chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Blueprint for change or another blow to North Lawndale? A call to close 3 schools and open another h

Blueprint for change or another blow to North Lawndale? A call to close 3 schools and open another has split a Chicago community in need of rebuilding.

Speaking at the Board of Ed meeting this month , a Sumner student said bringing the Frazier students in “ @ @ @ @ @ at the time , but it caused quarrels among the children .
We weren ’ @ @ @ @ @ as far as learning and it slowed down class time .
... Now we are @ @ @ @ @ schools with three different types of neighborhoods , three different types of children , three @ @ @ @ @ .
They won ’ t equal each other .
”

From her family’s home in North Lawndale, a young Rochelle Jackson saw her Chicago neighborhood burn during the 1968 riots sparked by the assassination of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.
“Our neighborhood was decimated, because people were upset,” Jackson said. “I watched the fires from my back porch as a little girl. I remember what the neighborhood used to look like.”
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She remembers, too, what it was like to walk to a school where each classroom was filled with students, first at Mason Elementary and later Farragut High. Then how it felt to realize disinvestment was occurring in her neighborhood, which more than 50 years later has yet to recover from the riots.
She wants to see her community thrive, and has faith in a proposal that would close three elementary schools and consolidate their students into one new school with modern facilities, cutting-edge academic programs and resources for families.
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The Lawndale Community Academy building at 3500 W. Douglas Blvd. in Chicago is one of three schools that could close and be consolidated in a new so-called STEAM school. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Two North Lawndale groups, the Community Coordinating Council and Community Action Council, submitted a proposal this month to Chicago Public Schools for a new, “state-of-the-art” STEAM elementary school to serve 650 to 700 students. The STEAM model adds social studies and arts programs to STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
The proposal is billed as the product of a community-led process for the next step of the North Lawndale quality-of-life plan launched by NLCCC in 2018.
But not everyone in the community supports the idea, and some were taken aback by their neighbors’ intent to close Lawndale Community Academy and Sumner Math and Science Community Academy in Lawndale, as well as Crown Community Academy of Fine Arts near the border of Lawndale and Little Village.
Many parents, students and staff believe shutting the schools would dismantle three distinct communities and put children in harm’s way by sending them through gang activity or violence to get to school. The North Lawndale Parent and Community Coalition is petitioning CPS not to consider the proposal.
While dissenters prefer investment in existing facilities and question if a new building will really prove less costly, proponents say there simply aren’t enough students at the three schools, which are each less than a third full, and children would be best served by combining resources.
The proposal’s authors contend that closing those schools is “inevitable,” and that their plan presents “an excellent opportunity for children to receive an altogether new educational experience.”
This tension has drawn interest from local and state lawmakers, with Ald. Michael Scott, Cook County Commissioner Dennis Deer, state Sen. Patricia Van Pelt and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis among those supporting the proposal.
But state Rep. Lakesia Collins asked the Board of Education this month to “slow down this process and make sure that the parents, the staff and the students have say-so in what happens in their community.”
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“I’ve been hearing from both sides,” Collins said. “...It seems to be that they both want the same thing, they want to both lift up North Lawndale, but they’re looking at this through two different lenses.”
Though organizers have been holding community meetings for more than four years, project director Betty Allen-Green said Wednesday that the leadership team might ask CPS to pause the process until the pandemic is over and they can gather more feedback in person, particularly from parents at schools directly affected.
Haunted by school closings past
When the North Lawndale Community Action Council formed “as a vehicle of empowerment for families and community members to impact change and improve local schools,” its vision was for every North Lawndale student to get a rigorous, quality education. Under the umbrella of CPS, CACs work on strategic plans for education in their neighborhoods. The community coordinating council, or “N-L-Triple C” as it’s known colloquially, includes local groups, business owners, elected officials, educators and neighbors who want to help guide comprehensive planning.
Corporate, nonprofit, government and higher education partners have provided money and expertise to the proposal, which includes ideas such as Shedd Aquarium educators leading a marine biology lab at the new school and the Black Ensemble Theater helping teachers educate through theater arts, among other examples.
Though the CPS network chief for the area is on the leadership team for the proposal, the district has been neutral, outlining a process that would require public hearings and a vote by the Board of Education.
Shavon Coleman, right, a teacher assistant at Lawndale Community Academy in Chicago, and a small group of community activists hold a rally and news conference outside Crown Community Academy of Fine Arts on Dec. 1, 2020. They oppose a plan to consolidate the schools. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
“CPS believes that parents and community members must be the catalyst for any potential school transformation,” district spokesman Michael Passman said in a statement. “We have committed to listening to members of the North Lawndale community who are seeking to strengthen their schools, and we will consider moving forward only if their proposal gains significant parent and stakeholder support and they demonstrate a credible path to improved student outcomes.”
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During a recent public meeting on the proposal, conducted via Zoom, CPS chief portfolio officer Bing Howell commended principals at Crown, Lawndale and Sumner and said he understood the strong connection many people have to their schools.
Howell, who was involved in the closure of Frazier Preparatory Academy last school year but was not at CPS during notorious mass closures, said he wanted “to acknowledge that because of school closures in the past and how they were done, conversations like these are even more challenging.”
For some children, it could mean the second time they will have to find a new school. After CPS closed Frazier, citing the charter school’s poor performance, its students scattered to dozens of buildings, Lawndale, Crown and Sumner among them.
Speaking at the Board of Ed meeting this month, a Sumner student said bringing the Frazier students in “seemed like a good idea at the time, but it caused quarrels among the children. We weren’t on the same level as far as learning and it slowed down class time. ... Now we are trying to combine three different schools with three different types of neighborhoods, three different types of children, three different types of teaching styles. They won’t equal each other.”
Schools three quarters empty
Even after taking in Frazier students, the three schools are woefully empty. Last school year, Crown was at 31% capacity, Lawndale 24% and Sumner 20%, according to CPS.Enrollment has continued to dwindle. Though highly rated, Sumner has only 235 students in a building meant for 1,380. Lawndale has 207 students and Crown just 178.
Under the proposal, one of Lawndale’s buildings would be demolished to make space for the new school, a location chosen for its proximity to transportation routes and Douglass Park. Lawndale and Crown, two lower performing schools, would merge with Sumner, whose principal would lead the new school.
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Leaders of the theoretical new school would be tasked with implementing a new curriculum, blending three school cultures and absorbing students who have been performing below standards. “This final task is perhaps the most daunting, and will likely require several years before STEAM Partnership Academy students meet CPS Academic Goals,” the proposal states.
It recommends that CPS provide job security to all staff from the consolidated schools and encourage them to apply for positions at the new school, but also suggests a broader recruiting strategy.
More than two decades after she graduated from Lawndale, Shavon Coleman returned in 2005 as a teacher assistant. That was shortly after the death of her grandfather, who taught physical education there for 41 years and was familiar in the community as “Grandpa” or “Pops.”
Shanija Coleman, 17, and her sister Chayna Dixon, 11, kiss their mother Shavon Coleman. Shavon graduated from Lawndale school and now works there. She's skeptical of the school consolidation plan that would close her school. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
“Are you telling me that in a community where I was born and raised and I’ve decided in my adult life that I need to give back to, who made me who I am, you’re telling me I have to reapply to do that?” said Coleman, who opposed the consolidation plan.
The drop in students over the years “really is disheartening, but the enrollment is the way it is due to disinvestment in our school,” Coleman said.
“It would be great if they want to rebuild the schools, but who are they building it for? Who do they consider the community? Are they going to displace people? We don’t trust them,” Coleman said. “We shouldn’t have to close schools to invest in the Black neighborhoods.”
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The last time Lawndale was threatened with closure, Brandy McMahan’s daughter was in eighth grade and her son in prekindergarten. Now a seventh-grader, David Green said it didn’t feel good when he heard about the proposal from his mom. David said he gets along well with his teachers and classmates and “Lawndale is the only school I’ve known.”
The Lawndale Community Academy building at 3500 W. Douglas Blvd. was constructed in the 1920s. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
One of more than 100 schools considered for closure in 2013 under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Lawndale was spared after a series of protests.
“We fought a good fight that time,” said McMahan, who remains firmly against closing any school. Instead, she thinks each school deserves support. Lawndale has a theater and a pool that could use updates, and it already has science and computer labs, she said.
Among those who joined the “Save Our Schools” movement seven years ago were Betty Allen-Green and Leonard Moore, two former CPS principals now in leadership roles with NLCCC.
“I was on the front line fighting to help keep those schools open,” Allen-Green said. “The utilization rate was much better than what it is now and parents weren’t moving out of the community as rapidly as they are now, so we felt, keep the schools open.”
But their efforts could not preserve the local Henson or Pope elementary schools, among 50 citywide ultimately included in that round of closures.
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Losing Pope was difficult for former student Areulia Davis. Her high school, Harrison in South Lawndale, closed in 1983.
“I was very upset,” Davis said. “When people ask me where did I go to school, I really have no alma maters. My elementary school was closed down. My high school was closed down.”
Yet she supports the proposal, because the schools that would close would be replaced with North Lawndale’s first new school in nearly 60 years, according to the proposal.
“It’s basically about bringing a quality education to a neighborhood where there are children. I don’t care if they have it in the back of a Jewel parking lot.”
Proponents like Moore say they “believe in the schools in North Lawndale. We have great principals, we have great teachers. We just felt that this time, having a declining enrollment ... we should have a new school.”
Roughly half of CPS schools are classified as underutilized, according to an analysis of CPS data. Mason, where Rochelle Jackson spent her elementary years, now has one of the lowest utilization rates in the city, lower than any school targeted by the proposal, with 94 classrooms for barely 300 students.
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When Allen-Green became principal at Herzl Elementary, she had about 1,300 students. When she retired in 2007, she had 800. Now there are 471.
Much of the continued enrollment loss is tied to people leaving the city. But in North Lawndale, an increasing number of youths also attend schools in other parts of the city, and neighborhood schools have been further drained by the proliferation of charter schools.
Of all the city’s community areas, North Lawndale has the most charter campuses and highest percentage of students enrolled in charter schools, according to NLCCC.
North Lawndale and four other community areas — Austin, Garfield Park, Pilsen and Little Village-Marshall Square — make up CPS’ West Side region. Last school year, there were 37,444 students enrolled but 30,743 empty seats in the region, where enrollment loss outpaced the trend districtwide and where less than 30% of students attended their zoned schools.
“This exceptionally high percentage of students seeking better educational options underscores the need for a new, compelling, and highly relevant school option,” the proposal states.
A neighborhood’s long decline
Once part of Cicero Township, North Lawndale was annexed by Chicago in the late 1800s and became a Jewish enclave. Industry flourished and its population grew throughout the Great Migration, though many white families left. When the population peaked in 1960 at 125,000, 90% of residents were African American, and it remains a predominantly Black neighborhood.
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Yet disinvestment and racist housing practices began to take a toll, neighbors recall. Property damaged in the 1968 riots was not a priority for city leaders for a long time, Jackson said. The International Harvester plant, where 14,000 people once worked, closed in 1969, followed by other big employers including Homan Square’s Sears, Roebuck & Co. — the retail giant’s headquarters before it moved to the Sears Tower. Residents sought prosperity elsewhere, and today only 33,000 remain, more than 40% living below the poverty threshold. A quarter of residents did not graduate high school.
“We kept saying in another year they’re going to come back and somebody will help us rebuild,” Jackson said. “Nobody ever came for us so, 50 years later, here we are.”
In 2000, with the redevelopment of Homan Square underway, Mayor Richard M. Daley declared a $4.2 million YMCA center marked “the rebirth of North Lawndale.” Then came the 2008 recession, and the 2013 school closures, along with rising violence and fracturing gang structures.
North Lawndale is in the Chicago Police Department’s 10th District, where 237 shootings have been reported and 55 people have been killed so far this year. That’s more than 2016, which had been the city’s deadliest year since the 1990s.
McMahan has watched the relentless violence drive neighbors out of state.
“We are living in violence. It is very important to keep our kids in their own community,” McMahan said. “A lot of dads, uncles, brothers are involved in kids’ lives. That’s how, if you make a kid’s brother have to cross in different gang territories, they get caught in crossfire.”
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Already, danger surrounds the schools. People have been shot within a block of school buildings multiple times in just the past two weeks. A question posed on district surveys — “Do students feel safe in and around the school building and traveling to and from school?” — earned a safety rating of “weak” for Lawndale and “very weak” for Crown and Sumner.
About 11:30 a.m. Nov. 12, a man was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting while on a sidewalk near Lawndale Community Academy. The spray of bullets damaged a window at the school and two cars nearby, police confirmed. If it weren’t for remote learning, children may have been inside.
“The STEAM school shouldn’t go there. Nobody’s welcome over there. They’re killing each other,” said Katina McNulty.
McNulty, who has a fifth-grade son, cares for a handful of Sumner students during the day and said it would take at least a half-hour for many to walk to Lawndale.
The plan proposes that transportation would be provided to students who live more than five blocks from the new school. McNulty worries that the greater distance could make it difficult for parents without cars to visit the school or provide a backup for students who miss the bus.
“It’s so easy for people this does not impact at all,” she said. “It directly impacts my child, my children in day care.”
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At the Nov. 18 Board of Education meeting, parents who oppose the plan said many of their neighbors weren’t even aware of it.
NLCCC members described ongoing outreach efforts and said they sincerely want the whole community to be part of the process.
Jackson, who sits on a steering committee for the quality-of-life-plan, said it’s taken time to line up supporters.
“We still have naysayers in the neighborhood who don’t believe we can rebuild the community without us getting pushed aside,” she said. “I get that. At the end of the day it’s about these kids ... and they deserve to have a new school in the neighborhood, they deserve everything children on the North Shore get.”
hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Column: Violent death of rapper King Von reminds us how people across the country are dancing to the

Column: Violent death of rapper King Von reminds us how people across the country are dancing to the music of revenge and murder in Chicago

In a world of music studio tough guys , Bennett was a cut above .
Though he had no prior @ @ @ @ @ a unique and captivating storytelling style — along with his popular first-person translations so that @ @ @ @ @ follow along — that could be both plainly stated and witty .
His rhymes allowed @ @ @ @ @ mentality .
Headlines in this paper often confirm his take : In Bennett ’ s @ @ @ @ @ the neighborhood could turn into a deadly ambush .

Rapper King Von performs in concert during the "PTSD" tour at The Tabernacle in Atlanta on March 11, 2020. (Paras Griffin / Getty Images)
I was supposed to talk with Chicago-born rapper Dayvon Bennett, aka King Von, but never got the chance before he was gunned down earlier this month outside an Atlanta nightclub.
It’s not every day that a reporter with a background in both crime and pop culture gets a chance to interview someone seen as both a fast-rising hometown rap star and a coldblooded killer. His music had hit the Billboard Hot 200 before his death, but several of his singles, including “Take Her to the O,” hit the Hot 100 posthumously.
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I wanted to hear from Bennett’s own lips whether he felt he could escape his hard upbringing and forge a new life. Did he have any regrets? What advice did he have for talented young boys growing up in his old neighborhoods?
Bennett was the boogeyman of Chicago’s drill rap scene who had taken this adapting music world by storm. His real-life activities held the attention of millions of young fans, as well as local and federal law enforcement.
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Barely 26 years old, the South Side native and father of two had long been a reputed Black Disciples gang member rumored to have been a young triggerman against rival Gangster Disciple factions, according to police sources.
It was a reputation Bennett himself cultivated in numerous raps and cryptic social media messages that many fans, and some people who work in law enforcement, believe was rooted in truth.
Rapper King Von performs in concert during the "PTSD" tour at The Tabernacle in Atlanta on March 11, 2020. He was fatally shot outside a nightclub in November. (Paras Griffin / Getty Images)
At 23, he was acquitted of murder and attempted murder after an Englewood house party shooting left a man dead. Since then, Bennett was linked to crimes in other cities, including a shooting last year where a 23-year-old man was shot and his possessions taken.
Following his release from jail, Bennett was signed to the Only The Family music label by mentor and fellow Chicago rapper Lil Durk.
In a world of music studio tough guys, Bennett was a cut above. Though he had no prior rap experience, he had a unique and captivating storytelling style — along with his popular first-person translations so that old squares like me can follow along — that could be both plainly stated and witty. His rhymes allowed listeners to understand his head-on-a-swivel mentality. Headlines in this paper often confirm his take: In Bennett’s world a routine trip in the neighborhood could turn into a deadly ambush.
In a new musical landscape where music streams have replaced album sales as metrics for success, Bennett’s biggest hits — “Crazy Story” and “Take Her to the O,” a raw moment-by-moment telling of a sexual pursuit-turned-shootout — each racked up millions of views before his death.
He was a rap prodigy who excelled at freestyling — spontaneous, clever rhyming verses that make sense in context (think Eminem in “8 Mile”) — and was a world-class troll who gleefully celebrated the deaths of rivals online, including the unsolved summer slaying of rap rival Carlton Weekly, or FBG Duck, outside a Gold Coast business.
He was part 50 Cent, part Al Capone, if Al Capone released threatening jazz rags about adversary Dean O’Banion.
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But if he was the killer many thought him to be, he was a charming one who smiled more than you’d think a remorseless killer might. His reputation was fierce, but somehow he was able to be a silly online presence of the kind you find on TikTok. In online posts he cuddled with girlfriends and played with his toddlers.
While early artists only portrayed gang members and shooters, many of Chicago’s drill rappers are real-life gang associates and alleged shooters, and some are still in their teens. That means young people far outside Chicago, in the suburbs, in middle America, in London, are partying to blood, revenge and murders of people like real-life Chicago homicide victims Shondale “Tooka” Gregory, 15; Odee Perry, 20; Joseph “Lil Jojo” Coleman, 18; and Leonard “LA Capone” Anderson and Gakirah Barnes, both 17.
Through drill, fans can follow the goings-on of Chicago gang strife like they would a soap opera or reality TV.
To prepare for the interview that would never happen, I consulted with my nephews, ages 20 and 23, whose generation is attuned to the web, seeing new songs, fads, rumors, crimes and even murder footage light years before anyone over 40 or in traditional media.
At their suggestion, I looked up “King Von” on YouTube and fell down one of those spiraling internet rabbit holes of social media creators breaking down his life the way fantasy creators broke down “Game of Thrones” storylines.
I was surprised to find one YouTube narrator, a young man with a British accent, giving his viewers a detailed rundown of Chicago’s gang layout, Bennett’s rivalries with other rappers, and speculation on Bennett’s suspected killings (with numerous Tribune breaking news stories cited as sources).
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While it’s not the same musical powerhouse it had been during its heyday of gospel, jazz, blues, soul, rock and house music, Chicago is still a fertile ground for up-and-coming rappers, deejays and producing talent that has birthed a diverse array of artists from Common and Kanye West to Chief Keef and Jarad “Juice Wrld” Higgins, who died last December of a drug overdose.
I’ll never be able to ask King Von whether he ever saw a light at the end of the tunnel. But more than anything, I wish I could have gotten some insight into how communities and the city itself might be able to extract talent from gifted but troubled boys stuck in rough neighborhoods before the harshness of our streets turn them into next King Von.
wlee@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Chicago police Superintendent David Brown in rare disagreement with oversight agency on two police d

Chicago police Superintendent David Brown in rare disagreement with oversight agency on two police discipline cases

In COPA ’ s first allegation that both officers violated the department ’ s use of force policy , Brown @ @ @ @ @ unfounded , ” according to the police board .
Brown did agree with COPA that @ @ @ @ @ their body cameras more properly .
But instead of moving to fire them on that @ @ @ @ @ each deserved a reprimand , a light punishment that doesn ’ t result in any @ @ @ @ @ the board .

Chicago police Superintendent David Brown briefs reporters outside Mt. Sinai Hospital, where a Chicago police officer was transported after being fatally shot during a domestic dispute call in the Southwest Side, March 1, 2023. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Members of the city’s police disciplinary panel overruled Chicago police Superintendent David Brown in two 2018 officer-involved shooting cases, records show, instances where the police boss called for more lenient punishments for three cops who investigators said should be fired.
The decisions by two Chicago Police Board members came after Brown disagreed with findings from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability that the officers who fired their guns in each case should be dismissed from the Police Department. Records show it was the first two times Brown has disagreed with COPA on disciplinary matters.
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The decisions from board members Matthew Crowl and Steve Flores were announced during last month’s regularly scheduled monthly police board meeting, broadcast on a public-access television feed because of COVID-19-related restrictions.
Neither decision from Crowl or Flores means COPA’s findings were correct and Brown’s conclusions were wrong. But each case will now be presented to the rest of the nine-member board, possibly in the coming weeks. The full board will hear witness testimony and review other evidence before deciding whether the officers violated Police Department rules and should lose their jobs.
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Had Crowl and Flores sided with Brown, two of the officers would’ve have been penalized without any time off while the third would’ve received about a six-month suspension. In keeping with a police board directive, the two board members were randomly chosen among the nine to determine whether Brown met “his burden of overcoming” COPA Chief Administrator Sydney Roberts’ recommendations in each case.
The rationale behind COPA and Brown’s decisions in each case were not disclosed by the police board. Neither COPA nor Brown’s staff would comment on their reasoning, but the Police Department said the three officers in question — David Taylor, Larry Lanier and Luigi Sarli — were now assigned to paid desk duty and relieved of their police powers.
The first shooting took place on July 3, 2018, Taylor and Lanier responded to a call of a person with a gun about 8 p.m. in the 4700 block of West Fulton Street on the West Side, authorities have said.
That’s when they confronted 33-year-old Terrell Eason. The only body camera footage publicly released by COPA was from an unidentified officer who responded to the scene, hopping a fence into a backyard.
For about the first 18 seconds, the officer’s body camera had no audio, but it eventually showed Eason collapse in the yard before getting up with what appeared to be a gun in his right hand, only to stagger briefly and fall again.
“We need EMS ASAP!” one officer could be heard to shout.
“We need an ambulance now in the alley, in the alley blocked off!” shouted the officer recording the incident on his body camera.
“Turn around! turn around!” the officer this time shouted to Eason as he grabbed Eason’s right hand and turned him on his stomach. Blood stains could be seen on the front and back of Eason’s shirt. As he lay face down, a wounded Eason was then placed in handcuffs with his hands behind his back.
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“You shot too, right? He wasn’t putting it down,” the officer said to a cop standing over Eason in an apparent reference to the gun, before that cop shrugged his shoulders. In a stern tone, officer behind the camera then warned the cop standing over Eason to not talk as the video was rolling.
Shortly after that, the officer behind the camera walked down an alley away from the yard. “I need a cigarette,” he said.
Records provided by COPA show that Taylor fired eight shots during the shooting, and Lanier fired two.
According to the police board, COPA recommended firing for Taylor and Lanier for shooting Eason and not activating their body cameras in a timely manner during the incident.
In COPA’s first allegation that both officers violated the department’s use of force policy, Brown classified the allegation as “unfounded,” according to the police board. Brown did agree with COPA that the officers should have used their body cameras more properly. But instead of moving to fire them on that allegation, Brown felt they each deserved a reprimand, a light punishment that doesn’t result in any docked time, according to the board.
But Crowl, a former federal prosecutor who was appointed to the police board last year by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, ruled against Brown, paving the way for the case to be heard before the eight other board members.
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Eason’s mother filed a federal lawsuit against Taylor, Lanier and the city about a month after the shooting. The case is still pending.
Taylor’s lawyer, Tim Grace, defended both officers, telling the Tribune that under the Police Department’s use of force guidelines, the shooting was justified.
“We agree with Superintendent Brown’s assessment of the use of force by the officers,” said Grace, whose law partner is representing Lanier. “There was no cover. Time and distance were not available to the officers. ... (Eason) was given multiple (commands) to drop the weapon. ... We look forward to adjudicating this case before the Chicago Police Board.”
The second shooting discussed at last month’s police board meeting occurred three months after Eason was fatally shot.
On Oct. 4, 2018, Sarli and two other officers responded to a call of a stolen Jeep near Irving Park Road and Lincoln Avenue on the North Side. Police reports provided by COPA show the vehicle was tracked by GPS about 3 miles away near Whipple and Argyle streets.
That’s about where body camera footage provided by COPA showed Sarli in the back of a squad car, while the two other officers were in front. For the first 30 seconds, which includes no audio, the video showed Sarli appearing to open his rear passenger’s side door a crack before pointing a gun toward its window. The window then shattered, and glass could be seen flying into the squad car’s back seat.
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“The back window’s shot, squad. I shot the back window,” Sarli said, apparently to a dispatcher.
Authorities said the stolen Jeep had rammed the officers’ squad car, prompting Sarli to shoot at the vehicle.
“I shot, I shot. He’s in the car. He hit our door. And he almost hit me and I shot,” the officer told other cops on scene after sitting on a curb to take off his shoes. “I got glass in my shoe.”
Police reports show Sarli fired four shots. The stolen Jeep was eventually found abandoned.
Earlier this year, COPA recommended Sarli be fired for violating the department’s use of force policy by shooting at or into a moving vehicle. Brown, however, did not agree with “certain findings” by COPA, and felt a 180-day suspension would be more appropriate for Sarli, according to the police board.
But Flores, a partner at the Winston & Strawn law firm who was appointed to the police board in 2016 by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, sided with COPA, and the case will now go before the other board members.
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Grace, the lawyer who is also representing Sarli, said he’s shocked that his client could face severe punishment for the shooting when he very well could have suffered more serious injuries.
“I am astonished that COPA would move for (firing),” said Grace. “If we are at the point where a police officer is getting his leg nearly (severed) and deadly force is not justified then we have entered a moment in time where police officers will be unable to ever defend themselves.”
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--City dismissed red-light camera tickets against Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s security detail

“ The Chicago Police Department ’ s mayoral security detail is responsible for protecting the Mayor and her family at @ @ @ @ @ .
When traveling , this security detail is a two-car team — a lead car @ @ @ @ @ that is trained to stay together at all times for the safety and protection of @ @ @ @ @ statement said .
“ Any and all red-light violations or speeding tickets dismissed by the @ @ @ @ @ the tail car following the lead car became separated or in conjunction with City ’ @ @ @ @ @ it comes to law enforcement vehicles .
”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot emerges from her vehicle for a news conference July 2, 2019, in the 6300 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue in Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The city of Chicago dismissed the majority of tickets issued to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s security detail by red-light and speed cameras, including some that were recorded at times when the mayor was scheduled to be attending non-city events, records show.
Since Lightfoot became mayor in May 2019, the police security detail assigned to her protection has received 13 tickets for speed and red-light camera violations, and 10 of those have been dismissed, records show.
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Though city officials did not address specific questions about her whereabouts at the time each ticket was issued, listings in her official calendar show some were given at times when her calendar suggests she was on the way home from a personal event or en route to a “non-city breakfast.”
Four were issued at a time when her official calendar doesn’t note her scheduled whereabouts or indicates “rest,” and another says she was supposed to be attending a virtual gala.
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A city spokeswoman defended dismissing the tickets, saying cops are allowed to run red lights under certain circumstances.
“The Chicago Police Department’s mayoral security detail is responsible for protecting the Mayor and her family at all times of the day. When traveling, this security detail is a two-car team — a lead car and a tail car — that is trained to stay together at all times for the safety and protection of the mayor,” the statement said. “Any and all red-light violations or speeding tickets dismissed by the City were done so when the tail car following the lead car became separated or in conjunction with City’s policies and practices when it comes to law enforcement vehicles.”
Most of the tickets issued to Lightfoot’s security detail from the city’s cameras are red-light violations, but records show Lightfoot’s administration dismissed three tickets against her detail where officers were going more than 11 mph over the limit.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot's vehicles drive through a red lights. Many red light violation citations were issued and then dismissed. (City of Chicago) (Chicago Tribune Handout)
Some of the dismissed tickets were issued to vehicles assigned to police officers on the mayoral security detail, not the lead and tail car that the mayor travels in, the spokeswoman added. Lightfoot officials did not answer when asked who was responsible for paying the tickets.
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Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel faced similar questions about his security detail running red lights and speeding. In response to news reports, Emanuel publicly told his detail to slow down and personally paid the tickets, ABC-7 previously reported. But even after Emanuel said “no one is above the law” and ordered cops to slow down, his detail kept getting tickets.
“I said I was going to pay it, that is what I meant when I say ‘above the law.’ I couldn’t be more clear,” Emanuel said in January 2015.
Far South Side Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, a longtime critic of the city’s camera system who has also been a frequent opponent of Lightfoot, said dismissing the mayor’s security detail tickets “sends the wrong message.”
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“If the law shows they went through the light unjustly, they need to pay the ticket,” Beale said. “You can’t have different standards for the people than for yourself.”
Lightfoot officials defended dismissing the tickets at a time when the city is lowering the standard for citing residents.
As a candidate, Lightfoot promised to reform the city’s fines and fees program, saying it was regressive and focused on generating revenue, not safety.
“The red-light camera program was sold to Chicagoans as a public safety solution, but it’s really been about revenue — and those fines fall disproportionately on people of color,” Lightfoot said at the time.
Chicago aldermen on Tuesday approved Lightfoot’s $12.8 billion 2021 budget, which relies on boosting city revenue by raising property taxes and fines and fees at a time many Chicagoans are struggling to make ends meet thanks to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the mayor’s plan, anyone caught by a camera driving from 6 to 9 mph above the limit would get a warning. Getting caught on camera a second time would prompt a $35 ticket in the mail.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot's vehicles are pictured speeding drive through a red light on June 6, 2020, at 6909 S. Kedzie Ave. A speeding violation citation was issued and then dismissed. (City of Chicago)
Currently, only those caught driving 10 mph above the limit get the $35 tickets. Tickets of $100 are issued to drivers caught speeding by 11 mph or more above the posted limit. A spokesman for the Transportation Department recently said the city has not yet set a start date for when the 6 mph standard will go into effect.
The speed camera program has been controversial from the moment Emanuel introduced it in 2013. He pitched the network of cameras to catch speeders around parks and schools as a way to keep children safe, but critics painted it as a cash grab, pointing out many of the cameras were only tenuously connected to Chicago Park District and Chicago Public Schools properties.
Chicago’s red-light cameras also have drawn blowback from officials and activists who argue they do little to make intersections safe. A Tribune-commissioned report previously found that at intersections with low rates of injury accidents, the cameras may make things more dangerous.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot's vehicles drive through a red light on July 25, 2020, at 3400 W. Diversey Ave. A red light violation citation was issued and then dismissed. (City of Chicago) (City of Chicago)
After the Tribune first reported Lightfoot’s plan to lower the threshold for speeding tickets, Lightfoot argued it’s a safety issue and said the city has seen “exponentially” more “speed-related accidents and deaths” in 2020, which she used to support her argument for implementing new speed camera standards that will catch more drivers.
But a Tribune review of publicly available city crash data found a more complicated picture of the safety situation than Lightfoot presented, with total crashes actually down from the first nine months of 2019, when there were 88,757, compared with the same period in 2020, when there were 69,480, records show.
City officials said deaths on the road are up in 2020 — 100 through September, versus 72 in the same period last year, with far less traffic. They also said city cameras are registering drivers speeding more — an average of roughly 2 mph faster than last year — which suggests to them that people are driving faster and causing more serious crashes.
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Still, it’s not clear how many are caused by speeding.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @royalpratt


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--UIC to establish program for students with intellectual disabilities who often have few options afte

UIC to establish program for students with intellectual disabilities who often have few options after high school

“ It ’ s difficult for them to access undergraduate and graduate education because of scores needed to access those @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Historically in special education programs , students don ’ t get a traditional @ @ @ @ @ is not a lot of attention paid ( to ) transitioning youth to make sure @ @ @ @ @ through the gap .
When they leave school , there ’ s no clear pathway @ @ @ @ @ ) alone a career .
”

The University of Illinois at Chicago announced a $2.5 million grant to develop an accredited program aimed at preparing people with intellectual disabilities for employment opportunities.
The grant will be used to develop a postsecondary education two-year certificate program, said Katherine Caldwell, a clinical assistant professor of disability and human development at UIC. The university hopes to enroll up to 10 students in the first cohort beginning in fall 2021 and plans to start accepting applications during the spring semester. The project is funded for five years.
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The University of Illinois at Chicago campus in Chicago on Oct. 6, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
“A lot of times, people with intellectual disabilities end up sitting at home after high school,” said Caldwell, a co-leader of the project. “They might want to go to college, but there’s no college they can go to. A lot of times they end up unemployed or underemployed.”
According to the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, intellectual disability is characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which includes many everyday social and practical skills.
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People with intellectual disabilities are typically diagnosed prior to adulthood and fall within a certain IQ level, Caldwell said. Autism is not considered an intellectual disability, she added, however, students on the autism spectrum could also benefit from courses within the program.
“It’s difficult for them to access undergraduate and graduate education because of scores needed to access those programs,” Caldwell said. “Historically in special education programs, students don’t get a traditional high school diploma and there is not a lot of attention paid (to) transitioning youth to make sure they don’t fall through the gap. When they leave school, there’s no clear pathway to college, (let) alone a career.”
Those selected for the program will have full student status at the university and take courses about transitioning to college life and learning skills that will create a career pathway, according to the university.
“Unlike other programs serving students with intellectual disabilities in college, students in the UIC co-op program will be fully integrated with other undergraduate students. Additionally, UIC students in disability and human development will gain important skills by taking classes alongside peers with intellectual disabilities and by acting as peer mentors for co-op students,” project leader Tamar Heller, distinguished professor and head of the UIC Institute on Disability and Human Development, said in a statement.
Students can choose a specialty track including: arts and culture, policy and social justice, health across the life span, entrepreneurship and leadership. They will also be able to audit existing undergraduate classes with other UIC students, according to the university.
Caldwell said that similar programs are emerging across the country that focus on independent living skills. The UIC program will take an education-based approach aimed at building advocacy and job skills.
“They want to work, and many can work but they have a difficult time finding employment,” Caldwell said. “This will focus on getting an education but also they’re gaining on-the-ground experience and building their network.”
jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @JessicaVillag


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Chicago alderman who got contributions from pet store owner flips on anti-puppy mill law

“ I don ’ t want to see anyone go out of business , ” he said .
“ That @ @ @ @ @ But I would rather see them go out of business than see them sell dogs @ @ @ @ @ .
”

A Chicago alderman who long championed the city’s anti-puppy mill ordinance has reversed his position and wants to lift a key restriction on pet shops, a move that comes after he received donations from a Lincoln Park store owner whose business sells primarily purebred and designer dogs.
Under a new ordinance proposed by Southwest Side Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th Ward, pet shops no longer would be restricted to only selling rescue dogs as they have been for the past five years. Instead, they could offer puppies from federally licensed breeders without critical violations on their records in the past two years.
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Lopez, who has embraced animal welfare initiatives during his tenure, stunned advocacy groups that he had worked with for years by changing his position. As recently as last year, he publicly expressed support for tightening the city’s anti-puppy mill ordinance.
Cook County detainee Devin Hodge, center, introduces a pit bull named Sarge to Ald. Raymond Lopez during Tails of Redemption graduation ceremony at Cook County Jail in 2019. Inmates were paired with a shelter dog for about eight weeks in the program. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
“This really is reversing course and taking 10 giant steps back for animal protections,” said Marc Ayers, Illinois state director for the Humane Society of the United States. “He knows this. It’s hard to say why he’s being influenced so heavily.”
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A longtime critic of the ordinance, store owner Lane Boron has contributed $2,000 since July 2018 to campaign funds that Lopez controls, according to state campaign finance reports. Boron owns Pocket Puppies in Lincoln Park. His most recent donation of $500 was in late January.
Less than seven months later, Lopez made an about-face when he publicly criticized another alderman’s proposal to close a loophole in the city ordinance that some advocates say has allowed a few pet stores to continue selling pricey puppies sourced from rescues with strong ties to out-of-state dealers.
Pocket Puppies, located in Lincoln Park, in 2018. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Lopez introduced his own proposal earlier this month that would allow pet stores to sell commercially raised puppies. In a written response to Tribune questions about the contributions from a business outside his ward, he said the donations were unsolicited and did not influence him.
He said the money was “returned immediately.” But, when the Tribune asked for supporting documentation, the alderman did not respond further. A review of Illinois State Board of Elections records did not show an amended report to reflect that any of Boron’s three contributions over 18 months was returned.
Lopez denied that he is abandoning his earlier efforts to strengthen animal welfare standards. He said the city’s ordinance has led to a “decimation of the pet store industry,” forcing consumers to instead buy from “an underground market of bad breeders and internet dealers that I believe the new guidelines will end.”
Chicago was among the first major cities in the country to pass a law that permitted pet shops to sell dogs only if they were obtained from government pounds, humane societies or rescue shelters.
It passed nearly unanimously and went into effect a year later in March 2015 — one month before Lopez was elected — with the aim to prevent businesses from sourcing dogs from so-called puppy mills, large-scale breeding facilities often criticized for poor conditions and mistreatment of the mother dogs.
Another goal of the Chicago law was to reduce the number of euthanized shelter dogs. Indeed, city officials say the live release rate for dogs went from 65% in 2015 when the ordinance went into effect to nearly 91.5% in 2019.
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The city ban affected about 13 stores in Chicago. Most closed, relocated or changed their mission.
But a 2018 Tribune investigation found the loophole allowed three local pet stores — including Pocket Puppies — to sell pricey dogs supplied by out-of-state rescues in Iowa and Missouri that were closely linked to longtime commercial dealers.
In an arrangement that was not an express violation of the ordinance but ran counter to the spirit of the ban, these rescues had provided city shops each year with hundreds of purebred and designer-mix puppies that came through kennels and properties owned by for-profit businesses or dealers, records show.
Days after the Tribune’s report, Lopez proposed changing the city law so that it allowed only dogs from a government facility or an organization “that has an agreement or other affiliation with Chicago Animal Care and Control” to be sold at local shops.
Two months later, Boron made his first donation — of $500 — to a Lopez campaign fund.
Lopez’s proposal, which was far more stringent than even the Humane Society wanted, failed to gain momentum.
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The City Council largely ignored the issue until this spring, when Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller announced a settlement in which two so-called rescues in his state that the Tribune found had supplied dogs to two of the three Chicago pet stores agreed to cease operations and pay $60,000.
Miller found that the two nonprofits — Hobo K-9 Rescue of Britt, Iowa, and Rescue Pets Iowa Corp. of Ottumwa — transferred at least 3,600 dogs to entities in Illinois, California, Florida, Missouri and New Jersey from 2016 to 2019.
The Iowa attorney general alleged the owners of J.A.K.’S Puppies started Hobo K-9 Rescue in 2016 as a way to provide commercially bred designer puppies to businesses in California and Chicago, where laws require pet stores to sell only shelter animals.
Miller called the Iowa operations “integral actors of a national puppy laundering ring.” In response last year, Lopez applauded Iowa’s action and said he had put the local pet stores on notice.
“I flat-out told them at some point their industry was coming to an end in the city of Chicago,” Lopez told the Tribune in March 2019. “They know they are the last of their breed — pun intended.”
Pocket Puppies was not part of the Iowa litigation. But the 2018 Tribune investigation detailed how a Missouri canine dealer with a nonprofit rescue sent hundreds of puppies from April 2016 to June 2017 to either Pocket Puppies or a nonprofit with the pet shop’s address, according to public records.
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And, last week, Nov. 26 Chicago Animal Care and Control issued administrative notice of 13 alleged ordinance violations to Pocket Puppies on suspicion the pet store sourced several 8-week-old English and French bulldogs from an Oklahoma breeder over a three-month period earlier this year, according to a city report.
The city investigation was sparked by a complaint from the Humane Society, the report said. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 4.
To address the ordinance’s loophole, North Side Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd Ward, proposed changes earlier this year so that stores only would be permitted to sell shelter dogs at a nominal fee. The price restrictions would make it harder for brokers and breeders to exploit the rescue animal requirements, he said.
The revamped language allows pet shop owners to show dogs from rescues and shelters but the store “shall not have any ownership or monetary interest in the animals displayed for adoption. The animals may only be transferred to an adopting individual for a nominal adoption fee.”
Approved rescue groups must not have any affiliation with a commercial business such as a breeder or dealer, under Hopkins’ plan.
Lopez was critical of the proposal in a City Council committee hearing in July. Boron and his wife, Stefanie, also spoke out against it at the public hearing.
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Lane Boron acknowledged in July that Pocket Puppies uses a rescue “that sources from breeders.” The Borons told the panel they deal with reputable enterprises and the real problem lies with what they called a retail rescue industry that buys from substandard breeders.
The Borons say their store, which has 15 employees, would close if they could only sell “food and bones.” Though Pocket Puppies is not located in Lopez’s ward, Lane Boron told the Tribune he has donated to multiple elected officials over the years.
He said Lopez has returned his contributions.
“We support aldermen that, in our opinion, see synergies between businesses, regulation and consumer protections,” said Boron, who answered Tribune questions through email.
Regarding the recent city investigation, Boron said his business has never received a CACC violation in its 15-year history.
He and Lopez said Hopkins’ measure limits consumers’ choices and, because the demand for pricey pups won’t go away, will lead to unintended problems by enhancing less regulated sales by online or backyard breeders.
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Advocates such as the Humane Society and Chicago-based The Puppy Mill Project say there’s no evidence of that. They support Hopkins’ plan. Hopkins said Lopez’s idea “seems to have the best interest of the commercial pet industry first and foremost. My ordinance has the best interest of the animals first and foremost. That’s the main difference.
“Ald. Lopez seems to have faith in the best intentions of the commercial breeding operations and that they will change their practices to be more humane. I don’t share that faith.”
Pocket Puppies has fought hard against the ordinance for years, going so far as joining two other businesses that sell puppies to battle it unsuccessfully in federal court. They have predicted it would financially devastate their businesses.
Lane Boron said the 2015 ordinance’s only impact has been to force several city pet stores out of business.
“The Hopkins ordinance continues the same failed and ineffective narrative since 2014,” Boron said.
Steve Dale, the popular WGN radio host and an animal behavior consultant, said the ordinance’s aim isn’t to close pet shops but to require them to adhere to standards that better protect animals.
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“I don’t want to see anyone go out of business,” he said. “That was never the intent. But I would rather see them go out of business than see them sell dogs unethically and defraud the public.”
Chicago Tribune’s John Byrne contributed.
sstclair@chicagotribune.com
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--16-year-old boy fatally shot in South Loop parking garage, police say

Just after 2:30 a.m. , the boy was sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle in the 800 block @ @ @ @ @ two males wearing black ski masks got out of a black vehicle and fired shots @ @ @ @ @ driver of the vehicle the boy was in told police .

A 16-year-old boy was fatally shot about 2:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 30, 2020, in a parking garage in the 800 block of South Wabash Avenue in the South Loop neighborhood, according to Chicago police. (Paige Fry/Chicago Tribune)
A 16-year-old boy was shot in the face and killed early Monday while sitting in a parked SUV in a South Loop parking garage, according to Chicago police.
The boy was in the front passenger seat of a BMW in the 800 block of South Wabash Avenue about 2:30 a.m. when someone wearing a black ski mask approached and fired at the boy, police said.
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The teen was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Officers said they found a .40-caliber handgun in his waistband.
Police said the gunman was in his late teens or early 20s. A witness told police she saw two males run from the garage, get into a dark car and speed west on 8th Street. They remained at large Monday morning, police said.
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Investigators recovered shell casings at the scene and were checking for surveillance footage.
Person shot at 8th/Michigan. Scene from the Wabash side. Ambo just left. #ChicagoScanner https://t.co/bectOcvRck pic.twitter.com/BLO78Jc3NF — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) November 30, 2020
Tape inside the garage. pic.twitter.com/dGoexQKBZn — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) November 30, 2020
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--16-year-old boy grazed by bullet on Far South Side, police say

He was uncooperative with officers and did not provide any additional information , police said .
He was taken to @ @ @ @ @ Center in fair condition .

A 16-year-old boy’s face was grazed by a bullet Sunday night on the Far South Side, according to Chicago police.
Just before 8:30 p.m., the 16-year-old boy was walking in the 7100 block of South Jeffery Boulevard in the South Shore neighborhood when he heard shots, police said.
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He was uncooperative with officers and did not provide any additional information, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in fair condition.
No arrests have been made, police said.
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pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-12-01--Chicago officials shut down 300-person party in Wicker Park as 9 businesses closed for at least a da

Chicago officials shut down 300-person party in Wicker Park as 9 businesses closed for at least a day since tighter COVID-19 restrictions took effect

Since restrictions on indoor service at restaurants and bars and tighter crowd limits went into effect on Oct. 30 , @ @ @ @ @ shut down five businesses for one day and closed four others until they have a @ @ @ @ @ In addition , the city said it has issued 20 citations and 54 “ orders @ @ @ @ @ , restaurants and other businesses .

Officials enforcing coronavirus orders shut down a party attended by about 300 people in Wicker Park over the weekend and earlier this month cited a business for hosting a party with more than 600 attendees, the city of Chicago said in a news release.
Since restrictions on indoor service at restaurants and bars and tighter crowd limits went into effect on Oct. 30, the city said it has shut down five businesses for one day and closed four others until they have a reopening plan in place. In addition, the city said it has issued 20 citations and 54 “orders to correct” to bars, restaurants and other businesses.
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“While the vast majority of Chicago’s businesses are doing the right thing and following the COVID-19 regulations, it is incredibly disheartening to see some establishments continue to egregiously and blatantly disregard the guidelines and put our entire community at risk,” said Rosa Escareno, commissioner of the city’s Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Department.
The city of Chicago released this altered photo they said shows an illegal party early Sunday morning in the basement at 1612 W. Division Street in Wicker Park with about 300 people and with “no social distancing and no face coverings.” (City of Chicago)
Officials responded to a complaint about an illegal party in the basement at 1612 W. Division Street in Wicker Park early Sunday morning. They found about 300 people at the party with “no social distancing and no face coverings,” according to a news release.
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The party with more than 600 in attendance on Nov. 5 was at the Chicago Sports Complex at 2600 W. 35th St., officials said.
Citations were issued to businesses including Wildberry Pancakes and Cafe at 196 E. Pearson St. for repeatedly allowing indoor dining; the Delta at 1745 W. North Ave. and Fat Fish Bar & Grill at 234-236 W. 31st St. for “egregiously” disregarding distancing and mask requirements on outdoor patios; and the Ballroom at 6351-59 S. Cottage Grove Ave. for holding a party with more than 200 people.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-01--Illinois sees small decline in COVID-19 hospitalization numbers, but Thanksgiving impact still to co

Illinois sees small decline in COVID-19 hospitalization numbers, but Thanksgiving impact still to come

State officials and public health advocates have noted the improvement in the numbers .
But they also said it would @ @ @ @ @ ’ s tightened restrictions to curb the spread of infection and that it is too @ @ @ @ @ infection curve was actually bending down , particularly when looking at a rolling average based @ @ @ @ @ of numbers .

CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations across Illinois has begun to bend downward after weeks of sharp growth, state data shows, but public health advocates have expressed unease that infections from the Thanksgiving holiday may undo any improvements.
As of Sunday night — the most recent data available — 5,849 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized across the state. That number marked the seventh daily drop in hospitalizations in nine days, collectively amounting to a 5% decrease from a high of 6,175 on Nov. 20.
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The same downward trend is starting to be seen, though not as strongly, for the subset of patients in intensive care units — where there are deeper concerns about hospitals becoming overwhelmed.
State officials and public health advocates have noted the improvement in the numbers. But they also said it would take time for the state’s tightened restrictions to curb the spread of infection and that it is too early to tell if the infection curve was actually bending down, particularly when looking at a rolling average based on seven days’ worth of numbers.
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“Although the last few days have offered a hint of potential progress in some of our statewide metrics, the number of patients fighting COVID-19 in our hospital systems statewide still eclipses our spring peak by 23%,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday at his daily coronavirus news briefing. “We had hoped to see more progress in lowering hospitalizations by now.”
The governor said all 11 regions of the state designated in his reopening plan would remain under the tighter restrictions that took effect Nov. 20 — including lower capacity limits for retail stores — for the next few weeks, even if some regions show enough improvement to qualify for looser rules.
Pritzker said that approach is endorsed by the state Department of Public Health and by experts such as Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with whom the governor said he spoke earlier Monday.
“We are still very much in a precarious place,” Pritzker said. “And we have got to take the time to evaluate any Thanksgiving effect before we make any premature adjustments.”
State health officials reported 6,190 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the fewest cases reported in a day since Oct. 28, when there were 6,110. It was the fourth day in a row with fewer than 8,000 new cases, and the seven-day average of new daily cases stood at 8,812, down from a peak of 12,384 two weeks ago.
A COVID-19 testing site opened in an employee parking lot at Midway Airport on Nov. 24, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
But public health officials caution that case counts can be lower immediately following weekends, particularly long holiday weekends, because the figure is largely a function of how many tests are being reported.
After seeing a seven-day average of more than 100,000 tests per day for more than a week, the average was down to 86,431 for the week ending Monday. The case positivity rate — the number of cases relative to the total number of tests — reached a seven-day average of 10.2% on Monday, on par with where it’s been over the past week.
State officials also reported 85 more fatalities Monday, bringing the statewide death toll to 12,278 since March. While other measures have taken a positive turn in recent days, the state is still averaging more than 100 deaths per day. In all, there have been 726,304 known cases of the coronavirus in Illinois since the pandemic began.
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Public health experts say hospitalization figures offer a more stable metric than total cases, though they are still not a perfect measure. Dr. Vineet Arora, a University of Chicago professor of medicine, said some people may have put off seeking hospital treatment until the Thanksgiving holiday passed, which could affect the state numbers in coming days.
For now, many area hospitals reported that they are seeing COVID-19 numbers declining or stabilizing. At University of Chicago Medical Center, the number of COVID-19 patients increased by fivefold over the last month but is now holding steady. Rush University Medical Center said it has seen the number of COVID-19 patients drop by about 15% in recent days.
Among others:
· Edward Hospital in Naperville and Elmhurst Hospital had a combined 129 COVID-19 patients Monday, down from 175 nearly two weeks earlier.
· Advocate Aurora Health had about 663 COVID-19 patients at its 10 Illinois hospitals Monday, about 30 fewer patients than a week ago.
· NorthShore University HealthSystem had 133 COVID-19 patients across its Evanston, Glenview, Skokie and Highland Park hospitals Monday, down from about 155 in recent weeks.
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They all, however, fear the positive trend will be short-lived.
“Unfortunately, I think that’s probably not going to last,” said Dr. Emily Landon, an infectious disease specialist at University of Chicago Medicine. “I’m hoping I’m wrong, that there is not a surge after Thanksgiving, but I think it’s probably unavoidable.”
Health officials and advocates had pleaded with people to cancel large Thanksgiving gatherings but worry that even more modest get-togethers would be enough to spark a boost in infections.
If so, the ripple effect from that boost wouldn’t be seen in hospitalization data until a week or two later, and perhaps longer, as the virus travels from more healthy people who don’t need hospital treatment to more vulnerable people who are more likely to wind up in intensive care.
“We’ve just come off that peak by a little bit,” Pritzker said. “If we got a surge like we’ve had over the last three to four weeks come on top of where we are now, that would be something that would be extraordinarily worrisome for all of us.”
Hospitals are considering a number of actions should they see a post-Thanksgiving surge, including delaying more elective surgeries and adding yet more beds, though having enough staff for additional beds could be a challenge.
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Hospital leaders are also pleading with Illinois residents to continue to help by wearing masks, washing their hands and maintaining social distance.
“This might be the last time we have to worry about a surge like this, potentially, and if we can just manage to reduce the number of new cases and get through to the vaccine, then we can reopen hopefully,” said Dr. Bala Hota, vice president and chief analytics officer at Rush.
Public health advocates suggest that anyone who attended a holiday gathering get tested later this week and quarantine themselves.
“I think many people in our group are bracing for what this week will show,” said Arora, who helps lead the Illinois Medical Professionals Action Collaborative Team. “I think the jury is out. We just don’t know.”
jmahr@chicagotribune.com
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
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lschencker@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-01--Judge orders Cook County state’s attorney’s office to pay family’s legal fees in suit over handling

Judge orders Cook County state’s attorney’s office to pay family’s legal fees in suit over handling of cab driver’s slaying

“ ( Cook County State ’ s Attorney ) Kim Foxx had the opportunity to help a grieving family get @ @ @ @ @ accountable for the missteps that led to an accused murderer fleeing the country , ” @ @ @ @ @ said in a news release Monday .
“ Instead she personally attacked the murder victim @ @ @ @ @ herself as the real victim .
All we ’ re asking is why the state @ @ @ @ @ attempt to bring my father ’ s killer to justice and whether she ’ s @ @ @ @ @ right this wrong .
”

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office has been ordered to pay about $16,000 to the family of a cabdriver who was killed in 2018, money to go toward the family’s legal fees after a suit alleging prosecutors improperly withheld documents about their handling of the case.
The family of Anis Tungekar sued the office last year, accusing prosecutors of refusing to charge the suspect in his murder despite video evidence and police requests for felony charges. The suspect ultimately fled to China.
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Anis Tungekar died of blunt force trauma to the head after an altercation in 2018. (Family photo)
Tungekar’s family sued under Illinois open-records laws after prosecutors declined to release internal documents related to their decisions in the case. Cook County Judge Neil Cohen ordered 40 pages of those documents released last year, with a few redactions.
And earlier this month, Cohen also ordered the office to pay about $16,000 to go toward the family’s legal fees.
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“(Cook County State’s Attorney) Kim Foxx had the opportunity to help a grieving family get closure and hold her office accountable for the missteps that led to an accused murderer fleeing the country,” Tungekar’s son Omar said in a news release Monday. “Instead she personally attacked the murder victim’s family and cast herself as the real victim. All we’re asking is why the state’s attorney blocked every attempt to bring my father’s killer to justice and whether she’s finally cooperating with police to right this wrong.”
A statement from the state’s attorney’s office said it initially withheld the documents in good faith under exemptions to state open-records law.
“This litigation has been used as a means to disparage the SAO and garner media attention for the defendant’s civil lawsuit,” the office stated.
Tungekar, 64, died Sept. 4, 2018, two days after he was kicked in the head following an argument with another driver on the Near West Side, according to Chicago police.
Investigators took the driver, Lu Fangqi, into custody after the incident, but they released him without charges. Police later distributed surveillance video that showed Tungekar falling to the ground after the kick to the head.
Foxx told WTTW-Ch. 11 in a December 2018 interview that her office was still seeking context about the video before making a decision about charges.
In the meantime, though, Fangqi went to China, according to Chicago police.
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After Fangqi left the country, Cook County Circuit Judge Edward Maloney signed an arrest warrant on Dec. 26 for Fangqi that charges him with murder. The United States doesn’t have an extradition treaty with China, according to the U.S. Department of State.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 6,190 new COVID-19 cases and 85 more deaths reported as state sees

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 6,190 new COVID-19 cases and 85 more deaths reported as state sees small decline in hospitalization numbers

She ’ s frustrated by the mayor , the governor and the president , the first of whom she plans @ @ @ @ @ letter ” later Monday .
It costs Formento ’ s $ 4,500 a month to @ @ @ @ @ up , and the graffiti made them eyesores that could potentially turn away customers willing @ @ @ @ @ to dine in , she said .
She walked outside into the gloomy weather to @ @ @ @ @ take a real look at what was written on the tents , which she said @ @ @

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
For the latest updates, click here for Tuesday’s live blog.
Illinois health officials on Monday announced 6,190 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 85 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 726,304 and the statewide death toll to 12,278 since the start of the pandemic.
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Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations across Illinois has begun to bend downward after weeks of sharp growth, state data shows, but public health advocates have expressed unease that infections from the Thanksgiving holiday may undo any improvements.
The same downward trend is starting to be seen, though not as strongly, for the subset of patients in intensive care units — where there are deeper concerns about hospitals becoming overwhelmed.
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The case numbers, lower than in recent weeks, don’t necessarily mean that the spread of coronavirus is slowing. Health experts have warned that because over the Thanksgiving weekend, fewer people likely got tested and many testing sites curtailed their hours.
Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
5:45 p.m.: Chicago officials shut down 300-person party in Wicker Park over the weekend
Officials enforcing coronavirus orders shut down a party attended by about 300 people in Wicker Park over the weekend and cited a business for hosting a party with more than 600 attendees, the city of Chicago said in a news release.
Since restrictions on indoor service at restaurants and bars and tighter crowd limits went into effect on Oct. 30, the city said it has shut down five businesses for one day and closed four others until they have a reopening plan in place. In addition, the city said it has issued 20 citations and 54 “orders to correct” to bars, restaurants and other businesses.
Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
5:35 p.m.: New Trier High School to consider expansion of in-person instruction
Encouraged by the early success of a new $1.3 million COVID-19 saliva screening program, officials at New Trier High School are considering an expansion of their in-person student instruction plan.
The school board on Tuesday will vote on the timeline for an expanded reopening plan that would increase from the current model of one “track” of students attending classes in-person each day, to two tracks, New Trier spokeswoman Niki Dizon said Monday.
While each track is divided into roughly a quarter of the students who opted into hybrid learning, the actual attendance numbers have fallen below 25%, and officials estimate the same will hold true with two tracks being less than 50%, Dizon said.
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The proposal to expand the amount of in-person student instruction at the high school’s campuses in Winnetka and Northfield has been embraced by some parents, who have been pushing for more classroom learning since the start of the school year, with some suggesting that all students should attend a half day of school each day.
But potentially doubling the number of students in the building each day over the current hybrid model has prompted alarm from educators and others who say officials should not be bringing more students on campus during the latest virus surge.
Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
2:42 p.m.: Americans face strict new COVID-19 restrictions around the country after Thanksgiving as health experts brace for out-of-control surge to worsen
Americans returning home from Thanksgiving break faced strict new coronavirus measures around the country Monday as health officials brace for a disastrous worsening of the out-of-control surge because of holiday gatherings over the long weekend.
Los Angeles County imposed a stay-at-home order for its 10 million residents, and Santa Clara County, in the heart of Silicon Valley, banned high school, college and professional sports and decreed a quarantine for those who have traveled more than 150 miles outside the county.
In Hawaii, the mayor of Hawaii County said trans-Pacific travelers arriving without a negative COVID-19 test must quarantine for 14 days, and even those who have tested virus-free may be randomly selected for another test upon arrival. New Jersey is suspending all youth sports.
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The outbreak in Santa Clara County “is like a high-speed train,” health officer Dr. Sara Cody said.
Read more here. —Associated Press
2:34 p.m.: COVID-19 relief package a long-shot in lame-duck Congress session
After months of shadowboxing amid a tense and toxic campaign, Capitol Hill’s main players are returning for one final, perhaps futile, attempt at deal-making on a challenging menu of year-end business.
COVID-19 relief, a $1.4 trillion catchall spending package, and defense policy — and a final burst of judicial nominees — dominate a truncated two- or three-week session occurring as the coronavirus pandemic rockets out of control in President Donald Trump’s final weeks in office.
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:27 p.m.: Vandals strike outdoor dining tents in Chicago’s West Loop
Formento’s was one of a few West Loop restaurants hit by graffiti over the holiday weekend. Vandals spray-painted graffiti on outdoor tents used to shelter patrons dining outdoors in the cold weather, an attempt to keep business going while restaurant dining rooms remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic shutdown. For partner Nancy Bruni, it was the latest in a long string of struggles she’s had to face during the pandemic.
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”I was in tears,” Bruni said Monday morning. “It’s all so much.”
She’s frustrated by the mayor, the governor and the president, the first of whom she plans on writing a “nasty letter” later Monday. It costs Formento’s $4,500 a month to have the outdoor dining tents up, and the graffiti made them eyesores that could potentially turn away customers willing to brave the cold weather to dine in, she said. She walked outside into the gloomy weather to snap a few photos and take a real look at what was written on the tents, which she said was gibberish.
One of her managers filed an online police report Sunday afternoon that was still pending approval as of Monday afternoon. Another restaurant on Randolph Street, Bar Siena, had tents also hit with graffiti over the weekend, according to a report by NBC.
Bruni said the city sent a crew on Monday to clean up the graffiti. But overall she said the incident is just more proof that people don’t care about restaurants, whether they’re a public official or a layperson.
”I’m just so sad for humanity,” she said. “Instead of coming together during the virus, it just feels like we’re getting screwed.”
She repeated her pleas that she shared during a press conference on Nov. 11: Give restaurants aid or at the very least, give them transparency and a voice when making decisions about their livelihoods.
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”No one is giving us any answers and we are left in limbo here,” she said. “When it gets really cold, realistically, do you think people are going to be trudging through the snow and ice to eat in an igloo or a tent?”
—Grace Wong
1:23 p.m.: When will kids get a COVID-19 vaccine? Experts say it may be long after adults.
The U.S. may be weeks away from getting its first coronavirus vaccine approved for adults, but many parents and doctors wonder when children will be able to benefit from the protection it offers.
Experts have said that adults in the general public likely won’t get vaccinated until spring, and kids might have to wait even longer — possibly till the end of 2021.
That’s because kids weren’t involved in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials until two months ago, when pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its partner BioNTech recruited 16 and 17-year-olds. In October, the companies received approval to enroll kids between 12 and 15-years-old.
Read more here. —McClatchy Washington Bureau
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1:07 p.m.: Glenview, Northbrook offer early retirement to village staffers as suburbs look to cut costs during COVID-19 pandemic
As Northbrook and Glenview continue to deal with the financial fallout of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the villages will experience several staff departures in the coming year.
Both villages are working to save money by reducing expenses and deferring non-essential projects. Another way they hope to save money is by offering voluntary separation programs. These programs serve as a type of incentivized early retirement or buyout plan for eligible staff.
”By reducing the employee count and restructuring job functions through privatization or job consolidations as opportunities present themselves, an employer can contain personnel costs and manage future costs,” reads a report from Sarah Schillerstrom, Glenview’s assistant village manager.
Particularly in Northbrook, the exits of several department heads, as well as the village manager and elected village president, will create a year of significant turnover.
Read more here. —Kaitlin Edquist, Northbrook Star
1:03 p.m.: Lake County’s COVID-19 numbers improve, but health officials wary of Thanksgiving impact
Amid slightly improved coronavirus pandemic statistics in Lake County, concern remains as the Illinois Department of Public Health plans to operate more mobile testing sites starting nine days after Thanksgiving to continue curbing the spread of COVID-19.
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Testing will be offered between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday and Dec. 14 at the College of Lake County, 19351 West Washington St., Grayslake; as well as Sunday at Grant Community High School, 285 Grand Ave. Fox Lake.
Hannah Goering, the marketing and communications manager for the Lake County Health Department, said in an email testing is a key component of reducing the spread of the disease. Anyone feeling at all ill should get a test immediately.
”When we can identify cases through testing, we can have those who are infected isolate and have their close contacts quarantine,” she said. “This is a very targeted approach to slow the spread of the virus.”
Read more here. —Steve Sadin, Lake County News-Sun
12:30 p.m.: Ellen DeGeneres features U of C nurses on her show
Ellen DeGeneres thanked University of Chicago Medical Center nurses with several gifts, including a $200 weighted blanket, a $550 cookware set and a variety of gift cards, on Monday’s episode of her daytime show.
DeGeneres has been dedicating her 12 Days of Giveaways program to first responders during the coronavirus pandemic. Monday was Day 4. DeGeneres’ show airs at 3 p.m. weekdays on WMAQ-Ch. 5.
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Watch here. —Tracy Swartz
12:03 p.m.: 6,190 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 85 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Monday announced 6,190 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 85 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 726,304 and the statewide death toll to 12,278 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 66,980 new tests in the last 24 hours.
The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 10.2% for the period ending Friday.
—Chicago Tribune staff
11:25 a.m.: A good sign, for now: Hospitalization numbers have been declining
The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations across Illinois has begun to bend downward after weeks of sharp growth, state data shows, but public health advocates have expressed unease that infections from the Thanksgiving holiday may undo any improvements.
As of Sunday night — the most recent data available — 5,849 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized across the state. That number marked the seventh daily drop in hospitalizations in nine days, collectively amounting to a 5% decrease from a high of 6,175 on Nov. 20.
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The same downward trend is starting to be seen, though not as strongly, for the subset of patients in intensive care units – where there are deeper concerns about hospitals becoming overwhelmed.
Read more here. —Joe Mahr and Dan Petrella
6:54 a.m.: Merriam-Webster’s top word of 2020 not a shocker: pandemic
If you were to choose a word that rose above most in 2020, which word would it be?
Ding, ding, ding: Merriam-Webster on Monday announced “pandemic” as its 2020 word of the year.
“That probably isn’t a big shock,” Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster, told The Associated Press.
“Often the big news story has a technical word that’s associated with it and in this case, the word pandemic is not just technical but has become general. It’s probably the word by which we’ll refer to this period in the future,” he said.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
6:38 a.m.: Oak Park to fund business marketing plan, studying winter outdoor dining options for restaurants
To assist local businesses and restaurants, the village of Oak Park has authorized creation of a “shop local” campaign while also studying outdoor dining concepts for use this winter.
During the village board’s meeting last week, trustees unanimously approved a $30,000 contract with an agency called a5 to work with the village and various stakeholders to promote and support small businesses..
The proposal includes consolidating existing programs, such as the Oak Park-River Forest Chamber of Commerce’s digital gift card program and a local “save our restaurants” campaign, and building a digital marketing and social media campaign.
The village’s business recovery task force reviewed multiple proposals, and came to a consensus to recommend a contract with a5 to the village board.
Read more here. — Steve Schering, Pioneer Press
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6:15 a.m.: Moderna to seek OK for emergency use of its coronavirus vaccine in US, Europe
Moderna Inc. said it would ask U.S. and European regulators Monday to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the shots offer strong protection — ramping up the race to begin limited vaccinations as the coronavirus rampage worsens.
Multiple vaccine candidates must succeed for the world to stamp out the pandemic, which has been on the upswing in the U.S. and Europe. U.S. hospitals have been stretched to the limit as the nation has seen more than 160,000 new cases per day and more than 1,400 daily deaths. Since first emerging nearly a year ago in China, the virus has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide.
Moderna is just behind Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in seeking to begin vaccinations in the U.S. in December. Across the Atlantic, British regulators also are assessing the Pfizer shot and another from AstraZeneca.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Chicago police ask for help finding driver in hit-and-run that killed 86-year-old man in Little Vill

Chicago police ask for help finding driver in hit-and-run that killed 86-year-old man in Little Village

A witness told police Mendoza was crossing Sawyer going east in a crosswalk when the SUV , which had been @ @ @ @ @ turned left to go south on Sawyer , hit Mendoza and sped off , according @ @ @ @ @ The SUV was last seen going south on Sawyer .

A surveillance photo of a 2008-2012 GMC Acadia SUV police say killed 86-year-old Eliseo Mendoza as he crossed Sawyer Avenue at 26th Street about 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. (Surveillance video / HANDOUT)
Eliseo Mendoza was walking home along 26th Street when he was killed in a hit-and-run one afternoon last week, just before Thanksgiving.
After his death last Tuesday, the 86-year-old’s family and other community members immediately began searching for answers, canvassing in the Little Village area and offering $5,000 to anyone with information that would help authorities find the driver who killed Mendoza.
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On Monday, the same day Mendoza was buried, police issued an alert with a surveillance photo of the SUV they believe hit Mendoza about 12:30 p.m. Nov. 24 in the 3200 block of West 26th Street, at Sawyer Avenue.
Authorities are asking for help to identify the driver of the 2008-12 dark gray or black GMC Acadia, according to the alert. The back windows of the SUV were tinted, according to a police report and the photo released Monday.
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A witness told police Mendoza was crossing Sawyer going east in a crosswalk when the SUV, which had been heading west on 26th, turned left to go south on Sawyer, hit Mendoza and sped off, according to the police report. The SUV was last seen going south on Sawyer.
Eliseo Mendoza, 86, in a photo taken about a month before he was killed Nov. 24, 2020, by a hit-and-run driver. (Family photo)
Mendoza, who family said was a father of seven, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:50 p.m. Tuesday from head injuries suffered in the crash, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
“We’re in pain, but we’re holding onto each other,” said Leticia Torres, 50, one of his children.
Torres said her father had lived in the Little Village area since arriving from Cuernavaca, Mexico, and retired almost two decades ago.
Her father was buried Monday afternoon.
The person who killed her father “must be held accountable for their wrongdoings,” she said, adding that she hopes this case also raises awareness of the need for more security cameras in the area.
“We are thankful for those who have spoken up about this and we will do the same whenever they need us,” Torres said.
Community activist Raul Roberto Montes has been working with the family, helping to organize news conferences, and donated $3,000 to the reward offered.
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Torres said her family added $2,000, to make a total of a $5,000 reward for anyone who provides significant information to ensure that Mendoza’s killing “does not go unpunished.”
Police are asking for any information that could help lead to identifying the driver of the vehicle involved. Anyone with information can call detectives at the major accidents investigation unit at 312-745-4521.


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· In Sunday’s Life + Travel section, a story about Santa Claus, Indiana, gave an incorrect figure for the length of the Santa Claus Land of Lights. The holiday lights trail is 1.2 miles.
The Tribune regrets the error.
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chicagotribune--2020-11-30--Column: A solution for the bitter Pilsen landmark district battle: compromise

They reveal the cultural footprint of 19th Century Eastern European immigrants , including the Czechs who gave Pilsen its name @ @ @ @ @ Mexican-Americans who moved there in the 1960s , many of them displaced by the construction @ @ @ @ @ University of Illinois at Chicago .

Artist Pablo Serrano paints a massive mural on the sidewall of Carnitas Don Pedro on 18th Street in Pilsen on Oct. 30, 2020. The mural of residents and essential workers is set to be Pilsen s largest piece of art. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
There’s no doubt Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood has the stuff to become an official city landmark district.
Yet a plan to do just that is widely despised in the community, viewed by the local alderman, activists and many residents as a way to accelerate displacement and gentrification.
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The proposal, which would create one of Chicago’s largest historic districts and the city’s first in a Latino area, comes before the City Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards on Tuesday.
How should the committee treat the plan, which already has the blessing of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks?
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Compromise.
By cutting the size of the proposed district roughly in half and limiting protected structures to Pilsen’s commercial strips, the committee can safeguard an area of undisputed architectural and cultural distinction without imposing a financial burden on residential property owners. A significant share of those owners, it should be noted, are absentee landlords.
Though it contains significant individual structures, like the shuttered St. Adalbert Catholic Church, Pilsen is primarily distinguished by its urban fabric — continuous rows of “Bohemian Baroque” buildings, impressive Classical Revival structures and colorful murals.
They reveal the cultural footprint of 19th Century Eastern European immigrants, including the Czechs who gave Pilsen its name, and the Mexicans and Mexican-Americans who moved there in the 1960s, many of them displaced by the construction of what is now the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Recognizing this legacy, the federal government listed Pilsen on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. The honor makes property owners eligible for historic preservation tax credits, but typically does not prevent demolition. And the demolition threat is real, driven in part by Pilsen’s proximity to downtown and UIC.
Since 2006, city officials say, developers have torn down 90 buildings in Pilsen, often replacing two-, three- and four-flats and their affordable apartments with expensive single-family homes. Without intervention, more ugly modern structures could further rip up Pilsen’s beautiful urban fabric, a fate that already has befallen gentrifying neighborhoods on the North Side.
The risks are cultural as well as aesthetic. Since 2000, Pilsen’s Latino population has dropped by about 14,000, city officials say.
Floated by the administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel as part of a multi-pronged plan to preserve Pilsen and nearby Little Village, the proposed district would cover roughly 900 buildings along the 18th Street commercial strip and in a mostly residential extension to the south.
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Yet it has gone over like a lead balloon, putting Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s chief planner, Maurice Cox, on the defensive. Among other things, city officials have been forced to counter claims that the district would saddle property owners with exorbitant rehab costs.
But the remedy proposed by the local alderman, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, promises to be a paper tiger.
He’s calling for a “demolition-free district” that would follow the same borders as the proposed landmark district. Under the plan, the city would be prohibited from issuing demolition permits or approvals for major projects until the alderman had a public meeting about each request.
While that would ensure community voices are heard, the final say would rest with the city’s planning department. The hearings could be meaningless.
Given the City Council’s tradition of aldermanic prerogative, which gives aldermen near-total control over development in their wards, Sigcho-Lopez might prevail at Tuesday’s committee meeting.
“We will generally tend to support the alderman (on development issues),” the committee chair, Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, told me, although he declined to predict how a vote will go.
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Here’s a better idea: The committee should reduce the proposed district to about 465 buildings, mostly commercial structures on 18th Street and Blue Island Avenue. This alternative, suggested by planning department officials during three October community meetings, would preserve Pilsen’s architectural heart and would avoid hitting homeowners.
It also would address the fact that a sizable share of property owners on 18th — nearly 45%, according to a 2020 survey by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Great Cities Institute — live outside Pilsen. Absentee owners often treat their properties as investments, not cultural resources, opening the way for demolition.
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Unlike the alderman’s proposed “demolition-free district,” a landmark district offers a proven legal tool to prevent both locals and outsiders from selling to developers who would swing the wrecking ball.
The city also is proposing financial incentives like a three-year, $3 million Adopt-a-Landmark pilot program to assist commercial property owners who have been in the Pilsen district for at least 10 years. (The existing Adopt-a-Landmark program uses funds generated by downtown construction projects to help cover rehab costs for work on landmark buildings.)
In addition, the city pledges to start an express permit process for rehab projects affected by landmark designation. That would avoid a repeat of horror stories like one in which a longtime 18th Street restaurantowner hired a permit expediter so he can put up an exterior sign that meets city landmark requirements.
In this debate, the two sides appear so polarized that it’s hard to know if any compromise is possible. Yet without one, a treasured Chicago neighborhood will be vulnerable to a more gentrification and demolition. That would be a tragedy for Pilsen’s people and buildings, and all of Chicago.
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Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin