chicagotribune--2020-08-05--As COVID-19 keeps university fall plans in doubt, community colleges see boost as affordable option

As COVID-19 keeps university fall plans in doubt, community colleges see boost as affordable option closer to home

“ If a bunch of students who are committed to four-year schools in the next three weeks say , ‘ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m just not doing that .
I ’ m going to defer for a @ @ @ @ @ m going to withdraw and reapply a year from now or six months from now @ @ @ @ @ we definitely could see a bump in community college enrollments , ” Rhyneer said .

Darius Rindell pushes a dent out of a car hood during a paintless dent repair class at College of Lake County in Grayslake in July. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
It’s quiz day in Robert Gynn’s public speaking class at the College of Lake County, and he’s reviewing material on a whiteboard for the students — all six of them, sitting in nearly empty rows and staggered from one another.
As Gynn discusses the week’s readings, he adjusts his disposable mask whenever it starts to droop below his nose. He calls on a student to repeat an exercise out loud, but a face covering muffles her response: “I can’t hear you,” Gynn says. “You’ve got to say it louder.”
Advertisement
And in the back of the classroom, paper towels and a bottle of disinfectant sit on a cabinet, ready for use.
Speech instructor Robert Gynn leads a class at College of Lake County in July. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
There’s no escaping the reminders that the college’s Grayslake campus, which is offering a limited number of in-person classes this summer, faces a slew of challenges as it tries to reconvene learning in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The summer classes have been shortened to five weeks, and attendance is capped well below capacity. Gynn’s class, for example, typically has up to 26 students.
Advertisement
Yet in some ways, community colleges are better equipped to weather the pandemic than traditional four-year universities. Unlike larger institutions, community colleges don’t rely on revenue from residence halls — which will plummet if students don’t return to campus for fear of getting sick.
And local two-year colleges could become more appealing to families who don’t want to pay top-dollar tuition for virtual instruction. Very few universities are discounting the cost of attendance despite offering most classes online.
Over the summer, several community colleges in Illinois — including College of Lake County, Harper College in Palatine and College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn — reported upticks in enrollment. Now, the colleges are watching to see if that trend continues for fall.
Madeleine Rhyneer, vice president and dean of enrollment at the education research firm EAB, said the numbers will likely fluctuate until classes start next month and students are forced to make final decisions.
“If a bunch of students who are committed to four-year schools in the next three weeks say, ‘You know what? I’m just not doing that. I’m going to defer for a year ... or I’m going to withdraw and reapply a year from now or six months from now,’ then I think we definitely could see a bump in community college enrollments,” Rhyneer said.
The situation is not entirely unprecedented. After the Great Recession, community colleges and vocational schools offering programs in cosmetology and automotive training saw enrollment spike by 20% and 7%, respectively, according to EAB. But researchers warn that today’s economic conditions are distinct and note that community colleges have become less popular since enrollment peaked in 2010, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.
Local community colleges say it’s still too early to predict how fall enrollment will shape up. None was reporting increases just yet but emphasized that many students prefer to make selections closer to the deadline and could be waiting for four-year schools to finalize their plans.
At the College of DuPage, President Brian Caputo said that new student applications are up about 4% compared with last year, noting that affordability could be enticing more families.
Advertisement
“We’re certainly optimistic that there will be some sort of bump, but we’re also realistic in that there’s a lot of different variables going on,” Caputo said.
According to College Board estimates, average tuition at two-year community colleges costs $3,440 for local residents, while public four-year universities cost $9,410 for in-state students. The state is divided into 39 community college districts that offer special rates to residents.
For families weighing their options, Caputo summed up the dilemma this way: “Why go to a four-year school and sit in a dorm to take something less than full face-to-face courses and pay precipitously more?”
‘We are gaining more students’
Jose Garcia leans over the hood of a car in College of Lake County’s auto shop ― a large garage where an old SUV is hoisted on a platform and there’s plenty of room for students to space out at individual work stations.
Garcia always wears protective goggles in the shop but the mask, a KN95 that filters air particles, is a new addition that can make breathing more laborious. Nevertheless, Garcia tries to maintain his focus as he smooths out dents on the metal before him.
Though Garcia initially worried about returning to the shop during the pandemic, the 32-year-old Waukegan resident said he’s glad to be back after spring classes abruptly moved online and feels safe with the new protocols.
Advertisement
“It’s better doing it in person,” Garcia said. “It’s hands-on, and I learn more hands-on. I think it’s better doing it (in person), that way I will be trained better.”
Garcia attends school full time — the auto classes are held for several hours three times a week — and didn’t want to delay his degree. There’s only four other students in the shop, and they’ve all been given their own tool boxes to minimize interactions.
Vocational programs are a major component of the College of Lake County’s five-week summer session, which included classes in manufacturing and hospitality and culinary management. Traditional courses in English composition, ethics and Gynn’s speech class were also available to students.
Emma Burdett, of Round Lake, displays her finished buffalo chicken wings plate during a culinary class at College of Lake County in July. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Though the term was shortened, summer enrollment jumped compared with last year, according to data provided by spokeswoman Lindsey Nemcek.
About 7,300 students took summer classes at College of Lake County, which also has campuses in Waukegan and Vernon Hills, for a total of 35,582 credit hours. Last summer, 6,760 students took classes and completed 31,318 credit hours. Even more students, however, signed up in the summers of 2017 and 2016, the data shows.
College of Lake County declined to share numbers for fall 2020, but Nemcek said in late July, “we are gaining more students as we get closer to August.” Fall classes begin Aug. 24 with in-person, hybrid and fully online formats.
Advertisement
Colleges take ‘wait-and-see approach’
During times of high unemployment, community colleges typically see more demand for career training and professional development, said Brian Durham, executive director of the Illinois Community College Board.
But even that well-documented trend might be altered by the pandemic. Vocational classes at community colleges often rely on experiential learning, but students might be hesitant to return due to health concerns.
Students sits one per row and wear masks as they listen to instructor Robert Gynn during a speech class at College of Lake County in Grayslake in July. Six students were present, with a room capacity for nine. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
“You can’t be a welder without having actually done a weld,” Durham said. “You may be able to learn English composition online, but you really need to work in the shop and do some welding in order to do that, so there are many occupational areas that require face-to-face.”
The state’s community college board, which oversees 48 community colleges and one consortium across the state, does not collect enrollment data for the summer and fall numbers won’t be available until October, Durham said. Though community colleges are well-positioned to welcome more students, most schools seem to be taking a “wait-and-see approach,” and nearly everyone in higher education is worried about fall attendance, Durham said.
Another major concern, Durham said, is that students might choose to pause their studies or opt out of college altogether because of cost or other uncertainties. To combat that, the board recently launched a messaging campaign against the gap year, instead encouraging students to enroll at their local community college and earn credits that can be transferred to another institution.
Fall numbers at Harper, the College of DuPage and Oakton Community College are all down compared with last year, but the schools predict that will change as the semester approaches.
Advertisement
At Harper, for example, summer enrollment climbed by 15% from last year, but fall is behind by about 4%, said spokeswoman Kim Pohl. It’s possible the numbers are lagging because Harper opened registration six weeks later this year in order to monitor the pandemic, Pohl said.
“While enrollment for continuing students is up, we’re seeing a number of prospective new students delaying making a decision,” Pohl said in an email. “Many have shared that they are waiting to see what four-year colleges and universities are doing for the fall.”
At City Colleges of Chicago, the picture was less certain. The network of seven schools did not see an uptick in summer enrollment, and a spokeswoman said it was too early to determine fall enrollment, noting that many students usually wait until the final week to register for classes.
It’s also possible that many students who dropped out of programs will sign up again following the city’s recent announcement that those who had not completed their degree or certificate in the last decade can now do so debt-free.
Despite all the debate about fall 2020, Rhyneer said the greatest effects on college enrollment are still to come.
When the pandemic hit, students nearing the end of their college selection process might have been more reluctant to change their plans after persuasive campus visits and other recruitment incentives.
Advertisement
But with a fresh admissions process about to get underway, students applying for college now might be thinking more about the pandemic, Rhyneer said.
“Oftentimes, enrollment bumps are lagging indicators of economic disruption rather than leading indicators,” she said. “If COVID-19 goes on for a really long time and if there’s not a vaccine, I actually think there may be even a more significant impact in the fall of 2021.”
echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Column: Trump’s right, schools must reopen. We just need kids to promise they won’t get the coronavi

Column: Trump’s right, schools must reopen. We just need kids to promise they won’t get the coronavirus.

Your job is to avoid those dangerous protesters , and to only exhale .
Pretend you ’ re an unmarked @ @ @ @ @ re exhaling billowing clouds of beautiful tear gas at all those ornery anarchists .
It @ @ @ @ @ you only have to resist inhaling until the bus drops you home in the afternoon @ @ @ @ @ the lung capacity to hold your breath for eight hours , then you don ’ @ @ @ @ @ is what it is . )

As President Donald Trump has said, we must reopen America’s schools, and it can be done with 100% safety as long as children promise to patriotically not get the coronavirus.
I’ll explain how that’s done in a moment, but first, let’s look at the facts.
Advertisement
If we want our country to get back to normal and our children to learn the basic rules of capitalization and punctuation, we must, as President Trump tweeted this week, “OPEN THE SCHOOLS!!!” That’s as obvious as “2 + 2 = the Earth is flat.”
Is the coronavirus still spreading at a disturbingly high rate? Yes, if you believe in “numbers” and follow lame-o liberal logic that assumes it’s bad for something to be “disturbingly high.”
Advertisement
Did 260 children and staff members at a Georgia summer camp get diagnosed with COVID-19 last month? Yes, but that wholly overlooks the fact that there are literally millions of Americans who were not at that summer camp (or in Georgia) who remained coronavirus-free.
On the very first day of classes at a middle school in Indiana last week, did one of the students test positive for the virus? Yes. But concern over that issue totally ignores the fact that the student probably didn’t try hard enough to not get the virus in the first place.
President Trump framed this coronavirus reality smartly in an interview this week with Axios. He was asked about the fact that a thousand Americans a day are dying of COVID-19, and he said: “It is what it is.”
Precisely. It is what it is, and it wouldn’t be what it is if those thousand or so Americans a day would stop dying of COVID-19. How can you blame the president of the United States for people’s unwillingness to not die? If anything, it’s a bit selfish of the more than 150,000 people who refused to stay alive, because frankly, it’s making President Trump look terrible.
And that’s why the president is pushing so hard for schools to reopen. He cares deeply about ignoring the virus and expects all Americans, young and old, to come together, ignore science and other radical left-wing concepts like “common sense” and pretend life is back to normal. Should you get sick or die, that’s on you, and it is what it is.
To prepare your (expendable) children for in-person classes, you have to be sure they understand how patriotism can protect them from the coronavirus.
First off, they have to believe in President Donald Trump. More than they believe in Santa Claus. More than they believe that Hillary Clinton has killed many people and is secretly Barack Obama’s Muslim mother.
Next, they need to not catch the coronavirus. Catching the coronavirus is VERY unpatriotic and an insult to our great president. (If it leads to any deaths, it is what it is. What are you gonna do about it?)
Advertisement
One Sean Hannity-approved way for kids to fight off the coronavirus is to focus on the respiratory droplets that will undoubtedly fill the crowded hallways of every open school. Imagine that each potentially coronavirus-infected droplet is a radical leftist protester hellbent on destroying America with health care and racial equality.
Your job is to avoid those dangerous protesters, and to only exhale. Pretend you’re an unmarked federal agent and you’re exhaling billowing clouds of beautiful tear gas at all those ornery anarchists. It’s fun, and you only have to resist inhaling until the bus drops you home in the afternoon! (If you lack the lung capacity to hold your breath for eight hours, then you don’t love America and it is what it is.)
I know what you’re saying: “Sure, this all makes perfect sense and is guaranteed to protect school kids, but what about the teachers and other adults who work in schools?”
Hey, I hear you, intelligent person who has read this far and is intrigued by my line of thinking. The answer is simple: Teachers and other adults who work in schools need to also not get the coronavirus.
At the risk of being sued by Nike, “Just DON’T do it! (Or you will get a deadly respiratory disease and likely exacerbate the spread of that disease in your community, plunging America into an unending cycle of lockdowns and sickness.)”
If we all support our president, unite and agree to not get infected and die, we can bring America’s schools and America’s way of life roaring back by going about our days without breathing in.
Advertisement
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 5.
And if it’s not, it is what it is.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Federal push in Chicago begins to show up in new gun cases, some bypassing Cook County prosecutors

And it remains to be seen whether the shift toward more aggressive federal prosecution will have any impact on the @ @ @ @ @ that critics including Chicago police Superintendent David Brown have pointed to as a cause of @ @ @ @ @ recently have made significant efforts to reform the bond system to ensure that defendants are @ @ @ @ @ because they can not afford to get out before their cases are resolved .

Megan Crepeau, Jason Meisner, Jeremy Gorner

U.S. Attorney John Lausch, right, departs after announcing charges in a federal gang investigation at a July 29 news conference with Chicago police. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Early one morning last week, a Chicago police sergeant spotted a red Pontiac stopped at an intersection in the Gresham neighborhood as traffic signals cycled from red to green and other vehicles drove around it.
The sergeant approached the Grand Prix to find Timothy Richardson asleep behind the wheel. When Richardson woke up and moved his legs to comply with commands to step out of the vehicle, a loaded Glock pistol with an extended magazine and laser sight allegedly fell to the floorboard with a clunk.
Advertisement
The July 28 incident was allegedly captured on the sergeant’s body camera. Richardson, 24, a twice-convicted felon who was barred from possessing firearms, was arrested and questioned by law enforcement before being charged with weapons offenses.
But it wasn’t Chicago police who interviewed Richardson — it was federal agents. And instead of being processed by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, Richardson was charged later that day by the U.S. attorney’s office with a federal count of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon, court records show.
Advertisement
Timothy Richardson in a 2017 Chicago Police Department arrest photo. (Chicago Police Department)
A suspect being charged federally in a gun case in and of itself isn’t new. But the case against Richardson is the latest example in a growing trend in which gun arrests made by Chicago police are being handled upfront by federal authorities — who ordinarily might deliberate for weeks or even months to decide whether to take a case from state prosecutors.
The U.S. attorney’s office already has a gun crimes prosecution team that has embedded assistant U.S. attorneys in police districts on the South and West sides of the city to try and disrupt the cycle of violence in those neighborhoods.
But the effort has been stepped up significantly in recent weeks as civil unrest over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis coupled with a wave of gun violence brought Chicago back into national headlines and drew the attention of the Trump administration, several law enforcement sources have told the Chicago Tribune.
The scope of the renewed federal push was being held close to the vest, but it has seemingly intensified once again as President Donald Trump recently sent more federal agents here in an expansion of what has been dubbed “Operation Legend,” which has seen leaders of the U.S. attorney’s office, the FBI and Chicago police trumpet their increased cooperation.
Gun violence has spiked this summer to levels not seen in years, claiming victims as young as 1 year old. Earlier this month a shooting outside a funeral home saw 15 people wounded — the worst mass shooting in recent Chicago memory. Some sources said an increase in the amount of federal resources paying attention to Chicago violence was likely to naturally lead to more federal prosecutions.
But the concerted push has apparently led to some confusion within the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, which has historically handled the vast majority of Chicago gun felonies.
On July 25, just two days after Trump’s Operation Legend announcement, an email sent by a high-ranking prosecutor to attorneys in the Felony Review Unit said Chicago police would be taking all gun arrests to federal agents first, giving them the right of first refusal in deciding whether to bring charges.
State prosecutors were directed to consider charging a gun case only if federal prosecutors had declined it, according to the email, which was obtained by the Tribune. They were instructed to learn from police the name of the federal agent who declined charges, then reach out to that agent to find out why.
Advertisement
It would have been a marked change from the practice that has been standard for years, in which police bring cases to county prosecutors first before federal partners determine where the cases ultimately land.
“We do not yet have a time frame for when this will begin, but will keep you informed as this fluid situation continues to unfold,” the email read.
But the strict policy was apparently never put into place. A statement from State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office Tuesday said they “considered a change in how gun cases would be reviewed” but ultimately changed nothing.
“After further evaluation, we did not change our felony review procedure and continue to review all matters brought to us by CPD. Information regarding charged cases is shared with the US Attorney’s office to determine if federal offenses are appropriate,” the statement read.
Separately, Foxx has said of the federal officers’ increased presence in Chicago that “we will take help, but with skepticism, and only where it is appropriate.”
In a statement, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago said their office works “directly with Chicago Police officers and federal agents to charge firearm cases quickly and efficiently.”
Advertisement
“With the additional resources of Operation Legend, we are striving to further enhance the effectiveness of our federal firearm prosecutions,” stated the email from Joseph Fitzpatrick.
Foxx also may have limited ability to interfere with the push, as some cases were being handled by federal authorities directly — essentially bypassing her office.
Tom Ahern, a CPD spokesman, would only say the department would be continuing its “long-standing partnership” with both Cook County and federal prosecutors on such gun cases.
Chicago police sources have said the surge in federal agents could mean more of an emphasis on authorities in the city going after criminals repeatedly caught with illegal guns. One of the sources said police supervisors in at least one part of the city instructed officers within the last few weeks to flag gun arrests they make if the suspects are on parole; or if those suspects have been convicted in the past of violent offenses including murder and aggravated battery; or if they were found with illegal guns that have defaced serial numbers; or if those guns were somehow linked to other violent crimes.
The reasons to charge a defendant in federal court vary, but prosecutors generally promote it as a tool to get the city’s most violent, repeat offenders off the street instead of putting them back into the Cook County justice system. The potential penalties also are typically much tougher.
Not only does the federal charge of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon carry a maximum 10-year prison sentence, defendants must serve 85% of their sentence, instead of being eligible for day-for-day credit in the state system.
Advertisement
If a defendant has previously been convicted of three or more violent felonies, federal prosecutors can seek an enhanced, mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years behind bars, or up to life.
Defendants convicted at the federal level also may wind up serving their time in faraway states, which tough-on-crime advocates have long said can act as a deterrent in and of itself.
Gun cases charged by federal prosecutors over the past five weeks would seem to reflect the shift. Since July 1, out of 15 cases charging a felon with a firearm in U.S. District Court, eight were charged by complaint, meaning they came straight to the federal system instead of prosecutors incurring a delay by seeking an indictment, which typically occurs some time after an arrest.
On the same day Richardson was arrested, for example, federal prosecutors charged a second man, Laderek Townes, with illegal possession of a firearm stemming from a traffic stop by Chicago police on the West Side.
According to court records, officers approached a gray Ford sedan in the 4000 block of West Van Buren Street at 1:16 a.m. Tuesday because it was parked more than a foot from the curb.
Laderek Townes in his Chicago Police Department arrest in 2014 on the case that led to his armed habitual criminal conviction. (Chicago Police Department)
While officers spoke to the driver, Townes, who was in the back seat, tried to kick a fanny pack under the driver’s seat, the charges alleged. After handcuffing Townes, officers found a loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson in the pack with a bullet in the chamber.
Advertisement
As the officers tried to place Townes into a squad car, he allegedly “kicked off” the vehicle with his feet and head-butted an officer in an attempt to flee, the charges alleged.
As in Richardson’s case, Townes was interviewed at a Chicago police station by agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who swore out the complaint to a federal prosecutor. Townes’ criminal history includes state convictions for heroin trafficking and armed habitual criminal, the complaint stated.
Richardson, meanwhile, was convicted in Cook County in 2014 of robbery and sentenced to two years of probation, records show. In 2017, Richardson was sentenced to four years in state prison after being convicted in Cook County of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, records show.
The criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court stated that when Richardson was interviewed by ATF agents shortly after his arrest, Richardson acknowledged that he owned the Pontiac, but said that the gun did not belong to him.
Richardson told the agents that he’d “driven unknown individuals in his vehicle from a party” earlier that morning and that “one of those individuals may have left the firearm in the car,” the complaint stated.
County prosecutors likely will continue to handle the vast majority of Chicago gun felonies.
Advertisement
And it remains to be seen whether the shift toward more aggressive federal prosecution will have any impact on the so-called “revolving-door” bonds that critics including Chicago police Superintendent David Brown have pointed to as a cause of violence. Cook County officials recently have made significant efforts to reform the bond system to ensure that defendants are not kept in jail simply because they cannot afford to get out before their cases are resolved.
Richardson was released on his own recognizance after an initial hearing on his federal charge Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Young Kim, court records show. But Townes was ordered held in custody pending trial.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Column: Hate that mask? You’ll like it better if you turn it into a story.

Obviously , this question presumes that you have a mask and use it , in which case , you ’ @ @ @ @ @ for the new Illinois ad campaign that comes with the slogan “ It Only Works @ @ @ @ @ The $ 5 million campaign , which the governor announced Monday , is aimed at @ @ @ @ @ legions whose behavior is one reason a killer virus continues to stalk the land .

Every mask tells a story. What’s yours?
Obviously, this question presumes that you have a mask and use it, in which case, you’re not the prime target for the new Illinois ad campaign that comes with the slogan “It Only Works if You Wear It.” The $5 million campaign, which the governor announced Monday, is aimed at the mask resisters, the legions whose behavior is one reason a killer virus continues to stalk the land.
Advertisement
But if you do wear a mask when you should — generally indoors in public spaces, outdoors when you can’t keep proper social distance — you probably have a story, and that story makes the mask easier to wear. You can recount where you got it, when and why, maybe who made it.
“What’s the story of your mask?” I often ask people. It’s a good conversation starter, and I always learn something about the person that goes beyond the mask, often something about their relatives, friends, passions.
Advertisement
Stories that question has elicited:
A man whose wife turned her pajama bottoms into a mask for him. The dog lover who bought masks from an Iowa woman who contributes proceeds to a group trying to shut down illegal puppy mills. Masks bought from the neighborhood dry cleaner who makes them at a sewing machine and an ironing board in the window.
“In my family,” reported Betsy Thibaut Stephenson, a Facebook friend, “masks are identified with their source or event: the one that Will’s mom gave you; the ones that Mrs. Talpas made; the ones we got for your (socially distanced) birthday gathering. Oh, and there’s the box you swiped from your office.”
One woman with three masks recounted the good causes each mask-maker represents, then said, “All three masks mean so much to me as they were made with not just love, but also purpose.”
Made with love and purpose. Along with a proper fit, those help make a mask tolerable.
I have several mask stories because I have several masks.
My first masks were gifts from a friend. They’re nothing special to see, just the disposable blue surgical masks that these days litter the ground like potato chip bags. (That’s another story.) In the panicky early days of the pandemic, when masks were hard to find, my friend managed to score a few, and the fact that she thought to share with me made those no-frills masks as precious as pearls.
My next two masks came from Jeliner “Jelly” Jordan, a 76-year-old woman who has been making masks for her neighbors in a Chicago Housing Authority high-rise. After I wrote about her, she surprised me by mailing me two of her creations, impeccably stitched, and though I would ordinarily return any gift from someone I’d written about, it didn’t feel right to return hers.
Advertisement
Jeliner Jordan sews masks for her neighbors on April 9, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
My next masks came from my college roommate, an economics professor who finds pandemic relief sitting at her sewing machine. She made me three, each in a different material and style.
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
I use all the masks, different ones for different moods. I take them out for walks, like pets. Each one makes me think of the person who was kind enough to give it to me.
The psychology of masks is complex. So is breaking down the resistance of the resisters. If shame alone worked, the problem would be solved because shaming the mask resisters is a popular pastime. Education helps, but the education about masks has been confused, and the early, wrong messages that masks weren’t important for regular people have been hard to overcome.
But masking, like the virus, is contagious. The more people wear masks, more people will wear them. And unless more people do, we’re doomed
On Tuesday as I was writing this, Illinois health officials issued the daily COVID-19 toll: 1,471 new known cases, 19 more known deaths. Remember. That’s the daily count.
In this state alone, since the pandemic began, 184,712 people are known to have been infected, and 7,545 have died. The national toll of the dead is 152,000.
Advertisement
Come on. We can do this. Get a mask. Turn your mask into a story, even if it begins, “I hate this !@##$% mask, but let me tell you about it.”
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Afternoon shooting on Gold Coast commercial street leaves Chicago rapper dead, 2 injured

A 26-year-old man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital , where he was pronounced dead , O ’ Shea said @ @ @ @ @ also taken to Northwestern in serious condition , and a 28-year-old woman was taken to @ @ @ @ @ , where her condition was stabilized , police said .

Madeline Buckley, Jeremy Gorner, Peter Nickeas, Rosemary Sobol

Chicago police investigate the scene of a shooting at 70 E. Oak St. on August 4, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Three people were shot, one fatally, Tuesday afternoon on a Gold Coast street known for its high-end retailers, officials said.
Two shooters each exited from two separate vehicles and opened fire on a group standing outside the stores in the first block of East Oak Street, Chicago police deputy Chief Daniel O’Shea said at the scene. A black and silver car then headed westbound, O’Shea said.
Advertisement
A 26-year-old man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, O’Shea said. A 36-year-old man was also taken to Northwestern in serious condition, and a 28-year-old woman was taken to Amita Health St. Joseph Hospital, where her condition was stabilized, police said.
Chicago police investigate the scene of a shooing at first block of East Oak Street in the Gold Coast neighborhood on Aug. 4, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
A woman at the scene who identified herself as the girlfriend of the deceased victim said he was Carlton Weekly, a Chicago rapper who performed under the name FBG Duck, authorities said.
Advertisement
The Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed that Weekly, of Markham, Illinois, was the deceased victim. He was pronounced dead at 5:06 p.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
It remains under investigation if the victims or anyone with the victims returned fire.
Fire Department ambulances responded to Oak Street around 4:30 p.m. for a report of three people shot, said fire spokesman Larry Merritt.
The block where the shooting happened, between Michigan Avenue and Rush Street, is well-known for its clothing boutiques and other high-end retail, including several jewelry stores.
Dozens of pedestrians gathered Tuesday evening near the stores at crime scene tape that blocked off Oak Street.
People look on as Chicago police investigate the scene of a shooting at 70 E. Oak St. on Aug. 4, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
“Oh my God,” uttered one woman, who said she wanted to go shopping on the block. “I was going to stop (here) after work.”
A resident who lives on the street was on a work call with the windows open when he heard a series of gunshots, he said. The man asked not to be identified out of concern for his safety.
He said he jumped off the call and looked out the window. He saw a crowd of 20 to 30 people running, and two vehicles speeding away, he said.
Advertisement
Megan Rattigan, who lives nearby, didn’t hear the shooting but came down to the street as police arrived on scene. She saw items strewn on the ground as police moved them farther away.
“We could just see the shoes in the street,” she said.
Moderately heavy vehicle traffic clogged the area as cars redirected from the scene turned away from Oak Street.
“It’s the middle of the day,” Rattigan said. “It’s sad.”
Peggye Weaver was walking her Yorkshire terrier when she stopped at the tape to survey the police activity.
She said she’s lived near Oak and Michigan for about two decades, and her concerns about crime have grown in recent years. Weaver referred to smash-and-grab robberies of expensive stores.
Advertisement
Earlier this year, the Tribune in a front-page article highlighted how robberies more than doubled in the last five years in a swath of Near North Side neighborhoods including the Gold Coast, Streeterville, Magnificent Mile, River North and others.
Chicago police investigate the scene of a shooting at 70 E. Oak St. on Aug. 4, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
When she learned a shooting had just happened on the block, Weaver said, “too many things happening. All these carjackings and killings. ... You never know where you’re going to be caught in the crossfire.
“I don’t have the freedom that I used to have,” she said. “I have to always be watching over my back.”
Another man, who said he lives a few blocks away along Lake Shore Drive, was shocked to learn about the shooting. He’s lived in the area for about four years.
“It feels like the world has turned completely upside down,” he said. “Unfortunately, this ... is becoming (normal).”
Advertisement
Chicago Tribune’s Morgan Greene and Sophie Sherry contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Column: For too many Chicago children, school is their only safety net. What will happen to them if

Column: For too many Chicago children, school is their only safety net. What will happen to them if CPS doesn’t reopen this fall?

We don ’ t have to worry much about the kids whose parents choose to home-school .
The children we @ @ @ @ @ the ones who have no structure in their lives other than in the classroom .
@ @ @ @ @ of the invisible ones , for whom school is a respite from chaos , fear @ @ @ @ @ their only lifeline to success and , often , survival .

In the volatile debate over reopening public schools this fall, the voices of the Chicago Teachers Union, the mayor and national policymakers were loud and clear. But as usual, there was silence from those who will be impacted most.
Our children didn’t have a say.
Advertisement
Most of them are too young to carefully weigh the pros and cons of remote learning versus returning to the classroom. A great number are throwaway children anyway. They live in deprived neighborhoods, where quality education has not always been a top priority of our government. Learning was minimal, even during the best of times.
The decision was left to surrogates, who can get so entangled in their own feelings that they lose sight of what is in the best interest of the children. This was the wrong time for teachers to float the idea of a strike to force Chicago Public Schools to drop plans to reopen in September in favor of all-remote learning. We need all voices contributing to a solution.
Advertisement
The reopening plan proposed by CPS was not perfect, but it should provide the framework for a more comprehensive strategy that could allow schools to reopen in the second quarter.
The initial plan offered a hybrid of options, in which parents could choose to teach their children at home or send them back to school under strict protocols designed to keep COVID-19 to a minimum. Without question, parents must be able to decide what’s best for their own children.
We don’t have to worry about the kids whose parents prefer to home-school. Though the rules are stricter than last spring, these parents know what they’re getting into and likely are better equipped to handle it.
The children we must be concerned about are the ones who have no structure in their lives other than in the classroom. We must speak on behalf of the invisible ones, for whom school is a respite from chaos, fear and danger. It is their only lifeline to success and, often, survival.
They live in tiny apartments full of people, some of them good and some of them bad. There is no cute little table set up in a corner with a computer, notebooks and colored pencils. It is never quiet at home. Someone is always yelling or hitting.
Fourth grader Gizzell Ford was one of those children before her grandmother tortured her to death inside their maggot-infested West Side apartment. There are others, whose names we don’t know. But we are sure they exist because police have told us how they run narcotics, hold guns for criminals and stand as lookouts at open-air drug markets.
We encounter them on our way to dinner on the Gold Coast. They stop us on Michigan Avenue, peddling 75-cent candy bars for $2. They are the homeless children snuggled beneath a blanket with their mother on the sidewalk. Sometimes they ask us for money. Sometimes they lower their head in shame.
They go to bed hungry and wake up eager to walk a treacherous path to school, where a hot breakfast awaits them. They couldn’t care less whether it is eaten in the school cafeteria or at their desk, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends.
Advertisement
These are the boys who practically live in the principal’s office. A teacher disciplines him for talking back to her. The next day, he gets into trouble for cursing on the playground. Using foul language is the only way he knows to get an adult’s attention because at home, that’s how everyone communicates.
He falls asleep during reading class. He doesn’t do his homework. He can’t even grasp the basic concept of two plus two equals four. When some people look at him, they envision a troubled life down the road — if he makes it that far.
He doesn’t think he will. And in neighborhoods such as West and East Garfield Park, Englewood, North Lawndale and Washington Park, there’s a good chance he won’t.
You might ask why teachers should risk exposure to COVID-19 for a kid like this? Why should they put their lives on the line for students who make their jobs so difficult, when so many parents are uninvested in their own children’s education?
It’s because school is the only positive resource these children have and teachers are their saviors. Teachers are front-line workers, as essential as doctors, nurses and first responders. For some kids, teachers bridge the gap between total despair and hope.
Teachers who love their work understand their role. For many of them, it was not a question of whether kids should return to school next month. It was a matter of how do we work together to reopen schools safely and effectively?
Advertisement
They were studying the plan to see what they could pull from it that will benefit everyone involved, particularly the children.
With only half the normal student body allowed to attend school on a given day, classroom size would have been significantly reduced. Students would have been assigned to pods of approximately 15 students, meaning teachers could have devoted more time to the kids who need extra help with reading and math.
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
Students in K-10 would have split their time between home and school. They would have received instruction in the classroom and completed their assignments at home. Such a setup would have allowed school officials to determine exactly which students had the necessary access to digital learning and address the shortfalls quickly.
Many teachers aren’t afraid of the challenges of COVID-19. They deal with much bigger problems every day in schools where poverty and violence persist. They understand their mission, and they are accustomed to pushing the limits.
This debate can’t afford to be mired in politics. If CPS’s decision to return to remote schooling is based on science, as the mayor and school officials insist, and not the threat of a strike, they had no choice. If they were pressured into it, that’s a shame.
Regardless of what happens, children will fall through the cracks, as they always have. But reopening schools would provide a safety net to catch some of them before they crash and are too damaged to be saved.
Advertisement
We are certain that our children cannot thrive without schools. Adults have an obligation to work together and figure out how to give them a chance to soar.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng