chicagotribune--2020-04-29--$750K bond for man accused of pointing gun at Chicago police officers on Far South Side

Raymond Winston , of Chicago , was arrested 12:15 a.m. Tuesday in the first block of West 99th Street in @ @ @ @ @ Far South Side , according to police and Cook County prosecutors .
A Chicago police @ @ @ @ @ after he shouted obscenities at the officers , pulled out a gun and pointed it @ @ @ @ @ not injured in the shooting .

A 47-year-old man with a history of felony convictions dating back to the 1990s is facing multiple charges after he pointed a gun at Chicago police officers while they were talking to a witness Monday night, according to police.
Raymond Winston, of Chicago, was arrested 12:15 a.m. Tuesday in the first block of West 99th Street in the Fernwood neighborhood on the Far South Side, according to police and Cook County prosecutors. A Chicago police officer fired shots at Winston after he shouted obscenities at the officers, pulled out a gun and pointed it at them. He was not injured in the shooting.
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Raymond Winston / Chicago Police Department
In court on Wednesday, prosecutors told a judge five uniformed officers were investigating a Shot Spotter report when they encountered Winston, who was holding a gun in his right hand. Winston pointed his weapon at officers at least three times as he fled from officers, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.
Winston ran after the officer fired shots, but he was taken into custody after a chase, police said. A Hi-Point 9mm handgun with a heavily defaced serial number was found at the scene.
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Winston faces five felony counts of aggravated assault with a firearm on a peace officer, police said. He also faces felony charges of armed habitual criminal and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number.
Citing Winston’s criminal history, which included armed robbery and gun offenses, Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Winston held on $750,000, as well as electronic home monitoring, if he was able to post.
An officer injured his or her hand on a fence during the chase but refused medical treatment, police said. No other injures were reported.
Winston is expected to return to court next week.
William Lee contributed to this report.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Watch live: Gov. J. B. Pritzker and health officials discuss Illinois coronavirus cases

Watch live as Illinois Gov .
J .
B. Pritzker and health officials discuss coronavirus cases in a briefing scheduled @ @ @ @ @ Get the latest updates here .

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chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Standoff on Edens Expressway near Old Orchard ends with man in custody

During the standoff , there were at least a dozen police vehicles around the parked semitrailer with a trucking company @ @ @ @ @ could be heard telling an occupant to exit and get on the ground with hands @ @ @ @ @ building near the large parking lot where squad cars gathered — just north of Niles @ @ @ @ @ witness was told there were “ snipers on the roof . ''

Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas, Stacey Wescott

Illinois State Police SWAT officers work on taking a subject into custody following a standoff April 29, 2020, on the Edens Expressway in Skokie. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
About 3½ hours after state police closed part of the Edens Expressway near Skokie because a man was barricaded in the cab of a semitrailer, the man was taken into custody, officials said.
About 9:15 a.m. Illinois State Police began trying to communicate with the man barricaded inside the vehicle on Interstate 94 north at Old Orchard Road, according to an email from state police. Expressway lanes in both directions were closed.
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During the standoff, there were at least a dozen police vehicles around the parked semitrailer with a trucking company logo on it. Authorities could be heard telling an occupant to exit and get on the ground with hands up. At an office building near the large parking lot where squad cars gathered — just north of Niles North High School — a witness was told there were “snipers on the roof."
The man had a weapon and began to emerge from the vehicle with it. He spoke with a person who appeared to be a negotiator and at one point appeared to be praying with the man.
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The man also tore pages from a book and continued speaking with the negotiator. Nearby authorities hung back and let the man walk around outside the semitrailer for some time before gently moving him to the ground and placing him in handcuffs.
About 12:30 p.m., the standoff ended with the man in custody, police said in an updated email. Police have not publicly identified the man.
Police had urged motorists to stay away and blocked off roads in the area.
About 12:55 p.m. police said all southbound lanes were reopened.
Cook County: The Edens Expressway (Interstate 94) is blocked in both directions between Skokie Highway and Old Orchard Road because of police activity. All lanes and ramps in both directions are blocked. #ILtraffic pic.twitter.com/Mt41aV6h4F — IDOT_Illinois (@IDOT_Illinois) April 29, 2020
Eric Swaback, a spokesman for the Skokie Police Department, said the agency assisted on scene but the investigation was in state police jurisdiction.
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Chicago Tribune’s Peter Nickeas contributed.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


African American funerals

As the coronavirus spreads globally , it has been revealed that some notable people have tested positive for the virus @ @ @ @ @ of most recently reported .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6 A funeral is held at Doty Nash funeral home in Chicago on April 24, 2020, for Joseph R. James, who contracted COVID-19. Only 10 people were permitted in the chapel for the service. The funeral home instituted spacing, occupancy and other rules in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
The traditions of African American families coming together to mourn their loved has been disrupted by COVID-19, as with services for Joseph R. James.


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Zion woman shot Sunday dies of injuries

Zion woman shot Sunday dies of injuries

Zion police responded to the hospital at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday where they learned the shooting had taken place outside @ @ @ @ @ Jethro Avenue , according to the release .
The woman had been shot once in @ @ @

A 21-year-old Zion woman shot in the abdomen on Sunday died Monday afternoon from her injuries, Zion police said.
The shooting is now being investigated as a homicide, according to the Zion Police Department, which is being assisted by the Lake County Major Crime Task Force.
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The task force was contacted early Sunday, the day the woman arrived at Vista Medical Center East’s emergency room with a gunshot wound, because of the severity of her injuries, according to a news release.
Zion police responded to the hospital at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday where they learned the shooting had taken place outside in the 2300 block of Jethro Avenue, according to the release. The woman had been shot once in the abdomen.
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The woman has not yet been identified by police and Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper said additional information is expected to be released Thursday.
Officers and detectives subsequently went to the Jethro Avenue area to collect evidence, according to the release. The investigation is ongoing.
Based on the investigation so far, the woman appears to have been “specifically targeted,” according to Sgt. Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the task force.
The woman was seated in a vehicle near a home when she was shot, he said.
Arrests had yet to be made Wednesday, but Zion detectives and task force investigators. “continue to make progress in the investigation,” Covelli said.
“We do not believe there is a threat to the community at large, this appears to be very targeted,” he said in an email.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Zion Police Department at (847) 872-8000 or Lake County Crime Stoppers at (847) 662-2222.


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--How an old-school Italian steakhouse in Skokie changed its DNA to adapt during the coronavirus pande

How an old-school Italian steakhouse in Skokie changed its DNA to adapt during the coronavirus pandemic

Littleton and Lenzi are also considering what dining out might look like once restaurants are allowed to reopen their dining @ @ @ @ @ rethinking a lot of things we ’ d normally do , ” says Littleton .
@ @ @ @ @ bread basket ?
We ’ ll probably have to get rid of the linen , @ @ @ @ @ to disinfect the tables after every use.
” She ’ s also looking to see @ @ @ @ @ gloves for the waitstaff to wear .
“ We are clean freaks , ” says @ @ @ @ @ pay attention to the details .
I know our customers see how clean we are @ @ @ @ @ point of pride for us .
”

EJ’s Place in suburban Skokie might not seem like the kind of restaurant that would be nimble in the time of a crisis. The place looks like an an old-fashioned Wisconsin supper club from the 1950s landed in the north suburbs and features a menu stuffed with large cuts of meat and Italian comfort food. Traditional and comforting? Yes. But pioneering?
Yet when the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of all restaurant dining rooms in the state, EJ’s was able to seamlessly pivot to curbside pickup orders placed on an app. The owner and his daughter are also helping to imagine what EJ’s might look like later in 2020 if dining rooms are able to open.
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How’d EJ’s do it? You’d probably have to go back three years, when Gabriella Lenzi Littleton started working for her dad, EJ Lenzi. The two immediately had a lot of discussions about modernizing the restaurant.
“There was a feeling that we are an old-school restaurant, and we don’t need to change anything,” says Littleton. “My father has this very staid way of doing things. He’s not into technology.” Littleton notes that her dad doesn’t even have the Facebook app on his phone.
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“At first, I thought, ‘Why do you need software to help you do your job?’” says EJ Lenzi. “My expertise is not technology. It’s in the realm of hospitality.”
EJ's Place in Skokie offers marinated skirt steak with mashed potatoes, broccoli and peas. The old-school restaurant had never relied on to-go orders, but quickly changed its business after the shutdown order took effect. (Nick Kindelsperger / Chicago Tribune)
He and his family certainly have a lot of experience doing things the old way. His grandfather, Eugene (Gene) Michelotti, helped open the classic River North steakhouse, Gene & Georgetti, in 1941. Lenzi started working there when he was a teenager, before opening his own steakhouse, Erie Cafe, in 1994. (He sold the restaurant 16 months later.) In 1997 he opened EJ’s Place in Skokie.
Slowly, Lenzi relented and Littleton developed the restaurant’s online presence, creating an Instagram account and filling it with gorgeous photography from Neil Burger, an acclaimed food photographer. Even before she started officially working for EJ’s, she helped register the restaurant for OpenTable.
This meant that the restaurant was in a better position to handle to-go orders once the coronavirus pandemic broke out. But both Lenzi and Littleton realized that to-go orders often felt impersonal and wanted to figure out a way to offer the kind of service EJ’s Place is known for providing.
For curbside pickup during the coronavirus pandemic, EJ's Place places all the hot food in brown bags, and all the cold food in white ones. (Nick Kindelsperger / Chicago Tribune)
“To-go isn’t something that we ever focused on,” admits Littleton. “Now we are printing our logos on to-go bags and stapling our breadbasket with a staple-free stapler so no one cuts themselves,” says Littleton. “We serve the cold food in white bags, and the hot food in brown bags, so everything travels well.”
Littleton says that customers would miss the small touches that they get while dining in. “Maybe they don’t notice the staple-free staples,” says Littleton, “but we thought about those details and we hope that shows.”
The bread is served in a doggie bag held together with a stapleless staples. (Nick Kindelsperger / Chicago Tribune)
While they considered a few different online platforms, Littleton decided to offer curbside pickup on Fridays and Saturdays using Tock, the online ordering system run by restaurateur Nick Kokonas. “Tock has made it possible to provide meals to our customers in the most similar way they are used to,” says Littleton. “It gives them the opportunity to order exactly how they’d like to.”
Lenzi says that while his younger patrons figured it out quickly, some of the older ones required some hand-holding. “We’re ending up teaching some of the clients how to use the (Tock) app,” says Lenzi. “At first they were confused, but now they say, ‘That’s really cool.’”
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Although restaurant dining rooms may reopen this summer, they know that to-go orders won’t disappear any time soon. “We want to grow again when this is all over,” says Littleton. “We can take this as a learning experience to be successful. To-go is going to be ingrained in the fabric of the restaurant industry.”
Littleton and Lenzi are also considering what dining out might look like once restaurants are allowed to reopen their dining rooms. “We are rethinking a lot of things we’d normally do,” says Littleton. “Will we have a bread basket? We’ll probably have to get rid of the linen, because we’d need to disinfect the tables after every use.” She’s also looking to see if she can get antimicrobial gloves for the waitstaff to wear. “We are clean freaks,” says Littleton. “We really pay attention to the details. I know our customers see how clean we are. It’s a point of pride for us.”
Lenzi wonders whether things like paper menus will go away. “The waiter may have to verbally recite the menu,” says Lenzi, “because you can’t pass menus back and forth to customers. And it would be too expensive to only use the menus once.”
Other items that normally sit on the tables may go, too. “Are you going to keep salt and pepper on the table?” asks Lenzi. “Everything might have to be off the table. It’s going to change service for sure.”
A to-go order from EJ's Place in Skokie includes marinated skirt steak, multiple kinds of potatoes, grilled calamari, broccoli, squash, cauliflower and peas. (Nick Kindelsperger / Chicago Tribune)
Both say that while things are tough, EJ’s Place will definitely stay in business. But they are worried about other restaurants and for their employees in general.
“I’m just devastated for our restaurant community,” says Littleton. “My mind is going in a thousand different directions.” She had been working on a project to address the vulnerably employed in the restaurant business, and the pandemic has only made things worse. “What can single mothers in the restaurant business do?” asks Littleton. “They can’t get childcare, because most day cares are closed. And their funds are depleted. What are we going to do for the moms?”
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Littleton also notes that businesses that sell to restaurants are struggling. “I don’t think people understand the business ecosystem that surrounds restaurants,” says Littleton. She notes that Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, which sells alcohol to many places in Illinois, had to furlough hundreds of employees.
Lenzi believes that the forced shutdown of dining rooms will hopefully show how important restaurants are. “I think people underestimated the importance of the restaurant as a gathering place,” says Lenzi. “Now I think we’ll get a little bit more respect. We’re an integral part of the economy. Let’s celebrate them a bit more.”
He adds that reducing the tax burden for restaurants would certainly help during this time.
“I’m casually optimistic,” says Littleton. “It’s going to be a tough road ahead, but I want to see Chicago become the blueprint for how to do it. We need to use our creativity to bring an industry back. Chicago has slightly lower barriers (for running a restaurant) compared to New York, San Francisco or Seattle. Maybe we can come up with solutions that other cities can implement. Chicago needs to take the lead.”
EJ’s Place, 10027 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, 847-933-9800, ejsplaceskokie.com. You can order curbside pickup from EJ’s Place through Tock.


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Cosmetology school now teaching its 120 students online. ‘All my students tell me it’s not the same.

Cosmetology school now teaching its 120 students online. ‘All my students tell me it’s not the same.’

Illinois requires cosmetology students to complete a program of 1,500 hours from an accredited school in no more than seven @ @ @ @ @ license .
Monroy said it takes most of her students between 15 and 25 months @ @ @ @ @ and none of her students are in jeopardy of missing the state deadline because of @ @ @ @ @ 10 of her students at each school , however , graduation has been delayed .

It’s not easy learning cosmetology online, but that’s just what the 120 students in Aurora Monroy’s school are doing.
Monroy is the director and owner of Capelli Academy of Cosmetology, with locations in Chicago’s Little Village and Belmont Gardens neighborhoods, as well as Montgomery. The school, which also runs a salon that offers services like haircuts, manicures, and facials, decided to shift online March 13 when the state ordered K-12 schools to close to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
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Monroy said her five instructors are using a variety of tools to teach online. They’re using Zoom to demonstrate certain haircuts and created a Facebook group to assign homework and projects to the students. But there are limitations to online learning, Monroy said.
“At school, students are right there watching the instructor from different angles working on a haircut. ... It’s difficult to show them while being stationary in front of the camera,” Monroy said.
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[ Pandemic pivot: How Chicago-area businesses and workers are managing the coronavirus crisis ]
Illinois requires cosmetology students to complete a program of 1,500 hours from an accredited school in no more than seven consecutive years to earn a license. Monroy said it takes most of her students between 15 and 25 months to finish the program, and none of her students are in jeopardy of missing the state deadline because of coronavirus. For eight to 10 of her students at each school, however, graduation has been delayed.
Most students at Capelli work and pay for their own tuition, Monroy said. A few lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 health crisis and couldn’t afford to pay tuition, which caused them to postpone their studies, she said.
Those students will complete the program in the fall instead of during the summer, she said.
“Some of them were anxious because they have a goal to meet. They have a contract with the school. They were asking, ‘What is going to happen with our hours?’ If you go over your contract, you get charged,” she said.
Monroy said she extended contracts with students without penalties.
Aurora Monroy has been forced to take the Capelli Academy of Cosmetology online, but she is making plans for when she can reopen. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Monroy said she has enough savings to keep the business going for about six months. The school in Little Village opened in 2008 during the Great Recession, and Monroy said the recession taught her the importance of saving money in times of emergency. She hasn’t applied for federal or state financial assistance programs because of those savings.
She also worries about the impact online learning will have on her newer students.
[ 3D office tours grow in popularity as coronavirus halts in-person visits ]
“All my students tell me it’s not the same. Some will attend programs online and some won’t because they said, ‘I don’t learn that way,’” she said.
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When she does reopen, Monroy plans to increase safety measures at the salon. Everyone will wear masks, students will have to wash their hands after every appointment, furniture will be moved to facilitate social distancing, and plastic dividers will be installed at nail technicians’ tables to keep customers separate.
“We are already thinking about that phase one of opening the school again,” Monroy said.
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @abdel1019
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing Chicago-area companies and workers to face harsh realities about their paychecks and their place in the local economy. The Tribune is reaching out to hear, and share, their stories.


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--First look, virtually, at Fat Rice 2.0 — aka Super Fat Rice Mart, offering meal kits and Portuguese

First look, virtually, at Fat Rice 2.0 — aka Super Fat Rice Mart, offering meal kits and Portuguese flavors

A Mystery Box Cook Kit Upgrade ( $ 30 ) will highlight one dish .
Spoiler alert : Look for @ @ @ @ @ chile asparagus , with Mick Klug Farm spears , in two weeks .
“ You @ @ @ @ @ ass bunch of asparagus , ” said Conlon .
“ All the chiles , all @ @ @ @ @ things you need with instructions .
We ’ re going to put comics and stuff @ @ @ @ @ s going to be wild .
”

Fat Rice, the critically acclaimed restaurant in the Logan Square neighborhood, inspired by the cuisine of Macau, has closed for the foreseeable future. Co-owners Abe Conlon and Adrienne Lo re-opened Tuesday as Super Fat Rice Mart with meal kits and grocery goods.
Before you pull on your face mask, hoping to head over and stock up on their beloved Portuguese egg tarts, not so fast.
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“The website is open for orders, but the physical space is not,” said Lo.
Abe Conlon and Adrienne Lo at Super Fat Rice Mart, their restaurant turned grocery in response to the coronavirus pandemic, in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago on April 29, 2020 (Adrienne Lo)
“We’ll be open this weekend for scheduled pick ups,” Conlon added. “You can’t come inside. We have a pickup zone that’s all hands free curbside.”
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They spoke by phone Tuesday in what’s become their new grocery store.
In 2012, Fat Rice transformed an unlovely corner of Diversey and Sacramento avenues into a de facto Asian cultural center when it opened. The following year Tribune critic Phil Vettel reviewed the restaurant, awarding two stars. Four years later, 2016 saw three milestones with the openings of the attached Bakery at Fat Rice and The Ladies’ Room cocktail lounge, as well as the publication of their best-selling cookbook, “The Adventures of Fat Rice.” Conlon won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Great Lakes in 2018. The restaurant earned spot No. 22 in Phil’s 50 list in November. Days later they opened a stall at the highly anticipated Time Out Market food hall in the West Loop.
After Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed dining rooms statewide on March 16, Conlon and Lo laid off nearly 70 employees. They created take-home food kits, some for staff and some for sale, before shutting down the businesses completely. About eight employees may return to help run the mart.
Asian and Portuguese pantry staples at Super Fat Rice Mart, Fat Rice restaurant turned grocery store in response to the coronavirus pandemic, in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago on April 29, 2020 (Adrienne Lo / HANDOUT)
The new venture follows in the footsteps of a number of Chicago area restaurants that have pivoted to providing groceries for pickup and delivery. So how will Super Fat Rice Mart work?
“You go onto the website. You order a Super Value Meal Kit,” said Conlon. The signature meal kit ($99.99) features primarily produce from local organic farms, plus ingredients and recipes to make fan favorite dishes. The website promises enough food to serve two hungry adults for two full days (breakfast, lunch, dinner, sweets and snacks) with leftovers for day three.
A Mystery Box Cook Kit Upgrade ($30) will highlight one dish. Spoiler alert: Look for their annual seasonal dry fried chile asparagus, with Mick Klug Farm spears, in two weeks. “You’ll get a big ass bunch of asparagus,” said Conlon. “All the chiles, all the seasonings and all the things you need with instructions. We’re going to put comics and stuff in it and it’s going to be wild.”
You can also add a frozen pork and ginger dumplings kit ($35.99) plus Asian and Portuguese pantry staples, beer and wine, as well as cocktail kits coming soon.
Bottles of wine with Asian and Portuguese pantry staples at Super Fat Rice Mart, Fat Rice restaurant turned grocery store in response to the coronavirus pandemic, in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago on April 29, 2020 (Adrienne Lo / HANDOUT)
That’s the first step of this project, said Lo. “We want to continue to be a really important part of this food system.”
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Conlon added, “There’s a further commitment to organic and natural products in all of our sourcing. Unless it’s supposed to be fun and have MSG in it like Indomie noodles.” The instant ramen is a popular Indonesian brand.
Also look for what they’re calling flash food pickup specials, possibly their pork chop bun, like an Asian take on the classic Maxwell Street bone-in pork chop sandwich.
Fat Rice fan favorite pork chop bun may pop up as a flash food pickup special at the new Super Fat Rice Mart grocery store (Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune)
“We have a cult following of people who love the pork chop sandwich,” said Conlon. “We can’t offer that pork chop sandwich every day, but we might be able to offer that pork chop sandwich on a certain day at a certain time.”
Lo added, “We are working on an in-store experience, but that will not be ready for a month or so.” Those shopping visits will be limited to two people at a time in the store. “You won’t be coming in and sitting down and dining at Fat Rice,” she said.
Why did they decide not to do takeout or delivery dishes?
“We didn’t want to hold on to something that wasn’t going to be worth it,” said Conlon. “It’s just not economically feasible in the long run. You can’t go from a full-service restaurant that doesn’t do delivery to a restaurant that does do delivery.”
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“In restaurants we’re always trying to recreate these stories from home or from an experience,” he added. “You’ve never had a fresh grilled sardine better than when you’re on the coast of Portugal.”
“Our food came from the home anyhow,” said Conlon. Their cookbook research took them to Macau, formerly a Portuguese colony, not to seek out chefs and restaurants, but home kitchens where the cuisine thrives. “We’ve been trying to recreate food from home in the restaurant and that is very, very, very, very, very difficult. It’s never quite the same as if you cooked the tamarind pork belly in your house with the rock sugar and shrimp paste.”
What about those egg tarts? “We’re working on our bread program,” said Conlon. “We are working on our egg tart program. Those are not in place right now.”
“We don’t want to say Fat Rice is dead forever.”


Edens Expressway standoff

Illinois State Police troopers and Skokie police on the scene with a barricaded subject in a truck during a standoff @ @ @ @ @ Skokie on April 29 , 2020 .
( Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune )


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Northwestern University turns down millions of dollars from federal coronavirus bill. University of

Northwestern University turns down millions of dollars from federal coronavirus bill. University of Chicago is still deciding whether to accept.

The CARES Act , which set aside about $ 14 billion for higher education , reserved money for universities and @ @ @ @ @ of students it enrolled and how many of them came from low-income backgrounds .
Half @ @ @ @ @ received must be used to offer students emergency financial aid grants , and the rest @ @ @ @ @ put toward other costs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic .

Northwestern determined it was "unable to accept the requirements and evolving guidance regarding the CARES Act." (, Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune)
Northwestern University says it will turn down about $8.5 million in federal stimulus money that it was set to receive from the U.S. Department of Education, following similar moves by wealthy universities that returned funds so schools in greater need could benefit.
But a spokesman for Northwestern did not provide the same rationale on Tuesday night. In an emailed statement, Jon Yates said, “After careful consideration, Northwestern University determined we are unable to accept the requirements and evolving guidance regarding the CARES Act. Therefore, the University has decided not to apply for or receive the funds allocated to us.”
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The CARES Act, which set aside about $14 billion for higher education, reserved money for universities and colleges based on the number of students it enrolled and how many of them came from low-income backgrounds. Half of the money that schools received must be used to offer students emergency financial aid grants, and the rest of the money can be put toward other costs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elite private universities with large endowments have drawn criticism in recent days for being awarded the relief money. Last week, President Donald Trump singled out Harvard, which had been allocated $8.6 million of the taxpayer funds even though it has the largest endowment of any college, worth about $41 billion before the pandemic.
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After Harvard decided that it wouldn’t apply to access the money, other wealthy Ivy League schools followed its lead. Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Stanford also said they would not seek the funds.
Northwestern’s endowment totaled about $10.8 billion before the pandemic, making it among the richest schools in the country.
In an interview on CNBC on Tuesday, Northwestern President Morton Schapiro said that while some of the school’s endowment can be used to soften the economic blow, much of the funds are restricted and can’t be used to cover all of the new expenses from the pandemic.
“We are not going to accept the government money. A lot of our peers are not,” he said. “That’s no criticism for those schools who do.”
The University of Chicago, which has an endowment of about $8.2 billion, has also been allocated $6.2 million from the CARES Act.
In an emailed statement Wednesday morning, spokesman Gerald McSwiggan said, “The University is continuing to evaluate this issue, and has not received funds from the act."
echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Jeff Tweedy, Katie Kadan, Nnamdi headline virtual benefit concert ‘Our City of Neighbors’ to help ne

Jeff Tweedy, Katie Kadan, Nnamdi headline virtual benefit concert ‘Our City of Neighbors’ to help neighborhood organizations

Donations from “ City of Neighbors ” will benefit four organizations : Metropolitan Family Services ; Greater Chicago Food Depository @ @ @ @ @ Hood , My City ; and the Chicago Lawyers ’ Committee for Civil Rights .
@ @ @ @ @ website the goal is $ 77,000 , in honor of Chicago ’ s 77 neighborhoods @ @ @ @ @ evenly among the four groups .

Chicago’s music scene has been making do with livestream concerts during the pandemic shutdown, with bands getting increasingly creative as staying at home persists.
Tomorrow, we’ll get to see one of the best lineups for a digital show yet. A group of Chicago musicians including Jeff Tweedy, Katie Kadan, The O’My’s, Ric Wilson, NNAMDÏ and more will perform during a virtual benefit concert dubbed “Our City of Neighbors.”
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The show goes on at 7 p.m. Thursday, and can be streamed at windycityindie.com.
Left to right, Nels Cline, Jeff Tweedy and Mikael Jorgensen, of Wilco, performing at Pritzker Pavilion, in Millennium Park, downtown Chicago, on Sunday Aug. 21, 2016. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune / Chicago Tribune)
The effort comes from WindyCityIndie, a new local pandemic-support initiative founded by Chicagoans Sonny Garg and Karen Salmon. The idea is to “support independent musicians by drawing attention to their work,” as well as solicit donations to support organizations delivering critical services to the city.
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The full list of confirmed acts features Toronzo Cannon, Mariachi Sirenas, The Flat Five, Shawnee Dez, Terriers, Sandra Antongiorgi, Dominizuelan and Jon Langford and Sons — although the website promises a couple surprises. NBC 5’s Matthew Rodrigues will host the event.
Donations from “City of Neighbors” will benefit four organizations: Metropolitan Family Services; Greater Chicago Food Depository; My Block, My Hood, My City; and the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. According to WindyCityIndie’s website the goal is $77,000, in honor of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods, which would be split evenly among the four groups.
According to the event website, performers were compensated for the event, however, “some artists have decided to donate their fee back to the cause.”


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--20-year-old man fatally shot in Joliet. Four people taken into custody about 25 miles away after pol

20-year-old man fatally shot in Joliet. Four people taken into custody about 25 miles away after police pursuit.

Officers “ immediately ” took two people into custody , according to the release .
Joliet police and other law @ @ @ @ @ perimeter in the area , and two other suspects were located and taken into custody @ @ @ @ @ the 2500 block of East Stellon Street .

Four people are in custody following a fatal shooting Tuesday night in Joliet that led to a police pursuit that ended about 25 miles southwest of the city, authorities said.
According to a news release from Joliet police, a 20-year-old man was shot about 9 p.m. in the 300 block of Grant Avenue. Officers nearby heard the shots and saw a black Cadillac SUV fleeing the area.
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Police attempted to initiate a traffic stop near Richards Street and 4th Avenue, but the SUV failed to stop and headed onto Interstate 80, police said.
Officers pursued the SUV west on I-80 and then south on Interstate 55. The vehicle stopped in the area of West Coal City Road in the village of Diamond and the occupants fled on foot, police said.
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Diamond is along the border of Will and Grundy counties.
Officers “immediately” took two people into custody, according to the release. Joliet police and other law enforcement agencies set up a perimeter in the area, and two other suspects were located and taken into custody about 1:35 a.m. Wednesday in the 2500 block of East Stellon Street.
Joliet police said that their investigation is ongoing.
The shooting victim was not identified. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday, according to the Will County coroner’s office.
Check back for updates.


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Oak Brook teacher from Oak Park finishes second on ‘Jeopardy’

Nelson ’ s total of $ 11,000 after the two rounds of play left her with a slight lead .
@ @ @ @ @ to $ 1,000 and her second-place finish when she was unable to come up with @ @ @ @ @ category , “ 50s Films.
” She received $ 2,000 for her runner-up finish .

More than two months after she went to California to be a contestant on the popular TV show, “Jeopardy,” Alison Nelson’s near win was broadcast Tuesday.
The Oak Park resident and reading assistant at Brook Forest School in Oak Brook appeared in a game that was taped Feb. 19, and she came within a correct Final Jeopardy answer of winning and advancing.
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Nelson’s total of $11,000 after the two rounds of play left her with a slight lead. But her final total dropped to $1,000 and her second-place finish when she was unable to come up with the correct answer in the category, “50s Films.” She received $2,000 for her runner-up finish.
The Final Jeopardy clue was, “The last line of this epic film was ‘Go-proclaim liberty throughout all the lands unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
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Unable to come up with a response she believed to be correct, Nelson guessed “The Grapes of Wrath.” The correct response was “The Ten Commandments,” which the defending champion had, allowing her to move from third place to a third consecutive win.
“I knew what I wrote wasn’t right, and I wasn’t thinking of biblical epic, but rather something patriotic,” Nelson said Tuesday.
She said she knew she had to bet most of her total in Final Jeopardy to have a chance to win the game.
“I did the math and figured out what I needed to bet so that I would still have the most if the others got it right, too,” Nelson said.
Despite seeing victory vanish in one answer, Nelson said she had a wonderful experience being a contestant on a show she has been a fan of for as long as she can remember.
“It was really fun,” Nelson said. “I wasn’t terribly nervous, but you can’t drop your concentration for even one second. Knowledge is very important, but ringing in is half the battle.”
Nelson said contestants cannot ring in to respond until a light goes on right after host Alex Trebek has finished reading an answer.
Nelson said she felt good about some of the categories revealed on the board and not so positive about others.
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“There are some you feel you can do well, but when I saw one about baseball come up, I knew I wasn’t going to do well with that one,” she said.
Nelson said she had the opportunity to practice onstage and was able to sit in the audience during the taping of some of the other four games contested Feb. 19.
“When it was over, they told us we could tell the results to a few close people, but definitely not get it out on social media before the show aired,” she said.
Nelson was accompanied on her trip to California and the “Jeopardy” taping by her husband, two children and daughter-in-law, all of whom were in the audience when she played.
“We were there for about 3 ½ hours, prepping before the taping actually started,” she said, adding that the contestants had limited interaction with Trebek.
“He was very nice,” Nelson said.
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She said she filled up a small notebook with facts and figures as personal preparation before she went to California.
“You obviously can’t cover everything, and you just don’t know what the categories are going to be,” she said. “I don’t think I would do anything differently if I was to play again.”


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Column: As Illinois stay-at-home order lingers, grateful seniors shed ‘happy tears’ over #PandemicPa

Column: As Illinois stay-at-home order lingers, grateful seniors shed ‘happy tears’ over #PandemicPals cards

She emailed this late last week : “ I want to talk about the good in people , the very @ @ @ @ @ are no adequate words for me to express my thanks and gratitude for the outpouring @ @ @ @ @ Companion Volunteers .
… The volunteers are so completely surprised and so moved with all @ @ @ @ @ sent to them .
They feel important , loved , and valued which they should @ @ @ @ @

Elease Jackson-McBride at her home in Country Club Hills on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. Elease would normally be volunteering with a program called Senior Companions. She's been isolated during the pandemic and has received cards and letters of support from Chicago Tribune readers who volunteered to be #PandemicPals. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
With Illinois under a coronavirus lockdown for at least another month, I’d like to share a rare commodity: some good news.
About a month ago, I wrote a column floating an idea: What if people sheltered in place reached out to equally sheltered seniors and people with disabilities, giving folks feeling isolated a little boost? Because I’m not good at naming things, I called it “#PandemicPals.”
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Since then, hundreds — and I do mean hundreds — of Tribune readers have stepped forward and written hundreds upon hundreds of cards and letters to seniors and people with disabilities throughout the Chicago area.
Here’s one example:
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Mary O’Reilly is director of the Senior Companion program at the Center of Concern in Des Plaines. She oversees 65 seniors who, under normal circumstances, would be volunteering their time visiting other seniors and helping them remain independent. Since last July, these senior dynamos provided 56,000 hours of service to their clients.
But they’ve all been sidelined and isolated under the stay-at-home order. O’Reilly reached out to me after the initial column ran in March and requested some #PandemicPals love for her senior volunteers.
Chicagoans delivered.
Elease Jackson-McBride holds a card she received in the mail at her home in Country Club Hills as part of the #PandemicPals initiative. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
She emailed this late last week: “I want to talk about the good in people, the very best of people. There are no adequate words for me to express my thanks and gratitude for the outpouring of cards/letters to my Senior Companion Volunteers. … The volunteers are so completely surprised and so moved with all of the cards people have sent to them. They feel important, loved, and valued which they should feel and deserve.”
O’Reilly received more than 200 cards and letters, and is still getting more.
“For a couple of the Senior Companions they told me how the card they received turned their whole day around,” O’Reilly wrote. “They were having an ‘off’ day and feeling down and it completely changed when they read their card. The phone calls I have had with all of them have been filled with gratitude and a lot of happy tears.”
That’s all you, readers. You did that. And O’Reilly’s example is just one of many.
I’m hearing from #PandemicPals volunteers who have already gotten letters back from seniors. A reader shared one with me Tuesday and it read, in part: “I received your sweet card today, and it made my day. Thank you for thinking of me.”
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I’ve responded to more than 350 people who emailed asking to get involved writing cards and letters. Most of those people represent larger groups: families looking to keep kids busy and do something positive; book clubs; a Girl Scout troop; teachers getting entire classes involved; faith groups.
It’s a reflection of the average person’s immense capacity to do good. And since most of us aren’t going anywhere for a while, why stop now?
I’m still hearing from groups and facilities that have residents or clients who would benefit from a kind greeting. Or a kid’s cool drawing. Or a simple card.
Just this week I spoke with Debbie Harris, director of the Pritzker Pucker Inspire Center at Keshet, a Skokie organization that works with hundreds of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout the Chicago area. Harris said she would love to get mail to distribute to people Keshet serves.
“During this time, there’s lots of Zooming going on and lots of virtual stuff,” she said. “It’s great and it’s fun, and it’s really good for those people who can engage. But not everyone can do that. Who doesn’t like to get a piece of mail, and who doesn’t like to be read to? There’s such a need for it, just to make somebody happy for 30 seconds.”
I’m sure there are other people, groups and facilities that feel the same way. So I encourage anyone in that category to email me at rhuppke@chicagotribune.com and pass along an address. I’m glad to send mailing information along to the people volunteering to be #PandemicPals.
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And on the “Pals” front, zing me an email if you want to volunteer. Or if you want to volunteer your children. Or if you want to volunteer your staff or your soccer club or your entire extended family, including that one cousin you haven’t heard from in ages.
I’m happy to continue being the go-between and marveling at the kindness of so many. As an added bonus, by becoming a #PandemicPal, you’re also supporting the U.S. Postal Service, which is struggling mightily.
Without our dedicated mail carriers — heroes during this pandemic, as far as I’m concerned — none of this would be happening. As Harris said, who doesn’t like to get a piece of mail?
We all need some good news right now. And you amazing people managed to create some.
So with at least a month of sheltering to go, why not make some more?
Consider joining the growing league of #PandemicPals.
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I’ll be waiting by the email inbox.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--52 people who worked or voted on election day in Wisconsin tested positive for COVID-19. There’s no

52 people who worked or voted on election day in Wisconsin tested positive for COVID-19. There’s no plan for changes in upcoming special election.

Although voters had to wait in long lines on April 7 , primarily in Milwaukee , that likely wo n't @ @ @ @ @ special congressional election , where the largest city in the 7th Congressional District is Wausau @ @ @ @ @ about 40,000 people .
That House race is the only one on the ballot , @ @ @ @ @ election , which featured the presidential primary and a state Supreme Court race .

MADISON, Wis. — There are no plans to postpone or otherwise alter a special congressional election in Wisconsin that is less than two weeks away, even though more than 50 people who voted in person or worked the polls during the state's presidential primary this month have tested positive for COVID-19.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers tried to change the April 7 election so that it would be conducted entirely by mail, but he was blocked by the Republican-led Legislature and conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court. Evers and others had warned that allowing in-person voting would cause a spike in coronavirus cases, but so far the impact appears to be limited.
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Several of the 52 people who have tested positive and were at the polls on April 7 also reported other ways they may have been exposed to the virus, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said Tuesday. Because of that, it’s unclear if those people contracted the virus at the polls.
The 52 positive cases were in people who tested positive in the two weeks after the election, so by April 21. Most people show symptoms within 14 days of exposure, though some people who have the virus don’t show symptoms.
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After next week, the state will no longer ask people who test positive for the virus whether they were at the polls on April 7 because of how much time has passed, said Julie Willems Van Dijk, who heads the state health agency.
“We’re getting to the point where the door will be closing on those,” she said.
Most of the positive cases were in Milwaukee County. The city’s health commissioner has said the data was being analyzed and an update was expected next week.
Statewide, there have been more than 6,200 confirmed cases and 300 deaths since the outbreak began.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 17 Poll worker Patty Piek-Groth, left, helps fellow poll worker Jerry Moore, center, put on a mask to prevent the spread of coronavirus, as the polls open for the presidential primary election at the Janesville Mall in Janesville, Wis., on April 7, 2020. (Angela Major / The Janesville Gazette)
Although voters had to wait in long lines on April 7, primarily in Milwaukee, that likely won't happen with the May 12 special congressional election, where the largest city in the 7th Congressional District is Wausau, which is home to about 40,000 people. That House race is the only one on the ballot, unlike in this month's election, which featured the presidential primary and a state Supreme Court race.
Election clerks in the district have said they’re ready for the election after they managed to make it through this month's election despite the difficulties posed by the pandemic. There's also a push to encourage absentee voting. About 71% of all voters in the April 7 election cast absentee ballots.
Evers has made no move to alter the special election even though as it currently stands, it would occur while his stay-at-home order is still in effect. The order is scheduled to run until May 26, but Republicans have asked the state Supreme Court to block it.
The 7th Congressional District covers all or parts of 26 northern and northwestern Wisconsin counties and is the state’s largest congressional district, geographically.
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The race pits Democrat Tricia Zunker, president of the Wausau school board, against Republican state Sen. Tom Tiffany, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump. Trump carried the heavily Republican district by 20 percentage points in 2016.


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--2 inches of steady rain Wednesday expected to cause river, ground flooding

Over the last 24 hours , 3 inches of rain was reported as of 7 a.m. in Fox Lake in @ @ @ @ @ and Lindenhurst , with 2.39 inches as of 6 a.m , in Lake Villa , @ @ @ @ @ .
By about 4:30 a.m. , more than 2 inches had fallen in Harvard and @ @ @ @ @ Spring Grove , Fox Lake and Third Lake , with about 1 ¼ inches in @ @ @ @ @ at Waukegan Airport .

The total rainfall from scattered thunderstorms Tuesday alone was not enough to create widespread flooding in northern Illinois, but with as 2 inches of rain or more expected from unrelenting storms Wednesday, meteorologists say it’s getting soggy.
The National Weather Service did not immediately have rainfall totals available from Tuesday’s severe weather, but estimated that 1 to 2 inches fell across a good portion of northern Illinois, and some of the hard-hit areas overlap with where Wednesday’s rainfall is again expected to be prominent. A flood watch is in effect for those areas, including Boone, DeKalb, Kane, Lake, and McHenry counties, until midnight.
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Over the last 24 hours, 3 inches of rain was reported as of 7 a.m. in Fox Lake in the Hills, Long Lake and Lindenhurst, with 2.39 inches as of 6 a.m, in Lake Villa, according to the weather service. By about 4:30 a.m., more than 2 inches had fallen in Harvard and more than 1.5 inches in Spring Grove, Fox Lake and Third Lake, with about 1 ¼ inches in Woodstock, Wonder Lake and at Waukegan Airport.
Slow and steady rainfall was expected areawide most of the day, meteorologist Brian Leatherwood said. And between what fell and what’s expected, some areas could get more than 4 inches of rain in the span of about 24 hours, making flooding likely, particularly in north central Illinois and at the lakeshore.
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“We’re actually just getting ready to put out some advisories about that,” Leatherwood said about 9 a.m. “Yesterday added to it and today will add to it even more.”
River flooding was expected, particularly along the Des Plaines River and its smaller tributary waterways, he said. The Fox and Kishwaukee rivers also were expected to rise but flooding won’t be limited to rivers.
“We believe the rivers are going to be giving us some flooding and we expect ground flooding as well. As the ground gets soaked it’s going to start settling and ponding in some areas. It’s not going to be extremely heavy but we’re keeping an eye on it,” Leatherwood said.
More than a dozen counties in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana were included on a hazardous weather outlook put out by the weather service. It said the flood risk was elevated and there’s a limited thunderstorm risk.
“A few nonsevere thunderstorms embedded within the broader rain area are possible today,” it said.
Leatherwood said there’s a good chance that areas to the north and northwest — in a line from roughly Rockford across to Lake Michigan — could get in the 1.5- to 2-inch range, whereas total rainfall will taper off to the south with Chicago getting less and south suburbs getting about half an inch of rain or less.
“The rain is looking pretty widespread and we expect that to continue. We might get a few breaks in the more central area of the north central area we’re monitoring,” Leatherwood said.
High winds will start to pick up at night, and a lakeshore flood advisory — which indicates that onshore winds will generate flooding of low areas along the lakefront — was in effect from 7 p.m. until 7 p.m. Thursday.
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“Northerly winds will increase this afternoon into tonight, with gusts of 35 to 40 mph probable. Higher gusts will be seen along the lakefront. These strong winds will result in building Lake Michigan waves and likely result in lakeshore flooding developing,” according to the weather service.
Waves could reach sustained heights of 8 to 11 feet, with occasional waves cresting as high as 15 feet. And, combined with record-high lake levels, such strong waves could “exacerbate already significant beach and shoreline erosion sustained in the past several months,” the advisory notes.
Temperatures Thursday and Friday were expected to range from lows at night between 41 degrees and daytime temps as high as 61 degrees, though Friday will be warmer than Thursday. By Saturday, Chicago could again reach a temperature higher than 70 degrees, with showers possible on Sunday.
For more, check the Tribune’s weather page.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--JetBlue looks to suspend Chicago flights temporarily as demand plummets amid COVID-19

There still aren ’ t enough people on its flights connecting Chicago to Boston , New York and Fort Lauderdale @ @ @ @ @ them sustainable , JetBlue said .
Load factors , or the percentage of seats sold @ @ @ @ @ % so far in April .
Last Wednesday , a flight from Boston to Chicago @ @ @ @ @ the way back , it had eight , the airline said .

JetBlue has asked the U.S. Transportation Department for permission to suspend flights to 16 airports, including O’Hare International Airport, amid “near-zero demand for air travel.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel meant to contain it have brought passenger travel to a near-standstill. Still, airlines that took financial assistance from the federal government need to maintain minimum levels of service to cities where they currently fly unless the Transportation Department grants an exemption.
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Earlier this month, JetBlue said it expects to receive about $935.8 million in grants and loans through the federal coronavirus relief package.
JetBlue has already gone from six flights a day to four per week in Chicago, the airline said in its request with the Transportation Department on Tuesday.
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There still aren’t enough people on its flights connecting Chicago to Boston, New York and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to make them sustainable, JetBlue said. Load factors, or the percentage of seats sold, have averaged below 10% so far in April. Last Wednesday, a flight from Boston to Chicago had five passengers. On the way back, it had eight, the airline said.
JetBlue asked for permission to suspend flights at all 16 airports through Sept. 30. The airline said it intends to gradually resume service “as soon as it is both safe to do so and when even the slightest customer demand re-emerges.”
The airline has not received a response to its request. Earlier this month, the Transportation Department granted JetBlue’s request to suspend service to two airports in Puerto Rico but said it needed to continue serving nine other U.S. airports where the airline asked to halt flights.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Voices of the pandemic: How the coronavirus changes the lives of Chicagoans, in their own words

On missing school : “ A big part of baking is how things look and how they feel .
We @ @ @ @ @ heavy a batter should look , what temperature something has to be .
When we @ @ @ @ @ a lot of what I do is ask , ‘ Chef , does this look @ @ @ @ @ having that guidance on site is what I would consider the most difficult part of @ @ @

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic rose to the forefront of our everyday lives, Chicagoans have been stepping up. Their stories have inspired us, compelled us to give back, and kept us going through uncharted waters.
Acts of heroism abound, but tragedy has touched our communities just as powerfully. There’s the little stuff, too — the day-to-day minutiae we didn’t miss until it changed, possibly for good.
Along with the latest news updates and a running list of Chicago-area closings and cancellations, the Tribune is taking a look at how our day-to-day lives are changing. Here’s how Chicagoans like you reflect on what’s happening in our world each day.
Here’s what Chicago had to say this week on how we’re living in the time of COVID-19:
On regret: “I’ve been really remorseful over having that party during the pandemic. The best way I can do this is if I could really make up with my mother, make sure she’s good, that would be enough for me.”
(Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
— Janeal Wright, 26, apologizing for hosting a West Side house party that was captured in a viral video. Wright pledged to work with state Rep. LaShawn Ford on educating his community about the coronavirus.
On losing a father: “He was so excited about retiring. He had worked so, so hard to just get to the point where he could retire.”
Juan Martinez. (Family photo/HANDOUT)
— Juan Martinez Jr. on his father, who died Monday after testing positive for COVID-19, days before he was set to retire April 30 after decades of scrubbing in on surgeries as a surgical technologist.
On feeling down: “I think you can take some comfort in the sense that you’re not alone. We still have to, as a community, figure out ways to come together and get through this. And we will. Communities are resilient. We are resilient. We are all in the soup.”
— Vaile Wright, a clinical psychologist and senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association, on a survey that found one-third of Chicagoans feeling hopeless about the future.
“If anything, some people are sitting in their homes and thinking, ‘I hate my sofa.’”
Interior designer Alfred Beam of Walter E. Smithe. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
— Colleen Smithe, the director of advertising for Walter E. Smithe, an Itasca-based furniture company, on how interior design customers are adapting to the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders.
“We’ve been racking our brains, wanting to make a difference, and thinking that we had more free time than we’d been used to. So the timing was perfect."
Anand Sheth, left and Emily Jodlowski. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
— Anand Sheth, owner of Mon Ami Jewelry, on launching the nonprofit Masks4Chi, which is distributing 350,000 free face masks to Chicagoans.
“Facebook groups and Facebook memes and Tiger King and quarantinis and stuff like that are all like a Band-Aid. They’re all trying to keep us sane when there’s a global trauma going on."
— Allison Vasquez-Lovell, 28, of Milwaukee, on moderating the Sounds Midwestern Facebook page and celebrating various aspects of quarantine culture.
On gym class: “We’re trying to keep our students’ spirits high, and we don’t want to penalize them, because they’re going through a difficult time right now, and they need our positive support more than ever.”
(Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
— Emmie Galan on how she and her students are adapting to physical education remote learning at Winston Campus Junior High in Palatine.
“There’s a statement to be made, and these were the right places to make it.”
(JoseM. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
— Lydia Ross, Chicago’s public art director, on placing masks on the Art Institute lions and Daley Center Picasso Thursday as a reminder of the state’s new policy requiring most people to wear masks in public.
On giving birth: “It’s hard enough being a newborn mom, but adding to that being in the midst of a global pandemic has just been something next level. Some days it’s overwhelming, and some days you can manage it a little bit more. We’ve just been trying to find the blessing in it.”
(Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
— Rachael Stewart, of Beverly, on how the coronavirus pandemic impacted the birth of her second child, a boy named Caleb, in late March.
On growing up: “I’ve learned that you can always improvise and make something amazing.”
(Provided by Zalmanov family / HANDOUT)
— Yudi Zalmanov, 13, on celebrating his Bar Mitzvah in a nontraditional way because of the coronavirus pandemic.
On nursing home safety: “We’re at the point where we have to strike to save lives.”
(Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
— Tainika Somerville, a certified nursing assistant at the Bridgeview Healthcare Center in the southwest suburbs, who was fired this month after asking for hazard pay and complaining about a lack of adequate staffing and protective equipment.
On El Milagro: “You can tell it’s made with love, it’s homemade, it’s authentic. It’s a huge loss.”
(Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
— Vanessa Dremonas, executive officer at Pete’s Fresh Market, on how temporarily losing its top-selling grocery product, El Milagro tortillas, will impact shoppers.
On losing a co-worker: “He was loved. We are broken and terrified of who could die next.”
(Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
— Alejandro Castillo, 63, discusses the loss of his United Scrap Metal co-worker Raymundo Rodriguez from COVID-19. Castillo helped organize a walkout Tuesday at the Cicero-based plant, where employees are asking the company to close for a deep clean and to provide them with protective gear after Rodriguez’s death.
On missing school: “A big part of baking is how things look and how they feel. We’re still learning how heavy a batter should look, what temperature something has to be. When we’re in class, a lot of what I do is ask, ‘Chef, does this look all right?’ Not having that guidance on site is what I would consider the most difficult part of it.”
(Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
— Veronika Pesovic, an aspiring pastry chef in Grayslake, on how vocational students adapt after College of Lake County closed during her patisserie class.
On impacted colleges: “We’re confident that our doors will be open and that we’ll be teaching and educating many tens of thousands of students. Will it look exactly as it did last year? Probably not.”
(E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
— Timothy Killeen, president of the University of Illinois System, on what colleges campuses across Illinois will look like come fall.
On coming home from the hospital: “The first thing she asked for was for her kids and grandkids. The nurses were phenomenal, they put music on for her, they went above and beyond because she was asking for us.”
(John Smierciak / Post-Tribune)
— Kecia Evans on her mother Dorothy Hall’s recovery from COVID-19. Hall, pictured, recently returned to her Gary home, where her family surprised her with a drive-by parade in her honor Tuesday.
On pay cuts: “While we hold on to glimmers of hope that the worst of the human impact may have passed, the economic consequences are likely to play out for months, or even years to come."
(Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
— Aon CEO Greg Case in a memo to employees Monday outlining 20% pay cuts in response to the coronavirus pandemic, as the global insurance giant prepares for a “significant and sustained economic downturn.”
archeung@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Coast Guard, duck boat operator blamed in report on tragedy on Missouri lake that killed 17 people i

Coast Guard, duck boat operator blamed in report on tragedy on Missouri lake that killed 17 people in 2018

Marcel Muise , marine accident investigator , told board members that it appeared McKee didn ’ t have the information @ @ @ @ @ proper decision about going onto the lake .
He noted that the lake was clear @ @ @ @ @ the three other duck boats on the water indicated there was no cause for concern @

FILE - In this July 23, 2018, file photo, a duck boat that sank in Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo., is raised after it went down the evening of July 19 after a thunderstorm generated near-hurricane strength winds. The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a virtual meeting Tuesday, April 27, 2020, to announce the results of an investigation into the tragedy that killed 17 of the 31 people on board. (Nathan Papes/The Springfield News-Leader via AP, File) (Nathan Papes / The Springfield News-Leader/AP)
LIBERTY, Mo. — A duck boat sinking on a Missouri lake that killed 17 people two summers ago likely would not have happened if the U.S. Coast Guard had followed recommendations to improve the safety of such tourist attractions, federal safety regulators said Tuesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board released the findings of its investigation into the July 2018 tragedy, when a Ride the Ducks vehicle sank during a severe and sudden storm on Table Rock Lake near Branson.
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If the Coast Guard had followed recommendations for small passenger boats that the NTSB made after a similar boat sank in Arkansas in 1999, killing 13 people, the Missouri boat “likely would not have sunk,” said Brian Young, an NTSB accident investigator.
Young also said the agency’s staff believes Ride the Ducks should have suspended water operations that day because of the severe weather forecast.
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Among the files released Tuesday was a letter the NTSB received from the Coast Guard agreeing that canopies and side curtains should be removed from amphibious tour vehicles known as stretch duck boats.
[ Illinois girl, 12, saved by grandmother who died in duck boat accident: ‘If it wasn’t for her grandma, she wouldn’t have made it’ ]
[ A look at the 17 people killed in the Missouri boat accident ]
NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said at a telephone news conference that although the Coast Guard's recommendations don't have the force of a regulation, he's “very optimistic” the agency is committed to improving small passenger boat safety. Duck boats should not be allowed to operate again until the recommendations are fully implemented, he said.
The NTSB said one probable cause of the accident included the decision by Ripley Entertainment Inc., which purchased the Ride the Ducks attraction in 2017, to operate the lake tours despite a severe thunderstorm warning. The vessel flooded through an air intake hatch on the bow that was not weather tight.
It also blamed the Coast Guard’s failure to require sufficient buoyancy in amphibious vehicles, and its failure to address emergency exits on such vehicles with fixed canopies that contributed to the sinking and loss of life. The findings echoed an NTSB report released in November.
The April 15 letter from Daniel Abel, vice admiral of the Coast Guard, said the Guard agreed with an NTSB recommendation to remove canopies, side curtains and associated framing from the duck boats to improve passengers' chances of escape during emergencies.
The Coast Guard has issued a Marine Safety Information Bulletin, the first step in the process.
Ripley Entertainment has settled 31 lawsuits filed by survivors or relatives of those who died. The dead included nine members of one family from Indianapolis. Other victims were from Missouri, Illinois and Arkansas.
[ Recordings show change in weather before Missouri duck boat sank ]
Spokeswoman Suzanne Smagala-Potts said Ripley Entertainment would review the NTSB report and that Ride the Ducks fully cooperated with the federal investigation.
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"We remain dedicated to working with the community of Branson, and continuing our support of all those who were impacted by the accident,” Smagala-Potts said.
Missouri State Highway Patrol investigators interviewed duck boat Capt. Scott McKee the day after the accident. McKee said he took the boat into the water because radar indicated the storm was far away, but it quickly turned from calm to turbulent.
NTSB members were unable to interview McKee because of ongoing criminal investigations. McKee, of Verona, is charged with 17 counts of misconduct, negligence or inattention to duty. Two Ripley executives are also charged with misconduct and neglect.
[ Ticket mix-up put family on ill-fated Missouri tourist boat ]
Marcel Muise, marine accident investigator, told board members that it appeared McKee didn’t have the information he needed to make a proper decision about going onto the lake. He noted that the lake was clear when McKee arrived, and the three other duck boats on the water indicated there was no cause for concern.
Some NTSB board members were skeptical, saying the National Weather Service issued the storm report in plenty of time to stop the boat from going in the water.
Ripley suspended operations of the boats after the accident and it remains unclear if they will ever return to the lake.
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Robert Mongeluzzi, whose firm represents nearly two dozen people who were aboard the boat, commended the NTSB findings and said it supports the victims’ calls to prevent duck boats from ever being used again.
“Duck boats are death traps which, when flooded, become sinking coffins,” Mongeluzzi said. “The Coast Guard and duck boat industry have the blood of these Branson victims on their hands for continuing to ignore the warnings. Hopefully this time, they will listen.”
Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri.


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Indiana trooper seriously injured in Gary crash; driver arrested

One of the troopers saw a 2004 Chevrolet SUV speeding toward them while they were investigating the crash , police @ @ @ @ @ to warn Adam but the SUV hit Adam while he was sitting in the driver @ @ @ @ @ car , which caused his Charger to hit the Mercedes and the median wall .

Indiana State Police Trooper Corey Adam was seriously injured early April 29, 2020, when an SUV crashed into him as he was stopped to investigate an earlier crash. (Indiana State Police)
A trooper in Gary was seriously injured early Wednesday when an SUV hit the trooper sitting inside his police vehicle that was stopped to investigate a traffic crash, authorities said. The driver of the SUV is facing charges for driving under the influence.
Trooper Corey Adam responded to a single-vehicle crash at midnight on westbound Interstate-80/94 at the 7.3 mile-marker, according to the Indiana State Police. A black Mercedes Benz had hit the center median wall and stopped partially in the left and left-center lane.
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Adam parked his marked Dodge Charger with activated emergency lights behind the crashed car, police said. Two other troopers parked behind Adam’s car to help block traffic. They also had their lights activated and also put about 15 flares in the roadway to alert oncoming vehicles.
Indiana State Police Trooper Corey Adam was seriously injured early April 29, 2020, when an SUV crashed into him as he was stopped to investigate an earlier crash. (Indiana State Police)
One of the troopers saw a 2004 Chevrolet SUV speeding toward them while they were investigating the crash, police said. The trooper yelled to warn Adam but the SUV hit Adam while he was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, which caused his Charger to hit the Mercedes and the median wall.
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The third trooper was able to jump over the median barrier to avoid being hit by the police car, police said.
The driver of the SUV was identified as Cameron Geweniger, 30, of Wheaton, police said. He refused medical treatment and field sobriety tests and a chemical text for intoxication.
Cameron Geweniger (Indiana State Police)
Police obtained a search warrant to have his blood drawn, police said. The results of Geweniger’s blood test are pending. But investigators believe he was driving under the influence, authorities said.
Geweniger was arrested and taken to the Lake County Jail, police said. He is facing multiple charges including a felony for driving intoxicated causing serious bodily injury. He is also facing misdemeanor charges including driving while intoxicating, resisting law enforcement and reckless driving.
The roadway was closed for about five hours for the investigation and reconstruction, police said.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Videos show new details of controversial police shooting at Red Line station — and the scramble by o

Videos show new details of controversial police shooting at Red Line station — and the scramble by officers to tend to the wounded man

In one of the clips , the two officers are shown struggling for several minutes to handcuff Ariel Roman , @ @ @ @ @ in the 500 block of North State Street the end of February after he was @ @ @ @ @ cars of a moving train .
The partners press on top of Roman while repeatedly @ @ @ @ @ .

Warning: graphic content. New video from a police-involved shooting that wounded a man at a Red Line subway station earlier this year was released on Tuesday. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
The independent agency that investigates Chicago police on Tuesday released more than a dozen video and audio clips from a controversial shooting by an officer that wounded a man who had been struggling with her and her partner at a Red Line subway station earlier this year.
While cellphone video was released shortly after the shooting at the Grand Avenue station — with Mayor Lori Lightfoot calling it “extremely disturbing — the new footage provides closer views of the struggle as well as the scramble afterward as officers tended to the man and passengers squeezed by his body on the floor.
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In one of the clips, the two officers are shown struggling for several minutes to handcuff Ariel Roman, 33, on the platform in the 500 block of North State Street the end of February after he was stopped for passing between two cars of a moving train. The partners press on top of Roman while repeatedly demanding that he stop resisting.
A Chicago police officer tells Ariel Roman to leave a Red Line train minutes before a struggle ensued and he was shot. (COPA)
“Please let me go,” Roman says. “I didn’t do nothing to you. I didn’t do nothing to you.”
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“Stop resisting,” one of the officers says, repeating it nearly a dozen times.
He then yells, “Shoot him.”
Roman appears to say, “No, no, no.”
The officer says again, “Shoot him.”
The struggle continues, and the female officer draws her weapon and shouts, “Put your (expletive) hands down."
By this time, Roman is standing up and bends to pick up his coat. He appears to stagger toward a railing in the officer’s direction, and a shot rings out. Roman rushes past her partner and runs up the escalator.
Both officers chase him, and a second shot rings out. “Get down,” the officer who fired yells. “Get (expletive) down.”
A station camera shows Roman falling face down at the top of the escalator. The partner appears to use his radio as the one who fired bends over Roman. Their yellow Tasers can be seen bobbing up the escalator behind them.
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The clips also show a quick, heavy response of officers who tend to Roman while paramedics are on the way.
“Where’s all the blood coming from,” one officer asks as they search for the wound.
“Keep breathing, guy,” an officer says. “Hey, man, breathe, breathe, breathe.”
As the officers work on Roman, the partner tells them that Roman kept fighting them. “He started fighting with us. He wouldn’t stop.”
Roman survived his wound and is suing the city and the Police Department.
Reaction to the shooting by city officials was unusually swift and direct, perhaps driven by the availability of cellphone video taken by a CTA customer.
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Charlie Beck, the interim police superintendent at the time, stripped Officers Melvina Bogard and Bernard Butler, the two officers involved in the incident, of their police powers. The shooting is under criminal investigation by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office with assistance from the FBI.
The officers’ conduct is also under the investigation of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which released the 18 videos, mostly of the aftermath of the shooting, along with six police audio transmissions and four police documents, including the official police reports.
“While critical steps remain, COPA’s investigation into the actions of the two officers are ongoing,” the agency said in a statement. “COPA is committed to conducting a full, thorough and objective investigation before reaching a determination of the appropriateness of the officers’ use of force and is also working in coordination with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.”
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 9 Police officers put up crime scene tape at the corner of Grand Avenue and State Street above the CTA Red Line Grand station on Feb. 28, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The shooting on Feb. 28 was arguably among the most explosive videos the CPD has grappled with since the 2014 killing of teenager Laquan McDonald — an incident that resulted in criminal charges and a second-degree murder conviction for Officer Jason Van Dyke.
In Roman’s federal lawsuit, he said he was suffering from an anxiety attack when he was “harassed, chased, tackled, pepper-sprayed, tasered and shot twice” without justification by Bogard and Butler. His lawyers say Roman was expected to make a long recovery from being shot in the abdomen and buttocks.
Greg Kulis, one of Roman's lawyers, said some of the new videos from COPA were helpful in understanding what happened to Roman.
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“He is not causing an issue. He’s not pushing people. Not aggressive. Not doing anything,” Kulis said. “There was really no reason that I could see to actually grab him and take him into custody in that form or fashion. It’s true to form as to what we’ve alleged in the (lawsuit), there was no reason to use deadly force.”
Kulis said Roman has since been released from the hospital but may need at least one more surgery.
The shooting happened at a time when the Chicago Police Department had added patrols to the CTA’s train system due to a rise in crime there. The following week, a new unit with about 50 officers was activated to specifically address that crime spike.
While police-involved shootings among Chicago cops have dropped over the years, Kulis said the Feb. 28 incident serves as an example of how officers need to be more aware of what's going on around them before choosing to use their guns.
“I think just traditionally there’s a lot of police officers that just skip past some of their training or don’t get the appropriate training. And they think, ‘OK, so he’s resisted me … or pulled away from me, therefore, I can jump to this level and use deadly force,’” Kulis said.
“God forbid (those bullets) went astray and hit another person,” he said. “That would have been even more of a tragedy than what occurred on that afternoon.”


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Illinois COVID-19 restrictions will ease Friday for nonessential retailers and animal groomers, but

Illinois COVID-19 restrictions will ease Friday for nonessential retailers and animal groomers, but it won’t be business as usual

Beltrame has continued to offer delivery amid the shutdown , but said he ’ s only doing only a fraction @ @ @ @ @ would .
About 85 % of his business is from foot traffic , he said @ @ @ @ @ won ’ t salvage that because no one is downtown .

Thousands of vegetables, herb and house plants died after Adams & Son Gardens closed more than five weeks ago to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
But since Gov. J.B. Pritzker revised the state’s stay-at-home order, the Humboldt Park shop, which didn’t have to close but chose to, is again receiving truckloads of plants to sell to people who are staying close to home and eager to start gardening.
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The changes to the stay-at-home order, which take effect Friday, are expected to generate some sales at cash-crunched businesses while providing Illinois residents with more ways to help a battered economy.
Adams & Son Gardens co-owners Irene Adams, center, her husband Gus Adams, right, and neighborhood volunteer Lionel Santiago, unload plants and flowers from a truck as they prepare to partially open on Friday. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
But merchants and many service providers, most of which had been branded nonessential, will operate under conditions still considered far from business as usual, especially amid ongoing concerns about the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
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Under the revised rules, retail stores not considered essential still won’t be able to invite shoppers inside but will be allowed to take orders for pickup. Animal grooming services also can reopen May 1, and it’s clear people aren’t the only ones needing a trim.
A day after Pritzker announced pet groomers could reopen, Uncle Paws Grooming Salon was booked almost three weeks out.
Pet owners are trying to make up for lost time, said Tina Kozinski, owner of the East Side neighborhood grooming salon. Grooming is typically advised for dogs every four to six weeks to prevent health concerns such as fur matting or nail issues.
Kozinski welcomes the appointments after being closed for so long.
“I had to start working on my savings," she said. "I’m going to be working probably seven days a week for the next three weeks just to try to get myself afloat.”
Groomers must also figure out how to incorporate social distancing into the rush of appointments. Mary Gagliardi, owner of Animal House Grooming in Orland Park, said she plans to space out the appointments more than normal so customers aren’t waiting together in the lobby.
One group of merchants embracing the revised order: retailers that rely on Mother’s Day sales.
Adams & Son Gardens co-owners and neighborhood volunteers unload plants and flowers off a truck as they prepare to partially open on Friday. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
“That week is huge for us," said Esther Fishman, owner of Art Effect, which sells clothing, jewelry and gifts in the Sheffield Neighbors neighborhood. "We’ve already been getting phone calls from people asking, ‘How can I get a Mother’s Day gift?’”
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Art Effect already was shipping online orders and making contact-free deliveries near the shop. Curbside pickup should help sales, in part because “I think people want an excuse to get out,” she said.
Even so, some were bracing for slower-than-usual holiday sales. Jazzy Flowers, a Near West Side florist, slashed its initial order for Mother’s Day flowers by about 75%. Most of its business comes from walk-in shoppers, said manager Monica DeLuna.
“It’s going to be up to us to really encourage people to preorder,” she said.
Frank Michael Jewelers still plans to launch its advertising campaign for Mother’s Day this week, said owner Frank M. Beltrame Jr. Typically, Mother’s Day is more lucrative than the December holiday shopping season for the Loop jewelry shop, Beltrame said.
Beltrame has continued to offer delivery amid the shutdown, but said he’s only doing only a fraction of the business he normally would. About 85% of his business is from foot traffic, he said, and a limited reopening won’t salvage that because no one is downtown.
“Until people are boots on the ground, let’s call it, back to the workforce and the daily engine continues, I don’t foresee that doing anything positive for us,” he said. “It’s just a little perk.”
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As part of Pritzker’s revisions, he also extended the state’s stay-at-home order through the end of May. A Republican legislator has challenged Pritzker’s authority to do so, and filed a lawsuit to block the extension.
On Monday, Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney ruled that Rep. Darren Bailey could disregard the extended order. McHaney’s ruling applied only to Bailey, but it could pave the way for other Illinois residents to seek relief from the stay-at-home order.
Some national retailers, like craft chains Michaels and Joann, already offer curbside pickup. Others are moving in that direction cautiously.
Plants and flowers are unloaded from a truck at Adams & Son Gardens on April 28, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Beauty retailer Ulta is easing back into operations with curbside pickup in some areas, but it’s unlikely the service will be available in Illinois on Friday, said spokeswoman Eileen Ziesemer. In addition to local regulations, Bolingbrook-based Ulta considers data on how prevalent COVID-19 is in communities near stores.
Once Ulta decides to offer curbside service at a store, the beauty retailer can roll it out quickly, Ziesemer said. Store managers and master and elite stylists were not furloughed and can manage the curbside service after going through training on safety protocols to limit contact, she said.
Chicago-based Paper Source, whose 135 greeting card, stationary and gift stores are temporarily closed, is starting to offer curbside pickup and delivery options, but none of the initial locations are in Illinois.
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Cosmetics seller Lush also is looking at curbside pickup and hopes to begin tests at a few locations in certain states in the coming weeks, spokeswoman Brandi Halls said in an email.
Evanston-based Vogue Fabrics, which handles wholesale orders from companies and hospitals and sales to individuals, has been letting customers pick up online orders at its warehouse, where an employee tosses packages to shoppers from the loading dock.
Even if the changes meant Vogue Fabrics could also offer curbside service at its retail store, co-owner Rogie Sussman Faber said she isn’t interested — the current system was set up with employees’ safety in mind.
“It’s a risk for everyone to come in,” she said. “We want to socially distance as well.”
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com
amarotti@chicagotribune.com
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chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Man apologizes for throwing Chicago house party caught on viral video, says he was honoring 2 slain

Man apologizes for throwing Chicago house party caught on viral video, says he was honoring 2 slain friends, didn’t realize health risks of packed crowd

Consumed by the gun violence on the West Side , Wright said he hadn ’ t been paying much attention @ @ @ @ @ even as it hit neighborhoods around him particularly hard .
He had been mostly staying @ @ @ @ @ work shifts as a security guard , and decided it was time to honor Brown @ @ @ @ @ .

Janeal Wright says he hasn’t been the same since his two friends were gunned down in 2018.
The double shooting on the West Side claimed the lives of Darius Brown and Johnathan Jeter, both 23. The absence of their laughter and generosity was “heartbreaking,” he recalled Wednesday. He became afraid of staying in the Austin neighborhood, wondering if he would be next.
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“It was monumental, that event,” Wright, 26, said Wednesday. “That was the first dramatic event I ever really took to heart. … I didn’t really heal from it.”
Consumed by the gun violence on the West Side, Wright said he hadn’t been paying much attention to the coronavirus pandemic, even as it hit neighborhoods around him particularly hard. He had been mostly staying at home, except to work shifts as a security guard, and decided it was time to honor Brown and Jeter with a party.
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At least 50 people packed into a house on the Northwest Side on Saturday night through early Sunday morning. The crowd was captured by a viral Facebook Live video that has drawn the ire of social media and politicians who have scolded the partygoers about the severe health risks of such a large, close gathering.
Wright insisted he didn’t understand the importance of social distancing. He said he would casually browse Facebook and Twitter for news but didn’t see much information on the dangers of the coronavirus.
[ Viral video of Chicago house party reveals disconnect between black youth and media during coronavirus. ‘Dialogue needs to happen about what we’re going to do to keep black Americans alive.’ ]
He feels the government and the media have long neglected the needs of young black Chicagoans. If the city turned its back on them when it came to shootings, he reasoned, why should he listen to politicians this time around?
“Gun violence is taking everybody around my age group,” Wright said. “That's why I was so oblivious. Because you know, diseases, viruses, they're very serious and everything like that, but they're not (gun violence).”
Janeal Wright, 26, poses for a portrait at a relative's home on April 29, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
As of this week, at least 700 people have been shot in Chicago this year and about 150 of them have died, according to Tribune data. Before the stay-at-home order in mid-March, homicides were up 34% over the same time last year, and shootings up by 27%.
After the worldwide uproar over the party video, Wright said he now understands the coronavirus is just as serious. He has agreed to work with state Rep. LaShawn Ford, who represents parts of the West Side, on educating his community about the coronavirus.
“It's really hard for them to go on through life, being so young and losing a friend,” Ford said. “We're going to make sure that he's a voice.”
Wright said he will be reaching out to youth through videos and other means about his experience. He will also work with Ford and Loretto Hospital to arrange testing for people who attended the party.
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Ford said it’s important to understand young adults like Wright and give them a chance to grow from mistakes. He said the lack of government outreach has resulted in many people on the South and West sides being unaware of the extent of the crisis, even as the coronavirus has disproportionally hit those neighborhoods.
According to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the ZIP code 60639, which includes the location of the party, had the highest number of coronavirus cases of all Chicago ZIP codes with 1,089.
“We have a president telling people to put disinfectant in your veins,” Ford said, citing Trump’s controversial remarks last week. “I know this kid deserves a break.”
Wright’s main goal right now is forgiveness from his mother, who he said owns the home where he threw the party and was cited by police. He hopes his new sense of duty to spread the word about the coronavirus will temper her anger, especially because she had nothing to do with the party, he said.
“I've been really remorseful over having that party during the pandemic,” Wright said. “The best way I can do this is if I could really make up with my mother, make sure she's good, that would be enough for me.”
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-30--Daywatch: Reopen Illinois rally planned, viral house party reveals media disconnect and Tribune phot

Daywatch: Reopen Illinois rally planned, viral house party reveals media disconnect and Tribune photos to use as your Zoom background

After decades of scrubbing in on surgeries as a surgical technologist , Juan Martinez was looking forward to retirement .
@ @ @ @ @ his wife and spend more time with his grandchildren .
He was so dedicated to @ @ @ @ @ working even as the coronavirus crisis coincided with the final weeks before his retirement .

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Good morning, Chicago. Here’s the coronavirus news and top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Illinois officials Wednesday reported another 92 deaths in Illinois related to the coronavirus and 2,253 new known cases, bringing the statewide totals to 2,215 deaths and 50,355 known cases
In the U.S., more than 1 million infections and 60,000 deaths have been recorded, according to Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday
Around the world, the death toll has reached 227,000 as nearly 3.2 million people have been infected, according to a Johns Hopkins count on Wednesday
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Beth Rogers, of Springfield, stands in the rain with her sign demanding, "Open Illinois Now," during a protest in front of the Capitol building on April 25, 2020. (Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register )
Protesters who want Gov. J.B. Pritzker to announce a plan to reopen the Illinois economy have scheduled a Friday rally outside the Thompson Center in the Loop.
“Illinois residents have tolerated the government’s plan for over a month — without a plan on how to slowly and safely reopen the state’s economy,” a news release announcing the event states. “We need to discuss the process of cautiously returning back to work.”
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US coronavirus death toll is far higher than reported, CDC data suggests
State Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, poses at his district office, April 29, 2020, in Louisville, Ill. Bailey challenged in court Gov. J.B. Pritzker's authority to extend the stay-at-home order. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The Illinois attorney general’s office filed an appellate court brief Wednesday seeking to overturn a southern Illinois judge’s ruling that temporarily exempts a Republican state representative from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statewide stay-at-home order.
State Rep. Darren Bailey request for a personal exemption from the order “besides being dangerous — is flawed as a matter of law,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office argues in the filing with Illinois 5th District Appellate Court.
Second lawsuit from GOP state representative accuses Gov. J.B. Pritzker of creating a 'police state’ with stay-at-home order
House parties are meant to be a thing of the past now that COVID-19 has turned into a pandemic. But on April 25, a viral video showing a Galewood gathering of dozens of people at a memorial party drew such a level of nationwide vitriol on social media that Mayor Lori Lightfoot blasted the revelers as “foolish and reckless," and Gov. J.B. Pritzker criticized the partygoers for “putting everyone around you in danger.”
With so much conversation about the event, The Triibe, a digital media platform that tells stories of black Chicago, sought to find out the disconnect between local government officials, black youth, and traditional media outlets in conveying the serious nature of the coronavirus.
Man apologizes for throwing Chicago house party caught on video that went viral, says he was honoring 2 slain friends and didn’t realize health risks of packed crowd
Juan Martinez, seen in an undated photo, was also a father of three and a pastor. (Family photo/HANDOUT)
After decades of scrubbing in on surgeries as a surgical technologist, Juan Martinez was looking forward to retirement. He planned to travel with his wife and spend more time with his grandchildren. He was so dedicated to his job that he kept working even as the coronavirus crisis coincided with the final weeks before his retirement.
He died days before reaching it.
One of Chicago's most popular destinations, the Cloud Gate sculpture, also known as The Bean, is devoid of visitors Wednesday, April 1, 2020, in a closed-to-the-public Millennium Park in Chicago. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
Nothing will liven up your virtual meeting more than a background of Wrigley Field or The Bean or the view from atop the Willis Tower. Download these photos taken by Chicago Tribune photographers as your background on Zoom or another virtual meeting platform.