chicagotribune--2020-11-12--As COVID-19 cases continue surging, Gov. J.B. Pritzker warns another state stay-at-home order could

As COVID-19 cases continue surging, Gov. J.B. Pritzker warns another state stay-at-home order could be near: ‘That seems like where we are heading’

“ Are you waiting for health care workers to get sick to a point where you don ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ hospital to cover the next shift ?
” he said .
“ What about if @ @ @ @ @ that your sick and your dying have nowhere left to turn ?
Because I promise @ @ @ @ @ to take responsibility in your city and your county , that day is coming closer @ @ @ @ @ you .
”

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during a news conference on the coronavirus pandemic and other issues Nov. 4 at the Thompson Center in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
If Illinois' coronavirus resurgence doesn’t begin to subside, Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned Thursday that he may again put in place some form of a “mandatory” stay-at home order, the farthest-reaching restriction to curb the spread of COVID-19 he’s used to date.
“If things don’t take a turn in the coming days, we will quickly reach the point when some form of a mandatory stay-at-home order is all that will be left,” Pritzker said at a coronavirus briefing in Chicago on Thursday. “With every fiber of my being, I do not want us to get there. But right now, that seems like where we are heading.”
Advertisement
The state Department of Public Health on Thursday announced an additional 12,702 newly confirmed and probable cases and an additional 43 deaths of people with COVID-19. The new and probable cases set yet another record for a daily high, and the average number of new cases over the past week now stands at 11,625.
The number of people with COVID-19 in Illinois who were in the hospital as of Wednesday night, 5,258, was higher than at any point during the first surge of infections in the spring.
Advertisement
“We never saw that number in wave one,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said. “This is an all-time high, and I am telling you that number is only going to increase based on the number of cases that we’ve identified for the last several weeks.”
Of those hospitalized across the state, 956 patients were in intensive care units and 438 were on ventilators.
With the addition of Thursday’s new cases and deaths, the state is reporting 536,542 known cases throughout the course of the pandemic, and a death toll of 10,477. The newly confirmed cases on Thursday resulted from a batch of 100,617 tests conducted during a 24-hour period.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests conducted was 12.6% for the period that ended Wednesday, up from 8% on Nov. 1 and up from 4.3% a month earlier, on Oct. 12.
In recent weeks, Pritzker has been suggesting that tougher restrictions statewide could be on the horizon if the numbers don’t improve. Thursday’s briefing, however, marked the closest he’s come to indicating the state could be on the cusp of another statewide stay-at-home order. The governor has been facing significant pushback, most notably from the restaurant industry, for the restrictions he has already imposed across Illinois.
All 11 regions of the state, as identified in Pritzker’s coronavirus reopening plan, are currently under some level of tightened restrictions including an order to halt indoor dining and bar service, triggered after each region reached a state-set benchmark indicating COVID-19 is surging there. But new infections, hospitalizations and the number of deaths have continued to rise despite those measures.
The city of Springfield and Sangamon County reversed course this week and will begin enforcing the state restrictions that took effect in that region of central Illinois earlier this month after flouting those rules. Pritzker on Thursday urged local officials who continue to tell businesses in their communities that they won’t enforce the state’s coronavirus restrictions to follow suit.
“Are you waiting for health care workers to get sick to a point where you don’t have enough staff in the local hospital to cover the next shift?” he said. “What about if the hospitals become so overrun that your sick and your dying have nowhere left to turn? Because I promise you, while you fail to take responsibility in your city and your county, that day is coming closer and it will be on you.”
Advertisement
The state Department of Public Health on Wednesday began urging people to stay home over the next three weeks: to work from home, if possible, and to limit “nonessential” trips to public places, with exceptions such as grocery shopping or going to the pharmacy. Those guidelines, which aren’t mandatory, fairly closely mirror what Pritzker ordered residents statewide to do on March 21, when his statewide stay-at-home order took effect.
The number of COVID-19 new cases, deaths and hospitalizations dropped in the late spring and summer. The governor ordered a statewide mask mandate for public spaces in May, and began to ease restrictions on businesses and gatherings through his phased-in reopening plan.
The state entered the fourth phase of that plan in late June, when indoor dining and bar service were allowed to resume and gathering size limits were increased to 50, and stayed there through the summer. But Illinois is now in the grip of the fall resurgence public health experts were warning of for months, as the cooler weather has pushed more people indoors.
There have been nine deaths of residents at the Illinois Veterans' Home in LaSalle, Ezike said Thursday, two higher than the number of deaths the state reported at that state-run long-term care facility a day earlier. The facility, which is in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak, has reported 170 cases during the pandemic, including 82 residents, Ezike said.
Ezike continued to urge people to avoid gatherings and unnecessary travel, with the holiday season approaching.
“With the rising prevalence of this virus, attending even the smallest gathering that mixes households, or traveling to surrounding areas, that increases the risk of further spread of this virus,” Ezike said.
Advertisement
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-12--The Spin: Underwood wins ‘tough’ race for second term | Lightfoot’s stern budget warning to aldermen

The Spin: Underwood wins ‘tough’ race for second term | Lightfoot’s stern budget warning to aldermen | Lake Forest residents, Trump mega-donors Liz and Dick Uihlein contract COVID-19

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth ’ s memoir out in March : We knew she was working on it , now @ @ @ @ @ autobiography from Illinois ' junior senator will be out .
The Associated Press notes : @ @ @ @ @ tell of her life from her childhood in Southeast Asia and Hawaii to her 23 @ @ @ @ @ her time in public service .
She was elected in 2016 to the U.S. Senate @ @ @ @ @ first sitting senator to give birth .
Over the past year , she was mentioned @ @ @ @ @ for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden , who ended up choosing Sen. Kamala Harris of @ @ @

The Tribune’s Gregory Pratt and John Byrne are out with a new story about Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivering a tough message to members of City Council who might vote down her budget proposal: “Don’t come to me for s--- for the next three years,” two aldermen recalled her saying in a recent meeting.
A few hours ago, Lightfoot announced a new “stay home advisory” — not a stay-home order — that will kick in Monday amid an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases. The mayor’s vowing to enforce a gathering cap of no more than 10 people for events such as parties, funerals, weddings and other gatherings.
Advertisement
The mayor acknowledged that restriction-related “fatigue is real” and there may be some who doubt the government, but that the city is at risk of losing 1,000 to the disease. The city’s top public health official, Allison Arwady, says she’s more concerned about the outbreak now thanshe was in the spring as the virus gripped the nation.
Back in early March, Liz Uihlein - who along with husband Dick are North Shore megadonors to President Donald Trump and founders of the packaging empire - complained to the Illinois General Assembly as statewide restrictions on business and schools began. In an email she told lawmakers “(t)he media is overblowing COVID-19” and that government-instituted shutdowns were hurting the economy and “adding unnecessary panic and fear in the American people.”
Advertisement
Yesterday, Liz Uihlein sent a note to staff at Uline packaging to say she and her husband have contracted the virus, according to multiple news reports and confirmed by a spokesman for Liz Uihlein.
And former President Barack Obama’s forthcoming memoir touches on how his presidency triggered the rise of Donald Trump, writing: “For millions of Americans spooked by a Black man in the White House, he promised an elixir for their racial anxiety.”
Welcome to The Spin.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot presides over a virtual meeting of the City Council from her office at City Hall in Chicago on April 22, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune’s Pratt and Byrne write: “As Mayor Lori Lightfoot works behind the scenes to muster the votes she needs to pass her 2021 city budget, she has delivered a message to City Council members: those who vote against her spending plan should not expect their wards to be prioritized, according to aldermen.
“In recent weeks, Lightfoot has held a series of meetings with aldermen during which she’s lobbied for their support on her controversial spending plan, which includes a $94 million property tax increase this year and annual bumps in the future, hundreds of city employee layoffs and a gas tax hike. The mayor’s budget also relies on increased money from fines and fees, including a plan to ticket people caught by electronic speed cameras going 6 mph over the limit,” Pratt and Byrne note.
She’s trying to secure the minimum 26 “yes” votes to approve the budget and ”(a)s part of her efforts, Lightfoot met virtually Wednesday with members of the City Council Black Caucus, where she made waves by telling them that aldermen who don’t support her budget won’t have their wards prioritized, according to six aldermen who were in the meetings.
“Don’t come to me for s--- for the next three years” if you don’t support the budget, two aldermen recalled her saying.
The mayor’s spokeswoman Anel Ruiz didn’t dispute Lightfoot said it. Read the full story here.
Advertisement
State Sen. Jim Oberweis is challenging U.S. Rep Lauren Underwood for Congress. (Armando L. Sanchez and Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
First-term U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood has prevailed over Republican challenger, state senator and dairy magnate Jim Oberweis and won a second term in the west and northwest suburban and exurban 14th Congressional District, The Associated Press declared this afternoon.
As my colleague Alice Yin reported earlier this week, the two candidates' fortunes had been split among the types of ballots cast with Oberweis faring better among those who voted in person on Election Day; he even declared victory initially. But Underwood gained the advantage as vote-by-mail ballots were counted.
In a statement Underwood said she was “honored” to win a “tough” race.
“We face urgent challenges as a community and a country. I remain focused on getting results: protecting our families, ensuring a robust economic recovery, and lowering the cost of health care. Whether you voted for me or not, I pledge to represent every member of this community,” she said, sounding a bit like Democratic presumptive President-elect Joe Biden, who vowed to represent all constituents,” the Tribune’s Rick Pearson reported.
As The Associated Press’ Sophia Tareen noted in her piece, “the district has historically been Republican but flipped two years ago. Underwood, who is Black, was the first woman and first minority to win the congressional seat once held by Republican former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. She ousted four-term Republican Randy Hultgren two years ago in a Democratic wave.”
Oberweis, whose family owns the dairy stores in the region that bear his name, has previously “run unsuccessful bids for the U.S. Senate in 2002, 2004 and 2014. Oberweis also lost a 2006 bid for governor and was unsuccessful in a past bid for the state GOP chairmanship,” Pearson reports.
Advertisement
Newcomer Republican Mike Buehler declares victory in McHenry County Board chairman race, as Jack Franks concedes: My Tribune colleague Robert McCoppin has the details here.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot departs after her budget address Oct. 21, 2020 in Council Chambers at City Hall. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The same day Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he’s mulling a second stay-home order as newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases reach another one-day high, Mayor Lightfoot announced a 30-day “stay home advisory” to cap a new spike in cases. It kicks in at 6 a.m. Monday.
During a webcast news conference, Lightfoot offered a look at what the advisory means in residents' every day lives: “Stay at home unless you must go out for essential reasons, like work or school, medical visits or to get food. No visitors should be in your home, unless they’re essential workers like home health care or education workers, and no visitors includes: family members that do not now today live with you.”
“You must cancel the normal Thanksgiving plans” if they involve people who don’t live in your household, the mayor said. Read more here and read Tribune reporter Gregory Pratt’s piece for more details and the latest statistics. RELATED: Should you get tested for COVID-19 before your Thanksgiving gathering? My Tribune colleagues Lisa Schencker and Hal Dardick talk to the experts.
The state announced a one-day record of 12,702 new COVID-19 cases and during a news conference today Gov. Pritzker said, when asked about whether the state was enroute to a second stay-home order, he said “that seems like where we are heading." More about that here.
Illinois hospitals delay elective surgeries, add beds as COVID-19 cases climb: Lisa Schencker has that story, too.
Advertisement
State data shows sites of potential COVID-19 exposure, outbreaks in Kane and DuPage counties, Sarah Freishtat writes in the Aurora Beacon News.
Jennifer Lindsley loads up several tubes of patient samples to test for COVID-19 in a hospital lab at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago on Oct. 20, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Dispatch from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this morning: “In a Wednesday email to Uline employees obtained by the Journal Sentinel, Liz Uihlein wrote, ‘Dick and I tested positive for COVID. After all these long months, I thought we’d never get it. Well, Trump go (sic) it ... If we had not been around people with COVID, we would not have been tested.’ Read the full story here.
Liz Uihlein, who along with her husband are founders of the packaging behemoth Uline, headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, didn’t return an emailed message. But a spokesman issued a statement: “The email being reported in the media is authentic and was distributed to Uline employees on Nov. 11 on behalf of Liz Uihlein.” While there were some reports that suggested Liz Uihlein had been a guest of the president’s at the White House on election night, where a number of attendees have now tested positive for the virus, her spokesman denies that, stating “Neither Liz nor Dick attended an event on Nov. 3 at the White House. Liz was exposed to COVID-19 by a personal friend and upon learning of that exposure was tested.”
On March 13 — as schools were shuttering and restrictions were kicking in for bars and restaurants but before Gov. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order was announced — Liz Uihlein sent an email to Illinois lawmakers, stating in part: “While you may think the government enforced closing of events, schools, etc. is helping prevent the spread of this infection, you are impacting local, state and national economies and adding unnecessary panic and fear in the American people.” Read the full letter and my March report on it here (Item 3).
The Uihleins and their business were highlighted in a New York Times story headlined “Deniers and Disbelievers: ‘If I get corona, I get corona.’” It featured concerns among Uline staff about working in close quarters as the cases spiked; for their part, the company said it was taking all precautions.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Advertisement
“A Promised Land" is coming out Nov. 17. (Pari Dukovic/AP)
Lots of buzz around former President Barack Obama’s forthcoming two-part 700-plus page autobiography.
CNN reports that Obama “directly confronts the racist politics of President Donald Trump in the first volume of his post-presidency memoir, bluntly suggesting how he believes his historic election in 2008 opened a wave of bitter and divisive turmoil that fueled Republicans' obstructionism and ultimately changed the party.”
Book excerpt via CNN: “It was as if my very presence in the White House had triggered a deep-seated panic, a sense that the natural order had been disrupted,” Obama writes. “Which is exactly what Donald Trump understood when he started peddling assertions that I had not been born in the United States and was thus an illegitimate president. For millions of Americans spooked by a Black man in the White House, he promised an elixir for their racial anxiety.” Read the full story here.
My Tribune colleague Christopher Borrelli offers some more snapshots of the book: “Based on what we know of Obama’s (heavily embargoed) new memoir, it checks many of the boxes expected of presidential autobiography: There’s revelation (having been a grassroots organizer himself, he “could hardly complain” when the grassroots Tea Party entered the scene), anger (when U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” during a speech, Obama was tempted to leave his podium and “smack the guy in the head”), candid assessments (he imagines former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel wished he wasn’t stuck with such an idealistic president), and a hint of humility (he admits to looking overconfident on his chances of remaking health care).” Read the full story here.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s memoir out in March: We knew she was working on it, now we know when the new autobiography from Illinois' junior senator will be out. The Associated Press notes: “The 52-year-old Duckworth will tell of her life from her childhood in Southeast Asia and Hawaii to her 23 years in the Army to her time in public service. She was elected in 2016 to the U.S. Senate, where she became the first sitting senator to give birth. Over the past year, she was mentioned as a possible running mate for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who ended up choosing Sen. Kamala Harris of California.”
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Advertisement
Twitter @byldonovan


Corrections and clarifications

· A front-page story Saturday about how Chicago ’ s 41st Ward voted in the 2020 presidential election said it @ @ @ @ @ Chicago to vote for President Donald Trump , based on unofficial vote tallies .
The @ @ @ @ @ updated the vote count and that is no longer the case .
The ward voted @ @ @ @ @ President Joe Biden 51.16 % to 47.2 % for Trump , according to unofficial vote @ @

· A story in Wednesday’s paper about the Archdiocese of Chicago’s restructuring plan said three parishes would transition to Mass in one parish starting Nov. 28, but failed to say that it would be in 2021.
· A front-page story Saturday about how Chicago’s 41st Ward voted in the 2020 presidential election said it was the only one in Chicago to vote for President Donald Trump, based on unofficial vote tallies. The Chicago Board of Elections subsequently updated the vote count and that is no longer the case. The ward voted in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden 51.16% to 47.2% for Trump, according to unofficial vote totals.
Advertisement
The Tribune regrets the errors.
Publishing information quickly and accurately is a central part of the Chicago Tribune’s news responsibility and a value shared in all our publications. Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards. Everyone in our newsroom must agree to live up to this code of conduct. Download the file.
Advertisement
To report an error, fill out this form.


chicagotribune--2020-11-12--Copernicus Foundation sues to stop sale of former Jefferson Park firehouse, saying city never seriou

Copernicus Foundation sues to stop sale of former Jefferson Park firehouse, saying city never seriously considered its bid

But the president of Ambrosia , Tim Pomaville , said the sale involves much more than $ 1 .
The @ @ @ @ @ for environmental costs that could be at least $ 200,000 .
“ It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ bid , first of all , ” Pomaville said .
“ We have agreed to @ @ @ @ @ environmental liability for this project as it fits right now .
”

Standing in front of a former firehouse in Jefferson Park, representatives of the Copernicus Foundation said Thursday they are suing the city of Chicago after the nonprofit’s offer of $300,000 for the 114-year-old building was rejected in favor of a $1 bid from a developer.
“We really think we should be awarded the fair opportunity for the firehouse,” said Stephen Cioromski, a board member with the Polish cultural organization, which is seeking to halt the deal. “We just want this project to be done how it should be.”
Advertisement
The firehouse at 4841 N. Lipps Ave. was built in 1906 and has been appraised by the city at $208,000. Noted for its “elegant beaux arts detailing,” according to Preservation Chicago, the building has sat vacant since 2012. It is located near the foundation’s Copernicus Center.
People gather outside the old firehouse at 4841 N. Lipps Ave. for a news conference held by the Copernicus Foundation on Nov. 12, 2020, in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
In September, the city reached a tentative deal to sell the property to Ambrosia Homes Development, a Chicago-based company that hopes to open a brewery on the ground floor and add a third story to the stone and brick building. Apartments would be located on the top two floors.
Advertisement
The sale is pending approval by the City Council.
Robert Fioretti, a former alderman and an attorney for the Copernicus Foundation, said the nonprofit group found out “late in the game” about “the sideline deal” without being given an opportunity to submit its proposal. Officials with the group objected to the sale in July, momentarily halting the deal until the foundation could submit its own application, according to the lawsuit.
But the city’s Department of Housing declined the bid and moved forward on the sale to Ambrosia, stating in a letter that Copernicus never showed evidence of its “financial qualifications” or a “timetable for completion of the redevelopment.”
“Why under this day and age anybody would take a $1 bid for this building is beyond me,” Fioretti said.
But the president of Ambrosia, Tim Pomaville, said the sale involves much more than $1. The company has agreed to pay for environmental costs that could be at least $200,000. “It’s not really a $1 bid, first of all,” Pomaville said. “We have agreed to take on all of the environmental liability for this project as it fits right now.”
He estimated the entire cost of the project at about $2 million. “When they say that, ‘Oh, it’s a sweetheart deal’ or whatever it’s like, look, it’s a $2 million project,” Pomaville said. “It’s not just us taking this and tearing it down and making it into a parking lot.”
Copernicus officials said they are also willing to cover environmental costs in addition to the $300,000 buying price.
In its lawsuit, the foundation said the city obstructed its efforts to submit a bid and denied the foundation access to the firehouse to conduct any inspections.
Advertisement
The foundation said it wants to acquire the property to retain the architectural heritage of the Polish community in Jefferson Park. The lawsuit said the group has expressed interest in the firehouse over the last 20 years.
Similar to Ambrosia’s plans, the Copernicus Foundation hoped to open a brewpub on the first floor and four apartments on the second floor. But it is opposed to adding a third floor.
“Most of us are surprised at what we’ve seen in terms of our offer,” Fioretti said. “We’re offering $300,000 for the building, we will do the remediation at our own cost and we’re putting this property back on the tax codes. All three would benefit the citizens of the city of Chicago.”
While he declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, Pomaville said it’s been “widely known” that Ambrosia was working on a project for the property, adding that it’s “surprising to us to have this kind of pushback at this point.”
“They have insinuated that there’s some kind of backroom deal or something,” he said. “It’s not that way at all. We just have the best plan. We’ve been very open on what our plan is, and the city has been working on it literally since 2016 or 2017."
“All of this is kind of silliness when they pretend like they’re a victim or they didn’t know about things,” Pomaville added. “It’s not true.”
Advertisement
Both the Copernicus Foundation and Ambrosia Homes have launched petitions and websites detailing their plans for the property.
A spokesperson for the city’s Law Department declined to comment.
kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KelliSmithNews