chicagotribune--2020-10-20--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Oct. 20 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

When the latest rollbacks take effect later this week , four of the 11 regions in Pritzker ’ s reopening @ @ @ @ @ stricter requirements , which also include lowering a cap on gatherings from 50 people to @ @ @ @ @ take effect Thursday in the 20 southernmost counties in Illinois and have been in effect @ @ @ @ @ nine counties in the state ’ s northwest corner .

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois is rolling back reopening restrictions across a wide swath of suburban Chicago this week as the state continues to see a major resurgence of COVID-19.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday afternoon that starting later this week, indoor service will be prohibited once again at restaurants and bars in DuPage, Kane, Will and Kankakee counties, an area that’s home to more than 1 in 6 Illinois residents.
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Meanwhile, city officials announced five more states were added to Chicago’s travel quarantine order, while none were removed. Starting Friday, travelers heading from Colorado, Ohio, Delaware, West Virginia and Texas will be subject to the city’s two-week quarantine requirement.
Illinois health officials on Tuesday also announced 3,714 new known cases of COVID-19 and 41 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 350,875 and the statewide death toll to 9,277 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 59,077 new tests in the prior 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate as of Tuesday was 5.5%.
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Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
4:55 p.m.: McConnell warns White House not to make COVID-19 relief deal with Democrats
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday told fellow Republicans that he has warned the White House not to divide the GOP by sealing a lopsided pre-election COVID-19 relief deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — even as he publicly said he’d slate any such agreement for a vote.
McConnell made his remarks during a private lunch with fellow Republicans on Tuesday, three people familiar with his remarks said, requesting anonymity because the session was private.
The Kentucky Republican appears worried that an agreement between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would drive a wedge between Republicans, forcing them to choose whether to support a Pelosi-blessed deal with Trump that would violate conservative positions they’ve stuck with for months. Many Republicans say they can’t vote for another huge Pelosi-brokered agreement.
McConnell’s move dampens even further any potential for an agreement and comes as Pelosi and Mnuchin have arrived at a critical phase of their talks if any relief is going to be enacted by Election Day. The contours of a potential deal are taking shape behind the scenes even as President Donald Trump’s GOP allies are recoiling at the administration’s tolerance for a $2 trillion package.
McConnell said if such a bill passed the Democratic-controlled House with Trump’s blessing “we would put it on the floor of the Senate.” Those public remarks came after the private session with fellow Republicans.
Read more here. —Associated Press
4:35 p.m.: Lake County Health Department calls on schools to immediately end in-person classes and return to virtual learning
The Lake County Health Department recommended Tuesday that all public and private schools in the county currently educating children in the classroom immediately return to virtual learning because of the threats posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
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School officials responded in a variety of ways. Some said they will follow the recommendation, others indicated they will not, while a number suggested they are undecided.
The health department recommended all public and private schools, from kindergarten through high school, in Lake County move to remote learning immediately to reduce the “substantial” community transmission of COVID-19.
Mark Pfister, the executive director of the health department, said in a press release the seven-day rolling average of new cases of the virus was more than 14 per 100,000 residents as of Oct. 11, and has since risen to more than 20.
“We have been seeing ‘substantial’ community transmission of COVID-19 in Lake County for seven consecutive days, with rates of new cases that we haven’t seen since the spring,” Pfister said.
When the number of new cases rises to more than 14 per 100,000, it is considered substantial and remote learning is recommended, according to the release.
Read more here. —Steve Sadin
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4:20 p.m.: Prospects dim for return of Chicago’s convention industry. ‘I would say definitely not 2021.’
Chicago’s convention industry, one of the city’s major sources of tax revenue, might not return in any significant fashion until 2022, dealing a prolonged financial blow to the city as it struggles to make up a $1.2 billion budget shortfall.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is scheduled to present her plan to close the city’s budget deficit Wednesday, which might include increases to property and gas taxes, as well as city worker layoffs.
With COVID-19 cases on the rise again and business and international air travel depressed, trade show organizers continue to examine plans for next year. Already, eight shows scheduled at McCormick Place through April have been canceled, and one has been rescheduled for later in 2021.
Since March, 161 McCormick Place trade shows scheduled for this year and early 2021 have been nixed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Those shows were expected to generate more than $2 billion in spending, with an estimated attendance of 1.6 million people, according to spokeswoman Cynthia McCafferty. About 63% expect to return at a later date, she said.
Chicago could lose an estimated $77 million in tax revenue as a result of the cancellations, according to Zafer Sönmez, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois at Chicago who studies the economic impact of McCormick Square, the sprawling 2.6 million-square-foot campus that includes McCormick Place, Wintrust Arena, Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and Marriott Marquis Chicago.
At least two vaccines that had been in late-stage testing have recently been put on hold. Sönmez said even if a vaccine is developed in the coming months, companies and event organizers will be hesitant to send employees to large gatherings until it is widely available.
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“I would say definitely not 2021. We will still observe very low numbers for 2021. And starting at the end of 2022, we could see some activity,” Sönmez said.
For Chicago, the absence of conventions could spell more trouble for the city’s finances. Sönmez said the city generates about $145 million in tax revenue annually from conventions and other events hosted at McCormick Square.
Now, organizers are rethinking plans well into next year.
Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez
3:40 p.m.: McConnell says Pelosi-Mnuchin deal would get Senate vote despite GOP rank-and-file opposition
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he’ll schedule a vote if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Trump administration are able to seal an agreement on a huge COVID-19 relief bill.
The Kentucky Republican’s remarks came as Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have arrived at a critical phase of their talks — a deadline day of sorts — if any relief is going to be enacted by Election Day. The contours of a potential deal are taking shape behind the scenes even as President Donald Trump’s GOP allies are recoiling at the administration’s tolerance for a $2 trillion package.
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Despite GOP opposition, McConnell said if such a bill passed the Democratic-controlled House with Trump’s blessing “we would put it on the floor of the Senate.”
Pelosi and Mnuchin were slated to talk again Tuesday amid signs that they are continuing to narrow their differences. Pelosi said Tuesday that they remain at odds over refundable tax credits for the working poor and families with children, the size of a Democratic-sought aid package for state and local governments, and a liability shield for businesses and other organizations against lawsuits over their COVID preparations.
The Pelosi-Mnuchin talks also involve pandemic jobless aid, a second round of $1,200 direct payments, and money for schools, testing and vaccines.
Read more here. —Associated Press
12:40 p.m. (updated at 3:20 p.m., 6 p.m.) : Illinois orders tighter restrictions on bars, restaurants and gatherings in several suburban counties as coronavirus positivity rates rise
Roughly a third of Illinois' 102 counties and a quarter of its residents soon will be living under stricter rules aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus as the state attempts to rein in a resurgent pandemic.
Starting Friday, indoor service at bars and restaurants will be prohibited in DuPage, Kane, Will and Kankakee counties, an area that’s home to more than 1 in 6 Illinois residents, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday.
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latest wave of restrictions would make it even more difficult to stay in business as winter looms and outdoor dining becomes less of an option.
“It’s absolutely devastating that this has happened again,” said Raffi Demerdjian, general manager of Empire Burger & Brew in Naperville. “The restaurant business is difficult as it is. To be put through these restrictions makes it more difficult ... it’s a sickening, sickening feeling.”
The two regions that comprise DuPage, Kane, Will and Kankakee counties are the latest to see their economic reopenings partially rolled back after experiencing spikes in the percentage of coronavirus tests returning positive results. As of Saturday, the seven-day average of positivity rates in the regions remained above a state-established threshold of 8% for the third straight day, triggering the clampdown.
When the latest rollbacks take effect later this week, four of the 11 regions in Pritzker’s reopening plan will be under the stricter requirements, which also include lowering a cap on gatherings from 50 people to 25. The tighter rules take effect Thursday in the 20 southernmost counties in Illinois and have been in effect since Oct. 3 in the nine counties in the state’s northwest corner.
“There is no easy fix for the effects of this virus on our economy and on our public health,” Pritzker said at his daily COVID-19 briefing. “But we can and we will manage through this.”
Read more here. —Dan Petrella
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11 a.m.: Chicago-area hospitals brace for influx of COVID-19 patients amid second wave
Chicago area hospitals are again bracing for large numbers of COVID-19 patients as Illinois enters what some care calling a second wave of the illness.
If the number of hospitalizations rises high enough, it’s possible hospital COVID-19 units that were shut down could be reactivated, hospitals could again add more beds to handle patient overflows, some visitor policies could become more restrictive, and elective surgeries could be postponed, hospital leaders said.
Chicago area hospitals aren’t at that point yet, but some have seen rapidly rising numbers of people needing overnight care in recent days.
As of Sunday night, 2,096 people in the state with COVID-19 were hospitalized, up from 1,631 two weeks earlier. On Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned that “in Illinois, it looks like a new wave could be upon us” and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot labeled the increases a “second surge.” The illness is already overwhelming hospitals in neighboring Wisconsin.
During the first wave, on May 1, there were 4,719 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Illinois.
“We are definitely seeing an increase in hospitalizations that we noticed for the first time on Thursday,” said Dr. Stuart Marcus, Amita Health’s executive vice president and chief clinical officer. “We noticed it right away and said, ‘Oh boy, all right.’”
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Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
10:35 a.m.: 5 states added to Chicago’s travel quarantine order: 'We all need to double down on COVID precautions’
Five more states, including Ohio, were added to Chicago’s travel quarantine order while none were removed, city officials announced Tuesday.
Starting Friday, travelers heading from Colorado, Ohio, Delaware, West Virginia and Texas will be subject to the city’s two-week quarantine requirement, according to a news release. For the Lone Star state, this week will be the third time Chicago has added it to its travel order.
Last week, the city placed Indiana on its list for the first time, ensuring all four states bordering Illinois are part of the order. A state gets placed on the list if it averages more than 15 new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period.
The 31 states and territories that will be covered by the order on Friday will be: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Read more here. — Alice Yin
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9:40 a.m.: 11 Big Ten mayors send a letter to the conference seeking clarity and details on COVID-19 protocols
The Big Ten football season begins in three days, and the conference has yet to supply certain information regarding COVID-19 protocols.
On Tuesday morning, mayors from 11 Big Ten cities — including Evanston and Madison, Wis. — sent a letter to conference officials asking for assistance.
The letter, from Mayor Aaron Stephens of East Lansing, Mich., states the group is “respectfully requesting a few practical measures to ensure each college and university community is better prepared for the continued fight against COVID-19. The mayors have requested that the Big Ten Conference work with local and county health officials in Big Ten college communities to define population positivity rates at which it is no longer safe to host a football game given the increased community activity (i.e. social gatherings and alcohol consumption) that games tend to generate.”
The 11 mayors are from the towns and cities home to Michigan State, Wisconsin, Maryland, Penn State, Michigan, Northwestern, Purdue, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio State.
Read more here. —Teddy Greenstein
9:15 a.m.: Naperville District 203 puts hold on back-to-school plans as COVID-19 cases increase in DuPage
Naperville School District 203 has pushed back plans to bring students back to the classroom to November, citing advice from the DuPage County Health Department because COVID-19 cases are increasing.
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Superintendent Dan Bridges announced the decision in a message send to parents and staff Monday. While some students in specialized programs will continue to attend in-person programs, hybrid classes won’t start until Nov. 4.
Some and preschool and elementary students in Naperville schools were scheduled to return this week a part-time schedule of in-person class in which they would come to school on half days twice a week and do remote learning the rest of the time.
However, the switch to block scheduling for junior high and high school students will continue as planned this week, Bridges said.
Read more here. — Rafael Guerrero
9 a.m.: Indiana county clerk refuses to wear mask while administering polls
A county clerk in rural Indiana says she will not wear a mask while overseeing early voting despite the county’s surge of coronavirus cases and warnings from a state official.
Fountain County Clerk Paula Copenhaver said she will “not be part of the government overreach” and contends social distancing and hand sanitizer are enough.
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Valerie Warycha, spokeswoman for the secretary of state, confirmed Friday that Connie Lawson contacted Copenhaver to ask her to wear a mask.
Lawson also wrote in an email on Friday to clerks and election officials in all 92 Indiana counties that if poll workers refuse to wear masks or other protection, clerks should thank them for their service “and ask that they voluntarily resign.”
Lawson did not mention any clerks or counties by name in her email, and she did not issue any mandates. State elected officials do not have the authority to do that, Warycha said.
Lawson said the election is “the time to be careful, not cavalier,” and that clerks needed to put public health before personal preference, the Journal & Courier reported.
Read more here. —Associated Press
7:02 a.m.: Pritzker to hold daily coronavirus briefing Tuesday
As a sign of the seriousness of the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday the state would resume holding daily weekday coronavirus briefings, something he gave up doing in the spring, after case rates declined following a period of tight lockdowns statewide.
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Pritzker moved to briefings on an as-needed or weekly basis in June, with daily numbers released around noon via news release each day after that.
“All of this takes place in a national landscape of increasing positivity rates, and where the majority of our border states have been called out as national hot spots,” Pritzker said Monday.
Tuesday’s briefing was set to be held in the midafternoon at the Thompson Center. Check back for updates. — Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: Just as schools begin to reopen, many are closing again as COVID-19 surges: ‘It’s almost an impossible situation’
It took more than six months and countless hours for New Trier High School officials to develop and execute an elaborate plan to bring students back into the classroom safely and gradually this fall for in-person instruction.
But it took just five days for administrators to halt their new COVID-19-era hybrid plan and send students back to their bedrooms for remote learning, at least for the time being.
The decision to put the brakes on New Trier’s hybrid plan came last week after a spike in COVID-19 cases in suburban Chicago and after the state reported some of the highest numbers of new cases since May.
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Now, with the Illinois Department of Public Health on Monday reporting more than 3,100 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, suburban Chicago school district officials who in recent months have faced intense pressure from parents, demanding that schools reopen, will be forced to make day-to-day decisions with consequences that extend far beyond academics.
“I think everyone recognizes that in-person instruction is better for students than remote learning, but the problem is, reopening schools is not about an inconvenience — it’s a matter of life and death,” said Timothy Dohrer, an assistant professor at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy.
Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
6 a.m.: Why are Chicagoans moving away during the pandemic? As study suggests outbound migration is spiking, we asked them.
Chicago’s population has been on the decline for years, with the metropolitan area suffering some of the greatest losses of any major U.S. city. But new research suggests that the pandemic might be exacerbating the exodus.
For the first time in four years, moving concierge app Updater has helped more people move out of Chicago than to it, the company said. The catch-all moving service estimates that it takes part in one-third of all U.S. moves, providing unique, real-time insight into pandemic-driven trends, said Jenna Weinerman, Updater’s vice president of marketing.
“All these macro conditions — job insecurity, remote work, people wanting to gain more space — are coming together to create these patterns,” Weinerman said.
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The Chicago figures are based on approximately 39,000 moves within city limits from March 1 to Sept. 30. Compared to 2019, this year saw more moving activity in general, with an 8% jump in moves into the city — but a 19% increase in the number of people leaving.
More than half of the moves — 52.3% — were out of the city, while 47.7% were people moving into the city or current residents changing homes within city limits. For those leaving, the most popular destinations were California, Texas and Florida, while nearby states like Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin were also in the top 10.
The Tribune spoke with 10 people who moved to or from Chicago during the pandemic to glean some insight as to why residents are moving out — or what makes Chicago a great place to land in the era of COVID-19.
Here’s what they had to say. —Ariel Cheung
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
In case you missed it
Here are five stories from Monday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-10-20--Chronic polluter General Iron is moving from its wealthy, white North Side home to a low-income Lati

Chronic polluter General Iron is moving from its wealthy, white North Side home to a low-income Latino neighborhood. The feds want to know why.

Lightfoot also appears to agree with the spirit , if not the details , of the civil rights complaint filed @ @ @ @ @ A recent city report on air quality throughout Chicago notes that “ structural racism and @ @ @ @ @ making it more likely for certain people to live in polluted communities .
”

Chicago is facing scrutiny from federal housing officials, who are investigating why the city is allowing a chronic polluter to move from the wealthy, largely white North Side to a low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhood near the Indiana border.
In a letter made public on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development agreed to follow up on a complaint from community activists who accuse Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration of perpetuating racial segregation and housing discrimination in the nation’s third largest city.
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At issue are steps taken by city agencies to benefit General Iron Industries, a clout-heavy scrap shredder with a long history of pollution problems. An Ohio-based company that bought General Iron last year wants to move the operation from Lincoln Park to a site on the Calumet River in the East Side neighborhood.
Activists contend the Lightfoot administration’s tentative approval violates provisions of the federal Fair Housing Act by adding another polluter to a neglected corner of the city, where residential yards, baseball fields and playgrounds are contaminated with heavy metals and toxic chemicals from other companies, including steelmakers that abandoned the area decades ago.
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An aerial view of the General Iron Industries plant on the the North Branch of the Chicago River in Chicago on Sept. 28, 2018. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The complaint urges federal officials to withhold lucrative grants until the city overhauls its land-use policies. Zoning and planning ordinances protect industries in certain parts of Chicago without considering the health and well-being of people who live nearby, many of whom are Black and Latino.
“Racist policies are killing our neighborhood by making it a dumping ground for the dirtiest and most dangerous polluters,” said Peggy Salazar, director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force, one of three nonprofit groups that petitioned for federal intervention.
Under pressure from General Iron’s current neighbors, Lightfoot brokered a deal intended to ensure the company abandons the North Side by the end of this year. The existing scrap yard, on the Chicago River between North Avenue and Cortland Street, is surrounded by former industrial parcels slated to become the upscale Lincoln Yards mixed-use development.
Lightfoot also appears to agree with the spirit, if not the details, of the civil rights complaint filed by Southeast Side activists. A recent city report on air quality throughout Chicago notes that “structural racism and economic hardship” are “making it more likely for certain people to live in polluted communities.”
Pollution hot spots are concentrated in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods on the South and West sides, the city’s report found.
But despite Lightfoot’s repeated pledges to crack down on polluters, the Chicago Department of Public Health still approved one of at least two permits General Iron needs before moving. The department also stopped meeting with community groups to discuss environmental justice concerns.
"This approach towards our communities has to change,” said Cheryl Johnson, director of People for Community Recovery, another nonprofit group behind the federal complaint. “It’s fundamental that our voices are heard if we are going to dismantle environmental racism in Chicago.”
The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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If other permits are granted, General Iron will be the latest tenant of an East Side manufacturing district that already includes facilities handling brain-damaging metals and toxic chemicals. Nearby are two sites on the federal Superfund list of abandoned, highly contaminated industrial properties.
The proposed move drew the ire of community activists well before Reserve Management Group bought General Iron from the Labkon family, which operated the North Side scrap yard through four generations.
As surrounding neighborhoods gentrified, the Labkons protected their interests by spreading more than $500,000 in campaign contributions among local politicians. They also hired a bevy of City Hall lobbyists, including confidants of former Mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel.
The family is trying to sell its North Side properties but so far has been unable to find a buyer.
On the South Side, scrap already is being sorted amid ruins of the former Republic Steel plant between 116th and 118th streets. Reserve Management Group, also known as RMG, said it provides an important service by keeping scrap out of alleys and landfills.
“RMG has proven itself over decades to conduct environmentally responsible recycling activities and the addition of our shredding operation will be no exception,” the company said in a statement.
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The Chicago Tribune reported in February that other affiliates of RMG had been operating on the East Side without the proper permits for at least four years. The companies also failed to file annual pollution reports that could have flagged violations of environmental regulations.
mhawthorne@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-20--2 killed, 1 injured in Logan Square crash

The man was taken to Illinois Masonic in fair condition , the report said .
He gave police a name @ @ @ @ @ a search and officers were not able to talk to him because of COVID-19 protocols @ @ @ @

Two people died and another person was injured when two cars crashed on the Northwest Side Monday night, according to Chicago police.
A 33-year-old man was driving a Ford Focus east on Fullerton Avenue when he collided with a Toyota SUV driven by Patricia Mallqui, 55, who was driving north on Talman Avenue in the Logan Square neighborhood, according to an accident report.
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Mallqui’s SUV spun out after the crash and hit a parked vehicle, the report said. Both the Ford Focus and Toyota SUV were totaled, the report said.
Mallqui was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and her passenger, Trinidad Juarez, 71, was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, police said. They were both later pronounced dead.
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The man was taken to Illinois Masonic in fair condition, the report said. He gave police a name that came up negative in a search and officers were not able to talk to him because of COVID-19 protocols at the hospital.
An investigator found an open bottle of alcohol in the man’s car and notified the Cook County state attorney’s office, the report said.
No charges were filed as of Wednesday morning, according to police.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Daywatch: Illinois issues COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan, state to release data on virus in scho

Daywatch: Illinois issues COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan, state to release data on virus in schools and Chicago-area Halloween decorations are all-in this year

For college freshmen this fall , campus life was supposed to make up for all the canceled end-of-year rituals they @ @ @ @ @ .
But instead of socializing with classmates at orientation , sitting in their first big @ @ @ @ @ from home , new college students are continuing this semester the same way the last @ @ @ @ @ classes from their childhood bedrooms .

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Good morning, Chicago. Illinois officials recorded 4,342 new known cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, as well as 69 more fatalities — the highest daily death toll since June. The state also issued an early version of its plan for vaccine distribution once one is approved and available.
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Eight months into the pandemic and following pleas from educators and parents, Illinois has decided it will publish data on the coronavirus’s spread in schools.
The decision comes two weeks after a story by ProPublica Illinois and the Tribune detailed the lack of information available to school officials and parents as they try to decide whether in-person learning is safe.
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Late Wednesday, an Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman said publicly for the first time that the state will start sharing the number of cases and outbreaks by school. An outbreak is defined as two or more cases tied to contact at school.
We plan to continue to report on the impact of COVID-19 in schools — and you can help us. Are you a student, teacher or parent? Is there something you think we should know? Contact us at jodi.cohen@propublica.org or jrichards@chicagotribune.com.
Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
Jennifer Lindsley loads several tubes of patient samples to test for COVID-19 at a hospital lab at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago on Oct. 20, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois on Wednesday recorded its highest daily coronavirus-related death toll since June as state officials released an early version of its plan for how a vaccine will be distributed once one is approved and available.
The plan “is designed to provide an equitable distribution across the state with priority access going to our most vulnerable populations, front-line health care workers and first responders who directly interact with and treat COVID patients, as well as staff and residents in long-term care facilities,” Pritzker said during his daily coronavirus news briefing.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivers her budget address on Oct. 21, 2020, in Council Chambers at City Hall. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot laid out her case Wednesday for a $12.8 billion spending plan, casting the tax-hike-laden proposal as a road map into a post-pandemic future that gives Chicagoans from all backgrounds a shot at security and success.
As first reported in the Tribune, Lightfoot’s approach to closing a projected $1.2 billion hole relies on a 3-cent gas tax hike and a $94 million property tax increase. It also includes a provision to raise property taxes annually thereafter by an amount tied to the consumer price index. That could prove agreeable to aldermen, who wouldn’t have to take as many deeply unpopular votes on such increases.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride appears at the opening of the new Will County Courthouse in Joliet on Oct. 9, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Democratic Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride’s bid to retain his seat this fall has emerged as a high-stakes, expensive campaign that Republicans are trying to make a referendum on embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan.
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Jacqueline McElroy, a Northwestern freshman, had already signed a lease for an off-campus apartment when university officials asked first- and second-year students not to come to the Evanston area. “There was a moment of panic, like, what I am going to do?" she said. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
For college freshmen this fall, campus life was supposed to make up for all the canceled end-of-year rituals they saw as high school seniors. But instead of socializing with classmates at orientation, sitting in their first big lecture courses or living away from home, new college students are continuing this semester the same way the last one ended: with online classes from their childhood bedrooms.
There's decorating for Halloween, and then there's transforming your home into a haunted house. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Whole blocks in Oak Lawn have been transformed for Halloween. Schaumburg is another home-haunt hotspot. The best aren’t just collections of props, they’re works of art, writes the Tribune’s Christopher Borrelli.


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Column: I watched my sister die, so I understand what Rush Limbaugh is going through

It is difficult to imagine what it must be like to learn that you are dying .
For some , @ @ @ @ @ diagnosis could be met with relief .
After months of agonizing pain , there is @ @ @ @ @ will be over soon .

Radio personality Rush Limbaugh, shown with wife Kathryn and Melania Trump at the State of the Union address in February, has announced his cancer is terminal. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
It appears that Rush Limbaugh is dying. He announced on his radio show Monday that his lung cancer had gotten worse and is “going in the wrong direction.”
I have never cared for Limbaugh’s kind of politics. I’ve always felt like the right-wing talk radio host’s sole purpose was to further polarize America and push conservatives further away from a middle ground.
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In spite of that, I am saddened that his cancer is terminal. I would like to see his condition turn around, but he doesn’t seem to think that it will.
“It’s tough to realize that the days where I do not think I’m under a death sentence are over,” the 69-year-old host said.
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“We all know that we’re going to die at some point,” he added. “But when you have a terminal disease diagnosis that has a time frame to it, then that puts a different psychological and even physical awareness to it.”
He described his life the past eight months as a roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs.
“Many people have experienced this,” he said. “If it isn’t lung cancer, it’s some kind of cancer. If it isn’t you, it is someone really close to you.”
My father died of lung cancer in 2006 at the age of 91. But it is my sister’s death in 1995 from myeloid metaplasia, a rare form of bone marrow cancer, that haunts me still. Patricia was only 54.
It is difficult to imagine what it must be like to learn that you are dying. For some, I suppose, such a diagnosis could be met with relief. After months of agonizing pain, there is respite in knowing that it will be over soon.
With such advance notice, there also is a rare opportunity to try to right what you have done wrong. To say to loved ones words that needed to be said. And to ask for forgiveness for the things you cannot change.
But for most, such news likely would cause overwhelming grief. Most of us, regardless of our age, feel as though we have much to live for and many more things to do. Taking that opportunity away seems unfair.
Like Limbaugh, Patricia understood that her illness was considered terminal. Still, she believed that she would somehow defy the odds and live past the maximum 10-year survival period of people with her form of cancer.
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She thought that she could beat the monstrous illness if she fought hard enough. The idea that she wielded such control got her through the painful days and nights. She fought with every bit of strength she had — until she couldn’t.
She had grown thin and frail. Food wouldn’t stay down, but she kept trying to eat. She used to enjoy the broccoli casserole from Piccadilly cafeteria, and when she asked for some, I rushed out to get it. But even the aroma of it made her nauseous.
With her spleen filled with blood — one of the effects of the disease — doctors suggested that she undergo surgery. They warned that it would be risky, and that the surgical wound might not heal. She took the chance.
The incision did not heal. Infection set in. And days later, she died.
Shortly before her death, I asked my older sister if she regretted the life choices she had made. She looked me in the eye and said, “No.”
She was smarter than anyone I knew. She made the dean’s list every semester in college. After graduating with a degree in French, she was invited to pursue a master’s in Paris, but she turned it down.
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She didn’t want to venture that far away from home. And she was afraid to fly.
She taught high school French for a while, and decided to leave the profession for a better paying job at the telephone company. She lived for her two children and the grandchildren who arrived shortly before she became ill. She found God, and in her faith, experienced a comfort she wanted to share with everyone.
Throughout her illness, Patricia believed that God would heal her. And on the morning she died, something odd occurred.
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I was asleep on a cot in her hospital room when I heard commotion in the room. I remember trying to wake up, but I couldn’t. It seemed like a dream, and likely it was.
The next thing I remember is a nurse tapping me on the shoulder and whispering, “It’s time.”
I got up and walked over to my sister’s bed. She looked more peaceful than she had been in months. Her eyes were closed as she let out a soft exhale.
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She did not recover as she thought she would. But in the end, she seemed to have come to terms with her death.
My wish is that Limbaugh also believe in something greater than himself as vehemently as my sister did. So that if — or when — death comes, he will be at peace with it too.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Some restaurants in Illinois are defying closure orders as ban on indoor service spreads to Chicago

Some restaurants in Illinois are defying closure orders as ban on indoor service spreads to Chicago suburbs

Critics said the changes show the state mitigations are guidelines , not orders .
The governor ’ s executive orders @ @ @ @ @ Emergency Management Act , which states that in the case of a public health emergency @ @ @ @ @ power to control “ the occupancy of premises , ” and the sale of food @ @ @ @ @ previously upheld the governor ’ s authority to issue such orders , but one downstate @ @ @ @ @ to extend such orders beyond 30 days , which is being appealed .

Nick Fosberg, owner of Fozzy's Bar & Grill in Loves Park, near Rockford,, speaks with customers on Oct. 20, 2020. "We're sticking to what we were doing and being safe about it," he said. "We're getting a ton of support. I'm not closing." (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s recent order to shut down indoor service at bars and restaurants in northwest Illinois due to the coronavirus, Fozzy’s Bar and Grill near Rockford was among those that stayed open.
Owner Nick Fosberg said he had to leave the doors open to keep his employees working, pay his bills and stay in business. He says the workers wear masks, and customers wear masks on their way in and out, while tables are spaced 6 feet apart, at 25% capacity.
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“We’re sticking to what we were doing and being safe about it,” he said. “We’re getting a ton of support. People are happy someone finally stood up and said, ‘I’m not closing.’”
The restaurant rebellion comes as state officials report rising rates of infections and deaths of people with COVID-19, prompting the governor to impose further restrictions in Region 1 in northwest Illinois, which had a positivity rate of 11.9%. Starting Sunday, the governor set a limit there on gatherings to 10 people, and a maximum of six people per restaurant or bar table for outdoor service. Officials on Thursday also announced 4,942 new cases of COVID, and 44 deaths of people who tested positive for the virus.
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Pritzker warned that if necessary, he would direct state police to issue fines for violators of the regulations, and would seek to have liquor and gambling licenses pulled.
“If we need to close down restaurants and bars or take away their liquor licenses or gaming licenses, we will do that,” he said. “Because we are heading now into a peak that is beyond potentially where we were in March and April.”
[ Pritzker threatens to pull licenses of businesses that flout restrictions as Illinois daily count of confirmed infections hits new high — nearly 5,000 ]
In response to the governor’s orders, the Illinois Restaurant Association warned that banning indoor service could force the permanent closing of at least 20% of restaurants statewide, costing 120,000 jobs, and driving people into private gatherings with few precautions.
The Oct. 3 state closure order on indoor bar and restaurant service in northwest Illinois foreshadows the same restrictions coming Friday to DuPage, Kane, Kankakee and Will counties. Four regions of the state have exceeded 8% rate for positive COVID tests, which is one of the state-imposed thresholds for such restrictions, and the rest are trending in that direction.
Jim McQuinn and his dog, Bella, hang out in the bar at Fozzy's Bar & Grill near Rockford on Oct. 20, 2020. "I'm glad to be out socializing. It's my first time in a bar since January," McQuinn said. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Now other restaurant owners are declaring they, too, will stay open. The Facebook page of Lockport Stagecoach in Will County, a western-style saloon, states that it will remain open for indoor dining and stand by more than 30 employees who depend on the restaurant for their livelihoods.
“We are NOT trying to be rebellious or are anti-masks, anti-people’s health or any of the other nonsense,” the post stated. “This is a decision out of survival.”
Ki’s Steak and Seafood in west suburban Glendale Heights also declared its independence from “DICTATOR PRITZKER.”
“We are standing up for our freedom and WE WILL STAY OPEN!” Ki’s Facebook page announced. “We have been in business for 80+ years and no one is going to tell us we can’t live out the American dream."
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Ki’s owner Terry Roumpas said he doesn’t know of any COVID case among his workers or customers.
“If I close, I won’t be able to open again,” he said. “The phone rang all day, they said, ‘Terry, we’re behind you 100%, do what you have to do.’"
In Winnebago County, where Rockford is located, the closure orders are prompting a showdown between local businesses and health officials. The local health department issued closure orders to Fozzy’s and to two other bar/restaurants in Loves Park, and issued more than 30 other orders warning businesses they weren’t following the coronavirus regulations.
While no one source drove the recent rise in positivity rate in the region, county Public Health Administrator Sandra Martell said, bars and restaurants were “disproportionately impacted.”
“It is extremely frustrating that a very small number of restaurants/bars in Winnebago County are choosing not to comply with the Executive Order,” she said, “and are putting patrons and the greater community at risk for COVID-19 transmission and additional mitigations that will further impact recovery.”
But any closure must by law be enforced by a court order, and the county’s top prosecutor said she would consider each case individually.
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“It is my goal to work with businesses to use mitigation measures while being able to continue to generate income and remain financially solvent,” State’s Attorney Marilyn Hite Ross stated. “… Consequently, it is my goal to encourage compliance through the use of alternative solutions. I believe this can be accomplished without involving the courts.”
The rebel businesses were also getting support from mayors and other local elected officials.
State Sen. Dave Syverson, a Rockford Republican, questioned why restaurants and bars were being singled out for closure of indoor service, when other businesses, including casinos, gyms and grocery stores, remain open. He noted that state officials conceded there is more transmission at work and school, and increasingly at home and social gatherings.
Health closures should follow traditional procedures based on specific violations, he said. If contact tracing finds an outbreak at a restaurant or bar, similar to finding unsanitary conditions, he argued, close that establishment, not all of them.
The violation notices state, “A reasonable belief exists that the premises identified in this Order has engaged or is suspected of engaging in a significant amount of activity likely to spread the following dangerously contagious or infectious disease.” But none of the notices cite a specific outbreak.
The end of indoor service this fall and winter, Syverson said, would sound the death knell for many restaurants and bars that were following the rules, and send people to private gatherings and parties with no masks or distancing.
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“If you find a health violation, then deal with that,” he said. “How can that be right for one group of people to be terminated and lose everything?”
Two women enter Fozzy's Bar & Grill in Loves Park near Rockford. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Faced with such opposition, on Friday, the Winnebago County Health Department relented and issued new guidelines under which bars and restaurants could open for indoor service, contradicting current state restrictions. The county guidelines set limits such as requiring customers to leave after 90 minutes. The department also warned that under state law, enforcement may include criminal misdemeanor charges.
Attorney Tom DeVore, who represents clients challenging the orders, said hundreds of business owners across the state have defied such orders. Their main worry is that mayors may pull their operating or liquor licenses, but in many cases, he said, local officials support them.
Health officials note that bars and restaurants are fundamentally different from many other businesses in that they involve crowds of people gathering closely together without masks for long periods, sometimes laughing or shouting, which raises the risk of transmission.
In justifying the indoor closure orders, state officials note that contact tracing of people with COVID-19 show that restaurants and bars were the second most common place they had been in the previous two weeks, after social gatherings like vacations, family get-togethers and parties.
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A federal study also found that adults with positive COVID tests were approximately twice as likely to have reported dining at a restaurant than those who tested negative.
Pritzker said similar mitigation efforts worked previously to help bring down infection rates in other parts of the state. He noted that rural areas of the state, where people previously considered the virus a Chicago-area problem, now are seeing rising positivity rates.
“This is an important area to focus on,” Pritzker said. “… All the studies about bars and restaurants show that these are significant spreading locations.”


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Chicago has a goal of preschool for every child. Will COVID-19 set that effort back?

“ Our interpretation is that full-day , in-person pre-K was meeting the needs of many families with 4-year-olds , and @ @ @ @ @ being offered .
I think that ’ s as far as we can take it @ @ @ @ @ evidence that we have , ” Ehrlich said .
“ ... We would be really @ @ @ @ @ enrollment patterns change when in-person learning is offered again .
”

When the coronavirus hit Chicago, the city was approaching the halfway point of its four-year rollout of universal prekindergarten.
By the 2021-22 school year, if all went according to plan, every 4-year-old could have a spot in a free full-day, pre-K program. As classrooms were phased in, the plan sought to prioritize communities with the greatest need for full-day options.
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Policy changes leading up to the universal pre-K rollout seemed to be paying off, according to a study released Wednesday by NORC, an independent research organization affiliated with the University of Chicago; Start Early, the early childhood education nonprofit formerly known as Ounce of Prevention; and the UChicago Consortium on School Research. Once dominated by white children from higher income families, full-day pre-K enrollment tripled among Black students and students living in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods during the six years studied.
But before the study was even published, schools had to close. After a spring of remote learning struggles and a summer defined by the pandemic, some parents held off on having their children start school for the first time, and CPS has seen a huge drop this fall in pre-K enrollment, particularly among Black children.
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Chicago Public Schools leaders acknowledge that COVID-19′s disproportionate impact on Black and Latino communities is threatening their progress — a reality district leaders are citing to support arguments for bringing the youngest students, along with children in some special education groups, back to more than 400 schools next quarter.
CPS leaders have not provided a specific date for its partial reopening plans. But they will need to reckon with the Chicago Teachers Union, which won a labor arbitration case that the district is now challenging. The arbitrator’s ruling allowing clerks, technology coordinators and other employees to work remotely “when feasible” cited health and safety concerns inside schools.
“Complying would interfere with their plans to force approximately 5,000 educators and 22,000 students into unsafe school buildings next month,” said CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates.
Davis Gates said the union has not been given a detailed plan for in-person instruction, and that despite regular talks, CPS is still not bargaining over its reopening decision.
District leaders hope reopening schools could help regain strides made through policies to enroll more students of color, students who speak a language other than English and students who live in neighborhoods with especially low income and high unemployment rates. Those policy changes, starting in 2013, included outreach and a centrally managed application process.
“While the positive research is cause for celebration, schools in Chicago and throughout the country have experienced a stunning decline in pre-K enrollment due to COVID-19 that could have a lasting educational impact on early learners," CPS CEO Janice Jackson said Wednesday. “... The district is gravely concerned that the number of Black students enrolled in pre-K has dropped 44% this year, which highlights our urgent responsibility and moral obligation to do everything in our power to bring back our youngest learners and students enrolled in cluster programs.”
Without speculating as to whether students will come back naturally when schools reopen, Stacy Ehrlich, a senior research scientist with NORC, said the study shows that when families were offered full-day, in-person pre-K near their homes, they tended to enroll in it. The UChicago Consortium on School Research also was involved in the study, which looked at whether policy changes targeting access and enrollment improved equity in CPS pre-K programs.
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“Our interpretation is that full-day, in-person pre-K was meeting the needs of many families with 4-year-olds, and that’s currently not being offered. I think that’s as far as we can take it given the data and the evidence that we have,” Ehrlich said. “... We would be really interested to see just how enrollment patterns change when in-person learning is offered again.”
Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson said that gains in access to prekindergarten could be threatened by an extended closure of schools. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Schools nationwide have reported lower numbers during the pandemic. CPS enrollment has been declining for years, but this fall it fell to 341,000, the biggest drop in at least two decades. Contributing to that was the smaller number of new students, with only 32,000 this year compared with 44,000 last fall. Preschool accounted for 41% of the enrollment loss.
While, as Jackson noted, the number of Black preschool students decreased 44%, that figure was 29% for Latino students, 22% for white students and 9% for Asian students. Overall, the number of 4-year-olds in all CPS pre-K classes went from 14,300 to 9,540, including 7,462 in full-day programs.
At 21,960, kindergarten enrollment was also down from last year.
One aim of the policy changes examined by the new pre-K study was to better prepare children for success in kindergarten. The changes, which included adding and reallocating full-day classrooms around the city, led to more students in areas where children had historically underenrolled in pre-K, Ehrlich said.
“Shifting where seats were located was a primary lever in the district’s policy strategy,” she said.
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Between 2011 and 2016, the percentage of CPS elementary schools offering full-day pre-K rose from 10% to 41%, with new seats concentrated in South and West side neighborhoods serving lower-income, Black and Latino families, according to the study.
Access was a good predictor of enrollment, especially for students from mostly Black neighborhoods and families with the lowest incomes, the study found. Full-day enrollment rates for Black children nearly quadrupled, from 3.2% to 11.6%. Though Latino students also began enrolling at higher rates, at 2.6% they were still far below the city’s 7.2% average, according to the study.
Jackson said the research proves equity-focused policies can help “level the playing field."
“Prior to the policy change, affluent white students who make up a small portion of the student population were most likely to enroll in full-day pre-K, but by the end of the study, Black students living in the lowest-income communities were most likely to have access to and enroll in full-day pre-K,” Jackson said. “The district is incredibly proud of the various partnerships and hard work that led to the success of this program.”
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--7,500 children get free winter coats in COVID-19-adjusted CHA event: ‘Every little thing counts for

7,500 children get free winter coats in COVID-19-adjusted CHA event: ‘Every little thing counts for me’

“ There ’ s nothing like it , ” Scott said .
“ We can sit in an office all @ @ @ @ @ happen , but when you see a child ’ s face when they receive a @ @ @ @ @ toy or a new anything , for many of these kids , this might be @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve received a new coat .
... That ’ s a really important thing @ @ @ @ @ someone believes in them and someone wants them to have this .
”

Volunteer Jimmy Stewart helps an attendee select the color of winter coats during the "Operation Warm" event hosted by the Chicago Housing Authority at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago on Oct. 21, 2020. "I think it's important that they have choices, as long as supply is there. It's empowering that they get what they want versus what we chose to give them," Stewart said. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
For Louis Johnson, 51, this week’s gift of a new pink winter coat for his 5-year-old daughter, Laniyah, came at just the right time.
With Chicago’s winter nearing, Johnson had known Laniyah needed a new coat after outgrowing her old one, he said. But in the economic fallout of COVID-19, funds were hard to come by, complicating the situation.
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“Every penny counts now,” Johnson said Wednesday in a phone interview after picking up the new coat, adding that Laniyah would have “a big smile” on her face upon seeing it.
Laniyah was one of about 7,500 children in Chicago public housing or discounted, rented housing who will be given a free winter coat this week at the Credit Union 1 Arena on the city’s Near West Side. The giveaway is part of the Chicago Housing Authority’s partnership with Operation Warm, a national nonprofit that distributes new coats to children in need.
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Volunteers work together to give out winter coats at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, during a giveaway by the Chicago Housing Authority and the Operation Warm nonprofit. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Though this week marks the CHA’s 13th year distributing the coats, the COVID-19 pandemic required significant adjustments. Rather than being held over four hours in one day, as it was in previous years, the coat distribution spans four consecutive days, starting Wednesday. The 3,000 families who signed up had to preregister, and one person per family signed up for a specific time to pick up the coats.
“For a while I was like, I don’t know how we can move forward with Operation Warm,” said Kristen Hamer, the CHA’s director of corporate and external partnerships. “And just as quickly I said we have to do it over multiple days.”
This year was the first time Johnson participated in the program, after financial setbacks caused by the pandemic. What’s more, he was able to choose the color of the coat, and his daughter “wants pink everything.”
“I know a lot of people that weren’t part of the program that wished they were,” Johnson said.
Operation Warm was launched 20 years ago after a business owner near Philadelphia saw a small group of kids waiting at a bus stop on a cold day without coats, Hamer said.
The organization expanded and was brought to Chicago 13 years ago, where it partnered with the CHA. Since then, the annual distribution in Chicago has become Operation Warm’s largest single event, according to Hamer.
“It’s really an event they’ve not quite replicated any place else just because of the capacity that we have here at the CHA,” Hamer said.
In previous years, the coat distribution was held in conjunction with a service fair during which families could receive other free items — such as lightbulbs or books — but the fair was canceled this year because of the pandemic.
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Even with the cancellation, families were still given lightbulbs and other resources Wednesday as they picked up their coats. The items and coats were new and funded by several sponsors, including PepsiCo, Comcast, ComEd, Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois, Pangea Real Estate, Nan McKay & Associates and Wells Fargo.
Hamer said the CHA realized the need for winter coats was even greater than usual this year. That became clear when it took only about two weeks for families to sign up for all of them. In previous years, it took about five weeks before the coats were all spoken for.
Don Hamilton, left, and Denice Hamilton receive winter coats for their 14-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, at Credit Union 1 Arena, during a giveaway by the Chicago Housing Authority and the Operation Warm nonprofit. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Tracey Scott, CEO of the CHA, said the pandemic has taken a major toll on the families in public housing. The necessities of life extend beyond housing — making sure children have coats “is just something that’s so basic and essential.”
“There’s nothing like it,” Scott said. “We can sit in an office all day and make these things happen, but when you see a child’s face when they receive a new coat or a new toy or a new anything, for many of these kids, this might be the first time that they’ve received a new coat. ... That’s a really important thing in their growth, that someone believes in them and someone wants them to have this.”
Christina Gonzalez, 51, collected two coats Wednesday for her grandchildren, ages 12 and 13. She said the pickup was easy and quick, and she was thankful for the items, since “a lot of things right now” are expensive.
“There’s a lot of families struggling and they can’t afford to buy their children coats so that was a big help,” Gonzalez said in a phone interview. “Right now I don’t have time to be looking in the stores.”
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Rasshida Davey, 34, plans to get four coats Saturday for her children, aged 8, 10, 12 and 13. A full-time student at Kennedy-King College, Davey said programs like Operation Warm go far in terms of giving her “one less thing" to worry about.
“It can be stressful,” Davey said. “Sometimes we just can’t help but to worry about things, like how are we going to do this?"
Davey said she’s previously chosen not to buy a coat for herself in order to provide for her children. She’s been participating in Operation Warm the last few years as her children continue outgrowing their old coats.
“Every little thing counts for me, especially with having a big family,” Davey said. "And right now during this pandemic, I’m not working, I don’t have a job, so every little dollar I can get or anything I can get to help my children I use.”
kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KelliSmithNews


chicagotribune--2020-10-22--Speaker Madigan’s shadow hangs over a big-dollar, high-stakes Illinois Supreme Court contest

One scenario Republicans are mulling is that the six justices ― three from each party ― would deadlock on a @ @ @ @ @ the court evenly balanced .
That could come in handy if a politically charged issue @ @ @ @ @ boundaries , comes before the high court during the next two years .
The final @ @ @ @ @ of taking control of the court would be to win the Kilbride seat outright against @ @ @ @ @ .

Democratic Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride’s bid to retain his seat this fall has emerged as a high-stakes, record-setting expensive campaign that Republicans are trying to make a referendum on embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Billionaire conservatives, state GOP leaders and a dark money group are blanketing voters’ mailboxes with full-color attack ads that portray the justice as a Madigan puppet, citing the speaker’s large campaign contributions to Kilbride’s election efforts dating back to 2000.
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One mailer describes the justice as “Mike Madigan’s captain on the Illinois Supreme Court” and depicts the speaker wearing a baseball shirt that says “coach” with a whistle around his neck. Another features the two as tuxedo-clad James Bond-style secret agents, with Kilbride holding a bag festooned with a dollar sign representing Madigan’s money. There’s even a four-page faux newspaper that attempts to taint Kilbride with 14th Ward Ald. Edward Burke’s corruption scandal.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride appears at the opening of the new Will County Courthouse in Joliet on Oct. 9, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
It’s not a good time to be tied to Madigan, whose political and government operation is under intense federal scrutiny as part of an investigation that’s already resulted in ComEd admitting it sought to influence legislation by giving Madigan allies jobs and contracts.
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Kilbride, a 67-year-old onetime labor lawyer from Rock Island, said the millions of dollars in campaign funds he received from the Madigan-controlled Illinois Democratic Party have played no role in his past judicial rulings.
“Just a bunch of crap,” said Kilbride, who dismissed the Republican-backed hit pieces as out-of-order “mudslinging.”
In an interview, Kilbride said he wants voters to judge him “thoughtfully and fairly” and not based on negative flyers with “misrepresentations of the truth.”
The outcome of the contest is critical to both parties: Democrats want Kilbride to succeed in his retention effort so they can preserve a 4-3 majority on the high court. Republicans see defeating Kilbride as their best hope to eventually try to be in charge of the state’s high court for the first time in more than half a century and break the Democrats’ grip on all three branches of state government.
An attack ad mailer depicts Democratic Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride with House Speaker Michael Madigan wearing a baseball shirt that says “coach” with a whistle around his neck. (Citizens for Judicial Fairness campaign)
An attack ad mailer depicts Democratic Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride with House Speaker Michael Madigan as James Bond-style secret agents. (Citizens for Judicial Fairness campaign)
Kilbride needs the approval of 60% voters to win retention to a third 10-year term. No opponent runs in a retention contest.
While the 3rd Judicial District contest has statewide implications, it will be decided by voters in 21 counties that stretch from Will and Kankakee to Peoria and Rock Island. It’s a swath of Illinois that backed Republican Donald Trump in 2016 and favored then-Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018.
“It won’t be easy, but it’s a district that, if Republicans got out and voted ‘no’ against Kilbride, against his retention, I think we could knock him out of the box,” said former U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, a Peoria Republican who served as Democratic President Barack Obama’s transportation secretary.
On the ground, Republicans are pitching the Kilbride race as a chance to vote against Madigan, who at election time answers only to voters in his heavily Democratic Southwest Side House district every two years since 1970.
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James Nowlan, a former GOP lawmaker who chairs the anti-Kilbride committee Citizens for Judicial Fairness, asks political audiences in towns such as Carthage, Monmouth and Utica if they ever wished they could vote against Madigan.
“They almost come out of their chairs with applause," he said. “And I say, ‘This year you can (vote against Madigan). You can vote against Tom Kilbride.'”
The war continues
The Kilbride retention fight is a continuation of Madigan and Democratic special interests battling wealthy Republicans who backed Rauner’s anti-union, pro-business agenda.
The biggest anti-Kilbride money has come from billionaire Citadel hedge fund owner Ken Griffin, who has given $4.5 million, including $2.5 million reported Thursday night; and packing materials mogul Richard Uihlein, who added $1 million, including $500,000 reported Friday night. Both were key Rauner donors, though Uihlein later broke with the governor.
Griffin and Uihlein also oppose Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s push for a graduated-rate income tax amendment — another political crosswind that Kilbride foes think will bring out voters who will oppose both the amendment and the justice.
A $200,000 donation from a dark-money group called the Judicial Fairness Project gave the anti-Kilbride forces a jump-start. The group’s registered agent is attorney John Fogarty, the Chicago-based general counsel for the Illinois Republican Party. Fogarty declined to identify the donors.
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Paperwork filed with the secretary of state showed the group’s board of directors includes two members of the Republican state central committee and the former head of the Illinois Republican County Chairmen’s Association. Listed as the incorporator was Nick Klitzing, a former state GOP executive director.
Two years ago, Democrats decried Klitzing for the political dirty trick of impersonating a college newspaper reporter on a press phone call with Democratic congressional candidate Betsy Dirksen Londrigan. Klitzing could not be reached for comment on his anti-Kilbride efforts.
The Judicial Fairness Project does not fall under laws that require prompt disclosure of specific individuals who gave to the group, and the lack of transparency leads to public cynicism, said campaign finance expert Kent Redfield.
“It does nothing to build faith in judicial institutions and the public sense that the political system works in a fair way,” said Redfield, a professor emeritus based at the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride at the opening of the new Will County Courthouse in Joliet on Oct. 9, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Another $75,000 sent to Nowlan’s group comes from the Republican State Leadership Committee’s Illinois political action committee, which is affiliated with a Washington-based group that’s received contributions over the years from ADM, Boeing, FMC Corp. and Koch Industries.
In addition to the flood of flyers, anti-Kilbride forces aired a TV ad telling voters to “defeat Mike Madigan’s favorite judge.”
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Kilbride recently countered with an ad in which he looks into the camera and says he has been “attacked harshly, repeatedly and falsely. I’m here to tell you flat out: These attacks are lies and distortions.”
A narrator then says Kilbride is under attack by out-of-state dark money because he refuses to let greedy corporations and predatory insurance companies own our courts."
Madigan’s help
Madigan doubles as state Democratic chairman, and one of his most farsighted successes was pouring nearly $700,000 in state Democratic Party funds late in a 2000 race to help Kilbride defeat a Republican opponent and flip the seat to the Democratic column.
Ten years later, Kilbride was up for retention and Madigan infused nearly $1.5 million in Democratic Party funds into the justice’s campaign. Kilbride received under 66% of the vote, a low enough level of support that anti-Kilbride forces believe he is vulnerable now.
On Tuesday, Madigan poured $550,000 into Kilbride’s retention, putting his total support to Kilbride over the years to $2.6 million in party funds alone.
That contribution came after Kilbride had indicated he wouldn’t take Madigan’s money. “We’re not going to accept one penny — and I say this respectfully — (from) Speaker Madigan or any of his entities,” Kilbride said on Oct. 2, WBEZ reported.
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Asked by the Tribune before the latest contribution if he anticipated support from Madigan or the Democratic Party, Kilbride said, “As far as I’m concerned, we’re not coordinating.”
Kilbride said he would make himself available for follow-up questions, but he did not on Wednesday. Instead, a spokesman issued a statement to questions about Madigan’s contribution.
“To further maintain his impartiality, (Kilbride) has no role in fundraising — all such decisions are made by his treasurer — and no knowledge of the donors to his retention committee nor of those to the opposition committee,” spokesman Ryan McLaughlin said. “Justice Kilbride is proud to have support from Republicans, Democrats and Independents, and to have been endorsed by a bipartisan group of law enforcement leaders and police officers from across the district.”
One factor that’s different this time around for Kilbride is that Madigan has been under a harsh spotlight since federal prosecutors implicated him over the summer in the ComEd jobs-for-favors bribery scandal. The power company admitted it sought to influence legislation by giving Madigan allies jobs and contracts. Madigan repeatedly has denied wrongdoing.
Kilbride also has received millions of dollars from the speaker’s allies in big labor, teacher unions and the trial lawyer community. A growing number of groups have made six-figure contributions after Kilbride lent his campaign $110,000 on Sept. 11, a move that removed campaign contribution limits in the contest.
Of the first eight law firms that gave Kilbride $100,000, seven of them previously gave to Madigan-controlled funds. To date, Kilbride has received more than $300,000 from the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association, two of at least seven major unions that have given Kilbride $100,000 or more for his current retention bid.
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All told, the pro- and anti-Kilbride sides have put in nearly $10.7 million through Friday night. That’s a new contributions record for a state Supreme Court contest in Illinois, breaking the previous high-water mark of $9.38 million in 2004.
“It’s a stunning amount,” said Redfield, the campaign finance expert.
The issues
The makeup of the state Supreme Court is crucial because justices rule on everything from the constitutionality of laws to legislative maps that help decide who controls the General Assembly.
Nowlan, who chairs the anti-Kilbride political committee, is particularly miffed that Kilbride authored a 2016 decision that threw out a proposed amendment that attempted to neutralize the politics when legislative district boundaries are redrawn once a decade.
“I really think he sold his soul to the devil with that opinion,” Nowlan said.
Madigan was opposed to taking away mapmaking from politicians, and Kilbride’s 4-3 Democratic majority opinion drew a searing dissent from then-Republican Justice Robert Thomas, who wrote: “The Illinois Constitution is meant to prevent tyranny, not to enshrine it.”
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Even so, Thomas has endorsed his Democratic colleague for retention, calling Kilbride a “conscientious jurist.” Despite their differences, Thomas said he “never saw” Kilbride make judgments based on Madigan’s influence or on Democratic politics.
In attack brochures, the anti-Kilbride forces also hammered the justice for joining a 4-3 bipartisan opinion that allowed an Illinois Federation of Teachers lobbyist — a former Madigan staffer ― to get a taxpayer-supported teachers pension after substitute teaching at a grade school for only one day.
The lobbyist now gets nearly $80,000 a year from the teacher retirement system — plus almost $35,000 annually more from a separate state pension system for his time on the speaker’s staff.
In another pension case, Kilbride is taking heat for writing the 2015 opinion that a high-profile public retirement system overhaul was unconstitutional because it violated the standard that retiree benefits could not be reduced once they were put in place. Kilbride noted the court agreed unanimously and that Madigan, a chief proponent of the pension law, came out on the losing side.
Republican Ty Fahner, a former Illinois attorney general who fought to uphold the pension law, strongly disagreed with Kilbride’s opinion but still backs him for retention. “I found that (opinion) to be disappointing but certainly not partisan one way or the other,” Fahner said.
If Kilbride wins and serves another term, it would give him 30 years on the high court, a feat no one has achieved since full terms were set at 10 years in the 1960s. He would come close to the state’s longest-tenured justice, Thomas Browne, who served for 30 years and two months ending in 1848, according to historical court records.
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If Kilbride loses his retention bid, the court’s remaining six justices would seek to find an interim appointment until a replacement could be elected in two years.
One scenario Republicans are mulling is that the six justices ― three from each party ― would deadlock on a temporary Kilbride replacement and keep the court evenly balanced. That could come in handy if a politically charged issue, such as redrawing legislative boundaries, comes before the high court during the next two years. The final step in the Republican hope of taking control of the court would be to win the Kilbride seat outright against a Democratic opponent in 2022.
Besides the Kilbride race, there are two other state Supreme Court contests on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The Trump factor may play a role in the open-seat, 5th District race in far southern Illinois territory that has trended increasingly more Republican. The contest pitting Democratic Appellate Justice Judy Cates of Swansea and Republican Appellate Court Justice David Overstreet of Mount Vernon has grown contentious.
Cates even endorsed the idea that she and Overstreet should face off at a turkey shoot campaign event to show who is the better shot. Overstreet’s campaign chairman dismissed the idea, saying Cates was simply trying to woo conservative Democrats and Republicans in an area where hunting has great appeal.
In Cook County, appointed Democratic Justice P. Scott Neville Jr. is running unopposed for a full term to replace the late Justice Charles Freeman.
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rlong@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @RayLong


chicagotribune--2020-10-23--Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposes 10 p.m. curfew on city bars, restaurants and nonessential businesses as

Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposes 10 p.m. curfew on city bars, restaurants and nonessential businesses as coronavirus cases spike: ‘It’s like we’re back in the spring’

“ What we do now will make the difference between what our future looks like and what it could be @ @ @ @ @ city that is again a model for a nation or whether or not we ’ @ @ @ @ @ data point on the spread of COVID-19 that seems to be spiraling out of control @ @ @ @ @

Gregory Pratt, John Byrne, Dan Petrella, Louisa Chu, Adam Lukach

Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Days after threatening to roll back restrictions on Chicago businesses if COVID-19 cases continue to spike, Mayor Lori Lightfoot followed through Thursday by imposing a 10 p.m. curfew on all nonessential city businesses.
In addition to the curfew starting Friday, the city will again prohibit indoor service at traditional taverns and brewery taprooms without food licenses, and asked residents to cap any social gatherings at six people.
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With new daily cases in Chicago more than double what they were just a few weeks ago and rates rising dramatically elsewhere in Illinois as well, Lightfoot cast this as a man-the-battlements moment in the hopes Chicagoans will overcome their “COVID fatigue” and again embrace the kinds of personal sacrifices like avoiding social gatherings that she said stemmed the virus in the spring and will be needed now.
“This is what public health experts and responsible leaders have, unfortunately, been forecasting for months, and the reason is simple,” she said. “COVID-19 thrives in places, and in circumstances, where people let their guard down.”
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But with cases continuing to go up, she also brandished a stick on Thursday.
The city is on a path for much tougher restrictions heading into the holiday season if the virus doesn’t get under control, including a potential second stay-at-home order, Lightfoot said.
“If we need to take further steps and move back into phase three, or even going back to shelter-in-place, I’m not going to hesitate to do that,” she said. “It’s all in your hands.”
The new restrictions follow a news conference earlier this week during which Lightfoot sounded the alarm about a dramatic increase in the number of coronavirus cases since the start of October and threatened the stricter guidelines on businesses.
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady speaks during a news conference with Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Oct. 19, 2020, at City Hall. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
At the earlier event, Lightfoot put the blame for the increase squarely on private gatherings in Chicago homes, saying interactions in restaurants, bars and gyms didn’t seem to be really driving the spike in infections in the city.
After Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday announced indoor service at bars and restaurants will be prohibited starting Friday in DuPage, Kane, Will and Kankakee counties, the mayor and city Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady made an about-face on the COVID-19 dangers, particularly in taverns.
“Nothing against the bars, but it is a source of spread,” Arwady said.
The new restrictions are a hard hit for bars with winter looming just weeks after Lightfoot loosened restrictions to allow them to resume indoor service for the first time since the spring.
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“Bars make money by quantity of people,” said Jaidah Wilson-Turnbow, general manager at Frances Cocktail Lounge, a small, family-owned establishment on the South Side in the Chatham neighborhood that’s been open since 1966. “I was somewhat prepared that we would be affected again by closure or strict restrictions so I’ve been watching every penny.”
The bar does have a private patio in back and shares the outdoor boardwalk space in front on 75th Street created by the Greater Chatham Initiative partnership with the city.
“That has definitely assisted us having guests outside while the weather was great, but now the weather is changing. This is, of course, a concern,” Wilson-Turnbow said. The initiative is trying to figure out ways to winterize the boardwalk. “I’m assuming now the city will extend the permits past Nov. 30, because they’re requiring us to be outside.
“But Chicago outside is not what we’re accustomed to and not where people want to spend their money,” she added. “Because we’re not Iceland.”
Chicago’s seven-day average of new cases has hit 645, up dramatically from where the city was at the start of the month and even from the weekend. On Saturday, for instance, Chicago’s seven-day rolling average was 508 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases per day.
Lightfoot said “the rapidity with which these numbers are doubling on a day-by-day basis” is “breathtaking” and added, “It’s like we’re back in the spring.
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“What we do now will make the difference between what our future looks like and what it could be. Whether we are a city that is again a model for a nation or whether or not we’re going to be another data point on the spread of COVID-19 that seems to be spiraling out of control,” she said.
Late last month, Lightfoot cited a decrease in COVID-19 cases as she allowed bars that don’t serve food to reopen for indoor drinking. She also eased rules on restaurants, gyms and other retailers, allowing them to increase capacity.
The changes were Lightfoot’s latest attempt to ease the financial burden on Chicago businesses by lifting frequently criticized restrictions.
But they also came as the number of new COVID-19 cases per day was hovering around 300, well above the 200-case threshold the mayor set months ago as a goal before moderating restrictions.
Cases have only increased since then, though Lightfoot has said those moves weren’t to blame.
The mayor on Monday pointed to the cold weather as one cause of the sharp increase in cases, saying it is leading to more indoor gatherings. She said residents need to limit the number of people with whom they come into contact.
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But on Thursday, Lightfoot said the risk is “greatest” at bars, “because people gather, they take their masks off, they have a drink, they socialize, they talk.”
Arwady said it’s “difficult to know” where people get COVID-19 during a widespread outbreak.
Arwady also pointed out the city’s current problem is likely worse than the seven-day average. The city’s had numerous days with more than 800 or 900 cases coming in, “and the numbers are still going up,” she said.
Arwady reiterated that people shouldn’t be allowing anyone into their homes if it isn’t essential, noting there’s a 30% chance someone in a group of 25 has COVID-19 and 50% chance in groups of 50.
Chicago’s also seeing increases in ICU numbers, Arwady said.
Asked about the dangers of bars versus restaurants, Arwady said bars are gathering places where people are more likely to be meeting friends than family. The city’s investigating a networking event attended by more than 100 people at an unidentified bar.
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“There’s a pretty strong theory that bars are also some of the loudest spaces people spend time in,” she said, increasing the possibility for spread.
For Right Bee Cider, however, the back-and-forth regulations on bars and taprooms have been frustrating
“Ultimately, we do what we have to do. It’s been said, ‘adapt or die,’ so we adapt,” said Kate Morgan, co-owner with husband Charlie Davis of the cidery in Hermosa, which opened in 2014. “These are the rules. If this is the latest ordinance that’s going into effect, we’re going to follow every single rule that’s there.
“The most frustrating thing is that people can order our cider at a restaurant because they serve food, but they can’t come into our taproom and order it. It doesn’t make sense,” she said. “They’re not required to order food.”
Weegee’s Lounge, open since 2006 in the Logan Square neighborhood, had been closed since March, taking the time to do some remodeling, said Alex Huebner, co-owner with wife Lynne Marrs. They reopened just two weeks ago, when the city last changed indoor tavern rules.
“So now we’re in the process of possibly doing to-go cocktails, and looking at how we might operate under the packaged goods ordinance to maybe start doing a small deli,” Huebner said.
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He was just starting to bring back staff, but they have added concerns.
“I don’t have a bunch of young kids working here,” he said. “Our median age is definitely a little bit older for the bar and restaurant industry. Quite a few of the staff, including myself, are dealing with elderly parents, people who are definitely at high risk with COVID exposure.”
Their safety is his primary concern, and he remains optimistic, Huebner said.
“We will be back, we’re 100% sure of that,” he said. “But until then it might require that I’ve just got to lock the doors and just go do something else with my life for six months until the vaccine comes around.”
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