chicagotribune--2020-06-06--Chicago churches can meet up to 25% capacity or up to 50 people, Mayor Lori Lightfoot says

“ We 're going to start there , we 're going to give churches the ability to see how that @ @ @ @ @ be in constant ( contact ) to see if we need to make some modifications @ @ @ @ @ , ” she said .

Banners hang near the entrance of the Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church on May 17, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Chicago churches can hold services with no more than 50 people, so long as they wear masks and maintain social distance.
The city will allow churches to have 25% capacity or a maximum of 50 people, she said, as Chicago continues easing its stay-at-home restrictions put in place for the coronavirus pandemic. Chicago entered its latest phase of reopening earlier this week.
Advertisement
“We're going to start there, we're going to give churches the ability to see how that goes and then we'll be in constant (contact) to see if we need to make some modifications or adjustments along the way,” she said.
Lightfoot’s announcement caps a conflict that began last month, when Metro Praise International Church on the Northwest Side opened its doors for in-person services in an act church officials described as “passive resistance” to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.
Advertisement
That defiance led Lightfoot to tweet, “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re doing. When you gather like this, you are putting yourself and your loved ones in serious danger.”
The city ultimately fined three churches for violating the order, but businessman and former mayoral candidate Willie Wilson vowed to pay their citations.
During the stay-at-home order, churches posed a thorny enforcement problem due to potential First Amendment questions and a political one, too, as no elected official wants to cross local ministers.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-06--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State surpasses 1 million COVID-19 tests; Lightfoot says Chicago ex

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State surpasses 1 million COVID-19 tests; Lightfoot says Chicago expects to reopen Lakefront Trail ‘soon’

But “ In light of and out of respect for recent events , the Chicago blues edition of Millennium Park @ @ @ @ @ postponed until July 31-August 2 , ” according to a tweet Thursday from the Chicago @ @ @ @ @ “ Save the dates and tune in to see these same , great artists on @ @ @ @ @ —Chicago Tribune staff

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
The Fulton Market area of Chicago is no longer the ghost town it was during the depths of the COVID-19 virus pandemic shutdown. As restrictions on restaurants are eased, a worker takes a woman's temperature before she can enter Federales restaurant on Morgan Street on July 1, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
There have now been more than 1 million tests for COVID-19 conducted in Illinois since the outbreak began, a milestone reached as the state on Friday announced 1,156 new known cases of coronavirus.
The statewide known case count is now 125,915. State officials also announced 59 additional deaths Friday, raising the statewide death toll to 5,795 total deaths.
Advertisement
Earlier in the day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Chicago expects to reopen the city’s Lakefront Trail “soon.” The mayor said she’s hoping to announce reopening the lakefront “relatively soon” with a plan meant to minimize crowding and having designated times for activities on the lakefront.
The day before, state health officials said anyone who wants to get tested for the new coronavirus in Illinois can, regardless of symptoms, at almost a dozen state-run testing sites.
Advertisement
The availability of on-demand testing was a key component of moving from phase three of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan, which began May 29, to phase four, although officials later reframed it as a goal rather than a requirement.
[ When can Illinois move to phase 4? Here's where each region stands. ]
[ How will Illinois reopen? Three charts breaking down Pritzker’s plan ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ As the coronavirus spreads, the Tribune is tracking Illinois cases here ]
Here’s what happened June 5 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:08 p.m.: Chicago churches can meet up to 25% capacity or up to 50 people, Lightfoot says
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Chicago churches can hold services with no more than 50 people, so long as they wear masks and maintain social distance.
The city will allow churches to have 25 percent capacity or a maximum of 50 people, she said, as Chicago continues easing its stay-at-home restrictions put in place for the coronavirus pandemic. Chicago enters its latest phase of reopening earlier this week.
“We’re going to start there, we’re going to give churches the ability to see how that goes and then we’ll be in constant (contact) to see if we need to make some modifications or adjustments along the way,” she said.
Lightfoot’s announcement caps a conflict that began last month, when Metro Praise International Church on the Northwest Side opened its doors for in-person services in an act church officials described as “passive resistance” to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.
That defiance led Lightfoot to tweet, “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re doing. When you gather like this, you are putting yourself and your loved ones in serious danger.”
The city ultimately fined three churches for violating the order, but businessman and former mayoral candidate Willie Wilson vowed to pay their citations.
Advertisement
During the stay-at-home order, churches posed a thorny enforcement problem due to potential First Amendment questions and a political one, too, as no elected official wants to cross local ministers. —Gregory Pratt
5:20 p.m.: Horse racing without spectators set to begin at Hawthorne, but Arlington is stuck at the gate
The Chicago Bulls may be done for the season, but the horses are back.
The Illinois Racing Board on Friday approved a proposal to start harness racing at Hawthorne Race Course — without spectators — beginning this weekend. Fans won’t be able to attend the suburban Stickney facility, but they will be able to watch the races and place wagers at Chicago-area off track betting parlors.
Arlington International Racecourse, which is looking to resume thoroughbred racing this summer, also without spectators, was left at the starting gate — at least for the weekend. The board continued Arlington’s proposal until Monday, with hopes the track can resolve an ongoing contract dispute with the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.
Tony Petrillo, Arlington’s president, said he was “distraught” over the delay in a racing season already cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Delaying the decision today pushes us back another two days,” Petrillo said. “It’s not as easy as turning on and off a switch.” Read more here. —Robert Channick
Advertisement
1:51 p.m.: Illinois tops 1 million total COVID-19 tests as officials report 1,156 new known cases and 59 more deaths
There have now been more than 1 million tests for COVID-19 conducted in Illinois since the outbreak began, a milestone reached as the state on Friday announced 1,156 new known cases of coronavirus.
The statewide known case count is now 125,915.
State officials also announced 59 additional deaths Friday, raising the statewide death toll to 5,795 total deaths.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the latest numbers Friday afternoon in Peoria, where he was touring a testing site.
As of midnight Friday, 2,911 people in the state were hospitalized with COVID-19, 817 of them were in the ICU and 500 were on ventilators.
Pritzker also urged anyone who has taken part in “mass gatherings,” including protest marches and other demonstrations in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, to get tested. Tests are now available to anyone, regardless of symptoms, at 11 state testing sites. Read more here. —Jamie Munks
Advertisement
1:43 p.m.: Lakefront drawing Chicagoans out — though it’s still closed
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot expects the lakefront to open “soon,” but many locals are jumping the gun and acting as if it’s open already. Beachcombers, sunbathers, cyclists and even swimmers — despite the 54 degree water — have been observed along Lake Michigan the past few days.
Lightfoot made her comment at an unrelated news conference when asked when she will reopen the Chicago lakefront. The mayor said she’s hoping to announce reopening the lakefront “relatively soon” with a plan meant to minimize crowding and having designated times for activities on the lakefront.
An employee from Diversey Tennis, located just west of Lake Shore Drive, said in a phone call Thursday that workers had heard June 8 as a potential reopening date, but had not yet received any official communication or confirmation. Read more here. —Adam Lukach and Gregory Pratt
1:09 p.m.: Amid coronavirus and ‘recent horrific events,’ DePaul University is giving students a break
Citing the stress and anxiety caused by recent events as well as the coronavirus pandemic, Chicago’s DePaul University has announced it’s providing coursework relief to students.
That includes asking faculty to allow final exams to be optional, to forgo final coursework or allow students to drop classes as late as the last day of classes. Read more here. —Robert McCoppin
12:45 p.m.: Two huge COVID-19 studies are retracted after scientists sound alarms
The studies, published in renowned scientific journals, produced astounding results and altered the course of research into the coronavirus pandemic.
Advertisement
One undercut President Donald Trump’s claim that certain antimalarial drugs cure COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, concluding that the medications in fact were dangerous to patients. The other found that some blood pressure drugs did not increase the risk of COVID-19 and might even be protective.
Both studies were led by a professor at Harvard, and both depended on a huge international database of patient medical records that few experts had ever heard of.
But on Thursday, the studies were retracted by the scientific journals in which they had appeared, The New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet, because the authors could not verify the data on which the results depended. Read more here. —The New York News
11:23 a.m.: 112th Mackinac race canceled because of COVID-19, will be run in 2021, Chicago Yacht Club announces
The 2020 Race to Mackinac, scheduled for July 16-17, has been canceled because of coronavirus concerns and uncertainty, organizers announced.
Organizers feared state social distancing requirements for boaters would keep crews too small, the city of Chicago never released regulations for boaters and it remains uncertain when city harbors will reopen, race Chairman Martin Sandoval said in a news release.
The 333-mile race, run since 1898, usually is run in July between near Navy Pier and Mackinac Island, Michigan. The last time the race was canceled was 1920.
Advertisement
“It is with heavy hearts that we cancel this year’s race, but the ability to run a safe event with consideration of the health and well-being of all participants and volunteers needs to take precedence,” said Chicago Yacht Club Lou Sandoval in the release.
Organizers said they hope to run the 112th race in 2021. —Chicago Tribune staff
10:05 a.m.: Mayor Lori Lightfoot says city’s Lakefront Trail expected to reopen 'soon’
In a boost for restive Chicagoans, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city expects to reopen the city’s Lakefront Trail “soon.”
Lightfoot made the comments at an unrelated news conference when asked how when she will reopen the Chicago lakefront. The mayor said she’s hoping to announce reopening the lakefront “relatively soon” with a plan meant to minimize crowding and having designated times for activities on the lakefront.
Shutting down the city’s lakefront was perhaps the signature anti-coronavirus move taken by Lightfoot after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker implemented a stay-at-home order. —Gregory Pratt
9:34 a.m.: Going back to work won’t be business as usual. A group of Chicago companies is creating a playbook to restart Chicago’s economy.
Aon is leading a coalition of major Chicago corporations to draw up safe standards for restarting the economy from the coronavirus pandemic, creating a model that the consulting and risk management giant plans to expand to cities throughout the world.
Advertisement
The company, which has its U.S. headquarters in Chicago, said the goal is to create best practices for companies and communities to function in a time when isolation measures are being eased yet a vaccine likely remains months — and possibly years — away.
The coalition includes some of the Chicago area’s biggest and best-known companies, such as McDonald’s, United Airlines, Walgreens, Allstate, Hyatt Hotels and Exelon.
Aon plans to roll out similar coalitions in New York, London, Dublin, Toronto and Singapore over the next 30 days, said Bridget Gainer, vice president of global affairs at Aon.
“There is zero playbook that exists,” Gainer said. “As the economy begins to open up, we have the opportunity as a business community to step up and work together. More information is going to make that recovery stronger and faster.” Read more here. —Ryan Ori
7 a.m.: Blues Fest online events, created because of COVID-19 cancellations, postponed because of George Floyd fallout
After in-person events were cancelled because of the coronavirus, city officials had planned to hold online concerts in place of this weekend’s planned Chicago Blues Festival, but the online concerts have been postponed.
The events were originally scheduled to start Friday.
Advertisement
But “In light of and out of respect for recent events, the Chicago blues edition of Millennium Park at Home Concerts has been postponed until July 31-August 2,” according to a tweet Thursday from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. “Save the dates and tune in to see these same, great artists on the DCASE Youtube channel.” —Chicago Tribune staff
5 a.m.: Latinos have the highest COVID-19 infection rate in Illinois; community leaders fear things will get worse as restrictions ease
Like so many Mexican immigrants, Melissa Martinez Zepeda’s parents don’t have the privilege of working from home. Both of their workplaces — a warehouse and factory — continued to operate even after the COVID-19 pandemic struck. And, unfortunately, both contracted the disease after dutifully showing up to their jobs.
Their symptoms were mild, and they are OK now, but the turn of events left their daughter with great anxiety.
“I just kept seeing all the worst-case scenarios in my head,” said Martinez Zepeda, 27, of the Jefferson Park neighborhood. “I did have a little breakdown, and there were so many uncertainties.”
Martinez Zepeda still frets about her parents’ health as they return to work. She also worries that other families will face the same anguish she did — or worse — after the city and state recently lifted many stay-at-home restrictions.
For many in Chicago’s Latino community, the prospect of more people getting out and about sows more anxiety than optimism. Although surges of coronavirus infections have also severely affected other communities, including African Americans, state data indicates that Latinos have a higher infection rate than any other racial or ethnic group in Illinois.
Advertisement
Read more here. —Hal Dardick and Cecilia Reyes
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Here are five things that happened Thursday in Illinois related to the coronavirus:


chicagotribune--2020-06-06--‘The state needs to be all over this’: New federal data shows how COVID-19 is ripping through unders

‘The state needs to be all over this’: New federal data shows how COVID-19 is ripping through understaffed Illinois nursing homes

The federal data — posted online by CMS — is different from the numbers Illinois regulators have been releasing weekly @ @ @ @ @ and death numbers for each long-term care facility and combines figures for residents and workers @ @ @ @ @ the death tally had topped 3,000 in the facilities , which range from traditional nursing @ @ @ @ @ state-run centers .

Newly released federal data shows that COVID-19 has likely infected more than 7,000 nursing home workers in Illinois, with a fourth of homes complaining they are short-staffed and scores saying they’re low on protective gear.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data, released Thursday, shows that nearly 70 Illinois facilities have reported 10 or more deaths of residents from a virus that’s decimated long-term care facilities across the country.
Advertisement
The data, despite some reporting errors, offers a powerful new picture of how the virus has torn through homes’ residents and staff, with one advocacy group, AARP Illinois, saying it confirms the long-held fears of advocates and families that the country was unprepared.
“The people who are the most vulnerable, whether in nursing homes or people working there, were not protected,” said Illinois AARP’s state director, Bob Gallo.
Advertisement
Industry officials have previously said they’ve done the best they can under unprecedented circumstances. They welcomed the more robust federal data as another level of transparency they said they’ve encouraged for months.
“We view this new, more-detailed dataset as a valuable resource to help nursing homes and our public health partners make informed decisions and implement strategies that could save lives,” Pat Comstock of the Health Care Council of Illinois said in a statement.
“Frankly, it’s a shame this data wasn’t available weeks or months ago when nursing homes were begging for help,” she said.
The federal data — posted online by CMS — is different from the numbers Illinois regulators have been releasing weekly, which shows cumulative case and death numbers for each long-term care facility and combines figures for residents and workers. As of Friday, the death tally had topped 3,000 in the facilities, which range from traditional nursing homes to assisted-living facilities and state-run centers.
The federal data doesn’t cover as many facilities, just those receiving federal money. And at least a tenth of those homes haven’t reported data, so far. But for those facilities reporting, the federal data offers a much deeper assessment of the pandemic’s toll.
While Illinois officials have struggled to compile such figures, CMS regulators went directly to facilities to collect the information. They also went a step further to assess staffing and equipment needs — something advocates had been asking for.
Staffing has long been a controversial subject, with the industry in general struggling to fill low-wage jobs. Illinois facilities often have flouted a 2010 state law requiring minimum staffing levels.
Of Illinois facilities reporting to CMS, 23% said they were short on nursing staff and 27% said they were short on aides.
Advertisement
Another touchy subject has been protective gear. The administration of Illinois Gov J.B. Pritzker has long said the state has provided enough gear to local officials to pass out to facilities and, later, sent direct shipments to some homes. But the industry complained of uneven distribution, and the CMS data illustrates the gaps.
Out of 573 facilities in Illinois reporting data, 25 said they were completely out of N95 masks, the type that best blocks the virus’s spread. Another 42 said they had less than a week’s supply.
There also was less than a week’s supply of surgical masks for 46 facilities, of eye protection for 30 facilities, of gowns for 92, of gloves for 32 and of hand sanitizer for 25, according to the data.
The AARP’s Gallo has been among many advocates, industry representatives and family members calling for government regulators to develop a deeper understanding of problems in long-term care facilities so they can be better addressed.
Gallo said the state Department of Public Health — which regulates nursing homes — should use the federal data to ensure residents and workers across the state are protected, particularly as health experts sound the alarm over a potential second wave of COVID-19 coming this fall.
“The state needs to be all over this,” he said. “We can’t wait any longer. They’ve got to get their arms around this.”
Advertisement
IDPH did not immediately respond to questions Thursday, including whether and how it would use the data. The agency has previously said it’s taken aggressive steps to fight the virus in nursing homes but lacked the resources to compile the type of data federal officials have collected.
CMS said it expects to update the data in two weeks, then every week thereafter. The agency, for now, cautions that the initial release is the product of a rushed process and may have errors.
Indeed, the Tribune found a Niles facility for which the CMS data shows 158 COVID-19 deaths but only 20 cases — a mathematical impossibility. The facility told the Tribune it had only 10 deaths and attributed the error to a misunderstanding on how to report figures.
Another facility, in North Aurora, had 13 reported deaths of employees from COVID-19, but its administrator told the Tribune that although 13 workers had tested positive, none had died.
A CMS spokeswoman, while not addressing specific errors, said in general that the agency has a process that tries to catch mistakes but the goal was to get the data out as quickly as possible to help inform discussion. She said the agency expects fewer errors as facilities get used to the reporting process and the agency gets more time to vet data.
jmahr@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-06--George Floyd fallout: Police Board president says officers hit him with batons at protest; 2 cops in

George Floyd fallout: Police Board president says officers hit him with batons at protest; 2 cops involved in Brickyard Mall incident relieved of police powers; Lightfoot calls for firing of cop who flipped off protesters

Foreman , appointed to the police board in 2010 by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley , declined to get into specifics @ @ @ @ @ is being investigated by the city ’ s Civilian Office of Police Accountability .
But @ @ @ @ @ important to focus on how aggressive confrontations such as this could be avoided .
His @ @ @ @ @ after former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey , the court-appointed monitor overseeing broad CPD reforms , @ @ @ @ @ report on allegations that officers abused protesters over the last week .

Police officers guarding the Trump International Hotel & Tower hold back protesters in the Loop on May 30, 2020, during a rally and march to remember the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
For the latest updates, check out this weekend’s live blog here.
For Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman said Friday that officers hit him with batons last weekend as they clashed with protesters who marched on the South Side over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Advertisement
In a statement Foreman issued Friday afternoon through the Police Board, he said he was not participating in the protest, but “coincidentally encountered the demonstration when it became confrontational.” In a brief interview, Foreman said he was struck five times in his legs with batons while going for a walk.
Meanwhile, the city will shut down a stretch of its iconic Lake Shore Drive through the weekend to help facilitate protesters, in hopes of preventing a repeat of last weekend’s chaotic civil unrest.
Advertisement
Chicago will also enforce a 9 p.m. curfew and will contract with hundreds of security providers to protect neighborhoods on the South and West Sides, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. And to ensure protesters have space to demonstrate, Lightfoot said Grant Park and Union Park will be open.
Earlier on Friday, Lightfoot said she wanted a Chicago police officer who was photographed giving protesters the middle finger to be fired. Lightfoot also said she wants cops who are hiding their badge numbers to be fired.
“I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it every day, we will not tolerate people who cross the line,” the mayor said at a news conference later in the day.
[ Tribune photographers capture the protests and unrest in Chicago in response to the killing of George Floyd ]
[ Column: I tried to ignore the killings of Black men because it hurt too much. Then came the personal reckoning. ]
[ Get breaking news as it happens with email alerts from the Tribune ]
Here are the latest developments:
8:47 p.m.: Arrests following Aurora unrest: Racially diverse group includes reality TV personality, a married couple, several 20-somethings
A suburban teen with a small history of petty theft set fire to a police vehicle during unrest in Aurora this week in an act of “revenge” against law enforcement, prosecutors say.
Authorities say she has no ties to ANTIFA or the white supremacy groups that some have blamed for the violence and vandalism across the country.
She has no job and lives with her mom in Kendall County, according to court records.
Vianney Huerta, 19, offers a small portrait of the 21 people arrested following the unrest in Aurora last Sunday. It’s a disparate, racially diverse group that includes a former reality TV personality, a married couple and several twentysomethings with no connections to extremist groups on either end of the political spectrum, investigators say.
Advertisement
Indeed, authorities say those arrested have seemingly few ties to each other except for their alleged roles in overshadowing the nonviolent protests meant to convey the urgent need for racial equality and police accountability across the country.
“They are drowning out the message that needs to be heard, not just by the public, but by those who are in a position to do something about it,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said. Read more here. —Megan Jones and Stacy St. Clair
8:35 p.m.: Attorneys for protesters in recorded skirmish with Joliet’s mayor say clients were demonstrating peacefully, disputing mayor’s self-defense claim
Attorneys for two protesters involved in an altercation with the mayor of Joliet that was captured in a viral video say their clients were demonstrating peacefully, disputing the mayor’s claims that he was acting in self-defense.
Fallout from the minutelong recording of the skirmish between the mayor — who is white — and two African American protesters continues to roil the southwest suburb of about 150,000, as the Chicago region and nation grapple with issues of racial justice and use of force in policing. Read more here. —Alicia Fabbre and Angie Leventis Lourgos
8:10 p.m.: Lightfoot rips police officers who ‘cross the line’: ‘Shame on you.’
While praising the “vast majority” of Chicago police officers who she said have done their job well, Mayor Lori Lightfoot ripped city cops who have “crossed the line” by cursing at protesters, using excessive force or hiding their badge numbers.
“I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it every day, we will not tolerate people who cross the line. We will not tolerate excessive force. We will not tolerate profanity and homophobic comments that demean the badge, demean the honor of being a Chicago police officer and demean the value of who we are as Chicagoans,” Lightfoot said at a news conference. “We will not tolerate that. Officers who choose to do those things, or to tape over their badges or to turn off their body-worn cameras, all things that violate very clear directives of the Chicago Police Department.”
Advertisement
Aiming her comments at the officers who do those things, Lightfoot said the city will find them and strip them of their police powers.
“You are demeaning all of your colleagues who are working their tails off on 12-hour shifts to keep our city safe. Shame on you. Shame on you,” Lightfoot said. “We will not tolerate this and we will take decisive action and not only stripping you as appropriate you will be fired from the Chicago Police Department.”
Firing officers is a complicated process that may not work out as simply as the mayor suggests.
Drawing on her experience as a police reform expert, Lightfoot said the city has “a lot of work to do on the path and a journey towards police reform and accountability.”
“We will not be deterred from making that a reality and certainly not by elements within the police department who believe that they can do what they want when they want whenever they want,” Lightfoot said.
In her comments, Lightfoot also said the city will hold police bosses responsible for their subordinates’ conduct.
Advertisement
“I want the supervisors out there to understand this is not going to be something that’s going to be borne solely by the line police officers. You have a responsibility as well,” Lightfoot said. “And every single time I see one of these cases, the question I ask is where was the supervision? And we will find out the answer to that question, and if you have failed, then we will take appropriate action.”
She added: “I understand all honest mistakes. But some of the things that we’ve seen aren’t honest mistakes. These are people who do not share our values I will not be part of the Chicago Police Department. I want that message to be loud and clear.”
Earlier in the day, Lightfoot said she wanted a police officer who stuck his middle finger out at a protester to be fired. —Gregory Pratt
6:25 p.m. (updated 7:50 p.m.): City will shut down stretch of Lake Shore Drive through weekend, open Grant Park and Union Park to accommodate protesters downtown
The city of Chicago will shut down a stretch of its iconic Lake Shore Drive through the weekend to help facilitate protesters in hopes of preventing a repeat of last weekend’s chaotic civil unrest over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
Chicago will also enforce a 9 p.m. curfew and will contract with hundreds of security providers to protect neighborhoods on the South and West Sides, Lightfoot said.
More than 300 city trucks will also be used at more than 175 commercial corridors, particularly on the South and West sides, Lightfoot said.
Advertisement
And to ensure protesters have space to demonstrate, Lightfoot said downtown’s Grant Park and the Near West Side’s Union Park will be open. Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
6:12 p.m.: Chicago’s black-owned businesses face uphill battle to rebuild, even with outpouring of support after George Floyd death
The death of George Floyd has prompted fresh calls to support the black community, but some of its business owners, hit hard by looting on the South and West sides, say the enthusiasm will not be enough to help them get ahead.
Some business owners plan to rebuild, and most support the protests that swept the country after the death of Floyd, a black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.
But as they survey the damage, doubts emerge as they worry about their own livelihoods and their neighborhoods if the businesses fold.
M&R Prescription Center, in the South Shore neighborhood, was vandalized early last Sunday morning. Intruders broke the window with a rock, and stole drugs off the shelves, she said.
Owner Pamela Jones reopened the pharmacy and medical equipment company, albeit with boarded-up windows, but she’s considering turning down a $25,000 city grant she earlier was awarded to improve the store.
Advertisement
“You want to be there for the community, but then when the community is not there for you, it’s just very disheartening,” Jones said. “You question yourself. ‘Why am I still here? What’s the purpose?’”
Jones’ concern is shared by many black-owned businesses on the South and West sides. Though community backing has bolstered some, many owners do not count on the increased support for black-owned businesses, or the $10 million Mayor Lori Lightfoot promised to help them rebuild.
“It’s not just that we’re a black-owned business. We’re a business in a black community, and those businesses are scarce,” Jones said. “Each time you destroy one, when and how will your needs be met?” Read more here. —Ally Marotti and Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
6:06 p.m.: Chicago Police Board president says officers hit him with batons at weekend protest: ‘I walked in the middle of an uprising’
Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman said Friday that officers hit him with batons last weekend as they clashed with protesters who marched on the South Side over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In a statement Foreman issued Friday afternoon through the police board, he said he was not participating in the protest over Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, but “coincidentally encountered the demonstration when it became confrontational.”
In a brief interview Friday afternoon, Foreman said he was struck five times in his legs with batons while going for a walk.
Advertisement
“I walked in the middle of an uprising,” said Foreman, who lives near the site of the protest.
“It was chaos. It was a no-win situation on both sides,” Foreman said of the protesters and police.
In his statement, Foreman said the public’s interest with the incident may stem from his position working toward police accountability “and that it seems ironic that someone in a public-facing position could also become a victim of police aggression.”
“This is the duality I live with as a Black man in America, even one who is privileged to be part of systems of power,” he said in his statement. “I am not exempt from what any other Black man faces on the streets.”
Foreman, appointed to the police board in 2010 by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, declined to get into specifics about the incident, which is being investigated by the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability. But he said it’s important to focus on how aggressive confrontations such as this could be avoided. His statement on Friday comes hours after former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey, the court-appointed monitor overseeing broad CPD reforms, said she will investigate and report on allegations that officers abused protesters over the last week.
“There is important work to be done,” Foreman said about Chicago police reform in his statement. “If we are to improve police officer training, better educate them on de-escalation techniques and develop a peer support program in the next 90 days as we have been asked to do, we cannot afford to lose focus now.”
Advertisement
“We cannot allow the momentum of the uprisings to be lost by focusing on micro-incidents, but rather use that energy to demand accountability that we can see and feel,” Foreman continued in the statement. “I encourage my fellow Chicagoans to stay involved — vote, advocate for solutions, demonstrate peacefully, support local businesses, and donate resources.”
Foreman acknowledged that Chicago activist Malcolm London was at the same protest, where London’s lawyers have said he also also assaulted by police and arrested.
Chicago police said Superintendent David Brown and one of his top deputies spoke with Foreman about the matter, according to a statement.
“Since the onset of this week’s events, Superintendent Brown has been clear that misconduct by any officer will not be tolerated,” according to the CPD statement. “If any Officer is found to have participated in excessive force, they will be held accountable.”
Foreman’s allegations are among 344 complaints made against Chicago police officers from May 28 to 7 a.m. Friday, many of them stemming from the protests.
“We’ve seen in roughly a week what we normally would see in a month,” COPA spokesman Ephraim Eaddy said of the volume of complaints the agency has fielded.
Advertisement
Foreman served as the police board’s vice president under now-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who served as its president prior to her run for office. Foreman has been the police board president since 2018. —Jeremy Gorner
5:55 p.m. (updated at 7 p.m.): 2 Chicago cops involved in Brickyard Mall incident relieved of police powers
Two Chicago cops have been relieved of their police powers after a woman said officers pulled her from a car by her hair and placed a knee on her neck last weekend.
The action by police Superintendent David Brown came a day after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability recommended the action as it investigates the alleged incident at the Brickyard Mall at 2600 N. Narragansett Ave. on Sunday.
Mia Wright, 25, said she had gone to the mall with family and friends not realizing it had been closed because of looting. While in the parking lot, she said officers surrounded her car, broke the windows with clubs and pulled her to the ground. —Chicago Tribune staff
5:25 p.m.: Second City owner Andrew Alexander to exit after accusations of institutionalized racism
Following a social-media tumult sparked by a series of institutionally accusatory tweets from a former performer and employee, Second City’s owner, Andrew Alexander, told staffers on Friday that he was apologizing for his “many failures as a steward of an important cultural institution” and stepping away from one of Chicago’s most famous and internationally influential theaters.
The exit of Alexander, 76, the accomplished producer of SCTV, a longtime kingmaker and an iconic figure in sketch comedy, came after accusations of institutionalized racism were leveled on Twitter by DeWayne Perkins. In particular, Perkins criticized Second City prior’s reluctance to fundraise for the Black Lives Matter movement without also financially supporting police-related causes. Commenters amplified Perkins’ remarks and extended them to other improv theaters in Chicago. Read more here. —Chris Jones
Advertisement
3:45 p.m.: Protesters mark what would have been Breonna Taylor’s 27 th birthday with North Side march
Undeterred by the sweltering heat, hundreds of protesters gathered Friday afternoon in front of the Riviera Theatre in the Uptown neighborhood to focus on the importance of Black women, and to call attention to the death of Breonna Taylor.
Taylor was killed on March 13 when Louisville police, executing a search warrant, burst into her apartment, and after a skirmish, shot her at least eight times.
The protest was set for Friday to mark what would have been Taylor’s 27th birthday.
“This day is to let everyone know that she mattered, she still matters and will always matter,” said Ashabi Owagboriaye, the organizer of the protest said.
Around 2:45 p.m., the wave of protesters marched south on Broadway to Irving Park Road, where they held a moment of silence and knelt for eight minutes, symbolizing the number of times Taylor was believed to be shot.
They repeatedly chanted Taylor’s name as they marched through the streets.
Advertisement
“Say her name! Breonna Taylor!” they yelled.
Dordie Hester, who was one of many carrying a sign commemorating the life of Taylor, said she came to stand up against the “injustices” that black people have endured. —Javonte Anderson
1:51 p.m.: Gov. J.B. Pritzker raises his national profile with rebuke of President Donald Trump over George Floyd fallout
When Gov. J.B. Pritzker sharply denounced President Donald Trump’s rhetoric in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death during a call of the nation’s governors, it not only laid bare the animosity between the two men, it also quickly elevated Pritzker’s stature among national Democrats.
Pritzker’s criticism of the president drew widespread attention and led to appearances by the governor on cable news shows. Since his comments came in an ostensibly closed setting, a White House conference call, questions were raised about Pritzker’s political motivation for speaking up.
What the governor clearly showed is that unlike most of his counterparts, he isn’t afraid to challenge a president known for not letting any slight go unavenged, said David Yepsen, a former director at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
“When I heard him take on Trump like that, I thought first of all that some of these governors are intimidated by Trump,” said Yepsen, former longtime political columnist at the Des Moines Register. “Trump holds purse strings for money that they need. They don’t want to alienate him. But Pritzker came off to me as a guy who gets inside Trump’s head.” Read more here. —Rick Pearson
Advertisement
1:09 p.m.: Amid coronavirus and ‘recent horrific events,’ DePaul University is giving students a break
Citing the stress and anxiety caused by recent events as well as the coronavirus pandemic, Chicago’s DePaul University has announced it’s providing coursework relief to students.
That includes asking faculty to allow final exams to be optional, to forgo final coursework or allow students to drop classes as late as the last day of classes. Read more here. —Robert McCoppin
12:53 p.m.: Court-appointed monitor will investigate allegations of Chicago police abuse of protesters
The court-appointed monitor overseeing broad reforms to the troubled Chicago Police Department said Friday that she will investigate and report on allegations that officers abused protesters.
Former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey said that “to promote transparency,” she would get information from community members, police and other city departments. Hickey said she would then prepare a report on officers’ handling of the widespread street demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The comments came during a Friday conference call hearing and followed a letter sent to Hickey by activist groups including Black Lives Matter: Chicago that demanded an investigation. Both Mayor Lori Lightfoot and representatives of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul voiced support for the inquiry by Hickey, who is overseeing the city’s progress toward fulfilling a wide-ranging court order aimed at changing the way cops treat people.
Hickey did not specifically address activist complaints of protesters being detained without contact with lawyers. The groups had asked her to set up a process for attorneys to communicate with arrested clients. Read more here. —Dan Hinkel
Advertisement
12:24 p.m.: Minneapolis to ban police chokeholds in wake of George Floyd’s death
Negotiators for the city of Minneapolis have agreed with the state to ban the use of chokeholds by police and to require police to report and intervene anytime they see an unauthorized use of force by another officer.
The moves are part of a stipulation between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which launched a civil rights investigation this week in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody. The City Council is expected to approve the agreement Friday. Read more here. —Associated Press
11:45 a.m.: City workers and activists paint Black Lives Matter in enormous bright yellow letters on the street leading to the White House
City workers and activists painted the words Black Lives Matter in enormous bright yellow letters on the street leading to the White House, a highly visible sign of the District of Columbia’s embrace of a protest movement that has put it at odds with President Donald Trump.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted aerial video of the mural shortly after it was completed Friday. The letters and an image of the city's flag stretch across 16th Street for two blocks, ending just before the church where Trump staged a photo-op after federal officers forcibly cleared a peaceful demonstration to make way for the president and his entourage.
“The section of 16th street in front of the White House is now officially ‘Black Lives Matter Plaza,’” Bowser tweeted. A black and white sign was put up to mark the change.
The White House had no comment. Read more here. —Associated Press
Advertisement
11:26 a.m.: Lightfoot calls for firing of Chicago cop who flipped off protesters, those who hide badge numbers
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants a Chicago Police officer who was photographed giving protesters the middle finger to be fired, she said at a Friday news conference.
Lightfoot also said she wants police officers who are hiding their badge numbers to be fired.
“It won’t be tolerated,” Lightfoot said. “We’re actively at work identifying the officers responsible for that.”
While acknowledging it’ll ultimately be up to Chicago police Superintendent David Brown, Lightfoot said, “In my view, they forfeited their right to be Chicago police officers.”
Lightfoot made the comment in response to questions about a photo published by Block Club Chicago of an officer raising both of his middle fingers to protesters in Lincoln Park and reports that some officers are hiding their badges.
“I’ve seen the photograph of the officer in uniform giving people the finger. We’ll find that person and, in my view, that person needs to be immediately stripped of their police powers and start the process for firing him,” Lightfoot said. "We will not tolerate that kind of abusive, offensive conduct on the part of police officers. Period.” Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
Advertisement
11:18 a.m.: President Trump invokes George Floyd’s name in trumpeting jobs report: ‘This is a great day for him. It’s a great day for everybody’
President Donald Trump took a victory lap Friday morning after the government reported surprising job gains for last month, seizing on the data to predict that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic and its economic disruption was in the rear-view mirror.
The unemployment rate dropped to a better-than-expected 13.3%, but that is still on par with what the nation witnessed during the Great Depression.
With the country in upheaval over the death of George Floyd, Trump said that an economic rebound was his answer to racial inequality, saying it “is the greatest thing that can happen for race relations.”
Trump spoke from the Rose Garden hours after the Labor Department said that U.S. employers added 2.5 million workers to their payrolls last month. Economists had been expecting them instead to slash another 8 million jobs amid the ongoing fallout from the response to the pandemic. Read more here. —Associated Press
9:56 a.m.: Lightfoot announces $1 million donation from Jewel-Osco to help damaged businesses
Jewel-Osco will donate $1 million to the city of Chicago’s emergency fund to help businesses that were looted and damaged amid fallout from the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
The grocery store’s officials joined Mayor Lori Lightfoot to make the announcement at a Jewel-Osco on the South Side near 60th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.
Advertisement
Lightfoot first announced a $10 million recovery grant fund in a televised speech Tuesday aimed at calming a city rocked by widespread looting. Jewel is the first major donor to be disclosed, and its $1 million is in addition to the city’s $10 million. Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
5:15 a.m.: Man describes being stabbed while trying to stop looting in Naperville. ‘I really don’t like where this world is going to. It’s going to a dark, evil place.’
Jai Taylor held his hand over his gut as he sprinted in search of any police officer who might help save his life.
"I ran down the street to Starbucks with my intestines in my hand,” Taylor said.
The 21-year-old Oswego resident said he was stabbed in the abdomen after yelling at people to stop the vandalism and protecting a teenager who was being goaded to join the melee Monday night in downtown Naperville. Read more here. -- Suzanne Baker
5:15 a.m.: River Forest man facing felony hate crime, assault charges after altercation at grocery store
Felony charges have been filed against a River Forest man accused of racially insulting a young African-American woman, then grabbing and hitting her.
Rob Palley, 61, of River Forest, was charged with a hate crime and aggravated battery, according to prosecutors. Police say the attack occurred around 10 a.m. Wednesday at a Jewel-Osco store at 7525 Lake Street in the west suburb. Read more here. -- Steve Schering
Advertisement
5 a.m.: Kanye West appears to join march on South Side
It appeared that Kanye West showed up shortly before 8 p.m. to join marchers as they prepared to head down South State Street.
The South Side rapper, with his face mostly covered, emerged after a series of speeches from students and activists. He did not address the crowd and appeared to have left a half hour later as marchers continued north on State.
The Tribune asked organizers for confirmation of West’s appearance, but they just pointed to the surrounding security.
According to CNN, West has made a $2 million donation to support the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor
As the sun set, marchers cheered: “CPD, KKK, how many kids did you kill today?” —Morgan Greene


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--Gov. J.B. Pritzker temporarily suspends in-person registration requirement for sports wagering

The Illinois Gaming Board approved Rivers Casino to begin taking sports bets in March , just before the scheduled tipoff @ @ @ @ @ tournament .
The tournament and most professional sports were canceled due to coronavirus concerns , @ @ @ @ @ and horse racing were suspended in mid-March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus .

People crowd into the sports book area of Rivers Casino in Des Plaines on March 9, 2020, before it closed due to the coronavirus. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker this week suspended the in-person registration requirement for sports wagering during the state disaster proclamation, allowing bettors to create accounts to make wagers online and using mobile applications.
In a statement issued Friday, Illinois Gaming Board Administrator Marcus Fruchter said the move “allows Illinois sports fans to temporarily place wagers from the safety of their own home, protecting a revenue source that is critical as the state begins to recover from the damaging financial impact of COVID-19.”
Advertisement
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
The Illinois Gaming Board approved Rivers Casino to begin taking sports bets in March, just before the scheduled tipoff in the NCAA March Madness tournament. The tournament and most professional sports were canceled due to coronavirus concerns, and casinos in the state and horse racing were suspended in mid-March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Advertisement
A Rivers Casino spokesman declined to comment on the order on Friday.
Illinois casinos remain closed as a result of the governor’s shutdown order. Pritzker on Friday said state public health officials are talking to casino owners and experts to try to figure out how the establishments could reopen.
Pritzker last year signed into law a massive gambling expansion that allowed casinos, horse tracks and several sports venues to obtain a sports gaming license, as well as authorizing additional casinos to open in Illinois.
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says city will open Grant Park, Union Park for the weekend to accommoda

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says city will open Grant Park, Union Park for the weekend to accommodate protesters downtown

In the days since , Chicago protests have been calm and Lightfoot moved ahead with a phased reopening of city @ @ @ @ @ , officials are eager to avoid a repeat of last weekend ’ s nightmare , @ @ @ @ @ business owners across the city and embarrassed the city .

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivers a televised message to the public on June 2, 2020, about events arising from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
The city of Chicago will shut down a stretch of its iconic Lake Shore Drive through the weekend to help facilitate protesters, in hopes of preventing a repeat of last weekend’s chaotic civil unrest over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
Chicago will also enforce a 9 p.m. curfew and will contract with hundreds of security providers to protect neighborhoods on the South and West sides, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
Advertisement
More than 300 city trucks will also be used at more than 175 commercial corridors, particularly on the South and West sides, Lightfoot said.
And to ensure protesters have space to demonstrate, Lightfoot said downtown’s Grant Park and the Near West Side’s Union Park will be open.
Advertisement
Protests spread throughout every state in the country after video emerged of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he said, “I can’t breathe.” In Chicago, peaceful protests erupted into violence last weekend as individuals began looting stores throughout downtown.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Lightfoot ordered bridges into the Loop lifted on Saturday, imposed a 9 p.m. curfew and cut off most access to downtown with law enforcement and city vehicles, but looting spread to the city’s South and West sides — overshadowing peaceful protests.
In the days since, Chicago protests have been calm, and Lightfoot moved ahead with a phased reopening of city businesses on Wednesday. Still, officials are eager to avoid a repeat of last weekend’s nightmare, which caused immense harm to business owners across the city and embarrassed the city.
Traffic this weekend will be restricted within the Loop and Chicago’s central business district and limited to pedestrians and bicyclists, according to the release. Residents and essential workers, however, will be able to drive in by showing ID or proof of residence or employment according to the release. The restricted area is marked by Division Street, from Halsted Street to Lake Shore Drive; Halsted, from Division to Milwaukee Avenue; Milwaukee, from Division to Kinzie Street; Kinzie, from Milwaukee to Canal Street; Canal, from Kinzie to Cermak Road; and Cermak, from Canal to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to the release.
Several downtown bridges also will be closed, including the ones on Michigan, Wabash, State, Franklin, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, Madison, Randolph, Van Buren and Kinzie streets.
Lightfoot will also shut down Lake Shore Drive from Fullerton Avenue to 31st Street for vehicles. Interstate 90/94 will be closed on all exit ramps from Fullerton to 18th Street, Interstate 290 will be closed at Ida B. Wells Drive downtown, and all traffic from Interstate 55 will be diverted onto I-90/94, the city said in a news release.
Some CTA stops downtown will also be closed, the city said.
Advertisement
The closures begin Friday at midnight and will stay in place through the weekend, the mayor’s office said.
Lightfoot was asked specifically at her news conference whether Lake Shore Drive would close for the weekend and did not directly answer. Her office later noted at the bottom of a news release that it would be closed, along with other streets.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--Amid COVID-19 fears, law allows rape kits at places other than emergency rooms

This is among several new challenges for victims .
Visitor limits mean people can not have a friend or family @ @ @ @ @ support them ; advocates who usually arrive at a hospital to walk them through the @ @ @ @ @ to do so .

Men take part in a Friday prayer on May 15, 2020 at the Tahara mosque in Marseille southern France, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as France eases lockdown measures. (Clement Mahoudeau/Getty-AFP)
Sexual assault survivors scared of contracting COVID-19 in state emergency rooms can now seek care in other places.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation Friday that allows rape kits to be taken at approved health clinics.
Advertisement
Groups that serve sexual assault survivors had reported that many victims were avoiding seeking help at hospitals amid coronavirus fears. The law will allow evidence collection at approved health clinics.
“The health risks associated with going to a crowded hospital during the pandemic has deterred survivors from seeking help,” said state Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake, in a statement after the governor signed the law. “Sexual assault survivors should not have to choose between potentially exposing themselves to COVID-19 and seeking justice.”
Advertisement
The law goes into effect immediately, but health clinics will first need to apply to the Illinois Department of Public Health and be approved.
This is among several new challenges for victims. Visitor limits mean people cannot have a friend or family member sit with them and support them; advocates who usually arrive at a hospital to walk them through the process are no longer able to do so.
“People don’t want to go to ERs because they’re scared,” said Sarah Layden, director of programs and public policy at survivor support nonprofit Resilience. “We wanted to make an attempt to remove that.”
abowen@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--Chicago Police Board president says officers hit him with batons at weekend protest: ‘I walked in th

Chicago Police Board president says officers hit him with batons at weekend protest: ‘I walked in the middle of an uprising’

Foreman , appointed to the Police Board in 2010 by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley , declined to get into specifics @ @ @ @ @ is being investigated by the city ’ s Civilian Office of Police Accountability .
But @ @ @ @ @ important to focus on how aggressive confrontations such as this could be avoided .
His @ @ @ @ @ after former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey , the court-appointed monitor overseeing broad CPD reforms , @ @ @ @ @ report on allegations that officers abused protesters over the last week .

In this file photo, Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman speaks after the board voted to discharge Chicago police Officer Robert Rialmo at Chicago Police Headquarters on Oct. 17, 2019. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman said Friday that officers hit him with batons last weekend as they clashed with protesters who marched on the South Side over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In a statement Foreman issued Friday afternoon through the Police Board, he said he was not participating in the protest over Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, but “coincidentally encountered the demonstration when it became confrontational.”
Advertisement
In a brief interview Friday afternoon, Foreman said he was struck five times in his legs with batons while going for a walk.
“I walked in the middle of an uprising,” said Foreman, who lives near the site of the protest.
Advertisement
“It was chaos. It was a no-win situation on both sides,” Foreman said of the protesters and police.
In his statement, Foreman said the public’s interest with the incident may stem from his position working toward police accountability “and that it seems ironic that someone in a public-facing position could also become a victim of police aggression.”
“This is the duality I live with as a Black man in America, even one who is privileged to be part of systems of power,” he said in his statement. “I am not exempt from what any other Black man faces on the streets.”
Foreman, appointed to the Police Board in 2010 by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, declined to get into specifics about the incident, which is being investigated by the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability. But he said it’s important to focus on how aggressive confrontations such as this could be avoided. His statement on Friday came hours after former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey, the court-appointed monitor overseeing broad CPD reforms, said she will investigate and report on allegations that officers abused protesters over the last week.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
“There is important work to be done,” Foreman said about Chicago police reform in his statement. “If we are to improve police officer training, better educate them on de-escalation techniques and develop a peer support program in the next 90 days as we have been asked to do, we cannot afford to lose focus now.”
“We cannot allow the momentum of the uprisings to be lost by focusing on micro-incidents, but rather use that energy to demand accountability that we can see and feel,” Foreman continued in the statement. “I encourage my fellow Chicagoans to stay involved — vote, advocate for solutions, demonstrate peacefully, support local businesses, and donate resources.”
Foreman acknowledged that Chicago activist Malcolm London was at the same protest, where London’s lawyers have said he was also assaulted by police. London was also arrested at the protest.
Advertisement
Chicago police said Superintendent David Brown and one of his top deputies spoke with Foreman about the matter, according to a statement.
“Since the onset of this week’s events, Superintendent Brown has been clear that misconduct by any officer will not be tolerated,” according to the CPD statement. “If any Officer is found to have participated in excessive force, they will be held accountable.”
Foreman’s allegations are among 344 complaints made against Chicago police officers from May 29 to 7 a.m. Friday, many of them stemming from the protests.
“We’ve seen in roughly a week what we normally would see in a month,” COPA spokesman Ephraim Eaddy said of the volume of complaints the agency has fielded.
Foreman served as the Police Board’s vice president under Lori Lightfoot, now Chicago’s mayor, who served as the board’s president prior to her run for office. Foreman has been the Police Board president since 2018.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--Citing COVID-19 and recent unrest, DePaul University gives students a reprieve from schoolwork and f

Citing COVID-19 and recent unrest, DePaul University gives students a reprieve from schoolwork and final exams: ‘Our GPAs should not have to suffer’ due to ‘racial trauma’

“ Nothing can alleviate the pain so many of us have been dealing with in the past few days due @ @ @ @ @ , added to the stress and anguish resulting from COVID-19 , ” Ghanem wrote , @ @ @ @ @ the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25 , and @ @ @ @ @ looting .
“ However , I hope that the following Faculty Council resolution , passed @ @ @ @ @ 3 , 2020 , will provide some relief to our students as they approach their @ @ @ @

Chicago's DePaul University is giving students a break from some end-of-year schoolwork amid the stressful and anxious times. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Citing “recent horrific events” and COVID-19, DePaul University is effectively letting students off the hook for the rest of the spring term.
The Chicago school has directed faculty to “bring some relief” to students by offering them at least one of a number of possibilities for reprieve. Those include making final exams or projects optional, allowing grades to be based on work submitted by May 29 and letting students drop courses up to the last day of class.
Advertisement
Students can choose to complete the coursework, though any work submitted after May 29 would not reduce the final grade, Interim Provost Salma Ghanem said Thursday in a letter to the DePaul community.
Otherwise, students may opt to take an incomplete grade for the course, though graduating students would have to resolve the grade before degree conferral on June 22.
Advertisement
“All faculty are encouraged to offer students any additional appropriate accommodations that will enable the students to successfully complete the quarter," Ghanem wrote.
“Nothing can alleviate the pain so many of us have been dealing with in the past few days due to the recent horrific events, added to the stress and anguish resulting from COVID-19,” Ghanem wrote, in an apparent reference to the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, and subsequent protests, vandalism and looting. “However, I hope that the following Faculty Council resolution, passed on the evening of June 3, 2020, will provide some relief to our students as they approach their final exams.”
The proclamation followed a petition drive by African American DePaul students on Change.org that gathered more than 28,000 signatures seeking exemptions from final exams and assignments.
“It is unjust that we are expected to push past the trauma of being disproportionately affected by COVID-19 AND the murders of our people,” the petition stated. “Our GPAs (grade point averages) should not have to suffer because we are collectively experiencing racial trauma.”
The late change was based on a resolution passed by the school’s Faculty Council on Wednesday. Final exams had been set to start Saturday, and the spring quarter ends June 12.
Esther Ajayi, a sophomore at DePaul, said she was “shocked” and “delighted” to hear the news that finals were effectively canceled.
She gave credit to DePaul STRONG, a group for women of color, for pushing to end the quarter.
“Kids were getting really stressed,” she said. “It was becoming way more difficult for us.”
Advertisement
In May, two students sued the school, seeking a refund on some tuition money, claiming inferior instruction since DePaul canceled in-person classes and switched to online-only courses due to the coronavirus.


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--Watch live: Mayor Lori Lightfoot, CPD chief provide update ahead of weekend

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will join Chicago police Superintendent David Brown and Pastor Chris Harris to provide an update ahead of @ @ @ @ @ CDT .
Get the latest updates here .

This website stores data such as cookies to enable essential site functionality, as well as marketing, personalization, and analytics. By remaining on this website, you indicate your consent.


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--Belugas, dolphins, penguins and more: fertile times at the Shedd

Penguins have been the stars of the aquarium ’ s social media efforts during closure so it seems fitting to @ @ @ @ @ the marine mammals here .
Penguins are raising four healthy chicks in their nests , @ @ @ @

The Shedd Aquarium hasn’t been busy during the coronavirus closure, but a number of its animals have.
Two beluga whales and one Pacific white-sided dolphin are pregnant, the lakefront aquarium announced Friday.
Advertisement
Additionally, species including bonnethead sharks, Magellanic penguins, seahorses and cownose stingrays have all welcomed new babies while the lights have been low, figuratively speaking, at Shedd.
Mauyak, a 38-year-old beluga at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, swims with its calf on Thursday morning, July 4, 2019. The calf, later discovered to be male and named Annik and reportedly doing well, was born the day before. (Peter Tsai / Chicago Tribune)
Bella, a 13-year-old beluga, and Naya, a 31-year-old beluga, are both expecting calves a month apart from each other this summer. Annik, the beluga born last summer, will hit his first birthday July 3.
Advertisement
And Katrl, a 33-year-old Pacific white-sided dolphin, is expecting in the fall, and hers would be the aquarium’s first dolphin calf in four years.
Penguins have been the stars of the aquarium’s social media efforts during closure so it seems fitting to give them equal billing with the marine mammals here. Penguins are raising four healthy chicks in their nests, the aquarium reports.
USA: a penguin, at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, was able to watch the beluga whales in the underwater viewing area • Reuters • April 2020 pic.twitter.com/RCpU2do0RB — neuro.social.self (@neurosocialself) May 30, 2020
Shedd made the announcement on World Environment Day.
“New life gives us hope and informs our growing understanding of aquatic animals and how we can successfully safeguard their future,” Peggy Sloan, chief animal operations officer, said in a statement.
Shedd closed to the public because of COVID-19 March 13, but animal care has continued. The aquarium said it has to settle on a reopening date.
sajohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @StevenKJohnson


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--Horse racing without spectators set to begin at Hawthorne, but Arlington International Racecourse is

Horse racing without spectators set to begin at Hawthorne, but Arlington International Racecourse is stuck at the gate

The Illinois Racing Board on Friday approved a proposal to start harness racing at Hawthorne Race Course — without spectators @ @ @ @ @ be able to attend the suburban Stickney facility , but they will be able to @ @ @ @ @ wagers at Chicago-area off track betting parlors .

Frizell Thomas runs trains Fox Valley Jason on the track at Hawthorne Race Course on March 26, 2020 in Cicero. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Bulls may be done for the season, but the horses are back.
Advertisement
Harness racing — without spectators — has resumed at Hawthorne Race Course after the Illinois Racing Board granted approval Friday. Fans aren’t able to attend the suburban Stickney facility, but they can watch the races and place wagers at Chicago-area off track betting parlors.
Arlington International Racecourse, which is looking to resume thoroughbred racing this summer, also without spectators, has been left at the starting gate — at least temporarily.
Advertisement
Arlington is proposing a truncated 30-day race schedule, down from the original 68 races approved by the board. The board continued Arlington’s proposal until Monday, with hopes the track could resolve an ongoing contract dispute with the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. After a weekend of negotiations, however, the racetrack and the horsemen appear to be at an impasse that could jeopardize Arlington’s entire schedule this summer.
“We’re just not there,” racing board commissioner Thomas McCauley said during Monday’s hearing.
At issue are the overnight purse levels Arlington would guarantee for non-stakes races over the next two years.
Arlington offers $1.6 million for two stakes races each summer — the Arlington Million and the Beverly D. — which draw top horses from outside of Illinois. Those races will not be held this year.
On Friday, Tony Petrillo, Arlington’s president, said he was “distraught” over the delay in a racing season already cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Advertisement
“Delaying the decision today pushes us back another two days,” Petrillo said. “It’s not as easy as turning on and off a switch.”
Florent Geroux, center, celebrates as he rides The Pizza Man to first place at the finish line at Arlington International Racecourse in 2015. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)
Arlington was supposed to begin its 2020 racing schedule in April, but that was derailed by the state’s stay-at-home order in mid-March amid the coronavirus outbreak. The schedule is set to run through September.
Petrillo said Arlington needs to rehire employees that provide track and facility maintenance to get up to speed before racing can begin.
Holding sporting events without fans is gaining traction as the country emerges from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NBA on Thursday approved a plan to resume the season on July 31 in Orlando, with 22 teams playing in front of empty stands at one sports complex.
The Bulls didn’t make the cut of teams for the novel format, which is looking to crown a champion by October.
Getting horse racing started in Illinois is following the same playbook, at least for the summer.
Advertisement
“Everybody in the industry was very happy to know that we found a solution to race without spectators,” Petrillo said.
Louisville, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs bought Arlington International Racecourse in 2000. The historic racetrack in northwest suburban Arlington Heights opened in 1927. It was destroyed by fire in 1985 and rebuilt at a cost of $200 million.
Arlington had more than 2,300 full-, part-time and seasonal employees in 2019, Petrillo told the racing board last year.
The racing board will revisit the proposed Arlington schedule June 18. If the track and the horsemen’s association have not reached an agreement by then, it is likely the entire racing season will be scratched.
“It won’t go beyond June 18 in my mind,” racing board commissioner McCauley said. “It can’t possibly go farther than that — there won’t be any horses left.”
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--Court-appointed monitor will investigate allegations of Chicago police abuse of protesters

She also did not comment on demands for the use of alternatives to arrest , “ particularly related to non-violent @ @ @ @ @ want cops generally to have to get a supervisor ’ s sign-off before arresting anyone @ @ @ @ @ assaulting or resisting an officer , disorderly conduct or a host of other offenses .
@ @ @ @ @ the city to rely less on arrests and more on directing people to social programs @ @ @ @ @ services .

The court-appointed monitor overseeing broad reforms to the troubled Chicago Police Department said Friday that she will investigate and report on allegations that officers abused protesters.
Former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey said that “to promote transparency,” she would get information from community members, police and other city departments. Hickey said she would then prepare a report on officers’ handling of the widespread street demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Advertisement
The comments came during a Friday conference call hearing that followed a letter sent to Hickey by lawyers for activist groups including Black Lives Matter: Chicago demanding an investigation. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and representatives of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul voiced support for the inquiry by Hickey, who is overseeing the city’s progress toward fulfilling a wide-ranging court order aimed at changing the way cops treat people.
People call to defund the Chicago Police Department in a march along Ashland Avenue near Lake Street on June 5, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
City Hall’s halting progress toward fulfilling that order also came up at the hearing, as a lawyer for Raoul’s office blasted the city for missing 37 of its 50 deadlines during the first six months under the consent decree. Raoul followed up with a statement calling for the city to move more urgently.
Advertisement
“The city owes the community it serves meaningful reform, not lip service, not Band-Aids, and not politics,” Raoul wrote.
Asked to respond, Lightfoot’s office pointed to mayoral tweets, including one saying, “Our work towards reform has never been more important than it is today, and we look forward to working with the independent monitor to build on the progress we’ve made over the last several years.”
At Friday’s hearing, Hickey did not specifically address activists’ complaints of protesters detained without being able to contact lawyers. The groups had asked that Hickey set up a process for attorneys to communicate with arrested clients.
She also did not comment on demands for the use of alternatives to arrest, “particularly related to non-violent protest-related charges.” The groups want cops generally to have to get a supervisor’s sign-off before arresting anyone on charges of obstructing, assaulting or resisting an officer, disorderly conduct or a host of other offenses. The activists have called for the city to rely less on arrests and more on directing people to social programs, such as mental health services.
As it stands, the consent decree encourages the Police Department to explore “alternatives to arrest” and says the city is committed to them.
“If the independent monitoring team fails to take decisive, urgent action at this moment, the consent decree will be a historic failure," the activists’ letter stated.
There was an influx of complaints to Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability in the wake of widespread local protests and separate property destruction. The police disciplinary agency took in 82 complaints from the morning of May 29 through the afternoon of June 1 , compared with 34 over Memorial Day weekend, according to COPA spokesman Ephraim Eaddy. He noted that the totals included complaints over all matters, but added that agency officials believed that more than half of the recent batch were “related to protests.”
Lightfoot said in a Tweet Friday that the city "will continue to vigorously investigate all reports of excessive force arising from this week.”
Advertisement
Activists have spent days in the streets calling for fundamental changes in the way the police operate. For example, they have demanded that the city pull cops out of schools and reduce funding for law enforcement to route money toward other services. Lightfoot dismissed the latter idea as “irresponsible.”
In contrast to protesters’ ambitions, change has come slowly to the Police Department over the course of decades. The police union has pushed back, and politicians have disagreed on the need for significant change. Overhauling the nation’s second-largest police force is a task of daunting scope.
Now, the coronavirus pandemic stands to slow reforms further. U.S. District Judge Robert Dow Jr., who is overseeing implementation of the consent decree, responded to COVID-19 by granting city lawyers a delay of all deadlines for as long as Illinois remained under a stay-at-home order, which lasted more than two months.
The consent decree is one of the most significant consequences of the controversy sparked in November 2015 by the release of video showing white Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.
The footage led to a wide-ranging U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found Chicago police to be badly trained, loosely supervised and prone to excessive force, particularly against minorities. After then-Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued the administration of then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel to force court oversight of reforms, city officials signed a consent decree that calls for changes to training, discipline and supervision, among other measures.
It mandates various shifts in the use of force, including banning officers from deploying Taser electric shock devices on people who are simply running away, something that had not been specifically prohibited. More broadly, the decree repeatedly urges officers to respect “the sanctity of life.”
Advertisement
Beyond the court order, Lightfoot gave a televised speech Tuesday night and promised her own changes within 90 days. She talked about officer wellness programs, education for officers on neighborhood history and community relations, and training on procedural justice and handling people in crisis.
Both procedural justice and crisis intervention training already are required by the consent decree, and it was unclear from her speech how her new initiatives would differ.
dhinkel@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus

As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward , the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have @ @ @ @ @ Chicago area or who have connections to our region .
These are some of those @ @

They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. Many were proud grandparents. Two were sisters from a tight-knit South Side family. All were loved, relatives say, and will be forever missed.
As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward, the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have lost their lives in the Chicago area or who have connections to our region. These are some of those victims.
If you know of someone or would like to offer a remembrance of someone please share your information here. To file a death notice, go here.
Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune: Our mission is to deliver trusted and meaningful local news. Your support allows us to continue providing the award-winning, watchdog and in-depth journalism our community deserves. Subscribe here.


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--The Spin: Communication breakdown between Pritzker, Lightfoot? | Rebuilding businesses after a pande

The Spin: Communication breakdown between Pritzker, Lightfoot? | Rebuilding businesses after a pandemic and looting | Kinzinger returns from unrest-related Air National Guard duty

Speaking of closed : When will Chicago ’ s lakefront paths , nearby parks reopen ?
“ The circumstances of @ @ @ @ @ to focus our attention on other issues , ” the mayor said when asked about @ @ @ @ @ conference .
Plans are underway to figure out how to minimize crowding — which triggered @ @ @ @ @ first place — and “ having some designated times for particular activities , '' Lightfoot @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m hopeful that we ’ ll be able to announce something very soon @ @ @ @ @ anxious to get back to the lakefront .
”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker leave a press briefing about COVID-19 on March 11, 2020, at the Office of Emergency Management and Communications in Chicago. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
We’ve heard a lot in recent days from politicians about the collision course of a pandemic and another police killing of an unarmed black man.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot called a news conference this morning to talk about a public-private grant fund to help jumpstart the reopening of small businesses devastated by fires and other property damage caused in the fallout from George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. So far, it has $10 million from the city and another $1 million from Jewel-Osco.
Advertisement
But what she underscored is how far out on a limb some of these business owners were: Several months into a shutdown order that dried up their revenue, some had let their insurance lapse before their businesses were damaged and/or looted.
The need is urgent, activists say, pointing to the remnants of 1968 on Chicago’s West Side — damaged after days of uprisings over the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Advertisement
Illinois Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s Air National Guard Unit was called up as a result of the unrest sparked by the Floyd killing. He’s back from his deployment and put out a statement denouncing racism and calling on mayors and governors to rein in violence that has beset some cities amid the Floyd fallout.
Officials continue to slowly lift coronavirus restrictions. Last night, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that in-person summer classes can resume at schools shuttered since March. Lightfoot, however, said the first she had heard of it was on the news last night — raising questions about when that might happen in Chicago and about the lines of communications between the two powerful Democrats.
Welcome to The Spin.
Actor Sean Penn and Mayor Lori Lightfoot greet each other with an elbow bump upon their arrival May 18, 2020, at the city's COVID-19 testing site in the parking lot of Dr. Jorge Prieto Math and Science Academy in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt: “Lightfoot first announced a $10 million recovery grant fund” for small businesses and nonprofits "in a televised speech Tuesday aimed at calming a city rocked by widespread looting. Jewel is the first major donor to be disclosed, and its $1 million is in addition to the city’s $10 million.
“While the looting unfolded over last weekend and earlier in the week, Lightfoot said she wondered what would happen to the stores.” This morning, Lightfoot lauded Jewel for quickly repairing and reopening three stores damaged during the unrest. Read the full story here.
Long-term disinvestment in some communities means that there are limited grocery and pharmacy options, so getting those businesses back online is key, the mayor said. She also pointed out that many businesses already hurting over the pandemic were dealt another blow by vandals and looters. Some that had been closed for weeks amid a statewide coronavirus-related shutdown had let their insurance lapse and now are in great need.
Leaning on insurers, helping the uninsured: The mayor again pressed insurance companies to cut through their own bureaucratic red tape and cut people checks. “These were acts beyond their control,” the mayor told reporters this morning, noting that they’ve paid their premiums in a timely fashion and they should help them accordingly.
Lightfoot also said the unrest compounded problems for business owners in different ways: “I met a lot of small business people this week who don’t have insurance — whose businesses were shut down as a result of COVID, and unfortunately they made the difficult decision to let their insurance lapse,” she said. Lightfoot hopes the recovery fund will help them get a new start. “Because otherwise it’s a total loss for them and they have nothing.”
Advertisement
Then-interim police Superintendent Charlie Beck, center, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot sit for group photos with the newest members of the Chicago Police Department before the graduation ceremony at Navy Pier on Dec. 18, 2019. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt and Jeremy Gorner: "Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants a Chicago police officer who was photographed giving protesters the middle finger to be fired, she said at a Friday news conference.
“Lightfoot also said she wants police officers who are hiding their badge numbers to be fired.” Read the story here.
Perspective: “Such decisions ultimately will be reserved for the nine-member Chicago Police Board — the city panel, once headed by Lightfoot, that decides punishment on the most serious allegations of officer misconduct," Pratt and Gorner note. "But before the board is allowed to hear these cases, an investigation must be completed by the Police Department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs or the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability.”
That could take years.
Lightfoot was asked about it after news outlet Block Club Chicago published a photo of an officer raising both of his middle fingers to protesters in Lincoln Park and reports that some officers are hiding their badges.
Outrage over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis is fueling a local push to get police officers out of Chicago Public Schools buildings: From the Tribune’s Morgan Greene and Hannah Leone: Since Floyd’s death, the Minneapolis Board of Education has ended its contract with the local police department. Pressure is mounting for school districts nationwide to follow suit, a movement that was already underway in Chicago. Last night artist Kanye West was among the demonstrators calling for an end to the contract.
Advertisement
Lightfoot also was asked about activist calls to defund or slash the Police Department budget and put that money toward social and other services. She said it would be an “abdication” of duty to do so: “In talking to people all over the city about the events of this week, what I’ve heard from people in neighborhoods is that they want more police protection, not less."
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul wants to license cops – the same way doctors are: WBEZ-91.9 has the story here.
Also: Chicago’s 9 p.m. curfew continues: Lightfoot said that she’s been consulting with Chicago police Superintendent David Brown about curfew, instituted amid an outburst of violence in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing. She said that she expects protests to continue and she hopes they will remain peaceful. City officials will “look and see what the weekend brings and if we continue to see this, then I’ll be the first one to embrace elimination a curfew. But we’re not there yet.”
Speaking of closed: When will Chicago’s lakefront paths, nearby parks reopen? “The circumstances of this week have required us to focus our attention on other issues,” the mayor said when asked about it at an unrelated news conference. Plans are underway to figure out how to minimize crowding — which triggered the coronavirus-related shutdown in the first place — and “having some designated times for particular activities," Lightfoot said, adding: “I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to announce something very soon. I know people are anxious to get back to the lakefront.”
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, left, speaks Sunday, May 31, 2020 after protests led to widespread damage in downtown Chicago. President Donald Trump, right walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on May 30, 2020.
The Tribune’s Rick Pearson writes: "When Gov. J.B. Pritzker sharply denounced President Donald Trump’s rhetoric in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death during a call of the nation’s governors, it not only laid bare the animosity between the two men, it also quickly elevated Pritzker’s stature among national Democrats.
Advertisement
“Pritzker’s criticism of the president drew widespread attention and led to appearances by the governor on cable news shows. Since his comments came in an ostensibly closed setting, a White House conference call, questions were raised about Pritzker’s political motivation for speaking up.”
What the governor clearly showed is that unlike most of his counterparts, he isn’t afraid to challenge a president known for not letting any slight go unavenged, said David Yepsen, a former director at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
“When I heard him take on Trump like that, I thought first of all that some of these governors are intimidated by Trump,” said Yepsen, former longtime political columnist at the Des Moines Register. “Trump holds purse strings for money that they need. They don’t want to alienate him. But Pritzker came off to me as a guy who gets inside Trump’s head.” Read the story here.
What’s most remarkable is that they did it on a live call. The two wealthy first-time officeholders usually have sent their volleys via mainstream or social media.
Former state representative says feds interviewed him on lobbying activities, consultant fees he got from Madigan-connected ComEd lobbyists: The Tribune’s Ray Long and Jason Meisner have the details here.
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger speaks during a gun violence hearing on Oct. 3, 2019, at Kennedy-King College in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
U.S. Rep. Kinzinger, a Wisconsin Air National Guard pilot with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was deployed this week for a mission “related to the riots,” his spokeswoman Maura Gillespie tells The Spin.
Advertisement
Kinzinger, of Channahon, issued a statement this week upon his return in which he said George Floyd’s death “makes me sick” and that he’d work on bipartisan legislation to end racism, but also criticized the violent unrest.
Part of Kinzinger’s statement read: “Everyone in America also has a right to be safe from senseless destruction and mob violence. Where the National Guard has been utilized, we are seeing peaceful protests where violence is the exception. Some cities that have politicized the Guard continue to see violence and destruction at unacceptable levels. It’s high time for governors and mayors to end the looting, protect property, and restore order. Order and justice can and must exist — and must exist now. And it must exist for all.” Read the full statement here.
No details on deployment: Kinzinger’s spokeswoman said: “We cannot share details of the Congressman’s mission or the location,” but added “it was related to the riots.”
In Washington: Images have been beamed around the world of fatigue wearing, gun-toting National Guard troops creating a perimeter around the White House and other high-profile spots in the nation’s capital city. The images are a relief to some and concerning to others. The New York Times digs deeper here.
Unemployment dips to 13.3%; U.S. added 2.5 million jobs in May: “Overall job cuts have widened economic disparities that have disproportionately hurt minorities and lower-educated workers,” the Associated Press reports in a new story. “Though the unemployment rate for white Americans was 12.4% May, it was 17.6% for Hispanics and 16.8% for African-Americans.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks alongside Gov. J.B. Pritzker at the Thompson Center on May 31, 2020, a day after protests led to widespread damage in downtown Chicago. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Hannah Leone: "Illinois schools, which have been shut down since March because of the coronavirus pandemic, will now be allowed to hold in-person summer school, thanks to an executive order issued Thursday afternoon by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Advertisement
“But many area school systems — including Chicago Public Schools — have already announced that summer school will be held through remote learning, so it’s not immediately clear if such districts will change course.” Read the full story here.
The mayor suggested the governor’s announcement caught her by surprise: “Well, unfortunately, I heard about this on the news," she said when asked whether in-classroom teaching would resume at Chicago Public Schools. “We’ll adapt as we’re able to.”
While the two have maintained they are in “lockstep” and talk regularly, there have been incidents where they don’t seem to communicate.
To wit: In mid-March, the mayor said she didn’t expect CPS to close amid the pandemic, only for the governor just a few hours later to order schools closed statewide in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Programming note: I’ll be off next week but I’ll be back at the wheel on June 15.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Advertisement
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-06-05--‘A revolution in our time’: Protester Ciara Sillman finds hope in the widespread embrace of the caus

‘A revolution in our time’: Protester Ciara Sillman finds hope in the widespread embrace of the cause

Taking part in three events last weekend , Sillman saw a young man get hit by police officers after he @ @ @ @ @ of a fire truck , an incident she recorded on video .
She found herself @ @ @ @ @ past curfew when one march ended up on the north side , far from her @ @ @ @ @ I actually had to ask a stranger if they could give me a ride home @ @ @ @ @ “ because otherwise I was terrified of being caught by and detained by the cops @ @

On the mask she wears both to the grocery store and to Chicago-area rallies protesting police brutality against people of color, Ciara Sillman has written the words “I can’t breathe.”
Putting George Floyd’s last words on her own face is a way of paying tribute to him but also “because I believe that’s how a lot of people of color, specifically black Americans, feel in this system of oppression,” said the 24-year-old film student who hopes to work as a restaurant server again once places start rehiring.
Advertisement
“They constantly have to be aware of their surroundings, be cautious, and make sure they aren’t causing discomfort by being themselves,” she said. “It’s suffocating, in a sense.”
Ciara Sillman and other protesters rally in front of City Hall in Chicago on Monday, June 1, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Sillman isn’t a leader of the marches. But she has been a committed participant, one of the thousands whose numbers have shined the brightest spotlight yet on the need for contemporary America to address its racial inequities.
Advertisement
“One of my favorite lines from the musical ‘Hamilton’ that comes back to me now is that ‘this is not a moment, it’s the movement,’” she said. “This is something that I really feel is a revolution in our time — that we are going to make sure equality sticks around.”
Taking part in three events last weekend, Sillman saw a young man get hit by police officers after he jumped on the front bumper of a fire truck, an incident she recorded on video. She found herself scared after being caught out past curfew when one march ended up on the north side, far from her South Loop home; “I actually had to ask a stranger if they could give me a ride home,” she said, “because otherwise I was terrified of being caught by and detained by the cops.”
And she knows she increased her chances of catching COVID-19 just by being around so many people, even if the vast majority of protesters she’s seen are wearing masks.
“It’s nice that we’re’re all trying to be conscious and we’re trying to be safe. But at the same time,” she said, “racism has been a part of our country since it started, and it’s still going on. Centuries later, it is something that needs to be fixed. And therefore, that’s why I’m willing to risk myself, and I think a lot of other people are, too.”
Sillman came by her activism through spending her school years as a mixed-race kid — her father is black, her mother white — in the mostly white suburb of O’Fallon, Missouri. She felt discrimination in situations including the way she was disciplined for a minor middle-school incident compared to white peers. A high-school history teacher who focused on the Civil Rights Movement was a huge influence, too, she said.
Breaking News As it happens Stay informed. News when you need it. Get our news alerts in your inbox. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
She moved to Chicago to attend Columbia College and study filmmaking, she said, but the money ran out after a year. Sillman moved east for a time but returned to Chicago to live with friends in April and is hoping to go back to school when she can start earning again.
Ciara Sillman and other protesters outside City Hall in Chicago on Monday, June 1, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
She thinks the reason the current protest movements has become more widespread than previous outrage over police injustice is partly a cumulative effect and partly the pandemic, Sillman said.
“There is so much video evidence of police brutality against peaceful protesters and, again, (so many) racial incidents that it's hard to ignore,” she said. “I think that is a good thing to come out of the pandemic, that people are being forced to pay attention to this because they had nothing else to do.”
Advertisement
Sillman had a lot more to say in the course of an hour’s conversation, but she wanted to be sure she fully emphasized why she wears “I can’t breathe” on her mask.
So she sent an email to elaborate, explaining that “the last words of George Floyd, Eric Garner and many others” also relate in a way to the impact of COVID-19.
“For the first time many white Americans are having to experience what people of color, particularly black Americans, feel all the time,” she wrote, “unsafe, uncertain, and terrified that some force could hurt them at any moment just by going outside or to the grocery store.”
sajohnson@chicagotribune.com