, and that has doctors worried. Here’s what Chicago-area hospitals are doing to keep patients safe.

Certified nursing assistant Tramelle Thompson checks Johnnie Hampton 's blood pressure Dec. 1 , 2020 , at the emergency room @ @ @ @ @ Chicago .
Hampton came to the emergency room because she had difficulty breathing during her @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 .
`` Be strong and hold on and pray to God .
Because God @ @ @ @ @ gon na heal you and make you strong , '' Hampton said .

Nurses work together in the intensive care unit of Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago on Dec. 1, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago-area hospitals continue to see a decline in emergency room visits as people delay medical care out of concerns of contracting the coronavirus, and that has doctors worried.
ER visits nationwide declined by 42% from March 29 through April 25 compared with the same period last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several Chicago-area hospitals say visits are still down, or are only just starting to return to pre-pandemic levels.
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Doctors say they are worried about the potential risks patients face by not seeking emergency care for serious illnesses like asthma, heart attacks and strokes.
“The scary part for our providers is the fact that people are staying home who are fearful of getting exposed to COVID. Then they are coming in with much more acute symptoms,” said Roseland Community Hospital CEO Tim Egan.
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Certified nursing assistant Tramelle Thompson checks Johnnie Hampton's blood pressure Dec. 1, 2020, at the emergency room of Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago. Hampton came to the emergency room because she had difficulty breathing during her quarantine at home after contracting COVID-19. "Be strong and hold on and pray to God. Because God is the one who's gonna heal you and make you strong," Hampton said. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Hospitals are making several changes to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, like screening ER patients for symptoms, testing patients who stay overnight for COVID-19 and separating non-COVID-19 patients from people who come in with symptoms.
“We are really hyperfocused on the distancing to make sure you will not find yourself sitting next to a patient coughing who may potentially have COVID,” said Dr. Paul Casey, chief medical officer and emergency medicine physician at Rush University Medical Center.
At the same time, health systems are juggling a surge of coronavirus cases that could lead to high hospitalization rates. As the number of COVID-19 patients needing a bed increases, ER patients could wait longer to be admitted and cause overcrowding in waiting rooms.
“If there are no beds in the hospital, they (patients) are stuck in the waiting room or the emergency department sometimes for hours,” said Dr. Aaron Quarles, an emergency medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
In an effort to meet demand, some hospitals have converted lobbies into triage centers for less seriously ill COVID-19 patients and others are sending COVID-19 patients who don’t have low oxygen levels home to recover. Other health systems have delayed certain types of elective procedures to free up beds.
Hospital workers transport a patient to the intensive care unit of Roseland Community Hospital on Dec. 1, 2020, in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
At Northwestern Memorial, ER visits have dropped to about 250 patients per day from its typical 300 patients per day before the pandemic, Quarles said.
Even though patient volumes are down, there are more people coming in with COVID-19-like complaints. About 20% of patients who check into the emergency department need to be admitted, he said. If hospitalization numbers don’t bend downward, it will become challenging to find beds for patients, he said.
The hospital has turned some lobby areas into expanded waiting rooms to allow for social distancing, screening all patients for symptoms and isolating COVID-19 patients from other patients.
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At Advocate Aurora Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, about 80 patients with and without COVID-19 symptoms were waiting for a bed at the height of the pandemic in the spring, said Dr. Mila Felder, vice chair of the department of emergency medicine.
The day before Thanksgiving, Felder said two patients checked into the ER and four were waiting to be admitted. The hospital can admit patients within a couple of hours, Felder said.
“We’ve done a lot to curb the waiting times,” Felder said.
Roseland added 40 beds for COVID-19 patients, making space for them at its lobby and a multipurpose room. In the spring the hospital made room for 22 beds in lobby areas.
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“We are moving people through quickly. We keep folks we know who are COVID-positive in negative pressure rooms in the emergency department, and if they are presenting COVID symptoms we are separating them from the regular patient populations,” Egan said.
Nurses work together in the intensive care unit of Roseland Community Hospital on Dec. 1, 2020, in Chicago. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Unlike at other hospitals, ER visits at Roseland, which sees about 1,700 patients a month, have remained the same since June, Egan said. Roseland has seen an increase in patients in the past year after the closure of MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island, which reopened temporarily this year to house coronavirus patients, Egan said.
In recent weeks, the hospital has seen an increase in ER patients with mental illnesses who are reporting COVID-19-like symptoms. Roseland is asking the state for funding to treat those patients separately, Egan said.
“We need a separate ward for our adult population who is suffering from behavioral health issues and COVID,” he said.
In addition to the bed expansion, Egan said the hospital is only allowing certain visitors on a case-by-case basis, testing patients who stay in the hospital overnight for the coronavirus and screening all patients who check into the emergency department for COVID-19 symptoms.
At Rush, patient volumes are nearing its typical 200 patient visits per day, Casey said. The hospital has turned its main lobby into a triage center to treat less seriously ill patients with COVID-19-like symptoms in an effort to increase bed capacity.
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Rush also is evaluating whether to cancel certain nonemergency elective procedures to make more beds available, Casey said.
A COVID-19 patient rests in bed Dec. 1, 2020, in the intensive care unit of Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Advocate Aurora Health, which has 10 hospitals in Illinois, announced last month it plans to delay half of its inpatient elective surgeries amid the COVID-19 surge.
At Mount Sinai Hospital, patient volumes at the emergency department are about 15% less compared with before the pandemic, said Raquel Prendkowski, assistant chief nursing officer.
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The hospital, which is a Level 1 trauma center, a designation that means it treats patients who are seriously injured by gunshots, stabbings and car accidents, is admitting more patients with serious COVID-19 symptoms than it did in the spring, Prendkowski said.
“It seems like a lot more patients because the patients that we are seeing are still extremely sick,” Prendkowski said.
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @abdel1019


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Indiana tracking map shows widespread COVID-19 risk remains; Lake County tops 30K cases as fatalitie

Indiana tracking map shows widespread COVID-19 risk remains; Lake County tops 30K cases as fatalities near 500

Five new deaths were reported in Lake County , bringing the fatality count to 480 , the state dashboard showed @ @ @ @ @ the state ’ s second-most cases have been found , cracked 30,000 cases in Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ 30,007 with 375 new cases .

Nearly all of Indiana remained in the greatest-risk categories for coronavirus spread in Wednesday’s state health department update that also showed a new high for average daily COVID-19 deaths for the state.
Sixteen of the state’s 92 counties were listed in the most dangerous red category in the health department’s weekly tracking map. All but one other county was assigned the next riskiest orange rating.
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Five new deaths were reported in Lake County, bringing the fatality count to 480, the state dashboard showed. Lake County, where the state’s second-most cases have been found, cracked 30,000 cases in Wednesday reporting and now has had 30,007 with 375 new cases.
Marion County has the state’s most cases and deaths with 47,763 and 893, respectively.
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Porter County, according to the state dashboard Wednesday, has reported 9,153 cases and 92 deaths.
Those overall county ratings have not improved over the past three weeks as Indiana’s number of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations have continued increases to surpass the state’s peaks during the initial surge of cases during the spring.
Gov. Eric Holcomb and health officials were scheduled to hold a Wednesday afternoon briefing on the state’s coronavirus response.
Health officials on Wednesday added 91 confirmed recent COVID-19 deaths and 19 deaths of people with probable coronavirus infections to the statewide toll. The confirmed deaths for November now total 1,477 — surpassing the previous monthly peak during April by nearly 400 and about double October’s total.
The state’s seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths has reached 60 per day after that average was below 10 a day during July.


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da

COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area

Among the metrics ( see below ) tracked under guidelines set by Gov .
J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of @ @ @ @ @ , the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses , and the capacity of hospitals @ @ @ @ @ state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics @

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
To assess how different parts of Illinois are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, officials look at the state through the 11 regions of Emergency Medical Services. The city of Chicago is one region, for example, and the rest of Cook County is another.
Among the metrics (see below) tracked under guidelines set by Gov. J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of coronavirus tests that return positive, the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses, and the capacity of hospitals to take in new patients.The state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics. (Cases, deaths and tests data is as of Dec. 31).
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus.
• Other Chicago, suburbs and Illinois COVID-19 metrics.
• See how the governor’s plan to manage the regions works.
Source: Illinois Department of Public Health
Created by the Chicago Tribune dataviz team. On Twitter @chitribgraphics


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 238 new deaths, 9,757 new confirmed and probable cases and 85,507

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 238 new deaths, 9,757 new confirmed and probable cases and 85,507 new test results

Illinois announced 9,757 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Wednesday for a total of 748,603 .
The state also @ @ @ @ @ a total of 12,639 and 85,507 new test results for a total of 10.7 million @

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


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Divisive North Lawndale school consolidation proposal is now on hold: ‘We took a stand as a communit

Divisive North Lawndale school consolidation proposal is now on hold: ‘We took a stand as a community’

“ As we pause this proposal at this juncture in the process , we are filled with mixed emotions but @ @ @ @ @ partnership with you , your staff and members of the Chicago Board of Education to @ @ @ @ @ fruition for the students and families in our community , ” they wrote .
“ @ @ @ @ @ at a later date and will continue to include many voices from North Lawndale to @ @ @ @ @ built for our beloved community .
”

Opponents are celebrating the withdrawal of a proposal that would close three under-enrolled elementary schools and build a new school for North Lawndale, while its authors say they plan to resubmit the plan after more community input.
The proposal, which detailed a plan to close and consolidate the students from Lawndale Community Academy, Sumner Math and Science Community Academy and Crown Community Academy of Fine Arts, faced opposition from many parents, students and staff members who would be affected.
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Two North Lawndale groups, the Community Coordinating Council and Community Action Council, were behind the plan for a new, “state-of-the-art” elementary school to serve 650 to 700 students, using the STEAM model, which adds arts programs to STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
Shavon Coleman, right, a pre-kindergarten teacher assistant at Lawndale Community Academy, rallies with others who support investment in existing schools, rather than a proposal that would close three schools and replace with one a new one. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
The groups held dozens of community meetings and billed the proposal as the product of a community-led process for the next step of the North Lawndale quality-of-life plan, launched by NLCCC in 2018. But many people who have ties to the three schools involved said they felt left out or didn’t know about the proposal until it had been submitted.
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With Tuesday the deadline to introduce a school action for the academic year, Chicago Public Schools said no such actions are moving forward this time, in North Lawndale or elsewhere. Once a school action is put forth, it’s subject to a series of public meetings and a vote by the Chicago Board of Education.
“Earlier this year, the district received a thoughtful and comprehensive proposal from North Lawndale community members to strengthen high-quality learning options in the community,” CPS spokeswoman Emily Bolton said in a statement, confirming the proposal was withdrawn Monday. “The district is fully committed to supporting school communities who are taking thoughtful approaches to school improvement and we are grateful for the time, planning, participation and consideration from community members who led these efforts. Looking ahead, the district remains fully committed to continued engagement with the North Lawndale community in support of strengthening educational opportunities.”
Those against the proposal want investment in existing schools and question if a new building would really prove less costly, while proponents say students at the three schools, which are each less than a third full, would be best served by combining resources.
The proposal’s authors wrote that closing those schools is “inevitable,” and that their plan presents an opportunity for children on the West Side.
Crown Community Academy of Fine Arts is one of three schools that would close under a consolidation plan now on hold. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
The North Lawndale Parent and Community Coalition, a group of families, educators and community members who petitioned CPS to turn down the proposal, held a news conference Tuesday evening outside Crown “to celebrate the community power that kept three North Lawndale schools open and begin the process for a parent-led proposal that will address the root cause of under-enrollment these schools face.”
Members held familiar signs, including “Fund Our School,” “No Merger” and “Not Again.”
Lawndale teacher assistant Shavon Coleman spoke about the need for parents and teachers to have a say in decisions made about their schools.
“Why are we here in the midst of a fatal pandemic, some of us with our families here in 33-degree weather in the midst of gang territories, why are we here?” Coleman said. “We are here because we care. ... Someone hurt us. We took a stand as a community.”
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Those inside the schools every day know what they need, she said.
“No one should be allowed to come to your home and tell you what your needs are just because they have the money to change your situation,” she said.
Lisa Torres, a special education assistant at Crown, said schools are often lifelines to their communities and provide many services beyond education.
“We are here to speak on behalf of folks who have policies and decisions made for them but not on behalf of them,” Torres said. “Disinvestment of communities and neighborhood schools paves the way for gentrification.”
The group said their plan will “stand in stark contrast” to the consolidation proposal and that in the past month, they’ve knocked on hundreds of doors, held organizing meetings and gathered 1,300 petition signatures.
The group is calling on donors and supporters of the initial proposal to make the same investments in theirs.
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District officials have remained neutral and said they’ll consider a proposal “only if it has significant support from community members and, most importantly, the families that currently attend the schools that may be involved.”
The district will “continue to engage” the three school communities and consider their opinions, working out a solution that meets their needs, according to a statement, which adds that CPS remains open to considering the consolidation proposal in the future.
In a letter to CPS CEO Janice Jackson, members of the consolidation proposal’s leadership team wrote they believe it “makes sense from a fiscal and programmatic perspective” and are gravely disappointed, but are serious about engaging the school communities.
“As we pause this proposal at this juncture in the process, we are filled with mixed emotions but are committed to work in partnership with you, your staff and members of the Chicago Board of Education to bring this proposal to the fruition for the students and families in our community,” they wrote. “We will resubmit our proposal at a later date and will continue to include many voices from North Lawndale to ensure that this school is built for our beloved community.”
The letter also details how the new school would bring in university, business, philanthropic and nonprofit partners who have agreed to help with design, funding or education, such as classroom visits and job shadowing.
“Our students need and deserve a school that is fully resourced and that provides diverse and quality programming,” the letter reads. “It has been almost 60 years since an investment of a new school building in North Lawndale was made for neighborhood students.”
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The resubmission timeline hinges on the pandemic ending and the ability to connect with more people in person, said project director Betty Allen-Green. The groups that created the proposal are open to working with anyone from the community, including members of the parent and community coalition, she said.
“My only desire is to see that the children in North Lawndale receive a high-quality, rigorous and equitable education,” Allen-Green said. “I would be interested in seeing their proposal. We have widespread community support.”
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Mike Madigan, ComEd and corruption: Timeline of how the investigation unfolded

Madigan ’ s main campaign fund paid nearly $ 462,000 in legal fees in the first three months of 2020 @ @ @ @ @ employs former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley , campaign finance records show .
In the @ @ @ @ @ Madigan ’ s campaign fund paid more than $ 445,000 for legal fees to different @ @ @ @ @ spokeswoman at the time said was to cover the cost of a $ 275,000 settlement @ @ @ @ @ , as well as ongoing civil cases and routine staff training .

Then-Speaker Michael Madigan works the floor as the Illinois House convenes at the Bank of Springfield Center on Jan. 8, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan will stand trial starting April 1, 2024.
Madigan was indicted on federal racketeering charges, then pleaded not guilty one week later through an attorney.
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[ The toppling of Michael Madigan: How his reign as speaker ended and Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch’s emerged ]
He resigned from the Illinois house and also resigned as chairman of the state Democratic Party in February 2021, after spending 36 years as House speaker and a half-century in the Illinois House. The embattled 79-year-old lawmaker released a lengthy statement on Feb. 18, 2021.
[ Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan pleads not guilty to federal racketeering charges in corruption case ]
What’s publicly known about federal efforts related to the now former speaker’s political operation stretches back to at least May 2019. Subpoenas or raids have touched lobbyists, legislators, private companies and members of Madigan’s political operation.
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[ Ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan indicted on federal racketeering charges alleging array of bribery schemes ]
Gov. James Thompson, from left, poses with House Speaker Michael Madigan and Mayor Harold Wahington on Oct. 19, 1983, before their meeting on the Regional Transportation Authority. (Chicago Tribune)
Michael Madigan: The basics
Born: April 19, 1942, in Chicago
Early life: Attended St. Adrian’s Elementary School
1960: St. Ignatius College Prep
1964: Notre Dame, B.A., Economics
1967: Loyola University Law School
After law school: Held patronage jobs as a hearing officer for the Illinois Commerce Commission and as a public utilities consultant for the city, according to a 1988 Tribune story.
1969: Elected as a delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention. Also elected a Democratic committeeman.
1970: Elected to the Illinois House for his district on the city’s Southwest Side.
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1977: Entered House Democratic leadership.
1983: Elected speaker of the House, holding the post continuously through January except for two years in the mid-1990s when Republicans gained control of the chamber. He was ousted from the position in January 2021.
1998: Elected chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party. He stepped down in February 2021.
Family: Married to Shirley Madigan, has three daughters, one son and four grandchildren. His daughter Lisa Madigan was Illinois attorney general from 2003 to 2019.
Work: An attorney, Madigan is a partner at Madigan & Getzendanner, a firm that works in Chicago’s lucrative field of commercial property tax appeals.
Sources: Illinois General Assembly, Northern Illinois University Libraries, Notre Dame, Loyola University, Chicago Tribune archives
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Timeline of the federal investigation
Here is how the saga unfolded.
Mid-May 2019: Raid of home of 13th Ward political operative Kevin Quinn
This undated photo provided by the Evergreen Park Police Department In Evergreen Park, Illinois, shows Kevin Quinn. (Evergreen Park Police Department)
The feds raid the Far South Side home of former 13th Ward political operative Kevin Quinn — the brother of Ald. Marty Quinn — who was ousted by Madigan amid a sexual harassment scandal in 2018. Quinn received checks from current and former ComEd lobbyists.
[ Commentary: My sexual harassment case against Madigan’s camp shows truth can prevail ]
Mid-May 2019: Raid of lobbyist Mike McClain’s home
Lobbyist Mike McClain in the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on May 6, 2010. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The FBI raids the downstate home of Mike McClain, a longtime ComEd lobbyist who is widely known as one of Madigan’s closest confidants. The Tribune exclusively reported in November that the FBI had tapped McClain’s cellphone.
Mid-May 2019: Raid of former Ald. Michael Zalewski’s home
Then-Ald. Michael Zalewski, 23rd, appears at Chicago City Hall in 2012. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The FBI raids the Southwest Side residence of former Ald. Michael Zalewski, who at the time was working with Madigan to get lobbying work from ComEd.
Mid-May 2019: Raid of City Club offices
City Club of Chicago President Jay Doherty listens during a 2017 meeting at Maggiano's Little Italy. The City Club confirmed it was served with a federal grand jury subpoena in what sources said is part of an ongoing probe into ComEd's lobbying practices. Doherty is a ComEd lobbyist. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Feds raid the City Club of Chicago offices in the Wrigley building seeking records pertaining to club President Jay Doherty, a longtime ComEd lobbyist.
July 12, 2019: ComEd subpoenaed
ComEd reveals in a regulatory filing that it was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating the utility’s lobbying practices.
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Late July 2019: Feds investigating $10,000 in checks from ComEd lobbyists to Kevin Quinn
Records obtained by the Tribune reveal that checks went to Kevin Quinn after he was dismissed from Madigan’s political operation in early 2018.
Sept. 24, 2019: Raid of state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s home and offices
Federal workers carry evidence from the home of state Sen. Martin Sandoval on Sept. 24, 2019, in the Gage Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Federal agents raid the Springfield and Cicero offices and the Southwest Side home of the longtime Democratic state senator as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Oct. 4, 2019: ComEd subpoenaed again
ComEd reveals in another regulatory filing it received a second federal grand jury subpoena related to its lobbying practices, this time specifically requesting any communications with Sandoval and other unnamed individuals and entities.
Oct. 15, 2019: Exelon CEO resigns
Anne Pramaggiore, president and CEO of Commonwealth Edison, during a visit to S&C Electric in Chicago on Jan. 16, 2013. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
Anne Pramaggiore, CEO of ComEd parent company Exelon Utilities, abruptly steps down after it was revealed the utility’s lobbying practices were under criminal investigation.
Oct. 29, 2019: Madigan comments
“I’m not a target of anything,” Madigan tells reporters at the Illinois Capitol. In a statement, he called for a review and strengthening of ethics and lobbying laws.
November 2019: Feds taped Madigan confidant’s calls
Federal authorities recorded Madigan confidant McClain’s phone calls as part of the investigation into ComEd’s lobbying practices, sources tell the Chicago Tribune. One of the sources said the recordings were made as a result of an FBI wiretap on McClain’s cellphone.
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[ ‘Keep all of this confidential’: How a powerful ComEd lobbyist lined up contracts for a disgraced ex-aide to Speaker Michael Madigan and why federal authorities are interested ]
December 2019: Questions about Madigan
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan speaks after a House Democratic caucus meeting at the Capitol in Springfield on Nov. 12, 2019. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Federal authorities have asked questions about Madigan and his political operation as part of an ongoing investigation about connections between Commonwealth Edison lobbyists and Madigan, lobbyists giving contracts to people tied to the speaker, and city, state and suburban government jobs held by his associates, four people who have been interviewed tell the Tribune.
February 2020: Subpoenas in Merrionette Park and Bridgeview
A pair of federal grand jury subpoenas seeking records from southwest suburban Merrionette Park and Bridgeview name Madigan, his former chief of staff Timothy Mapes, McClain, Marty Quinn and Kevin Quinn. The documents also called for copies of state and federal tax records related to Raymond Nice, a longtime precinct captain in Madigan’s vaunted 13th Ward operation.
April 2020: Records show Madigan’s legal spending
Madigan’s main campaign fund paid nearly $462,000 in legal fees in the first three months of 2020 to a law firm that employs former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, campaign finance records show. In the final quarter of 2019, Madigan’s campaign fund paid more than $445,000 for legal fees to different firms, which a Madigan spokeswoman at the time said was to cover the cost of a $275,000 settlement with a former campaign worker, as well as ongoing civil cases and routine staff training.
July 17, 2020: U.S. attorney announces ComEd fine
U.S. Attorney John Lausch, right, announces a major fine against ComEd for bribery involving Illinois politicians during a news conference in the courtyard of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse July 17, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
ComEd is paying a $200 million criminal fine as part of a federal investigation into a “yearslong bribery scheme” involving jobs, contracts and payments to Madigan allies, the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago announces. Additionally, prosecutors asked Madigan’s office for “any and all documents and communications” concerning AT&T, including contracts and correspondence related to the hiring of anyone to provide consulting or lobbying services to the public utility, according to a subpoena the Tribune obtained through an open records request.
July 23, 2020: AT&T subpoenaed
The Tribune reports that AT&T was subpoenaed earlier that year by federal prosecutors in the operation encircling Madigan’s political operation.
July 2020: Madigan subpoenaed
A federal subpoena to Madigan’s office shows investigators were interested in a wide range of information, including dealings with Walgreens and Rush University Medical Center, records related to Madigan’s political organization and private property tax appeals law firm, as well as former state lawmakers and current or former Chicago aldermen.
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Nov. 18, 2020: Four indicted
McClain is charged with bribery conspiracy and bribery in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury. Also charged are former ComEd CEO Pramaggiore; lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, of Chicago; and Doherty, a consultant and former head of the City Club of Chicago.
Nov. 19, 2020: Madigan responds
The embattled Illinois House Speaker releases a statement saying that if anyone at ComEd had tried to bribe him, “it was never made known to me.”
Dec. 2, 2020: Madigan confidant, three others plead not guilty
McClain, Pramaggiore, Hooker and Doherty plead not guilty to charges they orchestrated an elaborate bribery scheme with Commonwealth Edison to funnel money and do-nothing jobs to Madigan loyalists in exchange for the speaker’s help with state legislation.
Jan. 13, 2021: Madigan ousted as speaker of the House
State Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, waves as he gets a standing ovation after being elected the speaker of the Illinois House for the 102nd General Assembly at the Bank of Springfield Center on Jan. 13, 2021, in Springfield. (Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register)
Emanuel “Chris” Welch is elected the state’s first Black speaker of the House after Democrats reject Madigan’s bid to maintain the single-handed power he wielded over the state for nearly four decades.
Feb. 18, 2021: Madigan resigns from Illinois House
Michael Madigan makes House resignation, originally scheduled for month’s end, immediate. — Rick Pearson (@rap30) February 18, 2021
Madigan announces his resignation from the Illinois House after representing a Southwest Side district for a half-century, the majority of that time as the powerful speaker, but remains chairman of the state Democratic Party.
Feb. 21, 2021: Madigan picks his successor
Edward Guerra Kodatt, 26, a bilingual outreach and budget assistant in the constituent services office run by Madigan and 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn, is installed in the Illinois House seat that was vacated by Madigan.
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Feb. 22, 2021: Madigan steps down as state Democratic Party chair
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, previously party vice chair, takes over on an interim basis.
Feb. 24, 2021: Madigan’s successor resigns just three days after being installed
Despite the ill-fated Kodatt pick, Madigan gets another shot at appointing a replacement. The former speaker remains the 13th Ward Democratic committeeman and holds 56% of the weighted vote cast in the 22nd House District.
Feb. 25, 2021: Madigan picks another House successor
Angie Guerrero-Cuellar is sworn in after being chosen as the new state representative replacing Michael Madigan on Feb. 25, 2021, at the Balzekas Museum in West Lawn. Democratic committeemen in the 22nd House District met again to choose a replacement for Madigan in the Illinois House after the original appointee, Edward Guerra Kodatt, resigned three days into the job. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar becomes the second replacement in four days for the Illinois House seat formerly held by Madigan.
March 5, 2021: Former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo pleads not guilty to tax charges stemming from ComEd probe
Rep. Edward Acevedo, D-Chicago, watches votes come in on a bill on the House floor on Jan. 8, 2013, at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield. (Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune)
The charges allege Acevedo attempted to evade paying taxes he owed, including by depositing cash payments into his bank account to conceal the source of income. He was also charged with four misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return from 2015 to 2018. Acevedo faces up to five years in prison on the most serious counts.
May 26, 2021: Mapes charged with lying
Tim Mapes at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield on June 30, 2015. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The former longtime chief of staff to Madigan is indicted on charges of lying to a federal grand jury investigating allegations that Commonwealth Edison paid bribes in exchange for Madigan’s assistance pushing though legislation in Springfield.
He pleads not guilty two days later.
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May 27, 2021: Former state Sen. Annazette Collins pleads not guilty to a new charge
Rep. Annazette Collins, D-10th District, at her district office in Chicago on March 13, 2012. (Heather Charles / Chicago Tribune)
An outgrowth of a case that arose from the ComEd bribes-for-favors scandal, Collins is charged with falsely claiming $31,830 in travel expenses on her tax returns.
Collins, who previously lobbied for ComEd, was hit with the new charge of filing a false tax return for the calendar year 2018 in a superseding indictment filed May 26, 2021 that added the allegations to a broader tax case.
She pleads not guilty.
June 2021: Former Ald. Solis made audio, video recordings of conversations with Madigan
Ald. Daniel Solis, 25th, listens as fellow aldermen speak during a Chicago City Council meeting on June 27, 2012. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune learns among their discussions was a plan to turn a state-owned parcel of land in Chinatown into a commercial development. Though the land deal never was consummated, it’s been a source of continued interest for federal investigators, who last year subpoenaed Madigan’s office for records and communications he’d had with key players. At least one of them recently appeared before the grand jury investigating Madigan’s political operation, sources tell the Tribune.
September 2021: Dougherty texts Mayor Lori Lightfoot: ‘ComEd duped me’
Text messages, obtained by the Tribune through an open records request, show Dougherty repeatedly tried to downplay his role in the ComEd probe to the mayor in 2020 even after federal agents raided the City Club’s offices in the Wrigley Building in the spring of 2019.
Dec. 14, 2021: Acevedo pleads guilty
Acevedo, enters his plea to one count of tax evasion during a hearing via videoconference before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly.
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The plea scuttles a jury trial that had been set for Jan. 10, 2022.
January 2022: What’s next for the ComEd bribery probe?
The most remarkable thing about the Commonwealth Edison bribery probe in 2021 might be what didn’t happen.
March 2, 2022: Madigan indicted on federal racketeering charges
The indictment is returned by a federal grand jury after a more than two-year investigation, according to federal prosecutors. Among the alleged schemes outlined in the indictment was a plan by utility giant Commonwealth Edison to pay thousands of dollars to lobbyists favored by Madigan in order to win his influence over legislation the company wanted passed in Springfield.
March 9, 2022: Madigan pleads not guilty
A week after he was charged in a bombshell corruption indictment, Madigan, is arraigned in a telephone hearing in U.S. District Court on allegations he ran his elected office and political operation as a criminal enterprise that provided personal financial rewards for him and his associates.
March 23, 2022: Acevedo sentenced to 6 months in prison for tax case stemming from ComEd probe
Acevedo’s attorneys had asked for a term of probation, but U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly says his background as a former elected official and a Chicago police officer meant that people were paying attention, and a sentence of probation would seem like “this person got a pass.”
[ Michael Madigan’s indictment: How he pushed for allies to get ComEd jobs and his own daughter’s legislation was killed. ]
May 2022: Madigan knew about secret payments to Kevin Quinn, unsealed court filing alleges
The revelation undermines the storyline Madigan put out when the Tribune first revealed his longtime confidant McClain had lined up friendly utility lobbyists to pay Kevin Quinn thousands of dollars despite his abrupt departure.
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Oct. 13, 2022: Mapes makes first in-person court appearance
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 20 Tim Mapes, former chief of staff to House Speaker Michael Madigan, arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Aug. 9, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Mapes, the former chief of staff to Madigan, walks into the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse for a status hearing on charges he lied to a federal grand jury investigating the alleged ComEd scheme. He was the first of six people who have been charged as part of the ComEd bribery scandal to set foot in a federal courtroom.
Oct. 14, 2022: AT&T charged with trying to illegally influence Madigan, who now faces additional conspiracy charges
AT&T agrees to pay a $23 million fine as part of a federal criminal investigation into the company’s illegal efforts to influence Madigan.
Federal prosecutors also unseal a superseding indictment against Madigan and his longtime confidant McClain, adding allegations about the AT&T Illinois scheme.
Late October 2022: Tom Cullen, longtime brain in Madigan political operation, provided testimony for feds
The Tribune learns that Cullen, a lobbyist who played political point man for years on Madigan’s government staff, has testified before the ongoing federal grand jury looking into broad aspects of Madigan’s political world, which prosecutors allege included a criminal enterprise aimed at providing personal financial rewards for Madigan and his associates.
Jan. 9, 2023: Trial date is set
JUST IN: A trial date for Michael Madigan and Michael McClain has been set for April 1, 2024. The trial is expected to last for six or seven weeks, according to prosecutors. Initial Pretrial motions due by the end of next month. — Jason Meisner (@jmetr22b) January 9, 2023
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The date for the six- to seven-week trial is set during a 10-minute telephone status hearing between U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey and attorneys in the case. Neither Madigan nor his co-defendant McClain were required to be on the call.
March 14, 2023: Jury selection begins in ‘ComEd Four’ trial
After about seven hours of questioning potential jurors in the hot-button case, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber wrapped for the day about 5 p.m., with a pool of just over 60 members of the panel told to come back to court for another round.
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March 15, 2023: Trial begins
Madigan’s photo became a focal point as the high-profile “ComEd Four” trial started in earnest at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, where federal prosecutors said in opening statements that the long-serving Democratic boss benefited personally and politically from a scheme by the utility giant to funnel payments and jobs to Madigan’s associates.
In return, prosecutors, say, the powerful speaker used his position to push or block legislation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the utility.
May 2, 2023: All four defendants convicted of conspiracy in ‘ComEd Four’ trial
The four defendants charged in the ComEd bribery scheme are, from left, consultant Jay Doherty, lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, retired lobbyist Michael McClain and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore (Chicago Tribune photos)
Found guilty of bribery conspiracy are: Former ComEd contract lobbyist Michael McClain, a longtime Madigan confidant; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; ex-ComEd executive John Hooker, and Jay Doherty, who worked as a lobbyist for ComEd for 30 years and served as president of the City Club of Chicago civic forum.
Check out the Tribune’s archives at your fingertips at Newspapers.com.
Sources: Court documents, news reports and Chicago Tribune reporting


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Out $395 in bitcoin scam, Chesterton woman reports man’s threat to kill her: police

“ She states that this unknown subject has been contacting her through ‘ Whatsapp ’ text messaging app and he @ @ @ @ @ to the police if she does not cash this check and send him a portion @ @ @ @ @ to police .
“ She states that she knows she is out the $ 395 @ @ @ @ @ to make sure she is not in trouble with the police if this subject does @ @ @

A Chesterton woman contacted police this week after falling victim to a bitcoin scam and receiving death threats for not cashing a fraudulent check.
The 32-year-old woman, of the 1500 block of Washington Avenue, contacted Chesterton police around 2 p.m. Monday because she received a fraudulent $2,500 check from an unknown person.
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The woman, according to a report, told police she was caught up in a bitcoin transaction with the same person Sunday and was out $395. She received the check, from a fraudulent business in Anaheim, California, on Monday.
“She states that this unknown subject has been contacting her through ‘Whatsapp’ text messaging app and he has threatened to report her to the police if she does not cash this check and send him a portion of it,” according to police. “She states that she knows she is out the $395, but she just wants to make sure she is not in trouble with the police if this subject does call.”
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Chesterton police have received around half a dozen complaints about bitcoin fraud over the past year and a half or two, Police Chief David Cincoski said.
“If it sounds too good to be true, it isn’t, and most of these people are financial predators. Mostly what they’re going to engage in is verbal coercion to get people to take these steps or they will be in fear for their life,” he said, adding residents also receive threatening calls from people claiming to be “IRS officers.”
Police, according to the report, assured the woman that the person was not going to contact police and advised her to block him on Whatsapp. She provided a phone number for the person to police which checked out to be a landline out of Dyer, Tennessee.
The woman told police she “just wanted to make sure she wasn’t in trouble” and that the only information the man had was her address and phone number.
She later called police back, very upset, and said “that this subject was now texting her death threats stating that he was coming over in 30 minutes and was going to kill her and the police.’
Police told her it was another ploy to convince her to cash the check and send him money and advised her that no one will show up. Police offered to provide extra patrols for the next couple of days and told her if she still felt unsafe, she should go stay with family or friends away from her residence.
Police do not believe the man was going to follow through on his threats, Cincoski said, adding anyone receiving such threats should block the man and contact police immediately.
“You shouldn’t be making any transactions with people you don’t know and bitcoin is going to be instantly suspicious,” he said.
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Younger generations are more in tune with technology and new apps and messaging systems, he said, and “you can bet there’s going to be some kind of predator out there.”
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Madigan confidant, three others plead not guilty to ComEd bribery charges

“ I never really socialized with him , I don ’ t think I ’ ve seen him in the @ @ @ @ @ , ” Leinenweber said .
He did not mention that he also served with Madigan @ @ @ @ @ in the charges only as “ Public Official A .
”

A confidant of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan pleaded not guilty along with three others Wednesday to charges they orchestrated an elaborate bribery scheme with Commonwealth Edison to funnel money and do-nothing jobs to Madigan loyalists in exchange for the speaker’s help with state legislation.
Lobbyist Mike McClain, center, outside of Speaker Michael Madigan's office at the State Capitol in Springfield in 2012. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
A 50-page indictment returned last month charged retired lobbyist Michael McClain, 73, of downstate Quincy; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, 62, of Barrington; lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, 71, of Chicago; and Jay Doherty, 67, a consultant and former head of the City Club of Chicago.
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The most serious of the charges carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
All four appeared for an arraignment Wednesday via video conference before U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber — the first court hearing since the bombshell charges were announced Nov. 25.
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Due to the ongoing pandemic, none of the defendants or lawyers was required to appear in person at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.
During the hearing, McClain stayed seated in what appeared to be a study at his home, dressed in a dark suit jacket and occasionally smoothing his hair. Pramaggiore, seated by herself in a wood-paneled room, smiled and nodded when her name was called. Hooker and Doherty, meanwhile appeared to be seated in separate offices.
At the outset of the 30-minute hearing, Leinenweber said he wanted to put on the record that he served in the General Assembly with McClain, though on different sides of the aisle.
“I never really socialized with him, I don’t think I’ve seen him in the past 40 years or so,” Leinenweber said. He did not mention that he also served with Madigan, who is referred to in the charges only as “Public Official A.”
Leinenweber added that his wife had once served as a board member for Constellation Energy before ComEd’s parent company, Exelon, purchased the supplier in 2012.
None of the parties objected to Leinenweber continuing to preside over the case.
After lawyers for the four defendants entered the not guilty pleas, prosecutors said they would begin producing the “quite voluminous” evidence on a rolling basis starting in two to three weeks.
Leinenweber set a status hearing for Feb. 16. Meanwhile, all four defendants will remain free on $10,000 recognizance bonds that did not require them to post any money.
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The indictment alleged that beginning in 2011, the defendants “arranged for various associates” of Madigan — including his political allies and campaign workers — to “obtain jobs, contracts and monetary payments” from ComEd even in instances where they did little or no actual work.
McClain and the other defendants also conspired to have ComEd hire a Madigan-favored law firm and lawyer, previously identified in public testimony as Victor Reyes of Reyes Kurson, and to accept into ComEd’s summer internship program a certain number of students who lived in Madigan’s 13th Ward, according to the charges.
Pramaggiore and McClain also allegedly took steps to have an individual appointed to ComEd’s board of directors at the request of Madigan and McClain, the indictment stated. Tribune has identified the appointee as Juan Ochoa, the former head of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Chicago.
Madigan, 78, the longest-serving House speaker in U.S. history and chairman of the state Democratic Party, has not been accused of wrongdoing.
The day after the indictment was announced, the speaker released a lengthy statement defending his history of making job recommendations and saying that if anyone at ComEd had tried to bribe him, “it was never made known to me.”
But the charges against McClain signal federal prosecutors have now cracked Madigan’s innermost circle and pose the most imminent threat to the speaker’s long hold on power.
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Foes contend Madigan doesn’t have the 60 votes he needs in January to retain his seat as speaker, though a strong challenger has yet to emerge.
His chances of remaining in power were dealt another serious blow Tuesday when Rep. Kathleen Willis of Addison, a member of Madigan’s Democratic leadership team, said she will not support him for another term leading the chamber.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth have also said it was time for Madigan to step aside as state Democratic chairman.
The indictment comes a year and a half after the Chicago Tribune first reported that the FBI had raided McClain’s home and almost a year to the day after it revealed his phone had been wiretapped by investigators.
McClain’s criminal defense attorney, Patrick Cotter, said in a statement the charges were “the result of a misguided investigation and misapplication of the law driven by an obvious desire to find some way to criminally implicate” Madigan.
Lawyers for Pramaggiore, Hooker and Doherty have all issued statements denying any wrongdoing.
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McClain is one of Madigan’s longest and closest friends, and served with him in the House in the 1970s and early 1980s before McClain moved on to a lucrative lobbying career that included ComEd as a client.
The indictment centers around an alleged scheme that was first laid out in court documents in July, when the U.S. attorney’s office announced ComEd was being charged with bribery under a deferred prosecution agreement.
The company admitted in court documents that top executives — including Pramaggiore, Vice President Fidel Marquez and others — had conspired with McClain to make off-the-books payments to lobbyists and consultants who were close to Madigan’s operation in order to influence key legislation the utility wanted in Springfield.
During the course of the scheme, ComEd and parent company Exelon persuaded the General Assembly to approve a smart-grid overhaul in 2011 and a bailout of the nuclear power plants in downstate Clinton and the Quad Cities with consumers helping foot the bill in 2016.
ComEd agreed to pay a record $200 million fine and cooperate with investigators in exchange for the charges being dropped in three years.
Marquez was later charged with bribery conspiracy and pleaded guilty in October to his role in the scheme.
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jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Naperville rejects mask mandate in split council vote

“ We have certainly hundreds of people in town , if not more , who are going to be long @ @ @ @ @ effects from this disease , ” she said .
“ So even if they were @ @ @ @ @ got it , and they are not going to die from it , they still @ @ @ @ @ and years of medical treatments , ahead of them .
”

People walk in Naperville on Dec. 2, 2020, a day after the City Council rejected a mandate that would make people wear a mask in public when a 6-foot distance cannot be maintained. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The Naperville City Council affirmed that everyone who is medically able should wear a protective face covering in public to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but stopped short of mandating masks.
After hearing two hours of comments Tuesday from nearly 150 people, many of whom oppose wearing masks or governmental interference in their decision to cover their face, the council opted to take a positive approach rather than a punitive one.
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The council initially voted 5-4 against an ordinance requiring people to mask up in Naperville anytime a 6-foot distance cannot be maintained.
Mayor Steve Chirico and council members Kevin Coyne, Patty Gustin, Paul Hinterlong and John Krummen opposed the mandate; council members Judy Brodhead, Patrick Kelly, Theresa Sullivan and Benny White voted in favor of it.
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After the measure failed, the council voted 8-1 on a resolution to continue and increase the city’s public awareness campaign promoting mask usage.
[ Mask mandate debate sets record for public comments at Naperville council meeting — here’s what some residents had to say ]
Coyne, the only council member to vote against both, said neither option would lead to more people wearing masks in public.
Masks have become a politically charged issue, Coyne said, adding that any move by the city will add more drama and division and will reinforce notions of conspiracy and governmental overreach.
In a 5-4 vote, the Naperville City Council rejected a mandate Tuesday that would make people wear a mask in public when a 6-foot distance cannot be maintained. (Suzanne Baker / Naperville Sun)
Chirico broached the subject of a mask mandate at a town hall meeting Nov. 16 with officials from Edward-Elmhurst Health to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and how a case surge led to a ban on indoor dining and prompted school districts to step back from return-to-school plans.
Later that week the mayor came under fire when photos appeared on social media of Chirico and his family posing maskless at his daughter’s wedding in Florida.
“There was intense national debate in communities across the country about what local steps could or should be taken for that purpose,” Chirico said Tuesday. “For the purpose of discussion, I asked to have this item brought for our City Council consideration because as elected officials, you must have the discussion in public.”
He remains committed to keeping Naperville and its economy open, he said, and wearing a mask can accomplish that purpose.
“Having just visited the state with an open economy and no mask mandate, I have witnessed firsthand that less regulation can be just as safe and can lead to better results,” Chirico said. “For that reason, I don’t believe the mask mandate is a wise public policy that should be instituted in Naperville at this time.”
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Kelly said the goal should be to provide the strongest possible statement that wearing a mask is important so the community can get back to normal as quickly as possible, and an ordinance could help with that.
But the reality, he said, is the impact of a mask mandate probably is not going to be that significant.
“Many other municipalities have already passed something like this, and staff researched it and they did not find one single time where an actual citation has been issued to an individual,” Kelly said.
“Nobody is arresting people, and that’s not the intent I think of any of us with this ordinance. But it does say a lot about our values on how we’re going to address this issue,” he said.
White said a mask measure would buy the community some time until a coronavirus vaccine is readily available.
“I know folks are concerned about being over-regulated,” White said. “But let’s be honest, we can’t go into stores without having shoes on our feet or shirts on our back. You can’t do that. There’s speed limits wherever we go.”
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Hinterlong urged people to set aside their political bias over masks and pull together as a community.
“Let’s work together. Let’s move forward together. Let’s calculate this together,” Hinterlong said.
“I don’t believe a mandate is the right right choice. I think that’ll just throw gas on the fire that’s already out there in our community,” he said.
Instead, the city needs to continue to educate and ask people to cooperate, Hinterlong said.
Sullivan said she supported a mandate, even though the police department has much better things to do than citing people for not wearing a mask.
“It’s sad that we even have to come to this and ask (the police) to do this. But we have to make a statement about it; that’s the statement we need to make,” she said.
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Krummen countered that enforcement of a mandate raises too many questions and confusion for police.
While he said he cannot support a mask mandate, he can support any effort to encourage people to wear one.
“It’s such an easy ask that I have trouble understanding why somebody wouldn’t do that. Who couldn’t do that?” Krummen said.
Brodhead said COVID-19 treatments are improving and more people are surviving. But even survivors can have long-term effects from the disease.
“We have certainly hundreds of people in town, if not more, who are going to be long haulers who will have lifelong effects from this disease,” she said. “So even if they were young and healthy when they got it, and they are not going to die from it, they still will have years and years and years of medical treatments, ahead of them.”
subaker@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-02--Chicago’s winter overnight parking ban is in effect. Here’s how to avoid getting ticketed or towed.

Cars left parked on the designated streets hinder snowplowing and salting services .
Snow can build up next to parked @ @ @ @ @ traffic flow — especially for buses and emergency vehicles — according to the city .
@ @ @ @ @ to prevent recurrences of problems that happened in 1967 and 1979 when Chicago came to @ @ @ @ @ major snowstorms .

Chicago's winter overnight parking ban kicked in on Dec. 1, prohibiting parking on 107 miles of main streets from 3 to 7 a.m., regardless of snow, until April 1. (Network Video Productions) (Network Video Productions/Chicago Tribune)
It’s the time of year when you need to think twice about claiming that open spot on the street.
The city’s winter overnight parking ban began at 3 a.m. on Dec. 1. Parking is prohibited on 107 miles of main streets from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. — regardless of snow — until April 1, 2023. Another 500 miles of streets prohibit parking after two inches of snow or more falls, no matter the time of day or the date.
Two hundred forty two cars were towed on the first day of the ban this year — up from 200 towed on the same date in 2021.
Pay attention to street signs
(City of Chicago)
Cars left parked on the designated streets hinder snowplowing and salting services. Snow can build up next to parked cars on these routes impeding traffic flow — especially for buses and emergency vehicles — according to the city. Both parking bans were implemented to prevent recurrences of problems that happened in 1967 and 1979 when Chicago came to a traffic standstill due to major snowstorms.
Twenty-three inches of snow, the largest single snowfall in Chicago history, covered the city and suburbs in the blizzard of 1967. Abandoned vehicles made even major streets and highways impassable. (Tribune archive photo)
Motorists who ignore these seasonal parking bans will be towed and face at least a $150 towing fee, a $60 ticket and storage fees of $25 per day.
How to find out if your vehicle has been towed
Call 3-1-1 to determine your vehicle’s location and the address of the impound lot, if you suspect your vehicle has been towed by the city of Chicago.
Frank Kuhlmann picks up his car at a city auto pound on the west side of Chicago. His car, and those of many others, were towed as the winter overnight parking ban kicked in. (Alex Garcia)
Vehicles in violation of the ban will be towed to Auto Pound #2 (10301 S. Doty Ave.) or Auto Pound #6 (701 N. Sacramento Blvd.). Both locations are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The city’s Streets and Sanitation department has additional tips on what to do to retrieve your vehicle from an impound lot.
Sources: City of Chicago; Chicago Tribune reporting