chicagotribune--2020-05-01--As coronavirus cancels summer art festivals, ‘the business model for artists imploded’

In hindsight , the delay turned out to be a blessing , because the COVID-19 health crisis forced organizers to @ @ @ @ @ fairs scheduled to take place in the Chicago area in May , June and beyond @ @ @ @ @ money by not creating new shirts , Kelly said she ’ s anxious about what @ @ @ @ @ her income .
Kelly teaches high school art at Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Skokie @ @ @ @ @ % of her income selling her work at art festivals .

Photographer Clifton Henri prepares his artwork for shipment at his studio in Chicago on April 28, 2020. He sells photographs at art festivals, but several scheduled for May and June have been canceled. He organized a flash sale of his work online. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The colorful T-shirts Kathy Kelly designs, each of which bears a comical black cat, have become a popular item at the Midwest art festivals where she sets up shop.
But Kelly, from Jefferson Park, said she couldn’t find the color of fabric she needed for one of this year’s shirts, holding up the project. Kelly designs four new shirts each year.
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In hindsight, the delay turned out to be a blessing, because the COVID-19 health crisis forced organizers to scrap art festivals and street fairs scheduled to take place in the Chicago area in May, June and beyond. But while she saved money by not creating new shirts, Kelly said she’s anxious about what those cancellations will mean for her income. Kelly teaches high school art at Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Skokie, but makes about 70% of her income selling her work at art festivals.
“Nothing compares to this. We’ve never gone through anything like this,” said Kelly, who has been selling T-shirts, calendars and notecards for 30 years.
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For many artisans, their main source of income is selling products at art festivals. Spring and summer festivals filled with vendors selling photographs, jewelry, pottery, clothing, and more attract thousands of visitors during the sunny weather. Several Chicago events were canceled this year including the Old Town Art Fair, Logan Square Arts Festival, the 57th Street Art Fair and Maifest.
Photographer Clifton Henri writes personal notes on his artwork as he prepares them for shipment. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Those canceled shows mean lost revenue that can amount to tens of thousands of dollars for some artisans, many of whom don’t have a large financial cushion. Clifton Henri, a photographer who owns Flypaper, a private gallery in West Beverly, says he expects to lose about $50,000 in revenue he had expected to earn at festivals that are now canceled.
“The arts are fragile,” Henri said. “Right now I should be at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest, which has historically been the best show of the year for me.”
Some artisans are pivoting to sell their work online, but online sales don’t allow them to establish a personal connection with customers that could lead to more sales down the road.
And they worry about the impact the coronavirus will have on art festivals and street fairs going forward. Social distancing guidelines could remain in place for some time, causing additional events to be canceled and attendance to be limited at others. And with millions of Americans claiming unemployment in recent weeks, artisans say shoppers who do come out to festivals may have less money to spend.
It’s not just artists who are worried. Organizations like the Dank Haus German American Cultural Center, in Lincoln Square, fear losing the festivals that can bring thousands of attendees to a neighborhood will affect how they raise money.
Dank Haus sells food and beer at Maifest, a German American celebration put on by the nonprofit Mayfest Chicago. The cancellation of Maifest later this month means Dank Haus will lose out on more than $75,000 it would have brought in from the event. The nonprofit would have put the funds toward its language arts program and the maintenance of its center.
Dank Haus also is losing funds it would have generated by renting out its 93-year-old building for weddings, fundraisers, and other events, said executive director Monica Jirak.
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Jirak said the organization will lose more than $140,000 from mid-March through the end of May, including funds raised from Maifest.
“It’s really only getting worse for us because we do a lot of events,” Jirak said.
The organization has pivoted, teaching online German courses and "trying to be the community cultural center that we are,” Jirak said.
Even as stay-at-home orders are lifted in the coming months, there is uncertainty about when large gatherings will be allowed again.
“Since they are large-scale events, they may not be able to happen for a while,” Frances Kite, a Chicago-area jeweler for 42 years, said of art festivals.
Art festivals are about more than sales for artisans, Kite said. The events also offer cultural elements, like music, tours, and art stations for children.
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Kite, who makes most of her income from art fairs, said she is not currently making new jewelry.
“It’s a shock, and I am concerned about the people who are affected directly by this crisis. It’s hard to be creative at this time, but as time goes on I hope to regain my creativity,” Kite said.
Igor Menaker, 56, a photographer from Grayslake who has been selling prints at art festivals for 12 years, said he remains optimistic even though the canceled shows will hurt his bottom line.
“The business model for artists imploded,” Menaker said.
Menaker said art fairs help artists develop name recognition, which makes it easier to sell their work. Some juried fairs require artists to apply six months in advance, be selected by a jury to participate, and pay a fee.
Menaker said he paid a $650 booth fee to participate in June’s Old Town Art Fair, but he received a full refund after the show was canceled.
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Henri, the West Beverly photographer, said the cancellations are forcing artisans to adapt and depend less on art festivals for income.
“It’s not how I envisioned the year,” he said.
Henri said he has applied for state and federal financial assistance, including a $10,000 grant through the Small Business Administration. If approved, the funds would be used to maintain his studio, pay utilities and keep producing art, Henri said.
Henri and other artists are trying to encourage people to support their work by purchasing online.
“It goes a long way for us because of all of our opportunities were taken away,” Henri said. “If artists can survive these times, it will make us better artists and business owners. It’ll make us stronger at the end of the day.”
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
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chicagotribune--2020-05-01--McCormick Place medical facility to wind down, as COVID-19 growth slows

Though the number of COVID-19 cases in Illinois continues to grow , it has been increasing at a slower rate @ @ @ @ @ April , confirmed cases were doubling every 3.6 days , but as of mid-April , @ @ @ @ @ 8.2 days .
State leaders have said they believe Illinois is reaching the peak of @ @ @ @ @ of growth .

State and city officials are winding down the alternate care facility they set up at McCormick Place, saying the extra space to treat patients is not needed now that the growth of COVID-19 is slowing in Illinois.
McCormick will no longer accept new patients, and after the last of the current patients leaves, officials will take down half of its existing 1,000 beds — those meant for people who are mildly ill. Dr. Nick Turkal, executive director of the McCormick Place alternate care site, declined to say how many patients were at McCormick on Friday.
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Officials plan to keep the other 500 beds standing for the time being, though without staff, Turkal said. Those beds were to accommodate sicker patients.
“We are pleased to report that the curve is flattening, and our local hospitals and health care systems continue to operate with capacity; therefore, the McCormick Place (alternate care facility) will stop operating in its clinical needs testing phase," Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a joint statement Friday.
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“The McCormick Place Alternate Care Facility was originally developed out of an abundance of caution and based on data projections of over 40,000 hospitalizations in matter of weeks," the statement said.
Though the number of COVID-19 cases in Illinois continues to grow, it has been increasing at a slower rate. Around the beginning of April, confirmed cases were doubling every 3.6 days, but as of mid-April, that had stretched to about 8.2 days. State leaders have said they believe Illinois is reaching the peak of the pandemic’s rate of growth.
As of Thursday, Illinois hospitals still had nearly 11,000 beds available out of 32,006 beds total, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. About 904 intensive care unit beds were open out of 3,658 total ICU beds, though some individual hospitals and regions have been running lower on ICU capacity than others.
McCormick began accepting patients about two weeks ago. The last of its current patients is expected to leave in the next week, and the 500 beds for mildly ill patients will be taken down at that point, Turkal said.
“We’ve worked with hospitals, we’ve talked with them on a daily basis, and what we’re finding at this point is there just isn’t adequate demand to keep that low-acuity model open,” Turkal said, saying that McCormick has been like an “insurance policy” for the state.
The facility was originally to include 3,000 beds. The announcement Friday followed news last week that officials planned to scale down the facility to 1,000 beds.
Medical workers hired to staff McCormick are being redeployed elsewhere “where they are needed,” Turkal said, though he declined to say specifically where.
While the last 500 remaining beds will remain available for now, “we’ll have to revisit that in several weeks and see what’s happened in Chicagoland during that time,” Turkal said. The city and state plan to keep those beds standing as they monitor hospital capacity amid plans for Illinois hospitals to restart elective surgeries May 11.
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The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the agency that runs McCormick Place, was authorized to spend up to $13 million on construction of the medical center. It was built by workers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Illinois National Guard and local contractors. The majority of costs related to McCormick Place are being reimbursed by the federal government, city officials have said.
Other facilities in Illinois, including the former Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park and MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island also have been designated as alternate care sites. Pritzker said last week that those sites had not been “turned on yet because it does not appear, at least at the moment, that we need them in the near future.”
A spokesman for the governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on those sites Friday afternoon.
lschencker@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Chicago sees broad reductions in crime and arrests in the wake of COVID-19 sheltering restrictions,

Chicago sees broad reductions in crime and arrests in the wake of COVID-19 sheltering restrictions, though violence problem remains stubborn

The department ’ s arrest tally during the weeks after Pritzker ’ s emergency directive was by far the lowest @ @ @ @ @ for any year going back to at least 2001 , the crime data show .
@ @ @ @ @ when CPD ’ s force of about 13,400 sworn cops is the most the nation @ @ @ @ @ department has had in years , though more than 400 have been sidelined in recent @ @ @ @ @ .

Police work the scene where four people were shot, including a 3-year-old girl on the 8600 block of South Damen Avenue on April 7, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
As overall crime in Chicago plummeted drastically during the first full month that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order was in effect, statistics show total arrests made by Chicago police also took a plunge.
From March 22 to April 23, Chicago police made 1,406 arrests compared with 4,985 during the same period a year earlier, a nearly 72% decline, according to city crime data. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order went into effect at 5 p.m. March 21 as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The drop in arrests comes as the Chicago Police Department announced on Friday that major crime — a combination of homicides, robberies, sexual assaults, felony thefts, burglaries and aggravated batteries — dropped by 30% in April, the first full month under Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.
The department’s arrest tally during the weeks after Pritzker’s emergency directive was by far the lowest for the monthlong time period for any year going back to at least 2001, the crime data shows. This comes at a time when CPD’s force of about 13,400 sworn cops is the most the nation’s second largest police department has had in years, though more than 400 have been sidelined in recent weeks due to the disease.
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Since the COVID-19 threat has taken shape, Chicago police officers have been advised to write a ticket whenever possible for low-level crimes instead of making a physical arrest. Asked about the drop in arrests, CPD spokesman Luis Agostini said officers were still responding to emergency scenes as needed.
“CPD’s ability to provide public safety and response to calls for service, continues while also enforcing the statewide stay-at-home order,” Agostini said.
Chicago police only made 175 drug arrests from March 22 to April 23, compared with 1,388 during the same period in 2019, the data shows.
It’s an extremely sharp drop that could be explained by a couple of different factors, according to law enforcement sources, among them that cops may be limiting their contact with those suspects because of the pandemic. The Cook County state’s attorney’s office also has announced they will not prosecute new narcotics cases while the state crime lab has scaled back on testing confiscated drugs due to COVID-19..
In other crime categories, battery arrests by Chicago police dropped by about 54% from March 22 to April 23. During that time frame, officers made 434 battery arrests, ranging from felony aggravated battery to misdemeanor simple battery, compared with 942 during the year-earlier period, the data shows.
There were only 12 burglary arrests during the monthlong period, down from 41 last year, the data shows. And CPD’s 22 robbery arrests during the stretch were a plunge from 65 last year, the data shows.
The drastic drop in arrests in these cases could also be explained by double-digit drops in reported crime in those crime categories. Experts have agreed that short-term crime drops could be related to people staying in their homes.
Chicago isn’t the only big city hit hard by the pandemic that’s seeing big drops in arrests and total crime. In New York, officers made 60% fewer arrests during a 28-day period through April 26 compared with the same period last year.
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Experts and law enforcement leaders across the country also have warned about possible upticks in domestic crimes and family-related violations the longer people are confined by sheltering restrictions.
Indeed, domestic-related crimes were reported at a higher rate from March 22 to April 23 this year than each of the last four years. About 22% of total reported crime in the monthlong period was considered domestic-related, according to Chicago online crime data.
In each of the previous four years, reported domestic-related crimes comprised about 16% or 17% of total reported crime during the same period, the data shows.
Even with all of the statistical drops, violence still remained a stubborn problem for Chicago police despite the stay-at-home order. During a 28-day period through April 26, the city recorded 192 shootings, 16 more than the same period in 2019, CPD statistics show. And Chicago’s 52 homicides this year during that time frame was only three fewer than last year’s period.
Through April 26, Chicago recorded 149 homicides for the whole year, 14 more than the year-earlier period, amounting to a 10% jump, the statistics show. Total shootings were up by 18% during that period, recording 603 this year and 512 in 2019.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Decision Day 2020: Decorated cars, social media posts and socially distanced celebrations

As scores of decorated cars arrived at Barrington High School around 1 p.m. Friday to pick up the promised signs @ @ @ @ @ that like everything else they had anticipated about their senior year it was not to @ @ @ @ @ signs were not ready for delivery , so the teens were asked to return later @ @ @ @

Natalie D'Ambrogia and her dog, Belle, pop out of the sunroof as she celebrates her decision to go to Indiana University's Kelley School of Business on Decision Day at Barrington High School on May 1, 2020. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Evanston Township High School administrator Beth Arey recalls the years before COVID-19 cast a shadow on spring celebrations, when high school seniors clad in collegiate spirit wear would head to “The Hub” on May 1 for congratulations and cupcakes.
The Hub — a multiuse student learning center — is dark and silent these days, and while Arey laments the disappointing end of high school facing Evanston’s 870 graduating seniors, she said the absence of a traditional college Decision Day this year has a silver lining.
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“Decision Day can be a tricky time in a diverse environment, where you have very bright kids, many who don’t have financial resources," said Arey, the school’s college and curriculum coordinator.
“Some of these students feel like everyone is wondering why they aren’t going to a better college ... it’s one of the reasons we’ve gotten a lot of pushback on Decision Day. But I think there are also those families that are frustrated this week, because it’s another thing their kids are missing out on," Arey said.
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Despite some educators, parents and students questioning the merits of marking Decision Day, many graduating seniors across the region took advantage of the sunshine Friday to celebrate the tradition from the safety of decorated cars, and via tweets and Instagram stories.
At Lane Tech College Prep High School, Decision Day typically involved a massive celebration for seniors, with an afternoon of activities on the football field. Instead, the school on Friday held a virtual Decision Day, with a Zoom call for the entire class of 2020 and social media celebrations including a Twitter competition for the best Decision Day spirit photo.
Officials at Barrington High School said while Friday’s Decision Day celebration would not feature cookies and school banners as in years past, students were invited to decorate their car to reflect their next step, whether it’s college, trade school, a gap year, the military or a career.
The teens, who were asked to wear masks, were also invited to drive over to the high school’s parking lot, where they were to be photographed in their cars and handed a free graduate yard sign.
Natalie D'Ambrogia and her dog, Belle, pop out of the sunroof as she celebrates her decision to go to Indiana University's Kelley School of Business on Decision Day at Barrington High School on May 1, 2020. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
As scores of decorated cars arrived at Barrington High School around 1 p.m. Friday to pick up the promised signs, however, students learned that like everything else they had anticipated about their senior year it was not to be. Officials said the signs were not ready for delivery, so the teens were asked to return later in the afternoon.
“This is not what we expected, but I love our school, and I know they were trying their best for us to celebrate decision day,” said senior DeeDee Broustis, who spent two hours decking out her SUV Friday with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign-themed orange and blue.
“It’s really hard to be a senior right now, but so many people are dying, and people are losing family members. I’m just looking forward to being able to hug my friends again.”
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The annual Decision Day breakfast was canceled at Buffalo Grove High School, but officials transformed the event into a “Pick-up and Drop-off” day for caps and gowns, yard or window signs, honors regalia and items that were left behind in students’ lockers.
While Buffalo Grove graduating seniors were also urged to decorate their cars to reflect their future plans, many of those decisions hinge upon the future trajectory of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Paul Genovese, a postsecondary counselor at the high school.
“I’m fielding calls every day from parents who are very concerned, and many are telling me they’re taking a wait-and-see approach," Genovese said. “For many families, making a decision about college is in a holding pattern right now, because parents are waiting to see if they’ll still be employed.”
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Cook County judge rules against mandating COVID-19 address-sharing to first responders

Fears over being identified as a COVID-19 patient could also harm black residents and people in the country without legal @ @ @ @ @ relations with police , Demacopoulos said .
She said that those qualms could exacerbate the @ @ @ @ @ those communities should people feel discouraged of getting tested out of concern of ending up @ @ @ @

A northwest suburban 911 dispatch system failed in its bid to force Cook County to share addresses of coronavirus patients on Friday after a judge denied a temporary restraining order, citing privacy and discrimination concerns.
The ruling by Cook County Judge Anna Demacopoulos was in response to a lawsuit filed last month by Northwest Central Dispatch System, an Arlington Heights-based consolidation of 911 dispatchers at about a dozen suburban emergency departments.
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The dispatch system sued the county, the Cook County Department of Public Health and its co-administrators, Kiran Joshi and Rachel Rubin, as well as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle over the refusal to release names and addresses of people infected with COVID-19.
Dispatchers wanted that information so “first responders can take adequate precautions” when they run into coronavirus patients, according to the lawsuit.
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Paramedics bring a patient into the emergency department at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago on April 7, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The lawsuit argues that their proposed address-sharing does not violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) because the threat of the public health emergency surrounding the coronavirus qualifies as an exception to the confidentiality rule.
At a hearing Friday, Demacopoulos noted that a list of those with COVID-19 could not be comprehensive enough to ensure first responders’ safety and could cause harm to residents.
“The last thing this court would want to do is give our first responders a false sense of security that could lead to tragedy,” Demacopoulos said.
She also voiced concerns over the privacy concerns of such a list, noting that “once that data is exposed, there is no taking it back.”
Demacopoulos noted the Illinois Department of Public Health’s position, supported by Preckwinkle, that releasing addresses won’t work because there are so many asymptomatic cases and testing gaps, meaning first responders should just always wear personal protective equipment.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul had advised that address-sharing is permissible due to the HIPAA exception, but he did not go so far as to recommend the practice.
The judge did grant the village of Lincolnwood’s motion to intervene and set another hearing for early June.
The lawsuit argues that address-sharing would allow first responders to discern when to use PPE — a benefit mentioned by suburban police chiefs who weighed in via written comments during a Cook County Board meeting last week, citing supply shortages.
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Commissioner Scott Britton had been expected to introduce a resolution recommending the practice. He ended up sending the resolution back to committee pending the dispatch system’s lawsuit.
The county’s Department of Public Health has echoed IDPH’s concerns.
“Having an address isn’t going to make someone safer,” said Hanna Kite, spokeswoman for the CCDPH, in a Friday statement. “We want everyone to be as safe as possible and the best they can do is assume COVID-19 is everywhere and take the proper precautions.”
Demacopoulos said that logistically, the COVID-19 list would be impractical because 911 dispatchers can already cull real-time information on coronavirus symptoms when responding to a call.
A list from the CCDPH would require daily updates on patients who recovered, died, got false-positive results or self-isolated in different locations, she said.
Fears over being identified as a COVID-19 patient could also harm black residents and people in the country without legal permission, who have complicated relations with police, Demacopoulos said. She said that those qualms could exacerbate the virus’s prevalence in those communities should people feel discouraged of getting tested out of concern of ending up on a list.
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Advocacy groups, fretting over the harm that address-sharing would sow on police and community relations, decried the practice last week.
Michael Rabbitt, founding member of the Northwest Side Coalition Against Racism and Hate, said in a written comment during the Cook County Board meeting that identifying coronavirus patients — who in Cook County are disproportionately black — subjects them to prejudice.
“From a harm standpoint, we must view this through the lens of the experiences people of color have had with the police, especially black and brown residents of Cook County,” Rabbitt wrote. “Given the history of systemic racism and shortcomings of police accountability, especially in Chicago, could this increase the risk of harm?”
Demacopoulos encouraged the parties in the lawsuit to find a solution that balances safety and privacy concerns.
“These are extraordinary times we are experiencing,” Demacopoulos said. “Just because the adversarial process results in a rule doesn’t mean the conversation between litigants needs to stop. … Now is the time to work together.”
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 2,457 deaths, 56,055 confirmed cases, 284,688 tests, 25% ICU beds, 65

Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 2,457 deaths, 56,055 confirmed cases, 284,688 tests, 25% ICU beds, 65% ventilators open

As the coronavirus spreads and local , state and national governments work to contain and mitigate the outbreak , the @ @ @ @ @ .

Johns Hopkins University & Medicine tracked coronavirus cases, deaths and test totals from Jan. 22, 2020 through March 10, 2023, but is no longer providing this data. These charts will no longer be updated.
Check the Illinois Department of Public Health for the most up-to-date data for Illinois.
[ Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus ]
Can’t see these charts? Go here.


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--High school Decision Day parade

High school Decision Day parade

The Art Institute Lions and Daley Center Picasso get specially fabricated masks as part of the city 's awareness campaign @ @ @ @ @ .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 7
Natalie D'Ambrogia and her dog, Belle, pop out of the sunroof as she celebrates her decision to go to Indiana University's Kelley School of Business on Decision Day at Barrington High School on May 1, 2020. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

Search below by street address , ZIP code or city , then click on the map to see the number @ @ @ @ @ state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer .

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
Illinois releases the number of positive COVID-19 cases by ZIP code daily. The map below shows the cumulative cases for each area as well as other analysis of the data.
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Tracking daily Illinois coronavirus deaths, cases and tests.
Search below by street address, ZIP code or city, then click on the map to see the number of confirmed and probable cases. The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer.
Data as of June 10.
The map search tool above works best in Chrome or Firefox and may not perform consistently in Internet Explorer.
Note: Because of a coding error this map was displaying the incorrect rates for new cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people — the issue should now be resolved.. The Tribune adjusted the data shown on the map below to focus on new cases, those the state tracked in the last 7 seven days. The totals for the entire pandemic are still available, but in the pop-up after tapping or clicking on a ZIP.


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Mask swiped from one of the lions at Art Institute of Chicago

The lion sculptures and Daley Plaza ’ s Picasso statue were fitted with the masks , emblazoned with the Chicago @ @ @ @ @ , ahead of Gov .
J.B. Pritzker ’ s revised stay-at-home-order that went into effect @ @ @ @ @ people over the age of 2 to wear masks in public places where they can @ @ @ @ @ , as well as in stores and other indoor places .

Mark Witteveen, owner of The Chicago Flyhouse, places a city of Chicago flag mask on one of the lions outside the Art Institute on April 30, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Two people remained at large Friday after stealing an oversize mask from one of the lions at the Art Institute of Chicago, according to police. By midafternoon, the museum had replaced the symbolic face protection, it reported.
The lion sculptures and Daley Plaza’s Picasso statue were fitted with the masks, emblazoned with the Chicago flag, on Thursday morning, ahead of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s revised stay-at-home-order that went into effect Friday. The order requires people over the age of 2 to wear masks in public places where they can’t maintain social distances, as well as in stores and other indoor places.
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A museum security guard told police he saw two males, ages not specified, get out of a black Chevrolet sedan just before 11 p.m. Thursday outside the Art Institute at 111 S. Michigan Ave., according to police. The two climbed the more northerly of the lion statues and cut off the mask.
The two men sped off with it in the four-door sedan, according to police.
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The Art Institute and the company that made the more-than-3-foot-wide custom-fitted masks, Dimension Design of Glenview, worked to replace the missing garment as soon as possible, said museum spokeswoman Kati Murphy.
“Naturally, we are disappointed that the North Lion’s mask was stolen, but we are replacing it — and we look forward to continued partnership with Mayor (Lori) Lightfoot to spread awareness in the city of Chicago,” the museum said in a statement Friday morning.
Indeed, at the fitting of the masks Thursday, an Art Institute executive asked Kelly Winter, who designed and sewed the masks at Dimension, what would happen if a Chicagoan got “feisty” and swiped one of them. It would be quick work to fabricate another, Winter responded.
In 1985, people in separate incidents stole the two Bears helmets worn by the lions during the team’s championship season.
The Chicago Tribune’s Liam Ford contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--We’ve lowered the paywall on this essential coronavirus coverage

As the scope of this pandemic came into focus , I started thinking about people living in assisted-living facilities and @ @ @ @ @ bound to experience .
I ’ ve spoken several times at assisted-living facilities around Chicago @ @ @ @ @ aspects of life for residents is the social interaction and the activities and entertainment the @ @ @ @ @ s largely gone now .
Worse yet , many facilities have had to limit or @ @ @ @ @ seniors stuck alone in their rooms or apartments .
So maybe there ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ at least that aspect of this crisis .
I tossed an idea out on Twitter @ @ @ @ @ the hashtag # PandemicPals , asking for thoughts and advice on how to network with @ @ @ @ @ where there might be seniors facing isolation .
Read more .

As a public service to our readers and community, we have lowered the paywall on some of our most critical stories so everyone can access this important information. We rely on the support of our subscribers to fund our journalism. If you’re not already signed up, we hope you will consider subscribing.
We are updating a daily live blog with the latest developments on the reopening of Chicago and Illinois. This is where you’ll find updates on the number of COVID-19 cases in our area, as well as the most up-to-date recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Public Health, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
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As summer nears, Chicagoans are desperate to get out and about — to have a summer picnic with family, to get back to work, to get a haircut. Here’s how and when you might be able to do those things.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday a five-phase plan to get Illinois reopened as the COVID-19 pandemic slows its toll on health care providers. The plan, from “Rapid Spread” to “Illinois Restored,” splits the state up into regions and allows each region to open a different phase should the impact of the pandemic be different throughout the state. The plan also emphasizes that a region can move backward if the health metrics indicate enough risk. Read more.
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Testing for COVID-19 has greatly expanded in Illinois, with the state announcing more than 10,000 test results a day since April 24. The expansion has allowed the state to open up its guidance for who should be able to get a coronavirus test. The Illinois Department of Public Health is saying that testing is available without a doctor’s order to anyone with coronavirus symptoms or an underlying risk factor. Tests are also provided to people on the front lines of the pandemic, such as medical workers, first responders and employees of prisons or nursing homes. Search the map for coronavirus testing site near you.
All Illinois residents over age 2 must wear a face mask when they can’t maintain a 6-foot social distance in public. Studies show that the coronavirus can spread between people interacting in close proximity, including people who are not showing symptoms. Here’s where you can find them, what kind to get and how to make your own.
Americans are brainstorming with neighbors, posting questions on social media, and googling for tips and advice. The question at the center of all the hand wringing and head scratching: How do you thank the essential workers who remain out in the world, exposing themselves to greater risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, so that we can buy our groceries, receive our mail, travel by public transportation, and get health care if we need it? Here are some creative ideas to inspire you.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 68 (Chicago Tribune)
They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. Many were proud grandparents. Two were sisters from a tight-knit South Side family. All were loved, relatives say, and will be forever missed. As the number of deaths attributable to the coronavirus ticks upward, the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have lost their lives in the Chicago area or who have connections to our region. These are some of those victims.
Hundreds of Chicago restaurants have pivoted their operations to delivery, takeout or curbside pickup after Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that all bars and restaurants in Illinois are closed for dining-in service through April 30. We’re collecting information on restaurants across the area that are still open for delivery or take out. Find a restaurant near you.
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A sign in the windows of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, seen on March 11, 2020, reminds people to wash their hands. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
You wake up with a sore, scratchy throat, and begin coughing and sneezing. It’s probably a run-of-the-mill cold, or it could be the beginning of a bout of seasonal flu. But with dozens of cases of the novel coronavirus surfacing in Illinois, some people are bound to wonder: Could this be the coronavirus? Here’s what experts advise for Illinoisans who fear they are showing signs of coronavirus.
The spread of the coronavirus pandemic has placed an extra burden on Chicagoland nonprofit organizations. Here is an evolving list of where you can make donations to organizations helping those in need.


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--With fewer people on the roads, crashes are down — but some drivers see lack of traffic as excuse to

With fewer people on the roads, crashes are down — but some drivers see lack of traffic as excuse to speed

Chicago ’ s automated cameras show an increase in speeding tickets of 14 % , for the four-week period between @ @ @ @ @ , compared with a similar period last year , with 44,199 tickets .
The tickets @ @ @ @ @ near parks , as enforcement cameras were deactivated at schools — the only other place @ @ @ @ @ when they closed last month , said Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Michael Claffey .

Chicago police and firefighters clean up and investigate after a car accident April 5, 2020, on East 79th Street in Chicago. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Total car crashes have dropped as more people are staying off the roads during the coronavirus pandemic, but state and local officials say some drivers are using the wide-open spaces as an excuse to speed.
In Illinois, crash rates dropped by more than half statewide April 1 through April 26 compared with the same period last year — to 1,608 statewide and to 688 on Cook County non-Tollway roads, according to the Illinois State Police.
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This can be explained by fewer cars on the road, with schools and businesses closed. A national study conducted by INRIX, a provider of travel time information for travelers and shipping companies, found that vehicle miles traveled in Illinois dropped as much as 52% because of the pandemic, with lower travel times on ordinarily jammed expressways like the Eisenhower and Kennedy.
But Chicago has also seen a 14% increase in speeding tickets generated by automated cameras, while Illinois State Police figures show a modest increase in the rate of personal injury crashes in Cook County, which could indicate more reckless driving.
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Crashes that involved personal injuries accounted for almost 18% of all Cook County crashes in April 2020, up from just under 11% in the same month a year earlier.
While state police Sgt. Jacqueline Cepeda could not say for sure that the increased rate of injury crashes in Cook County was linked to speeding, she said that when there is less traffic, there is a “temptation” to step on the gas.
“The Illinois State Police is asking the motoring public to fight the temptation,” Cepeda said. “Slow down and pay attention to the road so first responders don’t have to respond to an accident or stop you for speeding.”
In congested traffic, there tends to be more crashes, but less severe crashes, because of lower speeds, said INRIX transportation analyst Bob Pishue.
Chicago’s automated cameras show an increase in speeding tickets of 14%, for the four-week period between March 22 and April 17, compared with a similar period last year, with 44,199 tickets. The tickets were issued for speeding zones near parks, as enforcement cameras were deactivated at schools — the only other place such cameras are installed — when they closed last month, said Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Michael Claffey.
Though automated cameras are recording more speeders, state police officers are writing far fewer speeding tickets, with the numbers plummeting from 6,846 in April 2019 to 530 in April of this year.
Cepeda said she couldn’t speculate why state police were writing fewer tickets.
DePaul University transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman said that the pandemic has put police departments in a tough position, since they want to respect social distancing, and writing a ticket means close encounters with the public.
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“Only those driving at extreme speeds are likely being issued citations as a result,” Schwieterman said.
He said that when motorists travel at higher speeds than they are used to, they often misjudge the risks. Plus, the pandemic has pushed people out of their routines.
“A sudden stop in traffic can result in deadly rear-end collisions that often involve several vehicles,” Schwieterman said.
This exact scenario was seen on the Kennedy Expressway during the April 15 morning rush hour. About 60 vehicles were involved in a massive pileup on the ice-slickened expressway, with 14 people taken to hospitals. Officials at the scene blamed both the weather and vehicles driving at higher rates of speed.
The National Safety Council, an Itasca-based advocacy group, is studying pandemic-era crash and fatality rates nationwide, and expects to have a report in mid-May, said Ken Kolosh, manager of statistics. He said that around the country, some areas are seeing increases in serious crashes, but others are seeing declines.
Kolosh expects that the country will be in a recession and that historically, recessions tend to result in decreased deaths on the roads. But the total rate of fatalities per miles traveled could depend on who is most affected by the downturn.
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For example, the 2008-2009 recession saw not only a decrease in driving, but a decrease in the number of younger drivers, which increased safety, Kolosh said.
“It took some of our riskiest drivers off the road,” Kolosh said. It’s unclear what the next recession is going to look like. Kolosh said there is “anecdotal information” that those least likely to follow shelter-in-place guidelines tend to be younger people, so there may be more of them on the roads right now.
People need to realize that taking care of each other means not just wearing masks in public places, but driving safely, because emergency rooms are needed for coronavirus patients, Kolosh said.
“You never want to get in a crash, but that crash may not only impact you now but may also burden an already overburdened emergency response system,” Kolosh said. “It’s really important, now more than ever, as a civil duty, to stay safe on the roads.”
mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker and health officials provide update on coronavirus in Illinois

Gov .
J.B. Pritzker and state health officials are scheduled to provide an update on the coronavirus in Illinois at @ @ @ @ @ the latest coronavirus updates here .

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chicagotribune--2020-05-01--R Kelly once again seeks to exit Chicago’s federal jail over COVID-19 threat

Kelly , 53 , whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly , is charged in New York in a racketeering @ @ @ @ @ underage girls attending his concerts and groomed them for later sexual abuse .
He ’ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. District Court in Chicago and four separate indictments in Cook County alleging he sexually @ @ @ @ @ , three of whom were underage at the time .

A courtroom sketch shows defense attorneys Ashley Cohen, from left, and Jennifer Bonjean with singer R. Kelly at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Sept. 14, 2022. (Cheryl Cook / Chicago Tribune)
Will the third time be the charm for R. Kelly?
The indicted singer on Friday once again asked to be released on bond from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, citing a new medical report that his lawyers say shows Kelly is borderline diabetic and has high blood pressure and cholesterol, putting him at serious risk for COVID-19.
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Kelly’s lawyer Steve Greenberg wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in New York that MCC officials withheld Kelly’s medical report from them for nearly a month as the coronavirus was spreading in the high-rise jail.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, there had been 74 confirmed cases of the virus among the 650 inmates at the MCC as of Thursday — a dramatic spike from just a few days ago.
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Donnelly has twice before denied Kelly’s request for bond, agreeing with prosecutors that he is a significant flight risk and would have the potential to tamper with witnesses if he was released. At the time of her most recent decision, the MCC had seen only a handful of COVID-19 cases.
In renewing his request for release on Friday, Kelly’s attorneys cited a medical report completed on March 31. The report, which was attached to the motion for bond, wasn’t turned over to Kelly until Thursday after his arraignment on a superseding indictment in Brooklyn, according to the filing.
“In the current environment, they are not taking any medical action to mitigate any of these conditions,” Greenberg wrote,. “They let a month pass before sharing the results.”
Donnelly gave prosecutors until Monday to respond.
Kelly, 53, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is charged in New York in a racketeering conspiracy indictment alleging he identified underage girls attending his concerts and groomed them for later sexual abuse. He’s also facing charges in U.S. District Court in Chicago and four separate indictments in Cook County alleging he sexually assaulted or abused four women, three of whom were underage at the time.
Additional charges are also pending in Minnesota, alleging Kelly solicited a teenager who asked for his autograph in 2001.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all charges.


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Ravinia cancellation will cost Highland Park $1 million in lost taxes, but mayor says it was correct

Ravinia cancellation will cost Highland Park $1 million in lost taxes, but mayor says it was correct decision

“ In our section of Highland Park , it will definitely hurt , ” he said .
“ I ’ @ @ @ @ @ pizza ( parlor ) and restaurants where people would normally go to eat .
It @ @ @ @ @ them because those 15,000 people won ’ t be showing up on those nights when @ @ @ @ @ draw .
Those dollars are not going to be there .
”

Attendees on the lawn at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park during a concert by Paul Simon on June 18, 2016. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)
The Ravinia Festival’s decision to cancel its 2020 season in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic will cost Highland Park an estimated $1 million in sales tax revenue, plus another $250,000 in contributions to local nonprofit agencies, but Mayor Nancy Rotering said it was still the right call.
“We will certainly miss the vibrancy that Ravinia Festival brings to summertime in Highland Park, but we support their decisive, clear leadership in prioritizing the public’s health,” she said Friday.
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Ravinia President and CEO Welz Kauffman said the organization decided it was too risky to hold concerts at the outdoor venue this summer, and thus would close the park for the first time since the Great Depression. The schedule was to include performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Carrie Underwood, Tony Bennett and many more.
Highland Park has had one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in Lake County, and Rotering has been publicly critical of people flouting the state’s stay-at-home order and social distancing guidelines.
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She said the loss of food and beverage taxes from Ravinia will be a significant jolt to Highland Park’s $86 million budget, but added that it was too soon to say how the shortfall will affect city operations.
“We are in the process of running those numbers and working through at the micro level where we’ll need to take action,” she said. “I don’t have firm answers. … We will be making difficult decisions to preserve the fiscal stability of our community.”
Michael Stroz of the Ravinia Neighbors Association, which represents nearby residents and businesses, said he also agreed with the festival’s decision.
“It’ll be a very different Ravinia neighborhood this summer, but in my opinion it was a prudent and necessary action to take,” he said.
Stroz, who lives a half-mile from the 36-acre park and works there part time as a greeter, said he had been concerned about large crowds gathering for concerts and becoming “a vector” for spreading the virus.
Even so, he said nearby businesses will suffer a blow from the cancellation.
“In our section of Highland Park, it will definitely hurt,” he said. “I’m thinking of the local pizza (parlor) and restaurants where people would normally go to eat. It’s going to devastate them because those 15,000 people won’t be showing up on those nights when there’s a big draw. Those dollars are not going to be there.”
Frank Guagliardo, owner of Piero’s Pizza, said Ravinia’s decision was a disappointment.
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“We’re going to have a lot of lost sales,” he said. "We would have a lot of people who would pick up pizza or other food to go to Ravinia for the night. We would even do quite a few deliveries to the park."
Other restaurateurs said the impact might not be as dire as feared. Cindy Jarvis, general manager of Abigail’s American Bistro, said the parking problems and traffic generated by the most popular concerts can keep regulars away; the restaurant tends to do better with smaller shows.
Likewise, Kris Walker, one of the owners of the Ravinia Brewing Co., said many concertgoers tend to head straight into the park, bypassing nearby restaurants. Like Abigail’s, his establishment so far has been able to stay afloat with delivery and takeout orders.
“I think the biggest thing is just the morale of the broader community,” he said. “Ravinia Festival means summer to most people around here, and not having the opportunity to have that release and special experience over the summer is going to be tough for everyone in the community.”
On social media, a few people took exception to Ravinia’s decision — “When you sit on the lawn, you’re at least 6 feet away from the next blanket,” one man tweeted — but the vast majority appeared to be in support, as saddened as they were.
“I think the cancelling of Ravinia’s concert season is the most difficult for me, at this point,” a woman wrote on Facebook. “Even more disappointing than baseball, maybe. ... So let’s all shelter in place, wear our masks and social distance because I want my Ravinia back.”
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jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JohnKeilman


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Chicago restaurant owners look ahead to reopening with optimism and fear

“ It ’ s an unreal experience , ” said Jason Hammel , chef and owner of Lula Cafe and @ @ @ @ @ “ Not a day goes by that I don ’ t get a text asking @ @ @ @ @ to happen , and where we ’ re going to be .
And I ’ @ @ @ @ @ tier , people who are award winners and have what you might consider to be @ @ @ @ @ city .
They ’ re very concerned ; I can ’ t think how people @ @ @ @ @ have access to information that some of us have , are going to cope .
@

What was initially announced as a two-week restaurant shutdown, in response to the coronavirus, has now lasted seven weeks in Illinois. By the time May 30, the last day of the shutdown (barring further extensions) rolls around, Chicago’s dining rooms will have been dark for 11 straight weeks.
Chicago’s restaurant owners find themselves simultaneously attempting to survive under the present circumstances, while planning for the time when restaurants can welcome the public back inside. And therein lies the problem: No one knows when that future will arrive, or what it will look like when it gets here.
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“It’s an unreal experience,” said Jason Hammel, chef and owner of Lula Cafe and Marisol, both closed. “Not a day goes by that I don’t get a text asking what I think is going to happen, and where we’re going to be. And I’m talking to the top tier, people who are award winners and have what you might consider to be the best restaurants in the city. They’re very concerned; I can’t think how people, who don’t have access to information that some of us have, are going to cope.”
“I think it’s pretty dire,” Hammel said. “Chefs, as a rule, don’t panic. But the pressure has been getting intense.”
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Erich and Katie Wennberg, owners of Maple Tree Inn, opened their restaurant in Homewood (after a fire destoryed the original space) a few weeks before the shutdown. But takeout business has been good, allowing them to keep on most of the staff. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Few experiences have been as intense as that shared by Erich and Katie Wennberg, owners of Maple Tree Inn. A fixture in south suburban Blue Island, Maple Tree Inn was destroyed by fire in 2018. The restaurant limped along in a temporary location nearby until securing a spacious new location in Homewood.
The restaurant reopened to long lines, full dining rooms and packed reservations. For about a month. Then the shutdown order was announced.
“Five weeks later, boom,” said Erich Wennberg. “Fortunately, when Katie and I opened, takeout was part of the concept, so when (the shutdown) happened, we were primed and ready. It’s been very, very good; the only people we had to furlough were the high-school kids — the bussers and food runners. We haven’t laid off anybody else.”
Stephanie Hart, whose Brown Sugar Bakery enjoyed a bustling retail and wholesale business, termed the shutdown “a real sucker punch.”
“My wholesale business with restaurants, not being able to sell at Navy Pier (where Brown Sugar Bakery operated a kiosk), the whole-cake business dropped dramatically,” she said. “I had so many caterer cancellations, because of postponed weddings, it was outrageous.”
“I told another entrepreneur, ‘You have to know the game has stopped. It’s time to rethink how we’re going to play the next quarter, and the score’s going to reset to zero.’”
Hart’s “next quarter” begins next week, when she will reopen her bakery at its original location on 75th Street on the South Side. There will be a limited menu of whole cakes, most aimed at the Mother’s Day audience, via her brownsugarbakerychicago.com website; Hart plans to expand her offerings in the coming weeks.
Chef and owner Stephanie Hart at her Brown Sugar Bakery, on East 75th Street on Chicago's South Side, on April 29, 2020. Hart says that her burgeoning wholesale and retail business dropped dramatically during the shutdown. She plans to reopen in time for Mother's Day for pickup and delivery of cakes, such as her vanilla, cream cheese and caramel cake, foreground, and a spring themed cake. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Hart was one of the recipients of the Illinois Hospitality Emergency Grant fund; the money, she said, went to “technical improvements” and training staffers under new safety procedures.
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“I have to get back to business,” she said, “but I also need to create an environment that’s safe.”
Many restaurants went completely dark when the shutdown was enacted; others transformed into pickup and delivery operations, keeping a few staffers employed while trying to pay at least some bills. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, by contrast, has 20 properties offering carryout and delivery.
“Carryout/delivery is a drop in the bucket for what restaurants need to pay rent and cover overhead,” said president R.J. Melman. “But it makes the bleeding a bit less, and it keeps a lot of people employed.”
Carryout — with no delivery — has worked extremely well for the Alinea Group. Best known for its premium-priced restaurants Alinea and Next, the group pivoted to curbside service in March, supplying prepackaged meals (including heating and serving instructions) at prices ranging from $24.95 to $50 per person. Customers prepay for the meals via the Tock To Go website, drive to the pickup spot at the appointed time (times are staggered, much like restaurant reservations) and pop open their trunk. Expediters place the food in the car. No muss, no fuss, no contact. A recent offering of coq au vin, said co-owner Nick Kokonas, sold 1,200 orders in one day.
“There is a big difference between standard delivery and this ‘new’ type of carryout business,” Kokonas said. “Restaurants are coming up with much higher-quality meals, and I’ve been impressed at the range of unique and delicious offerings so early into this crisis.”
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The demand for higher-quality takeout seems to be substantial. One Off Hospitality, which briefly offered carryout/delivery before closing all its restaurants, will resume carryout service, via its OneOffToGo website, at four restaurants and the Publican Quality Bread retail store, beginning next week. Pacific Standard Time, part of One Off via a joint partnership, will resume its daily Family Meal curbside service, beginning Monday.
Similarly, two previously shuttered Boka Restaurant Group restaurants, Girl & the Goat and Boka, will launch carryout service, via the Tock To Go system, next week.
“We started getting orders as soon as we announced,” said Boka chef Lee Wolen. “Dinners, desserts, bottles of wine, everything’s selling. It’s not like it’s going to be huge money, but when you’re running with a small crew, it’s good money. If it pays the rent and doesn’t put us further behind, it’s not about me making a million dollars.”
As always in the restaurant game, it’s about survival. But as restaurants look forward to the days after the coronavirus crisis, the question remains how many restaurants will remain to see it.
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“That’s the trillion-dollar question, isn’t it?” Melman said. “I think there will be a contraction of locations; you have to believe that’s the big issue going forward. It’s not like we (Lettuce Entertain You) can reopen 130 restaurants on the same day; you just can’t.”
“In reality, I have no idea what any of this is going to look like in three months, or six months, or a year,” said Scott Worsham, co-owner of Bar Biscay and mfk restaurants. “I’m starting to worry that we may be looking back on this time as a quaint idyll, when we’re all burning our furniture to stay warm and cook rats. My guess? Chicago, and every other city whose small businesses do not receive proper aid, will look like a mega mall, with big corporate chains and not a single local business in sight.”
“I’m thinking around 25 percent won’t reopen,” said Phil Mott, former restaurateur and Kendall College professor and occasional consultant. “Some will reopen, optimistically, and will not be able to weather the new operating conditions — fewer seats, reluctant diners, high unemployment — and my guess would be another 10 to 20 percent of those will fail. An industry already fraught with risk is going to be even tougher to succeed at.”
“How can anyone possibly know that?” countered Kokonas. “I think nearly everybody will try to reopen; the trickier part is what happens after you reopen.”
Carrie Nahabedian, pictured in the dining room of Brindille on Jan. 16, 2019, says the restaurant will reopen June 3, with space between tables, one-use menus and “cool-looking masks” for her staffers. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Carrie Nahabedian, chef and co-owner (with cousin Michael Nahabedian) of Brindille restaurant, made the bold move recently of announcing, via Facebook, a reopening date of June 3.
“Our plan is to open Wednesday to Saturday,” she said. “Fortunately, Brindille is pretty spacious already. We’ll remove some tables, or we might have some tables that are just unavailable. It’ll be a very small menu, possibly three courses for under $45.”
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But although Nahabedian said she bought “some cool-looking masks” for her staffers, she knows there’s more to reopening than stylish PPEs.
“Number one, it has to be safe and secure,” she said. “Instead of paper towels in the bathroom, we might go with cloth towels we can sanitize. Single-use menus thrown away at the end of the night. I don’t think guests want to see tables being sprayed and sanitized in the middle of service, so probably when a party is done, we just don’t use that table for the rest of the night.”
“The bottom line is, are the people going to come back?” Nahabedian said. “If there’s not enough business for four days, we’ll do three days. We picked June 3 (to open), but it could be July 3. If we’re not comfortable, if the staff isn’t comfortable, we stay closed and that’s all there is to it. Adapt and survive, or you close; those are your options.”
Among the challenges that reopening restaurants will face:
Occupancy limits and other requirements: Nobody expects the shutdown order to be lifted completely; it will be a gradual transition requiring social distancing and strict customer-count limits. Spacing requirements — say, a 6-foot distance between occupied tables — and occupancy maximums could reduce a restaurant’s seating capacity by at least 50 percent.
“It’s hard enough making money at full capacity,” Melman said. “How does half work?”
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Other requirements, such as new, as-yet-undetermined safety protocols (such as barriers between workers and customers), could saddle restaurants with additional expenses.
Customer acceptance: When will people be comfortable dining amid strangers? Will they support a restaurant seating no more than four tables at a time, staffed by servers wearing surgical masks and disposable nitrile gloves? Will they patronize a bar enforcing 6-foot distancing? Will customers submit to touchless scans checking for elevated temperatures? Will guests spend as they did, previrus?
“It will take a long time for the dining public to get back to prepandemic spending behavior,” Mott said. “It will take a while to get people back to financial security, and people will remain wary of gathering in crowded restaurants.”
Lease terms: Nearly all restaurants lease their spaces, rather than owning the real estate; even deep-pocketed Lettuce Entertain You owns fewer than 5% of its properties. And what a restaurant pays in rent determines how much is left for salaries, product — and how much a restaurant must charge.
“You get a better lease, you can offer better prices,” Kokonas said. “Everybody who signed really high leases aren’t going to make it, unless landlords have the foresight to adjust. Restaurants that are able to renegotiate their leases, or get new ones, will be better able to stay open.”
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Lease terms may determine whether some restaurants even bother to reopen, Melman said. “If their leases are up, you gotta believe some restaurant owners are thinking there’s an easier way to make money,” he said.
Staffing: Generous unemployment benefits make minimum wage unattractive; even $15 an hour might not be sufficient to lure workers back, especially if personal safety remains a concern.
“It’ll be hugely difficult to find talent,” Kokonas said. “People are saying, ‘I can make 80 percent of my money staying home.’ To me, those people are short-sighted. But no way the industry doesn’t shed a bunch of jobs; I bet 20 to 30 percent of restaurant employment goes away.”
“I’m nervous about people leaving the industry, and picking another industry that’s hiring,” Melman said. “I know this from other downturns; in 2009, people who had gone to law school couldn’t get law jobs, and some of them wound up in hospitality. The reverse will be true this time; people in hospitality will find another industry to work in.”
“The restaurant business is a broken system in need of reform,” said Abe Conlon, whose award-winning Fat Rice restaurant recently re-concepted into Super Fat Rice Super Mart, selling meal kits and specialty items. “And the light at the end of this tunnel is the opportunity to redefine what this business is. We need to start empathizing with, and putting a higher value on, food-service workers. We’re operating on the slimmest of margins, and people are still saying, ‘That’s too expensive.’”
“Do I think restaurants will fail?” asked Hammel. “Yeah. Who’s going to be here is the critical question. I’m super-concerned about a massive wipeout of the culture — the taquerias and coffee shops, the corner stores that sell sandwiches, and that little Italian restaurant you like. They’re amazing, and have built reputations over the years, but they don’t have the outreach.
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“And what about Chinatown?” he said. “These independents really create the culture of the city. Even the big guys — I’m talking about Boka and One Off — I consider them 100 percent to be independents, and they make the city what it is. And from One Off to taco trucks, we’re all in the same boat now.”
pvettel@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--May starts with lots of sunshine and warmer temperatures for Chicago

There is a chance for rain beginning Saturday night , largely affecting areas south of the city .
These storms @ @ @ @ @ as severe as the systems that hit the area earlier this week , according to @ @

Warmer weather has finally reached the Chicago area, with temperatures expected to hit the mid-70s this weekend.
But while the calendar has turned to May, April-like showers are not gone for good, with a chance of storms moving into the region Saturday night into Sunday morning.
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Temperatures will begin to rise Friday, with lots of sunshine and winds from the south, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Leatherwood.
“We’re expecting conditions to warm up pretty nicely,” Leatherwood said.
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By Saturday afternoon, Chicagoans could see a high of 78 away from the lake and around 70 along the lakefront.
There is a chance for rain beginning Saturday night, largely affecting areas south of the city. These storms are not expected to be as severe as the systems that hit the area earlier this week, according to meteorologists.
“Not nearly as bad as we’ve had the last couple of days,” Leatherwood said.
Despite the nice weather, Chicago’s lakefront and 606 trails remain closed. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s new executive order, signed Thursday, will allow certain state parks to now reopen.
People can still walk and exercise outside, but as of Friday, everyone over the age of 2 will need to wear a face mask when they can’t maintain a 6-foot social distance in public.
Sunday’s storm could cool things down, with temperatures expected to be in the mid-50s or 60s early next week.
“Still not nearly as bad as what we’ve been having,” Leatherwood said.
For updates on the forecast, check the Tribune’s weather page.


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--‘We can have conversations like everything is normal.’ At a social distance, students gather in Lane

‘We can have conversations like everything is normal.’ At a social distance, students gather in Lane Tech parking lot and talk about the school year they missed

In a grouping of four photos , Lane Tech College Prep seniors Aiden Cloud , 18 , clockwise from top @ @ @ @ @ 18 , Nina Royston , 18 , and junior Adam Neale , 17 , sit @ @ @ @ @ cars while gathered at a social distance in the school 's parking lot on April @ @ @ @ @ Chicago .
The students have met up about twice a week for the past two @ @ @ @ @ , life and their futures amid the COVID-19 pandemic .
( John J. Kim / @ @ @

In a grouping of four photos, Lane Tech College Prep seniors Aiden Cloud, 18, clockwise from top left, Nathan Polizzi, 18, Nina Royston, 18, and junior Adam Neale, 17, sit in the trunks of their cars while gathered at a social distance in the school's parking lot on April 28, 2020, in Chicago. The students have met up about twice a week for the past two weeks to talk about school, life and their futures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Aiden Cloud is happy to be back at school.
In these times, that means sitting in the trunk of his car, in the parking lot of Lane Tech College Prep, socially distanced from classmates in their own cars.
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“It’s a great way to escape for a little bit,” said Cloud, an 18-year-old senior at the North Side school. “We can have conversations like everything is normal.”
Sometimes they bring takeout from nearby favorites, like Pi-Hi, other times they just sit and talk for three or four hours. About missed goodbyes, idled prom dresses, canceled sports, delayed tests and even more stress about getting into college — whatever that will look like.
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With a teachers strike in the fall and a pandemic that hit before spring, students feel they’ve lost out on their senior year. “It’s disappointing,” Cloud said. “In the end, we all understand why.”
These moments in the parking lot help one another keep up morale.
“I feel a lot happier when I can go outside and see people,” said Nina Royston, 18, who joined Cloud and two other friends — Nathan Polizzi, 18, and Adam Neale, 17 — in the parking lot this past week.
Lane Tech College Prep seniors Nina Royston, 18, from left, Nathan Polizzi, 18, and junior Adam Neale, 17, sit in the trunks of their cars while gathered at a social distance in the school's parking lot on April 28, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Cloud sat in the back of his silver minivan with a gray blanket, appearing ready to camp out as long as he could. Royston wore bright yellow aviator glasses and an Indiana University pullover, laughing and drinking Starbucks. Across from her, Polizzi sat cross-legged in a tie-dyed track and field shirt, a scooter leaned against his car. Neale was off to the side with carryout containers at his feet.
Each car was separated by at least 6 feet, still close enough for the teens to hear one another. The rest of the parking lot was empty that day, but Royston said there are often other groups scattered around.
Polizzi said he’s confident he’ll stay in touch with close friends, but he thinks about the classmates he won't see again. “It’s weird that I'll never get to say goodbye,” he said.
Although no official announcements have been made yet, the students expect there’ll be no prom and no in-person graduation ceremony.
“I already have my (prom) dress, and that thing wasn’t cheap,” Royston joked. “I’d like to have pictures of it and I’d like to wear it and I’d like people to see it.”
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Royston said her mother and others are trying to find a way for some sort of informal gathering over the summer. “I don’t think that nothing will happen," Royston said. "Obviously, people have been waiting for this. People paid money for things.”
At Lane Tech, which describes itself as the “school of champions,” athletes will have no spring season of competition.
Cloud, a volleyball player, said he had tryouts and three days of practice. “That was it.”
For Polizzi, missing the spring season could have a real impact on his hopes for college. A member of Lane’s track and field team, Polizzi hopes to run for George Mason University in the fall. He hopes a limited number of summer meets will get him the times he’ll need to qualify.
“Athletically, we had a lot that we wanted to accomplish,” Polizzi said.
Neale, a fellow member of the track team, was hoping for a shot at a state championship. “We had a really good team,” Neale said. “We were really excited for that.”
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As a junior, Neale will have another chance to compete, but he has other worries: applying to colleges. ACT and SAT exams have been delayed until the fall.
“CPS made it so your teachers can’t really lower your grades right now, and it does help relieve the stress,” Neale said. “It relieves the feeling that the world’s falling apart right now.”
May 1 is usually the deadline to select a college and typically a day of celebration. Cloud, Royston and Polizzi have all committed to colleges, but will miss out on traditional “decision day” celebrations.
As a new way to honor students, Lane has created an Instagram page where seniors can submit pictures along with their future school and major. The principal also told them there will be a montage video made for the class.
“At least it’s something,” said Royston.
While Polizzi will attend George Mason University in Virginia, Cloud has committed to Michigan State University and Royston to Indiana University. But all three wonder what classes will be like there in the fall.
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Royston is a classical singer and doesn’t know how those classes would be done online.
“It's really hard to have voice lessons over Zoom,” Royston said. “Especially if I have a new teacher I don't even know yet.”
Until then, she has her friends.


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Stephanie Izard shifts to meal kits and grocery options with Girl and the Goat-ceries

The Goat-cery options feature an eclectic assortment of pantry goods , such as picked veggies , kimchi , eggs , @ @ @ @ @ a few more .
Guests can also pick up a variety of ready-to-bake goods from @ @ @ @ @ , as well as freshly baked bread and bagels with spreads .
Cocktail mixers are @ @ @

Chicago bars and restaurants continue to adapt the ways in which they’re serving guests during the pandemic shutdown, and this week, Girl and the Goat became the latest spot to make a switch.
Chef Stephanie Izard’s well-known group of Goat restaurants (Girl & the Goat, Little Goat Diner, Duck Duck Goat, Cabra) has transformed into Girl and the Goat-ceries, offering meal kits and grocery items for guests to pick up curbside.
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The meal kits are available in weekday and weekend packages. Weekday kits are designed to feed two and include one multi-course meal, with enough for leftovers. Weekend kits also feed two, and include four multi-course meals for the whole weekend.
[ Chicago restaurants pivot to offer groceries — get your lunch, some flour and TP in one spot ]
The menus will rotate weekly, so check Girl and Goat’s website and social media accounts for updates.
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The Goat-cery options feature an eclectic assortment of pantry goods, such as picked veggies, kimchi, eggs, tzatziki, ice cream and a few more. Guests can also pick up a variety of ready-to-bake goods from Little Goat’s bakery, as well as freshly baked bread and bagels with spreads. Cocktail mixers are also available.
Alcohol can be purchased separately. All items can be picked up at Little Goat Diner.
Meal kits for next week are live online to preorder and can be picked up Tuesday through Thursday. Weekend meal kits will launch Monday to preorder online and pick up Friday.
820 W. Randolph St., 312-600-9601, girlandthegoatceries.com


Reopen Illinois Rally


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Bobbleheads of Lightfoot, Pritzker coming soon as coronavirus collectibles

It can take several weeks to arrive at a finished doll design from the factory he uses in China , @ @ @ @ @ begins with him sending a rendering , like the one with this article , of @ @ @ @ @ to look , along with a batch of other photos of the personality in question @

Depending on how you look at a bobblehead, it can be nodding “yes,” like a governor asked if he wants more PPE, or shaking “no,” like a mayor urging people to stay off her city’s lakefront.
The images come to mind because Illinois’ most prominent officials in the effort to combat the coronavirus, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, are being memorialized in the mysteriously enduring kitsch format of plastic doll bearing an oversized, spring-mounted noggin.
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The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, a Milwaukee storefront operation, announced Friday it is commemorating the two leaders from the state to its immediate south, with a portion of the proceeds going to fight COVID-19 charities.
A National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum "rendering" of what it wants J.B. Pritzker and Lori Lightfoot dolls to look like, once the models are made and the dolls produced. (National Bobblehead Hall of Fame / HANDOUT)
The $25 Lightfoot and Pritzker dolls (plus $8 shipping) can be ordered now for an expected mid-July arrival; $5 from each sale goes to the Protect the Heroes fund in support of the 100 Million Mask Challenge, efforts supplying front-line healthcare workers with needed personal protective equipment.
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“I think it’s something to take your mind off all the other craziness going on,” said Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the 4,000-square-foot business in the Walker’s Point neighborhood. “We see these people daily during the news and press briefings, and a lot of people have really been drawn to them in one way or another.”
The museum had a hit in early April with its likeness of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s medical point person in fighting the virus. With more than 30,000 Fauci dolls sold, it has become the museum’s best-selling bobblehead ever, Sklar said.
Completed models of the Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx bobbleheads being sold by Milwaukee's National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. (National Bobblehead Hall of Fame)
The hall of fame and museum, which honors and sells the dolls first developed in the 1960s, has since expanded into the state-official realm. Last week it put four state governor bobbleheads on sale and into the beginning of the production cycle, with the most popular being New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.
This week brings the announcement that Pritzker and other prominent governors will join the group of “Bobbleheads with a Cause,” as Sklar calls them.
Adding Lightfoot, his first mayor, was a decision he based on the number of bobblehead requests the museum has received for her image, he said.
“Chicagoans and people wanted to see a bobblehead of her so we said, ‘Sure,’” said Sklar.
[ GALLERY: Cuomo, Pritzker and other governors join Dr. Fauci in topical bobblehead lineup ]
The mayor’s and governor’s spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the prospect of miniature plastic versions of the officials in a format most typically used for sports stars in pregame giveaways.
It can take several weeks to arrive at a finished doll design from the factory he uses in China, said Sklar. The process begins with him sending a rendering, like the one with this article, of how he wants the bobblehead to look, along with a batch of other photos of the personality in question.
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The factory will show him a proposed mold, he said, and then he’ll suggest tweaks. The Fauci doll, for instance, “went through four or five revisions to get his face and pose how we wanted,” he said.
The dolls get cheaper to make the more you order, but a run of 1,000 would cost his for-profit business about $10 apiece, he said.
The Bobbleheads with a Cause line has sold well enough that he’s been able to contribute more than $185,000 to the PPE charities, according to Sklar, with the Fauci doll leading the way by far.
Chicago bobbleheads have been good to the museum. The doll Fauci supplanted to become the all-time top seller was one of Loyola basketball team chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt.
This story has been updated to correct the name of the current New York governor.
sajohnson@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @StevenKJohnson


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--After rural church files federal lawsuit, ‘free exercise of religion’ is a permitted essential activ

After rural church files federal lawsuit, ‘free exercise of religion’ is a permitted essential activity under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s modified stay-at-home order

During his daily press briefing on April 15 , the governor said that even with drive-up services `` people end @ @ @ @ @ each other opening their windows .
It ’ s as if they ’ re sitting @ @ @ @ @ each other .
And so it turns out that that is one way to spread @ @ @ @ @ avoid that .
”

Dozens pray for churches to reopen outside Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on May 1, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
On the same day a northwest Illinois church filed a federal lawsuit accusing Gov. J.B. Pritzker of religious discrimination, the governor’s office released a modified stay-at-home order that expressly allows Illinois residents to leave their homes “to engage in the free exercise of religion.”
According to the executive order signed Thursday, religious practice is now considered a permitted essential activity “provided that such exercise must comply with Social Distancing Requirements and the limit on gatherings of more than ten people in keeping with CDC guidelines for the protection of public health.”
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks April 19, 2020, at the Thompson Center. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The governor’s order encourages religious communities to worship via online or drive-in services in order to follow these rules.
“The goal of the new stay at home order is to continue protecting the health and safety of all Illinoisans, while working with medical experts to ensure people throughout the State can continue to participate in worship services,” Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in a statement Friday.
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The governor’s initial order, which took effect March 21, did not list religious services as an essential activity.
While most Illinois churches will still be prohibited from holding standard services because of their size, the governor’s support of drive-in services marks a departure from his previous concerns about the car-bound format.
During his daily news briefing on April 15, the governor said that even with drive-up services, "people end up parking very close to each other opening their windows. It’s as if they’re sitting in pews very near to each other. And so it turns out that that is one way to spread COVID-19, and we want to avoid that.”
The Beloved Church, a roughly 80-person congregation in the town of Lena that filed the federal complaint Thursday, has announced it will still move forward with its lawsuit. The evangelical church and its pastor, Stephen Cassell, are being represented by the Thomas More Society, a conservative public interest law firm in Chicago.
“It was offensive to call churches and religious practice nonessential, and so we’ve, at the very least, reversed that. And that is a big win,” said Peter Breen, one of the lead attorneys representing the Beloved Church. The church and its attorneys did not receive advance notice from the governor’s office about the added religious freedom language before the extended stay-at-home order was released, he said.
Breen is running as the Republican nominee for state representative in the west suburban 48th District. He previously held the seat until losing in 2018 to Democratic Rep. Terra Costa Howard, who is seeking reelection.
Tribune reporter Dan Petrella contributed.
aayres-brown@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Off-duty firefighter shot while cutting lawn and talking to neighbors on Far South Side returned fir

Off-duty firefighter shot while cutting lawn and talking to neighbors on Far South Side returned fire in self defense, police say

About 6:45 p.m. an assailant ran past the fireman and several of his friends who about talking near an alley @ @ @ @ @ times at them near the 9900 block of South Yale Avenue in the Fernwood neighborhood @ @ @ @ @ .

Chicago police process a crime scene in the 9900 block of S. Yale Avenue in Chicago where there was a reported shooting on April 30, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
An off-duty Chicago firefighter who was shot several times while chatting with friends and cutting the lawn on the Far South Side Thursday night fired back at the assailant in self-defense, officials said.
The firefighter, 54, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was stabilized and where his family was gathered at his bedside Thursday night, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
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“He had multiple gunshot wounds to his lower extremities," Langford said.
About 6:45 p.m. an assailant ran past the fireman and several of his friends who about talking near an alley or gangway and fired thirteen times at them near the 9900 block of South Yale Avenue in the Fernwood neighborhood, Langford and police said.
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After bullets ripped through the fireman’s ankle, buttocks and right leg, he returned fire in self-defense, but didn’t hit anyone, police said. He was not the intended target.
Patrol officers from the 22nd District who rushed to the scene spotted a suspect and gave chase on foot, eventually taking a 25-year-old man into custody.
Officers retrieved the alleged gunman’s coat and gun in a garbage can near the shooting scene.
The fireman, who holds a valid concealed and carry license, had been cutting the grass around the time of the shooting, Langford said.
He been with the department since 1994 and is assigned to a South Side firehouse, Langford said.
Police have not announced charges as of Friday afternoon.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--One Illinois hog slaughterhouse to reopen this weekend, but St. Charles meat plant remains closed af

One Illinois hog slaughterhouse to reopen this weekend, but St. Charles meat plant remains closed after worker’s COVID-19 death

Limited operations have been underway at the plant since Wednesday to package and ship pork that was in production at @ @ @ @ @ order , but the facility is not accepting any new raw food , the county @ @ @ @ @ fully reopen the plant , which employs 325 people , Smithfield must submit to the @ @ @ @ @ infectious disease in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and @ @ @ @ @ Health .

Smithfield Foods plans to reopen its large hog slaughterhouse in Monmouth, Illinois, on Saturday after a weeklong shutdown due to cases of COVID-19 among workers.
The facility, which employs 1,700 people and accounts for 3% of U.S. pork products, was among three Illinois pork processing plants that closed last week. The company had previously said a “small portion” of its Monmouth employees had tested positive for COVID-19.
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On Friday, it did not provide any details about the decision to reopen.
The company’s meat processing plant in St. Charles remains closed a week after the Kane County Health Department ordered its temporary shutdown. The county on Friday said a worker at the plant died.
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“We are saddened to learn of the death of a worker from the Smithfield plant in St. Charles,” Barbara Jeffers, executive director of the health department, said Friday in a news release. “The Kane County Health Department extends our condolences to the family. We are continuing our investigation at the facility to assure worker safety when the plant re-opens.”
Limited operations have been underway at the plant since Wednesday to package and ship pork that was in production at the time of the closure order, but the facility is not accepting any new raw food, the county said. Before it can fully reopen the plant, which employs 325 people, Smithfield must submit to the county a plan to control infectious disease in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Smithfield, the world’s largest pork producer, has agreed to pay to have employees at the facility tested for COVID-19, the county said.
Smithfield has said masks are stocked and in use at each of its facilities around the country. It also has implemented thermal scanning companywide and installed clear plastic and other physical barriers on production floors and in break rooms. Employees are instructed not to report to work if they are sick and are paid while absent, the company said.
In Rochelle, Hormel’s Rochelle Foods plant, which makes bacon and deli meat, remains closed after being ordered shut by the Ogle County Health Department. The company had planned to reopen the facility, where 800 people work, on Monday, though it didn’t immediately respond to a request for an update Friday.
More than 20 meat processing plants have closed in the past two months as workers fell ill with COVID-19 and at least 20 workers have died, according to a union that represents 250,000 meatpacking workers. Social distancing protocols are difficult to enforce on production lines where many work elbow to elbow.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to keep meat processing plants open because of worries that their closures would hurt the food supply, raising concern from unions and labor advocates that worker safety would be jeopardized. Farmers facing dwindling markets warned they’d have to destroy livestock and retailers were starting to see higher meat prices and limited selection.


chicagotribune--2020-05-01--Cinco de Mayo at home: Where to order festive meal kits and margaritas for delivery or pickup

Cinco de Mayo ( the 5th of May ) celebrations will have to take place at home this year , @ @ @ @ @ through the end of the month .
But several area restaurants are offering to deliver @ @ @ @ @ or for pickup ) , with taco dinners , whole roasted chicken in mole and @ @ @ @ @ There ’ s even a virtual cooking class Tuesday , if you want to make @ @ @ @ @ of the specials below require ordering ahead , so step up quickly .

Cinco de Mayo (the 5th of May) celebrations will have to take place at home this year, with restaurant dining rooms closed through the end of the month. But several area restaurants are offering to deliver fiestas to your door (or for pickup), with taco dinners, whole roasted chicken in mole and plenty of margarita kits. There’s even a virtual cooking class Tuesday, if you want to make tacos at home. Most of the specials below require ordering ahead, so step up quickly.
Antique Taco: Calling it “Cinco & Social (Distance)” maybe takes the edge off stay-at-home celebrations? Regardless, Antique Taco offers an All In taco kit ($60): a large bag of chips, a pint of guacamole and a pint of salsa; taco salad or creamed elote; and a DIY taco bar — pick 2 fillings from chicken, beef, pork, potato, shrimp ($6 more) or steak ($6 more); with cilantro, red onion, queso and tortillas. Makes 10 tacos. Or choose the happy hour package ($55): chips, a pint of guacamole and a pint of salsa, plus a rosemary margarita kit (32 ounces; makes 4-5 drinks). Must preorder. Wicker Park location only; delivery and pickup. 1360 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-687-8697, antiquetaco.com/cincopreorder
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BLVD: Carnitas enchiladas verdes meal kit ($25 per person) includes three corn tortillas stuffed with braised pork and topped with tomatillo salsa verde, queso anejo and Mexican crema; rice and beans; a side salad; chips and salsa; and flan de coco for dessert. Tecate cans and Mexican Squirt bottles (for making your own Paloma, perhaps?) go for $3 each. Available for delivery May 5 only. 817 W. Lake St., 312-526-3116, blvdchicago.com
Bodega Biscay: The margarita kit at the restaurant-turned-bodega is kinda upscale, with Tromba Tequila Blanco (1 liter, which is generous), Pierre Ferrand Dry (750 ml), cold press lime juice, sugar (for DIY simple syrup) and limes ($74.50). Also stocked: Bottles of mezcal, more tequilas, lemon and lime juice. Pickup and delivery. 1450 W. Chicago Ave., 312-455-8900, barbiscay.com
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The Chopping Block: Chicago’s biggest cooking school just launched virtual classes. For Cinco de Mayo, they’re making tacos. Watch chef Sara Salzinski demo roasted salmon tacos with sweet corn and cilantro salsa, plus guacamole and chips. The interactive class (taught on the teleconferencing app Zoom) allows students to ask questions. Chef’s Warehouse, the restaurant supply company that now sells retail too, provides ingredients for the class. 12 p.m. Tuesday, $10. thechoppingblock.com
Dos Urban Cantina: Choose between two dinners. Chipotle chicken tacos ($45) with tomato chipotle salsa, black beans, onion and cilantro, pickled chiles, cheese and tortillas. Or tamal azteca (aka Mexican lasagna, $40), which features tortillas layered with black beans, vegetables, roasted tomato salsa and chihuahua cheese. Both come with a side of roasted zucchini and corn, and your choice of pastry chef Jennifer Jones’ famed chocolate cake or tres leches. Each dinner feeds four. In a partnership with Bang Bang Pie Co., a margarita pie, flavored with a splash of tequila, is also available ($35). Offered Friday through Tuesday. Order via phone at 773-661-6452, email info@dosurbancantina.com, or send a direct message to the Instagram account. 2829 W. Armitage Ave., dosurbancantina.com
Enchiladas rojas and so much more from Etta for Cinco de Mayo. (Etta / HANDOUT)
Etta: Two family meals dubbed fiesta en casa, plus a margartia kit. Fiesta 1: chips and guacamole, wood fired short rib barbacoa picnic with tortillas and all the fixings, rice, fire-grilled refried beans, arugula and avocado salad, and cinnamon tres leches ($45). Fiesta ll: Everything in Fiesta I, plus: guajillo braised enchiladas rojas, shrimp and avocado ceviche tostada, and elotes with crispy pork belly added ($65). The margarita kit ($45) comprises Maestro Dobel, Cointreau and lime juice. Party favors — umbrellas and sombrero bendy straws — available. Order ahead for pickup Tuesday. 1840 W. North Ave., 312-757-4444, ettarestaurant.com/menus/#cinco-de-mayo
Federales: The Fulton Market taco joint reopens Friday, just in time for Cinco de Mayo. Order a 10-pack of tacos ($50) with your choice of two proteins, a side of rice and beans, and a 6-pack of beer. The margarita kit ($115) features tequila, Cointreau, lemon juice, lime juice and agave syrup — enough supplies to make 17 margaritas. Federales also offers beer, seltzer, wine and spirits, including several tequilas, like Avion, Casamigos, Don Julio and Patron. Pickup and delivery. 180 N. Morgan St., 773-831-9696, federaleschicago.com
Foxtrot: The modern convenience store chain offers a margarita kit ($52) with a bottle of Banhez Mezcal, Combier Triple Sec and a lime. (You may need more limes, eh?) Delivery or pickup. Multiple locations. foxtrotco.com
Frontera: A taco party for four ($60) features wood-grilled steak, chicken, duck and pork carnitas, along with all the accompaniments: guacamole, roasted poblano rajas, black beans, classic rice, grilled knob onions, two salsas and handmade heirloom corn tortillas. Add a margarita kit ($60 to $80), which includes tequila or mezcal, limonada mix or aqua de jamiaca, garnishes. Makes 8. Dessert? Chocolate-pecan pie ($56.25). Pickup or delivery. 445 N. Clark St., 312-661-1434, rickbayless.com/restaurants/frontera-grill
La Josie: The family-owned Mexican restaurant and mezcal bar re-opens for carry-out service just in time for Cinco de Mayo. And La Josie will donate more than 80 meals at both lunch and dinner to healthcare workers in the COVID-19 intensive care units at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Tuesday. Choose Cinco specials like Parrillada: grilled skirt steak, chicken breast, house-made chorizo, grilled veggies, rajas poblanas, rice and beans, and tortillas ($49); pollo al horno, whole roasted chicken ($29); tacos, tortas and more. Pickup. 740 W. Randolph St., 312-929-2900, lajosie.com
Old Pueblo Cantina: Deluxe taco kit with take-and-bake chorizo queso fundido, queso enchiladas (choice of adobo chicken, skirt steak red chile shrimp, al pastor, ground beef), Mexican rice, refried beans, roasted vegetables, chips and salsa, guacamole, toppings and homemade flour tortillas ($94.95, feeds 4-6). Regular menu also available, including margarita pitchers (classic, skinny, spicy or passion fruit; $39.95). Curbside pickup or delivery. 773-697-3727, 1200 W. Webster Ave., oldpueblochicago.com
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Anselmo Ramirez’s chicken mole is the star of a Cinco de Mayo popup at Prairie Grass Cafe. (Cindy Kurman / HANDOUT)
Prairie Grass Cafe: Chef Anselmo Ramirez, former chef of the now-closed Ixcateco Grill in Albany Park where he was dubbed Rembrandt of Mole, pops up at Prairie Grass Cafe for Cinco de Mayo, making his whole roasted chicken with black mole ($60, 2 servings). Meal includes a farmer salad (greens, oranges, jicama, cucumber, radishes), mashed potatoes, green beans and caramel flan. Add margarita mix ($16/quart or $8/pint). Order by 7 p.m. Monday for pickup 4-7 p.m. Tuesday. 601 Skokie Blvd., Northbrook, 847-205-4433, prairiegrasscafe.com
Tallboy Taco: A Cinco de Mayo kit ($89.95) combines Tallboy’s taco kit (feeds four with protein choice, tortillas, toppings, rice, corn fundido, and guacamole and chips) and margarita kit (a bottle of tequila, triple sec, limes and simple syrup — recipe included). Or order the DIY guacamole kit: mashed avocado, plus toppings like pineapple, pickled onions, pico de gallo, charred corn, cotija cheese, and red and green salsa; served with house-made tortilla chips ($35). Pickup and delivery. 312-488-4917, 620 N. State St. tallboytaco.com
Tuman’s Tap & Grill: Specials include skirt steak taco dinner ($12), three tacos with rice, beans and salsa roja, and a steak burrito ($9). Curbside pickup, carryout or delivery. $2 Tecate cans, carryout only. 2159 W. Chicago Ave., 773-782-1400 tumanstapandgrill.com