chicagotribune--2020-08-10--Naperville ups police presence downtown this week after Chicago looting and vandalism

The stepped-up police efforts began Monday .
While police do not have any information indicating protests or looting might occur @ @ @ @ @ to be ready to act should that change , he said .

Naperville is increasing its police presence in the downtown area for the rest of the week following the looting and unrest in downtown Chicago, Police Chief Bob Marshall said.
Marked vehicles and uniformed police officers will be in place to “make the downtown community feel safe,” Marshall said.
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The stepped-up police efforts began Monday. While police do not have any information indicating protests or looting might occur here, the department wants to be ready to act should that change, he said.
“We are well prepared based on experience in the last couple months,” Marshall said. “People will see additional police cars and additional officers if they’re downtown tonight.”
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No problems were reported Monday night, city spokeswoman Kelley Munch said.
Naperville did experience downtown looting and destruction on June 1 following peaceful protests. Dozens of businesses were vandalized and burglarized, and one man launched an explosive device toward an armored police vehicle.
Police monitor social media and stay in contact with state and local government officials to pick up information on criminal activity that might be in the works for Naperville or other western suburbs, Marshall said.
That said, not all criminal activity is advertised on social media so it’s important that residents report suspicious activity, he said.
“We’re still encouraging people, if you see suspicious activity, say something,” Marshall said.
The unrest in downtown Chicago involved smashed windows, looted businesses and police confrontations involving hundreds of people. It resulted in 13 police officers being injured and more than 100 arrests, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said.
Naperville had already increased the police presence in the downtown area Thursdays through Saturdays after receiving numerous complaints about vehicles with screeching tires and loud exhaust systems and drivers racing up and down ramps in the city’s parking garages.
“Not only will we be showing an enhanced presence (this week) based on what happened in Chicago, but officers will still address some of those (excessive noise) complaints,” Marshall said.
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ehegarty@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Daywatch: Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris for VP, uncertainty for college freshmen and electric scoote

Daywatch: Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris for VP, uncertainty for college freshmen and electric scooters are back in Chicago

There ’ s the adventure of going off to college for the first time — that big , nerve-wracking step @ @ @ @ @ have been preparing for their entire high school careers .
And then there ’ s @ @ @ @ @ the first time in 2020 .
That is , if this year ’ s freshman @ @ @ @ @ going somewhere at all .

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Good morning, Chicago. Here’s the coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Illinois public health officials on Tuesday announced 1,549 new confirmed case of COVID-19 and 20 additional deaths. The state has now reported 196,948 cases overall and 7,657 confirmed deaths.
To assess how different parts of Illinois are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, officials look at the state through 11 regions. Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area.
Want to know how many COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in your neighborhood? Search our database by ZIP code.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden hugs California Sen. Kamala Harris during a rally at Renaissance High School on March 9, 2020, in Detroit. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s selection of California Sen. Kamala Harris as his vice presidential pick Tuesday means Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who also was closely considered for the spot, missed out.
After months of speculation, Biden, a former vice president himself, announced Harris as his running mate. She, like Duckworth, is a woman of color and freshman senator in Congress.
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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on California Sen. Kamala Harris as VP pick: ‘This is not a woman to be trifled with’
Column: What Kamala Harris reveals about Joe Biden
Corbett Wilkinson climbs on a downed tree in Rogers Park after a powerful storm tore through the area Monday evening in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
About 60,000 ComEd customers in Chicago were without power Tuesday evening as the city neared 24 hours since powerful storms, which spawned a tornado that cut through Lincolnwood and the Far North Side, the first time one touched down in city limits in two years.
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown greets officers as they take part in a new Community Policing Initiative with Summer Mobile Patrol in the 6600 block of South Evans in Chicago July 10, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown has explained how alleged misinformation about an officer-involved shooting in the South Side’s Englewood neighborhood on Sunday may have sparked a chain of events that led to widespread looting, vandalism and violence in the downtown area. But as the former leader of another big-city police department, it was not a scenario Brown was completely unfamiliar with.
Is college up in the air? Isabel, left, and Sophie Kochanek, both 18, play with a soccer ball at their home in La Grange on Aug. 3, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
There’s the adventure of going off to college for the first time — that big, nerve-wracking step toward adulthood that some students have been preparing for their entire high school careers. And then there’s going off to college for the first time in 2020. That is, if this year’s freshman class of students are even going somewhere at all.
Trevor Morrin preps some of the 2,000 Spin electric scooters for transport at their warehouse on Aug. 10, 2020, in Chicago. The crew is getting ready to distribute the scooters to various locations throughout the Chicago. At 5 a.m. Wednesday, Spin scooters will be available for rental. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Electric scooters from Lime, Spin and Bird are being deployed Wednesday in Chicago, kicking off the city’s second pilot program for the scooters, running from mid-August to mid-December. This year’s pilot, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, allows each company to distribute 3,333 scooters each in Chicago, four times as many scooters as in last year’s program. Riders can use the scooters from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day at speeds up to 15 mph.


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald wins GOP primary for US House seat

Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesman Reid Magney said there were no problems with absentee voting , although counting was going slowly @ @ @ @ @ At Milwaukee 's central counting facility , the machine that opens envelopes broke down , @ @ @ @ @ envelopes manually , he said .
Some voters have complained about poll workers not wearing @ @ @ @ @ to contact clerks in those jurisdictions to remind them that workers must wear masks per @ @ @ @

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald took a giant step Tuesday toward seizing an open seat in Congress, easily defeating a surveying company owner in a Republican primary as the state navigated its second statewide election since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March.
That primary was one of about three dozen legislative and congressional primaries on Tuesday’s ballot. The election went off much more smoothly than April’s chaotic presidential primary, with municipalities forced to shut down polling sites after workers refused to show up out of fear of contracting the virus and voters overwhelmed the postal system with absentee ballots.
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With far more time to prepare, state elections officials reported no major problems as polls closed.
Absentee voting was again intense, with nearly 906,000 such ballots requested by people looking to avoid in-person voting, and about 61 percent of those returned by Tuesday morning. Only about 123,000 absentee ballots were requested two years ago.
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Gov. Tony Evers activated the National Guard to help staff polling sites. In Milwaukee, where the city managed to open just five sites in April, the city had about 170 on Tuesday thanks to an additional $100 to poll workers and a concentrated recruiting effort. In-person turnout was light, too.
Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesman Reid Magney said there were no problems with absentee voting, although counting was going slowly in Milwaukee and Kenosha. At Milwaukee's central counting facility, the machine that opens envelopes broke down, forcing counters to open the envelopes manually, he said. Some voters have complained about poll workers not wearing masks, leading the commission to contact clerks in those jurisdictions to remind them that workers must wear masks per a statewide mandate.
Legislature
Republicans hope to flip six seats in November — three in the Assembly and three in the Senate — to win two-thirds majorities in each house. That would enable the GOP to override Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ vetoes and largely sideline the governor next session. Some notable races:
— Kelda Roys emerged from a seven-way Democratic primary in Madison to replace state Sen. Fred Risser, who has held the seat since 1962. No Republicans are running, so Roys' primary victory essentially earns her the seat. She ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018.
— Former state Agriculture Secretary Brad Pfaff won a three-way Democratic primary for an open Senate seat in western Wisconsin. Pfaff decided to run after the Republican-controlled Senate fired him from his secretary post last year. He'll face Republican Dan Kapanke in November in what the GOP sees as a prime pickup chance.
— Jonathon Hansen of De Pere defeated Sandra Ewald of Green Bay in a Democratic primary for an open Senate seat in northeastern Wisconsin. Hansen's uncle, Democrat Dave Hansen, held the seat for 19 years before retiring this year. Jonathon Hansen will face Republican attorney Eric Wimberger in November. The district leans conservative, and Republicans are banking that they can flip it.
— Green Bay Area School Board Vice President Kristina Shelton easily defeated disgraced state Rep. Staush Gruszynski in a Democratic primary in northeastern Wisconsin. Democratic leaders demanded Gruszynski's resignation in December after a legislative staffer accused him of verbal sexual harassment, but Gruszynski refused to quit. Shelton will take on Republican Drew Kirstetter in November.
Congress
—Fitzgerald is looking to succeed the retiring Jim Sensenbrenner in southeastern Wisconsin’s 5th District. Sensenbrenner has represented the district in Washington since 1979. Fitzgerald faced a mostly nominal challenge from Cliff DeTemple, a U.S. Coast Guard Reserve commander who owns a surveying and engineering firm in Milwaukee, and won easily. He’ll face Democrat Tom Palzewicz, a business coach, in a conservative-leaning district.
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—In western Wisconsin’s 3rd District, former Navy Seal Derrick Van Orden defeated public relations professional Jessi Ebben in a GOP contest. The winner will take on Democratic Rep. Ron Kind, who easily defeated Mark Neumann, a former pediatrician from La Crosse, in a Democratic primary.


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Column: USPS postal carriers brave the storm, and not just the political one

Roche , a middle-school special education teacher who lives in Chicago ’ s Old Irving Park neighborhood , has 240 @ @ @ @ @ , where he goes by the name Lord Dickleby .
He had never received more @ @ @ @ @ tweet .
But by Tuesday afternoon his homage to his carrier had earned more than @ @ @ @ @ 300 retweets , including from Ald .
Harry Osterman .

Julia Henriques took this photo of her mail carrier, Jeffrey Cooper, as he worked during the storm on Aug. 10, 2020, on North Kilbourn Avenue. (Julia Henriques)
The wind was whipping through the trees when Dave Roche glanced out his window Monday afternoon and saw the sight he sees at that hour almost every day, come snow or heat or pandemic: the postal carrier.
From his rain-splattered window, he snapped a photo of the soggy public servant heading down the walkway toward the mail cart on the wet sidewalk. He thought about how the United States Postal Service is under political siege, threatened and demeaned by the president.
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So he posted his photo on Twitter with the words: “A huge branch was downed in our yard, tornado sirens went off just minutes before, and my mail carrier is still out there getting it done. Thank you, @USPS!”
Roche, a middle-school special education teacher who lives in Chicago’s Old Irving Park neighborhood, has 240 or so followers on Twitter, where he goes by the name Lord Dickleby. He had never received more than 15 reactions to a tweet. But by Tuesday afternoon his homage to his carrier had earned more than a thousand likes and nearly 300 retweets, including from Ald. Harry Osterman.
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A huge branch was downed in our yard, tornado sirens went off just minutes before, and my mail carrier is still out there getting it done. Thank you, @USPS! pic.twitter.com/G0KsIwJvst — Lord Dickleby (@achyguts) August 10, 2020
“Postal workers,” one commenter wrote, “definitely some of the most underrated essential workers.”
“Okay,” responded the Twitter celebrity-tastemaker-bon vivant (40.3K followers) known as Chicago Party Aunt, “this Chicagoan wins the CPA badass of the day award!”
“It kind of blew my mind,” Roche said Tuesday as his tweet’s popularity continued to grow. He appreciated that the carrier had earned a “badass of the day” commendation, but what struck him was that the carriers are badasses day after day.
“I’ve seen them working in conditions they’d call football games for,” he said.
Julia Henriques the managing editor of Dogs Naturally Magazine, had a similar experience on Monday. In the late afternoon, when the storm had quieted, she spotted her Northwest Side carrier weaving through the tangle of downed branches. He was carrying an umbrella a neighborhood resident had given him for the occasion; it was blown backward by the wind.
Henriques snapped a photo and put it on Facebook, adding: “For anybody who whines about the USPS … here’s evidence of the great mail delivery on this Chicago block. One hour after a tornado … our mail carrier Jeffrey Cooper carried on, undeterred! #USPS”
To her astonishment, the photo traveled far and wide.
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“Legend.” “Hero.” “Hardcore.” “Get that man a beer.” “Now that is a true mailman.” Those were just some of the comments from the thousands of people who reacted to the photo.
“People do a lot of complaining about mail service,” Henriques said Tuesday, “but I don’t think that’s justified, especially considering what we pay for it.”
All over the city and beyond, people had stories of their carriers’ valor during Monday’s storm.
Rich Miller, who runs the Capitol Fax newsletter, tweeted: “During the storm yesterday, my neighborhood USPS person delivered a package to my doorstep. #StuffWeTakeForGranted.”
During the storm yesterday, my neighborhood USPS person delivered a package to my doorstep. #StuffWeTakeForGranted — Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 11, 2020
A few more testimonials from my Facebook friends:
“Our mail carrier came around our cul-de-sac in her postal service truck just as the storm was becoming really bad,” says Sheryl Kjelland Clark. “I waved to her to come in and wait it out, but she just smiled and kept going.”
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“Just minutes after the worst of it, Letitia, our beloved carrier for decades on Drake Ave. near Carmen delivered our mail,” says Rick Kotrba. “I said simply ‘You deserve combat pay today.’ Her simple reply: ‘Tell me about it.’ ”
“Mine was out early,” says my colleague Lara Weber, “and then I saw him afterward pulling tree branches away from around his truck so he could soldier on with more deliveries. It struck me how devoted to his job he is.”
We do take our postal carriers for granted. We don’t pause to think how extraordinary it is that six days a week mail arrives in our boxes from around the country and the world. It’s true that the mail isn’t always exciting, that sometimes lately the mail is slow and that not all the carriers deserve hero badges.
But as the carriers brave the political storm around the USPS, it’s important to note that they brave other storms too. Tara Meyer Dull of Oak Park, whose birthday was Monday, tells this story:
“I sat inside our front porch watching the wind and rain rage, thinking, well there’s no way I’ll receive any birthday mail,” she says. “Then in the stormy darkness, a stack of envelopes drops through the slot. Wow! Made my day.”
mschmich@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @MarySchmich


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Electric scooters are back in Chicago: Here’s what you need to know about the program from Lime, Spi

Electric scooters are back in Chicago: Here’s what you need to know about the program from Lime, Spin and Bird

“ The jobs aren ’ t permanent now because we may not be there after four months , depending on @ @ @ @ @ ” Henderson said .
“ It ’ s really hard to make that kind of @ @ @ @ @ runway to understand what the business environment is going to look like .
”

Trevor Morrin prepares some of the 2,000 Spin electric scooters for transport at their warehouse on Aug. 10, 2020, in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Electric scooters from Lime, Spin and Bird are being deployed Wednesday in Chicago, kicking off the city’s second pilot program for the scooters, running from mid-August to mid-December.
This year’s pilot, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, allows each company to distribute 3,333 scooters each in Chicago, four times as many scooters as in last year’s program. Riders can use the scooters from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day at speeds up to 15 mph.
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The scooters cannot be ridden on sidewalks. Companies will provide locking mechanisms to secure the scooters to fixed objects, such as bike racks or street signs, at the end of rides. The scooters are not allowed to be operated on the lakefront, Central Business District and The 606 trail.
The city requires Bird, Lime and Spin to put at least half of their scooters in areas “where residents face systemic disadvantages,” according to a news release. City officials said they will check for compliance twice a day.
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This is the second year that Bird, Lime and Spin are participating in the city’s program. The companies were chosen after city staff rated their abilities to comply with city requirements. They submitted applications that outlined their plans, such as how they would improve device parking and reduce environmental impacts.
Nearly 2,000 bright orange Spin electric scooters in a warehouse on Aug. 10, 2020, in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Last year, the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection gave one complaint to Spin, one complaint to Lime and four complaints to Bird. The program in general was plagued with scooters left in places they shouldn’t have been, including the Chicago River.
“Pilots are all about learning, and so we’ve certainly learned from the experience in Chicago,” said Maurice Henderson, Bird director of government partnerships.
Bird operates in nearly 125 markets across the globe. Lime is operating in 120 cities internationally, and Spin is operating about 60 markets internationally.
Free or discounted rides
Spin scooters will have a free unlock fee for one week and cost 39 cents per minute. Lime scooters will be $1 to unlock, then 39 cents per minute in some areas and 19 cents a minute in priority areas. Bird scooters will be $1 to unlock, then 32 cents per minute.
Lime will provide 50% discounts for rides on Chicago’s South and West sides. Those are the first areas the company planned to make scooters available Wednesday, said LeAaron Foley, company director of Midwest government relations.
The company plans to invest in bike racks to help people comply with the city’s lock requirement.
“We can’t create rules and not have a way for people to be able to follow them,” Foley said.
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Lime will provide free rides to essential workers — including nurses, police officers and firefighters. Workers can sign up using an online form. Bird similarly will provide free rides to health care workers and emergency personnel. To sign up, workers can email their information to together@bird.co. The company will allow two 30-minute rides each day.
Spin said it provides that service in other markets, but does not have a third-party funder to support the effort in Chicago.
Bird will give free rides to residents who take their in-app safety survey.
Lime will give out more than 1,000 free helmets to riders. Spin plans to give out Stan’s Donuts, hand sanitizer and masks Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Wicker Park, 1560 N. Damen Ave. Bird will host virtual and other community engagement events for Chicago riders.
Company priorities
Bird was founded to reduce climate impact caused by car trips, Henderson said.
“We’re excited to be working with the city around tools like the rider safety quizzes that we’re going to be instituting immediately,” Henderson said.
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Spin is committed to honoring city partnerships and deploying scooters where they have permission, said Shannon Dulaney, community partnerships manager.
Lime is focusing on Chicago’s priority areas — west of the Milwaukee Avenue corridor — where half of the company’s rides took place last year, Foley said.
“We’re really going to push for again this year to ensure that we’re meeting the equity requirements (and) we’re exceeding the equity requirements,” Foley said.
Bringing workers to Chicago
Scooter companies will bring at least 140 workers to Chicago for the second pilot program, according to company spokespeople.
Spin is looking to hire 60 workers to be part of its local operations team. Dulaney said the company collaborated with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, a workforce development system, and attended a job fair to find qualified candidates.
“We were able to provide offers to some of the folks that worked with our team last year so that they could continue and come back to work at Spin,” Dulaney said.
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Dan Shoman, general manager of Spin, preps some of the 2,000 electric scooters for transport at their warehouse on Aug. 10, 2020, in Chicago. At 5 a.m. Wednesday , Spin scooters will be available for rental throughout the Chicago area. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Bird plans to have more than 50 independent contractors manage their fleet, from mechanics to drivers.
“The jobs aren’t permanent now because we may not be there after four months, depending on what the city decides,” Henderson said. “It’s really hard to make that kind of investment without some longer term runway to understand what the business environment is going to look like.”
Lime will bring 30 mostly seasonal workers to Chicago, including operations specialists and mechanics.
“We would love to be able to extend their relationships with Lime if the program were to be extended,” Foley said. “The longer that the program goes, the longer these people remain working with Lime.”
The company will also hire people as “juicers” who will charge Lime scooters across the city. Henderson said the company plans to pay $1 million total to Chicagoans who sign up.
“I think that is even more meaningful because of the economic situation many people find themselves in,” Henderson said.
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Lime said its warehouse is on the Near West Side. Companies Spin and Bird said they will be deploying scooters from warehouses in the Lower West Side community area.
This year’s pilot is under two-year emerging business permit from the business and consumer affairs department. It can be extended if city officials decide feedback and data about the pilot are positive.
sczyzon@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Column: Biden picks Kamala Harris. Trump should dump Mike Pence and replace him with a yacht.

Sure , the Trump campaign will start out , as it did moments after Biden ’ s announcement of his @ @ @ @ @ with attempts to smear Harris for having “ embraced the left ’ s radical manifesto @ @ @ @ @ , someone send me the manifesto , I didn ’ t get it ) and @ @ @ @ @ “ surrender control of our nation to the radical mob ” and “ open our @ @ @ @ @ socialist dictators .
”

Vice President Mike Pence waves after speaking at a "Cops for Trump" event on Aug. 11, 2020, in Tucson, Ariz. (Matt York/AP)
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s decision to choose Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate leaves President Donald “Scared” Trump with little choice — he needs to dump Vice President Mike Pence.
I know, it’s a shame for both Trump and Pence. The two seemed like a match made in a strange and wildly inaccurate version of heaven.
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But Trump will see the fanfare the Harris pick brings — she’s an energetic and experienced lawmaker, a former prosecutor and attorney general, and the first woman of color on a major party ticket — and then he’ll look over at Pence and see a man as electrifying as a dollop of mayonnaise.
For a president who spends most of his time watching TV or tweeting about things he saw on TV, the telegenic Harris will be too much to bear.
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Sure, the Trump campaign will start out, as it did moments after Biden’s announcement of his vice presidential pick Tuesday, with attempts to smear Harris for having “embraced the left’s radical manifesto” (speaking of which, someone send me the manifesto, I didn’t get it) and suggesting she will help Biden “surrender control of our nation to the radical mob” and “open our borders” and “appease socialist dictators.”
But Harris presents a problem for those whose thinking has been impaired by Fox News overexposure. She’s not a radical leftist of any sort. She’s a former prosecutor who, if anything, has a prosecutorial background that bothers the far left. A presidential primary campaign and years of public service mean she’s already well-vetted, and her energy and relative youth compared with Biden, and with Trump, for that matter, will give the campaign a spark.
She doesn’t suffer fools lightly and won’t be easy for Trump to pin down with demeaning nicknames or sexist swipes. I’m not saying Harris is perfect, or Biden is an unstoppable force. Not even close.
But Harris is a smart pick, and she’ll give Biden the thing Trump craves most: attention.
That will drive President Me-Me-Me nuts, and you can bet your membership to Mar-a-Lago that come the next round of not-so-great poll numbers, he’ll start seeing Pence’s personality — one part lightly salted mashed potatoes, one part guy whose faux-piety makes you kind of squirmy — as a liability.
And don’t think Pence is indispensable. Trump needed him the first time around to reassure/con evangelical voters into overlooking his history of being a womanizer, a foul-mouthed bully and, well, a Democrat. But Trump has fully Trumpnotized evangelicals. They’ve bitten the Trump-branded apple and he could pick the lyrics to a Marilyn Manson song as his running mate without losing voters.
Imagine the possible ways Trump could spice up his campaign by ditching Milquetoast Mike and firing up his addicted-to-being-fired-up base.
The most noted possibility is former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, but she seems tied up lately in a dispute with The Popcorn Factory, an Illinois-based company that apparently messed up some delivery orders.
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Haley tweeted Monday: “Ok @PopcornFactory two messed up birthday orders missed delivery dates with no explanation. First time I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Second one tells me not to buy from you again. #DisappointedNephew.”
She’s clearly not in a good position to join the Trump campaign right now. Thoughts and prayers.
But there are other sensible vice presidential suggestions to help get the Trump Train chugging:
An angry can of Goya beans. Not long ago, after the head of Goya Foods praised Trump, the president continued his demolition of political ethics by promoting several of the brand’s cans of beans. People in Trump’s campaign are likely to think this will constitute diversity, and if the can of beans can effectively communicate a message of intolerance, it will perfectly augment Trump’s reelection message.
The MyPillow guy holding a can of angry Goya beans. Trump’s base LOVES Mike Lindell, the CEO and founder of MyPillow, a company that makes pillows that I assume cause liberals neck pain. Pairing Trump with Lindell would energize voters who admire TV salesmen, and the angry Goya beans would just be added value for the campaign.
A yacht emblazoned with Trump banners. This is likely to be Trump’s ideal pick. He has repeatedly tweeted images of yachts and other large boats displaying Trump flags and signs with exclamations like: “We love our boaters!” There’s even a “Boaters for Trump” hat for sale on the Trump campaign website. So why not leverage this sensible appeal to America’s forgotten men and women — the yacht owners who for so long have had no voice — by ditching Pence and replacing him with a sleek Riviera 6000 Sport Yacht. The slogan writes itself: “Trump/Yacht 2020: Make America Buoyant Again!”
The bottom line is that Democratic excitement over Biden’s choice of Harris has to be met with something splashy. And you couldn’t make Pence splashy if you threw him off a Riviera 6000 Sport Yacht.
So go for it, Mr. President. Dump Mike and find the running mate of your reality television dreams. I hear Kanye’s available.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Column: What did we learn from the murder of George Floyd? The police shooting in Englewood shows no

Column: What did we learn from the murder of George Floyd? The police shooting in Englewood shows not very much.

Before any of the facts of the shooting could be verified , the campaign began — as it always does @ @ @ @ @ as a menace who deserved exactly what he got .
We seemed to forget everything @ @ @ @ @ about the importance of looking at police shootings with skepticism and examining each with a @ @ @

Officers stand near crime scene tape after an argument erupted between police and residents after Latrell Allen was shot three times by CPD officers after he allegedly fired several rounds at two officers near the 5700 block of South Racine Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood on Aug. 9, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
After months of protests and civil unrest over the police killing of George Floyd, Chicagoans were tested Monday on what we have learned.
We failed miserably.
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In our collective anger over the looting that occurred in the aftermath of a police shooting in Englewood, we lost focus on the most important thing — human life.
Police shot another Black man on Sunday. This time it wasn’t fatal, but we all know it could have been. Many African Americans are rightfully angry.
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It is understandable why others are upset that one of the most beautiful parts of our city was ripped apart. No one wants to see Chicago thrown into a chaotic free fall. We want the looters brought to justice, and we never want to see this happen again.
But it most certainly will — if we refuse to address why it happened in the first place.
Before any of the facts of the shooting could be verified, the campaign began — as it always does — to paint the victim as a menace who deserved exactly what he got. We seemed to forget everything we’d learned recently about the importance of looking at police shootings with skepticism and examining each with a critical eye.
Perhaps 20-year-old Latrell Allen did shoot officers as they pursued him on foot. Maybe the yet unidentified cop had no choice but to return fire. In fact, maybe everything the police said about the incident is true, but we don’t know for sure because they weren’t wearing mandatory body cameras.
That’s a big problem, and it’s unacceptable.
There are always two sides to a story. And when it comes to encounters between police officers and Black men, the story inevitably is more complex than it might initially appear. When relations between the community and law enforcement already are fragile, a police shooting can take some to the breaking point.
Police officials must be careful not to further fan the flames of discontent. That apparently didn’t happen Sunday or Monday.
Police Superintendent David Brown was quick to unequivocally connect the looting in the Loop to the shooting and subsequent standoff between police and residents in Englewood. Though the Civilian Office of Police Accountability was still investigating the shooting, Brown rattled off details Monday as if they were facts.
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In truth, he was only repeating at the time what the cops who did the shooting said. Recent history has proven that offending officers don’t always tell the truth.
What we know for certain is that police shot Allen five times, and he is recovering at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Though there were conflicting witness accounts of the shooting, authorities immediately charged Allen with attempted murder. Prosecutors said Tuesday that police pursued him because he matched the description of a man with a gun who was trying to start a fight in a park where children were playing. Bond was set at $1 million.
Police insist that Allen fired a gun at officers multiple times, even tweeting a picture of his discarded weapon on the ground. One witness, however, said Allen was unarmed and was pleading for his life. Tenisha Caldwell told CBS 2 that Allen was crying and holding up his hands. He was asking, “Why you keep shooting me?”
Clearly, either the witness is lying or the police are lying. Whom people choose to believe largely depends on their perspective on crime and whether police should be given the benefit of the doubt.
There is, of course, no right or wrong answer when no one other that the people involved knows exactly what happened. The only hope of getting at the truth anytime soon is if a bystander did what police officers failed to do — capture it all on video.
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It is for that reason body cameras were made mandatory for all patrol officers as part of reforms enacted after then police Officer Jason Van Dyke murdered Laquan McDonald.
There have been several cases across the country recently in which police initially gave an account of a shooting and the body camera or other video proved it to be a lie. At times, the video substantiated the officer’s version.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday said the specialty team officers weren’t assigned body cameras due to the recent CPD reorganization and a shortage related to the city’s camera purchasing contract.
But just two months ago, she stressed the importance of body cams. She vowed that officers who don’t abide by the rules would be disciplined and, when appropriate, fired from the department. This clearly was a crucial breakdown in the system.
Chicagoans also need to know the truth about the standoff Sunday between Englewood residents and police after the shooting. Misinformation spread quickly, as it often does when people don’t trust police. Tempers flared, emotions peaked and a community that has suffered numerous police shootings was again on edge.
We saw pictures of dozens of cops facing off with residents, the two sides separated by a string of yellow tape. Police officials were quick to report that one officer was hit with pepper spray and another suffered a minor shoulder injury. We were even told that a police car window was shattered by a brick.
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Authorities, however, failed to mention that the officers might have helped to escalate tensions. Black Lives Matter Chicago issued a statement Tuesday saying that residents were traumatized over the shooting and wanted to protect members of the community from harm, but CPD was only interested in protecting itself.
According to the statement, the officers responded with assault rifles, tear gas and batons. “These cops intimidated and beat people for nothing more than being at the scene of CPD violence,” it said.
South Side community activist Joseph Williams described in a video posted on Twitter how police grabbed a young man from the group, ripped his shirt and threw him on the ground.
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“All the police rushed out behind and started to chase people left to right, pulling out their sticks and trying to punch people, swinging on people,” Williams said.
“It’s just sad that you going to come into a community … where police already just shot a young man, now you going to fight them and whoop on the community at the same time. It’s got to be a better approach.”
Regardless of who is telling the truth about the shooting, one thing is certain. The absence of body cameras worsened the relationship between police and some members of the community.
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As long as such animosity exists, there will never be peace.
This column was edited at 9:20 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2020, to correct the manner of George Floyd’s death.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--14-year-old boy shot on West Side

14-year-old boy shot on West Side

The boy was shot in the right leg , police said .
Around 5 a.m. , he was reported as @ @ @ @ @

A 14-year-old boy was injured in a shooting early Wednesday on the West Side, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
Chicago fire responded to a call of a person shot about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday at 1500 W. Washburne Ave. in the University Village/Little Italy neighborhood, according to District Chief Juan Hernandez.
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The boy was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition, Hernandez said.
Chicago police said the boy was walking on a sidewalk in the 1400 block of West Roosevelt Road when someone in a red Nissan sedan fired shots.
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The boy was shot in the right leg, police said. Around 5 a.m., he was reported as being in good condition.
No arrests have been made.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Update: Man charged with murder after mother killed, daughter injured in Near North hit-and-run, pol

Update: Man charged with murder after mother killed, daughter injured in Near North hit-and-run, police say

Edgar Roman , of the Albany Park neighborhood , was arrested about 11:20 p.m. Monday and is facing one count @ @ @ @ @ counts of attempted first degree , one count of false report and one count of @ @ @ @ @ crash causing injury or death , according to Chicago police .
A bond hearing is @ @ @ @ @ the Leighton Criminal Courthouse .

Police work the scene where a woman was killed after being struck by a vehicle on Hubbard Street late Aug. 10, 2020, in Chicago. The driver fled the scene. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Zoraleigh Ryan was just steps away from safety.
She didn’t like walking down Hubbard Street with her daughter late Monday night, so she decided to duck into a hotel and call for a ride. They were crossing Hubbard, about to enter the Courtyard Marriott, when they heard the screech of tires and saw a silver Ford Explorer racing straight for them.
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Ryan was hit first, then her 20-year-old daughter. The SUV stopped and the driver got out, standing about 10 feet away as a bystander rushed to tend to the women. Then he got back into the SUV, circled the block and came at them again, according to police and prosecutors.
The bystander was able to pull the daughter clear, but the mother was struck again and dragged down the block. She died at the scene. The SUV driver sped off, crashing into barricades as he eluded police, but he was arrested later in the night when he went to police and claimed the Explorer had been carjacked.
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Edgar Roman, 25, appeared in court Wednesday charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. While Roman finally admitted to police that he hit the women, prosecutors gave no motive for the brutal attack as he was ordered held on $2 million bond.
Edgar Roman (Chicago Police Department)
Ryan, 55, and her daughter had just finished their dinner at Chicago Cut Steakhouse about 10:15 p.m. Monday and began walking back to their hotel, prosecutors said. They wanted to stop at a 7-Eleven on the way, but it was closed because of looting damage. They decided to head for the Marriott and call for an Uber ride.
Roman was on State Street nearby, prosecutors said. As the women crossed Hubbard, he took off, made a U-turn and hit Ryan and her daughter, prosecutors said. Ryan was tossed against the curb, but was talking and able to tell her daughter and a bystander where she was injured.
Roman drove a few car lengths away and stopped. The daughter told the bystander to get a picture of Roman’s license plate number, but as he walked toward the SUV, Roman jumped into his car, sped down Hubbard and came back, engine revving as he headed for the women again, prosecutors said.
Roman ran over Ryan, dragging her body as the car accelerated over pylons on State Street, prosecutors said. The SUV dragged Ryan for about half a block, then ran over her again, prosecutors said. The daughter and bystander ran up to Ryan and held her head, but she “was no longer breathing.”
Roman apparently went around the block and drove north on State Street yet again — close enough for a witness to make eye contact with him, prosecutors said. He drove off and returned yet another time, at which point police were arriving and the witness pointed out Roman’s SUV.
Police saw the Explorer “driving erratically” on Grand Avenue not long afterward. They tried to pull it over, but Roman drove through a construction barricade, then got stuck trying to drive through a second barricade, prosecutors said.
The SUV hit the barricades so hard, the front hood fell off, according to police.
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Officers got out of their car with weapons drawn, but Roman made a three-point turn and escaped, prosecutors said. About 11:20 p.m., Roman entered the Albany Park District Station and told police he had been carjacked, prosecutors said. The SUV was found, “heavily damaged,” not far away.
Roman was arrested and told police he was carjacked by two armed men who forced him to drive around at gunpoint, prosecutors said. He ultimately admitted that he hit the two women. The entire incident was caught on police cameras and surveillance video from buildings on Hubbard Street, prosecutors said.
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Ryan was pronounced dead on the scene. Her daughter was treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and released. Both are from Chandler, Arizona, though Ryan apparently has ties to the Chicago area, according to her Facebook page.
Ryan’s granddaughter told a television station in Phoenix that her grandmother was “just so sweet, doesn’t hurt anyone. She always makes sure everyone’s good before herself.”
“A decent enough human who felt bad when he hit her would have gone back and got out the car. ‘Oh my gosh, are you OK?’ No, but he hit her again to make sure that she was dead,” Angelina Adams told KPNX. “She didn’t deserve it. ... Now my only grandma is gone.”
Preliminary info: Officers trying to find a silver Ford Explorer that hit a woman at State/Hubbard #ChicagoScanner pic.twitter.com/GXDobxiHg8 — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) August 11, 2020
pfry@chicagotribune.com
rsobol@chicagotribune.com
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chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Woman, 45, dies after falling off boat into 59th Street Harbor

The woman was coming off a boat when she slipped off about 12:10 a.m. in the 5900 block of South @ @ @ @ @ .
Chicago Fire divers were called to the scene and pulled her out of the @ @

A 45-year-old woman is dead after she fell off a boat early Wednesday into 59th Street Harbor, according to Chicago police.
The woman was coming off a boat when she slipped off about 12:10 a.m. in the 5900 block of South Harbor Drive, police said. Chicago Fire divers were called to the scene and pulled her out of the harbor.
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The woman was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition, police said. She was later pronounced dead.
Area 1 detectives are investigating the incident.
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pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on California Sen. Kamala Harris as VP pick: ‘This is not a woman to be

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on California Sen. Kamala Harris as VP pick: ‘This is not a woman to be trifled with'

“ He ’ s gon na make the same mistake against Kamala Harris , and he is going to be @ @ @ @ @ , ” Lightfoot said .
“ This is not a woman to be trifled with @ @ @ @ @ She is fearless , and more importantly , she is going to bring into the @ @ @ @ @ of people who are going to be looking to her as a leader , are @ @ @ @ @ in her and going to be proud that she is on the stage on a @ @ @ @

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and then-candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. shake hands after a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by ABC at Texas Southern University in Houston. Biden has chosen Harris as his running mate. (David J. Phillip/AP)
Hours after Kamala Harris was named Joe Biden’s running mate, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot offered up a stark warning to the California Democratic senator’s detractors: “This is not a woman to be trifled with.”
Lightfoot said Tuesday evening that she “burst out in a huge grin” upon hearing news that Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, had ended his wide search for a running mate and picked Harris. Lightfoot said the historic selection of Harris as the nation’s first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket represents “a true American story.”
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“This is exactly the right pick. This ticket, I think we’re going to face some tough times because we’ve already seen that today that (President Donald) Trump and his people are going to race to the bottom,” Lightfoot said during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “But Kamala Harris and Joe Biden together are tough. They’re determined, they’re experienced, and this is going to be, I think, an amazing campaign, all the way through November 3.”
Biden, a former vice president, had committed earlier this year to selecting a woman as his VP. And his list of potential running mates included California U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Florida U.S. Rep. Val Demings, Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Harris, former national security adviser Susan Rice, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, among others.
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.@KamalaHarris is the right choice for this moment. Americans are crying out for justice, and Kamala has the experience to bring reform and equity to our system and all levels of government. https://t.co/DFYltQUPi3 — Lori Lightfoot (@LoriLightfoot) August 11, 2020
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During an unrelated White House news conference on Tuesday, Trump told reporters he was “a little surprised” that Biden picked Harris, pointing to their debate stage disputes during the primary. Trump, who has donated to her previous campaigns, argued she was “about the most liberal person in the U.S. Senate.”
“I would have thought that Biden would have tried to stay away from that a little bit,” he said.
After Harris was announced as the VP pick, the president tweeted out an ad slamming his Democratic opponents, calling Harris “phony” and saying that she rushed “to the radical left” during her own run for president earlier this year. “Slow Joe and phony Kamala. Perfect together. Wrong for America,” the ad says.
Lightfoot said Trump has “attacked women all summer long,” noting the president’s criticism for Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan; Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and Atlanta’s Bottoms.
“He’s gonna make the same mistake against Kamala Harris, and he is going to be pushed back on his heels,” Lightfoot said. “This is not a woman to be trifled with. She is tough. She is fearless, and more importantly, she is going to bring into the conversation of this campaign lots of people who are going to be looking to her as a leader, are going to be seeing themselves in her and going to be proud that she is on the stage on a national level.”
The AP contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Residents and protesters clash at rally in Englewood

Residents call for protesters to leave the neighborhood before a rally outside the CPD 7th District station on Aug. 11 @ @ @ @ @ J. Kim / Chicago Tribune )

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chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Tens of thousands in northern Illinois still without power Tuesday following storms that spawned Rog

Tens of thousands in northern Illinois still without power Tuesday following storms that spawned Rogers Park tornado: ‘It was like a dinosaur was running at us’

Judy Wood Edstrom ’ s van was hit by a tree that split nearly in half in North Park following @ @ @ @ @ she was surveying the damage to her parked van , she noticed a small white @ @ @ @ @ avenues , also trapped under the branches .
Police and firefighters responded and cut the @ @ @ @ @ from the car , seemingly unscathed , she said .

Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas, Javonte Anderson, Madeline Buckley

Corbett Wilkinson climbs on a downed tree in Rogers Park after a powerful storm tore through the area Monday evening in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
About 60,000 ComEd customers in Chicago were without power Tuesday evening as the city neared 24 hours since powerful storms, which spawned a tornado that cut through Lincolnwood and the Far North Side, the first time one touched down in city limits in two years.
The National Weather Service also confirmed six other tornadoes in Illinois. They occurred in Spring Grove, Marengo, Wheaton and Lombard, plus two in Rockford.
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More than 340,000 customers in northern Illinois were without power earlier Tuesday afternoon, said John Schoen, a spokesman for the utility. And although the company already had called in 1,500 workers from out of state to help, there are customers who won’t have power restored until Saturday afternoon, he said.
“Right now we expect to have the vast majority of customers up by Friday,” Schoen said.
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Corbett Wilkinson climbs on a downed tree in Rogers Park after a powerful derecho storm tore through the area on Aug. 11, 2020, in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
In areas “with really significant damage” “a limited number of people” will be without power until Saturday, he said. There had been nearly 900,000 customers out at the peak of outages, with about 180,000 of those in Chicago, according to ComEd.
Northern Indiana Public Service Co., which provides electricity to most of the northern third of the state, at the peak of outages had more than 95,300 customers without power, said spokeswoman Wendy Lussier.
The weather service had put out among its highest threats of severe weather, which ended up displaying its forecasting ability when a tornado hit in Rogers Park, said Brian Leatherwood, a meteorologist.
A broken tree fell onto a van along West Jarlath Street after a powerful derecho storm tore through the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Aug. 11, 2020. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The storm was different for ComEd because it was a derecho, “an organized and long-lived system of storms producing a family of particularly damaging downbursts,” according to the weather service.
“This storm, we haven’t seen anything like it in years,” Schoen said. “There was a tornado in Rogers Park, who’s ever heard of that?”
The Rogers Park tornado was confirmed using radar, photos and two submitted videos, Leatherwood said — including one taken by Sabina Tuladhar on Birchwood Avenue in East Rogers Park, Leatherwood said.
A tornado briefly hit the West Side, crossing the Eisenhower Expressway and only doing minor tree damage, on Labor Day in 2018, according to the weather service. Before that, a weak tornado known as a landspout hit near Midway Airport in 2016. A decade before, in September 2006, a tornado touched down in Rogers Park, on the Loyola University campus.
Reached Tuesday morning, Tuladhar said via text message that she has always been fascinated by clouds and lightning.
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“Just saw it moving so fast, I thought, let me capture that moment. In a matter of a couple seconds debris started flying. ... I haven’t seen anything like that before in my life,” she said.
A video of a tornado taken on Aug. 10, 2020, on Birchwood Avenue in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood by Sabina Tuladhar. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
The Rogers Park tornado first touched down in Lincolnwood and headed east, jumping the North Shore Channel and cutting its way through the Far North Side, eventually petering out over the lake, according to the weather service. At its widest, the F-1 tornado was about 300 yards across, and reached maximum wind speeds of 110 mph.
The tornado cut right through Phillip Rogers Park, 7345 N. Washtenaw Ave. Large trees around the perimeter of the park were flattened. Trees were toppled over wires, house windows were broken and roofs were damaged.
Tuesday afternoon, Brian and Alissa Hacker were in their front yard in the 7300 block of North Campbell Avenue, east of the park, with their two children, who were trying to cut through a branch with small handsaws. Tree limbs damaged their fence, their neighbors to the rear had a damaged roof, and everyone around them lost power.
Damaged trees litter Rogers Park after a powerful derecho tore through the area. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The storm hit abruptly around 4 p.m. Monday, Alissa Hacker said. She was looking out a window facing the park and trees started falling.
“All the trees started snapping in half,” she said. “It was like a dinosaur was running at us.”
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After seeing that, Hacker said she “freaked out and ran to the basement.”
The derecho that produced the tornado swept east from Nebraska, through Iowa and across Illinois into Indiana, with some gusts as high as 92 mph, the weather service reported.
At least one semi-truck blew over in the Peru area as a result of the 60 mph-plus winds, Leatherwood said. One person was reported injured as a result.
Judy Wood Edstrom’s van was hit by a tree that split nearly in half in North Park following a lightning strike. While she was surveying the damage to her parked van, she noticed a small white car near Catalpa and Spaulding avenues, also trapped under the branches. Police and firefighters responded and cut the branches away and people emerged from the car, seemingly unscathed, she said.
Firefighters also responded to numerous fires started by energized power lines, the Fire Department said in a tweet.
Numerous fires from power lines that have come down and remain energized. — Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) August 10, 2020
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In the Logan Square neighborhood, tree branches plummeted onto power lines, cutting power on several blocks south of Diversey Avenue and east of Kedzie Avenue.
In Lombard, more than 200 homes were in some way damaged by winds that exceeded 50 mph at Glenbard East High School, according to a post on Facebook from the village of Lombard.
One such structure was the Sheldon Peck Homestead, the oldest house in Lombard, built in 1839, according to Alison Costanzo, executive director of the Lombard Historical Society. The home, which was restored to its 1839 configuration by the historical society, sustained roof damage and has a tree against the east side of the building, Costanzo said. Officials planned to call for volunteers to help with the cleanup through their social media pages.
“It’s just incredibly mind-boggling, just the amount of damage that the storm did in a short amount of time,” she said.
There also was damage across a wide swath of Joliet after the storm, according to Mike Eulitz, public assets supervisor.
“This damage seems to have covered the entire city,” Eulitz said.
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About a third of ComEd customers in La Grange had no power Monday night, but Palmer Place Restaurant in the village’s downtown did. The restaurant posted on Facebook: “If your power is out, come to Palmer’s and bring your phone chargers. Enjoy a drink and some food. We got ya covered.”
For an updated forecast, check the Tribune’s weather page.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the high school where winds were reported in excess of 50 mph. The school is Glenbard East High School.
Pioneer Press reporter Kimberly Fornek contributed.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
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chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Downtown Chicago access restricted from 9 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday

The city will use more than 100 “ infrastructure assets ” that are to be strategically placed to protect commercial @ @ @ @ @ such as grocery stores and pharmacies , ” said the statement from Mary May , @ @ @ @ @ management and communication office .

Bridges over the Chicago River were raised to control access to the downtown area after rioting and looting occurred in the early morning of August 10, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Downtown access will be restricted again Tuesday night, following closures that went into effect Monday after looting in the Loop.
Starting at 9 p.m. Tuesday, downtown access will be restricted until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Closures include portions of Lake Shore Drive, some expressway ramps and Divvy availability. Bridges will again be raised.
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Lake Shore Drive will be closed between Fullerton Avenue on the North Side and Interstate 55 on the south. Ramps from Roosevelt Road to Division Street will be closed in both directions. Divvy service will be unavailable from North Avenue to Ashland Avenue and Cermak Road.
Bridges will be up except at LaSalle Street, Harrison Street, Ida B. Wells/Congress (westbound), Lake Shore Drive, Columbus Avenue, Kinzie Street and Grand Avenue.
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CTA trains will not stop from Fullerton Avenue to 47th Street, and east of Halsted Street. For a list of current closures, check the CTA’s website.
“Access points” for residents and employees of the downtown area include Harrison Street; Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street; Roosevelt Road and Canal Street; Kinzie Street and Halsted Street; and LaSalle Street.
Access to the downtown area will be temporarily restricted this evening from 9pm–6am. Residents and employees whose businesses are located downtown will have access at all times. As part of the restricted access, the following measures will be in place until further notice: — Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) August 11, 2020
State and city leaders said access to downtown would be restricted Monday night and likely indefinitely, according to a statement from the Office of Emergency Management and Communication.
The city will use more than 100 “infrastructure assets” that are to be strategically placed to protect commercial corridors and critical businesses “such as grocery stores and pharmacies,” said the statement from Mary May, a spokeswoman for the emergency management and communication office.
May stressed the restricted access is “not a curfew. All residents, essential workers and employees whose businesses are located downtown will have access at all times.”


chicagotribune--2020-08-13--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,645 new known COVID-19 cases reported as state releases $46 milli

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,645 new known COVID-19 cases reported as state releases $46 million from federal relief act to 2,655 small businesses

As universities in the Chicago area and around the country scramble to resume classes during the COVID-19 pandemic — be @ @ @ @ @ students in class or a hybrid of both — they acknowledge they must plan in @ @ @ @ @ s freshman class , and figure out how to welcome new students with orientations that @ @ @ @ @ included weeklong receptions , dorm move-in shindigs and get-to-know-you social events with fellow students .

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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)
The state of Illinois on Wednesday released $46 million in grant funding to a range of small businesses across the state that have seen their operations interrupted during the coronavirus pandemic.
The grants, which range from $10,000 to $20,000 are headed to 2,655 small businesses, the first round of funding from the Business Interruption Grant program, funded by federal CARES Act dollars.
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Recipients are able to use the grants for payroll costs, rent, utilities, equipment and other pandemic-related needs, such as personal protective equipment, training and new technology.
Also Wednesday, Illinois public health officials announced 1,645 new confirmed case of COVID-19 and 16 additional deaths. The state has now reported 198,593 cases overall and 7,672 confirmed deaths.
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On Tuesday, the city of Chicago removed three states — Kansas, Iowa and Utah — from its travel quarantine list and indicated that Wisconsin may come off the list next week if its coronavirus case numbers continue to stay low.
Meanwhile, a panel of state lawmakers Tuesday let stand his emergency rule that would fine businesses up to $2,500 for not enforcing mandatory face mask rules.
[ COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: A daily update on key metrics in your area ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ Illinois’ new COVID-19 plan: How the state will manage any outbreaks in 3 charts ]
[ Illinois coronavirus graphs: The latest on deaths, confirmed cases, tests and more ]
Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:35 p.m.: Coronavirus trends in Illinois not looking good: ‘My concern is growing each day,’ says public health director
With coronavirus trends in most of Illinois moving in the wrong direction, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday again warned that the state might reimpose stricter measures to slow the spread of the highly contagious disease.
Pritzker repeated a plea for local officials to “impose greater mitigations on a targeted basis to bring down the number of infections or the positivity rate.”
“Otherwise, it will only be a matter of time before the state will be forced to step in and roll things back on a regional basis, something none of us wants,” Pritzker said.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
7:10 p.m. (update): For Americans waiting on coronavirus aid from Washington, no new relief in sight
Americans counting on emergency coronavirus aid from Washington may have to wait until fall.
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Negotiations over a new virus relief package have all but ended, with the White House and congressional leaders far apart on the size, scope and approach for shoring up households, re-opening schools and launching a national strategy to contain the virus.
President Donald Trump’s top negotiator, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, tried to revive stalled talks Wednesday, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer dismissed the “overture,” saying the Trump administration is still refusing to meet them halfway. Congressional Republicans are largely sitting out the talks.
“The White House is not budging,” Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement.
With the House and Senate essentially closed, and lawmakers on call to return with 24-hours notice, hopes for a swift compromise have dwindled. Instead, the politics of blame have taken hold, as the parties head into August focused on the presidential nominating conventions and lawmakers' own reelection campaigns.
Trump said the Democrats are “holding the American people hostage.”
All indications are talks will not resume in full until Congress resumes in September, despite the mounting death toll, surpassing 161,000 in the U.S., and more than 5 million people infected.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
6:13 p.m.: UIC faculty union files labor complaints over COVID-19 protocols, says it’s ‘being ignored’ by campus leaders
The faculty union at the University of Illinois’ Chicago campus has filed two labor complaints against the school, alleging it’s been shut out of discussions about how to adjust workloads, class formats and conduct during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the most recent complaint, UIC United Faculty said a program awarding an extra $2,500 to instructors with large, online classes this fall was “unilaterally” rolled out without the proper negotiations, according to a copy of the filing provided to the Tribune.
Under the compensation program, the university set aside about $1 million for instructors who needed to convert lecture courses with more than 70 students into asynchronous online classes, according to the complaint. About 400 faculty members qualified for the incentive.
The complaints were filed with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board and accuse administrators of engaging in unfair labor practices, such as failing to bargain over changes to the work environment.
UIC spokeswoman Sherri McGinnis Gonzalez said the university is bargaining with UICUF in good faith and that representatives have met with the union at least nine times to discuss their concerns.
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“Overall, we have resolved the vast majority of the union’s concerns and will continue to work through the remaining issues,” McGinnis Gonzalez said Wednesday by email.
Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney
4:38 p.m.: With more than 5,000 Illinois restaurants predicted to close, extending patio season may be crucial
As the end of Chicago’s patio season approaches, restaurant leaders are urging local officials to take a cue from Northern European cities and Colorado ski towns to encourage outdoor seating even as the weather turns cold.
Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said the trade group has been having conversations with the city and state about extending street closures and using tents, heaters, blankets and plastic domes to give restaurants more seating capacity as COVID-19 restrictions continue.
“We have about six weeks,” Toia said Wednesday during a virtual speech to the City Club of Chicago. “We need to start thinking outside the box right now. … Because we could be in this for the next six months and we want to be ahead of the curve.”
Restaurants were devastated by the mandatory closure of dining rooms for more than three months, and about 5,000 eating and drinking establishments are expected to close permanently as a result, said Toia, based on estimates from the National Restaurant Association that put closures at 20% to 25%.
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Read more here. —Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
2:55 p.m.: DePaul University shifts ‘vast majority’ of classes online, closes residence halls to most students
DePaul University will move the “vast majority” of its fall classes online and limit its residential halls only to students with exceptional circumstances in response to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, the university announced Wednesday.
“We do not believe that currently there is a reasonable way to open the campus to the full extent we originally had planned and continue to effectively manage the potential health risks to the university and local community,” DePaul administrators wrote in emails to students, faculty and staff. The university hopes to welcome more students back to campus winter term if health conditions allow, the emails said.
The change is a marked retreat from the university’s reopening plan to “deliver as many classes as possible safely on campus this fall” that was announced mid-May. Classes will now be delivered via remote formats with “few exceptions for pedagogical reasons.” Students enrolled for on-campus classes will receive information “soon” about whether their courses will remain in-person, the email to students said.
Read more here. —Claire Hao
2:49 p.m.: State releases $46 million from federal relief act to more than 2,600 small businesses hit by pandemic
From taco shops to CrossFit gyms, day spas to pest control providers, the state of Illinois on Wednesday released $46 million in grant funding to a range of small businesses across the state that have seen their operations interrupted during the coronavirus pandemic.
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The grants, which range from $10,000 to $20,000 are headed to 2,655 small businesses, the first round of funding from the Business Interruption Grant program, funded by federal CARES Act dollars.
Recipients are able to use the grants for payroll costs, rent, utilities, equipment and other pandemic-related needs, such as personal protective equipment, training and new technology. The first round of funding is aimed at businesses that were forced to close fully during the spring, when Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a statewide stay-at-home order, a sweeping measure aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.
Small businesses that continue to suffer economic hardship due to the pandemic and areas that have experienced property damage and closures as a result of recent civil unrest, are also included.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
12:08 p.m.: 1,645 new known COVID-19 cases, 16 additional deaths
Illinois public health officials Wednesday announced 1,645 new confirmed case of COVID-19 and 16 additional deaths. The state has now reported 198,593 cases overall and 7,672 confirmed deaths.
—Chicago Tribune staff
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11:22 a.m.: CPS gets gift from Citadel’s Ken Griffin to expand digital math tutoring during remote learning
Six hundred additional Chicago Public Schools students across five schools will gain access to personalized math tutoring through the support of public and private funding.
With the new support, the nonprofit Saga Education will provide digital math tutoring to a total of 2,120 CPS students from 20 schools in the 2020-21 school year.
Expansion of the program is the latest gift to CPS from Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, Illinois’ wealthiest resident who was also the lead donor to the Chicago Connected initiative to provide high-speed internet to approximately 100,000 students. These efforts to bridge technological gaps and enhance remote education supports come as CPS plans to start the school year all-remote.
Griffin’s donation is a joint $6 million initiative with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to employ around 180 tutors a year in support of under-resourced schools in Chicago and New York City. Funding from the Gates Foundation will support 1,000 students per year across six schools in NYC over two years.
“I am proud to support (Saga Education’s) work to empower students with the tools and confidence they need to learn, grow and make their aspirations a reality,” Griffin said a news release.
—Claire Hao
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10:25 a.m.: Having an eating disorder during coronavirus is like being ‘in a maze blindfolded’
A study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders looked at the early impact of coronavirus. The study of 1,000 people from the United States and the Netherlands found that those with anorexia were restricting themselves more and feared being able to find foods consistent with their meal plan, while those with bulimia and binge eating disorder reported increases in their binge eating episodes and urges to binge.
Ellen Astrachan-Fletcher, a certified eating disorder specialist and regional clinical director of Eating Recovery Center in Illinois, says the study’s findings are similar to what she’s seen in patients during the pandemic.
“Absolutely, this is very consistent to what we are seeing, and I think that to a great degree,” she says. “The hardest component that’s been going on is isolation. They need connection for recovery. Connection is a huge component of mental well-being, if we don’t have connection we don’t do well.”
Janicki agrees and says it’s very easy to isolate from other people.
Read more here. —Hannah Herrera Greenspan
9:36 a.m.: ‘Everything is a risk vs. benefit equation these days and it is exhausting’ — What 29 Chicago-area parents have to say about going back to school
The Tribune surveyed parents on how they look at going back to school virtually or in-person in the fall and the answers, like the quotes above, cover a complete range of approaches, reactions and emotions.
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More than 75 people from across the area responded and shared their thoughts, worries and plans about returning to school. There was anger, understanding, patience and frustration.
The answers illustrate that deciding how to handle the risks of a pandemic, the needs of a family, the responsibilities of parenting is not easy and not uniform. Here are some of the answers from the survey.
Read more here. —Jonathon Berlin
8:49 a.m.: Small businesses are quietly dying by the thousands during the coronavirus pandemic
Big companies are going bankrupt at a record pace, but that’s only part of the carnage. By some accounts, small businesses are disappearing by the thousands amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the drag on the economy from these failures could be huge.
This wave of silent failures goes uncounted in part because real-time data on small business is notoriously scarce, and because owners of small firms often have no debt, and thus no need for bankruptcy court.
"Probably all you need to do is call the utilities and tell them to turn them off and close your door," said William Dunkelberg, who runs a monthly survey as chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business. Nevertheless, closures "are going to be well above normal because we're in a disastrous economic situation," Dunkelberg said.
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Yelp Inc., the online reviewer, has data showing more than 80,000 businesses permanently shuttered from March 1 to July 25. About 60,000 were local businesses, or firms with fewer than five locations. About 800 small businesses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy from mid-February to July 31, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the trade group expects the 2020 total could be up 36% from last year.
Read more here. —Bloomberg News
6 a.m.: As universities reopen, no one has more uncertainty than this year’s freshman class
There’s the adventure of going off to college for the first time, that big, nerve-wracking step toward adulthood that some students have been preparing for their entire high school careers. And then there’s going off to college for the first time in 2020.
That is, if this year’s freshman class of students are even going off somewhere at all.
As universities in the Chicago area and around the country scramble to resume classes during the COVID-19 pandemic — be that with online coursework, students in class or a hybrid of both — they acknowledge they must plan in particular for this year’s freshman class, and figure out how to welcome new students with orientations that in past years would have included weeklong receptions, dorm move-in shindigs and get-to-know-you social events with fellow students.
A number of universities have not yet announced their plans for resuming. Recently, about 24% of American universities said they would have classes fully or primarily in person, 30% online and 15% a hybrid — with 27% still undecided, according to a study of 3,000 institutions published by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
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What’s more, all this first-year uncertainty affects the same kids who saw the end of their high school senior years upended and graduation ceremonies canceled.
“I just think, like, with the virus, the transition was already going to be hard,” said Isabel Kochanek, a recent graduate of Lyons Township High School in La Grange. She’s planning to head to Purdue University Northwest soon for her freshman year, where she’ll study biology and health science and play soccer. “Now it’s going to be even harder.”
Read more here. —Doug George
5 a.m.: After coronavirus delay, Chicago getting expanded electric scooter pilot program
Electric scooters from Lime, Spin and Bird are being deployed Wednesday in Chicago, kicking off the city’s second pilot program for the scooters, running from mid-August to mid-December.
This year’s pilot, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, allows each company to distribute 3,333 scooters each in Chicago, four times as many scooters as in last year’s program. Riders can use the scooters from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day at speeds up to 15 mph.
The scooters cannot be ridden on sidewalks. Companies will provide locking mechanisms to secure the scooters to fixed objects, such as bike racks or street signs, at the end of rides. The scooters are not allowed to be operated on the lakefront, Central Business District and The 606 trail.
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The city requires Bird, Lime and Spin to put at least half of their scooters in areas “where residents face systemic disadvantages,” according to a news release. City officials said they will check for compliance twice a day.
Read more here. —Sydney Czyzon
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Here are five things that happened Tuesday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-08-13--Coronavirus trends in Illinois not looking good: ‘My concern is growing each day,’ says public healt

Coronavirus trends in Illinois not looking good: ‘My concern is growing each day,’ says public health director

“ And I ’ m not concerned about numbers just for numbers ’ sake .
Remember that the numbers increasing @ @ @ @ @ this new virus .
And those people infected with the new virus can go on @ @ @ @ @ those people who are sick can go on to be hospitalized , and those people @ @ @ @ @ on to have very severe complications , including , and up to , death , @ @ @ @

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)
With coronavirus trends in most of Illinois moving in the wrong direction, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday again warned that the state might reimpose stricter measures to slow the spread of the highly contagious disease.
Pritzker repeated a plea for local officials to “impose greater mitigations on a targeted basis to bring down the number of infections or the positivity rate.”
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“Otherwise, it will only be a matter of time before the state will be forced to step in and roll things back on a regional basis, something none of us wants,” Pritzker said.
While offering up that sober warning, Pritzker also announced the release of $46 million in grants to small businesses across the state whose operations have been severely impeded by state shutdown rules aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
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The grant awards came less than a week after Pritzker announced an emergency rule that has received mixed reviews from the business community to allow businesses to be fined if they don’t enforce the state’s face-covering mandate.
Pritzker said the majority of the 11 regions set up to track the presence and potential spread of COVID-19 are trending in negative directions.
The Illinois Department of Public Health on Wednesday announced 1,645 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 16 additional deaths, raising the statewide totals to 198,593 known cases and 7,672 deaths throughout the pandemic so far.
The seven-day statewide average positivity rate stood at 4.1% as of Tuesday. The rate was 3% a month earlier.
“My concern is growing each day about the direction our numbers are going,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said at a news conference with Pritzker in Chicago on Wednesday.
“And I’m not concerned about numbers just for numbers’ sake. Remember that the numbers increasing actually represents people infected with this new virus. And those people infected with the new virus can go on to get sick, and those people who are sick can go on to be hospitalized, and those people who are hospitalized can go on to have very severe complications, including, and up to, death,” she said.
Five regions, including some north and south suburban areas, parts of central Illinois and Metro East, have seen an increase in their seven-day average positivity rates. Another four regions, including Chicago, suburban Cook County, the northwest part of the state and southern Illinois are holding flat with the same seven-day average positivity rate as a week ago, Pritzker said.
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The two regions that saw a slight drop in recent days encompass the western suburbs, including DuPage County, and east-central Illinois.
The grants unveiled Wednesday were awarded to 2,655 small businesses, everything from taco shops to CrossFit gyms, day spas to pest control providers that have seen their operations interrupted during the coronavirus pandemic.
The grants, which range from $10,000 to $20,000, mark the first round of funding from the state-administered Business Interruption Grant program, funded with Illinois’ share of money from the federal CARES Act.
Recipients are able to use the grants for payroll costs, rent, utilities, equipment and other pandemic-related needs, such as personal protective equipment, training and new technology. The first round of funding is aimed at businesses that were forced to close fully during the spring, when Pritzker issued a statewide stay-at-home order, a sweeping measure aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.
Small businesses that continue to suffer economic hardship due to the pandemic and areas that have experienced property damage and closures as a result of civil unrest over the past few months are also included. Businesses that did not receive aid through the federal Paycheck Protection Program were given priority in the first round of grants, and the state capped the annual revenues of first-round grant recipients at $3 million, Pritzker said.
On Tuesday, a bipartisan rule-making panel upheld Pritzker’s emergency rule, which has seen pushback from some business groups over concerns the state is leaning on businesses to enforce its mask policy rather than enforcing the rule for individuals who refuse to wear masks.
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Pritzker, asked Wednesday about models from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia-based research center PolicyLab that were cited in a Daily Beast story and pinpointed Chicago, Boston and Baltimore as the next cities to be hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, sought to bolster the argument for his emergency mask rule.
Pritzker called it a “make or break moment” for Illinois and for Chicago.
“We’re all working hard to get this done,” he said. “It’s why the rule that we got passed yesterday was so important. It’s one more step in a series of steps along a path to make sure that we don’t become a hot spot.”
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-13--Downtown Chicago restrictions and limited train service to extend through the weekend

Some lines that will not run include the Red Line between Fullerton and 47th , the Blue Line between Division @ @ @ @ @ Line between Ashland and 47th , the Brown Line between Belmont and the Loop , @ @ @ @ @ and the Loop , and the Pink Line between Polk and the Loop .

Bridges are raised over the Chicago River on Aug. 10, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
City officials announced continued restricted access to the downtown Loop through the upcoming weekend, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communication.
Downtown access will be restricted from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night through Monday morning. Closures include portions of Lake Shore Drive, some expressway ramps and some Divvy bike stations, as well as temporary train suspensions overnight. Some bridges will be raised.
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The restricted access began after several days of civil unrest in the Loop area, according to the office.
Lake Shore Drive will be closed between Fullerton Avenue to the north and I-55 to the south. All entrance and exit expressway ramps leading to I-90/94 between Roosevelt Road and Division Street will be closed in both directions.
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Public transportation will also be affected. Nightly train service between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. the next morning will be temporarily suspended in the downtown area, according to the CTA.
Some lines that will not run include the Red Line between Fullerton and 47th, the Blue Line between Division and UIC-Halsted, the Green Line between Ashland and 47th, the Brown Line between Belmont and the Loop, the Orange Line between Halsted and the Loop, and the Pink Line between Polk and the Loop.
Bus services will remain open with some reroutes due to bridge and street closures.
Divvy service will not be available from North Avenue to Ashland Avenue and Cermak Road between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
“Access points” for residents and employees of the downtown area include Harrison Street, Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street, Roosevelt Road and Canal Street, Kinzie Street and Halsted Street, and LaSalle Street.


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Gov. J.B. Pritzker voices support of Black Lives Matter goals while making clear that ‘anybody who i

Gov. J.B. Pritzker voices support of Black Lives Matter goals while making clear that ‘anybody who is looting ... should be held responsible’

“ People who are protesting and voicing their concern and standing up for people ’ s rights and doing it @ @ @ @ @ they have every right to do that .
But those are two very different things @ @ @ @ @

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during his daily coronavirus briefing at the Illinois State Capitol on May 20, 2020. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
After statements by some Black Lives Matter Chicago leaders in support of looting, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday tried to separate illegal acts from support for the movement’s larger goal of restorative justice.
“First of all, anybody who is looting, shooting or breaking the law should be held responsible. Period. End of sentence. So, let’s set that as a baseline,” the first term Democratic governor said at an unrelated news conference at the Thompson Center.
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“People who are protesting and voicing their concern and standing up for people’s rights and doing it in a peaceful fashion, they have every right to do that. But those are two very different things,” he said.
Black Lives Matter Chicago has held several demonstrations in recent days, with leaders saying the weekend’s downtown looting was a reaction to a police-involved shooting in Englewood.
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Latrell Allen, 20, was shot and wounded by police in Englewood on Sunday after he allegedly shot at officers investigating a report of a man with a gun at a playground where children were playing, according to prosecutors. Allen is being held on $1 million bond.
There was no body-camera footage of the shooting, which Black Lives Matter Chicago has pointed to while questioning the details provided by police.
On Monday, Black Lives Matter Chicago held a rally outside a South Loop police station where organizers said some of the more than 100 people who were arrested amid the looting and civil unrest were being held.
Ariel Atkins, a Black Lives Matter organizer, stood in front of a banner reading, “Our futures have been looted from us. … Loot back.”
“That is reparations,” Atkins said of the looting. “Anything they wanted to take, they can take it because these businesses have insurance.”
Pritzker, who has encouraged efforts toward police accountability and criminal justice issues regarding the minority community, sought in his comments Wednesday to highlight a larger goal of Black Lives Matter. He said he did not know of the local Black Lives Matter’s group support for looting.
“We need to at least recognize that all of us who have stood up for Black Lives Matter care deeply about the city (and) are standing up for the right to peacefully protest,” he said.
That support includes “standing up for the fact that Black communities, frankly all communities of color, have been disinvested from and that it’s time for us to step up and do the right thing” with neighborhood revitalization efforts, he said.


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--Waukegan woman critically injured in scooter accident

A preliminary investigation showed the woman was leaving the parking lot , when for an unknown reason she drove slightly @ @ @ @ @ her to fall and strike her head on a railroad tie that had been acting @ @ @ @ @ pavement and the grass , according to a news release .

A Waukegan woman sustained critical injuries Wednesday after she was impaled during a traffic crash in unincorporated Mundelein.
According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the 70-year-old had been riding a 2009 MotoFino scooter in a parking lot in the 26200 block of North Route 83, where deputies who responded to the call found her with the critical injuries at approximately 1:20 p.m.
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A preliminary investigation showed the woman was leaving the parking lot, when for an unknown reason she drove slightly off the pavement, causing her to fall and strike her head on a railroad tie that had been acting as a barrier between the pavement and the grass, according to a news release.
The railroad tie had a spike protruding, which impaled her.
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She was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with critical injures and remains in grave condition, according to the news release.
The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigation Unit.


chicagotribune--2020-08-12--University Park trustee sues village over official’s alleged refusal to turn over ‘readily available

University Park trustee sues village over official’s alleged refusal to turn over ‘readily available’ financial documents

Hundreds of pages of village credit card statements that are attached to the suit as exhibits show money spent on @ @ @ @ @ , an $ 850 meal at Lawry ’ s steakhouse in Chicago , nearly $ @ @ @ @ @ Indiana moving company and Eastern Illinois University , and hundreds of dollars in payments for @ @ @ @ @ to be speeding and red-light camera tickets .

A University Park trustee who has clashed with the mayor and his administration over what he perceives as their lack of fiscal transparency is suing the village and village manager over her alleged failure to turn over “readily available” billing statements and other financial information he’d requested.
Theo Brooks seeks a court judgment declaring that he is entitled to the village financial records necessary to responsibly perform his job as trustee and a court order compelling University Park’s village manager Ernestine Beck-Fulgham to tender him that information.
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Brooks, a first-term trustee and retired police officer, said he filed the complaint in July after getting the runaround from Beck-Fulgham for months and receiving incomplete copies of village credit card statements and bank account balances that were “rife with redactions and omissions, and reveal a persistent pattern of excessive spending” by village officials, according to his suit.
Theo Brooks, University Park trustee (Village of University Park)
Hundreds of pages of village credit card statements that are attached to the suit as exhibits show money spent on chauffeur services and marijuana products, an $850 meal at Lawry’s steakhouse in Chicago, nearly $2,000 in charges to an Indiana moving company and Eastern Illinois University, and hundreds of dollars in payments for car repairs and what appear to be speeding and red-light camera tickets.
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University Park officials also charged more than $23,000 to the village’s Sam’s Club card during the 12-month period ending April 2020, according to attached credit card statements.
Brooks said he was told the Sam’s Club card was used solely to feed a handful of Village Hall workers who were too busy to grab lunch, but that the credit card statements seemed to belie that claim.
Purchases on the card included rotisserie chickens, dinner rolls and gourmet desserts; 12 HD Smart TVs and mounting hardware; and “random” items such as an air fryer, shaving cream and a mattress, according to the statements.
“I want to give every last one of them the benefit of the doubt, that (the spending) had to do with the village,” Brooks said. “But I just feel that someone has to answer.”
His suit also claims he was only provided bank account statements for the village’s general fund account, but not for its tax increment financing and police and firefighter pension accounts, as he’d requested.
The general fund statements he did receive were “heavily redacted or whited out, including the destinations of a large number of wire transfers” and other payments from the account, according to the suit.
Brooks said he couldn’t definitively confirm that any of the questionable charges were fraudulent, but believes they warrant an external criminal investigation and said he’d asked the Will County state’s attorney’s office to conduct one.
A spokeswoman for the state’s attorney said she could not disclose whether the agency had launched a probe into University Park’s finances as a result of Brooks’ request, nor even confirm that he had filed a complaint.
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University Park spokeswoman Rosemaria DiBenedetto said the village, on the advice of its attorneys, could not comment on Brooks’ lawsuit.
Beck-Fulgham, the only University Park official named as a defendant in Brooks’ lawsuit because she possesses and controls the documents at issue, denied the trustee’s claims but declined to respond to them directly or answer any questions.
“It’s not true the way it was presented,” she said of the suit, which she called appalling and hurtful.
Neither Mayor Joseph Roudez nor deputy clerk Jacelia Kelly, who each controlled one of the village credit cards in question, responded to requests for comment on the suit.
University Park Mayor Joseph Roudez (Joesph Roudez)
Brooks said he filed the suit because he’s concerned about the village’s financial state and fears any progress achieved in the past couple years is at risk of being wiped out if transparency doesn’t improve and spending isn’t tamped down.
He said his goal upon taking office in 2017, shortly after the cash-strapped community undertook a forensic audit of its massively depleted tax increment financing fund, was to stop the bleeding and improve the village’s money management.
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The Village Board initially adhered to its belt-tightening plan and was getting its financial house in order, Brooks said, but things have gone off course in the past year or so.
In March, Brooks was the only trustee to oppose a development agreement with Amazon in which the online retailer would invest $150 million in a 1.2 million-square-foot fulfillment center in the village expected to create 800 jobs.
Amazon, through the project’s developer, Venture One Real Estate, would pay the village $1 million upfront in impact fees to help with the purchase of municipal ambulances and fire trucks, but University Park would have to pay back the fee over a couple years, along with 7% annual interest.
“When I looked over it, it was a bad deal, just point blank,” Brooks said.
He said he and other trustees were provided a copy of the development agreement only hours before the meeting.
When he asked that a vote on the plan be delayed until more discussion could take place, Roudez gaveled him down and called for an immediate vote.
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“I voted ‘Hell no,’” Brooks said. “Not because I was angry, but because I opposed it so much. There was not even a financial analysis to see if we even were ready to have or afford what we were giving away. Nothing.”
The village did not immediately respond to questions about the Amazon deal or Brooks’ criticisms of it.
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Brooks also expressed grave concerns about an initial 2021 budget the village manager presented in June that projected a $3.6 million deficit, saying it almost made him want to vomit.
The projection anticipated a 34% increase in spending — including a $38,000 raise for the village manager and the creation of a $68,000 assistant village manager position — but only a 3% increase in revenues, documents show.
Brooks said his attempts to get information about village spending and better understand how much University Park has on hand to pay its bills have been stymied by Beck-Fulgham.
University Park village manager Ernestine Beck-Fulgham (Village of University Park)
“I was pulling my hair out and just got to the point where I said I can’t pay bills if I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “It was just the same scenario over and over, it became Groundhog Day trying to get financial records.”
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Brooks said his lawyer told him a village attorney had reached out and offered to turn over the requested financial documents if he’d drop the lawsuit, but that he’s not interested in such a deal.
Rather, Brooks said he wants a judge to rule on his right to ask for and receive financial information from the village so that he’s not met with more roadblocks when he seeks documents in the future.
“I feel like it has to be in writing,” he said.