chicagotribune--2020-08-27--University of Illinois performed more than 17,000 COVID-19 tests on first day of classes, but high d

University of Illinois performed more than 17,000 COVID-19 tests on first day of classes, but high demand has slowed results

In a Thursday email to students , faculty and staff , university administrators said they were making adjustments to improve @ @ @ @ @ feedback over the last week .
The administrators said they will stop test reminder emails @ @ @ @ @ led to confusion , and that they were working on a tool to show which @ @ @ @ @ busy and at what times .

A specimen is handed over as COVID-19 saliva testing is conducted on the University of Illinois campus in July. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
On the first day of fall classes, a record number of students, faculty and staff took COVID-19 tests at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, using the school’s pioneering saliva-based technology.
Of the 17,656 tests conducted Monday alone, 97 were positive, according to university data.
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On Tuesday, however, 120 positive results were identified from 15,850 new tests, the highest number found in a single day since the testing program launched in early July. Those results brought the rolling five-day positivity rate to about 0.75% for all tests performed, which is well within public health guidelines.
No additional information had been added by Friday afternoon to the school’s testing dashboard, a public tally of all results.
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The demand for tests as classes began Monday “was a lot higher than we anticipated,” university spokeswoman Robin Kaler said. That’s caused longer wait times for results — up to 48 hours — than the two to six hours officials have previously touted. In some instances, students and faculty have also needed to redo their tests because their saliva samples were “invalid,” restricting their access to university buildings.
On a CNBC appearance Friday morning, University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen said 284 people have tested positive at the school’s downstate campus. He said the testing program was “going really well” and that many of the new cases were among asymptomatic carriers.
“Since we’re testing twice a week, every week, we catch it, catch it, catch it,” Killeen said. “There’s no escape for this virus. We’re going to find you, and when we find you, we are going to make sure you can’t transmit from human to human.”
Those who test positive must go to their residence and self-isolate immediately, the school says.
UIUC had projected a rise in cases, spurred by students moving into residence halls earlier this month, and says it’s taken steps to provide quarantine and isolation spaces to curtail the spread of COVID-19. Other large universities unable to manage the virus have sent students home and reverted to online classes.
But the university’s testing dashboard can be confusing to navigate. The dashboard counts positive tests but does not track people, meaning the data includes individuals who have tested positive multiple times, Kaler said. The school is “working on how to distill the actual number of cases,” she said in an email.
The dashboard has also been slow to update due to the influx of data. Results from tests performed Monday were only published Wednesday morning, and Tuesday’s results were posted about 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
“For the first week or so, I expect it’s going to lag a day or two,” Kaler said. The results can’t be posted until all the tests are processed and loaded into the dashboard, she added.
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Tests performed Monday were also taking about a day to turn around, Kaler said. UIUC officials have previously emphasized their saliva tests — which require test tubes but not nasal swabs and reagents — can be analyzed faster, in hours instead of days. The tests received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week.
The school had conducted 121,333 tests overall as of Tuesday.
Moving forward, UIUC will try to spread out testing times, asking students to go during slower periods on Wednesday and during the weekend, Kaler said. While students can drop by any of the campus’ 17 test sites, they are also assigned certain days by which they must complete a twice-weekly testing requirement.
In a Thursday email to students, faculty and staff, university administrators said they were making adjustments to improve the testing process based on feedback over the last week. The administrators said they will stop test reminder emails, since some said they led to confusion, and that they were working on a tool to show which testing locations are the least busy and at what times.
The email also said that “test results may require up to 48 hours.”
Dana Meyerson, a senior studying psychology, said she tried getting tested on campus Sunday, but the site closed earlier due to weekend hours. She said she stood in line for about 30 minutes but was turned away at 3 p.m. while she and others were still in line.
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“That upset me a lot. I wish there were more testing sites open on the weekends,” said Meyerson, 23, of California. “I think it’s kind of silly they have such limited hours on weekends because that’s when people are free a lot.”
Meyerson, who’s living off campus, said she tried again Tuesday and completed her test at a different site. She said she only got her results Thursday — about 49 hours later — and they were “inconclusive” so she needs to go back and do it again.
Results are typically invalid or inconclusive due to the quality of the saliva sample, which could be affected by eating or drinking before the test. During the test, individuals must produce 0.5 ounces of saliva and drop it into a test tube so the contents can be analyzed for COVID-19.
Kaler said about 5% of tests since July 6 have been invalid, though those results do not show up on the public dashboard. UIUC is starting to offer alternative nasal tests to those who repeatedly get invalid results or who cannot produce a usable saliva sample.
Meyerson, a fifth-year senior, said she is “more impressed than I thought I would be” with the testing system, particularly with the ease of giving a saliva sample and the relatively quick turnaround for results. But she said she still worries about student behavior, and has seen parties and crowded scenes at the local bars.
Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider, an associate professor of computer science, said he took a test Monday but lost access to his office and other campus buildings because his results also came back as “invalid/inconclusive,” according to a copy of the notification he provided.
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Anyone trying to enter school buildings must show employees manning the doors that they have a recent negative test result through a smartphone app or with a printed document.
Fagen-Ulmschneider said he refrained from drinking water or eating for about an hour before getting tested but has since been told to try waiting two hours.
His first test on Monday only took about 10 minutes, but Fagen-Ulmschneider needed to go back and do another one. When he did so Wednesday afternoon, an employee told him the results would take one to two days, he said.
“I think there’s a lot of implementation questions that they are going to work through over these first couple of weeks,” he said. “They’ve made the testing so easy, though. Big ups to them. I thought this was going to be way more painful, but it really was just walk up and swipe your (university ID).”
That also presented a slight problem Thursday when the school’s medical web portal experienced technical difficulties for about an hour, Kaler said, making it difficult for people to swipe in at testing centers with their university IDs.
But overall, university leaders and local health officials have presented an optimistic evaluation of the campus data.
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Since the dashboard data does not track individual cases, the campus communities’ true positivity is actually lower than the 0.75% it’s displaying, according to Awais Vaid, an epidemiologist and deputy administrator for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.
The health department and UIUC scientists used models to predict how many new cases would be identified when students returned, and the estimates of 200 to 300 new cases are holding up so far, Vaid said.
Since early student move-in began Aug. 16, there have been 535 positive tests, according to the dashboard data. That includes tests for faculty and staff, in addition to students, as well as repeated cases.
“We had planned for this. We had prepared for this,” Vaid said Wednesday afternoon. “Anticipating this big bump, we had hired additional contact tracers as well. As of right now, we have multiple shifts ... going from about 8 in the morning to 9 at night, seven days a week, taking care of these positives.”
UIUC is offering a blend of remote and in-person classes this semester, with about a third being delivered face to face. The school anticipated about 30,000 to 35,000 students would return to campus, which is less than usual.
“Our plan was designed for frequent testing and quickly isolating and quarantining those who are/might be infected. We weren’t focused on keeping a daily count of active cases,” Kaler said in an email Thursday.
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echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--High-ranking Chicago Public Schools official charged with lying to FBI in contract probe

The information alleges Soto lied about his contacts with an Individual B , who worked on behalf of a lobbyist @ @ @ @ @ 2016 was vying for a custodial contract worth “ in excess of $ 1 billion.
@ @ @ @ @ Soto was serving on an evaluation committee that would recommend to the school board which @ @ @ @ @ contract .

A top aide to Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson has been charged with lying to the FBI about whether he passed secret bid information about a massive $1 billion custodial contract to a lobbyist working for one of the bidders.
Pedro Soto, 45, who has served as Jackson’s chief of staff since 2018, was charged in a criminal information made public Thursday with one count of lying to the FBI during an interview in December.
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Pedro Soto, chief of staff to Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson. (CPS)
Defendants charged in an information as opposed to an indictment typically intend to plead guilty. Soto could not be reached for comment, and no lawyer was listed for him on the criminal case docket.
Jackson learned of the allegations against Soto last Friday and immediately accepted his resignation, according to an email sent Thursday to CPS staff. Her office also took away Soto’s access to the district’s information systems and started an internal review, along with notifying the CPS inspector general, according to the letter.
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The information alleges Soto lied about his contacts with an Individual B, who worked on behalf of a lobbyist for Company A that in 2016 was vying for a custodial contract worth “in excess of $1 billion.” At the time, Soto was serving on an evaluation committee that would recommend to the school board which company should be awarded the contract.
The FBI investigation centered on “what benefits Soto solicited, was offered, promised or had received” from Individual B, “and the reasons for (Soto’s) receipt of those benefits,” according to the charging document.
In an interview with FBI agents on Dec. 17, Soto falsely denied he’d ever shared “non-public information” about the custodial contract with Individual B, according to the charge.
“He would want to get information but I don’t think I gave him anything,” Soto told investigators, according to the charging document. Soto said when Individual B would “dig” for what was going on behind the scenes, Soto would “just listen” but was never persuaded to do anything.
Asked again whether he’d ever told Individual B what was going on inside CPS as far as the contract evaluation, Soto answered, “I don’t think I have, no. I would — I don’t think so,” the charge alleged.
At the time of the contract bid, Soto was chief of school operations, responsible for coordinating and implementing policy across all educational departments. His salary at the time was $161,000 a year, according to public databases.
Jackson promoted Soto to her chief of staff in 2018, at a salary of $175,000, records show.
The 2016 bid was part of a CPS plan to privatize building maintenance duties amid the district’s bleak financial condition. Officials said the move would save millions of dollars, but complaints about filthy schools mounted and the schools’ labor union representing mechanics cried foul.
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In 2016, the Chicago Board of Education approved expanded maintenance contracts worth almost $500 million to SodexoMAGIC, a company partly controlled by former NBA superstar and then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel supporter Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Pennsylvania-based Aramark, records show.
In her letter to staff, Jackson indicated the company involved in Soto’s case was not ultimately awarded any contracts. She wrote that the district’s preliminary review “indicates that Mr. Soto’s actions did not influence the award of any contract or services and the lobbyist Mr. Soto provided non-public information to has not represented any current or former CPS vendors.”
Regardless, Jackson said the charges were deeply disappointing.
“Soto’s alleged conduct represents a stunning betrayal of trust and an immense failure of judgement and character,” she wrote. “There is no place in our school district for anyone who would engage in these activities, and we are moving forward without him.”
Beyond Jackson’s letter, CPS has provided little information. A spokesman said the district could not confirm the involvement of specific people or entities that hadn’t been named by prosecutors.
The charges lift the lid on yet another federal investigation into fraud at CPS, one of the nation’s largest school districts that has been beset for years by mismanagement and budget and labor woes.
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The contract at issue in Soto’s case was put to bid less than a year after the school district’s then-CEO, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, was charged in a scheme to collect kickbacks in exchange for steering more than $20 million in contracts to SUPES Academy, an education consulting firm where she had previously worked.
Byrd-Bennett pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2017 to 4 ½ years in prison.


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--Traffic jams possible during public safety drill enacted for 3 hours in city’s central business dist

Traffic jams possible during public safety drill enacted for 3 hours in city’s central business district tonight

It ’ s not clear exactly what the drill entails or what the public should watch out for , but @ @ @ @ @ of this exercise is to “ ensure the safety and well-being of residents , workers @ @ @ @ @ .
”

City officials warned of traffic disruptions on Thursday night, due to a public safety drill taking place in Chicago’s downtown business district and Near South Side.
The drill, which had been planned “for weeks,’' will be from 6 to 9 p.m., according to a statement from Ald. Brian Hopkins, of the 2nd Ward.
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It’s not clear exactly what the drill entails or what the public should watch out for, but the statement said the focus of this exercise is to “ensure the safety and well-being of residents, workers, businesses and peaceful gatherings.”
“Critical infrastructure assets” will be staged at “various access points” and the drill will cause traffic headaches within these boundaries:
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· Division Street on the North
· 18th Street on the South
· Clark Street on the West
· Lake Shore Drive on the East
Access to these areas is not restricted but residents may experience “traffic disruptions,’' according to the statement.
The drill, implemented by city personnel to ensure the safety of large public gatherings and heavily trafficked pedestrian areas, is part of ongoing efforts to engineer security measures in order to mitigate risk to the central business district, according to the city.
Agencies participating in the drill include the Office of Emergency Management and Communication, police, fire, Department of Transportation, Streets and Sanitation and Water Management, among others.
To directly receive 2nd Ward e-alerts and e-newsletters, click here. To receive alerts on public transportation and street closures, subscribe to Chicago’s text or email alert system at www.NotifyChicago.org.
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Retailers are encouraged to sign up for emergency alerts by texting CHIBIZ to 67283 to receive targeted ZIP code alerts if weekend restrictions are put in place.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--New federal COVID-19 testing guidelines have sparked alarm, confusion. But Illinois isn’t adopting t

New federal COVID-19 testing guidelines have sparked alarm, confusion. But Illinois isn’t adopting them, and Pritzker says Trump is playing politics.

“ Right away , like that same morning , we put out guidance that said we continue to see significant @ @ @ @ @ and the Chicago Department of Public Health continues to recommend testing for asymptomatic contacts of @ @ @ @ @ ” said Dr. Allison Arwady , director of the city ’ s health department , @ @ @ @ @ on Thursday .
“ That has been our guidance all along , and we were @ @ @ @ @ still the recommendation .
”

CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
A controversial change to national COVID-19 testing guidelines earlier this week has sparked confusion and alarm across the country — but Illinois leaders have denounced the new recommendations, saying they won’t be adopted locally.
The federal guidance now says people don’t necessarily need to get tested for COVID-19 if they’ve been in close contact with an infected person but have no symptoms, according to a revision to testing guidelines posted Monday on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
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Previously, the CDC had recommended local health agencies test anyone who had been within 6 feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker criticized the new guidelines as well as President Donald Trump, arguing both were motivated by politics and not science or public health.
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“We know that asymptomatic spread is a very real concern and we need everyone who comes into contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 to get tested,” he said in an email. “I know the President doesn’t believe in science and would like to ignore this pandemic, but it’s the job of our medical institutions to uphold science and provide straightforward public health guidance, not bow to political pressure.”
In response to the CDC change, the Chicago Department of Public Health immediately issued its own guidance stating that testing is still recommended for those who have been in close contact with an infected person, regardless of symptoms.
“Right away, like that same morning, we put out guidance that said we continue to see significant transmission here in Chicago, and the Chicago Department of Public Health continues to recommend testing for asymptomatic contacts of anybody diagnosed with COVID-19,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, director of the city’s health department, during a Facebook Live show on Thursday. “That has been our guidance all along, and we were very clear that is locally still the recommendation.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health is also advising anyone who comes into close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case to be tested.
“Many individuals who test positive for COVID-19 have not reported having symptoms,” the state health department said in a news release on Thursday. “However, scientific studies have proven that those individuals are still able to spread the disease to family, friends, and members of their community who may become sick and require medical attention and even hospitalization, especially for those with underlying health conditions.”
After coming under fire, CDC Director Robert R. Redfield issued a statement to some media outlets on Wednesday attempting to clarify the new federal testing advice.
“Everyone who needs a Covid-19 test, can get a test,” the statement said, according to the New York Times. “Everyone who wants a test does not necessarily need a test; the key is to engage the needed public health community in the decision with the appropriate follow-up action.”
But as of Thursday afternoon, the revised testing guidelines were still posted on the CDC website.
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“If you have been in close contact (within 6 feet) of a person with a COVID-19 infection for at least 15 minutes but do not have symptoms: You do not necessarily need a test unless you are a vulnerable individual or your health care provider or state or local public health officials recommend you take one,” the new guidance says.
The federal government’s new testing guidance comes as COVID-19 cases are surging in many parts of the nation, so far sickening roughly 5.8 million and killing about 180,000, according to the CDC. Public health and medical experts have repeatedly said rigorous, mass testing is critical to fighting the virus.
Various other state governors across the country have challenged the new recommendations, with at least one insinuating the change was politically motivated to help mask the severity of the virus.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said on Twitter that the changes would cause his state “to miss thousands of new cases and allow the virus to spread in our communities. If you’ve been exposed to a confirmed case, GET TESTED.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called the new guidance “reckless.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said their states will not follow the new guidance.
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“We will not be influenced by that change,” Newsom said. “We’re influenced by the folks that are experts in the field who feel very differently.”
“Why would you reverse yourself on the quarantine order?” Cuomo told reporters on a conference call. “Because they don’t want publicity that there is a COVID problem. Because the president’s politics are, ‘COVID isn’t a problem We’re past COVID.’”
The Associated Press contributed.
eleventis@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--The Spin: Anticipating Trump’s fiery GOP convention finale | Lightfoot takes next step toward Chicag

The Spin: Anticipating Trump’s fiery GOP convention finale | Lightfoot takes next step toward Chicago casino | Exelon to close 2 power plants

“ The moment I saw this particular issue , it raised in my mind : Who knows the truth of @ @ @ @ @ one of our foreign adversaries ?
Because if they do , and you and I @ @ @ @ @ use that as leverage .
That ’ s what the Russians call kompromat , ” @ @ @ @ @ ’ s always that lurking suspicion about who is actually behind this , and what @ @ @ @ @ for the forgiveness ?
They don ’ t do this as charity … and that @ @ @ @ @ what do Donald Trump and the Trump Organization owe to these people ?
” Read @ @ @ @ @

FILE - In this July 21, 2016, file photo Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump, speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
After a legislative win in the spring, Mayor Lori Lightfoot now wants to hear from gambling operators and real estate developers looking to roll the dice on a first-ever Chicago casino.
President Donald Trump will make his case for another four years in the White House tonight, a finale to this week’s Republican National Convention, as a deadly pandemic ebbs and flows in this country and communities convulse over racial injustice.
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Clearly anticipating he’ll be the target, Democratic presidential Joe Biden made the rounds on cable news shows today. On MSNBC, Biden blasted Trump’s response to COVID-19 and hinted the president should have traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the days since a white police officer on Sunday shot a Black man several times in the back, prompting deadly unrest in the community just 60 miles north of Chicago.
As legal questions about the president’s personal businesses and finances continue, the Tribune’s David Heinzmann offers: “New York’s attorney general is trying to answer one of the most perplexing questions surrounding the troubled financing of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago: whether President Donald Trump failed to pay taxes on a $100 million loan deal related to the project.”
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The court filing surfaced as the Republican National Convention got underway on Monday and Trump enters the final stretch of his reelection bid. The timing wasn’t lost on Trump family members and others who maintain the New York’s AG, a Democrat, is politically motivated.
And today on the (alleged) public corruption front: “A top aide to Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson been charged with lying to the FBI about whether he passed secret bid information about a massive $1 billion custodial contract to a lobbyist working for one of the bidders,” the Tribune’s Jason Meisner reports.
Welcome to The Spin.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announces reforms to the School Resource Officer Program during a news conference at City Hall on Aug. 19, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune’s John Byrne writes: “Lightfoot on Thursday took the next step in the push for a Chicago casino, putting out a request for gambling operators and real estate developers to submit plans about how they would build and run what is expected to be a gigantic betting parlor in the city.
The request for information from the operators was the expected next step after Springfield lawmakers came through with the changes to the casino tax structure the mayor wanted to the legislation that allowed a gambling hall in the city.
The request for information asks applicants to talk about their thoughts on operating a temporary casino while a permanent one is under construction, and asks them to weigh in on what factors the city should prioritize for the location of the casino, including how many acres of land will be required. Read the full story here.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Pedro Soto, chief of staff to Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson. (CPS / HANDOUT)
Pedro Soto, who has served as CPS CEO Janice Jackson’s chief of staff since 2018, was charged in a criminal information made public today with one count of lying to the FBI during an interview about whether he passed secret bid information regarding a massive $1 billion custodial contract to a lobbyist working for one of the bidders, the Tribune’s Jason Meisner writes. Read the full story here.
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Insight: Defendants charged in an information as opposed to an indictment typically intend to plead guilty.
The charges lift the lid on yet another federal investigation into fraud at CPS: Meisner also writes, “The probe involving Soto began to unfold just months after the school district’s then-CEO, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, was charged in a scheme to collect kickbacks in exchange for steering more than $20 million in contracts to SUPES Academy, an education consulting firm where she had previously worked.”
Republican candidate for Cook County State's Attorney Patrick O'Brien prepares for a debate against Christopher Pfannkuche at ABC 7 Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Tribune columnist Eric Zorn says Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has taken plenty of heat over the Jussie Smollett case. But Zorn writes: ’Patrick O’Brien, Foxx’s Republican challenger in the November election, handled the horrific and troubling case of four teenagers falsely accused of the October 1986 rape and murder of Rush University medical student Lori Roscetti.
“O’Brien, then a supervisor in the felony review unit under Cook County State’s Attorney Richard M. Daley, prosecuted the case, which resulted in life sentences for three of the defendants.” Read the full column here.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden. (AP)
The president will make the case for a second term tonight to a country in crisis. Beyond the pandemic, which has ravaged lives across the nation, the country also is facing a racial reckoning and a massive hurricane slamming the Gulf Coast.
Trump’s expected to take the baton from Vice President Mike Pence, who last night invoked the unrest in Kenosha — triggered by a white police officer shooting a Black man in the back — and suggested Biden would back policies that would see crime rise. The AP offers this speech preview.
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As the Tribune’s Rick Pearson wrote, Pence contended in his address that Biden considers America to be “systemically racist and that law enforcement in America has and I quote, ‘an implicit bias’ against minorities,” while wanting to defund police, something the former vice president has denied.
“The hard truth is, you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America,” Pence said. “Under President Trump, we will always stand with those who stand on the Thin Blue Line, and we’re not going to defund the police — not now, not ever.”
Biden made the rounds on cable news shows today, firing back at Pence’s criticism while offering a preemptive strike to Trump’s expected attack, saying on MSNBC: “The problem we have right now is we’re in Donald Trump’s America.”
Biden also said if he were president he would have traveled to Kenosha — a not-so-subtle dig at Trump, who has not discussed the incident. Meantime, Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, delivered a stinging assessment of Trump’s response to COVID-19 during an afternoon address. Read more here.
It’s all a windup to tonight’s Republican convention finale: Trump’s prime-time address on the White House South Lawn tonight, a setting that has raised eyebrows among critics who call it ethically questionable to be using the People’s House for campaign purposes. While Trump has centered his recent campaign speech on anarchists that he depicts overrunning city streets, aides signaled that tonight’s remarks will not be as dark as his infamous “American carnage” inaugural address. Read the full AP story here.
For a list of tonight’s scheduled speakers, and how to watch the Republican National Convention, click here.
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Private Wisconsin college cancels Pence commencement speech, citing Kenosha unrest — though many students objected to visit: Read the Associated Press story here.
In this photo taken May 24, 2007, Donald Trump is profiled against his 92-story Trump International Hotel & Tower during a news conference on construction progress in Chicago. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)
“According to a recent court filing in New York from the state’s attorney general, Trump’s lender on a high-interest $150 million loan on his Chicago Trump Tower property, Fortress Credit Corp., made a 2012 deal to accept a $48 million payoff — in essence, forgiving more than $102 million in debt. And, as such, whether the $100-plus million should have in turn be declared as taxable income,” the Tribune’s David Heinzmann reports.
“New York Attorney General Letitia James included the allegation in the Monday filing as she seeks to compel the Trump Organization, and the president’s son Eric to provide records and testimony regarding the organization’s tax maneuvering on Chicago and three other properties,” Heinzmann writes.
Reminder, courtesy of the Washington Post: “Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. (D) is separately looking into payoffs made in 2016 to women who alleged they had affairs with Trump — and Vance’s recent filings suggest that his probe may have expanded to cover other financial dealings at the company”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg, who has had a front-row seat to battles over access to Trump’s tax and business records from his perch on both the House Oversight and Intelligence committees, said the New York allegations raise a number of concerns, including the message it sends to the public.
“(I)f the president of the United States is not paying taxes on forgiven debt, the average taxpayer may be asking, ‘Why should I?’”
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But his biggest concern is the counterintelligence issues raised by the allegations.
“The moment I saw this particular issue, it raised in my mind: Who knows the truth of this particular transaction? Does one of our foreign adversaries? Because if they do, and you and I do not, they can use that as leverage. That’s what the Russians call kompromat,” Krishnamoorthi said. “There’s always that lurking suspicion about who is actually behind this, and what did they get in return for the forgiveness? They don’t do this as charity … and that further raises the question of what do Donald Trump and the Trump Organization owe to these people?” Read the full story here.
The legislation does not include a guarantee that Exelon would keep open the money-losing plants at Byron, above in 2012, the Quad Cities and Clinton. (Chris Sweda, Chicago Tribune)
From Crain’s: “Exelon announced it’s closing two of the five nuclear stations that serve the Chicago area.”
Data points on tax, job losses in the state: Per Steve Daniels’ piece in Crain’s, “The two plants employ more than 1,500 and pay more than $63 million in local taxes, the company said.” Read the full story here.
Perspective: Apparently trying to lean on Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the company said, “The two plants supply 30 percent of Illinois’ carbon-free energy and are essential to meeting the state’s goal to achieve 100 percent clean energy.”
Daniels notes in his piece: “Pritzker just last Friday attempted to restart discussions around comprehensive energy legislation that had been derailed with the July admissions by Exelon-owned Commonwealth Edison of paying off friends and allies of House Speaker Michael Madigan over the year in order to win favorable legislation.”
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Elected leaders say they’re rolling up their sleeves to figure out a way to keep the power plants operating.
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat, said he will look into legislative options requiring power plants be put up for sale before they can be mothballed.
“Independent market monitors believe these plants can be profitable. I intend to look into legislative options including requiring these plants be put up for sale before they can be shuttered. We owe it to these workers and communities to see if someone else can successfully run these assets.”
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--Kyle Rittenhouse charged with first-degree intentional homicide in Kenosha shootings that killed 2

One of the men killed was identified by his girlfriend Wednesday night as Anthony Huber .
Police have indicated he @ @ @ @ @ lived in Silver Lake , just west of Kenosha .
The other man killed was @ @ @ @ @ of Kenosha , according to the Associated Press .
A third person from the Milwaukee @ @ @ @ @ to survive .

From left, Matt Muchowski, Vance Wyatt, and Donald Blake hold signs outside the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan on Sept. 25, 2020. Kyle Rittenhouse, accused of killing two protesters days after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wis., faces a hearing to return him to Wisconsin to face trial on homicide charges that could put him in prison for life. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Wisconsin prosecutors have charged Lake County teenager Kyle Rittenhouse with murder and a host of other offenses in a court filing accusing him of fatally shooting two people and wounding a third during violent demonstrations over Sunday’s police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha.
The charges Kenosha County prosecutors filed Thursday evening accuse the 17-year-old from Antioch of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.
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[ Kyle Rittenhouse to stay in Illinois another 30 days as his family seeks private lawyer ]
An intentional homicide charge amounts to a first-degree murder charge in Illinois. The reckless homicide charge amounts to a second-degree murder charge here. If convicted of the first-degree intentional homicide charge as an adult, Rittenhouse could face a life sentence. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.
The shootings came Tuesday night as civilians armed with rifles inserted themselves into violent demonstrations that raged for three nights in the city just over the Wisconsin border. The protests, clashes with police and fires followed an officer’s shooting of Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, who according to a video appeared to have had his back turned to the cop who fired.
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Rittenhouse was arrested as a fugitive Wednesday in Lake County. He is charged in Wisconsin as an adult. A judge ordered him held without bail at the Lake County juvenile detention facility. A court hearing is scheduled for Friday on whether to extradite him to Wisconsin.
[ Fledgling militia group put out call to arms in Kenosha and 5,000 people responded. Now it’s banned from Facebook after fatal shootings during protests. ]
Records show Rittenhouse has worked as a YMCA lifeguard. His social media postings show that he idolizes police and has participated in programs for aspiring cops.
Lake County Public Defender Joy Gossman, whose office is representing Rittenhouse in the extradition matter, declined to comment.
Numerous video clips posted online appear to show Rittenhouse at the scene Tuesday night with a rifle, including several that show shootings and their aftermaths. The videos also indicated that he approached police before the shootings despite being out past curfew and a year too young to carry a gun openly in Wisconsin.
Those videos, along with interviews by Kenosha detectives, are the backbone of the complaint against him.
Rittenhouse came to the demonstrations with a Smith & Wesson AR-15-style .223 caliber rifle with a 30-round magazine, the charges allege.
[ What we know so far about Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old accused of murder after fatal Kenosha protest shootings ]
Video showed Rittenhouse running across the parking lot of an auto lot where cars had previously been burned, trailed by Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, prosecutors wrote. Behind Rosenbaum was Richard McGinniss, a videographer at the Daily Caller, a conservative website.
Video showed Rosenbaum seemingly throwing something at Rittenhouse, and investigators later determined it was a plastic bag, prosecutors wrote. Rittenhouse was not hit. Prosecutors wrote that McGinniss told police that “as the defendant was walking, Rosenbaum was trying to get closer to the defendant. When Rosenbaum advanced, the defendant did a ’juke’ move and started running.”
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Prosecutors wrote that as Rosenbaum and Rittenhouse approached a black car, a loud bang was heard and a male shouted, “F--k you!” As the men were close to one another, four loud bangs sounded and Rosenbaum fell, prosecutors said. McGinniss told police Rosenbaum had tried to grab the gun, prosecutors wrote.
Rittenhouse approached Rosenbaum on the ground, and McGinniss took off his shirt and tried to give the wounded man aid, prosecutors wrote. Rittenhouse got on his cellphone, made a call, and audio from one of the videos caught him saying, “I just killed somebody,” the complaint alleges. Investigators learned that call was to a friend, prosecutors wrote.
An autopsy showed Rosenbaum had gunshot wounds to the groin, back, hand and thigh, as well as a graze wound to the forehead, prosecutors wrote. The charge of first-degree reckless homicide stems from that shooting. He is charged with recklessly endangering McGinniss’s safety.
Prosecutors wrote that video shows that after that shooting, Rittenhouse ran north on Sheridan Road with people in pursuit, with some yelling things such as “Hey, he shot him!” and “Get that dude!” Someone knocked his hat off before he tripped and fell to the ground, prosecutors wrote.
An unidentified man jumped at Rittenhouse, and he fired at the man from the ground, apparently missing him, prosecutors alleged.
A man carrying a skateboard and later identified as Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake then approached Rittenhouse as he was still on his back, prosecutors wrote. Huber reached for the gun as the skateboard hit Rittenhouse’s shoulder before the alleged gunman fired one shot, and Huber staggered away and collapsed, prosecutors wrote.
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The autopsy showed the bullet hit Huber’s heart, prosecutors alleged. Huber’s death is the source of the murder charge.
Prosecutors wrote that he then shot a third man who was approaching him, identified as Gaige Grosskreutz of West Allis. Video showed that Grosskreutz appeared to be holding a handgun, prosecutors wrote. Wisconsin court records do not indicate that Grosskreutz has been charged with any crime. Grosskreutz was hit in the arm and walked off, screaming for a medic, the complaint alleges. That is the source of the attempted murder charge.
The gun charge Rittenhouse faces is a misdemeanor.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 95 Madison Taft and Black Lives Matter activists march through a Kenosha neighborhood Jan. 5, 2021, after news that no charges will be issued against the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Along with Rittenhouse’s arrest on Wednesday, Wisconsin authorities identified the officer who shot Blake seven times as Rusten Sheskey, a seven-year veteran of the Kenosha Police Department.
The police shooting came about 5 p.m. Sunday after Kenosha officers responded to a call from a woman who reported that her boyfriend was present but not supposed to be there, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice. At the scene, officers unsuccessfully used a Taser, the state Justice Department said in a news release.
In footage shared online, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of an SUV to the driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns pointed. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and appears to open fire while Blake has his back turned.
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The state Justice Department wrote that a knife was recovered from the driver-side floorboard of the vehicle. The department wrote in a statement that, “Mr. Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession.” It was not clear from the statement whether officers believed the knife posed any threat to officers or anyone else.
Blake’s lawyers and family said Tuesday that he is paralyzed from the waist down and may never walk again. The family has called for peaceful protests.
Blake has been handcuffed to his hospital bed during his entire stay since he was shot by Kenosha police on Sunday, his uncle Justin Blake said to the Pioneer Press. The story was first reported in the Sun-Times.
“Get those damn handcuffs off my nephew,” Justin Blake said. “Where is a paralyzed person going to go? Are you serious?”
Asked for confirmation, Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. David Wright replied:
“I can tell you that Jacob Blake is in custody on felony warrants for prior crimes he committed before the shooting incident. This is how any person with that classification level would be treated while in custody.”
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When Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers was asked at a news conference Thursday if he was concerned about the report, he said: “Hell yes. I would have no personal understanding why that would be necessary. Certainly he’s paid a horrific price already being shot seven or eight times in the back. So I can’t imagine why that’s happening.”
Justin Blake said he’s headed to Washington, D.C., on Friday with his brother, Jacob Blake’s father, also named Jacob Blake. They were invited by the/ Rev. Al Sharpton and plan to march there in support of the younger Jacob Blake.
Julia Jackson, the younger Jacob Blake’s mom, will stay with him at the hospital, Justin Blake said.
A Blake Family March is planned in Kenosha at 2 p.m. Saturday, Justin Blake said, and they have chartered 10 buses to bring family and friends north from Evanston and Chicago. The march will kick off at the Boys and Girls Club on 52nd Street in Kenosha.
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After three nights of violent demonstrations, looting and fires, Kenosha’s streets were relatively calm Wednesday night. Local authorities moved up their nightly curfew by an hour to 7 p.m., though protesters ignored it even as they remained generally peaceful.
Meanwhile, Thursday evening in Illinois, a few hundred people marched through downtown Evanston to call attention to the shooting of Blake.
The crowd began gathering around 6:30 p.m. for a demonstration that saw marchers carrying signs and chanting as they made their way through the streets. They eventually ended at the Evanston Police Department, where organizers made remarks and called for the defunding of police.
A marcher with a megaphone called out, “Jacob Blake Matters,” and the crowd repeated the phrase.
Danielle Bridges, who grew up in Evanston and now lives in Chicago, said she felt personally compelled to attend the evening’s march.
“I can’t sit at home and ponder on this, I had to do something. I had to be out with people and understand what’s going on, and commune with them and make our voices heard,” Bridges said.
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The event was peaceful, and police officers were on hand to close local streets for marchers, according to a tweet from Evanston police.
Blake lived in Evanston for years and attended Evanston Township High School. He is part of a family with deep ties to the community. His grandfather, also named Jacob Blake, was a pastor at the historic Ebenezer AME Church in Evanston and was active in the civil rights movement and a push for affordable housing in town.
Chicago Tribune reporters Javonte Anderson, Christy Gutowski, John Keilman, Robert McCoppin, Stacy St. Clair and Alice Yin. Pioneer Press’ Genevieve Bookwalter, freelance reporter Brian L. Cox and the Associated Press also contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--Watch live: Wisconsin governor, state officials hold press conference in Kenosha

Wisconsin Gov .
Tony Evers , Lt. Gov .
Mandela Barnes and Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp of the Wisconsin National @ @ @ @ @ conference in Kenosha at 5 p.m. CDT .
Get the latest update here .

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chicagotribune--2020-08-27--Column: Chicago architects name interim director after former head exits without explanation

As of 4:30 p.m. Thursday , the petition had nearly 280 signatures , including those of such prominent Chicago architects @ @ @ @ @ Ross Barney and John Vinci .
“ Zurich is like our statesman , building bridges @ @ @ @ @ civic groups and dramatically raising the organization ’ s visibility and stature , ” the @ @ @

Two weeks after abruptly announcing that its longtime executive vice president was out, the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects named a veteran Chicago architect as his interim replacement.
On Aug. 13, the chapter’s board of directors notified its members via email that Executive Vice Pesident Zurich Esposito, “is no longer with” the organization. The board offered no explanation for Esposito’s departure.
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Instead, it simply said: “We thank Zurich for his 14 years of service to the organization and the architecture and design community.”
Since the announcement, several prominent Chicago architects have defended Esposito. Some have started a petition demanding he be reinstated. Esposito was made an honorary member of the AIA in 2018.
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As of 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the petition had nearly 280 signatures, including those of such prominent Chicago architects as Jim Goettsch, Carol Ross Barney and John Vinci. “Zurich is like our statesman, building bridges with various government agencies and civic groups and dramatically raising the organization’s visibility and stature,” the document said.
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
The Chicago chapter is one of the largest AIA organizations in the United States, with close to 4,000 members.
John Syvertsen, FAIA, has accepted the position as Interim Executive Vice President of AIA Chicago. (AIA Chicago)
In an email to its members Wednesday night, the chapter named John Syvertsen as interim executive vice president and said he would lead the organization until a permanent replacement is found.
Syvertsen is a former president of the architectural firm formerly known as OWP&P. In 2019, he received the Chicago chapter’s lifetime achievement award.
The organization called Syvertsen a visionary leader, and reiterated that it would not explain Esposito’s exit, saying: “Out of respect for all parties, additional details will not be shared.”
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--United Airlines plans to furlough 2,850 pilots after Oct. 1 without more federal relief

Earlier this week , American Airlines said it will have 40,000 fewer workers this fall , including about 19,000 who @ @ @ @ @ off .
The airline said 23,500 took buyouts , retired early , or volunteered for @ @ @ @ @ but it wasn ’ t enough to avoid cuts without more federal aid .

Terminal 1 at O'Hare International Airport is pictured on July 8, 2020, in Chicago. United Airlines is warning of pilot furloughs unless it receives more federal aid. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
United Airlines will furlough 2,850 pilots this fall as it faces a sharp decline in travel because of the coronavirus pandemic.
While Chicago-based United still hopes furloughs can be avoided if the federal government gives airlines additional funding to help cover labor costs, “we need to prepare and plan for the future should an extension not be granted,” Bryan Quigley, senior vice president of flight operations, said in a message to pilots Thursday.
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Airlines received billions in financial assistance through the federal coronavirus aid package this spring, and in exchange agreed to avoid layoffs before Oct. 1. Though airlines, including United, encouraged employees to retire early or volunteer for leaves of absence, some say they have not been able to avoid involuntary cuts.
Nearly 1,750 of United’s 13,000 pilots will be furloughed indefinitely Oct. 1 with the opportunity to come back if business allows, according to the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents United’s pilots. Another 572 will be furloughed at the end of October and 531 on Nov. 30.
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About 450 pilots opted for the early out program, a form of early retirement that allows them to receive reduced pay for a limited time period until they fully retire, according to the pilots’ union.
“Our ongoing efforts on Capitol Hill, and with management, have never let up and are made more urgent with today’s announcement,” union leaders said in a memo to pilots Thursday.
United has not said how many other employees will face involuntary furloughs, but warned 36,000 their jobs were at risk earlier this summer. Only 2,250 pilots got layoff warnings at the time.
U.S. air travel remains down roughly 70% from where it was a year ago, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
Earlier this week, American Airlines said it will have 40,000 fewer workers this fall, including about 19,000 who were involuntarily furloughed or laid off. The airline said 23,500 took buyouts, retired early, or volunteered for a leave of absence, but it wasn’t enough to avoid cuts without more federal aid.
Delta Air Lines also said it will furlough 1,941 pilots in October unless it can reach an agreement with the union to reduce costs.
Southwest Airlines said last month that it expects to avoid furloughs or layoffs through the end of the year after 16,900 employees took voluntary extended time off or left the company, but “will continue to plan for multiple weak scenarios and maintain our preparedness.”
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--Mayor Lori Lightfoot puts out request to gambling operators for possible Chicago casino

“ After securing favorable legislation that had eluded us for decades , Chicago can finally pursue a once in a @ @ @ @ @ casino to our city , generating hundreds of millions in new gaming revenues to shore @ @ @ @ @ pension obligations and drive huge levels of infrastructure funding in Illinois as well as creating @ @ @ @ @ needed jobs for local residents , ” Lightfoot said Thursday .

The former U.S. Steel South Works property is a possible site for a casino in Chicago. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday took the next step in the push for a Chicago casino, putting out a request for gambling operators and real estate developers to submit plans about how they would build and run what is expected to be a gigantic betting parlor in the city.
The request for information from the operators was the expected next step after Springfield lawmakers came through with the changes to the casino tax structure the mayor wanted to the legislation that allowed a gambling hall in the city.
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“After securing favorable legislation that had eluded us for decades, Chicago can finally pursue a once in a generation opportunity to bring a casino to our city, generating hundreds of millions in new gaming revenues to shore up the City’s pension obligations and drive huge levels of infrastructure funding in Illinois as well as creating thousands of new and much needed jobs for local residents,” Lightfoot said Thursday.
The request for information asks applicants to talk about their thoughts on operating a temporary casino while a permanent one is under construction, and asks them to weigh in on what factors the city should prioritize for the location of the casino, including how many acres of land will be required.
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It also asks about additional tourist amenities, and what impact the COVID-19 pandemic likely will have on the development of the casino.
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After legislators approved the Chicago license in 2019, Lightfoot said she would have preferred a city-owned casino but cast the legislation as a win after decades of inaction in Springfield.
A report that summer by a gambling consultant — required in the legislation at the city’s request — threw cold water on the plan.
Lightfoot has previously floated five possible locations — a parcel near the Harborside golf course at 111th Street and the Bishop Ford Freeway; the former Michael Reese Hospital site at 31st Street and Cottage Grove Avenue; a site near Guaranteed Rate Field at Pershing Road and State Street; the former U.S. Steel parcel, known as South Works, between 79th and 91st streets along South Lake Shore Drive; and the lone West Side site, at Roosevelt Road and Kostner Avenue.
A subsequent study found that the original tax structure was “very onerous” and that the five sites the Lightfoot administration identified on the South and West sides weren’t viable because they wouldn’t attract enough tourists, leading to low single-digit profit margins, at best, for any operator.
The casino study pointed to the merits of a downtown location close to hotels and other attractions, instead of in outlying neighborhoods that out-of-towners with money to spend might deem unsafe.
But backing a mega-casino and entertainment complex in the touristy part of the city would be particularly tricky for Lightfoot, who ran for mayor promising to turn City Hall’s focus to helping struggling Chicagoans after her predecessor, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, was seen as favoring the wealthier parts of town.
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jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--West suburban highway boss charged in $280,000 kickback scheme involving excavation company that did

West suburban highway boss charged in $280,000 kickback scheme involving excavation company that did little work

Czernek , a Republican , is in his second elected term as highway commissioner after being appointed to the post @ @ @ @ @ .
In June , he reported spending $ 8,500 from his campaign — nearly all @ @ @ @ @ coffers at the time — in legal fees to Monico ’ s law firm , @ @ @ @ @

The elected head of the Bloomingdale Township highway commission has been charged in federal court in Chicago with taking $280,000 in kickbacks from the owner of an excavation company in exchange for approving road contracts for road work that in most cases was never performed.
Robert Czernek was charged in a 20-count indictment made public Thursday with taking the kickbacks from Debra Fazio, owner of Bloomingdale-based Bulldog Earth Movers Inc., over a period of more than eight years.
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In exchange, Czernek used his official position to approve more than $700,000 in payments for stone delivery, dump leveling, and storm sewer invoices submitted by Fazio’s company to Bloomingdale Township, according to the indictment.
Czernek approved the invoices knowing that much of the work and services had not actually been performed, the indictment states.
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Also accused of participating in the scheme was longtime Bulldog employee Mario Giannini.
According to the indictment, Czernek concealed the fraud by leaving handwritten notes for Giannini in various secluded places on Bloomingdale Township Highway Department property.
The notes included a description of the work and number of hours purportedly spent by Bulldog on various projects. Fazio later submitted invoices to the township that repeated Czernek’s notes word for word, according to the charges.
Reached by phone Thursday, Czernek’s lawyer, Michael Monico, said Czernek is a “hardworking man, a good family man” and that he expects the case to be resolved short of trial. Monico would not say whether Czernek is cooperating with the investigation.
The indictment comes seven months after the Daily Herald reported the FBI had raided the Bloomingdale Township Highway Department offices seeking financial records pertaining to vendors.
Czernek, 69, Fazio, 63, and Giannini, 58, all of Bloomingdale, were each charged with 14 counts of honest services wire fraud. Fazio is also charged with six counts of money laundering.
The charges carry up to 20 years in prison. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of Czernek’s 1981 Corvette and 2014 Lexus RX 350 and wheel loader, grader and other pieces of large excavation equipment purchased by Bulldog during the scheme.
Czernek, a Republican, is in his second elected term as highway commissioner after being appointed to the post as acting commissioner in 2012. In June, he reported spending $8,500 from his campaign — nearly all the money in his committee coffers at the time — in legal fees to Monico’s law firm, Illinois election records show.
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Bulldog also made two donations totaling $1,700 to Czernek’s campaign fund in 2016 and 2017, records show.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 24 new deaths, 1,707 new confirmed cases and 44,510 new test resu

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 24 new deaths, 1,707 new confirmed cases and 44,510 new test results

Illinois announced 1,707 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Thursday for a total of 227,334 .
The state also announced 24 @ @ @ @ @ of 7,977 and 44,510 new test results for a total of 3.88 million .

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--2020-08-27--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da

COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area

Among the metrics ( see below ) tracked under guidelines set by Gov .
J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of @ @ @ @ @ , the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses , and the capacity of hospitals @ @ @ @ @ state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics @

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.
To assess how different parts of Illinois are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, officials look at the state through the 11 regions of Emergency Medical Services. The city of Chicago is one region, for example, and the rest of Cook County is another.
Among the metrics (see below) tracked under guidelines set by Gov. J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of coronavirus tests that return positive, the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses, and the capacity of hospitals to take in new patients.The state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics. (Cases, deaths and tests data is as of Dec. 31).
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus.
• Other Chicago, suburbs and Illinois COVID-19 metrics.
• See how the governor’s plan to manage the regions works.
Source: Illinois Department of Public Health
Created by the Chicago Tribune dataviz team. On Twitter @chitribgraphics


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--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--2020-08-27--Derecho uproots dozens of trees at Graceland Cemetery

Graceland , located in Uptown and long known for its natural landscape and historical monuments , closed Aug. 10 after @ @ @ @ @ as high as 130 miles per hour shifted some memorials and uprooted about 40 trees @ @ @ @ @ anticipates more than 200 trees will be removed .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 7 A large tree lies on the ground and on some monuments in Graceland Cemetery and Arboretum, shown Aug. 18, 2020, after a derecho hit the cemetery earlier in the month. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Graceland, located in Uptown and long known for its natural landscape and historical monuments, closed Aug. 10 after a derecho with wind gusts as high as 130 miles per hour shifted some memorials and uprooted about 40 trees within minutes. The staff anticipates more than 200 trees will be removed.


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--Private Wisconsin college cancels Mike Pence commencement speech, citing Kenosha unrest, though many

Private Wisconsin college cancels Mike Pence commencement speech, citing Kenosha unrest, though many students objected to visit

Kenosha police shot Blake seven times in the back on Sunday evening , minutes after responding to a domestic incident @ @ @ @ @ paralyzed from the waist down , and the shooting sparked several nights of protests and @ @ @ @ @ , authorities allege that Kyle Rittenhouse , a 17-year-old police admirer from nearby Antioch , @ @ @ @ @ two protesters and wounded a third .

Madison Taft and Black Lives Matter activists march through a Kenosha neighborhood Jan. 5, 2021, after news that no charges will be issued against the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
MADISON, Wis. — A private Milwaukee college has canceled plans to have Vice President Mike Pence deliver a commencement address this weekend, citing unrest in nearby Kenosha where police shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, and two people were killed during protests that followed.
Wisconsin Lutheran College said Thursday that “after further review with careful consideration of the escalating events in Kenosha,” it decided to not have Pence deliver the speech.
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The vice president will be replaced by the Rev. Mark Jeske, of St. Marcus Lutheran Church.
Kenosha police shot Blake seven times in the back on Sunday evening, minutes after responding to a domestic incident. Blake survived but is paralyzed from the waist down, and the shooting sparked several nights of protests and violence. On Tuesday night, authorities allege that Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old police admirer from nearby Antioch, Illinois, shot and killed two protesters and wounded a third.
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Pence was scheduled to deliver his speech outside at the private college, which has about 1,200 students and is about 40 miles from Kenosha.
More than 270 students and alumni signed an open letter posted online objecting to the visit, which was announced prior to the violence in Kenosha.


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--McCormick Place loses its largest 2021 convention so far as coronavirus cancellations creep into nex

McCormick Place loses its largest 2021 convention so far as coronavirus cancellations creep into next year

Since March , 150 McCormick Place trade shows have been scrapped because of the coronavirus .
Those shows were expected @ @ @ @ @ 2 billion , including spending at hotels , restaurants , transportation options and entertainment , @ @ @ @ @ % of canceled shows this year have rescheduled for future dates , she said .

McCormick Place, which is usually busy and full of people, is quiet and largely empty, as several conventions have been canceled, due to the coronavirus, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Dental Society has canceled its annual February meeting at McCormick Place and will move the event online, in a sign that the coronavirus’s toll on the city’s tourism industry will stretch into next year.
The dental meeting is the largest by attendance of five 2021 events that have been canceled, McCormick Place spokeswoman Cynthia McCafferty said in an email.
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The meeting, which was scheduled for Feb. 25-27, was expected to bring 29,936 attendees and account for 17,305 hotel room nights, McCafferty said.
Since March, 150 McCormick Place trade shows have been scrapped because of the coronavirus. Those shows were expected to generate more than $2 billion, including spending at hotels, restaurants, transportation options and entertainment, McCafferty said. About 60% of canceled shows this year have rescheduled for future dates, she said.
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In a news release, Dr. Dean P. Nicholas, president-elect of the Chicago Dental Society, said it was “difficult to predict whether a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 will be widely available.”
Under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s five-phase reopening plan, large events like conventions can resume once there is a vaccine or an effective treatment for COVID-19.
Some hotels and city attractions, struggling with fewer tourists and revenue losses, are considering winding down their operations early this year.
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @abdel1019


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--Longtime Whiting Mayor Joseph Stahura charged with wire, tax fraud

“ I care deeply about our family and do not hesitate to help when they need it .
All I @ @ @ @ @ is that I used some funds from my campaign account for personal use .
I @ @ @ @ @ ( but ) the circumstances have resulted in wire fraud and income tax violations , @ @ @ @ @ statement .

Whiting Mayor Joe Stahura, pictured in October 2016, has been charged with wire fraud and filing a false income tax return. (Mark Davis / Post-Tribune)
Whiting Mayor Joseph Stahura has been charged with wire fraud and filing a false income tax return, officials announced Thursday, pointing to multiple occasions since 2014 that he and his wife withdrew money from his campaign account and gambled at a casino the same day.
Joseph Stahura, 64, entered into a plea agreement indicating he’d plead guilty to both charges, according to a statement from United States Attorney Thomas Kirsch II. His wife, Diane Stahura, 64, entered into a separate agreement acknowledging that prosecutors have enough evidence to charge her with wire fraud, according to the statement.
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Joseph Stahura, who has served as an elected official for 35 years and mayor since 2004, “illegally used his campaign funds for personal activities and expenditures and lied about it on his publicly filed campaign reports and tax returns,” for more than 5 years, Kirsch said in the statement.
According to court documents, he faces as much as 23 years in prison.
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Whiting Mayor Joe Stahura, center, along with mayors from across the state sing karaoke at the 2016 Pierogi Fest. (Jim Karczewski, Post-Tribune)
“Today’s charges and guilty plea are another black eye for Northwest Indiana,” Kirsch said. “While most elected officials serve the public professionally and honestly, some do not. Those who seek illegal personal gain by virtue of their public office will be held accountable.”
From February 2014 through 2019, the couple used approximately $255,000 of the funds in the “Committee to Elect Joe Stahura” to pay for personal expenditures, incuding gambling, paying credit card debt and financially supporting an adult daughter, according to a release.
The couple held fundraising events and sought donations from people and businesses to raise money that Diane Stahura would later be transferred to their personal bank account, according to the statement.
After withdrawing the funds from their personal bank accounts, the couple – either individually or together – would go gamble at a casino the same day, according to court records. They would go to casinos in Indiana, and as far as Iowa and Michigan, according to court records.
For example, on Dec. 24, 2014, Diane Stahura transferred $1,500 from the Committee to Elect Joe Stahura’s bank account to their personal bank account and gambled at a casino the same day, according to court records. On March 29, 2016, $503.95 was withdrawn from the account at an ATM in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and on that day Joseph Stahura gambled at a casino, according to court records.
Other times, the transfers were used to pay personal credit card debt – like a June 9, 2014, transfer of $9,002.03 from the campaign account to their personal account to pay Citicards debt, according to court records.
The couple would also transfer money or write checks for their daughter, according to court records, like a Feb. 5, 2019, transfer of $1,000 from the campaign account to their daughter’s account.
Between 2014 and 2019, Stahura filled out campaign reports “with false and misleading information and by omitting material information from the reports,” according to the release.
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In April 2019, Stahura filed a false tax return by listing his gross income without adding the amount stolen from his campaign account in 2018, which was approximately $51,480, according to the statement. On the same campaign account, he overstated the “loan repayment amount” to his campaign by approximately $40,000, according to the statement.
Indiana campaign finance law states that candidates could not use committee money for a primarily personal purpose or mix personal funds with campaign funds, according to the statement.
In a statement, Stahura said “transparency and honesty are the foundation of public leadership” and that he “take(s) pride in supporting Region businesses and Casinos.”
In the statement – addressed to residents, colleagues and friends – Stahura said he accepted a plea agreement “related to the misuse of campaign funds and the related tax consequences.”
“I care deeply about our family and do not hesitate to help when they need it. All I can say at this time is that I used some funds from my campaign account for personal use. I routinely paid it back, (but) the circumstances have resulted in wire fraud and income tax violations,” he said in the statement.
He apologized in the statement and said he is “prepared to take responsibility” for his actions, and assured residents that “no city money was ever touched.”
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He said that he will resign as mayor “in the coming days.”
“Thank you for all your support over the years – it has been my honor to serve the public, and ultimately the decision to accept the plea agreement is in the best interest of my family and the citizens of Whiting,” he said in the statement.
Lake County Democratic Party Chairman James Wieser said he was upset to hear about the charges against the Whiting mayor.
“I’m almost at a loss for words. I’ve known Joe for a long time ... and he’s been an absolutely outstanding mayor,” Wieser said. “To hear the problems and difficulties he’s had personally, it just sadness me. I don’t justify it or condone it, I’m just sad.”
In the years Wieser has known Stahura, there was “never a hint of wrongdoing” around him, and he was always praised for doing an excellent job as mayor. Stahura helped renovate Whiting, like Oil City Stadium and along the lakefront, Wieser said.
“What he’s done for that city is unparalleled ... and it’s so sad that won’t be his legacy,” Wieser said. “Instead, his legacy is that he’s been convicted.”
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If the court accepts Stahura’s plea agreement, any prison sentence and restitution will be set by a judge.
The case has been assigned to Judge James T. Moody, who on Aug. 5 resentenced former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich to more than 12 years in federal prison on public corruption charges.


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--Woman gets 6 years for driving off an unfinished highway bridge in Champaign

“ Imprisonment is necessary for the protection of the public , ” Holliman said .
“ This happened on a @ @ @ @ @ in the community and others passing through the community at risk .
”

URBANA, Ill. — A central Illinois woman who admitted being drunk when she drove off an unfinished bridge onto a highway, seriously injuring a man, has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Ashia Marshall, 30, wept in court Wednesday as she expressed remorse for what she called the “most disastrous and humiliating time in my life,” the Champaign News-Gazette reported.
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The Champaign woman had pleaded guilty in June to aggravated driving under the influence in the September 2019, crash in Champaign.
Assistant State’s Attorney Brooke Hinman said Marshall drove through construction barriers onto a bridge being rebuilt over Interstate 57 before her car vaulted down the embankment onto the highway’s west side. It was stopped by a concrete barrier before entering I-57′s southbound lanes.
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Both of the two men who were passengers in Marshall’s car were injured, and one of them suffered chest injuries, a collapsed lung and a damaged kidney.
Marshall's blood-alcohol content was 0.225, almost three times the limit at which an Illinois motorist is presumed intoxicated.
Champaign County Circuit Court Judge Ronda Holliman said Marshall, a single mother of two, has known for almost a decade that she needs medication for mental health issues, but instead “she self-medicated with alcohol and drugs.”
“Imprisonment is necessary for the protection of the public,” Holliman said. “This happened on a major highway and put others in the community and others passing through the community at risk.”


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--A peaceful night in Kenosha, and a tribute to one of those killed during violent unrest earlier in w

A peaceful night in Kenosha, and a tribute to one of those killed during violent unrest earlier in week: ‘Anthony Huber is a hero’

Another GoFundMe page set up by Huber ’ s family said he was “ gunned down in the streets of @ @ @ @ @ a cause he firmly believed in .
He was witty and a very awesome skateboarder @ @ @ @ @ a cause and he wasn ’ t a rioter , he was a protester and @ @ @ @ @ all he could to have people ( accept ) him for who he was and @ @ @ @ @ best for him .
”

Madison Taft and Black Lives Matter activists march through a Kenosha neighborhood Jan. 5, 2021, after news that no charges will be issued against the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
As the first peaceful night of protests in Kenosha was drawing to a close Wednesday, a group of demonstrators gathered for a moment of silence near the spot where one of two men were gunned down earlier in the week, allegedly by an armed vigilante.
“Anthony Huber is one of the most amazing people to walk this (profanity) Earth,” his girlfriend Hannah Gittings told the crowd, nearly crumpling to the ground as she spoke.
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She and other friends of Huber said he was killed when he confronted a gunman with his skateboard during violent demonstrations Tuesday night. Another man was also killed and a third was wounded.
“He took down an armed gunman with nothing but his (profanity) skateboard,” Gittings said.
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Earlier in the day at Basik Skate Park, friends and skaters chalked messages on the ramps paying homage to Huber, who was a respected skateboarder in their circle.
“Anthony Huber is a hero,” one message read.
Activists hold a moment of silence, Aug. 26, 2020, for the two people killed the previous night by gunfire during a demonstration to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Police have not released details of how Huber and the other two were shot. They have so far charged a 17-year-old from Antioch with murder in connection with the shootings, which occurred on the third straight night of violent protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Witness accounts and video indicate the gunman first shot someone at a car lot just before midnight, then jogged away, fell in the street, and opened fire again as members of the crowd closed in on him.
“I just killed somebody,” the gunman, carrying a semi-automatic rifle, could be heard saying at one point.
On a GoFundMe page she has set up, Gittings said that Huber “selflessly tried to aid in taking down an attacker when he was gunned down. … Anthony decided to use his voice and stand up for a cause that meant something.”
Another GoFundMe page set up by Huber’s family said he was “gunned down in the streets of Kenosha while he was defending a cause he firmly believed in. He was witty and a very awesome skateboarder. He was fighting for a cause and he wasn’t a rioter, he was a protester and a defender. He did all he could to have people (accept) him for who he was and we all only wanted the best for him.”
Gittings said Huber had a stepdaughter.
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After the vigil for Huber, a man led marchers away. “Where you going?” someone asked as they stood at 64th Street and Sheridan Road. “Waking up the rich white people!” he said. The crowd followed him east.
“Out of your house, into the streets,” the protesters repeated while a car caravan honked behind them at 68th Street and 5th Avenue. The large houses on the block were largely dark and quiet.
Activists march through the streets of Kenosha on Aug. 26, 2020, to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, who was shot Sunday by a police officer. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
The protests late Wednesday and early Thursday were mostly peaceful, in contrast to the violent clashes that marked earlier nights of protests. There were no groups patrolling with long guns as they had on previous nights, and protesters stayed away from a courthouse that had been the site of standoffs with law enforcement.
In the wake of the killings, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers authorized the deployment of 500 members of the National Guard to Kenosha, doubling the number of troops in the city of 100,000 midway between Milwaukee and Chicago.
The governor's office said he was working with other states to bring in additional National Guard members and law officers. Authorities also announced a 7 p.m. curfew, though protesters ignored it again Wednesday.
Meanwhile, authorities released a few more details about the police shooting that sparked the unrest.
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Blake, 29, was shot in the back seven times by a Kenosha police office on Sunday as Blake leaned into his SUV, three of his children seated inside.
On Wednesday, three days after the shooting, state authorities identified the officer who shot Blake as Rusten Sheskey, a seven-year veteran of the Kenosha Police Department. Sheskey shot Blake while holding onto his shirt after officers first unsuccessfully used a Taser, the Wisconsin Justice Department said. State agents later recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard of the vehicle, the department said.
The man who said he made the widely circulated cellphone video of Blake’s shooting has said he heard officers yell, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” before the gunfire erupted. He said he didn’t see a knife in Blake’s hands.
State authorities did not say Blake threatened anyone with the knife.
The Associated Press contributed.
jaanderson@chicagotribune.com
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ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--Column: Jacob Blake, Kyle Rittenhouse and Kenosha’s vivid example of American racism

The fundamental unfairness of those linked tragedies in one Wisconsin city over the course of three days should be enough @ @ @ @ @ of white Americans to understand why people are marching to assert and rightfully demand that @ @ @ @ @ clear-as-glass unfairness of it all should be enough .

Madison Taft and Black Lives Matter activists march through a Kenosha neighborhood Jan. 5, 2021, after news that no charges will be issued against the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Jacob Blake didn’t kill anyone. He was shot seven times in the back by a police officer.
Kyle Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide following a shooting in Kenosha that left two protesters dead. He walked up to police officers after the shooting carrying an assault-style rifle and wasn’t even apprehended, much less shot.
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Blake is Black. Rittenhouse is white. That distills what’s happening in our convulsing nation down to its bare essence.
The fundamental unfairness of those linked tragedies in one Wisconsin city over the course of three days should be enough for even the most stubborn of white Americans to understand why people are marching to assert and rightfully demand that Black lives matter. The clear-as-glass unfairness of it all should be enough.
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It won’t be.
So I’m going to write some things I shouldn’t have to write:
I don’t believe a Black man should be shot seven times in the back by a cop. I don’t believe any person should be shot seven times in the back by a cop.
I don’t believe Jacob Blake would have been shot seven times in the back by a cop if he was a white man. Not a chance.
I don’t care if Jacob Blake had, as the Wisconsin Department of Justice reported Wednesday, a knife in his vehicle. Blake had opened the driver’s side door and was leaning in when the officer shot him seven times in the back. That’s neither self-defense nor justice — it’s nearly an execution.
If the person leaning into that vehicle was Kyle Rittenhouse and if the teenager had a knife in the vehicle, I don’t believe for a second that police officer would have shot him seven times in the back. If white people were honest with themselves, they would, to a person, agree.
I don’t believe a 17-year-old like Rittenhouse should have access to an assault-style rifle.
I don’t believe police officers should simply look the other way when they see a white person carrying an assault-style rifle in public.
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I don’t believe militias or hate groups should be able to use a social media platform such as Facebook to radicalize teenagers such as Rittenhouse. I don’t believe the American public has even begun to grasp the threat right-wing militias pose.
Activists place flowers at the scene where one of two people were killed the previous night by gunfire during a demonstration to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
I don’t believe peaceful protesters should be defined by the actions of those responsible for looting, setting fires and destroying property. I don’t believe President Donald Trump or his allies at Fox News will do a thing to make a distinction between the two, because they benefit from videos of looting and destruction.
As a white man, I don’t believe for a moment I can grasp what Black people in America are feeling right now.
I don’t believe I’ll ever worry about being shot by a police officer. I don’t believe I’ll ever worry about my children being shot by a police officer.
So I don’t believe it’s my place, in any way, shape or form, to weigh in on how Black people or people of color react after seeing Jacob Blake shot seven times in the back by a cop. Or after seeing George Floyd killed on the street under the knee of a white officer.
I don’t believe I’ll ever feel that fear or that anger or that helplessness. So I’m not about to tell fellow Americans whose experiences I can’t know how they should or shouldn’t protest. Or how their righteous anger should be expressed.
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I don’t believe white Americans should be doing anything but looking closely and honestly and humbly at the source of the pain and anger and frustration behind these protests, and trying to help find a solution.
I don’t believe what I’m writing here will change the minds or hearts of the subset of white America that snarls at Black Lives Matter protesters while shrugging off people like Rittenhouse as “a good kid who lost his way.”
I don’t believe I’ll stop trying.
I do believe Kyle Rittenhouse deserves a fair trial and a chance to defend himself.
I don’t believe those same rights were afforded Jacob Blake before a cop sentenced him to seven shots in the back.
And that, right there, is the horrible heart of the problem.
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rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-27--New York attorney general probes perplexing Trump Tower Chicago loan deal

“ The moment I saw this particular issue , it raised in my mind : Who knows the truth of @ @ @ @ @ one of our foreign adversaries ?
Because if they do , and you and I @ @ @ @ @ use that as leverage .
That ’ s what the Russians call kompromat , ” @ @ @ @ @ ’ s always that lurking suspicion about who is actually behind this , and what @ @ @ @ @ for the forgiveness ?
They don ’ t do this as charity … and that @ @ @ @ @ what do Donald Trump and the Trump Organization owe to these people ?
”

New York’s attorney general is trying to answer one of the most perplexing questions surrounding the troubled financing of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago: whether President Donald Trump failed to pay taxes on a $100 million loan deal related to the project.
According to a court filing, Trump’s lender on a high-interest $150 million loan on the Chicago property, Fortress Credit Corp., made a 2012 deal to accept a $48 million payoff — in essence, forgiving more than $102 million in debt.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James included the allegation in the Monday filing as she seeks to compel the Trump Organization, and the president’s son, Eric, to provide records and testimony regarding the organization’s tax maneuvering on four properties. In addition to the Chicago tower, the attorney general sought records on a Westchester County (New York) estate, the 40 Wall Street tower in Manhattan, and a Trump golf course in Los Angeles.
James’ investigation began with the early 2019 testimony that former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen gave to Congress, alleging his former employer had a long-standing practice of grossly undervaluing properties for tax purposes, and grossly overvaluing them when seeking to borrow money. James’ office is one of several government investigative agencies seeking Trump’s tax returns and business records.
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The question cited in the court filing centers on whether the more than $100 million loan forgiveness involving the Trump Chicago project should have been declared as taxable income, the state’s lawyers wrote.
“The forgiveness of a portion of the debt may have been a taxable event to the borrower,” authorities wrote in the memorandum of law.
The financing of Trump’s Chicago tower has attracted significant scrutiny from investigators and journalists probing the president’s financial history since he launched his bid for the White House in 2015.
Most of the attention has been focused on why Deutsche Bank lent more than $600 million in construction loans to the project after Trump had defaulted on hundreds of millions of dollars in unrelated loans from the German lender. But there also have been questions surrounding how Trump handled the loan forgiveness deal with Fortress Credit, a New York hedge fund that made the original “mezzanine” loan in 2004.
In Monday’s filing, the attorney general’s office revealed that, since 2009, Trump had omitted the Chicago tower from his statement of financial condition when seeking financing from other lenders. Authorities have asked for an explanation for the omission but say they have not received an answer from the Trump Organization.
While digging for answers, authorities said they discovered that Trump owed $150 million to Fortress by 2012. Fortress accepted just $48 million to pay off the loan in March 2012, forgiving more than $100 million of the debt.
A Fortress spokesman declined to comment on the deal.
When a lender forgives a loan, the borrower is likely responsible for reporting that money as taxable income, tax experts said. In this case, Trump and one of the limited liability corporations he formed to hold the Chicago assets, 401 Mezz Venture LLC, did not declare the money as income, according to the New York attorney general.
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“Here, 401 Mezz deferred recognizing as income the amount of the debt forgiven by Fortress,” the attorney general’s lawyer’s wrote in Monday’s court filing.
A spokesman for James’ office declined to elaborate on the source of that information. He also declined to say whether Cohen had provided investigators with relevant records as part of his cooperation with federal prosecutors after his 2018 arrest and plea deal for crimes related to covering up sexual relationships Trump allegedly had with porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.
According to Monday’s filing, when the attorney general asked about the Chicago loan in April 2020, Trump Organization officials first said they would make chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg available to answer questions, but the company then stopped cooperating.
“Mr. Weisselberg did not, however, have personal knowledge and the Trump Organization subsequently refused to produce documents to confirm basic facts,” authorities wrote in the filing.
Unless the Trump Organization had declared business insolvency or bankruptcy around the Chicago deal, of which there is no public record, it is highly likely the company does owe taxes on the forgiven $100 million, said Daniel Shaviro, a tax law professor at New York University Law School.
“I don’t see how this could avoid being taxable income. … I can’t imagine how it wouldn’t have cost him tens of millions of dollars,” Shaviro said. “It’s baffling that he can’t provide, or won’t provide, information. It should be the easiest thing in the world to do.”
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While previously reporting on the 2012 loan forgiveness, several news organizations have raised questions about another unexplained financial transaction related to Trump’s Chicago holdings that same year. Trump’s annual federal financial disclosure statements report that he owes at least $50 million to a corporation he controls called Chicago Unit Acquisition LLC. The federal disclosures state that the debt was incurred in 2012, the same year as Fortress forgave the $100 million in debt.
The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment. While campaigning for the White House in early 2016, Trump told The New York Times that Chicago Unit Acquisition was used to “purchase” a loan related to the Chicago property back from a group of banks who held his debt. But he declined to explain why the LLC had no assets other than saying, “we don’t assess any value to it because we don’t care.”
Trump’s claim that he purchased the loan back from banks contradicts the assertions by the New York attorney general that the loan was forgiven by his lenders.
The Fortress loan pooled money from other investors, including at least two other hedge funds, the Tribune reported in October 2004.
The original investors in the Fortress loan included Grove Capital LLP, the hedge fund controlled by George Soros. The involvement of the progressive billionaire may be seen as ironic in hindsight, given that Soros is a frequent target of Trump’s most ardent conservative supporters. Another reported early investor was the real estate arm of Cerberus Capital Management, another New York hedge fund. Trump later appointed Cerberus co-chief executive Stephen Feinberg to chair the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
It is unclear who else invested money in the loan, but the deal was made at a time when Trump was having difficulty borrowing money from traditional banks because of the number of times he had defaulted on large loans.
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Democratic U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg, who has had a front-row seat to battles over access to Trump’s tax and business records from his perch on both the House Oversight and Intelligence committees, said he sees three major concerns with the New York allegations.
First, “if the president of the United States is not paying taxes on forgiven debt, the average taxpayer may be asking, ‘Why should I?’ ”
Second, Krishnamoorthi questioned the regulatory oversight of the loan, given that $100 million allegedly was forgiven, and the IRS apparently was not made aware of the development.
But his biggest concern is the counterintelligence issues raised by the allegations.
“The moment I saw this particular issue, it raised in my mind: Who knows the truth of this particular transaction? Does one of our foreign adversaries? Because if they do, and you and I do not, they can use that as leverage. That’s what the Russians call kompromat,” Krishnamoorthi said. “There’s always that lurking suspicion about who is actually behind this, and what did they get in return for the forgiveness? They don’t do this as charity … and that further raises the question of what do Donald Trump and the Trump Organization owe to these people?”
dheinzmann@chicagotribune.com