chicagotribune--2020-10-31--Election season unlike any other nears finish line

Republicans shouldn ’ t count on their repeated attacks on Madigan as a strategy for victories , Mooney said .
@ @ @ @ @ capitalize on Commonwealth Edison ’ s admission to federal prosecutors that it provided jobs and @ @ @ @ @ seek the speaker ’ s favor .
Madigan has not been charged with wrongdoing and @ @ @ @ @ wrong .

To some degree, every election is a referendum, and perhaps never more so than in a presidential year.
But peeling back the Nov. 3 ballot beyond the decision on whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden should sit in the White House, there are a number of issues and candidacies that present their own referendums.
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There’s a proposed constitutional amendment that would change Illinois from a flat-rate income tax to a graduated-rate levy. That top-of-the ballot item also could present a referendum on voter trust in state government or how they view the state’s financial future.
There’s a decision on whether U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a member of the chamber’s Democratic leadership, deserves a fifth term. And there are elections involving the state’s 18 congressional seats, including the reelection bids of two suburban Democratic freshmen. Those races could prove to be a referendum on voter views on an ever-more partisan, divided Washington.
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In the Illinois legislature, all 118 seats are up for election to the Illinois House and 22 seats are on the ballot in the 59-member state Senate. The election of the General Assembly, with supermajorities of Democrats in both chambers, could present a referendum on its leadership, including longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan, who finds himself ensnared in a federal investigation.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 13 "It's important to vote in this election because there's a lot up in the air right now especially with the pandemic and the lack of attention and how that's starting to fall off people's radars as something serious and it's about to get more serious. There's a lot of reshaping of the country that can be done based on the results of this election," Brewer said. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
In Cook County, the race between reelection-seeking Democratic State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Republican Pat O’Brien could be considered a referendum on her first term amid controversy as well as what’s left of the power of the county’s machine to deliver.
Overall, the election itself could represent a referendum for voters on how they view the state of the state as a whole, expressing their choices as they face renewed restrictions aimed at countering a new rise in COVID-19.
Illinois’ March 17 primary, occurring just days before Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s initial stay-at-home order due to a budding pandemic, was an election unlike what we’ve ever seen. But consider it just a dry run for Tuesday.
A new state law prompted by the pandemic that sent mail-in ballot applications to more than 5 million voters and the decision by voters to flock to early voting sites to avoid crowded polling places on Election Day have prompted both types of voting to soar.
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Through Friday, more than 3 million Illinois residents had already cast ballots. The number of ballots sent in by mail in Illinois is nearly 1.2 million above the 370,000 cast in the state in the 2016 election, while the nearly 1.5 million in-person early votes cast was nearing the 1.52 million cast four years ago — with the full final weekend yet to go.
That means that as the weekend began, Illinoisans had already cast 53.1% of the nearly 5.7 million votes cast in the entire 2016 presidential election, state records showed.
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Delays in ballot counting are possible, and there also is expected to be a heavy in-person voting presence on Tuesday among traditionalists who insist on casting a ballot on Election Day.
But there is little traditional about this election, which found many candidates and activists navigating a new world of pandemic politics, using rallies over Zoom in lieu of door-to-door canvassing.
Spurred by Trump’s victory in 2016, the grassroots group Indivisible Chicago Alliance knocked on 20,000 suburban doors in the final weekend of the 2018 election to help elect Democratic U.S. Reps. Sean Casten of Downers Grove and Lauren Underwood in Naperville.
While the door-knocking is out this time, the group has continued to back Casten, who is being challenged by former Republican state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton, and Underwood, who is facing GOP state Sen. Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove.
It plans four days of virtual phone banking, even going beyond Illinois to include calling voters in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. Volunteers are also doing limited socially distanced canvassing in southwest Michigan, where permitted.
The group also had more than 5,000 volunteers send 2 million handwritten post cards to voters in 14 battleground states.
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Weekend phone banking and text banking is also part of the effort on behalf of the graduated-rate income tax amendment under an effort being run by the labor-backed Vote Yes for Fair Tax coalition.
But some candidates reverted to traditional campaigning methods.
O’Brien, the GOP state’s attorney candidate, kicked off his Saturday afternoon by greeting voters outside the 33rd Ward polling site in Albany Park.
On the sidewalk outside Bateman Elementary School, Renne “Rex” Chavez, a volunteer for Democratic nominee Iris Martinez’s campaign for Cook County Circuit Court clerk, introduced himself to O’Brien as a proud Republican. He followed up with, “I’m not going to lie to you: I also support Donald Trump,” to which O’Brien shrugged.
“I support you,” Chavez added. “Just do a good job. That’s all I’m asking, to do a d— good job.”
O’Brien replied, “I’m hoping people hold me to that. Then I’ll be happy.”
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Foxx, the incumbent, was scheduled to kick off a virtual phone bank for the Biden ticket on Saturday, while U.S. Rep. Danny Davis was scheduled to stump for her in Bronzeville on Sunday.
But the pandemic restrictions have, for the most part, created a made-for-TV election being broadcast to people at home.
On the amendment alone, tens of millions of dollars have been spent on hundreds of TV ads, funded primarily with $58 million from Pritzker, who has made the amendment his top agenda item and pumped another $1.5 million into the cause last week, and $53.75 million from hedge fund founder Ken Griffin on behalf of the opposition.
In the state legislative races, though Madigan remains a controversial figure, he has continued to raise money and has bankrolled millions of dollars in expensive Chicago TV ads through funds he controls to try to elect and protect suburban Democrats in the state House. Republicans have been left to fend for themselves after having been able to count on Bruce Rauner’s wealth during his one term as governor.
In Naperville, Democrat Janet Yang Rohr is challenging three-term Republican state Rep. Grant Wehrli and has owned the Chicago airwaves, running nearly 900 half-minute ads costing $1.2 million while Wehrli has run none.
Over in the Far Northwest Side and suburbs, Democrat Michelle Darbro of Chicago is challenging appointed first-term GOP state Rep. Brad Stephens, the mayor of Rosemont. Darbro has aired more than 900 half-minute TV ads on Chicago’s five major TV stations, costing $1.1 million, records show. Stephens has not aired any.
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Regardless of the various subplots on the Illinois ballot, the overwhelming determinant factor in voting will be the presidential election and Trump, said Christopher Mooney, political scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
“Presidential elections are totally different than nonpresidential elections. The electorate is different. You get a big chunk of voters that didn’t vote before. They are less interested, less engaged and know less about politics. They’re there to vote for Trump or vote against him,” Mooney said.
“It’s everything about Trump. He’s going to be why there’s going to be the turnout. He is why people will vote as they do,” he said.
Republicans shouldn’t count on their repeated attacks on Madigan as a strategy for victories, Mooney said. The party is trying to capitalize on Commonwealth Edison’s admission to federal prosecutors that it provided jobs and contracts to Madigan allies to seek the speaker’s favor. Madigan has not been charged with wrongdoing and has said he did nothing wrong.
“The Republicans have cried wolf so often with Madigan. They’ve been using him for 20 years over and over again. At a certain point, you get numb to it,” Mooney said. “There’s nothing new here. That’s the perception of Madigan. It’s already baked in.”
Chicago Tribune’s Alice Yin contributed.
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rpearson@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-31--Illinois sets record for coronavirus cases for third day in a row

A chunk of east-central Illinois that includes Champaign-Urbana and Decatur is the latest to join the list after its seven-day @ @ @ @ @ tests hit 8.6 % on Tuesday , exceeding the state-established threshold of 8 % for @ @ @ @ @ triggering the reopening rollback .
The restrictions also include a 25-person limit on gatherings , @ @ @ @

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 continues to shatter records for new known coronavirus cases, setting another high mark for the third day in a row.
State public health officials on Saturday reported 7,899 new COVID-19 cases, eclipsing Friday’s single-day record of 6,943 cases. On Thursday, the state reported 6,363 cases, which set a record at the time.
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Along with the record number of new cases, state health officials announced 46 more fatalities on Saturday bringing the statewide death toll to 9,757 since the pandemic began.
The high number of cases comes as Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike urged people to make “pandemic-guided decisions” and to avoid in-person gatherings on Halloween weekend.
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Ten of 11 Illinois regions are now operating under tighter restrictions under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan, including a ban on indoor dining and bar service, as the coronavirus continues its statewide resurgence.
A chunk of east-central Illinois that includes Champaign-Urbana and Decatur is the latest to join the list after its seven-day rolling positivity rate on coronavirus tests hit 8.6% on Tuesday, exceeding the state-established threshold of 8% for the third straight day and triggering the reopening rollback. The restrictions also include a 25-person limit on gatherings, down from 50.
The return of restrictions has proved controversial, with some restaurants vowing to continue indoor dining. Pritzker ordered closures for indoor dining last week in DuPage, Kane, Will and Kankakee counties. A similar restriction took effect in suburban Cook County on Wednesday and in Chicago on Friday. Lake and McHenry counties are to follow Saturday.
The state has reported 410,300 confirmed infections since the pandemic began. The seven-day statewide positivity rate, covering Oct. 24-30, — is 7.5%.


chicagotribune--2020-10-31--Flyers recruiting for far-right group Proud Boys placed on cars in Ravenswood

The Proud Boys , designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center , drew attention last month @ @ @ @ @ on the all-male group to “ stand back and stand by ” when he was @ @ @ @ @ to disavow white supremacy during the first presidential debate with former Vice President Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ for failing to condemn white supremacy and instead issuing what some members of the Proud @ @ @ @ @ cry .

Most cars parked on Leavitt Street just east of the Sulzer Regional Library were found Oct. 31, 2020, with flyers promoting the Proud Boys on the windshields. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Dozens of flyers attempting to recruit for the far-right group the Proud Boys were placed on cars parked throughout several residential blocks in Ravenswood late Friday.
By Saturday morning, about three dozen flyers remained wedged under windshield wipers on cars parked near Montrose and Lincoln avenues, including at least one displaying racist imagery evoking the Ku Klux Klan.
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The Proud Boys, designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, drew attention last month when President Donald Trump called on the all-male group to “stand back and stand by” when he was asked by moderator Chris Wallace to disavow white supremacy during the first presidential debate with former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump was widely criticized for failing to condemn white supremacy and instead issuing what some members of the Proud Boys took as a rallying cry.
Flyers with varying messages papered the cars, including one that portrayed a drawing of Uncle Sam proclaiming, “We want you to be a Proud Boy.” It listed the group’s “core tenets,” which included anti-racial guilt, anti-political correctness, venerating the housewife and Western chauvinism.
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Ald. Matt Martin, 47th, said residents have informed his office of at least six blocks in the district where flyers were placed on cars.
“People are certainly bothered, but I think they just wanted us to be aware,” he said.
Martin notified the Town Hall police district and said his office will continue to monitor the situation.
Some residents crumpled the flyers when reaching their cars Saturday morning, saying they are not surprised by the leaflets in such a volatile political climate. A man who would not give his name came by to remove the flyers, saying he wanted to make sure they didn’t intimidate people who were voting nearby at an early voting site in Welles Park.
The Proud Boys were founded during the 2016 election, and members have been known to share white nationalist memes and anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric, according to the SPLC.
The flyers come as the city is bracing for possible unrest ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election following protests and looting last summer in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
On Friday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled a plan to increase police patrols across the city while deploying 60 to 300 garbage trucks and other heavy city vehicles to key neighborhood corridors to be used as a blockade on wheels. The Office of Emergency Management and Communications also has held a number of trainings aimed at severe weather, COVID-19 outbreaks and protests related to the election, city officials said.
No matter who wins the elections, Lightfoot urged people to channel their emotions into peaceful protests.
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“We need to de-escalate from this long, difficult year,” Lightfoot said.
mabuckley@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-31--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State sets third single-day record in a row with Saturday’s COVID-1

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State sets third single-day record in a row with Saturday’s COVID-19 numbers

The new state figures came as the virus continued its resurgence across the nation , with total confirmed cases in @ @ @ @ @ .
Still , officials in many hard-hit states are resisting taking stronger action to slow @ @ @ @ @ from health experts running up against political calculation and public fatigue .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
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 public health officials Sunday reported 6,980 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, a day after the state reported a record 7,899 cases. There were also 35 additional deaths reported.
The statewide positivity rate for cases as a percent of total test for the past 7 days jumped to 8%, from 7.5%. There were 78,458 tests reported in the prior 24 hours.
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The state has now reported 417,280 cases since the pandemic began, and 9,792 fatalities.
Meanwhile, all the regions in the Illinois reopening plan will soon be under stricter coronavirus measures. Officials announced Sunday that the last region to avoid tighter restrictions — a chunk of north-central Illinois — will be under stricter rules starting Wednesday.
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Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
All 11 regions in Illinois will soon be under tighter restrictions as coronavirus cases climb
All regions in the Illinois reopening plan will soon be under tighter restrictions as positivity rates for the coronavirus climb.
The final region to avoid the more restrictive measures — a chunk of north-central Illinois — will be under stricter rules starting Wednesday, officials announced Sunday. Read more here. — Morgan Green
Dr. Anthony Fauci warns US faces ‘a whole lot of hurt’ this winter due to surging COVID-19 cases
The government’s top infectious diseases expert is cautioning that the U.S. will have to deal with “a whole lot of hurt” in the weeks ahead due to surging coronavirus cases. Dr. Anthony Fauci’s comments in a Washington Post interview take issue with President Donald Trump’s frequent assertion that the nation is “rounding the turn” on the virus.
Fauci said the U.S. “could not possibly be positioned more poorly” to stem rising cases as more people gather indoors during the colder fall and winter months. He says the U.S. will need to make an “abrupt change” in public health precautions.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
Saturday
Illinois reports nearly 8,000 new COVID-19 cases, breaking Friday’s record, and 46 additional deaths
Illinois health officials Saturday reported 7,899 new known COVID-19 cases, eclipsing a singe-day record set on Friday, statistics that surpassed Thursday’s numbers pushing the total number of confirmed infections since the pandemic began to 410,300.
Along with the record number of new cases, state health officials announced 46 more fatalities on Saturday bringing the statewide death toll to 9,757 since the pandemic began.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate — Oct. 24 – Oct. 30 — is 7.5%.
—Chicago Tribune staff
Illinois QB Brandon Peters tests positive for COVID-19 and will now sit out 21 days
Illinois starting quarterback Brandon Peters will miss Saturday’s game against Purdue after contracting COVID-19, the team announced about an hour before kickoff.
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Redshirt freshman tight end Griffin Moore will also miss the game after a positive test and “several” players are out due to contact tracing. They will also miss the Nov. 7 game against Minnesota
Illinois listed 14 players as out for the game against the Boilermakers.
Moore and Peters will have to sit out 21 days and would be eligible to return for the Nov. 21 Nebraska game pending their health status, per Big Ten rules. They tested positive on Thursday.
Purdue is the second game of the delayed Big Ten season and first home game for Illinois. The Illini lost 45-7 at Wisconsin last week in the season opener, after which Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz’s positive test was reported.
Read more here. —Shannon Ryan


chicagotribune--2020-10-31--1 dead, 15 wounded in overnight shootings on West, South sides

Three other victims also were wounded , including a 16-year-old boy who was shot multiple times in the legs , @ @ @ @ @ condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn .
A 28-year-old man suffered wounds @ @ @ @ @ , also was taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center .

A 32-year-old man was pronounced dead in an attack that wounded four people, including a 16-year-old boy, at a gathering on the Far South Side, and at least 15 others were injured in separate shootings on the West and South sides overnight, Chicago police said.
The fatal shooting happened shortly after 9:15 p.m in the 11600 block of South Vincennes Avenue in the Morgan Park neighborhood.
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Police said the four victims were attending a gathering at a residence when someone entered and fired shots. One of the victims, a 32-year-old man, suffered a wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Three other victims also were wounded, including a 16-year-old boy who was shot multiple times in the legs, and was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. A 28-year-old man suffered wounds to the back and torso, also was taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center.
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The third victim, a 30-year-old man was taken with wounds to the body to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was listed in fair condition, police said.
In other shootings from Friday evening to early Saturday morning:
Shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday, a 34-year-old woman was shot in the 6700 block of South Rhodes Avenue in the Park Manor neighborhood. Police said the woman was standing on the sidewalk when she heard shots and felt pain. She was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the right knee and listed in good condition. Police said she refused to answer questions and was “very” uncooperative.
Shortly before 4:15 a.m., a 30-year-old woman was shot in the Heart of Italy neighborhood in the 2200 block of South Oakley Avenue. Police said the woman was a passenger in a vehicle when she heard shots and felt pain in the lower back. She was taken by the driver to Mount Sinai Hospital where her condition was stabilized. Police said she refused to answer questions about the incident.
Shortly before 3 a.m., two men, ages 19 and 27, were shot in the 2400 block of Blue Island Avenue in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood. Police said they were passengers in a vehicle when they heard shots and felt pain. The youngest victim suffered a wound to the right arm, and the second victim was shot in the left arm. Both men were dropped off at Mount Sinai Hospital where both were listed in good condition.
Shortly after 12:45 a.m., a 17-year-old boy was shot in the 3800 block of West Augusta Boulevard in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. Police said the boy was sitting in a parked vehicle when two people approached on foot and opened fire. He suffered a wound to the back, and was taken in serious condition to Stroger Hospital.
About 12:30 a.m., a 34-year-old man was shot in the 800 block of South Keeler Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood. Police said the man was standing on the sidewalk when he heard shots and felt pain. He suffered a wound to the right shin, and was dropped off at Mount Sinai Hospital where he was listed in good condition.
Shortly. before 11:15 p.m. Friday, a 48-year-old man was shot in the 8500 block of South Buffalo Avenue in the Bush neighborhood. Police said the man was on his porch when two males approached and began shooting. The man suffered a wound to the buttocks, and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.
Shortly before 10:45 p.m., a 46-year-old man was shot with a paintball gun in the 2600 block of West Washington Boulevard in the West Town neighborhood. Police said the man was walking when an occupant in a black-colored sedan shot him in the back. The man refused medical attention.
Shortly after 8 p.m., a 16-year-old boy was shot in the 4900 block of South Tripp Avenue in the Archer Heights neighborhood. Police said the boy was involved in an argument when someone pulled out a weapon and began firing in his direction. The boy suffered a graze wound to the shoulder, and was taken in good condition to Stroger Hospital.
About 7:35 p.m., a 51-year-old man was inside a vehicle in the 7100 block of South Halsted Street in the Englewood neighborhood, when a male entered the vehicle and demanded a ride. When the man refused, the male shot him in the abdomen and hand. The victim was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where his condition was stabilized, police said.
About 7:10 p.m., a 30-year-old man was shot in the 4500 block of South Rockwell Avenue in the Brighton Park neighborhood. Police said he was walking when someone exited a vehicle and shot him in the leg. He was taken to Stroger Hospital where his condition was stabilized, police said.
Shortly after 6:35 p.m., a 19-year-old man was shot in the West Englewood neighborhood in the 7100 block of South Paulina St. Police said the victim exited a residence when a vehicle approached and someone opened fire. The victim was hit in a leg and both arms, and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where his condition was stabilized.
dawilliams@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--Daywatch special edition: Everything you need to know before Election Day

As of Friday , more than 3 million voters had already cast a ballot across Illinois — a tally split @ @ @ @ @ those voting in-person early or casting a mail-in ballot .
Heading into the weekend , @ @ @ @ @ in by mail in Illinois was nearly 1.2 million above the 370,000 cast in the @ @ @ @ @ , while the nearly 1.5 million in-person early votes cast was nearing the 1.52 million @ @ @ @ @ with the full final weekend yet to go .

Good morning, Chicago.
When voters head to the polls Tuesday, the highest profile contest on the ballot may be whether Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Joe Biden will occupy the Oval Office for the next four years.
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But the election intrigue doesn’t stop at the White House.
Illinois’s top local issue centers on what’s been a battle of billionaires between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Ken Griffin and whether the state should amend its constitution to overhaul its tax code from a flat-tax to a graduated-rate system that varies by income.
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Voters also will decide whether Dick Durbin, the second ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate, should get a fifth term. And, there are elections involving the state’s 18 congressional seats, including the reelection bids of suburban Democratic freshmen Sean Casten and Lauren Underwood.
Meanwhile, all 118 Illinois House seats are up for election, as well as nearly one third of the state Senate’s membership.
In Cook County, first-term Democratic State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is facing a challenge from Republican Pat O’Brien in a race that has generated a good deal of attention and political donations.
As of Friday, more than 3 million voters had already cast a ballot across Illinois — a tally split nearly in half either by those voting in-person early or casting a mail-in ballot. Heading into the weekend, the number of ballots sent in by mail in Illinois was nearly 1.2 million above the 370,000 cast in the state in the 2016 election, while the nearly 1.5 million in-person early votes cast was nearing the 1.52 million cast four years ago — with the full final weekend yet to go.
That means that as the weekend began, Illinoisans already had cast 53.1% of the total nearly 5.7 million votes cast in the 2016 presidential election, state records showed.
Delays in ballot counting are possible, and there also is expected to be a heavy in-person voting presence on Tuesday among traditionalists who insist on casting a ballot on Election Day.
With two days to go, here’s everything you need to know before Election Day.
—Rick Pearson
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Our full Voter Guide | Bookmark this page: 2020 results | Trump vs. Biden battleground tracker | See the Editorial Board’s ballot
A woman with a sticker on her mask leaves after early voting at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Oct. 22, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
While more than 3 million voters already have cast their ballots in Illinois alone amid a pandemic that has fueled record-setting mail-in and early voting numbers, don’t expect the winners in some of the election’s most anticipated races to be known the night of Nov. 3 — and in some cases for days after that.
Dozens of early voters line up at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Oct. 22, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
While online voter registration is now closed for this election, you can still register or change your address and cast a ballot in person at an early voting site or at designated sites on Election Day, as long as you’ve lived in your current location for 30 days before the election.
You’ll just need two forms of ID, including one with your current address. That can include first-class mail, such as a utility bill, bank statement or letter from a government agency.
The early voting period extends to Monday with Election Day on Tuesday. Here’s a list of all the early voting locations in the city and the suburbs.
Hours and dates vary by county and location. When making a plan to vote, it’s worth checking on a location in advance.
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Whether you’re a longtime voter or new to the process, voting can be confusing. Here’s what you need to know when casting your vote in-person this year.
A ballot is placed into a locked drop box at Truman College on Oct. 14, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The short answer is yes, but if you still want to vote by mail, there is something you can do.
Go to your local county clerk’s office or election authority to request a mail-in ballot in person. The deadline to do that is Monday (tomorrow).
Just be sure to complete your ballot and place it in the mail or a designated drop box, or return it to your local election office by the next day. Ballots returned by mail and postmarked by Election Day should be counted as long as they’re received by Nov. 17.
If you misplaced your mail-in ballot, you can sign an affidavit at an early voting site or Election Day polling place and will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot.
Hospitalized in Illinois? You can request a ballot to your bedside.
Voters cast ballots during early voting Sept. 30, 2020, at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
You’re allowed to vote in person only if you haven’t yet cast your ballot by mail. If you decide you’d rather vote in person, you’ll need to bring your mail-in ballot to an early voting site or your election precinct polling place and surrender it to an election judge. The election judge should then give you a standard ballot, which you can fill out to vote in person.


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--With contentious races, election disputes and record voting by mail, Nov. 3 won’t be ‘a good night t

With contentious races, election disputes and record voting by mail, Nov. 3 won’t be ‘a good night to seek instant gratification’

Under the rules of the state constitution , ratification of the amendment requires the support from either at least 60 @ @ @ @ @ the question , or from at least 50 % of the total ballots cast in @ @ @ @ @ number is unlikely to be known until after Nov. 17 and possibly not until the @ @ @ @ @ 4 .

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chicagotribune--2020-11-01--Indiana man faces first-degree murder charge in July shooting

Saalik Berberena , 32 , was arrested about 10:30 a.m. Friday in Crystal Lake by fugitive apprehension officers , police @ @ @ @ @ as the person who fired a handgun that was used to kill a 27-year-old man @ @ @ @

Prosecutors told a judge on Sunday that a Northwest Side man’s efforts to play peacekeeper in an angry dispute related to a dice game was rewarded with gunshot to the head, as the victim’s brother and a friend looked on.
Multiple eyewitnesses identified Saalik Berberena, 32, as the gunman who shot Jovante King in the area of the Lathrop Homes in the 2800 block of North Leavitt Street on early July 11, Cook County prosecutors said during a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube.
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Berberena, who was arrested about 10:30 a.m. Friday in Crystal Lake by fugitive apprehension officers, faces first-degree murder charges in King’s death.
Saalik Berberena (Chicago Police Department)
Before Circuit Judge John F. Lyke Jr., prosecutors told how the victim King, his brother and a friend went to the Chicago Housing Authority property that morning to defuse mounting tensions from a dice game that occurred days prior. But soon after arriving, authorities said an unidentified man and woman approached the vehicle King arrived in and warned him that he had to leave.
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Just then Berberena ran up to put a gun to the victim’s head, prosecutors said. Despite pushing the weapon away several times and repeated tries to calm the situation, Berberena shot King once in the head. King’s brother took a gun that was inside the vehicle and exchanged gunfire with Berberena as he ran away from the scene, authorities said.
King was taken to Advocate Illinois Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Berberena, who now lives in Los Angeles, according to court-appointed attorney, also faces aggravated battery to a police officer charges after he allegedly became uncooperative during a physical lineup at the Belmont Area detective area, prosecutors said.
During the line-up, authorities said Berberena closed his hooded sweatshirt and shouted into the one-way glass to intimidate the unidentified witness. He then shoved over one officer and spat on three others. All of the Berberena’s action’s inside the police station were captured on video, authorities said.
Prosecutors also noted that the three-time felon once had murder case against him rejected by the felony review unit because a witness refused to cooperate.
Judge Lyke denied Berberena bail, noting that the victim was trying to de-escalate tension for “a stupid dice game.”
“I know most people say it’s not about the dice game, it’s about respect. That’s even more stupid,” Lyke said, calling Berberena a threat to witnesses and the public.
Berberena returns to court on Nov. 9.
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pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-11-02--Oak Forest police: Officer, suspect exchange gunfire

“ In the ensuing interaction , that subject fired several shots at and struck an Oak Forest Police Officer , @ @ @ @ @ release from police Chief Jason Reid .
“ In response to that use of deadly @ @ @ @ @ fire striking the subject .
”

An Oak Forest police officer returned fire after someone shot at the officer Sunday evening, according to Oak Forest police.
About 6:20 a.m., police responded to a disturbance in the 4300 block of Frontage Road, police said, where officers located a stolen Dodge Charger in a parking lot.
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As a truck was preparing to tow the vehicle, someone tried to enter the car, police said.
“In the ensuing interaction, that subject fired several shots at and struck an Oak Forest Police Officer,” according to a news release from police Chief Jason Reid. “In response to that use of deadly force, the officer returned fire striking the subject.”
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Both were taken to hospitals for treatment, police said, and the Illinois Public Integrity Task Force and the Oak Forest Police Department were investigating.
Officials at the Oak Forest Police Department did not return calls Sunday or Monday regarding the incident.


chicagotribune--2020-11-02--Voters in Chicago, surrounding suburbs hit the polls on the final weekend before Election Day: ‘I ju

Voters in Chicago, surrounding suburbs hit the polls on the final weekend before Election Day: ‘I just want to make sure my vote is in there.’

The scramble to fill out a ballot even before Election Day dawns comes as the coronavirus pandemic , which has @ @ @ @ @ of the state , has pushed many to vote by mail or vote early in @ @ @ @ @ on Nov. 3 .
As of Sunday morning , nearly 3.5 million people had voted @ @ @ @ @ mail-in ballot or in person , according to numbers released by the State Board of @ @

With Election Day fast approaching, voters in Chicago and beyond were hustling Sunday to cast their ballots ahead of a general election that many say could have seismic implications both locally and nationally.
Some voters casting early ballots Sunday said the primary force driving them to the polls was the race for the White House and whether Republican President Donald Trump or Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden should get the next four years occupying the Oval Office. Others who spoke to the Tribune said casting their ballots felt cathartic after what they said has been a rancorous four years.
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Voters also mentioned a sense of relief in carrying out their civic duty early so they can focus on work and following election results on Tuesday night, while some mentioned doubt over whether the U.S. Postal Service would get their ballots in on time to count. Many others clung to tradition, saying nothing beats the feeling of physically filling out a ballot inside a polling site.
“It’s time to get him out of there,” Lisa Davis said Sunday in reference to Trump after she cast her ballot at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center polling site in Bronzeville. “The racial divide is too much. It seems like it was more these last four years than there’s ever been.”
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Lisa Davis, after voting early at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center in Chicago on Nov. 1, 2020. She said she is hoping for a blue wave on Election Day. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Davis, 62, said she trekked to the polls because the physical act of voting in person feels special to her. Come Tuesday, she plans to sit by the TV and hope for a blue wave.
“There’s just something about coming in and doing it in person,” Davis said. “I just want to make sure my vote is in there.”
The scramble to fill out a ballot even before Election Day dawns comes as the coronavirus pandemic, which has recently been surging in most of the state, has pushed many to vote by mail or vote early in person to avoid crowded lines on Nov. 3. As of Sunday morning, nearly 3.5 million people had voted early in Illinois either by mail-in ballot or in person, according to numbers released by the State Board of Elections.
Janiah Chaney, 21, said she thought she was doing her part by voting at the Bronzeville center and hoped other people her age will do the same.
“Since I’m young, a lot of people my age won’t get out and vote, and I know voting is the future,” Chaney said.
Minnie Chaney, left, her granddaughter Janiah Chaney, after voting early at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center in Chicago on Nov. 1, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Bundled in jackets and warm clothing to ward off the cold wind, a short line of voters waited Sunday morning outside the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center in Evanston to cast their ballot. Two people stood just outside the center, offering a sample Democratic ballot to voters as they approached.
Ansel Madourie, 43, said he chose to vote in person at the civic center to avoid long Election Day lines. He was “a little wary” going out to vote after seeing reports of long waits and ballot problems at the polls, but the process went smoothly and he only waited a few minutes.
To Madourie, racial equality, taxes and voting rights were the most important issues this election. He said he’s voted Republican in the past but thinks the country is heading in the wrong direction, which motivated him to vote Democratic this year.
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“I try not to watch too much, try not to read too much,” Madourie said. “I’m just hoping for a peaceful election, that’s all I can say.”
Ansel Madourie votes early in the 2020 election on Nov. 1, 2020, at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center in Evanston. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
After casting her ballot at the civic center, Adrieanne Arnold, 39, said this was the first time she’s voted early. This election was different for her, she said, adding that she took her time to research every candidate and that it felt more substantive to her to vote in person as opposed to a mail-in ballot, which would’ve felt “more disconnected” from the process.
“I wanted to actually come in and sit down with the voting and embrace it, embody it, and for the first time really take my time and vote,” Arnold said.
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Adrienne Arnold talks about voting early in the 2020 election on Nov. 1, 2020, at Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center in Evanston. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Statewide, of the approximately 3.5 million people who have voted early, nearly 1.7 million of them sent mail-in ballots and close to 1.8 million voted in person, according to the State Board of Elections. The vote-by-mail ballots already cast reflect more than 71% of the 2.4 million requests for ballots across Illinois. In Chicago, more than 730,000 people had cast their ballots so far.
Meanwhile, in the suburbs — including Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, McHenry and Will counties — more than 1.7 million people had voted early either in person or by mail.
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The early returns leave State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich “very encouraged” as turnout before Election Day has already exceeded 2016′s 1.9 million early votes cast, he said, adding that the final days could bring another surge. More than half of this election’s expected voters have already cast their ballots.
“So much of the voting this year is being done before Election Day — it’s really unprecedented,” Dietrich said Friday. “A lot could happen between now and Tuesday and even between now and Monday to change the numbers. What we’re looking at especially are the number of outstanding vote-by-mail ballots because that will be the biggest question mark on election night.”
Urgency over choices, from the country’s next leader to overhauling the state tax system to heated local races, have riled up Illinoisans to vote early. Illinois is expected to stay blue in the race for the White House.
That could have a ripple effect on down-ballot races such as the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, where Democratic incumbent Kim Foxx is in a closely watched contest against her GOP challenger, Patrick O’Brien. The face-off between the two has opened up divisions between Foxx’s progressive agenda and the tough-on-crime messaging of O’Brien, a former Cook County Circuit Court judge.
Statewide, voters are being asked a simple yes or no question on the most consequential change in taxation in decades: replacing the state’s flat-rate income tax with a graduated structure, which ups the levy as income rises. Supporters say this method fairly shifts the tax burden on wealthier households and could shore up finances for the fiscally beleaguered state, while opponents say it would kill jobs and strangle middle-class bank accounts.
In the suburbs, two Democrats who flipped reliably red congressional districts in 2018 are looking to hold onto their seats. U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, a Naperville Democrat, is up against dairy magnate Jim Oberweis, a Sugar Grove Republican, for a second term representing Illinois’ 14th Congressional District. In the nearby 6th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, a Downers Grove Democrat, is attempting to fend off Jeanne Ives, a former Republican state representative from Wheaton who unsuccessfully challenged then-Gov. Bruce Rauner in his last primary.
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U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is also on the ballot this year as he seeks a fifth term and competes against Republican Mark Curran, a former Democrat-turned-Republican ex-Lake County sheriff, and third-party candidate Willie Wilson. Durbin, Illinois’ senior senator and the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the Senate, has been a leading critic of Trump in the upper chamber, most recently in the minority party’s unsuccessful efforts to keep now-Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett off the bench.
Heading into the week, voters who haven’t yet cast their ballot still have a few options.
Victoria Peebles drops off her mail-in ballot while her dog Jasper looks up at Inter-American Elementary Magnet School on Nov. 1, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Through Monday, voters can go to a local county clerk’s office or election authority to request a mail-in ballot in person. Be sure to cast it by mail, hand it in to your local election authority in person or drop it in a designated drop box by Tuesday. Mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day should be counted if they’re received by Nov. 17.
If you received a mail-in ballot but would rather vote in person, you can surrender the ballot at your polling place to an election judge, who should then allow you to vote in person. If you haven’t yet received the mail-in ballot you requested, you can still vote in person after signing an affidavit stating you never got the ballot.
Be sure to check your local election authority’s website for your polling place. Each precinct is assigned a specific voting location on Election Day, though some areas have super sites where all voters are eligible to cast their ballot. In Chicago, those will be at the United Center, at 1901 W. Madison St., or in the Loop at 191 N. Clark St.
In suburban Cook County, they will be in Union Station and the suburban courthouses in Skokie, Rolling Meadows, Maywood, Bridgeview and Markham.
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Mara Castillo, 42, said she couldn’t wait until Election Day to cast her ballot at Ortiz De Dominguez Elementary School. A Little Village native, Castillo said she felt the federal government has left behind her family and friends who fell into unemployment during the COVID-19 crisis.
“They didn’t get no stimulus check,” Castillo said about some of her neighborhood’s immigrant population. “A lot of people are losing their jobs. (Trump) didn’t think about that. He didn’t even take care of Little Village or any poor community, and to us that was huge because a lot of people that we do know have been affected by COVID-19.”
Mara Castillo, left, and her daughter Sarah Castillo, 13, after voting early at Ortiz De Dominguez Elementary School in Chicago on Nov. 1, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Parice Hackworth, 29, thought every issue on the ballot was important when she went to the polling site at Jungman Elementary School in Pilsen. She cited judges, the proposed amendment on a graduated income tax and, of course, the race for the White House.
“Presidency is important because, I mean, you see the state of the country as it is now,” Hackworth said. “Then the ‘fair tax,’ that’s important because why should a teacher pay the same rate as a millionaire in the city in terms of taxes?”
With voting out of the way, Hackworth said with a chuckle that she plans to pray on Election Day. But like other voters in Chicago, she was optimistic, even giddy, for the fateful day to come, she said.
“I’m just excited for Tuesday, hopeful that things change,” Hackworth said. “We’ll see what happens.”
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Ben Talbot, 21, said he cast his first-ever vote Sunday at Oriole Park Elementary School, a first-time polling site. The school had more than 50 campaign signs scattered across its front entrance as voters rushed in and out around noon without having to wait in a line.
“It was really smooth,” Talbot said about his voting experience, adding that he wanted to cast a ballot in person to have it feel more official for his first time.
Many young people have been casting their ballot at the Oriole Park site, according to Karey Heerdt, 47, a security worker at the school who was directing voters as they entered the polling site Sunday.
Heerdt said the early voting period has been hectic at the elementary school, with about 700 to 900 people casting a ballot any given day. She was surprised there were fewer people Sunday with only two days until the election, but said it’s been “pretty crazy to watch” the droves of voters who cast their ballot days or weeks earlier.
“It’s exceeded all of our expectations,” Heerdt said. “You go from having no one in the building to 800 people a day.”
kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
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ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-02--Bricks thrown at Evanston police, Northwestern University students pepper-sprayed in off-campus clas

Bricks thrown at Evanston police, Northwestern University students pepper-sprayed in off-campus clash as protesters again call on university to defund its police

In the statement , Schapiro said that the organizers of the ongoing protests were intent on provoking university police into @ @ @ @ @ protests an “ abomination ” and said the protesters should be ashamed of themselves .
@ @ @ @ @ consider how they would feel if their family awoke one night to the kinds of @ @ @ @ @ ” as those being chanted outside his home in another recent protest .

Paige Fry, Jessica Villagomez, Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas

Evanston Mayor Stephen Hagerty penned a stern warning letter to the Northwestern University president Sunday after an officer suffered an eye injury, protesters were pepper-sprayed and more than a dozen incidents of property damage were reported during a Halloween night protest, officials said.
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Evanston police said a group of about 150 protesters, including Northwestern students, gathered in downtown Evanston near Sheridan Road and Clark Street on Saturday night. Some were part of the NU Community Not Cops group that has been protesting daily to highlight their efforts to get the university Police Department abolished or defunded.
A social media flyer of the protest said masks were required and asked that people wear all black and bring umbrellas.
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Soon after leaving campus around 9 p.m., the group encountered officers from the Evanston Police Department. A statement from that agency said, “When it was clear the event had transitioned from a peaceful protest to that of intentional destruction,” pepper spray was used to “prevent injury to bystanders and police officers.”
But students and others posting on social media contested that version of events.
One Northwestern University student, who asked not to be named out of fear for his safety, noted the heightened response from law enforcement follows public statements made by university President Morton Schapiro, in which he staunchly opposed the protests.
“I think it was a direct result of the inflammatory rhetoric used by President Schapiro last week," he said, referring to a statement from Schapiro in which the president denounced the protesters who had personally attacked him in a gathering outside his home as an “abomination.”
“It reminded me of something I would’ve heard from a Southern governor during the civil rights marches,” the student said. “He said there would be swift and harsh punishment and all that.”
Police said the response was proportionate given the danger to their safety resulting from objects thrown at them by protesters.
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“The crowd marched into downtown Evanston, with some protesters throwing rocks and bricks at police officers, lighting fireworks in the direction of officers, pointing lasers at police officers’ eyes, and using umbrellas to cover individuals graffitiing streets, stop signs, and electric boxes, and damaging property,” the police statement said.
Chicago police, who said they were not involved or asked to assist, have in the past decried the use of umbrellas by protesters to shield from view those who are planning or carrying out attacks on officers. Evanston police said there were 18 reports of criminal damage to property.
An officer from the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System, which was called in to assist, was injured and transported to a hospital with an eye injury from a firework, police said.
Jon Yates, a spokesman with the university, said he had been in contact with Evanston police, who notified the university that a female Northwestern student was arrested for allegedly hitting a police officer.
“As we have stated before, Northwestern strongly supports the free expression of ideas and vigorous debate, abiding principles that are fundamental to our University,” Yates said in an emailed statement. “Northwestern protects the right to protest, but we do not condone breaking the law. Should members of the Northwestern community be found in violation of University policies, state or federal laws, they will be held accountable through our processes.”
The student was released from custody early Sunday and the university was awaiting additional information, Yates said. The Northwestern University Police Department was not involved after protesters marched beyond the university’s jurisdiction, he added.
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The protest, one of many calling to defund university police, was organized by NU Community Not Cops, a group that has been marching daily since Oct. 12, according to The Daily Northwestern.
The Northwestern student who spoke to the Tribune said he became part of the movement because he doesn’t think Northwestern should have a police force and he believes it should disclose the department’s budget.
Yates did not answer specific questions about the police budget but pointed to an Oct. 27 statement from Schapiro that said a review of the university’s Police Department “by external consultants will continue through this fall, and we will share a public report when the review is complete. We also are finding ways to provide more information regularly about the inner workings of (campus police), including an overview of its budget by November 16.”
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The student said he believes the group was pepper-sprayed in response to another of Schapiro’s posts, one published Oct. 19 in which he condemned the ongoing protests.
In the statement, Schapiro said that the organizers of the ongoing protests were intent on provoking university police into retaliation. He said the protesters should be ashamed of themselves. He also implored them to consider how they would feel if their family awoke one night to the kinds of “vile and personal attacks” as those being chanted outside his home in another recent protest.
Police have followed the marchers on foot or on bicycles during the protests, but there had never been a physical encounter until Saturday, according to the student who spoke with the Tribune.
Protesters had only been marching for about 30 minutes before an aerosol substance that protesters believed to be tear gas was used, the student said. Police refuted that claim in the statement they issued.
“Contrary to misinformation being circulated on social media, no tear gas was used. Smoke seen in any photos is from fireworks used by the protesters, not tear gas,” it said.
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The student said officers began pushing students down the street, and medics who were recruited by the protesters tended to people who were affected by the aerosol.
“I started coughing, trying to hold the line,” he said. “I’m thankful it didn’t escalate any further than that. … My hands were shaking. I was terrified.”
In each of their public statements Evanston police, Schapiro and Hagerty all reiterated repeatedly that they support the protesters right to peacefully assemble.
But the statements all seem to indicate a growing frustration with the relentless pace, scope and increasingly hostile demonstrations.
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Even organizers of NU Community Not Cops planned a Sunday afternoon event to decompress after what they described on Twitter as a “very very intense” night. “We want to give you all space and time to heal today,” they said.
The mayor, in his letter Sunday, said he expects the university to remind students they will be arrested if they continue putting officers in harm’s way. Hagerty estimated that the protests, now going on 30 days, have cost Evanston tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in police overtime.
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Like Schapiro, Hagerty said he wants to ensure the safety of protesters because “it is always on my mind that the protester is someone’s child, and whether I agree or disagree with their efforts, they deserve to protest safely."
“While we cannot necessarily control the moment we are living in, we can all control our conduct and still use our right to peacefully assemble to ensure our voices are heard,” Hagerty said.
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify mischaracterizations of a statement from Northwestern President Morton Schapiro. He denounced protesters who personally attacked him during a gathering outside his home.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry
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@JessicaVillag


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--Kendall County placed under tighter COVID-19 restrictions

The new rules in Region 2 are set to take effect Wednesday .
In addition to limiting indoor service at @ @ @ @ @ restrictions also cap gathering sizes at the lower of 25 people or 25 % of @ @ @ @ @ the 50 people that had been allowed .

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has announced increased COVID-19 rules for Kendall County and the 19 other north-central Illinois counties that make up Region 2 after multiple days of high test positivity rates, meaning bars and restaurants will soon be required to end indoor service, among other restrictions.
The region was the last of the 11 regions that had been free of heightened virus mitigations. The addition of restrictions in Region 2 means all of Aurora, and the entire state, will soon face stricter COVID-19 rules.
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The new rules in Region 2 are set to take effect Wednesday. In addition to limiting indoor service at bars and restaurants, the restrictions also cap gathering sizes at the lower of 25 people or 25% of room capacity, instead of the 50 people that had been allowed.
Bars, restaurants, gaming and casinos must close by 11 p.m., and casinos are limited to 25% capacity. Bar and restaurant patrons must be seated at tables outdoors and cannot congregate at the bar. Reservations are required for each party, and multiple parties cannot be seated together. Party buses are not allowed.
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The restrictions do not apply to schools or polling places, the governor’s office said.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes questions from the press during his daily update of COVID-19 cases in Illinois on Oct. 20. Pritzker has announced new restrictions in Region 2, which includes Kendall County. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
The restrictions will be put in place because the the average number of COVID-19 tests that are returned positive has been above the state threshold of 8% for three consecutive days.
Thursday, the most recent day for which state data was available, the region’s seven-day average test positivity rate was 9.3%, state data showed. Kendall County’s average test positivity rate was 11.8%.
To return to looser reopening rules, a region must return to a positivity rate at or below 6.5% for three consecutive days. If the average positivity rate remains at or above 8% after two weeks, additional restrictions could be put in place.
Regions 8 and 7, which cover Kane, DuPage, Will and Kankakee counties, were placed under increased restrictions that took effect Oct. 23. The average test positivity rate for the region covering Kane and DuPage counties was 10.6% Thursday, and the region covering Will and Kankakee counties had an 11.4% average test positivity rate Thursday, state data showed.
The positivity rates in both regions were higher than when the increased restrictions took effect Oct. 23, state data shows.
By Monday, the remaining eight regions in the state will also be operating under heightened restrictions, including the northwest Illinois region which is operating under stricter Tier 2 measures.
sfreishtat@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--All 11 regions in state will soon be under tighter restrictions as coronavirus cases climb

“ I know that the vast majority of people in this state want to keep themselves safe , their families @ @ @ @ @ parents and neighbors and friends , ” Pritzker said in a news release .
“ @ @ @ @ @ faith in the people of Illinois to do what ’ s right for each other @ @ @ @ @ and deaths are rising across our state , across the Midwest and across the nation @ @ @ @ @ responsibly and collectively to protect the people we love .
”

All regions in the Illinois reopening plan will soon be under tighter restrictions as positivity rates for the coronavirus climb.
The final region to avoid the more restrictive measures — a chunk of north-central Illinois — will be under stricter rules starting Wednesday, officials announced Sunday.
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The region, stretching from Kendall and McLean counties to the Iowa border, hit a rolling seven-day positivity rate of 8.5% last week. The region has had an average rate of 8% or above for three consecutive days, triggering the additional measures, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office announced Sunday.
As of Sunday, the region’s positivity rate was 9.3%, officials said.
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“I know that the vast majority of people in this state want to keep themselves safe, their families and children safe, their parents and neighbors and friends,” Pritzker said in a news release. “I have always maintained enormous faith in the people of Illinois to do what’s right for each other. As cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising across our state, across the Midwest and across the nation, we have to act responsibly and collectively to protect the people we love.”
When the restrictions take effect in Region 2, all 11 regions will be under the rollbacks in the governor’s plan, which include a ban on indoor dining and bar service, bar and dining service ending at 11 p.m. and at least a 25-person cap on gatherings. The restrictions do not apply to schools or polling places.
Mobile testing will be available this week in Region 2, including in Canton on Monday, Lewistown on Tuesday, Princeton on Wednesday, Macomb on Thursday, Aledo on Friday and at the Streator City Park on Saturday and Sunday, according to officials.
Illinois public health officials Sunday reported 6,980 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, a day after the state reported a record 7,899 cases. There were also 35 additional deaths reported.
The seven-day average for the case positivity rate — total cases out of total tests — has jumped to 8% statewide, from 7.3% Thursday and 5.6% a week earlier. There were 78,458 tests reported as of Sunday in the prior 24 hours.
Since the start of the pandemic, the state has reported 417,280 cases and 9,792 deaths.


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 6,980 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 35 new deaths reported

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 6,980 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 35 new deaths reported as statewide positivity rate hits 8%

The government ’ s top infectious diseases expert is cautioning that the U.S. will have to deal with “ a @ @ @ @ @ in the weeks ahead due to surging coronavirus cases .
Dr. Anthony Fauci ’ s @ @ @ @ @ interview take issue with President Donald Trump ’ s frequent assertion that the nation is @ @ @ @ @ on the virus .


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--Harford Sheriff’s Office investigating suspicious death of Jarrettsville husband, wife

Police said they were called around 10 a.m. and found the couple dead in separate rooms and both had an @ @ @ @ @ were pronounced dead at the scene , police said .
The names of the couple @ @ @ @

Police are investigating a suspicious death of a Jarrettsville couple who were found dead inside their home Saturday morning.
Harford County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Sunday that a family member found a 76-year-old Jarrettsville woman and her 75-year-old husband dead in their home in the 3600 block of Duxbury Court.
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Police said they were called around 10 a.m. and found the couple dead in separate rooms and both had an apparent gunshot wound. They were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The names of the couple were not released.
The deaths are being investigated and the medical examiner is working to determine the cause of death and manner, police said.
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Police described it as an “isolated incident” and said there is no threat to the community.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Detective Berg at 443-409-3302.


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--Man on electronic monitoring in Cook County now wanted in Ohio, where he is accused of pulling gun o

Man on electronic monitoring in Cook County now wanted in Ohio, where he is accused of pulling gun on deputies

The sheriff ’ s office said it visited Torkelson ’ s reported address Oct. 28 and discovered he was not @ @ @ @ @ note for a resident at the home saying he had to go to a hospital @ @ @ @ @ that Torkelson had been granted authorization to meet with a local law enforcement agency that @ @

Jeremy Gorner, Annie Sweeney, Megan Crepeau

A Chicago man released on electronic monitoring while awaiting trial on murder charges is being sought in Ohio after he allegedly pulled a gun on sheriff’s deputies during a traffic stop there and then evaded arrest.
Juan Torkelson, 28, was charged in Cook County in June with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the fatal stabbing of one person and the wounding of three others in a 2019 attack on the Northwest Side.
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On May 30, Torkelson was ordered held on $100,000 bond with electronic monitoring as a condition of his release if he posted the necessary $10,000, according to court records and the Cook County sheriff’s office.
He was placed on electronic monitoring June 25 after posting bail, the office said in a written statement to the Tribune on Saturday
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The sheriff’s office, which oversees the electronic monitoring program, said it was notified on Oct. 27 of a “possible unauthorized leave” for Torkelson.
The sheriff’s office said it visited Torkelson’s reported address Oct. 28 and discovered he was not there but had left a note for a resident at the home saying he had to go to a hospital. The investigators also discovered that Torkelson had been granted authorization to meet with a local law enforcement agency that day.
Investigators checked with both the hospital and the law enforcement agency but found no record he had visited either location.
About 1 a.m. Oct. 28, two sheriff’s deputies in Madison County, Ohio, pulled over Torkelson for equipment issues with his vehicle and for following too closely to another car, said Madison County Sheriff’s Lt. Bryan White.
White said it took a few minutes for Torkelson to pull over. When he did, the deputies approached the vehicle on foot, Torkelson pulled out a gun and the deputies heard it click, White said.
The deputies then took cover, and Torkelson apparently drove off. Torkelson’s vehicle then crashed and he fled on foot, White said.
As of Sunday morning, Torkelson remained at large.
According to a news release from the Madison County sheriff’s office, Torkelson was described as “armed and dangerous.”
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Torkelson was charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder after he fatally stabbed a 28-year-old man and wounded three others in November 2019 in the 5300 block of West Irving Park Road, authorities said.
The Chicago Police Department’s fugitive apprehension unit arrested him in May.


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--Dolton mayor: Officer bodycam captured police shooting, wounding gun suspect

The suspect , believed to be 19 or 20 years old , ran from the officers and again refused repeated @ @ @ @ @ .
Rogers said the man then pulled a firearm from his waistband and was shot @ @ @ @ @ the officers , who both have about two years ’ police experience .

The mayor of south suburban Dolton on Sunday said police bodycam captured a pursuit and wounding of a young man who authorities said pointed a firearm at officers.
During a morning news conference broadcast on the village’s Facebook page, Dolton Mayor Riley Rogers told reporters that the two officers’ cameras were functioning during the shooting about 9:15 p.m. Halloween night in the 15000 block of Irving Avenue in the suburb.
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According to the mayor, a caller gave police dispatchers a detailed description of a person with a gun near Irving Avenue. Police arriving quickly saw a suspect matching the description and immediately demanded he show his hands, Rogers said.
The suspect, believed to be 19 or 20 years old, ran from the officers and again refused repeated orders to show his hands. Rogers said the man then pulled a firearm from his waistband and was shot as he pointed it toward the officers, who both have about two years’ police experience.
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The suspect remained hospitalized in serious condition.
The officers’ bodycam video, Rogers said, had already been downloaded and handed over to the Illinois State Police’s public integrity task force, who investigates all shootings by police officers outside Chicago. At the end of the investigation, the suspect’s family would be allowed to review the video before it is released publicly, Rogers said.


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--Strong winds, higher temperatures expected in the Chicago area this week

There is a wind advisory for northeast and north-central Illinois and northwest Indiana , he said .
The strong winds @ @ @ @ @ those driving semitrailers or larger vehicles .
The strong winds were expected to be particularly @ @ @ @ @ and 57 , as well as near the lakefront , he said .

Leftover Halloween decorations and candy chutes may fly across Chicago on Sunday as winds are expected to gust as strong as 45 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
“The wind could be blowing around those loosely secured Halloween decorations,” said Lee Carlaw, a meteorologist with the weather service.
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There is a wind advisory for northeast and north-central Illinois and northwest Indiana, he said. The strong winds can prove especially challenging for those driving semitrailers or larger vehicles. The strong winds were expected to be particularly strong primarily on Interstates 55 and 57, as well as near the lakefront, he said.
The gusty winds will abate Sunday evening as temperatures drop into the mid-20s. Sunday was expected to be the coldest day of the week with a daytime high of 40 degrees near O’Hare International Airport.
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A notable warmup will continue into the week, with temperatures into the lower 60s by Election Day and highs in the upper 60s on Wednesday and Thursday.
For more on the weather, visit the Chicago Tribune’s weather page.
jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JessicaVillag


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--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--2020-11-01--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 @ @ @ @ @ state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer .

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--2020-11-01--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 35 new deaths, 6,980 new confirmed cases and 78,458 new test resu

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 35 new deaths, 6,980 new confirmed cases and 78,458 new test results

Illinois announced 6,980 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Sunday for a total of 417,280 .
The state also announced 35 @ @ @ @ @ of 9,792 and 78,458 new test results for a total of 7.8 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--2020-11-01--New poll has Biden leading in Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin: Track the race for presi

New poll has Biden leading in Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin: Track the race for president in key battleground states

The final New York Times and Siena College poll Sunday shows Biden leading Trump in Wisconsin by 11 points , @ @ @ @ @ ; in Arizona by 6 points , 49 % to 43 % ; in Pennsylvania @ @ @ @ @ % to 43 % ; and in Florida by 3 points , 47 % to @ @ @ @ @ of error , according to the New York Times , is plus or minus 3.2 @ @ @ @ @ ; 3 points in Arizona and 2.4 points in Pennsylvania .

Bill Ruthhart, Chad Yoder, Jonathon Berlin

Going into Tuesday’s voting, the list of battleground states that President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden were fighting for was a long 13. By the end of the night, that list had shrunk to a half-dozen.
By Wednesday morning, all eyes were on three familiar battlegrounds: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Propelled by the late counting of votes from Democratic strongholds, Biden had taken a lead in Michigan and Wisconsin by late morning Wednesday, while Trump remained in front in Pennsylvania with hundreds of thousands of votes outstanding.
Regardless of where those states land, the margin in the race to 270 Electoral College votes promises to be thin. Here is a look at results in hand so far from Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, as well as some of the other battlegrounds that have been projected already or are closer to projection.
Also included here are final FiveThirtyEight polling averages for those states — polling that, as in 2016, proved to underestimate Trump’s sway with voters.
Those polls had Biden up 8.2 points nationally, for example. In key Midwest states, Biden led Minnesota by 9.3, Wisconsin by 8.2 and Michigan by 8 points. Trump won states where he was leading — Iowa, Texas and Ohio.
State by state


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--Campaign trail tracker: Where Trump, Biden and their running mates have traveled in presidential rac

Campaign trail tracker: Where Trump, Biden and their running mates have traveled in presidential race’s final weeks

In the final sprint ahead of the Nov. 3 election , both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ travel despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic .
Starting in September , Biden abandoned his monthslong @ @ @ @ @ in Delaware while Trump has accelerated his travel and is once again welcoming crowds at @ @ @

In the final sprint ahead of the Nov. 3 election, both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden have ramped up their campaign travel despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Starting in September, Biden abandoned his monthslong virtual campaign from his basement in Delaware while Trump has accelerated his travel and is once again welcoming crowds at some events.
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Here’s a look at the campaign trail stops made by Trump, Biden and running mates since Sept. 1.
Campaign trail tracker
Tap or click on a dot to see details of the stop.
Don’t see the map? Some mobile browsers disable it. Try this link.


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--‘Dead people always seem to get in the way of the living.’ Facing death with Chicago’s ‘Cemetery Lad

‘Dead people always seem to get in the way of the living.’ Facing death with Chicago’s ‘Cemetery Lady’ Helen Sclair

“ Professional historians , and I am one , can be very snobbish about people who are avocational historians , @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m sure that Helen suffered some of that .
There were people who @ @ @ @ @ amateur .
That was truly not fair to her because she was a very dedicated @ @ @ @ @ thorough but she was also in the habit of challenging professional historians when she thought @ @ @ @ @ And , you know , that ’ s not a way to make friends .
@

This is not an obituary for Chicago’s “Cemetery Lady.”
After all, Helen Sclair, the sometimes-prickly yet always engaging former schoolteacher turned self-taught historian, lecturer, collector, tour guide and author died of cardiac arrest on Dec. 16, 2009, at 78 years old.
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Instead, this is a celebration of the ever-growing afterlife of a woman who spent so many of her days thinking about death.
Photographs of Helen Sclair, the "Cemetery Lady," from her collection, now kept by the staff at the Newberry Library in Chicago, on Oct. 29, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Sclair’s final resting place is the same as her last known address — Bohemian National Cemetery on the Northwest Side. Her cremated remains lie under a headstone bearing the inscription, “An advocate for the dead.”
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She lived the last eight years of her life tucked away in a former caretaker’s cottage on the grounds — which provided ample room to display her thousands of pieces of death memorabilia, according to Paul F. Gehl, a former curator at the Newberry Library.
“Visiting her at home was like getting a docent-led tour of a museum. Everything displayed in an order clear only to her, but explainable,” Gehl wrote in an email. “Mourning jewelry, Halloween novelties, embalming tools and chemicals, funeral home giveaways (including toys!), books and magazines, postcards of cemeteries, and photographs of funeral floral arrangements. Mind-boggling just to remember it all.”
In fact, after she died, the Newberry acquired her collection — one of the largest and most diverse he’s seen, Gehl said — for inclusion in the library’s holdings.
Sclair was obsessed with death. She displayed caskets at her house and had a skull-and-crossbones motif on her personal checks — but she never attempted to communicate with the dead. That just wasn’t her thing.
“I never discuss ghosts,” Sclair said in 1999. “I have no interest in the subject.”
However, her afterlife was just beginning.
Born into death
Sclair’s own life confronted death almost from its beginning. She was born Dec. 30, 1930, in Chicago, to parents who’d recently returned from missionary work in Africa. Her mother, Helen, died just one week later and was buried near her southeastern Missouri hometown.
An only child, Sclair was sent to live with William and Helen Weber, who owned a duck farm in suburban Lake Villa.
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“Mother was raised as one of Helen’s children. Now, that created a little bit of a problem because everyone was named Helen in those days,” said Lu Helen Sclair, her daughter. “So, Mother’s nickname was ‘Susie,’ and that’s so far apart from anything she ever would have called herself.”
Sclair’s biological father, Irvin L. Young, was a successful inventor and businessman whose philanthropic efforts in Africa helped Lincoln Park Zoo acquire its iconic gorilla, Bushman, and, later, four baby gorillas. One was named after him. As generous as he was, he devoted little time to his only child.
A young Helen Sclair poses with her birth father, Irvin L. Young, in undated photos. (Provided by Lu Helen Sclair)
However, Sclair’s guardians demonstrated the importance of family — both living and dead. At 2½, they took her to visit her birth mother’s grave. Her first job was trimming grass from the Weber family’s headstones. She recalled the experience in Studs Terkel’s 2001 book, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith.” Within the book she also described how her growing interest in death was kindled out of boredom:
“There was no movie theater in the town that I grew up in, so you went to funerals. That was the thing to do. My goodness, you had to get the paper because it would be terrible if you missed a funeral.” — Helen Sclair in “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith” by Studs Terkel (2001)
Growing legacy
After her death, almost all of the items from Sclair’s cemetery cottage, the piles upon piles of research papers and cemetery informational brochures, photographs of headstones and death care industry research were all transferred to the Newberry Library, where they would be cataloged and preserved.
Newberry Library archivist Alison Hinderliter rolls back several boxes filled with documents, receipts and photographs from Helen Sclair's collection, now kept by the staff at the library in Chicago, on Oct. 29, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
“We filled three large panel vans floor to ceiling with books and papers and anything printed,” Lu Helen Sclair said.
“It was a memorable weekend, three or four days in the middle of the summer. It was beastly hot,” Gehl said. “There was one little air conditioner in the house. It was a cute little cottage that she had. It was filled from top to bottom with material.”
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American Airlines Freight System's transportation service for human remains was nicknamed "Jim Wilson." This brochure is among the many items related to death in Helen Sclair's collection, now kept by the staff at the Newberry Library in Chicago. (Antonio Perez)
Her materials, most not yet digitized, continue to provide inspiration for a new generation of death-related researchers.
Samantha “Sam” Smith, pursuing a doctorate in history at Michigan State University, became interested in Sclair’s collection of post-mortem photographs and used them for a capstone project.
“Unlike people who collect stamps or coins, it is impossible to collect all of ‘death.’” Smith wrote in an email. “Sclair’s collection is incomplete, and that is part of its beauty, for me at least.”
Several small groupings from Sclair’s collection have been displayed at the Newberry. These include fans, which were used by funeralgoers to cool themselves before air conditioning was common, and ribbons with designs on both sides, which were worn by union and/or fraternal organization members.
Some pieces from Helen Sclair's collection have been exhibited at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St., in Chicago, including these reversible funeral ribbons worn by fraternal, labor and union organizations, which were displayed during the summer of 2019. (Newberry Library, Chicago)
A monumental discovery
Sclair found herself alone in the early 1980s. Her daughter was studying nursing at Indiana University. Her second husband, Marvin, had died in 1975.
She taught at Gladstone Elementary on the Near West Side but was looking for something else to occupy her time. She was intrigued by an idea.
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“I had heard that Chicago’s Lincoln Park had once been a cemetery. Some of it? All of it? None of it? And if it had been a cemetery, what happened to all the bodies and monuments? Idle curiosity!” Sclair said in 2004.
It had been more than a century since burials took place in the Chicago City Cemetery, which was north of North Avenue along the lakefront and outside the then-city limits. Bodies were later relocated to other cemeteries due to a variety of factors — city expansion northward; health risks associated with rising lake levels and their proximity to decaying bodies buried in shallow graves; and a lawsuit concerning one of the cemetery’s sections.
How to find out more? Google and Ancestry.com didn’t exist yet.
“As my college career had been spent as a voice major, I knew little about research,” Sclair later admitted.
When she went looking for the city’s cemetery records, experts guessed they’d been lost to the Great Fire of 1871. More than 110 years later, however, boxes of old papers were found in a South Side warehouse and sent to Springfield for conservation. When the Illinois Regional Archives Depository opened at Northeastern Illinois University in 1990, the cemetery documents were there — and so was Sclair.
Chicago Tribune reporter Ron Grossman wrote, “Sclair seems to have been the first to guess that the archive might contain records of the old lakefront cemetery. ... Eventually, she found more than 600 relevant documents, had them photographed, then copied by hand their virtually illegible 19th Century handwritings.”
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Chicago Tribune front page story about Helen Sclair, from Sclair's collection, now kept by the staff at the Newberry Library in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The discovery of this “demographic gold mine of undertakers’ reports” was monumental — especially for a novice. “It’s a one-in-a-million shot,” Melvin Holli, professor of history at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in 1991.
Her discovery confirmed bodies still remain buried beneath Lincoln Park.
“You ask me why people find this interesting? Well, first off no one has really done what I do. Here you get into burial customs, mourning customs, funerary customs, preference of material, color of stone. It’s endless, just endless.” — Helen Sclair, Oct. 31, 1997, interview with CNN
Pushing her passion forward
Sclair continued to research cemeteries and gave lectures and tours. “With dramatic flairs, a voice that commands attention and fascinating visuals, she explains the city’s racial, ethnic and religious divisions, the economic and social classes and the family structure,” the Tribune reported about one of her classes in 1997.
Costumes and props were customized for Sclair’s presentations, including 1915′s Eastland Disaster, the Great Fire of 1871 and the Wingfoot Express crash of 1919. “She would dress for every occasion — no, let’s say, every disaster occasion,” said Craig Pfannkuche, a local historian and friend.
Still, she took the topics seriously. She located “missing” cemeteries in the Chicago area — finding 63 of them — and categorized cemeteries by their poignant features. For example, you can be buried next to your pets only at Elm Lawn Cemetery in Elmhurst.
This brochure for Elm Lawn Cemetery's Memorial Park describes an area where people can be buried next to their pets, a rarity in Chicago. This item is from Helen Sclair's collection, now kept by the staff at the Newberry Library. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
She became so knowledgeable about death that Sclair would often correct anyone — regardless of their credentials — who misrepresented historical facts.
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“Professional historians, and I am one, can be very snobbish about people who are avocational historians,” Gehl said. “I’m sure that Helen suffered some of that. There were people who felt she was merely an amateur. That was truly not fair to her because she was a very dedicated researcher. She was very thorough but she was also in the habit of challenging professional historians when she thought they made a mistake. And, you know, that’s not a way to make friends.”
“It drives me nuts,” Sclair said in 1997. “That’s why I guess I’ll have to write a book.”
It was around that time Sclair began working with the Chicago Genealogical Society to produce a book of her almost four decades of research. In 2003, with the help of the organization’s members, she presented its leadership with a manuscript — complete with multiple detailed appendices.
Pfannkuche, the corresponding secretary of the group, says a difference in opinion on what the book should include caused Sclair to back out of the partnership. “Helen wanted to write this huge tome on all the city’s cemeteries and all of the burial techniques and all of the interesting stories that came out of the removals from Chicago City Cemetery, the Chicago Genealogical Society people said, ‘No, we don’t want to publish that book.’ ”
Instead, in 2008, one year before Sclair’s death, the society published “Chicago Cemetery Records 1847-1863: Sexton’s reports and certificates, treasurer receipts, deeds, and undertakers’ reports.” Its primary audience — genealogists. It’s a noncirculating reference book housed in the genealogy section of many local libraries that still provides key details about the former cemetery.
“Let me say it this way, I mean, I was part of it. It’s terrible. Well, no, no. It’s wonderful for people who are researching early Chicago. And, curiously, in the book, it doesn’t say who’s buried there. It says who the plot owners are. That’s helpful to genealogists,” Pfannkuche said.
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While not the opus Sclair had hoped for, the book is, nonetheless, dedicated to her: “If our city did not have Helen’s thoughtful study of burial and mortuary practices and her work in disseminating that information to others, this city would be a much less interesting place in which to research.”
Today, Sclair’s manuscript of cemetery history with a copyright date of 2003 sits among her collection of papers at the Newberry Library. There are no plans to publish it.
Documents from Helen Sclair, from her collection, now kept by the staff at the Newberry Library in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Advocate for the dead
The work that gave her the greatest joy, Sclair once said, was getting to know people and their ethnic and religious traditions shown in Chicago’s cemeteries, which she compiled by hand on yellow pads of paper.
“I can now easily move from Assyrians to Zoroastrians, with the likes of assorted Bosnians, Gypsies, Hungarians, Kurds, Luxembourg’s, Pakistanis, etc., in between,” she said in 2004. “The method often used to locate these far-flung burial sites is the interviewing of cabdrivers, waiters and wheelchair attendants.”
Handwritten sheets of "Ethnic burial sites" from Helen Sclair's collection, now kept by the staff at the Newberry Library in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
She also became vocal about the problems facing local cemeteries:
On developers buying up open cemetery land: “The dead don’t pay taxes and the dead don’t vote.”
On the maintenance of old or abandoned cemeteries: “There is an assumption with perpetual care that somehow God is going to take care of it. I often ask the question, ‘How long is forever?’ There is money today and tomorrow, but go look in five years. There might not be enough money to cut the grass.”
On the discovery of long-ago buried bodies during construction in Lincoln Park: “They could have left the people in peace instead of in pieces. With backhoes and bulldozers is not the way to approach a piece of land that you know was once a cemetery.”
Really, any time a body was discovered during a construction project, Sclair was consulted for her opinion: “This has been going on for years, the finding of bodies. This is just the latest discovery. Every time they dig for sewers and water, they invariably find the remnants of some cemetery.”
On efforts to relocate nearly 1,500 graves at St. Johannes Cemetery for O’Hare airport expansion: “Dead people always seem to get in the way of the living. But if this cemetery is not moved, it would inhibit the development of the Midwest.”
On the dangers associated with moving the dead — especially those who died in Chicago’s early days: “I will give you the list in alphabetical order. It’s anthrax, cholera, diphtheria, smallpox, typhus and typhoid. When you go to dig up these bodies, it’s not just digging a row for carrots. There are lots of things to worry about.”
Sclair’s legacy
Combining her life’s tragic experiences with her desire to make sure others’ lives were not forgotten helped Sclair better connect with the living. Her life’s work makes the invisible seen again.
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Oak Woods Cemetery receipt, 1906, from Helen Sclair's collection, now kept by the staff at the Newberry Library in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
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Those who love her remember a feisty, determined woman with a passion for sharing her knowledge with others.
“She didn’t have a small presence in anybody’s life,” Gehl said.
2020 is a year overwhelmed with death. More than 1 million people have died worldwide due to COVID-19, including more than 220,000 in the United States and more than 9,700 in Illinois.
Sclair believed a previous pandemic in 1918, which killed an estimated 50 million in the world and 675,000 in the U.S., coupled with tens of millions of deaths due to World War I, caused society to break away from its traditional grieving practices. People were overwhelmed by the shear number of casualties. As a result, we’ve forgotten how to mourn the dead, Sclair said.
“The ease with which people lived with death 100 years ago was the result of an elaborate system of notification. While in mourning, they wore black and only certain kinds of jewelry. Handkerchiefs had black borders — why, the border’s width even indicated the stage of grief. Wreaths were hung on doors, crepes were draped, notices of local deaths tacked up in neighborhood stores, so that grievers had an elaborate communication system at their disposal. This supplied a standard, a system of etiquette that showed others how to express compassion.” — Helen Sclair, in a 2000 interview
Sclair found beauty in death — and thought others should too.
“People should think about how they want to be remembered,” she said. “You are not just a piece of something that is on the Earth to be eventually thrown away.”
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krumore@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-01--Foul play suspected after man found dead inside Aurora Township home under renovation

At approximately 9:20 a.m. , Kane County Sheriff ’ s deputies responded to the 1500 block of Solfisburg Avenue for @ @ @ @ @ located inside a home under renovation , sheriff ’ s officials said in a press @ @

Kane County Sheriff’s officials say foul play is suspected after a man was found dead Saturday morning inside a home under renovation in Aurora Township.
At approximately 9:20 a.m., Kane County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the 1500 block of Solfisburg Avenue for a report of a body located inside a home under renovation, sheriff’s officials said in a press release.
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Upon their arrival, deputies found a 51-year-old man dead inside the residence. Foul play is suspected and detectives continue to investigate the situation.
Sheriff’s officials believe there is no immediate threat to the public, according to the release.