chicagotribune--2020-11-17--4 shot, including two teenage girls, on West Side, police say

Around 4:40 p.m. , four people were walking down the street in the 700 block of South Pulaski Road in @ @ @ @ @ dark-colored vehicle drove by and someone inside started firing shots , police said .

Four people were injured, including two teenage girls, during a shooting Monday afternoon on the West Side, according to Chicago police.
Around 4:40 p.m., four people were walking down the street in the 700 block of South Pulaski Road in the Lawndale neighborhood when a dark-colored vehicle drove by and someone inside started firing shots, police said.
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A 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl each suffered a graze wound to the right leg, police said. They were in good condition and refused medical attention.
A 25-year-old woman and a 25-year-old man were both shot in the leg, police said. They were both taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center in good condition.
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No arrests have been made, police said. The shooting is under investigation.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-11-17--5-year-old boy shot in head by while on couch, playing with iPad, police say

About 7:30 p.m. , car driving westbound on 115th Street from Wentworth Avenue opened fire in the direction of the @ @ @ @ @ of West 115th Street , said police spokesman Tom Ahern .
At least one round @ @ @ @ @ of the house in the 200 block of West 115th Street in the Roseland neighborhood @ @ @ @ @ , who was sitting on a coach playing on his iPad , in the head @

The silver SUV drove by the yellow brick four-flat several times, once slowing almost to a stop before turning down the block and coming around again, this time a gunman in dark clothes leaning out the passenger window and firing across the roof.
A bullet hole in the window of a home in the 200 block of West 115th Street in the West Roseland neighborhood in Chicago on Nov. 17, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
One of the bullets crashed through a plate-glass window of one of the apartments and hit a 5-year-old boy as he was playing on his iPad. His sister discovered him on the couch, bleeding from the head, as the SUV continued driving on West 115th Street in Roseland, according to camera footage released by Chicago police.
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The sister called 911, and the boy was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition, police said. His parents were with him as he underwent surgery “to relieve some of the pressure on the brain,” according to Calumet District Cmdr. Glenn White.
Area Two detectives are seeking to identify this vehicle in relation to an aggravated battery that resulted in a 5-year-old child being shot. (Chicago Police /Chicago Police)
White said it was unclear who the target was. The video shows the SUV driving by the apartment building in the 200 block of West 115th Street at least four times before the shooting around 7:25 p.m. Monday.
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Please say a prayer for a 5yr old male child struck by gunfire while in his home in the 200 blk of W. 115th at approx: 7:30pm. He was transported to Comer Childrens Hosp. in critical condition. 5th Dist Cmdr. will address the media at 10pm. at the residence. #ChicagoPolice pic.twitter.com/i89wHBbmgF — Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) November 17, 2020
Once, the SUV is headed north on Yale Avenue, crossing 115th about a house down from the building, according to the video. Another time, it is heading west on 115th and almost stops in front of the apartments before turning left onto Yale. A third time, it is seen heading east on 115th past the building.
In the seconds before the shooting, the SUV is seen heading west down 115th again. The gunman crawls out the front passenger window, stretches across the roof and fires several times. He starts to get back in, but leans out again and fires some more.
Police released the video and photographs of the SUV Tuesday afternoon as no change was reported in the boy’s condition.
White estimated nine rounds were fired toward the house. Immediate family members were the only ones home at the time, and there were no gatherings nearby when the gunman opened fire, according to police.
“At the time of the shooting, there was no one on the outside of the residence as the car was passing from the east to the west,” White said. “This is another random act of violence here in the city of Chicago.”
Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef, founder of Chicago Activist Coalition for Justice, said a $500 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.
“The doctors are now behind the scenes working on this young child,” said Yosef, also president of Tikkun Chai Inter-National, a humanitarian foundation. “These children were not brought into this world to be gunned down or to be put in the grave.
“The trauma of this situation has gone too far on.”
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chicagotribune--2020-11-17--Boy reported missing after minivan stolen in Bridgeview found safe in Chicago, police say

An Amber Alert was issued and the vehicle was spotted at 26th and California in Chicago , police said , @ @ @ @ @ if the boy was inside .
Bridgeview Police Cmdr .
David Case said the car @ @ @ @ @ p.m. in Marquette Park area when a plate reader pinged the license plate .

A 4-year-old boy reported missing Monday night from Bridgeview after the minivan he was in was stolen was found later that night in Chicago, police said.
The boy was taken to Swedish Hospital in Chicago after being found, police said. But a search continued for the person who stolen the Blue 2001 Oldsmobile Silhouette from a outside 7-Eleven at 79th Street and Roberts Road.
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The boy’s father told police he went into the store to purchase food about 5:30 p.m., but came out to find the car had been stolen.
The 4-year-old boy reported missing 5:37 p.m. Nov. 16, 2020, was found safe later that evening in Chicago. (Illinois State Police)
An Amber Alert was issued and the vehicle was spotted at 26th and California in Chicago, police said, but it was not clear if the boy was inside. Bridgeview Police Cmdr. David Case said the car was later seen about 7 p.m. in Marquette Park area when a plate reader pinged the license plate.
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The boy’s family pleaded for his safe return Monday outside the 7-Eleven.
“Please bring him home safely. Call 911, anyone who knows anything,” his mother said.
“I just want my boy back. I know you probably didn’t realize he was in there," she said. "Just please leave him untouched and just exit the vehicle.”


chicagotribune--2020-11-17--Amber Alert issued for child inside stolen minivan in Bridgeview

Police in the southwest suburbs were looking for a minivan that was stolen Monday afternoon with a 4-year-old boy left inside it, authorities said.
Authorities issued an Amber Alert — an emergency report of a child abduction — after the vehicle was stolen from outside a 7-Eleven store at 79th Street and Roberts Road in Bridgeview, authorities said.
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The minivan, a dark blue Oldsmobile Silhouette, was parked outside the store about 5:35 p.m. while the boy, whose name is Liam Barbarasa, was still in the back seat, authorities said.
An undated photo of Liam Barbarasa (Handout)
The owner of the minivan told police he got out of it to go into the store. But when he came out afterwards, he learned the car was missing and his 4-year-old son had been inside it, authorities said.
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The minivan has an Illinois license plate of L703520 and has a U.S. Marine Corps sticker on the rear window. Authorities said the minivan was last spotted near 26th Street and California Avenue in Chicago, near the Leighton Criminal Court Building, but surveillance could not reveal whether Liam was in the vehicle.
Anyone with information can contact Bridgeview police, 708-458-2131.
Check back for updates.


chicagotribune--2020-11-17--Man shot Monday morning in Aurora Township

A 43-year-old man was taken by a relative to a local hospital , where he had surgery and was released @ @ @ @

A man was shot several times early Monday morning in Aurora Township, Kane County Sheriff’s Office officials said.
Residents called police and reported multiple shots fired around 4:30 a.m. on the 1300 block of South Union Street, Sheriff Ron Hain said in a news release.
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A 43-year-old man was taken by a relative to a local hospital, where he had surgery and was released, Hain said.
Deputies are investigating several leads, and Hain said he believes there is no threat to the public.
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mejones@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-18--Proposal to cap delivery app fees in Chicago clears City Council hurdle

Grubhub spokesman Grant Klinzman said in a statement that the caps “ are well-intentioned but counterproductive at a time when @ @ @ @ @ visibility and order volume than ever .
They limit how restaurants — especially small and @ @ @ @ @ market themselves to drive demand , which severely impacts how many customers and orders we @ @ @ @ @ .
”

A plan to cap delivery fees charged to Chicago restaurants by third-party delivery companies such as Grubhub and Uber Eats at 10% of the order’s cost as long as indoor dining capacity is set at below 40% during the coronavirus pandemic moved closer to final passage on Tuesday as aldermen voted to advance the plan.
The proposal, introduced to the City Council on Monday as Mayor Lori Lightfoot and aldermen try to help restaurants make it through the winter, passed in the joint committee on finance and license and consumer protection.
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The proposed fee limit is less strict than the 5% ceiling in an ordinance an alderman introduced months ago, which Lightfoot rejected in favor of a rule requiring the services to disclose all the fees they charge.
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The package approved by the committee also sets a 15% limit on other fees charged by the apps, mainly for marketing restaurants on their websites.
Although some restaurateurs have hailed the measures, tech companies have criticized the new rules, which they said could make it harder on restaurants by leading to a decrease in orders, among other claims.
When Gov. J.B. Pritzker earlier this month again banned indoor dining because of spiking COVID-19 cases, Lightfoot announced she would seek a temporary cap on the fees.
The ordinance, introduced by Finance Committee Chairman Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, and Aviation Committee Chairman Ald. Matt O’Shea, 19th, would go into effect immediately upon passage if two-thirds of aldermen voted for it.
Otherwise, it would go into effect 10 days after passage and publication.
A DoorDash spokeswoman said the proposal would have unintended consequences.
“This legislation could cause us to increase costs for customers, which could lead to fewer orders for local restaurants and fewer earning opportunities for Dashers,” the spokeswoman said in a statement. "It also removes options available to restaurants by limiting their ability to opt-in to additional services to help their business.”
Robert Kellman of Uber said in a statement that: “This ordinance will force costs onto customers and drive down the number of deliveries, hurting drivers and restaurants when they need help the most.”
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Grubhub spokesman Grant Klinzman said in a statement that the caps “are well-intentioned but counterproductive at a time when restaurants need more support, visibility and order volume than ever. They limit how restaurants — especially small and independent establishments — can effectively market themselves to drive demand, which severely impacts how many customers and orders we can bring to these restaurants.”
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @royalpratt


chicagotribune--2020-11-18--The Spin: Duckworth says she’s talking to Biden team | Pritzker gets personal about Thanksgiving | S

The Spin: Duckworth says she’s talking to Biden team | Pritzker gets personal about Thanksgiving | State shutting casinos, reducing capacity at some retail outlets

But there was more , the governor said : “ ( A ) well-known lawyer who cares more about headlines @ @ @ @ @ a bounty on his Facebook page , offering money to harass my family at Thanksgiving @ @ @ @ @ .
Including my kids — harassing them .
My high school-aged kids .
Put yourself @ @ @ @ @ high school girl who is being weaponized against her father by his political opponents .
@ @ @ @ @ yourself in my shoes .
We have threats that stream into my office daily while @ @ @ @ @ plot unfold against the Michigan governor , just a state away .
I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ elected to this job and while I don ’ t think it should come with @ @ @ @ @ and safety , I accept that sometimes it does .
”

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth participates in a reenacted swearing-in with Vice President Joe Biden in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in 2017. (Aaron P. Bernstein / Getty Images)
Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said this morning she’s talking with President-elect Joe Biden’s team as he prepares to take the White House. During an interview on MSNBC the Hoffman Estates Democrat — at one point a contender to be Biden’s running mate and now being floated as a possibility for a cabinet post — was asked whether she had gotten a job offer.
Duckworth said “no” and chuckled. The Army combat veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee also expressed concerns about military moves President Donald Trump is reportedly entertaining just months before he leaves office.
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Just ahead of the busiest shopping season of the year, meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced new COVID-19 restrictions on the number of shoppers allowed in retail stores. He’s also shuttering casinos and museums as part of a larger effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The news comes as Chicago Public Schools announced students and teachers would return to the classroom in January.
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Pritzker also got personal today during his COVID-19 news briefing, saying his family will be in separate locations for Thanksgiving — he and his son in Chicago, his wife and daughter in Florida. He’s staying put because COVID-19 is surging and he feels a duty to be here, but his wife and high school-age daughter will remain in the Sunshine State indefinitely after the younger Pritzker “came under attack” on social media.
And my Tribune colleague Michael Hawthorne has a piece about Chicago scrambling to catch up to other cities forecasting COVID-19 outbreaks by analyzing human waste flushed down thousands of toilets. The city’s labyrinth of sewers is divided between two bosses: the Chicago Department of Water Management and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, two agencies with a history of bureaucratic turf wars and a reputation for blaming each other when the system fails, he reminds.
Welcome to The Spin.
In this image from video, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., speaks during the fourth night of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 20, 2020. (AP)
Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a combat veteran, said her take on reports that President Donald Trump has considered drawing down troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and was talked out of a military strike on Iran is evidence he “wants to blow everything up as he goes out the door.”
Duckworth made the remarks this morning on MSNBC when she was asked about the moves.
The Associated Press reported that U.S. officials said Trump is expected to cut a significant number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and a smaller number in Iraq by the final days of his presidency. The plan would run counter to military commanders' advice over the past year, while still falling short of Trump’s much-touted goal to end America’s long wars, the AP notes. And the expected plans would leave 2,500 troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan, meaning that President-elect Joe Biden would be the fourth president to grapple with the still-smoldering conflicts launched in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Duckworth, who lost both her legs when her Army helicopter was shot down in Iraq, said it’s clear to her why Trump “hollowed out” the top levels of the Pentagon in recent weeks and installed a new slate of loyalists he thought might go along with him.
Duckworth, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there’s not much Congress can do to stop the president’s order to withdraw troops, but warned: “This is a really dangerous decision the president has made.” She said the armed forces would be professional to the end, but that a hasty exit could mean that “caches of equipment” may be left behind — and end up in the hands of enemies.
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The senator said she’s not surprised that Trump advisers successfully talked the president out of a military strike on Iran to halt its nuclear program, as The New York Times reported.
“I would expect nothing less because it would be malpractice on their part,” Duckworth said of those who were able to push back on a missile or cyberstrike. “This president literally wants to blow everything up as he goes out the door.” She blames Trump for dissolving the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal lifting restrictions that then allowed the country to pursue the very nuclear program the president wants to strike down.
Oh, and about those discussions with President-elect Biden: Duckworth said she is talking to him about COVID-19 response and national security issues as he prepares to take office. But Biden hasn’t offered Duckworth a job in his cabinet, Duckworth said.
Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, was asked today on MSNBC whether she would be interested in an appointment to fill the remainder of Duckworth’s term in the Senate if she gets a job in the Biden cabinet.
Jarrett replied: “Ah, no. And I will tell you why: I have devoted most of my life to service and I will continue to do that. I had the best job in the world for eight years. President Obama said to me, ‘You will much rather serve in the White House than serve in the Senate. I know you and I know the Senate, and so come with me.’ I’m sure glad that I did. And at this chapter of my life, I’m looking forward to service from the outside.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker during a news conference regarding the coronavirus pandemic and other issues Nov. 4, 2020, at the Thompson Center in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Yesterday, the governor seemed to get coy about his Thanksgiving plans. A Chicago resident, he was asked whether he would abide by Mayor Lightfoot’s travel advisory. He initially said he didn’t know the details of the advisory, which asks but does not mandate Chicagoans to forgo nonessential travel.
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He was asked whether he’d stay in Chicago, and answered: “That is my hope, but I will let you know.”
Today Pritzker firmed it up, saying “I will be celebrating Thanksgiving in Chicago with our son,” explaining that “I believe that the situation is simply too grave for me to be elsewhere.”
He attributed his vague response 24 hours earlier to being “taken aback by (a) question about my family’s holiday plans, in part because my wife and I were in the process of making the very hard decision that we may need to celebrate Thanksgiving apart from one another for the first time ever. And it was weighing heavily on my mind.”
The governor then shared more: His daughter, he said, came “under attack” on social media last week. And he believes it was all about getting back at him over COVID-19 restrictions.
A picture of a group of people eating outside a Chicago restaurant apparently in violation of COVID-19 restrictions was posted on what he called a “parody Twitter account.” The person who posted the photo claimed one of the people in the shot was the governor’s daughter and it began to circulate on Twitter.
Soon enough, the Democratic governor said, it was also shared by Republican elected officials, along with “a network of propaganda publications in the state and some radio shock jocks from telling people that the picture was of my daughter, despite knowing that this was a lie.” In turn, “a slew of strangers … sent hateful, threatening messages to my daughter over the subsequent few days.”
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But there was more, the governor said: “(A) well-known lawyer who cares more about headlines than winning his cases posted a bounty on his Facebook page, offering money to harass my family at Thanksgiving. An actual cash bounty. Including my kids — harassing them. My high school-aged kids. Put yourself in the shoes of a high school girl who is being weaponized against her father by his political opponents. Weaponized with lies. Put yourself in my shoes. We have threats that stream into my office daily while we have watched the kidnapping plot unfold against the Michigan governor, just a state away. I’m the governor, I was elected to this job and while I don’t think it should come with a fear for my health and safety, I accept that sometimes it does.”
The governor asked that his privacy be respected, that COVID-19 restrictions should be a “political fight. This is a fight to save peoples' lives” and asked that we all remember that, particularly during the holiday season.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker talks to reporters Nov. 4, 2020, at the Thompson Center in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Dan Petrella, Jamie Munks and Gregory Pratt: Gov. Pritzker today announced targeted restrictions for retail shops and a shutdown of casinos as part of the state’s latest effort to slow the surging coronavirus. It’s a return to statewide restrictions enacted earlier this year when the state reached a critical tipping point.
They write: “Just ahead of the busiest shopping season of the year, retailers will be under a 25% capacity limit, down from the current 50%. A 50% capacity limit will remain for grocery stores, but big-box chains such as Walmart and Target that include groceries will be subject to the lower limit.” Read the full story here.
Closings: Casinos and video gambling terminals statewide will be shut down under the plan. Likewise, museums will be closed, my Tribune colleague Steve Johnson reports. The new measures take effect at midnight Friday. Meantime, the Tribune’s John Byrne has a piece about the city’s COVID-19 travel list as the city’s top public health officer urges people to forgo traditional Thanksgiving plans with people from different households.
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The governor’s urging patience after some good news on the vaccine front this week.
Chicago Public Schools teachers, staff students return to the classroom in January, the Tribune’s Karen Ann Cullotta reports. It comes as more suburban districts revert to remote learning. Read the full story here.
College students are urged to get a COVID-19 test before heading home for the holidays, but even a negative result doesn’t mean they won’t spread virus the Tribune’s Elyssa Cherney writes.
U-46 students will return to remote learning as COVID-19 cases keep rising in Kane County, Karie Angell Luc reports in The Courier-News.
The biggest worry, officials said this week, is that hospitals are filling up. The Tribune’s Jamie Munks wrote yesterday that Illinois had 5,581 people hospitalized for the coronavirus as of Sunday night — a nearly two-thirds increase over the 3,371 reported Nov. 1.
The state also has surged past its spring peak set April 28, when 5,037 people were in the hospital for COVID-19.
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The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care is up 58% since Nov. 1, and the number on ventilators is up 72%.
Hospitals are returning to spring strategies, including limiting elective surgeries and adding more beds, Munks notes.
Workers threaten to strike at 11 nursing homes in Illinois next week if wages and pandemic hazard pay don’t increase, the Tribune’s Robert McCoppin reports. Most of the homes are in the Chicago area and most of the employees are women, many of them Black or Latino — two of the hardest hit communities in the pandemic.
Related: Proposal to cap delivery app fees in Chicago clears City Council hurdle, the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt reports.
Momentum Coffee & Coworking owners Nikki Bravo and Tracy Powell at the South Loop business, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Lauren Zumbach: The city is encouraging Chicagoans to support Black-owned businesses on Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season, with a website promoting more than 500 local businesses.
The initiative, called “Black Shop Friday,” includes a directory of Black-owned businesses by the type of products sold and neighborhood. The website, www.BlackShopFriday.com, is scheduled to launch Nov. 24, three days before Black Friday.
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The coronavirus pandemic has made 2020 challenging for all small businesses, but it’s been especially tough for Black-owned businesses, which tend to have more limited access to capital, said Karen Freeman-Wilson, president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. Read more here.
In 2009, Beyonce sings as President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama finish their dance at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball in Washington. (Elise Amendola/AP)
Hat tip to the Tribune’s Ray Long: Former President Barack Obama, who cut his political teeth in Chicago and whose family still owns a home here, is really hawking that new memoir “A Promised Land.” Today, he shared with followers a dozen musical selections via Spotify to accompany the long read and a note: “Hey there. My memoir, A Promised Land, is out today. I put together this playlist for you to listen to featuring some memorable songs from my administration. Hope you enjoy it.”
The playlist nods to the highest highs and the lowest lows (Aretha Franklin’s “The Weight” U2′s “Beautiful Day” and Jay-Z’s “My First Song”) only a few men — and one day a woman — must feel being the leader of the free world.
Education news: Claims of anti-Semitism at University of Illinois, state’s largest public university, prompt federal investigation by Department of Education, the Tribune’s Elyssa Cherney reports.
More than 10,000 times in a single year, Illinois schools put children into seclusion, latest federal data shows: “Over the last year, in response to a November 2019 investigation by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois, the state took several actions to discourage schools from relying on seclusion and physical restraint in response to difficult student behavior,” Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen report. “But advocates for students with disabilities say the most recent data offers evidence that the new restrictions need to be enforced and that stronger steps are needed.”
An Illinois bill that would ban prone physical restraint and place more restrictions on schools that use isolated timeout is headed for consideration in the legislative veto session in January, says state Sen. Ann Gillespie, a Democrat from Arlington Heights. The pending bill would restrict the use of seclusion and restraint and allow them only when there is an “imminent” danger of serious physical harm, Richards, of the Tribune and Cohen, of ProPublica Illinois write.
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chicagotribune--2020-11-18--Two charged in videotaped scuffle over ‘Biden 2020’ and other chalk writings in Chicago South Loop p

Two charged in videotaped scuffle over ‘Biden 2020’ and other chalk writings in Chicago South Loop park

“ We had the bubbles out and the kids were having a blast and then that ’ s when the @ @ @ @ @ wreak havoc , ” Sandoval said “ I was just trying to de-escalate the situation @ @ @ @ @ was , because we had kids around .
You don ’ t want to bring @ @ @ @ @ kids because you don ’ t know what type of trauma they ’ ll experience @ @ @ @ @ ”

Alexis Hadac, a 19-year-old nanny and college student, stands in Chicago Women's Park & Gardens, where she and a friend were attacked by a woman and a young man. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
A Chicago woman and man are facing misdemeanor charges for a post-Election Day scuffle captured on video that erupted in a South Side park over chalk markings scribbled on pavement that included “Biden 2020” and “Black Lives Matter.”
Lorena Petani, 64, and Lucio Zapata, 21, were charged with battery over the weekend for the Nov. 4 incident at Chicago Women’s Park and Garden, Chicago police confirmed Tuesday.
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The defendants, both of the 300 block of East Cullerton Street, are due in court early next month. Neither could be reached for comment Tuesday.
Alexis Hadac, a 19-year-old college student who filmed the melee, told the Tribune she and her friend, working as nannies, were attacked early that afternoon while having a play date with two children who were in their care in the park at 1801 S. Indiana Ave. The children, both under 4, were not injured.
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Hadac said they were blowing bubbles with the children and playing with pieces of chalk that someone else had left behind in the park on the unseasonably warm afternoon when an unidentified, older woman later identified as Petani accused them of vandalism.
Hadac and her friend, Haylee Sandoval, also 19, said someone else had left most of the scribblings on the park pavement before they arrived. The children added smiley faces and one of the nannies wrote “Biden 2020,” they said.
Hadac said she used her camera phone to begin filming after the woman grew more aggressive and mentioned that her husband was a police officer. The woman dragged her foot across a chalk marking that read “BLM,” for Black Lives Matter, to erase it from the pavement, she said.
“Once I (saw) she was scraping the chalk and getting closer without a mask on, I was like ‘I have to document this,’ because if this gets serious, it’s her word against ours,” said Hadac. “If her husband is a cop, like she’s claiming, our words aren’t going to be taken more than hers.”
Chicago police would not confirm if Petani’s husband is indeed a city police officer, but public records show a man living at her address has the same name and age as a Chicago police officer who was hired in October 1995.
In Hadac’s 1:32-second video, a woman identified by police as Petani is seen standing several feet from the group and speaking in a calm voice. A young man who police identified as Lucio Zapata is standing near her, looking down or away while twirling a leaf. He does not speak on the video.
“This is tagging, though?” Hadac is heard asking the woman incredulously on the video. “OK, but this is chalk, I don’t see why you’re …”
The woman responded, “Yah, yah but you know, one thing starts another, starts another. ... If I started writing Trump then are we going to have a war of Trump and cops versus BLM (Black Lives Matter) in a public park?”
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“It’s insulting to people,” said the woman. “This is my park. I doubt you pay as much (taxes) as me.”
After the comment, Hadac asked the woman her name and asked why was she “harassing us without a mask on while we got kids at the park?,” according to the video.
Next, at about the 50-second mark, the exchange grew heated when the woman walked up to Hadac and forcefully thrust her coat at the phone camera in an apparent attempt to block filming. Hadac said the woman hit her in the face.
The video is obscured for a moment, but it appeared Sandoval pushed away the woman, who is seen stumbling from a bush. Sandoval told the Tribune she intervened because one of the children was standing behind Hadac, who lost her balance after being struck and fell backward.
“We had the bubbles out and the kids were having a blast and then that’s when the lady came and started to wreak havoc,” Sandoval said “I was just trying to de-escalate the situation, just like my friend was, because we had kids around. You don’t want to bring that kind of violence around kids because you don’t know what type of trauma they’ll experience or take from it.”
In the video, Hadac next urged Sandoval to call police. As the woman and the young man quickly walk away, Hadac follows them, still recording and urging her friend to call police. Within seconds, after Hadac shouts out to the woman that she filmed her “putting your hands on (me)," the woman turned toward the camera and appears to attack Hadac. A scuffle ensues.
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Though what happened next is not on camera because of the struggle, Hadac said the woman grabbed her by her hair and hit her in the face. The male companion became involved, the nanny said, also pulling her hair and hitting her. Sandoval said he repeatedly struck her after she rushed to help her friend.
“Call the cops!” Hadac is heard shouting in the video to Sandoval. “Call the police. Call the police. Call the police.”
Hadac said she lost sight of them as they fled south from the park. Hadac later posted a video of the incident on social media, which helped police identify Petani and Zapata and led to the misdemeanor charges.
Hadac said Chicago police recently confirmed the charges to her, as well. She is thankful for the community support and recently held a “chalk-out” event in the park to try to turn the negative experience into something positive.
“And just fill the sidewalk with messages of love,” she said, “which is what we were trying to originally do.”
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com
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chicagotribune--2020-11-18--Gov. J.B. Pritzker lowers capacity for retail shops and shuts down casinos and museums in latest eff

Gov. J.B. Pritzker lowers capacity for retail shops and shuts down casinos and museums in latest effort to slow COVID-19 surge

“ We will continue to see a rise in both hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 for weeks ahead because of @ @ @ @ @ happened , ” Pritzker said at his daily coronavirus briefing .
“ But we can @ @ @ @ @ We can save potentially thousands of lives in the next few months if we make @ @ @ @ @ this in its tracks .
”

Dan Petrella, Jamie Munks, Gregory Pratt, Hal Dardick

Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Stopping short of another statewide stay-at-home order, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday further slashed capacity limits for retail shops, and ordered casinos, museums and other indoor entertainment venues shut down beginning Friday in the latest effort to slow the aggressive fall surge of the coronavirus.
The measures come as hospital beds across the state continue to fill up with COVID-19 patients and public health officials once again worry about overtaxing the health care system. Right now, a quarter of hospital patients statewide have the coronavirus, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said, and that number is expected to grow.
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“We will continue to see a rise in both hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 for weeks ahead because of the infections that have already happened,” Pritzker said at his daily coronavirus briefing. “But we can change our longer-term outcome. We can save potentially thousands of lives in the next few months if we make changes right now to stop this in its tracks.”
In addition to putting restrictions on a variety of industries, Pritzker is pleading with the public to avoid unnecessary gatherings, particularly next week for Thanksgiving.
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“This is not a stay-at-home order,” he said. “But the best way for us to avoid a stay-at-home order is to stay home.”
Just ahead of the busiest shopping season of the year, Pritzker is putting retailers under a 25% capacity limit, down from 50%. A 50% capacity limit will remain for grocery stores and pharmacies, but big-box chains such as Walmart and Target that include groceries will be subject to the lower limit.
[ New coronavirus restrictions: What will be open, closed, different in Illinois starting Friday ]
When Pritzker shut down nonessential retailers in the spring, he faced criticism for allowing big chains to continue selling non-grocery and pharmacy products, which some saw as a blow to small businesses.
The measures announced Tuesday do not affect schools, and decisions on in-person instruction will continue to be left up to local districts. After Pritzker’s announcement, Chicago Public Schools said it will continue to provide classes through remote learning until after the winter break, but then plans to begin bringing some students back as early as Jan. 11.
Aside from retailers, the restrictions that take effect Friday affect a broad range of businesses and recreational activities.
With indoor dining and bar service already prohibited statewide, the new restrictions will also shut down video gambling terminals in restaurants and other venues.
Gyms and fitness centers will be required to limit capacity to 25%, stop holding indoor group classes, close locker rooms and require reservations. Face coverings must be worn at all times, including while exercising.
Hotels must close event and meeting spaces, and limit room occupancy to registered guests, and their fitness centers must either operate with reservations and at 25% capacity or be closed.
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Performing arts centers, museums, bowling alleys and movie theaters that have been open with capacity limits and mask requirements will be ordered closed.
Outdoor group activities can continue with a limit of 10 people, with reservations and face coverings required, while indoor sports, including travel leagues and park district groups, will be put on hold. Funerals will be limited to 10 family members.
The rules for offices call for all employees who are able to work from home to do so. Manufacturers will see tightened rules, including additional COVID-19-related training and a limit on workplace attendance to key employees and manufacturing staff, as well as face mask requirements.
Personal care services will be required to operate at the lesser of 25 clients or 25% capacity. Services where a face covering cannot be worn, such as beard trims and facials, will be suspended.
The additional restrictions come as state health officials reported 12,601 new confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus, the 12th straight day with more than 10,000 cases. Over the past week, Illinois has been averaging 12,381 cases per day. In all, there have been 597,849 cases statewide since the pandemic began.
There also were 97 additional fatalities reported Tuesday, bringing the statewide death toll to 10,875. The state has been averaging 84 deaths per day over the past week, the highest average since June 2.
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Projections show that without additional restrictions, Illinois could see 17,000 to 45,000 additional deaths by March 1, Pritzker said.
The percentage of coronavirus cases as a share of total tests hit a seven-day rolling average of 12.5% on Tuesday. After surging from 8.1% at the beginning of the month and 3.4% at the beginning of October, the growth in the case positivity rate appears to have leveled off over the past week.
As of Monday night, there were 5,887 patients in Illinois hospitals with COVID-19, 850 more than at the height of the spring peak.
Ezike called the policy choices about which restrictions to put in place to reverse those trends “insanely difficult and weighty decisions.”
“No one is ignorant to the acute difficulties that so many people and industries will face,” Ezike said. “But we are really hoping these additional mitigations will do the trick. We were hoping not even to get here. But as the numbers climb, we cannot in good conscience let our behaviors and activities go unchecked.”
Rob Karr, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said the new restrictions strike a balance between “allowing access to retail services and the need to adjust safety measures.”
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“While additional capacity restrictions will impose significant hardship on retailers already devastated by the pandemic — especially during what is usually the busiest shopping time of the year — we are glad customers will continue to have numerous safe shopping options,” Karr, who hasn’t always agreed with Pritzker on previous decisions, said in a statement.
Illinois residents have lived under some level of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 since mid-March. Schools and restaurants and bars were some of the first to come under restrictions, as Pritzker suspended in-person learning and ordered restaurants and bars closed for indoor service.
Those moves came before Pritzker issued a statewide stay-at-home order that took effect March 21. It was the furthest-reaching measure he’s taken during the pandemic so far, a sweeping package of restrictions that imposed changes on essentially every sector and activity.
Both Pritzker and Ezike said the order was effective in slowing the spread of the virus in the spring but held out hope that the less restrictive measures announced Tuesday, that they said are based on new evidence about its transmission, will make another step that drastic unnecessary.
But Pritzker acknowledged it will largely be up to local officials to enforce the rules, and individuals to follow them and heed the warnings to stay home as much as possible.
“To be very clear, we are relying on you here,” Pritzker said. “Nobody will be going door to door to check on you. But we’re asking people to hold themselves and each other accountable.”
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The initial stay-at-home order was eased in early May, when Pritzker issued a statewide mask mandate for most public settings, followed by a phased-in reopening plan that relaxed rules for businesses and allowed for larger gathering sizes as the state saw declining COVID-19 hospitalizations, deaths and daily case tallies.
By summer, Pritzker issued a new plan that broke the state down into 11 regions, allowing for more targeted restrictions. But by early November, with every corner of the state seeing a resurgence of the virus, each region had triggered the stricter rules, including limits on gatherings and a prohibition on indoor dining and bar service.
As the restrictions were rolling across the state, Pritzker defended the decision to allow casinos, which are heavily regulated by the state, to remain open at 25% capacity with mask requirements and suspended food and bar service, saying there was little evidence of virus transmission.
In the 30-day period ending last Friday, 23 people reported visiting casinos in the 14 days prior to being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to data posted by the state Department of Public Health.
That placed casinos 41st on the list of types of establishments where people were possibly exposed to the disease. By comparison, visits to schools; business or retail locations; restaurants or bars; and hospitals or clinics by people who had COVID each topped 2,000 in the same period.
The state also keeps data on outbreak locations, defined as places where five or more linked COVID-19-positive people from different households occurred in a 14-day period prior to infection. Casinos did not show up on that list.
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The data is drawn from contact tracing data reported to the state by 97 local public health departments, but that data is incomplete in some cases. In Chicago and suburban Cook County, fewer than 22% of people had been reached by contact tracers. Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, the state’s largest and busiest, is in Cook County.
Since the spring, Pritzker has faced at times fierce pushback on his restrictions, from businesses, religious groups and lawmakers. The rebellion has gained momentum as a larger swath of the state has come under tougher restrictions.
The governor also has faced criticism when his actions have appeared to contradict the public health messages he’s conveyed during his coronavirus briefings, such as when he participated in a large demonstration for racial justice following the death of George Floyd or when he took to the streets to celebrate Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. In both cases, Pritzker wore a mask while in public.
On Monday, he appeared to hesitate when asked whether he’d be staying in Illinois to celebrate Thanksgiving after he and public health officials have been urging Illinois residents for weeks to rethink their Thanksgiving plans and gather virtually rather than around the same table.
In an emotional defense of his family at Tuesday’s briefing, Pritzker said he will celebrate Thanksgiving with his son in Chicago, while his wife and daughter are in Florida.
Pritzker said he was “taken aback” by the question at Monday’s briefing because he and his wife were deciding whether they needed to spend the holiday apart. Pritzker’s wife and daughter will remain in Florida “indefinitely,” following a series of what he called “threatening” messages sent to his daughter.
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Pritzker’s daughter was falsely identified as being part of a large group outside a Chicago restaurant, in apparent violation of the city’s coronavirus restrictions, in a photo that was shared on social media, the governor said.
“My office put out a statement making clear this wasn’t my daughter. But that didn’t stop Republican elected officials, a network of propaganda publications in the state and some radio shock jocks from telling people that the picture was of my daughter, despite knowing that this was a lie,” Pritzker said. “Which lent permission to a slew of strangers, who sent hateful, threatening messages to my daughter over the subsequent few days.”
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
jmunks@chicagotribune.com
hdardick@chicagotribune.com
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-18--IHSA decides to ‘temporarily pause’ winter sports season

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( Jesse ) Ruiz and Dr. ( Ngozi ) Ezike to engage with @ @ @ @ @ so that we can collaborate on developing a plan to safely conduct IHSA sports and @ @ @ @ @ .
IHSA schools have been exemplary in adhering to state regulations throughout this pandemic , @ @ @ @ @ programs will hold themselves to the same standard as we all put the long-term health @ @ @ @ @ citizens ahead of short-term athletic competition .
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Marist’s Kira Chivers, right, tries to drive past Homewood-Flossmoor’s Imani Mitchell during the Class 4A Stagg Sectional final in Palos Hills on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. (Steve Johnston / Daily Southtown)
The winter sports season officially went on a temporary “pause” Tuesday night.
Craig Anderson, the executive director of the Illinois High School Association, released a statement in response to Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health declining an invitation to attend the IHSA’s Thursday board meeting.
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Boys and girls basketball, boys and girls bowling and boys swimming will not begin to play as scheduled until 2021, according to the IHSA statement.
Thornton's Brandon Hall, center, takes the ball to the basket against Bloom during a game in Chicago Heights on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown)
“The IHSA recognizes that today’s announcement by Gov. Pritzker will temporarily pause the IHSA’s winter sports season,” Anderson said. “We remain optimistic that these new mitigations, coupled with the emergence of a vaccine, will aid in creating participation opportunities in the new year for IHSA student-athletes in winter, spring, and summer sports.
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“The IHSA board of directors will meet as scheduled on Nov. 19, 2020, to continue plotting out potential paths for IHSA sport and activity participation through the remainder of the school year. Although representatives from the governor’s office and the Illinois Department of Public Health will be unable to attend the meeting, today’s updated guidance from Gov. Pritzker will aid the board’s decision-making.
"We have asked Deputy Gov. (Jesse) Ruiz and Dr. (Ngozi) Ezike to engage with us in the near future so that we can collaborate on developing a plan to safely conduct IHSA sports and activities as soon as possible. IHSA schools have been exemplary in adhering to state regulations throughout this pandemic, and we hope that non-school programs will hold themselves to the same standard as we all put the long-term health and safety of our fellow citizens ahead of short-term athletic competition.”


chicagotribune--2020-11-18--Video shows gunman leaning out window of SUV and firing into living room, hitting a 5-year-old boy a

Video shows gunman leaning out window of SUV and firing into living room, hitting a 5-year-old boy as he played on an iPad

Once , the SUV is headed north on Yale Avenue , crossing 115th about a house down from the building @ @ @ @ @ .
Another time , it is heading west on 115th and almost stops in front @ @ @ @ @ left onto Yale .
A third time , it is seen heading east on 115th @ @ @ @

Paige Fry, Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas, Kelli Smith


chicagotribune--2020-11-17--Chicago Public Schools will resume in-person classes in January, but more suburban districts revert

Chicago Public Schools will resume in-person classes in January, but more suburban districts revert to remote learning amid COVID-19 surge

“ I certainly understand the challenges that working parents will face who rely on our schools for childcare and the @ @ @ @ @ learning , ” Heinz said .
“ Navigating educational plans during the ups and downs @ @ @ @ @ with no ‘ right ’ answers or perfect solutions .
In the end , I @ @ @ @ @ upon the health and safety of everyone in our buildings , both students and adults @ @

Chicago Public Schools has announced that it will continue to provide classes through remote learning until after the winter break, but then plans to begin bringing students back on Jan. 11.
The news came down just after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday that he is imposing more restrictions to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus — but reiterated that he’s leaving decisions about schools to local districts.
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CPS’ announcement also coincides with decisions by several suburban districts to revert to remote learning as COVID-19 cases surge in Illinois.
CPS, which has been delivering lessons remotely since Pritzker shut down schools statewide in March, said Tuesday afternoon it will begin bringing prekindergarten and some special education students back for in-person classes on Jan. 11.
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Other students in kindergarten through eighth grade are scheduled to return to schools on Feb. 1. A return date for high school is still under consideration, officials said. Classes will start with a hybrid model that combines in-person and remote learning.
“While the district is prepared to safely offer in-person learning at this time — consistent with schools across the city and country, including at private and parochial schools in Chicago that have seen low incidence of school-based transmission — beginning in-person instruction in January will minimize disruptions as students transition back to schools while allowing students to quarantine following the holidays,” read an announcement attributed to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the Chicago Department of Public Health and CPS.
They also noted, however, that with the governor’s Tuesday declaration, CPS “will suspend all high school sports beginning Friday,” including sports like bowling, cheer, dance, and boys swimming and diving that were set to move forward this winter.
Other districts in the Chicago region that already reopened schools are in many cases reverting to remote learning, though.
Among the latest are Palatine-based Township High School District 211 and Community Consolidated School District 15, which collectively enroll a total of roughly 24,000 students in prekindergarten through 12th grade. Both school systems are taking an “adaptive pause" from classroom instruction this week, officials said in recent parent letters.
The resumption of remote learning for all District 211 students started on Monday and for District 15 will begin on Wednesday, officials said.
In Elgin-based School District Unit 46, the 37,000 students enrolled in prekindergarten through 12th grade are also slated to remain or return to a strictly distance-learning format from Nov. 23 through at least Dec. 4, Superintendent Tony Sanders said in a Monday parent letter.
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In CPS, officials had previously announced plans to bring preschool and some special education students back during the second quarter but until Tuesday had not provided a specific date. The Chicago Teachers Union has resisted plans to reopen schools amid skepticism of adequate protections for students and staff.
The CTU called the reopening date “arbitrary” and said the plan “ignores” the current surge of COVID-19.
But in making the announcement, city officials said “many CPS families — particularly Black and Latinx families on the south and west sides of the city — have not been served well enough by remote learning, and opening classrooms beginning with our youngest and highest-need learners will help ensure greater access to high-quality instruction this year.”
CPS also said part of its strategy to minimize the COVID-19 risk when schools reopen is a testing initiative. Free coronavirus tests will be provided to students and staff who have symptoms or have had close contact with an infected person, and school-based staff will be tested regularly as part of a surveillance program to help identify any undetected spread in schools.
Parents in CPS still will have the option of keeping their children in remote classes and can change their minds closer to the reopening dates. As of Monday, officials said, about 34% of eligible pre-K and special education students at 404 district schools have opted in to school-based learning.
Outside of the city, the three northwest suburban school districts join a rapidly growing list of districts across suburban Chicago that have stopped in-person classroom instruction this month in the wake of the rapidly escalating numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
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“I know this decision will come with mixed feedback from our parents, staff and the larger community, with some in support of the plan and others against it," District 15 Superintendent Laurie Heinz said in a Sunday parent letter.
“I certainly understand the challenges that working parents will face who rely on our schools for childcare and the overall stressors of fully remote learning,” Heinz said. “Navigating educational plans during the ups and downs of this pandemic has come with no ‘right’ answers or perfect solutions. In the end, I have to make decisions based upon the health and safety of everyone in our buildings, both students and adults.”
Heinz said the decision to pause in-person instruction was also prompted by the Cook County Department of Public Health stay-at-home advisory that went into effect Monday and will last at least 30 days.
“We have heard from many staff members and parents (who) do not feel safe remaining in school during this stay-at-home advisory period,” Heinz said, adding that a district survey this month found that 80% of District 15 staff was in favor of moving to remote learning for students.
“Our staff has worked hard during this trying time, and they are becoming increasingly concerned for their own safety due to the recent surge in positivity rates and health department advisory,” Heinz said.
Still, despite the switch to remote learning for all students, the district’s 20 school buildings will remain open, and some teachers will be delivering online lessons from their classrooms, a spokeswoman from the district said Tuesday.
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In District 211, also based in Palatine, Superintendent Lisa Small acknowledged that "being in-person with our students is where our best work is done.”
But with the recent rise in COVID-19 cases in the community, and with guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Cook County Department of Public Health, Small said the district decided to take an adaptive pause from Monday through Dec. 4.
A return to the district’s hybrid learning plan, including in-person instruction, is slated to begin Dec. 7, Small said.
“While our school-based transmission rates are minimal, the number of students and staff members diagnosed with COVID-19 and the number of individuals needing to quarantine because of COVID-like symptoms has significantly increased during the month of November,” Small said.
In total, 64 students and 25 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 since Nov. 1, a district spokesman said Tuesday.
The spokesman said District 211 teachers will have a choice to either work remotely or come to school during the three-week adaptive pause, adding that those “who can do their job remotely, have the choice to do so, but those who cannot are to report to work.”
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Indeed, with the COVID-19 rates spiking across suburban Chicago, a burgeoning number of school districts in the collar counties are also returning to or continuing remote instruction this month, including West Aurora District 129; Lake Zurich District 95; Wheaton District 200 and Naperville District 203.
Yet despite the growing number of schools pausing in-person instruction this month, officials at several suburban school districts, including Winnetka School District 36, Wilmette School District 39, Arlington Heights School District 25 and Township High School District 214, say they have no immediate plans to stop in-person instruction in the coming weeks.
On the contrary, the District 25 school board last week passed a plan directing Superintendent Lori Bein to begin a transition for students to return to a full in-person learning model, with a remote option for families who are not comfortable with their students returning to the classroom, on Jan. 19, if the required metrics and safeguards are met, according to a recent parent letter.
In Winnetka School District 36, where officials have budgeted around $2.3 million for COVID-19-related expenses — roughly $1,400 per student — Superintendent Trisha Kocanda said in a parent letter last week that while families should remain vigilant about following safety guidelines, the district remains “committed to making sure our students benefit from in-person learning for as long as possible.”
“While we are noticing a recent increase in the metrics related to new case counts and positivity rates, our schools continue to provide safe, quality, in-person learning, and we want to keep it this way as long as we can,” Kocanda said.
At neighboring New Trier High School, which after a recent pause resumed in-person instruction for students at its Winnetka and Northfield campuses last week, Superintendent Paul Sally said in a Saturday parent letter that officials are “especially pleased at the very high participation in the first week of our COVID-19 saliva screening program.”
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The $1.3 million program has thus far identified 15 presumptive positive cases among 1,920 students and staff screened, Sally said.
In regards to the county’s stay-at-home advisory to help curb the spread of COVID-19, Sally said attending school is considered “an essential activity,” adding that the high school plans to continue its 25% hybrid schedule for students this week, “following our existing strict safety protocols.”
Officials with one of the state’s largest teachers unions on Monday called on Pritzker to close school buildings because of the soaring COVID-19 cases across the state and to come up with a clear metric for when it’s safe to reopen.
But the governor said Tuesday he will “continue to rely on local school boards to apply the right approach here.”
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta