chicagotribune--2020-12-20--From ‘war workers’ to ‘Good Times,’ Jane Byrne and demolition: Timeline of Cabrini-Green

July 7 , 1982 : Charles Swibel , embattled chairman of the CHA board , quits under fire from federal @ @ @ @ @ chairman for 19 years and a board member for 26 years .
Following an audit @ @ @ @ @ by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development , the federal government had threatened @ @ @ @ @ dollars in aid to CHA if Swibel remained in his post .
Despite being accused @ @ @ @ @ of public housing maintenance and repair contracts , Swibel is supported by Byrne and her @ @ @ @ @ to step down from his chairmanship after it ’ s made a full-time position , @ @ @ @ @ not accept due to the demands of his real estate business .

Built over two decades starting in 1942, the story of the towers and row homes of Cabrini-Green have mirrored Chicago’s troubled history of grappling with racism and poverty. Here is how the story unfolded.
Aug. 29, 1942
Mayor Edward J. Kelly dedicates the Frances Cabrini Rowhouses, the city’s first wartime housing project, at the intersection of Chestnut Street and Cambridge Avenue. The development is named after Mother Frances X. Cabrini, an Italian American nun, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the first American citizen to be named a saint.
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The dedication of the Frances Cabrini homes on Aug. 29, 1942, in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune)
Construction of the 56 two- and three-story buildings — designed to house up to 600 families — was begun three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor and completed in less than 10 months at a cost of more than $3.7 million. Only families of “war workers” who earned less than $2,100 a year (roughly $33,000 in today’s dollars) were eligible for tenancy.
“These homes, built by the Chicago Housing Authority, symbolize the Chicago that is to be. We cannot continue as a nation, half slum and half palace. This project sets an example for the wide reconstruction of substandard areas which will come after the war.” — Chicago Mayor Edward J. Kelly, Aug. 29, 1942
Feb. 28, 1955
An almost $8 million contract is awarded for the first stage of construction of eight high-rise buildings to the Cabrini public housing complex. The project adds 859 apartments — built over 15 blocks bounded by Division, Larrabee and Sedgwick streets, and Chicago and Hudson avenues — to the 584 rowhouse dwellings already in the area. The buildings — and the seven more that would soon follow — are nicknamed the “Reds” due to their red brick exterior.
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As published in the March 1, 1955, edition of the Chicago Tribune. (Chicago Tribune Archives)
April 22, 1955
Mayor Richard J. Daley digs a few shovels full of dirt to break ground on the $26 million extension of the Cabrini development, which will eventually include 15 high-rise apartment buildings and 1,925 apartments ranging from one to five bedrooms. The 27 acres acquired for the project cost $3.43 per square foot, according to the Chicago Housing Authority’s annual report for 1957, though a Chicago Tribune editorial says, “the property consisted of rat ridden, vermin infested shacks.”
September 1956
Due to inferior construction and poor planning, the Cabrini Rowhouses are named in an estimated $6 million rehabilitation project of CHA properties.
Nov. 21, 1961
The 1,099 apartments of the William Green Homes — a $17 million project named for the former American Federation of Labor president — are dedicated just north and west of the Cabrini extension towers. Nicknamed the “Whites” for their white concrete exterior, the William Green housing complex consists of eight buildings that are each 15 or 16 stories tall.
The development, as a whole, soon becomes known as Cabrini-Green.
As published in the Nov. 22, 1961, edition of the Chicago Tribune. (Chicago Tribune Archives)
June 11, 1964
Monsignor John Egan, director of urban affairs for the Archdiocese of Chicago, urges CHA to stop building high-rises.
“Is it really possible to stimulate any kind of community sense among unskilled and often broken and poor families in a 22-story building? Is an ‘elevator culture’ the best possible — or even a good — starting point for families who already have great difficulty with adjusting to an urban society? We do not know the answer to these questions.” — Monsignor John Egan, Archdiocese of Chicago
Aug. 9, 1966
Dorothy Gautreaux and five other CHA residents file a class-action suit in federal court against CHA, charging it with discrimination by building housing only in Black neighborhoods.
Aug. 14, 1966
Additional security guards are promised for CHA’s buildings as a result of a demand made to Mayor Daley’s office by Martin Luther King Jr.
Aug. 1, 1968
Congress enacts the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, which forbids “high-rise elevator projects for families with children unless (the Secretary) makes a determination that there is no practical alternative.”
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July 1, 1969
In the Gautreaux case, a federal judge finds CHA guilty of discrimination and issues a landmark judgment order that requires sweeping changes in methods of selecting sites for public housing and selecting tenants for those projects. The order bans CHA from beginning construction on any housing unit until not fewer than 700 dwelling units in predominantly white Chicago neighborhoods are started. The order also prohibits housing families with children in high-rise buildings and implements a new, nondiscriminatory tenant assignment plan. The case also paves the way for the housing choice program, which issues vouchers that allow clients to select rental units in the neighborhoods they prefer.
As published in the July 18, 1970, edition of the Chicago Tribune. (Chicago Tribune Archives)
July 17, 1970
Two Chicago police officers walking in Seward Park, Sgt. James Severin and Patrolman Anthony Rizzato, are shot and killed by snipers firing high-powered rifles from a Cabrini-Green high-rise. Within minutes, other officers arrive to retrieve their bodies and return gunfire.
Later, Johnny Veal and George Knights are convicted in the shooting deaths. Both are serving 100-to-199-year sentences.
“I don’t understand it. ... Those two policemen were part of our walking patrolmen program. They were here to let the people know police are always available for help. And what did they get? They got killed.” — Sgt. Ed Kijowski, arrived minutes after the shooting
A policeman scans the roof of the Cabrini-Green housing project with a sniper scope on a rifle on July 17, 1970. Two policemen were shot and killed by sniper fire from a high-rise in the Cabrini-Green housing project. (Walter Kale / Chicago Tribune)
Feb. 8, 1974
“Good Times,” a weekly comedy about a fictional Chicago family that lives in Cabrini-Green (though the development is never mentioned during the show), premieres on CBS. Esther Rolle stars as Florida Evans, the family matriarch, who has returned to Chicago after previously working as the housekeeper on “Maude.” The show airs for six seasons.
March 31, 1981
At 8:30 p.m., a limousine carrying Mayor Jane Byrne from a $150-a-plate dinner in the Conrad Hilton hotel pulls up to the housing development. The mayor, her husband and bodyguards rush quickly through the front door and, avoiding the elevator, walk up four flights of stairs to apartment 416. Byrne moves into the Cabrini-Green apartment and stays for 25 days.
It was "gimme five" as Mayor Jane Byrne shook hands with youngsters on April 2, 1981, outside a Cabrini-Green building, where she earlier waved to the crowd from window of her fourth-floor apartment. (Jerry Tomaselli / Chicago Tribune)
July 7, 1982
Charles Swibel, embattled chairman of the CHA board, quits under fire from federal officials. He had been chairman for 19 years and a board member for 26 years. Following an audit of CHA’s operations by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the federal government had threatened to cut off millions of dollars in aid to CHA if Swibel remained in his post. Despite being accused of shady dealings in awarding of public housing maintenance and repair contracts, Swibel is supported by Byrne and her predecessors. He only agrees to step down from his chairmanship after it’s made a full-time position, which he said he would not accept due to the demands of his real estate business.
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Oct. 13, 1992
From the Oct. 14, 1992 edition of the Chicago Tribune. (Chicago Tribune Archives)
Shortly after the 9 a.m. school bell, 7-year-old Dantrell Davis is shot in the head by a sniper while walking with his mother from his Cabrini-Green high-rise to the Jenner Academy of the Arts. Half an hour later, he is pronounced dead at Children’s Memorial Hospital. Later that day, police arrest reputed street gang leader Anthony Garrett, 33, in connection with Dantrell’s murder.
A Chicago police officer guards the scene as an investigator photographs the blood left after the shooting of Dantrell Davis at 502 W. Oak St. on Oct. 13, 1992, in Chicago. (Eduardo Contreras / Chicago Tribune)
Oct. 16, 1992
“Candyman,” a horror film about a white graduate student researching the urban legend of a hooked-handed apparition who appears when his name is uttered five times, is released. The movie is set in Cabrini-Green.
May 30, 1995
HUD takes over CHA four days after its chairman, Vince Lane, and the CHA board resign under a cloud of mismanagement.
Sept. 27, 1995
Crews begin demolition of a Cabrini-Green high-rise, the first to be razed.
Worker Greg Hernandez separates materials from a pile of rubble during the teardown of the Cabrini-Green projects at 1157 and 1159 Cleveland Ave. on Oct. 30, 1995, in Chicago. (Jose More/Chicago Tribune)
June 27, 1996
Mayor Richard M. Daley announces a new plan to redevelop Cabrini-Green and the surrounding area. Cabrini resident leaders, however, are absent from the podium. Daley also has a difficult time putting a price on the cost of the project. Richard Wheelock, attorney for Cabrini-Green residents, calls the plan “ethnic cleansing, Chicago-style.”
Mayor Richard M. Daley, right, describes his plan for rehabilitating the Cabrini-Green housing area during a news conference on June 27, 1996. Cabrini resident leaders were noticeably absent from the podium. (José M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)
Oct. 1, 1999
CHA announces a sweeping $1.5 billion, 10-year plan that will demolish more than 17,000 units, slash payroll and rehab more than 10,000 existing units.
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Dec. 9, 2010
Annie Ricks, the last resident of Cabrini’s last-standing housing tower, and her family leave their home of 20 years, Apartment 1108 at 1230 N. Burling St.
The last resident of the last high-rise building, Annie Ricks, is swarmed by the media after she moves out of the Cabrini-Green high rise on Dec. 9, 2010. (Jos M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
March 30, 2011
Demolition of the last Cabrini-Green high-rise begins.
February 2012
More than 400 of the 584 units in the Cabrini Rowhouses development — the final piece of the Cabrini-Green complex — are scheduled to be torn down. Instead, they remain standing, blocked off by chain metal fences.
September 2015
Hundreds of public housing units are planned for the Cabrini-Green area, according to a settlement between the CHA and the Cabrini-Green Local Advisory Council.
Venus Young-Bay, left, and Sarah Ann Hall talk outside of their Cambridge Avenue rowhouses on Sept. 13, 2015, in Chicago. Young-Bay and Hall have been friends for about 50 years. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Feb. 21, 2017
A Texas developer is tapped to develop more than 480 units of mixed-income housing on 6.9 acres of the former Cabrini-Green complex.
Jan. 23, 2019
A federal judge formally approves a settlement agreement to allow CHA to take a series of steps to bring the 53-year-old Gautreaux case to a close by July 2024.
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As part of the settlement, CHA promises to:
Continue developing scattered site housing.
Engage in discussions on how to improve the voucher mobility program.
Provide a detailed schedule to complete mixed-income housing complexes.
Create early learning childhood development programs at four existing public housing developments.
The case could return to court, however, if CHA fails to deliver on these promises.
Check out the Tribune’s archives at your fingertips at Newspapers.com.
Sources: Chicago Tribune reporting, photos and archives; Chicago Housing Authority; Business and Professional People for the Public Interest; Encyclopaedia Britannica; imdb.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 7,562 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 108 additional

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 7,562 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 108 additional deaths reported Saturday

Denver ’ s mayor flies to Mississippi to spend Thanksgiving with his family — after urging others to stay home @ @ @ @ @ was thinking with “ my heart and not my head.
” A Pennsylvania mayor bans @ @ @ @ @ at a restaurant in Maryland .
The governor of Rhode Island is photographed at an @ @ @ @ @ state faces the nation ’ s second-highest virus rate — though it appears she broke @ @ @ @

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Laquitta Boyd, holds her 6-year-old daughter Venisha while receiving her first COVID-19 vaccination at a back-to-school health fair hosted by RUSH University Medical Center at the Salvation Army Freedom Center on July 30, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 6,003 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 79 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 900,370 and the statewide death toll to 15,202 since the start of the pandemic.
It was the lowest death total reported since 74 fatalities on Dec. 6 and broke a 12-day-stretch with more than 100 fatalities in the state. On Friday, the state surpassed 15,000 recorded deaths, just one week after the Illinois’s death toll climbed above 14,000.
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Meanwhile, a federal panel voted to put people 75 and older and essential workers like firefighters, teachers and grocery store workers next in line for COVID-19 shots as a second vaccine began rolling out Sunday to hospitals, a desperately needed boost as the nation works to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.
In Washington, Congress reached a deal Sunday on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package, finally delivering long-overdue help to businesses and individuals and providing money to deliver vaccines to a nation eager for them.
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Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
Congress reaches deal on almost $1 trillion COVID-19 relief package that includes $600 direct payments
Top Capitol Hill negotiators sealed a deal Sunday on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package, finally delivering long-overdue help to businesses and individuals and providing money to deliver vaccines to a nation eager for them.
The agreement, announced by congressional leaders, would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.
It came after months of battling and posturing, but the negotiating dynamic changed in Republicans’ favor after the election and as the end of the congressional session neared. President-elect Joe Biden was eager for a deal to deliver long-awaited help to suffering people and a boost to the economy, even though it was less than half the size that Democrats wanted this fall.
House leaders informed lawmakers that they would vote on the legislation on Monday, and the Senate was likely to vote on Monday, too. Lawmakers were eager to leave Washington and close out a tumultuous year.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Panel votes to put people over 75, essential workers next in line for COVID-19 vaccince
An expert committee put people 75 and older and essential workers like firefighters, teachers and grocery store workers next in line for COVID-19 shots as a second vaccine began rolling out Sunday to hospitals, a desperately needed boost as the nation works to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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6,003 new and probable cases of COVID-19 and 79 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 6,003 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 79 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 900,370 and the statewide death toll to 15,202 since the start of the pandemic.
There were 78,079 tests reported in the previous 24 hours. The statewide positivity rate for the past seven days is 9.6%.
—Chicago Tribune staff
Moderna begins shipping its COVID-19 vaccine, with first shots to Americans expected Monday
Initial shipments of the second COVID-19 vaccine authorized in the U.S. left a distribution center Sunday, a desperately needed boost as the nation works to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.
The trucks left the factory in the Memphis area with the vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health. The much-needed shots are expected to be given starting Monday, just three days after the Food and Drug Administration authorized their emergency rollout.
Later Sunday, an expert committee will debate who should be next in line for early doses of the Moderna vaccine and a similar one from Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech. Pfizer’s shots were first shipped out a week ago and started being used the next day, kicking off the nation’s biggest vaccination drive.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
Saturday
Deal on Federal Reserve powers removes obstacle to agreement on COVID-19 relief plan, clearing way for votes as early as Sunday
Top congressional lawmakers struck a late-night agreement on the last major obstacle to a COVID-19 economic relief package costing nearly $1 trillion, clearing the way for votes as early as Sunday.
A Democratic aide said in an email that an agreement had been reached late Saturday and that compromise language was being finalized to seal a deal to be unveiled on Sunday.
The breakthrough involved a fight over Federal Reserve emergency powers that was defused by an odd couple: the Senate’s top Democrat and a senior conservative Republican.
Read more here. —Associated Press
More than 7,500 new COVID-19 cases announced Saturday
The state on Saturday announced 7,562 new cases of COVID-19, with Illinois now reaching 894,367 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
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Another 108 people have died, bringing the state’s death toll to 15,123.
Officials also reported 96,851 new tests in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 8.2% for the period ending Friday.
—Madeline Buckley
Libertyville hospital to resume vaccinations after temporarily pausing ‘out of an abundance of caution’ when 4 staff members had reactions
A Libertyville hospital will resume vaccinations for the COVID-19 virus on Sunday following a temporary pause of the program after four staff members had reactions after receiving the shot, hospital officials say.
The decision to resume vaccinations was made after an internal review, and a doctor on Saturday assured the public of the vaccine’s safety.
“We expect there to be some occasional safety concerns with the vaccine, but on balance, this is a miracle that we have this vaccine,” said Dr. Robert Citronberg, executive medical director of infectious disease and prevention at Advocate Aurora Health.
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Since Thursday, four people who received vaccines at Advocate Condell Medical Center experienced symptoms, including tingling and elevated heart rate, according to a statement sent by a spokesperson for the Advocate Aurora health system.
Read more here. —Madeline Buckley
Fury as some politicians ignore their own virus rules: ‘The lack of self-awareness in American politics is just something else’
Denver’s mayor flies to Mississippi to spend Thanksgiving with his family — after urging others to stay home. He later says he was thinking with “my heart and not my head.” A Pennsylvania mayor bans indoor dining, then eats at a restaurant in Maryland. The governor of Rhode Island is photographed at an indoor wine event as her state faces the nation’s second-highest virus rate — though it appears she broke no actual rules.
While people weigh whether it’s safe to go to work or the grocery store, the mayor of Austin, Texas, heads to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on a private jet after hosting a wedding for 20. California’s governor dines at a swanky French restaurant with lobbyists, none wearing masks, a day after San Francisco’s mayor was there for a birthday party. Both had recently imposed tough rules on restaurants, shops and activities to slow the spread of the virus.
To the public’s chagrin, some of America’s political leaders have been caught preaching one thing on the coronavirus and practicing another.
Sure, politicians have long been called out for hypocrisy. But during a pandemic that’s forced millions into seclusion and left many without paychecks, such actions can feel like a personal insult — reinforcing the idea “that some people just don’t have to follow the rules while the rest of us do,” says Rita Kirk, a professor of communications at Southern Methodist University.
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And that, in turn, hints at even deeper questions.
Read more here. —Associated Press
General apologizes for bad information on state vaccine shipments: ‘I failed. I’m adjusting.’
The Army general in charge of getting COVID-19 vaccines across the United States apologized on Saturday for “miscommunication” with states over the number of doses to be delivered in the early stages of distribution.
“I failed. I’m adjusting. I am fixing and we will move forward from there,” Gen. Gustave Perna told reporters in a telephone briefing.
Perna’s remarks came a day after a second vaccine was added in the fight against COVID-19, which has killed more than 312,000 people in the U.S. Governors in more than a dozen states have said the federal government has told them that next week’s shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be less than originally projected.
Perna acknowledged the criticism and accepted blame.
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“I want to take personal responsibility for the miscommunication,” he said. “I know that’s not done much these days. “But I am responsible. ... This is a Herculean effort and we are not perfect.”
The general said he made mistakes by citing numbers of doses that he believed would be ready.
Read more here. —Associated Press
First Chicago vaccine recipients report feeling ‘great’ after historic shots
When Mark Hooks volunteered to become the first man in Illinois to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, he already had educated himself about the shot and was fully prepared for the most common side effects: Low-grade fever. Body aches. Chills. Headaches.
Those symptoms, however, never materialized. He completed his shifts at work all week without a problem, even the one he briefly interrupted to take the shot on live television as part of an inaugural vaccination event organized by City Hall.
“I’ve been feeling great. I haven’t had any symptoms whatsoever other than some mild soreness around the injection site,” said Hooks, an emergency department nurse at Loretto Hospital. “But that’s to be expected anytime your boss puts a needle in one of your muscles.”
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Read more here. —Stacy St. Clair
‘Don’t underestimate the fear.’ Clergy, doctors and activists tackle COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, access in Black, Latino communities.
The Rev. John Zayas says his congregants at Grace and Peace Church in the North Austin neighborhood have been peppering him with questions about the new COVID-19 vaccine, some expressing unease or indecision about getting the shot once it’s available.
Is it safe? Would I be a lab rat?
Most importantly, many ask if the church leader intends to get the vaccine, once he’s eligible.
His response is always compassionate but firm: The vaccine is critical to ending the pandemic, which has disproportionately hit predominantly Black and Latino communities like North Austin and other surrounding West Side neighborhoods where the church’s faithful live and work.
“I would personally take it and be an example for the church,” he says. “As a pastor, you have to show by example.”
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Read more here. —Laura Rodríguez Presa, Stacy St. Clair, Alice Yin and Darcel Rockett
With coronavirus cases at an all-time high, some patients are nervous about going to the dentist
Due to the novel coronavirus, which has drastically changed almost every aspect of our lives, annual dental visits have also changed.
In March, when the pandemic led Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to issue a state-at-home order, dental offices were open only for emergency procedures. In May, dental offices reopened for routine dental visits.
With COVID-19 cases at an all-time high, some people may be nervous about going to the dentist right now. Patients are indoors with masks removed and need to open their mouths wide.
Dr. Terri Tiersky, 2020 president of the Chicago Dental Society, says people should feel comfortable visiting the dentist for routine cleaning and check-ups.
Read more here. —Hannah Herrera Greenspan
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States spent over $7 billion competing for early coronavirus supplies: ‘It was chaos, pandemonium’
Ray Bellia had a good business before the coronavirus pandemic. He topped $4 million in annual sales from his New Hampshire store that specialized in protective gear for police.
Then he got a call from a buyer with the state of Massachusetts asking if he had anything that could protect people from COVID-19. As it happened, he did. He went on to sell the state 300,000 disposable masks for 97 cents each.
“From that point on, it’s been just insanity,” Bellia said.
Masks. Gowns. Gloves. Goggles. Sanitizer. Coveralls. Thermometers. Bellia has sold it all, and not just to Massachusetts. From Maine to Hawaii, numerous other states, counties, cities, colleges and schools have lined up to buy from him.
While countless other businesses tanked amid coronavirus shutdowns, Bellia’s store — Body Armor Outlet — rapidly evolved into one of the nation’s 20 largest suppliers of personal protective equipment to states this past spring, according to a nationwide analysis of state purchasing data by The Associated Press.
The AP tallied more than $7 billion in purchases by states this spring for personal protective equipment and high-demand medical devices such as ventilators and infrared thermometers.
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Read more here. —Associated Press


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--Murder charges filed for suspect who fatally ‘ambushed’ ex-girlfriend with order of protection, poli

Murder charges filed for suspect who fatally ‘ambushed’ ex-girlfriend with order of protection, police say

Eddie London , 56 , of the 10700 block of South Eberhart Avenue , was charged with murder and was @ @ @ @ @ the death of Dominique Boone in the 8800 block of South Greenwood Avenue on July @ @ @ @ @ police said .

A man is accused of lying in wait for his ex-girlfriend before ambushing her, fatally running her over as she left work in July on the South Side, Chicago police said.
The victim, Dominique Boone, had lodged an order of protection against the suspect, Eddie London, before the attack.
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London, 56, who was extradited from Indiana after being arrested there, is charged with first-degree murder and is wanted on two warrants, said Officer Jessica Rocco, a Chicago police spokeswoman.
Eddie London, 56, of the 10700 block of South Eberhart Avenue, was charged with murder and was wanted on two warrants following the death of Dominique Boone in the 8800 block of South Greenwood Avenue on July 29, 2020, Chicago police said. (Chicago police)
About 10 p.m. July 29, Boone was leaving her workplace, SCR Medical Transport, 8801 S. Greenwood Ave., when London “accelerated” and ran her over while behind the wheel of a medical transport vehicle, which police said he had stolen from SCR.
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“An investigation revealed London entered the work location, stole the vehicle and waited in ambush for his ex-girlfriend,” a police report said.
Before she died about two weeks later, Boone was able to identify London, of the 10700 block of South Eberhart Avenue, as her attacker.
An autopsy determined Boone, who died Aug. 9 at the University of Chicago Medical Center, suffered multiple blunt force injuries after being run over, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Boone’s death was ruled a homicide.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-21--Prosecutors said medical driver ID’d former boyfriend as person who ran her over before her death: ‘

Prosecutors said medical driver ID’d former boyfriend as person who ran her over before her death: ‘It was London’

Authorities said London , who had worked with Boone at SCR before quitting , and was the subject of a @ @ @ @ @ by Boone over the summer , stole a van from his former job ’ s @ @ @ @ @ waited for the end of her shift at a nearby gas station .
London was @ @ @ @ @ order , according to prosecutors .

Bail was denied Sunday to a former postal carrier and elder care van driver accused of mowing down his former girlfriend as she left her job.
The victim, Dominique Boone, 34, told two eyewitnesses and at least one emergency medical worker that her ex-boyfriend, Eddie London Jr., 56, was behind the wheel of the van that struck her outside her job at SCR medical transportation, 8801 S. Greenwood Ave. on July 29.
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A worker at the company that transports elderly patients to medical appointments went to Boone’s aid in the street and was the first to hear Boone say London was the driver who struck her, according to Cook County prosecutors. The unidentified SCR employee helped the severely-injured victim tell her brother by phone “London did it.”
London was later arrested in central Indiana and extradited to Cook County on a first-degree murder and a prior arrest warrant.
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“I find that your actions were cold, calculated,” Judge David Navarro told London, calling him a danger to the community and denying bail during a hearing broadcast on YouTube. “Laying in wait for the victim to leave work demonstrates and wanton callousness to the value of human life.”
Authorities said London, who had worked with Boone at SCR before quitting, and was the subject of a prior order of protection filed by Boone over the summer, stole a van from his former job’s garage an hour beforehand and waited for the end of her shift at a nearby gas station. London was never served with the protective order, according to prosecutors.
Eddie London, 56, was charged with murder and was also wanted on two warrants, following the death of Dominique Boone in the 8800 block of South Greenwood Ave. on July 29, 2020, Chicago police said. (Chicago Police Department)
Later, as the victim entered the crosswalk outside her job of one year, surveillance cameras captured a SCR van speeding toward Boone, briefly dragging her, before running over her and fleeing the scene, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy told the court.
In addition to telling the two co-workers, Boone also told responding medical personnel that London had run over her with a van, Murphy said.
Boone lived for 11 days after the collision, but was left paralyzed in the lower extremities, with spinal and pelvic fractures and internal bleeding. The Roseland resident died Aug. 9 and her death was ruled a homicide.
The van was found abandoned a quarter mile away. The lens of an internal camera was covered with tape, but an exterior view captured London smoking a cigarette at the gas station before the incident, according to Murphy.
London’s court-appointed attorney Anne French asked the court to deny the prosecution’s petition asking for a no bail ruling, saying that no one saw London inside the van at the time it struck Boone. She also asked the court to consider her client’s high blood pressure, considered an aggravating condition in jail, during the COVID pandemic.
But Navarro approved the no bail request, also barring London from contacting any witnesses.
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London was still on probation for an identity theft case out of DuPage County, according to prosecutors. In that case, London, an Elmhurst postal carrier, was charged with felonies following an investigation by Elmhurst police and the United States Postal Service Inspector General into undelivered bank cards on his route.
He is expected to return to court on Jan. 7.
wlee@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State tops 900,000 infections since start of pandemic as 6,003 new

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State tops 900,000 infections since start of pandemic as 6,003 new COVID-19 cases and 79 additional deaths reported Sunday

It came after months of battling and posturing , but the negotiating dynamic changed in Republicans ’ favor after the @ @ @ @ @ of the congressional session neared .
President-elect Joe Biden was eager for a deal to @ @ @ @ @ people and a boost to the economy , even though it was less than half @ @ @ @ @ this fall .


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--Shirley Abrahamson, first woman and longest-serving justice on Wisconsin Supreme Court, dies at 87

“ It has a mix of sitting , reading and writing and thinking , which I enjoy doing .
And @ @ @ @ @ On the other hand , all of the problems I work on are real problems @ @ @ @ @ it matters to them , and it matters to the state of Wisconsin .
So @ @ @ @ @ it , and a stress , ” she said .

MADISON, Wis. — Shirley Abrahamson, the longest-serving Wisconsin Supreme Court justice in state history and the first woman to serve on the high court, has died. She was 87.
Abrahamson, who also served as chief justice for a record 19 years, died Saturday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, her son Dan Abrahamson told the Journal Sentinel newspaper in Milwaukee.
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Court spokesman Tom Sheehan did not immediately return messages left by The Associated Press, and an automatic email reply said he would be until Dec. 28. A number for Dan Abrahamson could not be found.
Long recognized as a top legal scholar nationally and a leader among state judges, Abrahamson wrote more than 450 majority opinions and participated in more than 3,500 written decisions during her more than four decades on Wisconsin’s highest court. She retired in 2019.
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In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton considered putting her on the U.S. Supreme Court, and she was later profiled in the book, “Great American Judges: An Encyclopedia.”
She told the Wisconsin State Journal in 2006 that she enjoyed being on the court.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson in 2019. (Steve Apps/AP)
“It has a mix of sitting, reading and writing and thinking, which I enjoy doing. And it’s quiet. On the other hand, all of the problems I work on are real problems of real people, and it matters to them, and it matters to the state of Wisconsin. So that gives an edge to it, and a stress,” she said.
The New York City native, with the accent to prove it, graduated first in her class from Indiana University Law School in 1956, three years after her marriage to Seymour Abrahamson. The couple moved to Madison and her husband, a world-renowned geneticist, joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty in 1961. He died in 2016.
She earned a law degree from UW-Madison in 1962. Abrahamson worked as a professor and joined a Madison law firm, hired by the father of future Gov. Jim Doyle, in 1962.
She led the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1967 to 1974 and helped rewrite the city’s equal opportunities law in 1963.
Appointed to the state’s high court by then-Gov. Patrick Lucey in 1976, Abrahamson won reelection four times to 10-year terms, starting in 1979. She broke the record for longest-serving in justice in 2013, her 36th year on the court.
Abrahamson was in the majority when the court in 2005 allowed a boy to sue over lead paint injuries even though he could not prove which company made the product that sickened him — undoing decades of precedent and opening paint companies to lawsuits seeking damages.
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But Abrahamson found herself in the minority on several high-profile cases later in her career, including in 2011, when the court upheld the law championed by Republican then-Gov. Scott Walker effectively ending public employee union rights, and again in 2015, when the court ended a politically charged investigation into Walker and conservative groups.
Abrahamson’s health began to fail in 2018. She frequently missed court hearings, participating by phone or not at all. That May, she announced she wouldn’t run again in 2019, and in August, she revealed she has cancer.
Doyle, a former Wisconsin attorney general and two-term governor, called Abrahamson a pioneer and said he sought her advice when he first ran for Dane County district attorney in the 1970s.
Doyle in 2018 called her “one of the great leaders in Wisconsin government.” He credited her with working to demystify the court by holding hearings around the state and meeting with school groups and others to discuss its work.
In addition to breaking barriers for women, Doyle said Abrahamson had been a champion of civil rights and civil liberties, a protector of basic constitutional rights, and a strong advocate for open government and public records.
“She brought the court to the people of Wisconsin by the force of her own personality, by the decisions she rendered and is somebody who really looked to protect the people of Wisconsin and their basic constitutional rights,” Doyle said.
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Abrahamson wasn’t without her enemies, both on the court and among Republican lawmakers who pushed a constitutional amendment in 2015 that led to her ouster as chief justice. The voter-approved amendment enabled members of the court to choose the chief justice — who oversees the state court system — instead of requiring the title go to the most senior justice.
Abrahamson, who became chief in 1996, was quickly voted out by conservative justices who held a majority on the court when the new law took effect in 2015.
Although she often clashed with more conservative members of the court, and drew support from liberals and Democrats, Abrahamson steadfastly maintained that she was an independent voice.
“When I joined the court, I was given a voice — a voice that I have not hesitated to use,” Abrahamson said in a May 2018 statement announcing her decision not to seek re-election. “The best expression of appreciation I can give the people who have elected and repeatedly reelected me is to continue to speak with the clarity, forthrightness and compassion that come from a life I have tried to devote to service and to justice for all.”


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--Chicago’s top lawyer, Mark Flessner, resigns amid uproar over Anjanette Young raid, video

On Sunday , Flessner said he was in his office Monday evening around 5:30 when one of his deputies entered @ @ @ @ @ lawyer had violated the judge ’ s protective order in the case .
The deputy @ @ @ @ @ go in and make the judge aware that the protective order or the confidentiality order @ @ @ @ @ said yes , ” Flessner said .

The city of Chicago’s top lawyer, Mark Flessner, has resigned over the Anjanette Young scandal, marking the first major ouster in a crisis that’s consumed Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration over the past week.
Flessner announced his resignation in an email to employees on Sunday afternoon.
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“I’m resigning because of the firestorm around the whole tape thing,” Flessner told the Tribune in a brief interview. “I’m being accused of trying to hide it, which is not true.”
Lightfoot said in a written statement Sunday she accepted Flessner’s resignation as corporation counsel and thanked him for his service. “I am committed to a full review of everything that occurred surrounding this incident, will take corrective action where appropriate, and will hold people accountable,” she said in the statement.
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Flessner did not say whether he had been asked to resign. A former federal prosecutor and partner at Holland & Knight, Flessner is also a longtime friend of the mayor.
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The controversy erupted earlier this month, after Lightfoot’s Law Department attempted to block WBBM-Ch. 2 from airing body camera footage of Chicago police officers mistakenly raiding Young’s home in February 2019, before the mayor took office.
Corporation counsel Mark Flessner in his office at City Hall on Sept. 4, 2019. Flessner announced his resignation Sunday. (Camille Fine / Chicago Tribune)
Lightfoot’s office also disclosed that it failed to give Young’s attorney all of the body camera footage of the wrongful police raid, a recurring problem for the Law Department.
City lawyers also filed a request to have Young sanctioned for allegedly violating a confidentiality order on the video, though the city later said it only wanted her lawyer sanctioned, before filing paperwork on Friday seeking to drop the matter altogether.
A federal judge rejected the Lightfoot administration’s unusual request to prevent a television station from airing a news report. The courts long have ruled against efforts to prevent news companies from publishing reports, saying it’s an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.
Lightfoot has criticized the Law Department for taking the action and denied knowing about it beforehand.
On Sunday, Flessner said he was in his office Monday evening around 5:30 when one of his deputies entered and told him that a lawyer had violated the judge’s protective order in the case. The deputy said “they wanted to go in and make the judge aware that the protective order or the confidentiality order has been violated and I said yes,” Flessner said.
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Flessner also said he wasn’t sure whether he reviewed the motion.
In a statement, he said his first involvement in the case was Monday.
The Young raid has become a major embarrassment for Lightfoot, who initially said that she had only learned of the incident after Ch. 2 aired police body camera footage that showed Young, who was handcuffed naked, repeatedly telling officers who barged into her home that they had the wrong place.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously fought to keep secret a video showing white police Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times, but a county judge ordered his administration to release the video. Emanuel has since been dogged by accusations that he covered up the scandal to preserve his 2015 reelection campaign, an allegation he’s denied.
Chicago has since instituted a rule allowing the release of police shooting videos and audio within 60 days. Responding to the Young controversy, Lightfoot said her administration will no longer withhold video from residents seeking police records about their cases and acknowledged that the city’s handling of the matter harmed her relationship with Chicagoans.
The city’s handling of police video in Young’s raid also highlights a major problem in Chicago’s Law Department.
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A 2016 Chicago Tribune investigation found that, of nearly 450 cases alleging police misconduct since Emanuel took office, a federal judge had to order the city to turn over potential evidence in nearly 1 in every 5 cases.
In numerous cases, the city’s conduct was found to be so inappropriate that a federal judge took the unusual step of handing down sanctions.
Lightfoot has acknowledged that members of her team told her about the raid in November 2019, as CBS was doing continued reporting on search warrants being served at the wrong addresses, which the TV station has covered extensively. Lightfoot said her administration would release the emails, though it has not yet done so.
Corporation counsel Mark Flessner laughs as he interacts with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot during the Chicago City Council meeting on Nov. 13, 2019. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
“It was literally somebody saying, mayor, here’s another one, (some) words to that effect, I’m paraphrasing, and I said let’s talk about it, let’s get (former chief risk officer Tamika Puckett) involved, and there was a subsequent email from her because I was pushing her on what are we doing, where are we on revising the search warrant protocols, and she gave a detailed update,” Lightfoot said.
This isn’t Lightfoot’s first flap involving the Law Department. Flessner agreed last year to repay the state about $2,500 for the Chicago tax break he received on a South Loop condo while living in west suburban Naperville.
That move came amid questions about whether Flessner was still residing in Naperville while working in the Lightfoot administration in violation of city residency rules. Lightfoot denied Flessner had a residency problem.
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Around that time, Flessner also agreed to give up his pass to an obscure but exclusive road designed to avoid traffic on a nearly 3-mile roadway known as the McCormick Place Busway. WMAQ-Ch. 5 first reported on that controversy.
Amid media scrutiny, the mayor’s office released a statement saying Flessner had “voluntarily voided his access to the busway, which he used as a convenience in his daily commute from his South Loop residence, given traffic congestion.”
Flessner was a key player in the controversy over Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s report on the night former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep at the wheel after an evening drinking at boozy downtown bar Ceres.
As mayor, Lightfoot backed an ordinance allowing the city’s corporation counsel to decide whether to release IG investigation reports in cases that involve a death or that are “or may be” a felony, and are “of a compelling public interest.” Flessner and Lightfoot decided not to release the IG report on Johnson.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da

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

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 79 new deaths, 6,003 new confirmed and probable cases and 78,079

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 79 new deaths, 6,003 new confirmed and probable cases and 78,079 new test results

Illinois announced 6,003 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Sunday for a total of 900,370 .
The state also @ @ @ @ @ a total of 15,202 and 78,079 new test results for a total of 12.43 million @

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


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--Motorist killed in Ukrainian Village crash identified

Moiz Uddin , 33 , was pronounced dead at 4:02 a.m. at Stroger Hospital on Saturday , according to the @ @ @ @ @ s office .
An autopsy for Uddin , of the 6400 block of North Ridge @ @ @ @ @ Park neighborhood , was scheduled for Sunday .

A motorist who was killed early Saturday after another car possibly ran a red light and crashed into his vehicle in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood has been identified, authorities say.
Moiz Uddin, 33, was pronounced dead at 4:02 a.m. at Stroger Hospital on Saturday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy for Uddin, of the 6400 block of North Ridge Boulevard in the West Rogers Park neighborhood, was scheduled for Sunday.
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About 3:30 a.m., a 23-year-old man was behind the wheel of a black Mazda sedan traveling north on Damen Avenue when he possibly disregarded a red light and crashed into a 2016 Toyota sedan driven by Uddin that was eastbound on Augusta Boulevard, said police, citing preliminary information.
Charges were pending for a “person of interest,” the Mazda driver, who suffered a dislocated hip and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition, according to police.
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dawilliams@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--Driver dies after being shot on West Side by gunman who Chicago cop fired at, officials say

Chicago police officers investIgate the scene of a shooting near a damaged vehicle at LeMoyne and Laramie on Friday , @ @ @ @ @ A person was shot and seriously wounded on the West Side late Friday morning while @ @ @ @ @ , but a department spokesman said no officers fired their guns , contradicting earlier reports @

A man shot in the head by a gunman who Chicago police open fired on has died after the West Side attack on Friday.
Gregory Simmons, 27, was pronounced dead at noon Saturday at Stroger Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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An autopsy is scheduled Sunday for Simmons, of the 600 block of North Avers Avenue.
Chicago police officers, who fired at least three times at the assailant who shot Simmons apparently did not hit the attacker, who was still at large.
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The details, released by officials on the scene, were at least the third version of what happened about 11:45 a.m. Friday in the 1500 block of North Laramie Avenue.
Initially, a department spokesman said police returned fire after being shot at, then said officers had only witnessed someone getting shot and did not fire their guns.
Chief of Patrol Brian McDermott told reporters that community safety team officers saw a gunman fire several rounds at a southbound car, striking Simmons, who was driving. The car crashed at LeMoyne Street and Laramie.
The officers identified themselves and one of them fired three rounds at the gunman.
Chicago police officers investIgate the scene of a shooting near a damaged vehicle at LeMoyne and Laramie on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. A person was shot and seriously wounded on the West Side late Friday morning while police were on the scene, but a department spokesman said no officers fired their guns, contradicting earlier reports. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
“In the defense of the life of the victim, one of the officers involved discharged his weapon,” McDermott said.
The gunman fled west on LeMoyne and police do not believe he was hit by the officer’s fire.
Simmons, who suffered several wounds to the head was initially taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--Bursts of snow predicted in Chicago area Monday morning

Sunday temperatures are expected to be in the 30s with a mixture of clouds , sun and cool breezes .
@ @ @ @ @ into the upper 20s by the evening .
The bursts of snow in Chicago area @ @ @ @ @ 8 a.m. Monday Donofrio said .
The flurries won ’ t accumulate more than an @ @ @ @ @ a good period of time .

Classic Chicago winter weather is on the horizon this week with bursts of snow predicted for late Sunday into Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
“Be prepared to slow down on the roads and be prepared for more winterlike temperatures,” said Kevin Donofrio, a meteorologist with the weather service. “People haven’t been busting out the hats and gloves these days, but it’s time now, especially if you expect to be outside for an extended time.”
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[5:30 AM 12/20] A fast-moving weather system may bring a burst of snow to the area late tonight into Mon. AM. A coating of snow will be possible on elevated surfaces like bridges and overpasses causing slick spots for the AM commute. Prepare for some extra travel time. #ILwx pic.twitter.com/PP0KHRYZbx — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) December 20, 2020
Sunday temperatures are expected to be in the 30s with a mixture of clouds, sun and cool breezes. There will be a drop into the upper 20s by the evening. The bursts of snow in Chicago area are anticipated from 4 to 8 a.m. Monday Donofrio said. The flurries won’t accumulate more than an inch but could fall for a good period of time.
“It may not be snowing everywhere, it will be pockets of little showers,” Donofrio said. Snowfall will likely be north of I-80, he said.
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There may be another chance for isolated snow showers and flurries Monday into the late afternoon but temperatures will be in the upper 30s.
Two pedestrians cross cross North Milwaukee Avenue at West North and North Damen Avenues in Chicago on a cold morning on Dec 2, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Though midweek temperatures could push into the 50s, a strong cold front is expected for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with some snow expected Wednesday night into the morning.
[ Christmas weather in Chicago: The warmest and coldest since 1871 ]
“There’s strong winds into the 20s, it will feel extra uncomfortable considering we haven’t been too cold this season,” he said about Christmas Eve.
As for Christmas Day, the chance for snow is not 0% — but it’s pretty slim.
@JessicaVillag


chicagotribune--2020-12-20--Lake County among Indiana police departments to begin using new roadside drug detection tool

The device called the SoToxa Mobile Test System is a handheld analyzer that uses an oral fluid swab to detect @ @ @ @ @ Results are available roadside within five minutes .

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute is providing 52 police agencies across the state with a new roadside tool that can detect the presence of cocaine, opiates, cannabis and other drugs.
The device called the SoToxa Mobile Test System is a handheld analyzer that uses an oral fluid swab to detect the presence of drugs. Results are available roadside within five minutes.
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Officers will begin using the devices in the field this month. Participating police departments include Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lake County and Muncie.
The institute says a survey shows nearly half of fatally injured drivers with known results tested positive for drugs in 2016, up from 28% a decade ago.


chicagotribune--2020-12-21--Daywatch: A changing Cabrini-Green, hospital workers burned out and the Bears stay alive in playoff

Daywatch: A changing Cabrini-Green, hospital workers burned out and the Bears stay alive in playoff hunt

At Cabrini-Green , the new Chicago bumps up against the old .
But the divide between the housing complex ’ @ @ @ @ @ richer neighbors remains stark , and relations have grown tense .
Exactly how the past @ @ @ @ @ uncertain after a child ’ s killing this summer put a spotlight on the changing @ @

Good morning, Chicago. On Sunday, Illinois officials announced 6,003 new cases of COVID-19 and 79 additional fatalities, breaking a 12-day stretch of at least 100 deaths reported. The state also surpassed 900,000 infections since the start of the pandemic.
In Washington, Congress reached a deal Sunday on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 relief package that includes a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans. The agreement came as a federal advisory panel said people 75 and older and essential workers should be next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine and Moderna shots began shipping out.
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Meanwhile, don’t forget to look up shortly after sunset today to catch a spectacle not seen in 800 years. Jupiter and Saturn will align, creating something astronomers named “The Christmas Star,” not seen since 1623. Here’s how to view it.
Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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For your smart speaker | Holiday gift guide | Join our COVID-19 Facebook group | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games
Jalisa Ford sits on the ground on Aug. 1, 2020, while rubbing the walkway where her 9-year-old son, Janari Andre Ricks, was fatally shot while playing with friends at the Cabrini Green rowhouses the previous evening. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
At Cabrini-Green, the new Chicago bumps up against the old. But the divide between the housing complex’s remaining residents and their richer neighbors remains stark, and relations have grown tense. Exactly how the past and future will mesh is uncertain after a child’s killing this summer put a spotlight on the changing neighborhood.
The slaying of 9-year-old Janari Ricks at Cabrini-Green sparked memories of the housing complex’s troubled past — and hopes for a lasting peace.
Built over two decades starting in 1942, the story of the towers and row homes of Cabrini-Green have mirrored Chicago’s troubled history of grappling of racism and poverty. Here is how the story unfolded.
Consuelo Vargas, an ER nurse at Stroger Hospital, attends a rally with other front-line workers in opposition to funding cuts outside of Provident Hospital on Dec. 10, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Even as the first vaccine shots begin to roll out to health care workers, doctors and nurses say they are struggling to make it through the pandemic’s darkest surge yet, in an atmosphere some describe as bordering on exhaustion.
Federal data shows that roughly 1 in 5 of the state’s hospitals is reporting a “critical” staff shortage each day, a problem reflected in the desperate competition among hospitals for trained staff at a time when the pandemic is straining resources across the country.
A record number of COVID-19 deaths hit Illinois nursing homes last week.
Dolores Castaneda waves at a friend in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on Dec. 18, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Leaders working to inoculate communities of color are often battling an entrenched mistrust of science and medicine, the fallout of long-term systemic racial disparities in health care and historical medical abuses of minority patients.
The Tribune spoke with three of the five hospital workers who received the first shots administered in Chicago. All reported feeling fine, with only slight pain around the injection for the first 24 hours or so.
Body camera footage shows Chicago police officers conducting a raid on social worker Anjanette Young’s home on Feb. 21, 2019. (Chicago Police Department)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s top lawyer, Mark Flessner, has resigned over the Anjanette Young police raid. Flessner announced his resignation in an email to employees on Sunday afternoon.
“I’m resigning because of the firestorm around the whole tape thing,” Flessner told the Tribune in a brief interview. “I’m being accused of trying to hide it, which is not true.”
The city of Chicago disclosed Friday that it failed to give Anjanette Young’s attorney all of the body camera footage of a wrongful police raid on her home
Bears running back David Montgomery scores on a 14-yard touchdown run during the second half against the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 20, 2020. (Bruce Kluckhohn/AP)
David Montgomery is running the best he has in his young career, quarterback Mitch Trubisky is stacking productive outings and all of a sudden the Bears are humming on offense as they prepare to head to Jacksonville on Sunday in the hunt for an NFC wild-card spot.


chicagotribune--2020-12-21--‘The longest-serving athlete’: Pioneering Special Olympian dies

Special Olympics was always more than the competition , though , she said .
Everyone involved became close .
She @ @ @ @ @ Wizard of Oz ” countless times , and that he knew all the words and @ @ @ @ @ some of the other athletes also loved Elvis , offering facts about his life or @ @ @ @ @ A few picked Elvis as their costume for several Halloweens .

Michael "Moose" Cusack carries the torch around the track at the University of Chicago's Stagg Field during the Special Olympics opening ceremony on May 11, 1988, in Chicago. (Charles Cherney / Chicago Tribune)
When Michael “Moose” Cusack was born in the Chicago Lying-in Hospital in 1956, doctors told his parents that something was wrong — he had Down syndrome. They advised: don’t bring him home. It was better to institutionalize him early, his parents were told.
John and Esther Cusack’s first step toward challenging the status quo was bringing their son home. They raised him, loved him and nurtured him the same as his four sisters.
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Their support allowed Moose to become a champion.
As a 12-year-old, he competed at Soldier Field with a thousand other athletes, some swimming in an above ground 4-foot lap pool as others ran around a track at the first ever Special Olympics in 1968.
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He won his first medal there: 25-yard freestyle swim, gold.
By the end of his career, the pioneering Special Olympics Chicago athlete had more medals and ribbons than he could wear at one time. He liked to win, but he didn’t brag.
His sisters plan to place those awards in a basket Tuesday at his wake, a tradition set by Moose’s peers from Marquette Park who died before him.
Michael "Moose" Cusack and his sisters Maureen McCormack, left, and Carole Cusack at Soldier Field during the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics in 2018. (Family Photo)
His loved ones can each take one home to remember Moose, who died at 64 of natural causes associated with Alzheimer’s disease Thursday at Good Shepherd Manor, surrounded by his sisters and caregivers.
“It’s absolutely devastating because he really was such a gift to us,” said Connie McIntosh, Moose’s oldest sister.
“He was gentle. He was kind. He was unfailingly polite. He had a funny and wicked sense of humor. He embraced us all. He lived fully, and he was joyful. He was satisfied by simple things. He was loving and he embraced being loved. He made us better people.”
‘He was the impetus’
His father was a Chicago cop and his mother a homemaker. John and Esther Cusack couldn’t find a school option for Moose once he came of age, so they and a group of other parents decided they would have to make one.
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The group rented a storefront in Bronzeville, McIntosh said. They hired a retired teacher to teach their children. Moose attended that school for several years before moving on to Chicago Public School’s Barnard Elementary.
Michael "Moose" Cusack, center, with his parents, Esther and John Cusack, in the early 1990s. (Family Photo)
A couple years after he started school, his father saw a newspaper article about how the Chicago Park District was beginning a pilot program for children with disabilities at West Pullman Park.
There, he met now-Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke, who recalls that she was then a 20-year-old Chicago Park District physical education teacher.
Burke volunteered in 1965 to lead one of the city’s 10 special education recreational programs, which were partially funded through a $10,000 grant from the Kennedy Foundation. Burke’s first job was to find children to teach at West Pullman Park.
Moose, around 10 years old, became her first student. He soon learned how to swim — and Burke learned to be careful when they told him they were going to the pool because he would run and jump right in. She often took him home after practices and ate dinner with his family.
In 1968, he competed in the first Special Olympics, which started after Burke suggested creating a citywide track meet for special education children. The Kennedy Foundation, chaired by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, donated another $25,000 to help fund the first games.
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“He was the impetus,” Burke said. “He was the reason why we had the first Special Olympics.”
“He’s kind of an icon in our group. … The longest-serving athlete.”
He continued competing — known for his freestyle — until he had a stroke in his 50s that caused him to lose his ability in his left arm, making life more difficult for the left-handed athlete, his oldest sister said.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 28 The Chicago Special Olympics, co-sponsored by the Chicago Park District and the Joseph Kennedy Jr. foundation, was held for the first time on July 20, 1968, at Soldier Field in Chicago. The event provided an athletic competition for people with disabilities. (William Yates / Chicago Tribune)
He traveled around the world for competitions as every year the Special Olympics expanded. Last year’s world games involved more than 7,500 athletes from about 200 countries competing in 24 sports. There are now more than 5 million Special Olympics athletes worldwide.
Moose kept his smile and determination during each competition with a few mishaps along the way, his former coaches said.
Once in the early 1970s, he lost his swim trunks while doing a flip turn but didn’t stop until he was out of the pool. He had to finish the race, even if naked.
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A family’s impact
Pat Molloy has two medals she keeps in her car. She sometimes hangs them on her mirror and thinks of the good times with the two former athletes they belonged to, Kevin O’Brien and Pat McHugh.
When she goes to Moose’s wake, she wants to get a swimming medal to keep with the others, reuniting the playful athletes and sparking memories from their many trips. Molloy was one of Moose’s coaches, starting in the early 1990s, when he was in his 30s.
Moose played several sports including basketball, bowling, skiing and floor hockey. She introduced him to golf in 1993. His oldest sister jokingly said he became so good that he beat her and she decided not to play again.
But swimming remained his forte. Molloy said the first time she made a mistake while coaching was when she raced Moose.
“I don’t think I even hit the water and he was already halfway,” she said. “I thought I was a good swimmer. This kid, like, glided across the water.”
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After the race, he never came up to her to gloat about the win. He got out of the pool and went on with his business.
Special Olympics was always more than the competition, though, she said. Everyone involved became close. She knew Moose watched “The Wizard of Oz” countless times, and that he knew all the words and the songs. He and some of the other athletes also loved Elvis, offering facts about his life or dancing to his music. A few picked Elvis as their costume for several Halloweens.
Most of the players had nicknames for each other, and usually would only respond to them, not their real names. Moose’s oldest sister said his nickname came from the family calling him Mickey, which morphed to Mickey Mouse, then Mickey Moose, then just Moose.
Michael "Moose" Cusack and his sisters Connie McIntosh, from left, Carole Cusack, Maureen McCormack and Colette Cusack celebrate Moose's 60th birthday in 2016. (Family photo)
Another of his former coaches, Gerry Henaghan, who retired last year as the Park District’s special recreation manager, said she remembers how her hellos with Moose were always with a shared wink and he would click his cheeks. Even as he was getting older and his memory was fading, he sometimes connected with the wink.
The Cusack family was known for their special needs advocacy work, Henaghan said. Even after Moose’s parents died, his sisters, including McIntosh, Maureen McCormack, Colette and Carole Cusack, continued to volunteer and two worked in special education. One of Moose’s nieces, Kate Grant, works as a special recreation coordinator at McGuane Park.
“That whole family made an impact on the world,” Henaghan said. “I would like people to remember Michael by not only himself but his amazing family and how they set the standards for people with disabilities.”
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The treatment of people with disabilities has changed considerably over Moose’s lifetime.
The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990 after people, including the Cusacks, had been pushing for decades. Most schoolchildren now have connections with children who have special needs. Most people now know of the Special Olympics, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018, back at Soldier Field.
Moose was part of the beginning of an era, McIntosh said. He helped pave the way.
“This is a social change,” she said. “There’s no going back.”
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-12-21--A child’s killing at Cabrini-Green sparks memories of a neighborhood’s troubled past, and hopes for

A child’s killing at Cabrini-Green sparks memories of a neighborhood’s troubled past, and hopes for a lasting peace

“ They ’ re not going to go back to 100 % public housing , ” Hammond said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ CHA , is to bring mixed in the communities now .
Not just all minority @ @ @ @ @ That ’ s all over with .
That ’ s the main reason of the @ @ @ @ @ with development of the CHA , is to put us all together .
They feel @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s less crime .

Megan Crepeau, William Lee, Jeremy Gorner

The Cabrini-Green rowhouses are illuminated as the sun rises behind the city skyline Dec. 3, 2020, in Chicago. The rowhouses are the surviving Cabrini buildings near where the infamous high-rise housing projects stood. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
At the corner of Chicago and Hudson avenues, a stone’s throw from Cabrini-Green’s rowhouses, kale and tomatoes grow in rows of soil mounded on top of asphalt.
“It’s on top of all the memories of basketball tournaments and people gathering,” said Ben Jaffe, director of Chicago Lights Urban Farm, which uses the space.
The site has been a garden since 2003, when the dirt was hauled in and arranged on the public housing complex’s old basketball court in hopes of building a green and nourishing space for Cabrini. Since then, it has hosted camps and internships for neighborhood kids, a farm stand and a vegetable-box delivery program.
Now plants are nurtured with compost produced on-site, turning garden scraps into rich, natural fertilizer.
“Much like the site was repurposed, all the materials used to grow things are repurposed,” Jaffe said.
Jaffe was at the farm on Halloween to dedicate a new garden space to 9-year-old Janari Ricks, shot and killed nearby in July. The loss of another child there brought back echoes of an old Cabrini that, while it produced strong community bonds, was a tenser, more violent place. The killing was a flashback that seemed rooted in those tragic parts of Cabrini’s history.
Janari never knew the basketball court, but he loved the farm. He worked and played there each summer from the time he was 5.
The new “Nari Garden” faces out onto a busy strip of Chicago Avenue, where passersby can see its decorative features in blue and yellow — Golden State Warriors colors for Janari’s favorite team. There are plans to build a slide and a climbing structure, and grow kid-friendly fruits like apples and currants and plums.
Nobody knows how long it will last.
Janyla Strong, 7, left, and her cousin, Jaia Patterson, 9, paint pumpkins after attending a dedication ceremony for the Nari Garden, named after 9-year-old Janari Ricks, next to the Cabrini-Green rowhouses on Oct. 31, 2020, in Chicago. Janari was fatally shot on July 31 while he was playing at the Cabrini-Green rowhouses. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
The land is leased from the Chicago Housing Authority, which for decades has coordinated redevelopment of public housing into new mixed-income properties. The farm already grows in the shadow of shiny new high-rises. For it to remain a community garden would go against every prevailing trend.
Real estate agents and new transplants call the neighborhood Near North, but Jaffe insists on keeping Cabrini’s name alive.
“That community still exists and still is here,” he told the Tribune as neighborhood residents walked around the farm, occasionally stopping to tell him hello.
“What most people know about is the more infamous things. It has the infamous association because of its geographical proximity to the Gold Coast, and there’s a lot of positive things — hey, Darlene, how you doing? — a lot of positive things that happen here. This is a community with a lot of ties to each other. A lot of history, a lot of good things, a lot of problems. But there’s a lot of problems everywhere.”
‘Little Hell’
In the late 1800s, long before the rowhouses and the condos and the Nari Garden, the stretch of land just east of Goose Island was polluted and ramshackle, with slapped-together wooden structures two and three to a lot. It went from German to Irish to Swedish to Sicilian. Somewhere along the way, it earned the nickname “Little Hell.”
As the Tribune long ago described it, the neighborhood was “a rabbit warren of vermin-invested, garbage-strewn alleys, gangways and dangerous streets in which residents endured a rate of violent crime 12 times that of non-slum neighborhoods.”
In the first quarter of the 20th century, “Little Hell” was the stomping grounds of a tough young band of rogues and extortioners known as the Black Hand, an early relative of the Chicago Outfit.
Oak Street and Cleveland Avenue was the infamous “Death Corner,” where the assassin known as the “Shotgun Man” killed dozens, according to Tribune archives. Nearly half of the 2,300 structures there were without a bath or shower. Many had no private toilets. Some relied on coal heat.
Black Southerners, who came north in waves during the Great Migration, were among the last to arrive in the area. Among them was the family of Janari’s mother Jalisa Ford, which came up from Birmingham, Alabama.
Black families were among the first to move into the new rowhouses after “Little Hell” was razed, making way for a new vision of low-income housing. The yellow brick rowhouses where Janari would live were completed in 1942.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 50 Cabrini Green Housing Project on July 22, 1976. (Mark Perlstein / Chicago Tribune)
The progressive head of the CHA board of directors at the time, Elizabeth Wood, saw them as part of an elegant multiracial solution to the city’s housing shortage — and a potential steppingstone into middle-class life for families leaving the slums.
But racial tensions already were flaring in white neighborhoods, and white flight to suburban communities had begun. A number of full-scale race riots over public housing integration erupted in Trumbull Park, Park Manor and at the Midway Airport Homes.
A vertical ghetto
Any hope of racially mixed housing was dashed in 1948, when the Illinois General Assembly passed a statute granting the City Council final approval over all land purchases proposed as public housing sites.
Aldermen in white wards throughout the city could easily kill any land purchases they believed were intended to house Black residents. The move effectively killed integration in public housing. And in response, the CHA built the high-rises, which could fit more people onto smaller plots of land.
The CHA was building copies of high-rises in quick succession, without stepping back to study their effect on people before the next one was constructed, Wood said in 1985.
“It seemed to me so anti-family and inhumane, but it was just an inevitable flow because land acquisition was so difficult. I always had the feeling that there was a poverty of thinking in the design stage — the ignorance of what was humane in housing,” Wood said. “What is the role (of) a 14-year-old boy in a large project? How is he supposed to fit in? Nobody has thought it out as a human problem.”
Wood, who had directed the agency since 1937, was forced out in 1953.
Two years later, new Mayor Richard J. Daley broke ground on Cabrini’s first high-rise site. Buildings known as the reds and the whites for their brick colors went up over the next two decades, and filled up nearly as fast as they were built.
But Chicago’s Great Migration-era promise was eroding quickly. The Black southern families who arrived in the 1960s, like that of Darrell Johnson, who is accused of shooting Janari, moved into the city just as the lower-skill industrial and factory jobs that had drawn so many began to wane.
So instead of joining the growing number of Black Chicago families leaving the city’s grossly overcrowded Black sections for new homes in the suburbs and the bungalow belt, thousands of its poorest, many of them large, mother-led households, had to take refuge in the expanding sphere of public housing developments.
Residents look out from a Cabrini-Green public housing high-rise in July 1970. A U.S. Supreme Court decision led to a housing revolution that included the razing of the notorious complex and others like it. (Ovie Carter/Chicago Tribune)
“We were hoping to keep the project 75 % white and 25 % Black, with a large mix of people of varying backgrounds, ages and family sizes,” J.S. Fuerst, former director of CHA’s research and statistics, said in 1985.
“It could have been a desirable place to live. Instead, the city packed the place with the same sorts of families with the same sorts of problems, and it became housing of the last resort, a place people would move to only if they were too poor to live anywhere else,” Fuerst said.
But those families, reacting to those problems, created an intense common bond for generations. Cabrini became a strong community bubble within a decaying urban ghetto. Residents past and present say it to this day: Everybody knows everybody. Everybody is family.
“All the parents knew all the children. You can eat anywhere. You can sleep anywhere. I can remember when the doors was actually left unlocked,” community activist Raymond Richard, 52, said of growing up in the rowhouses.
“I mean, it was so much love (in) how we grew up and how we was raised that we didn’t even know we were poor.”
But as the buildings deteriorated, gangs and violence began to take root. At age 11, Richard joined a gang, becoming a “baby Disciple,” he said. The crack epidemic of the 1980s took hold of the neighborhood during his teens.
“The gang violence perpetuated, the killings, the robberies, you name it,” Richard said, “it was done and it was horrifying, and for you to survive that was a miracle in itself.”
A tragic timeline
Former residents can still rattle off the names of each high-rise — 500 Oak, 1015 Larrabee — and the names of the gangs that used to run them. Vice Lords, Gangster Disciples, Mickey Cobras.
Ken Hammond, now Jalisa Ford’s fiance, grew up in the high-rises. He said he is the younger brother of a notorious Cabrini gang leader.
But he did his best to stay away from all of that. He worked at the Chicago Park District and as a janitor in the high-rises, both the whites and the reds. He got a firsthand look at his neighborhood’s neglect and decay.
“It started deteriorating,” he told the Tribune. “The rodents that was in the buildings. It was just unbearable, unlivable.”
Some residents would leave their apartments on upper floors to shop and return to find broken elevators. “You have groceries. You gotta walk all (those) groceries up … sometimes elevators would be out all week or two,” Hammond said.
As conditions devolved and crime took hold, Cabrini took a place in Chicago lore. It became a place synonymous with urban decay and crime.
In 1970, Chicago police Sgt. James Severin and Officer Anthony Rizzato were killed by snipers in a nearby park.
It was "gimme five" as Mayor Jane Byrne shook hands with youngsters on April 2, 1981, outside a Cabrini-Green building, where she earlier waved to the crowd from the window of her fourth-floor apartment. (Jerry Tomaselli / Chicago Tribune)
In early 1981, Mayor Jane Byrne drew national attention and praise for her three-week stay in Apt. 402 at the 1160 N. Sedgwick St. building, a 19-story high-rise known as “The Rock.” The mayor’s stunt, which included round-the-clock police protection, was billed as a demonstration of her commitment to ridding Cabrini of gangs and violent crime.
In 1992, 7-year-old Dantrell Davis was gunned down, an unintended target walking to school. His death sparked a “peace treaty” between gangs in the area; for a time, they put down their guns.
Dantrell Davis, 7, was hit in the head in 1992 by a bullet fired from a Cabrini high-rise. (Family photo)
In 1997, a 9-year-old girl was grabbed from a stairwell from the 1121 N. Larrabee building, tortured, raped and left for dead back in the stairwell by her attacker, who filled her mouth with roach repellent. The ordeal endured by “Girl X” shocked the country.
But Cabrini’s community bonds, and the common existential threats of violence and political meddling, fostered a fierce tradition of grassroots advocacy there, one that grew to earn a measure of political and legal power.
Still, by 1994, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development had found that the whites and reds, all 23 of them, were not viable. That is, they were in a state of such serious decline that the CHA could no longer invest money in them, according to court records.
Ultimately, the city decided the best way to handle the situation would be to tear them down.
‘We forced into the plan’
Janari’s mother, Jalisa Ford, and her fiance, Ken Hammond, both grew up in Cabrini. But their views of the neighborhood are colored by a generational divide.
Ford, 28, grew up hearing stories of the old days, the thriving Cabrini community of her grandmother’s generation. She spent her formative years watching the rowhouses empty out and the high-rises come down.
“We didn’t stick together as a community at some point. The structure was over with … we had an opportunity to fight for the land,” she told the Tribune. “But of course the people don’t want to stick together, so we lost out.”
Hammond, 51, interjected, as if to say it’s not that simple. The city didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. He saw firsthand how Cabrini was left to deteriorate.
And as new condos and development has sprouted along Cabrini’s old borders, community advocates have been fighting hard for a seat at the table. Hammond knows, because he is one of them.
Cabrini residents had long contended the CHA wanted to squeeze them out. In 1996, the Cabrini-Green Local Advisory Council took the city to court, alleging the authority’s plans for the area displaced residents and limited affordable housing in the area, violating the Fair Housing Act. The residents were not involved in the planning process, they said.
City Hall denied it vehemently. Chicago leaders were doing the best they could to preserve public housing, they said, given federal restrictions and the speedy pace of development on the coveted real estate.
In 2000, they reached a settlement: a consent decree that guaranteed the Local Advisory Council a voice in the planning process, a share of the profits of certain new development in the neighborhood and a promise that development plans would include hundreds of new public and affordable housing units for low-income residents.
“We forced into the plan,” Hammond said. “(Our) biggest struggle from the community is our equal rights in the redevelopment plan, meaning that if you’re building on the land that we should be entitled to some of the decision-making in there, some of the planning that’s going on in there.”
Richard J. Daley broke ground on the high-rises; his son helped tear them down. It was the era of the “Plan for Transformation,” a project under former Mayor Richard M. Daley that reflected a fundamental shift in thinking about public housing.
Take low-income residents out of squalid, crime-ridden developments, transplant them into mixed-income communities and give them a chance to thrive, the thinking went.
So the reds and the whites were demolished, one by one, from 1995 until 2011, when 1230 N. Burling came down. Cabrini-Green’s last high-rise tenant was Janari’s grandmother, Annie Ricks, who moved to the South Side.
Demolition begins on the final Cabrini-Green high-rise on March 30, 2011. (Chicago Tribune)
Hammond, who spent his life living in and maintaining the high-rises, got work with the wrecking company that knocked them down.
More than a decade later, there is shock in his voice when he describes the disintegration he saw.
“The guts! It was terrible,” he said. “Not just rusty — some pipes you could touch, and they was bending just by touching them. A pipe is sturdy. Pipe supposed to last years.”
Hammond and his crew went unit by unit, tearing out cabinets and asbestos. When he stepped into one of the units, he went into a daze. His brother had been killed there in 1981.
He sat on the floor and began to cry.
He was there for so long his supervisor went looking for him: “Where’s Ken?”
“I had to get up out of there, get to work,” Hammond said. “Because it was business to them, but it was memories to me.”
‘It should be preserved’
“The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) is creating a vibrant mixed-income community with amenities that benefit all residents,” the agency wrote in a statement to the Tribune. They declined to make anyone available for an interview.
As public housing developments came down across Chicago, thousands of public housing residents signed a “right to return,” a promise that if they left home, they would be given the first choice of rehabilitated properties in their old neighborhood.
In fall 1999, 1,770 Cabrini families were granted that right, and as of this year, 60% had exercised it and returned. But nearly 300 Cabrini families are in the wind — nonresponsive to CHA, but with the option to reinstate their “right to return” if they resurface.
Meanwhile, many recent transplants to Chicago, if they have heard of Cabrini at all, assume that it is already completely demolished.
Ting Ting Lin, who lives just east of the rowhouses, grew up in the suburbs and did hear about Cabrini’s notoriety.
When she and her husband bought their nearby apartment a couple of years ago, the message from everyone involved was clear: Buy now, because the neighborhood is only getting better.
“Our contractor, the Realtor, the other Realtor, they would tell us like how back in the day this was an area you wouldn’t even stop at stop lights,” she said. “Kind of insinuating that Cabrini won’t be there forever. ... Trying to sell us as a great investment because the low-income housing won’t always be there.”
After moving in, they taught themselves more about the history of Cabrini — the would-be urban utopia, torched by endemic crime and left to fall apart.
“To learn about that juxtaposed with what it looks like now, the rowhomes being just the one street and all around it really is pretty barren or boarded-up homes, we always just thought that was like, so sad,” she said. “Why the city wouldn’t either upkeep it better or just make it a little more friendly-feeling.”
After Lin and her husband heard about Janari’s shooting on the news, they stopped by Cambridge Avenue to leave flowers at a memorial. A friend of Ford’s introduced herself and invited them to a peace march she was planning for the next week. They joined in, and then got involved with a back-to-school peace march in early September, held in remembrance of Janari.
Jalisa Ford visits a memorial for her 9-year-old son, Janari Ricks, at the Cabrini-Green rowhouses on Aug. 1, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Lin reached out to family and friends, asking for donations. In the end, they bought 91 backpacks and filled them with school supplies for the neighborhood kids who walked in the march.
“(Cabrini is) like this tiny little segment of neighborhood that is surrounded by a lot of affluent neighbors and buildings and homes. And I think that a lot of people are like, why is this land not being developed?” Lin told the Tribune. “But after getting to know everyone who lives there … we feel like it should be preserved.”
A brokered peace
The route for the September peace march brought participants across Division Street and back. It was a symbolic choice, made for the same reasons Division Street was chosen for Janari’s honorary street sign.
It is prominent and highly trafficked. And for decades, Cabrini native Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., 27th, said at the street-sign ceremony, it lived up to its name as a border between conflicting factions.
“It divided the whites against the reds,” Burnett said. “The whites against the rowhouses. Marshall Field (Garden Apartments) against Cabrini-Green. There’s been so many divisions on this street. It’s time to break that division, y’all!”
The simmering conflicts did not lead to Janari’s shooting. But past violence can be linked to them.
Janari Ricks, 9, was shot and killed on July 31, 2020, at the Cabrini-Green rowhouses. (Family photo / Handout)
After Janari’s death, some involved brokered a tentative peace — similar to the treaty worked out after Dantrell Davis was gunned down while holding his mother’s hand on that fateful walk to school.
“We’re the seniors of the community,” said Shawn Childs, a former gang member who helped negotiate the peace after Janari’s death. “We just came together, spoke to the guys down here, and then spoke to the guys down there and said, ‘A little boy just got killed, let’s try to make peace for a minute. Let’s try to keep it calm.’ And they agreed to it, like, ‘Cool, OK.’ You know, we can’t promise that it’s going to stay like that, but they agreed at that time.”
Since his gangbanging days, Childs has taken charge of the House of Hope foundation, a community organization geared toward mentoring youths. In late September, he hosted a drive to collect socks for neighborhood kids.
He hopes the peace treaty holds.
“We talk to them, we talk to the kids down here. We just keep communication going. Hoping for the best. If it break, it break,” he said. “But you’ve just got to hope for the best, you know?”
He has no relationship with the new neighbors, who have the kind of money for more than just socks. But he hopes they reach out, he said.
A happy, energetic place
As of September, there were 131 families living in the rowhouses. The inhabited units were renovated in 2009.
To the east, more than 430 units are vacant. In February, the CHA solicited “requests for proposals” for the vacant rowhouses, asking for plans on how to develop the site.
It is intended to be a mixed-income development.
“They’re not going to go back to 100% public housing,” Hammond said. “That’s the new CHA, is to bring mixed in the communities now. Not just all minority Black or minority Latinos. That’s all over with. That’s the main reason of the renovation and the new reputation with development of the CHA, is to put us all together. They feel when they do that, it’s less crime.
“We all know CHA trying to take the rowhouses. Because of this business. They trying to buy out, everybody’s trying to buy out this land. … Remember, this is the highest and the richest part of Chicago.”
This summer, the CHA’s inspector general brought some surprising allegations to light. The head of the Local Advisory Council, Carol Steele, had been taking the cash meant for nonprofit neighborhood services and spending it on herself, they said.
They found more than $52,000 in contractor payments to the father of Steele’s children, who lives in Indiana. And $2,500 went to funeral expenses for her brother. More than $25,000 in checks were made out to petty cash, most without a record of the money’s purposes.
A federal judge in August said Steele and her attorneys did “not really offer any helpful counter-evidence.” The two sides have been in off-the-record settlement conferences ever since.
Burnett said the legal troubles had somewhat stalled the plans for redeveloping the rowhouse site.
Meanwhile, in November, Jalisa Ford — who spent her entire life at the rowhouses — moved out.
She had been lobbying CHA for a new unit earlier in the year, a place with room for her and her mother and Janari so they didn’t all have to share a two-bedroom. But CHA only gave her a new spot after Janari was killed.
Jalisa Ford, center, mother of slain 9-year-old Janari Ricks, walks with others during a peace march in honor of her son on Sept. 5, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
She lives a few blocks north now, on Cleveland Avenue, not far from Division. The unit has a spare bedroom that she plans to turn into a memorial to Janari, displaying his portrait and the souvenir copy of his honorary street sign.
But not “a sad room,” she said. A happy, energetic place. Maybe with a gaming setup or an arcade, for neighborhood kids to visit.
Ford keeps steadily busy since her son’s death. She has a coiled-spring sort of energy and has directed it into an avalanche of plans: A foundation in her son’s honor. A holiday toy drive in his name. Plans to go to college and get “a couple of degrees.” She has plans to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against the security company that worked the rowhouse site.
And she loves her new apartment.
“It’s been time for a change, but I’m enjoying that change,” she said. “The sun is always in the house.”
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
wlee@chicagotribune.com
jgorner@chicagotribune.com