chicagotribune--2020-10-08--Strong or shaky? Black voter turnout for Biden in these 3 Midwestern cities viewed as key in race vs

Strong or shaky? Black voter turnout for Biden in these 3 Midwestern cities viewed as key in race vs. Trump

“ I ’ m going to keep it real with y ’ all .
We vote for a system that @ @ @ @ @ in the same f -- -- -- position .
Until this whole system comes down @ @ @ @ @ for nothing , '' Jackson said to applause .
“ A lot of people died @ @ @ @ @ vote , but we need to get something for our f -- -- -- vote @ @ @ @ @ for the hell of it . ''

Kathie Walker, second from left, leads an effort Sept. 26, 2020, to encourage people to vote in the 53218 ZIP code in Milwaukee. (Mark Hertzberg/for The Chicago Tribune)
DETROIT — When Democrats lost the presidency to Donald Trump four years ago, their biggest vote drop-offs were centered on a trio of Midwestern Rust Belt cities with large Black populations — Detroit, Milwaukee and Cleveland.
This year, all three anchor battleground states that Democratic nominee Joe Biden hopes to reclaim for his party, and recent polls show him in the lead.
Advertisement
But in 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton led some of the same October polls in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio only to lose them all, thanks largely to blue-collar white voters turning to Trump and some African Americans turning away from the election altogether.
Biden has tried to win back non-college educated white voters, and his candidacy has been buoyed by a shift in support from seniors and suburban women who historically have voted for Republicans. But Biden’s campaign and top party officials in all three states point to rebuilding Black voter turnout — a bedrock of Democratic victories for decades — as key to shoring up the Midwestern battlegrounds the party lost four years ago.
Advertisement
[ Trump vs. Biden: Track the race for president in key battleground states ]
So far, party leaders and Biden’s African American surrogates in the three cities are projecting confidence that their voter outreach efforts will deliver — despite much of it being relegated to the virtual realm amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The work, they said, only has been energized by Biden’s running mate selection of California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American named to a major presidential ticket.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris speaks as the Rev. Wendell Anthony, left, and Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist listen at Headliners Barbershop in Detroit on Sept. 22, 2020. (Paul Sancya / AP)
“The Trump presidency was a theory in 2016, and the deadly nature of the Trump presidency is a reality in 2020,” said Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, a Detroit native and top Biden surrogate. “In our Black communities, we realize how urgent this moment is and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris know how urgent this moment is, and that’s why they’ve been speaking with such moral clarity about what the stakes are, and I think that’s ultimately going to be what drives that turnout up.”
But interviews with more than 60 Black local elected officials, religious leaders, grassroots organizers and voters in visits to all three cities reflect a shakier situation — one where there is often little enthusiasm among African American voters for Biden and prevalent concerns that the campaign has to do more to improve turnout.
The dozens of interviews found Black voters driven most, not by Biden’s candidacy, but by an animus for Trump and concerns over systemic racism and police brutality laid bare by the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville and the shooting that left Jacob Blake paralyzed in Kenosha.
[ Campaign trail tracker: Where Trump, Biden and their running mates have traveled in presidential race’s final weeks ]
Many voters had little familiarity with Biden or his campaign platform. Some who did expressed concerns about his record on criminal justice and his comments this year that painted Black voters as a monolithic bloc that should back him without question, for which he later apologized.
Detroit City Council member Mary Sheffield said “there is a disconnect” between the Biden campaign’s optimism on Black turnout and the “lack of excitement, lack of enthusiasm” she’s seeing in her ward on the city’s East Side.
“A lot of people have had their eyes opened to the importance of voting, with the death of George Floyd and the civil unrest, but they don’t believe Joe Biden would be the person who would really do anything different," she said. "A lot of voters I talk to — the younger ones especially — aren’t just going to go out and vote for Biden because he says, ‘If you’re Black, you vote for me.’ ”
Taken for granted
Among the more than 3,000 counties nationwide, the three with the largest drop in Democratic votes between Barack Obama’s reelection win in 2012 and Clinton’s 2016 loss were Wayne County, Michigan (home to Detroit), Cuyahoga County, Ohio (home to Cleveland) and Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, according to certified election results compiled by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All three counties include the largest Black populations in their states.
Advertisement
In Wayne County, Clinton collected 76,000 fewer votes than Obama did, with 47,000 of those votes coming in Detroit, which is 80% Black. She lost the entire state of Michigan by just 10,704 votes.
In Cuyahoga County, Clinton collected about 49,000 fewer votes than Obama, which contributed to a 10% drop in Black turnout statewide. The drop cost Clinton two points in a race she lost by eight, but polls have shown a tighter race in 2020.
In Milwaukee County, home to 70% of Wisconsin’s Black population, Clinton won 43,000 fewer votes than Obama, part of a staggering 19% drop in African American turnout statewide. Clinton lost Wisconsin by just 22,748 votes.
Cleveland City Councilman Basheer Jones worked as a regional field director in his city for Obama’s 2012 campaign and as a consultant for Clinton’s 2016 campaign, organizing events to engage Black voters. He described Obama’s campaign as a “well-oiled machine” that sent “waves of people who never considered voting” to the polls while “Hillary Clinton took that vote for granted."
A mural on Cleveland’s predominantly Black East Side shown Sept. 19, 2020, encourages residents to vote in the Nov. 3 election. (Bill Ruthhart / Chicago Tribune)
“They just believed there was no way Black people would support Donald Trump,” said Jones, the first Muslim elected to Cleveland’s council who represents a ward on the city’s predominantly Black East Side. “But they never made the case on why we needed to support Hillary Clinton. There wasn’t a sense of urgency.”
Jones said he’s seeing slightly more energy around this election — mostly because of deep opposition to Trump.
Advertisement
“I’m not seeing a lot of excitement on the ground here in Cleveland for Joe Biden, unfortunately,” Jones said. “So, at least if you’re not pro-Biden, I’m hoping you’re anti-Trump and that will be enough to bring you out, but I’m just not sure.”
The pandemic has complicated the Biden campaign’s efforts.
From March until late August, the former vice president canceled campaign travel. Plans for campaign offices, phone banks and door-knocking were shelved in favor of virtual events.
The result has been often low visibility in Black communities where a physical presence in church congregations, corner campaign offices and knocking on doors historically have been viewed as key in connecting with voters who may be harder to reach.
“If you want this community to support you, you need to touch down in a lot of ways in this community," said Rev. Gregory Lewis, executive director of Souls to the Polls, a faith-based grassroots organization that is aiming to boost Milwaukee’s Black turnout by 100,000 voters.
“I know it’s a pandemic, but get people out here with a ton of free yard signs, door hangers, put up some billboards — do something that shows us you want our vote," Lewis said. "I could go down the street right now and ask someone if they know who Joe Biden is, and they probably won’t know.”
Advertisement
‘He’s not Trump'
In Detroit, Cleveland and Milwaukee there have been various voter outreach efforts underway independent of the Biden campaign and Democratic Party.
Souls to the Polls has been organizing some 500 faith leaders in Milwaukee to run voter registration drives in their congregations while canvassing to register and educate voters.
Kathie Walker canvasses in Milwaukee on Sept. 26, 2020. Walker and Souls to the Polls volunteers were knocking on doors in the McGovern Park neighborhood on Milwaukee’s North Side. (Mark Hertzberg/for The Chicago Tribune)
On a recent Saturday afternoon, Kathie Walker and a handful of volunteers gathered in a church parking lot and split into four teams to knock on doors in the McGovern Park neighborhood on Milwaukee’s North Side.
During two hours of canvassing, Walker kept the conversations focused on whether the person had registered to vote and knew how to vote by mail or early vote. She didn’t mention the candidates. Asked if she sensed a lot of excitement about the election, Walker compared it to dirty laundry.
“Eventually you get sick and tired about wearing the same pants or the same socks over and over and you change them," said Walker, 68, a former IT worker who supervises the mentoring program at the local Boys and Girls Club. "I sense that people know it’s time to change.”
As she hit the pavement on a stretch of 54th Street, Walker had her two grandchildren in tow, one of them pulling a wagon full of Souls to the Polls “VOTE” yard signs. By the time Walker and her teammate had hit the 38 houses on the two-block stretch, they had placed 14 signs in front yards. There were no Biden or Trump ones in sight.
Advertisement
Kathie Walker canvasses in Milwaukee with her grandchildren Zaneya Walker, 14, center, and Aiden Buchanan, 10, on Sept. 26, 2020. (Mark Hertzberg/for The Chicago Tribune)
Ronnie Thomas took a sign. The 50-year-old construction worker said he would vote to “get Trump out of office" and cited concerns about police brutality, systemic racism and the president’s divisive rhetoric.
“We’re on the brink of a race war and have all kinds of crap going on with Trump," he said. “We definitely need change.”
What does Thomas think of Biden? “He’s not Trump.”
What about the former vice president’s campaign platform? “He’s not Trump," Thomas repeated. “That’s all that matters.”
Across the street, Deborah Kaye, a 63-year-old state social worker, called Trump “terrible” and said she considered Biden “compassionate," someone who understands people and would “listen to the scientists” on the pandemic.
“This is election is about three things: getting rid of Trump, getting control of this virus so people can go back to work and getting people to stop hating each other,” Kaye said as Walker planted a sign in her yard. “I tell people all the time, if a person likes Trump, they don’t like me, because he doesn’t like Black people, he doesn’t like brown people. We need to end all that."
Advertisement
The Black Voices for Trump campaign office on North Martin Luther King Drive in Milwaukee on Sept. 26, 2020. (Mark Hertzberg/for The Chicago Tribune)
On a recent Saturday afternoon in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, Arthur Fayne helped organize a “check-in and check-up” event at his grocery store, offering free food distribution, free COVID-19 testing and drives to register voters and complete Census forms.
Fayne said it’s important for such community organizing to carry on through the pandemic, and said he thought Black turnout would be higher than 2016 but doubted it would return to 2012 levels because he hadn’t sensed a lot of energy in the community.
“I don’t hear people saying they are excited about Biden, but I do hear people being sick and tired of Trump. But the question becomes, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ ” said Fayne, 57, seated near the produce aisle of his New Eastside Market. “We shouldn’t need to hear another speech from Biden, no need to hear from Kamala. We shouldn’t need an alarm clock to wake us up and say it’s Election Day. Trump should be enough."
Outside in the parking lot, Michael Davis and Michael Adams held clipboards and registered voters. The members of the Iota Phi Theta fraternity said they believed the killings of Floyd and Taylor and Trump’s rhetoric on race would motivate Black voters the most.
“I think with everything that is going on, police brutality, systemic racism — people are tired of seeing the same story over and over,” said Davis, 31. “This is the most we’ve protested in a long time, and people are just fed up.”
Adams said he didn’t like Biden’s track record and said a “leopard doesn’t change his spots,” citing the former vice president’s support of the 1994 crime bill that helped lead to the mass incarceration of African Americans. He said that will be enough for some voters to stay home, but not him.
Advertisement
“Voting is like catching a bus. Sometimes the person is not going to get you exactly where you want to be, but you’ve got to take the bus that gets you the closest to your destination,” said Adams, a 31-year-old nurse at the local Veterans Affairs hospital. “That’s what Biden’s going to do. He’s not going to give us all we want, but he’ll get us a lot closer than Trump ever will.”
A virtual campaign
Biden’s top surrogates in all three cities argue that what’s lacking on the ground in Black neighborhoods has been made up for online.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the first African American elected to the post, said he’s encouraged by all the virtual organizing work undertaken by the Biden campaign, citing good attendance for Zoom calls and virtual phone banks.
“Because you aren’t being bombarded with as many knocks on the doors and aren’t seeing as many bodies on the street, it might feel like there is a void," said Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairwoman Shontel Brown. “But in the numbers and activity we’re seeing, we’re making an impact."
Still, Biden’s campaign reintroduced door-knocking in some battleground states last week, including in Michigan but not yet in Ohio or Wisconsin.
Campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement that the practice would be used in “targeted” communities to “help us mobilize voters who are harder to reach by phone.” In Michigan, the door-to-door effort started in Wayne and Oakland counties — home to the state’s two largest populations of Black voters.
Advertisement
National polling has shown Biden is on track to win about 90% of the Black vote with Trump netting about 10%. Four years ago, Trump won 8% to 89% for Clinton.
The president’s campaign has spent millions on a Black Voices for Trump outreach program, but there has been little evidence in polling that the effort is gaining traction. The work also has been undercut by Trump’s history of inflammatory remarks surrounding race, his divisive response to national protests over systemic racism and his refusal to clearly condemn white supremacist groups during the candidates’ first debate.
Both the Biden campaign and Democratic leaders — particularly in Wisconsin and Michigan — point to overhauled state party structures and improved outreach efforts in the 2018 midterm election as reason to be optimistic this November. In Wayne County, for example, Black turnout rose to 54% in 2018, up from 38% in the 2014 midterm as Democrats won back two congressional seats and the governor’s office.
Gilchrist, Michigan Democratic Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes and Biden’s Michigan senior adviser Eddie McDonald all stressed that rebuilding the party’s Black outreach efforts for 2018 and keeping it in place proved crucial when the pandemic struck.
As an example, McDonald said the party’s interactions with thousands of churches in Detroit moved online with ease with each congregation running their own voter drives. The Biden campaign also has emphasized its “Shop Talk” program aimed at owners and patrons of barbershops and beauty salons as an innovative way to engage Black voters.
“Folks still listen to their beauticians, they listen to their barbers," McDonald said. “We have to meet people where they are.”
Advertisement
In a recent visit to Detroit, Harris sat in a barber chair in the parking lot of Headliners Barbershop with a small, socially-distanced group of Black community leaders to highlight the Biden campaign’s “Lift Every Voice” plan to increase funding and grants for Black-owned businesses.
“There’s a big difference between equality and equity. Equality suggests everybody should get the same thing, but that often assumes everyone started out in the same place,” Harris said. “Equity is everyone should end up in the same place, and if you understand not everybody started out in the same place, you understand some people need more.”
‘Fed up’
One place where the Biden campaign decidedly was not present: New Era Detroit’s recent Meet in the Streetz “Hood Politics” event.
The daylong event was held in a vacant lot at the intersection of Mack Avenue and Bewick Street in Detroit’s East Village neighborhood, long referenced as one of the most dangerous intersections in the city. Local businesses sold their clothing and food from trucks while the community organization held a grocery giveaway.
New Era was founded by Zeek Williams with the goal of empowering Black communities through ardent grassroots organizing in the spirit of Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and Huey P. Newton, a co-founder of the Black Panthers.
For four hours, various speakers took to the stage in front of a video board and spoke to a crowd of more than 300 people about various ways to hold their communities accountable.
Advertisement
Michigan state Rep. Jewell Jones, a Democrat who represents parts of Inkster and Detroit, gave a tutorial on voting. Jones backs Biden, but didn’t mention him.
Asked in an interview afterward if he thought many in the young crowd were eager to vote for Biden, the 25-year-old lawmaker replied, "When you go vote, it’s not about being excited, it’s about being strategic. Sometimes you have to put emotions aside and do your civic duty.”
A few minutes later, former NBA star Stephen Jackson gave a speech, recalling his childhood relationship with Floyd while wearing a black hooded sweatshirt bearing his likeness. He spoke of the need for justice against police brutality and to end violent crime in Black neighborhoods before turning to voting.
“I’m going to keep it real with y’all. We vote for a system that was built to keep us in the same f------ position. Until this whole system comes down, we’re voting for nothing," Jackson said to applause. “A lot of people died to vote and we should vote, but we need to get something for our f------ vote this time. Enough voting for the hell of it."
Williams waited until after dark to take the stage — to send a message to the nearby drug dealers and teenage gangbangers that “these are our streets.”
During an obscenity-laden speech about the need to improve their community from the inside-out, Williams talked about political accountability and became the first and only speaker all day to mention Biden. He mocked the former vice president for making a brief retail campaign stop last month at the Detroit clothing store Three Thirteen in between events with union workers.
Advertisement
“Just because Joe Biden brings his raggedy a-- to the city of Detroit and goes and shops at a black-owned store ... I don’t give a f---," Williams said to laughs. “That don’t make you no different. That’s nothing. What are you talking about?”
In an interview, Williams said Biden stopping for a photo opp “may have worked 10 years ago, but it’s so cliche. The same old politics like that aren’t gonna last much longer. The younger generation is fed up."
Williams emphasized the need for groups like his to start organizing from the ground up with the smallest political offices. He said he voted for Obama twice, but has since become disenchanted with national politics. He said he didn’t vote in the 2016 presidential race and isn’t sure if he will this year.
“These candidates all campaign, and the only time they come to the door is when they want something. They spend millions upon millions of dollars on TV, billboards, flyers, door hangers, yard signs, all for the illusion of voting for a particular candidate,” said Williams, 35, who runs real estate businesses. “At the end of the day, everybody tells you, ‘Just go vote, just go vote, just go vote,’ but nobody actually wants to educate you.”
bruthhart@chicagotribune.com
Twiter @BillRuthhart


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot touts programs by PepsiCo, JPMorgan Chase to increase lending and job t

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot touts programs by PepsiCo, JPMorgan Chase to increase lending and job training

Officials also said PepsiCo will be giving $ 500,000 for job training and development , though it wasn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ The soft drink giant also is giving $ 1 million to The Hatchery Chicago to @ @ @ @ @ small food business entrepreneurs and job seekers on the South and West sides with micro-grants @ @ @ @

Mayor Lori Lightfoot at a news conference at the Greater Western Community Development Project in Chicago on Sept. 14, 2020. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
JPMorgan Chase plans to expand home lending for Black and Latino families while PepsiCo will give more money for job training, officials announced.
Representatives from JPMorgan Chase and PepsiCo made the pledges during a news conference with Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Community Trust, a leading philanthropic organization.
Advertisement
JPMorgan Chase promised to increase homeownership among 3,000 Black and Latino families “in the Chicago region through an additional $600 million in home lending to these families over the next five years,” officials said.
The bank also will expand low down payment programs and grants for home buying, including closing cost assistance.
Advertisement
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Officials also said PepsiCo will be giving $500,000 for job training and development, though it wasn’t clear when or where. The soft drink giant also is giving $1 million to The Hatchery Chicago to help more than 400 female small food business entrepreneurs and job seekers on the South and West sides with micro-grants, officials said.
PepsiCo also will continue working with City Colleges of Chicago to give scholarships and other support to students, officials said.
In addition, the Chicago Community Trust said it would launch a fund with $25 million in “initial philanthropic contributions,” though it’s not clear how or when the program would pay out that money.
Helene Gayle, CEO of Chicago Community Trust, said her group is still in the process of working out those details.
Some of the initial dollars will go toward projects that are already ongoing, Gayle said, and the fund expects to make some payments “in the next couple of months.”
Lightfoot often has called on well-heeled Chicagoans to give generously and has said the city needs help from wealthier residents to help rebuild the city from COVID-19.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
Advertisement
Twitter @royalpratt


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--Cook County launches $20 million suburban mortgage assistance program as hope for more federal relie

Cook County launches $20 million suburban mortgage assistance program as hope for more federal relief runs thin: ‘More is going to be needed’

“ My family lost our home , our home that was full of memories , childhood memories , ” Anaya @ @ @ @ @ the devastation that can cause to working families when they lose their home , they @ @ @ @ @ ’ re used to going to after school or after work .
So it ’ @ @ @ @ @ do something about that before we get to the insecurity that will be happening for @ @ @ @ @ .
”

Homeowners in suburban Cook County can apply for mortgage assistance starting Friday as part of another coronavirus recovery program funded by CARES Act money, but uncertainty remains on when more federal relief is coming.
The $20 million program will dole out payments of up to $10,000 directly to mortgage collectors, giving homeowners reprieve for one to three months on overdue or future payments, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced at a Thursday news conference. The fund is estimated to help between 2,500 and 3,000 homeowners, with an average of about $7,800 per individual.
Advertisement
“We know that recovery will not happen overnight,” Preckwinkle said. “We will feel the effects of COVID-19 for years to come. Unfortunately, the pandemic remains far from over. … We must do whatever it takes to help people stay in their homes and keep their families safe.”
To be eligible, applicants must prove they underwent a COVID-19-related financial hardship, made at most $127,400 before or after the hardship, incurred a mortgage arrearage after March 27 and have not received other CARES Act-funded mortgage assistance, according to the county’s website. Two groups will each be guaranteed 25% of the funds: those living in areas hit hardest by the pandemic, and those making under 80% of the median income.
Advertisement
Commissioner Alma Anaya, D-Chicago, said Cook County must absolutely not relive the horror of the 2008 housing crash, which she personally experienced.
“My family lost our home, our home that was full of memories, childhood memories,” Anaya said. “I know the devastation that can cause to working families when they lose their home, they lose the place where they’re used to going to after school or after work. So it’s extremely important that we do something about that before we get to the insecurity that will be happening for a lot of our families.”
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
The mortgage program aligns with a rental assistance fund the county rolled out in August. Ultimately, about 3,500 renters were awarded a grant, but at least a thousand more applied and were not selected, Preckwinkle said.
In both announcements, officials stressed that Cook County will struggle without more federal help.
“We absolutely, positively need another federal stimulus program,” Rich Monocchio, executive director of the Housing Authority of Cook County, said Thursday. “This county is doing so much in terms of homeownership and rental assistance. But we know that more is going to be needed.”
Echoing her demands from earlier this summer, Preckwinkle dinged Washington for being “nowhere near ready to approve” a second coronavirus stimulus bill that would include further unemployment benefits. She said the situation is particularly dire because across the U.S., local governments are looking to Washington for resources.
“It’s profoundly disappointing,” Preckwinkle had said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference. “We hope that there’ll be a change in leadership at the top of this country and more willingness to address the challenges that local units of government face.”
Advertisement
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--Chicago police: Woman rammed Jeep Wrangler into squad cars, hurt 3 officers

Authorities did not say what types of injuries the officers suffered .
They said that three officers were treated at @ @ @ @ @ considered life-threatening and that all three had most recently been listed in good condition .
@ @ @ @ @ , the extent of which was not released .

Chicago police officers had a man stopped in the Fernwood neighborhood Wednesday morning when a woman pulled up and demanded officers let him go because “the man they had pulled over was someone she knew,” police said.
But police say what began as a bizarre demand quickly and inexplicably escalated into an attack that left three officers injured when the woman reportedly began ramming squad cars with her 2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, according to officials.
Advertisement
Dawn Moore, 30, of the 7100 block of South Cyril Avenue, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault of a peace officer, aggravated battery of a peace officer and criminal damage to property between $500 and $10,000, officials said. On Thursday, she appeared in court for a hearing before Judge Arthur Wesley Willis, who ordered her held on $250,000 bail, plus electronic monitoring should she post 10% bond and be released from custody.
The attack happened just before 11 a.m. Wednesday in the 10500 block of South State Street, said Kellie Bartoli, a police spokeswoman. The officers were injured after the driver slowed near the traffic stop of a 2019 Kia sedan, imploring officers to let the man go.
Advertisement
Dawn Moore was charged with aggravated assault of a peace officer, aggravated battery of a peace officer and criminal damage to property between $500 and $10,000. (Chicago Police Department)
The officers responded by telling the woman who was driving “the Jeep Wrangler to leave the area because she was obstructing traffic,” Bartoli wrote in an email.
“She then drove her 2020 Wrangler into a police squad car sideswiping it and attempted to run over an officer. The female driver then made a U-turn in the middle of the street and struck another police vehicle (from) which an officer was exiting,” Bartoli said.
Authorities did not say what types of injuries the officers suffered. They said that three officers were treated at area hospitals for injuries not considered life-threatening and that all three had most recently been listed in good condition. Three squad cars sustained damage, the extent of which was not released.
Police said the woman in the Jeep escaped in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Hours later, about 4:30 p.m., in the 5700 block of South Elizabeth Street in Englewood, the same woman “was observed driving the vehicle that had been used” when she hit the squad cars and injured the officers, Bartoli said.
In court, prosecutors said Moore, a single woman with a bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University in paralegal studies, had intentionally tried to hurt the officers. She was represented by a court-appointed attorney, who said she had “significant mental health diagnoses.”
Thresholds, a mental health facility, said it would be able to treat Moore should she be released on electronic monitoring. Willis, however, said he was concerned that she would be a danger to the public until receiving treatment.
Her next court date is Oct. 16.
Asked the reason for the initial traffic stop on the man and the outcome of his interaction with authorities, Bartoli said he had been pulled over on suspicion of a minor traffic violation.
Advertisement
“No citations were issued,” she said.
Chicago Tribunes’s William Lee contributed.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--Watch live: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer holds press conference after charges in alleged kidnap pl

Watch live: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer holds press conference after charges in alleged kidnap plot revealed

Michigan Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer holds a press conference after 6 men were charged in a plot to kidnap her @ @ @ @ @ Read the latest here .

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


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--Illinois daily count of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases tops 3,000 for the first time since mid-May

The announcement of 3,059 new cases came a day after Gov .
J.B. Pritzker cautioned that progress against the disease @ @ @ @ @ a bit in recent days .
But it is also part of a rollercoaster pattern @ @ @ @ @ in the spring , reached hopeful lows in early summer only to start rising again @ @ @ @ @ began for many students .

The daily number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases reported by Illinois officials on Thursday topped 3,000 for the first time in almost five months, except for a day in early September when the state caught up on a testing backlog.
The announcement of 3,059 new cases came a day after Gov. J.B. Pritzker cautioned that progress against the disease in Illinois had leveled off a bit in recent days. But it is also part of a rollercoaster pattern of a virus that peaked in the spring, reached hopeful lows in early summer only to start rising again as business reopened and classes began for many students.
Advertisement
The Department of Public Health is more focused on longer-term data than any single-day figures, said agency spokeswoman Melaney Arnold, who noted the number of tests reported Thursday was significantly higher than the state’s testing capacity in May.
“While IDPH does report the daily number of new cases, it is more informative to look at trends over time and using seven-day rolling averages,” Arnold said in an email.
Advertisement
The daily number of newly confirmed cases last topped 3,000 on May 14, when officials reported 3,239 cases. The department reported 5,368 new cases on Sept. 4, but that was due to a backlog in processing test results.
Rukhsar Sultanali takes information from a client at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site, at Prism Heath Lab in Chicago on Aug. 6, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
In addition to Thursday’s newly confirmed cases, which bring the total number of known infections to 310,700 statewide since the pandemic began, officials on Thursday reported 32 more fatalities. That brings the death toll to 8,910.
The state received results from a near-record number of coronavirus tests in the previous 24 hours, with 72,491 screenings reported for a single-day positivity rate of 4.2%.
The highest number of tests reported in a single day was 74,286 on Sept. 19, but there were only 2,529 new cases reported that day, a positivity rate of 3.4%.
For comparison, the one-day positivity rate on May 14 was 14.2% because the 3,239 positive results came from just 22,678 tests.
To smooth out day-to-day fluctuations in the data, health officials look at the positivity rate on a seven-day rolling average. The average for the period ending Wednesday, the most recent available, was 3.7% statewide. The statewide rate has been trending upward over the past few days after dropping as low as 3.3% for the period ending Saturday.
Pritzker warned Wednesday that the state’s progress in combating the pandemic had “cooled off a bit, across Illinois.”
“We are seeing changes in positivity averages around the state level off, with three regions that were decreasing last week now sitting at a stable level,” Pritzker said.
Advertisement
Still, the statewide positivity rate sits slightly below where it was a month ago, when the seven-day average was 4%.
But the seven-day average for newly confirmed cases also is trending upward.
For the week ending Thursday, the average was 2,180 cases per day. Setting aside the backlog period in early September, the seven-day average of new cases hadn’t topped 2,100 since the week ending May 26.
The seven-day average peaked at 2,565 cases on May 4 and 7. The single-day high was 4,014 cases reported May 12.
While it’s too early to draw any hard conclusions from the data, public health officials have long warned that the U.S. could see cases of COVID-19 peak once again as we move into the colder months and people spend more time indoors, where the virus that causes the disease is more easily transmitted.
Some of Illinois’ neighbors have been struggling recently to keep the virus under control, most notably Wisconsin, where officials next week plan to open a field hospital at the state fairgrounds to help prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.
Advertisement
Wisconsin’s population of 5.8 million is less than half of Illinois', but the state also reported more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases Thursday, crossing that threshold for the first time.
The White House coronavirus task force warned Iowa in a report earlier this week that “community transmission has remained high across the state for the past month, with many preventable deaths."
After Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order in March and a mask mandate in May, the seven-day average for new cases in Illinois fell below 1,000 on June 9 and remained there for more than a month. The statewide positivity rate dropped as low as 2%.
But many restrictions that had been in place, such as a prohibition on indoor dining at restaurants and bars, were lifted June 26 when the state moved into phase four of Pritzker’s reopening plan. By the end of July, the state was averaging nearly 1,500 cases per day, and the positivity rate had nearly doubled, to 3.9%.
By mid-August, Pritzker was using a revised mitigation strategy to clamp down on regions where the coronavirus appeared to be gaining new footholds. The Metro East region near St. Louis has been under stricter rules, including tighter restrictions on restaurants and bars, since Aug. 18. The governor has said those rules may be eased Friday.
The northwest region of the state, including DeKalb, Rockford and Galena, has been under tighter restrictions since last week. Will and Kankakee counties were subject the stricter rules for about three weeks, from late August until mid-September.
Advertisement
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--Businessman named in federal corruption probe accused of fraud in bankruptcy court

In early 2018 , Gauri testified , he began paying Vondra under an asset purchase agreement for the rights to @ @ @ @ @ Southwind RAS , an acronym for “ recycled asphalt shingling.
” By June 2018 , @ @ @ @ @ offices from Westchester to its current location in Lyons in a building owned by Vondra @ @ @ @ @ pays Vondra about $ 12,000 a month in rent .

The owner of a clout-heavy fuel distribution firm embroiled in an ongoing federal corruption probe has been accused in bankruptcy court of lying under oath, hiding assets and secretly cutting tens of thousands of dollars in checks to himself and family members.
The Department of Justice attorney assigned to monitor the bankruptcy petition of Black Dog Chicago LLC said in a filing with the court last month that owner Amit Gauri has “engaged in self-dealing” and used his company’s assets “as his personal piggy bank” to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Advertisement
U.S. Trustee Ha Nguyen is also looking into whether Gauri fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal loans last spring that were aimed at helping small businesses stay afloat amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, court records show.
The developments scuttled an upcoming trial on Black Dog’s proposed plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Instead, a trustee was appointed earlier this week to take over the affairs of Black Dog Chicago, while three subsidiaries remained under Gauri’s control.
Advertisement
Attorneys for Black Dog and Gauri countered on Friday that the company “voluntarily consented” to the appointment of the Chapter 11 trustee in an effort to open its books and records to a third party, who could investigate any alleged wrongdoing and monitor the finances going forward to put creditors at ease.
Black Dog has since filed amended reports with the court correcting any omissions, the attorneys said in an emailed statement to the Chicago Tribune.
“Any mistakes in the bankruptcy filing were readily admitted by Black Dog when it discovered them, and they have been corrected by amended filings,” the statement read. “There was no intent to hide anything from creditors who are going to be paid in full in any event.”
In a brief hearing Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Janet Baer urged both sides to work together on a new plan — even as the investigation of Gauri’s alleged wrongdoing continues.
“Unfortunately, this case started out with principals that clearly don’t trust each other,” Baer said. The judge set a status hearing for Oct. 21.
Amit Gauri (Victor Powell)
Gauri and Black Dog have been under fire since they were each named in federal search warrants and subpoenas filed in September 2019 in a sweeping political corruption investigation of former state Sen. Martin Sandoval and a number of suburban mayors and industry heavyweights, including Illinois' so-called Asphalt King, Michael Vondra.
Gauri, 40, has not been criminally charged. Another lawyer representing him as the government conducts that probe, Daniel Collins, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Advertisement
Last year, the Tribune reported on Gauri’s rise in the city’s business scene, from the hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash he’s showered on local politicians to the relationships he’s forged with several key players in the sprawling federal investigation.
Another controversy ignited earlier this year when a Florida fuel distributor that lost a bid for a $43 million contract to provide diesel to the city of Chicago filed an official protest alleging the process was skewed to take care of Gauri, who had the backing of an influential Chicago alderman. The protest was eventually denied.
But it’s Black Dog’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2019 that could pose the most legal jeopardy for Gauri.
The bankruptcy petition was filed amid a legal fight with one of Black Dog’s former fuel suppliers over millions of dollars in allegedly unpaid bills, court records show.
When questioned about his petition under oath last November, Gauri acknowledged that he’d met with Sandoval and former state Rep. Luis Arroyo, who also has been charged in federal court with corruption, to discuss issues related to minority-owned business contracts.
Gauri also said he leased and later purchased his trucks directly from Vondra, a longtime player in state construction whose Bartlett offices were also visited by federal investigators last fall. Vondra has not been charged with wrongdoing.
Advertisement
In early 2018, Gauri testified, he began paying Vondra under an asset purchase agreement for the rights to do business under the name Southwind RAS, an acronym for “recycled asphalt shingling.” By June 2018, Black Dog had moved its offices from Westchester to its current location in Lyons in a building owned by Vondra. Gauri testified that he pays Vondra about $12,000 a month in rent.
In his report to the court on Sept. 21, U.S. Department of Justice attorney Ha Nguyen steered away from any mention of Vondra or the ongoing corruption probe.
But he accused Gauri of defrauding the bankruptcy process from the get-go, hiding cash disbursements to himself, his father and his wife that occurred just weeks before Black Dog’s bankruptcy filing and should have been reported to the court, records show.
Among the questionable “self-dealing,” Nguyen said, were two disbursements totaling $32,000 to Gauri’s wife from Black Dog’s account at First Midwest Bank.
The main creditor in the bankruptcy case, Parent Petroluem, alleged in one recent court filing that some of those funds were used to pay for luxury personal vehicles for the Gauris, including a Range Rover and a Tesla. Gauri has vehemently denied those claims.
Gauri also allegedly failed to disclose payments he made from the same Black Dog account to cover personal expenses, including $63,300 to finance a vacation home in Michigan and $50,700 to purchase a luxury high-rise condo in Chicago, according to Nguyen’s filing.
Advertisement
Nguyen said Gauri also kept hidden from creditors a bank account that was used to make more than $63,000 in disbursements this year, and failed to disclose on financial schedules “valuable contracts” Black Dog has with several government agencies, including Metra.
Several other lengthy paragraphs in the filing were blacked out.
The day after filing his objection, Nguyen made two discovery requests in court seeking records on more than $500,000 in Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster loans obtained by Gauri-affiliated companies amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Companies in bankruptcy are typically barred from applying for PPP loans and must seek court approval an pledge collateral for any EID assistance.
The Tribune first reported that a Black Dog subsidiary was given a PPP loan in April of up to $350,000 that Gauri claimed would save 22 jobs.
In his filing, Nguyen said the Small Business Administration reported two other Gauri-owned subsidiaries, Black Dog Foods LLC and Black Dog Solutions, received another $106,000 in PPP Loans that same month.
Advertisement
A Tribune database of PPP loan disbursements shows that a fourth company affiliated with Gauri, AGPD Paving, received a loan of up to $350,000 in May.
AGPD, which does business under the name Cardi Asphalt, lists Gauri as its manager and has a business address in the same building in Lyons as Black Dog, records show. Like the Black Dog Petroleum loan, AGPD’s application also claimed that 22 jobs would be saved.
The AGPD loan was not listed in Nguyen’s discover request. However, Nguyen said Black Dog Chicago applied for and was granted an EIDL loan in June in the amount of $150,000.
As of Sept. 22, Nguyen said he had not been able to locate where Gauri deposited the EIDL funds or what they were used for.
In their emailed statement, the attorneys for Gauri and Black Dog said it was the subsidiaries of Black Dog Chicago, which are not in bankruptcy, that received the loans money, and that the money was used to pay employees to save jobs.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--Candy chute for Halloween

Candy chute for Halloween

636 Division St. , Barrington : $ 1,899,000 | Listed : Sept. 4 , 2020 This five-bedroom home near Baker Lake in Barrington has 4½ bathrooms and melds contemporary interiors with elements of both a rustic farmhouse and industrial design .
Built in 2015 , the home 's custom glass entryway touts ceiling-to-floor windows that invite sunlight streaming into the dining and living rooms .
Three stone fireplaces and heated driftwood floors throughout provide warmth , while the family room 's reclaimed wood beams and a showpiece-worthy reclaimed barn door lend a relaxed air to the home .
The custom-designed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a farmhouse sink and a walk-in pantry .
A 400-bottle wine cellar , a sunroom with an outdoor television and a wood-plank ceiling , and a wet bar equipped with a dual kegerator tap elevate the home , while the primary bedroom suite includes a bathroom with a standalone tub and a shower with a full-body spray .
A 4½-car garage completes the home .
Agent : Barbara Cullen of Baird & Warner , 847-909-4063 *Some photos are “ virtually staged , ” meaning they have been digitally altered to represent different furnishing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ luxury listing of $ 800,000 or more in Chicago Tribune ’ s Dream Homes , send listing information and high-res photos to ctc-realestate @ chicagotribune.com .
Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news .


chicagotribune--2020-10-08--Seeking Black vote in Milwaukee

Seeking Black vote in Milwaukee