chicagotribune--2020-09-23--What will it take to make you feel safe? Restaurants using sterilizing wands, tabletop air purifiers

What will it take to make you feel safe? Restaurants using sterilizing wands, tabletop air purifiers to lure diners back inside as winter looms.

The best way to flush COVID-19 out of the air is to bring in more fresh air through the ventilation @ @ @ @ @ get more difficult as the weather gets cold and it can ’ t heat up @ @ @ @ @ , whose construction consulting firm helps build restaurants and other commercial properties .
Better air @ @ @ @ @ installation can be tricky if restaurants don ’ t own the building , he said @

A portable ionic air purifier is seen Sept. 17, 2020, on a table at Formento's, an Italian restaurant in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. Recently, Formento's installed an array of air filtration and ventilation devices to help diners feel safe eating inside the restaurant. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The host greeting diners at Formento’s, an Italian restaurant in the West Town neighborhood, now offers guests something new alongside the menu and wine list: a portable air purifier for their table.
The tabletop devices are among a series of air quality upgrades the restaurant introduced this month to assure customers they can breathe easy dining inside.
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Diners can also expect to see bussers using ultraviolet wands to sterilize glassware and utensils, and little air-sucking robots in various corners of the restaurant that use heat to kill microorganisms. Unseen are new air filters installed in the HVAC system meant to trap virus particles.
The changes were costly for a restaurant that continues to lose money due to COVID-19. But Phillip Walters, whose B. Hospitality Co. owns Formento’s as well as its sister sandwich restaurant Nonna’s, and The Bristol in the Bucktown neighborhood, said it’s a necessary investment if the businesses are going to survive.
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“We have to convince people that restaurants are safe,” Walters said.
Restaurants hoping to see the other side of the pandemic are pouring money into air quality upgrades and other safety features even as business remains devastated by COVID-19. As they burn through cash, they are counting on customers taking comfort in the changes and filling seats.
AF3000 "autoclave" filters are placed in the bar and dining room at Formento's in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
It’s a gamble for customers as well as restaurants. Some indoor air quality experts question the effectiveness of products that claim to halt airborne transmission of the coronavirus but haven’t been rigorously tested.
But as winter approaches, and restaurants brace for the loss of patio seating that’s been a lifeline during the warm months, instilling confidence in indoor air quality has become a pressing issue.
“I’m doing anything I can for my customers to feel safe to eat at my restaurants,” said Scott Harris, founder of Francesca’s Restaurant Group, which owns Mia Francesca in Lakeview and 25 other establishments.
Francesca’s is spending about $100,000 to outfit the HVAC units in all of its restaurants with bipolar ionization technology, which kills viruses through a chemical reaction. Menus will have a blurb explaining the technology and servers will be trained to describe it to customers, Harris said.
The added expense comes as revenues remain down 80% in Francesca’s city restaurants and 30% in the suburbs, and overall costs have increased due to masks, hand sanitizer and many boxes of gloves for its 2,700 employees. Management is discussing raising prices a bit, by 50 cents here and there, to help absorb it.
“It’s hitting our bottom line big time,” said Harris, who expects money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program will sustain his restaurants through December. He is contemplating closing his three city restaurants for fear demand, hurt by both the coronavirus and the social unrest, won’t bounce back.
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Lettuce Entertain You, Chicago’s largest restaurant group, expects to make a seven-figure investment to install air purification technologies at all 120-plus restaurants across the country by the end of October, said R.J. Melman, president of the company.
Though Chicago has encouraged creative solutions to keep outdoor dining alive when temperatures plunge, and on Monday released guidelines for erecting and heating tents and geodesic domes, “at the end of the day, for most restaurants in Chicago survival depends on indoor dining,” Melman said.
Convincing people to come inside will be a challenge. Nearly 60% of people say they feel uncomfortable dining indoors, according to a new study from market research firm Mintel.
Melman thinks diners are willing to eat indoors where they feel safe doing so.
“People want to get out,” he said.
For Walters, of Formento’s, the decision to invest in indoor air quality came as he reached a crossroads on how to survive winter.
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He explored installing a system of heated tents, but it was complicated and expensive, with bids suggesting a $50,000 to $100,000 price tag.
So he took a different path, consulting HVAC specialists to devise a five-layered air purification system to make indoor dining more appealing. The cost was about $13,000 for Formento’s, which is 13,000 square feet, and $3,000 at the much smaller Bristol.
High-performance MERV-13 air filters are installed in all HVAC units at Formento's in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Walters followed guidance from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers to install higher-density filters in all of the HVAC units, opting for MERV-13 filters that are effective at blocking most particles the size of the novel coronavirus.
To convince the public, however, “we had to go above and beyond.”
In addition to the tabletop ionic air purifiers, which are optional for guests, he bought multiple UV-C germicidal sterilizing wands for cleaning between customers, and supplied after-hours cleaning crews with sterilizing foggers. Floor purifiers that suck in air and kill viruses in 400-degree ceramic chambers, before cooling and releasing the air back into the environment, are placed every 500 feet.
Walters is lobbying the city to increase capacity limits from 25% to 50% for restaurants that have taken extensive measures to improve air quality. He is also sharing what he’s learned so other restaurants can adopt similar technologies, which he said don’t have to break the bank.
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He worries that if customer traffic doesn’t improve small operators will close and corporate chains with bigger pockets will be the only ones standing when the smoke clears. Formento’s revenues are down 60% and The Bristol’s are down 70% compared with a year ago.
“This industry will whittle away to nothing. To zero,” he said. “People need to get out and eat.”
Hosts, bussers and others use UV-C sterilizing wands to clean tables, utensils and glassware between uses at Formento's. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
For people debating whether to risk dining out, the central question may be whether the air quality enhancements make a difference in preventing transmission of COVID-19.
The Environmental Protection Agency says “there is growing evidence that the novel coronavirus remains airborne in indoor environments for hours, potentially increasing in concentration over time,” and has recommended increasing building ventilation and air filtration as a part of a larger strategy that includes social distancing, wearing masks, hand-washing and disinfecting.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in guidance to office building employers, advises bringing in more outside air, installing better central air filters and using portable high-efficiency particulate air fans to help clean the air. HEPA filters are nearly 100% effective in capturing airborne particles associated with COVID-19.
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But the pandemic has opened the floodgates to a slew of other products and technologies that purport to destroy the novel coronavirus, and some experts are warning it’s buyers beware.
Brent Stephens, professor and chair in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, said inadequate test standards and misleading claims have made for a Wild West of air cleaning technologies.
He worries some ionization systems have not been adequately tested to ensure they don’t unintentionally create byproducts that are harmful to health. Other products may offer a false sense of security.
“There is a lot of theater out there,” he said. “I would not recommend restaurants going in on these exotic technologies.”
The best way to flush COVID-19 out of the air is to bring in more fresh air through the ventilation system, but that will get more difficult as the weather gets cold and it can’t heat up enough, said Roger Peck, whose construction consulting firm helps build restaurants and other commercial properties. Better air filters also help, though installation can be tricky if restaurants don’t own the building, he said.
More worrisome to Peck is the prospect of winter dining in tents with drop-down panels and no air circulation.
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“To me that’s a toxic soup,” he said. “I would choose dining indoors in a heartbeat.”
Some restaurants are forgoing the headache of air quality investments and tent cities altogether and plan to ride out winter by focusing on carryout and delivery, said Doug Roth, president of restaurant consultancy Playground Hospitality.
Still, he applauds businesses that are investing in air quality upgrades to ease patrons' concerns.
“They’re not 100% foolproof, but I think it’s a better option than having nothing at all,” Roth said.
Gibsons Restaurant Group, which owns the iconic Gold Coast steakhouse as well as Hugo’s Frog Bar and other restaurants, is working on a promotional video to highlight the safety steps it is taking, which it plans to push out on social media and send to customers, said Chairman Steve Lombardo III. They include positive air pressure that pushes air out rather than recirculating it, the installation of MERV-11 air filters in the HVAC units and mobile plexiglass barriers that can be rolled around to different tables.
The safety upgrades cost about $10,000 per restaurant, mostly for the plexiglass, plus about $1,500 monthly to change the HVAC filters, he said. It’s a financial pinch given that sales the past three months have on average been down 35% compared with last year, and the restaurants are losing money, but Gibsons, which is well-capitalized and has little debt, can afford it, Lombardo said.
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Businesses that can’t may be at a disadvantage as customers weigh where to eat. But some mom-and-pops are finding ways to make air purification a priority.
Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook this month spent $5,000 to outfit its HVAC units with the Sterile-Aire system, which uses ultraviolet energy to inactivate bacteria and viruses. Chef/co-owner Sarah Stegner said she plans to ask the landlord to pay for half or let her take it out of the rent.
People dine inside at Prairie Grass Cafe on Sept. 22, 2020, in Northbrook. The restaurant invested in ultraviolet air purification technology in its HVAC units for colder months when indoor dining is the only option. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Stegner several years ago installed the system in her home, because her husband and daughter have sports-induced asthma and the family has a cat, and found it reduced their congestion. She can’t guarantee it will be a magic bullet against COVID-19, but she wants to do all she can to offer more protection.
“The priority is keeping my staff safe, keeping the guests safe, working in a positive environment where we have a margin of control,” said Stegner, a former Ritz Carlton chef and founding member of Green City Market who opened Prairie Grass 16 years ago.
The cafe is notifying guests of the air filtration system with flyers on the tables and in carryout bags. The feedback has been “incredibly positive,” Stegner said.
The cafe, which normally has 180 seats, has been operating with 50 plus an outside patio. After a scary month when it was $11,000 in the red, it managed to break even in August even though its revenues are half of what they were last year. Stegner credits a smaller staff, her landlord giving her a break on rent, a grant and a series of small cost savings.
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“We looked at everything,” Stegner said, from the phone system to the energy bill to pricing and portion sizes.
She also has found new ways to generate revenue, selling raw fish direct to consumers once a week and hosting Zoom cooking classes, which are free to view but people can buy a package of prepped ingredients to follow along. Promotions have also helped, including Women’s Restaurant Week and an exchange with another restaurant in which it sold Stegner’s pot pies and she sold its desserts.
Though it’s been challenging, the pandemic has forced a creativity that Stegner hopes continues long-term. It has also instilled a sense of urgency to not sit on any ideas that could help her business stay afloat.
“If you’re going to do something, do it right away,” Stegner said. “Don’t hesitate, because you might not get a second chance.”
aelejalderuiz@chicgotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-23--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--2020-09-23--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 22 new deaths, 1,848 new confirmed cases and 46,391 new test resu

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 22 new deaths, 1,848 new confirmed cases and 46,391 new test results

Illinois announced 1,848 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Wednesday for a total of 279,114 .
The state also announced 22 @ @ @ @ @ of 8,508 and 46,391 new test results for a total of 5.23 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--2020-09-23--Map: Chicago’s ghost bikes

Map: Chicago’s ghost bikes

They lean quietly , ashen monochrome standing out among stickered newspaper boxes and rusting metal .
Flowers , dead or @ @ @ @ @ ' spokes .
Weather-beaten notes and photographs remain — signs the structure is not abandoned @ @ @ @ @ behind .
These `` ghost bikes , '' old bicycles stripped of extraneous parts and @ @ @ @ @ near the site of fatal cycling crashes .
They serve as memorials to the deceased @ @ @ @ @ statement for cyclist rights in areas where bikers share close quarters with faster , heavier @ @ @ @ @ , and despised by others , ghost bikes have become a fixture of streetscapes in @ @ @ @ @ .
Note : No single entity governs the installation of all ghost bikes , and @ @ @ @ @ those who dislike the practice .
As such , this map is a best possible @ @ @ @ @ and previously installed , but it may not be comprehensive .
If you know of @ @ @ @ @ up-to-date information about one on this map , please email the reporter below .

They lean quietly, ashen monochrome standing out among stickered newspaper boxes and rusting metal. Flowers, dead or dying, dot the wheels' spokes. Weather-beaten notes and photographs remain — signs the structure is not abandoned so much as purposefully left behind.
These "ghost bikes," old bicycles stripped of extraneous parts and painted white, are chained near the site of fatal cycling crashes. They serve as memorials to the deceased, but also as a statement for cyclist rights in areas where bikers share close quarters with faster, heavier automobiles. Sacred to some, and despised by others, ghost bikes have become a fixture of streetscapes in Chicago and around the world.
Note: No single entity governs the installation of all ghost bikes, and they are sometimes removed by those who dislike the practice. As such, this map is a best possible accounting of bikes both currently and previously installed, but it may not be comprehensive. If you know of additional bikes, or have up-to-date information about one on this map, please email the reporter below.
Sources: Tribune reporting, ghostbikes.org, Chicago Sun-Times, thechainklink.org, bedno.com.
--
charjohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @Charliemagne


chicagotribune--2020-09-23--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives an update on COVID-19

Illinois Gov .
J.B. Pritzker provides an update on the state ’ s response to the coronavirus in a briefing @ @ @ @

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chicagotribune--2020-09-23--High schools reopen for the SAT exam

High schools reopen for the SAT exam

A fully furnished , 3,600-square-foot condominium on the 51st floor of One Bennett Park in Streeterville has been listed for @ @ @ @ @ the building 's developer asked interior designer Bruce Fox to decorate the three-bedroom home .


chicagotribune--2020-09-23--Red Cross: COVID-19 antibody testing now done through standard blood donation, recovered patients ca

Red Cross: COVID-19 antibody testing now done through standard blood donation, recovered patients can donate at any site

For those who may have been asymptomatic or don ’ t know if they have had COVID-19 , the Red @ @ @ @ @ donations for antibodies .
Results typically are available in one to two weeks .
Although @ @ @ @ @ diagnostic one that would confirm infection or immunity , the presence of antibodies means that @ @ @ @ @ donation could be used to help COVID-19 patients .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Cari Paller, left, of Chicago, donates blood during a blood drive held at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago on Friday, May 8, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
People who have recovered from coronavirus can now give blood or platelets at any American Red Cross donation site to help save the lives of struggling COVID-19 patients, the Red Cross announced Wednesday.
Previously, only 170 Red Cross donation centers nationwide could accept donations of convalescent plasma, containing COVID-19 antibodies that “may help the most critical patients actively fighting this virus,” people who’ve already been diagnosed and recovered, the agency said in a news release.
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Now, whole blood and platelet donations can be made at any Red Cross blood drive or donation center. Donors are encouraged to make an appointment to help coronavirus patients and others who depend on transfusions.
For those who may have been asymptomatic or don’t know if they have had COVID-19, the Red Cross now is testing blood donations for antibodies. Results typically are available in one to two weeks. Although the test is not a diagnostic one that would confirm infection or immunity, the presence of antibodies means that a person’s blood donation could be used to help COVID-19 patients.
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“Donations that come back positive for COVID-19 antibodies now undergo secondary testing to confirm antibody results, and that enables the Red Cross to then potentially use the plasma from those donations for COVID-19 patients,” the Red Cross' Erin Goodhue said in the news release.
Only about 2% of the country’s population tests positive for COVID-19 antibodies, meaning “every donation is important to ensure patients with coronavirus have access to every treatment option available to them,” said Goodhue, national medical director of direct patient care for Red Cross Biomedical Services.
Donations are so badly needed that the Red Cross will award a $1,000 Amazon gift card to five randomly selected people who donate in the U.S. in October. And everyone who donates by the end of September will be given a coupon for a free Sport Clips haircut.
The Red Cross is not taking walk-ins. Donors are required to wear a face covering or mask while donating.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-23--Chicago jazz great Ira Sullivan dies at 89

“ That was a beautiful thing about Chicago , ” he told interviewer Panken .
“ When you went to @ @ @ @ @ Chicago , you got a live band performing .
It could be just Glenn Gray @ @ @ @ @ or even just a dance band .
But I was always thrilled , you know @ @ @ @ @ .
And one day I remember , I was 14 , I saw Woody Herman @ @ @ @ @ that theme song , you know , they ’ d come out with .
That @ @ @ @ @ time in my life .
… Then , of course , I heard Dizzy Gillespie @ @ @ @ @ Then when I was about 18 , I went to my high school prom , @ @ @ @ @ in town .
”

Multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan plays the trumpet at a University of Miami jazz music camp in 2010. Sullivan died Sept. 21, 2020. He was 89 years-old. (Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Sometimes it seemed as if Ira Sullivan could play anything that had a mouthpiece.
Tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, trumpet, fluegelhorn, flute, alto flute – the man applied his comprehensive virtuosity and pervasive musicianship to all of them, switching from one to the next with seeming effortlessness, often during a single set.
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That he also was a bebop master who came of age in the era of Charlie Parker and shared a stage with him in 1955 added to Sullivan’s mystique. And though Sullivan, who grew up in Chicago, moved to Florida at the end of 1962 and lived there ever since, he always considered himself a Chicago jazz man to the core, as did the music world.
Sullivan died in the early evening of Sept. 21 of metastatic pancreatic cancer in his Miami home at age 89, said his wife, Charlene Sullivan.
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“He took Chicago with him when he came down here,” she said.
A regular presence on the Chicago scene, Sullivan even late in life returned here annually around the time of the Chicago Jazz Festival, hosting sessions at the Jazz Showcase, with festival headliners dropping in for the privilege of riffing alongside him. The final time was last year.
“Ira as a musician was fearless, a natural,” said flutist Marc Berner, who joined Sullivan in his Chicago residencies every year since 2008.
"A lot of people said (to Sullivan): How can you play trumpet and saxophones and flute?
“I don’t think it’s something that Ira really thought about much," added Berner. "His approach was so organic that when he switched from one instrument to another, he didn’t have to be thinking about anything. He just adjusted his embouchure accordingly and had the ability and the gift to do that.”
What came out of Sullivan’s instruments could range from extraordinarily complex lines to disarmingly direct phrases. The musicality of Sullivan’s work linked both.
“Ira is one of the greatest soloists in the history of the music,” said former Chicago trumpeter Brad Goode, a Sullivan protégé.
“The world didn’t always recognize or understand the depth of his artistry. A lot of people didn’t realize it. But we (musicians) did. We always did. And we always appreciated what he was giving to us.”
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Indeed, though Sullivan did not achieve household-name status – except in some very hip households – jazz cognoscenti perceived the musician’s stature the moment they heard him.
“I met him in 1954, and I was just starting to get into bebop jazz,” said pianist-vibraphonist Stu Katz.
"It was really the dawn of that era, and I heard him play in person, and on the spot I thought: I’ve got to follow this guy around as long as I live. This guy has it.
“For sure he was very powerfully inspired by Charlie Parker, but he maintained an originality and an ability to take that inspiration and not sound like a clone – even though he could. He could play just like Charlie Parker, particularly on alto saxophone.”
Because of Sullivan’s wide-ranging gifts, playing alongside him was not always easy.
“He was the first person I ever worked with who would not call a tune,” said Katz. "He would just expect me to know what he was going to do.
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“And he would tag one tune after another as it came into his mind, and that was his approach to music. You couldn’t stop concentrating, because in the middle of a song he could change everything.”
Born May 1, 1931, in Washington, D.C., Sullivan picked up a trumpet at age 3-1/2, not long before his family moved to Chicago. His mother, father, uncles and aunts all played instruments, and their example rubbed off on him.
“I went from the crib to the trumpet,” he told interviewer Ted Panken in 1992.
A self-taught musician, Sullivan developed his saxophone prowess in high school, and as a teenager immersed himself in Chicago’s thriving jazz scene.
“That was a beautiful thing about Chicago,” he told interviewer Panken. “When you went to see a movie in downtown Chicago, you got a live band performing. It could be just Glenn Gray and his Casa Loma Orchestra or even just a dance band. But I was always thrilled, you know, when the curtains opened. And one day I remember, I was 14, I saw Woody Herman’s band, with that theme song, you know, they’d come out with. That was really a very exciting time in my life. … Then, of course, I heard Dizzy Gillespie’s big band. Then when I was about 18, I went to my high school prom, and Gene Krupa was playing in town.”
Like many young musicians of the mid-20th century, Sullivan came under the spell of trumpeter Harry James' golden tone and considered him a major influence. At age 16, Sullivan started playing jam sessions around Chicago, finding himself increasingly in demand.
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Working alongside Parker, when Sullivan had become a young pro, proved enlightening.
“I played for a week with Bird in Chicago,” Sullivan told JazzTimes magazine of a 1955 gig at the long-gone Beehive. “He asked me to come to New York to play with him, and then he passed away a month later. But a doctor had gotten him so healthy that I had some great days with him, playing and talking about art and literature. He was always trying to educate himself and was one of the warmest individuals I’ve ever met.”
In 1956, Sullivan ventured to New York to begin a seven-month tour with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, but life on the road didn’t appeal to him.
“I vowed never to do that again,” Sullivan told JazzTimes.
He preferred to be close to home, which may help explain why he didn’t build as wide an audience as his gifts merited. But that wasn’t his priority.
“He was a family man,” said Charlene Sullivan, his wife. “He turned his back on fame in favor of family.”
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Yet Sullivan’s brilliance is documented on dozens of recordings, including collaborations with Red Rodney, Elvin Jones, Dexter Gordon, Roy Haynes and others.
“He used to sit in every once in awhile with my EARS group years ago,” recalled Chicago trumpeter Bobby Lewis. “He was always on top of his game.”
And Sullivan declined conventional wisdom about Chicago musicians needing to prove themselves in New York.
“Everyone always said: You gotta go get your New York stamp,” Sullivan told JazzTimes.
“And I’d reply: We lay in wait for cats from New York here. I had everything I needed in Chicago.”
In addition to his wife, Sullivan is survived by daughter Leslie and sons Brev and Brogan Sullivan, and two granddaughters.
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Howard Reich is a Tribune critic.
hreich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-23--Gale Sayers, the Chicago Bears’ Hall of Fame running back, dies at 77: ‘He was poetry in motion. His

Gale Sayers, the Chicago Bears’ Hall of Fame running back, dies at 77: ‘He was poetry in motion. His like will never be seen again.’

“ I meant to seek out offseason job opportunities when I came to the game , ” he said .
@ @ @ @ @ start .
In my first three years , I had job opportunities from two companies @ @ @ @ @ afloat and gave me the incentive to go back to school and finish my undergraduate @ @ @ @ @ s degree .
It brings to mind what I was all about in the first @ @ @ @ @ college not as an athletic student but a student-athlete .
”

Gale Sayers, the dazzling Chicago Bears running back and kick returner whose injury-shortened career made him the youngest player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died after a yearslong decline in health that included dementia. He was 77.
Sayers died Tuesday at his home in Wakarusa, Ind., his stepson, Guy Bullard, told the New York Times. The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the news Wednesday morning.
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The “Kansas Comet,” as Sayers was nicknamed, was one of the most agile and elusive ball carriers ever.
“If you wish to see perfection as a running back, you had best get a hold of a film of Gale Sayers,” Bears founder George Halas said in 1977 when he presented Sayers for Hall of Fame enshrinement. “He was poetry in motion. His like will never be seen again.”
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Sayers’ dynamic running ability helped him earn All-Pro recognition in each of his five full seasons. It also left teammates, coaches, fans and pundits to wonder what he might have accomplished in football had knee injuries not ended his career in 1971 after only seven seasons (68 games).
In fact, Sayers’ legendary athleticism was a bittersweet topic at the Bears100 Celebration in June 2019, as former teammates tried to make sense of how the electric running back they revered could be the same frail, wheelchair-bound man who appeared on stage.
“If I wanted one (running back) for a season, I’d take Walter Payton,” said Johnny Morris, a teammate of Sayers’ for three seasons in the mid-1960s. “But if I wanted a player for one play, I’ll take Gale Sayers above every running back I’ve seen — whether it be Jim Brown or O.J. Simpson or anybody.
“He had a knack of being in the air and he’d swing his leg over and come down in a different direction. That’s the best way I can put it.”
Hall of Famer and @ChicagoBears Legend Gale Sayers has passed away at the age of 77.
More: https://t.co/lJti7R3FYL#HOFForever pic.twitter.com/yujzMnhry3 — Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) September 23, 2020
Gale Sayers was one of the shiftiest dudes to ever lace 'em up 💯 @ChicagoBears pic.twitter.com/FwiSYZdJsL — NFL Throwback (@nflthrowback) May 31, 2019
Sayers rushed for 4,956 yards and scored 56 touchdowns in his career. The four-time Pro Bowl selection is No. 4 on the Tribune’s list of the top 100 Bears players of all time and fifth on the team’s list. He was named to the NFL 100 All-Time Team last year.
“I had a style all my own,” Sayers is quoted as saying by the Hall of Fame. “The way I ran, lurchy, herky-jerky, I kept people off-guard so if I didn’t have that much power when I hit a man, hell, he was off-balance and I could knock him down.”
[ Column: Gale Sayers’ Bears legacy is about more than just numbers and highlight reels. He taught us how to love one another. ]
Sayers amassed 9,435 all-purpose yards, which ranks fourth in Bears history behind Payton, running back Matt Forte (12,718) and return specialist Devin Hester (10,196).
“Just give me 18 inches of daylight,” he once told NFL Films. “That’s all I need.”
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Chicago fans got their first look at Gale Sayers when the Bears faced the Los Angeles Rams at Wrigley Field on Oct. 10, 1965. Photo taken on Oct. 6, 1965. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
Gale Eugene Sayers was born May 30, 1943, in Wichita, Kan. He was raised in Omaha, Neb., and starred in football and track at Omaha Central High School. He set the state long jump record of 24 feet, 10½ inches. At Kansas he became a two-time All-American in football.
The Bears selected Sayers with the No. 4 pick in the 1965 draft. Remarkably, it was only one spot after they picked future Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, an All-American out of Illinois.
“Both had unusual running movements,” Halas wrote in his autobiography. “I’ve never seen anyone run with Gale’s agility. No one ever caught him from behind. Butkus was bow-legged. I learned later Butkus had knee injuries in high school and college. Both had rare abilities, supported by courage, desire and spirit.”
Butkus said in a Bears statement Wednesday: “Will miss a great friend who helped me become the player I became because after practicing and scrimmaging against Gale, I knew I could play against anybody. We lost one of the best Bears ever and more importantly we lost a great person.”
Butkus was unfamiliar with Sayers before they met in New York after the 1964 college season. They had gathered for a celebration hosted by the Football Writers Association of America and Look Magazine, which published the FWAA’s All-America team each year.
“I’m looking at this guy with the high-tops and he’s running back kickoffs and everything else,” Butkus recalled at the Bears100 Celebration. “I didn’t know who in the heck he was, but he was amazing on that game tape.”
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Butkus remembered how Bears veterans made it difficult on their rookie class.
Chicago Bears coach Jim Dooley stands between Gale Sayers, left, and Dick Butkus in 1968. (Phil Mascione/Chicago Tribune)
“Gale just ran circles around everybody, so they quickly adopted him,” Butkus said. “He was amazing. I still attribute a lot of my success to trying to tackle him. I never came up against a running back like him in my whole career, as far as a halfback. No one could touch this guy.”
Sayers set the Bears’ single-season touchdowns record with 22 as a rookie — 14 rushing, six receiving and one each on kickoff and punt returns. He went on to be named NFL Rookie of the Year, and his touchdowns record stood until 1975 as the NFL mark for all players regardless of tenure.
On Dec. 12 of that season, Sayers scored six touchdowns on a muddy Wrigley Field, tying the NFL’s single-game record. He carried the ball only nine times from scrimmage — and scored on four. He also had a receiving touchdown and a punt return TD.
4 rushing TDs.
1 receiving TD.
And a punt return TD.#tbt to Gale Sayers' 6 touchdown game in 1965. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Ui620XD8Nz — NFL (@NFL) July 27, 2017
“He looked like he was gliding,” teammate Mike Ditka recalled at the Bears100 Celebration. “Everybody was slipping and sliding except him. It was the most unbelievable exhibition I’ve ever seen in the history of the game.”
Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers eludes the San Francisco 49ers defense on the way to a 21-yard touchdown run in December 1965, one of six for the afternoon. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
Sayers won the NFL rushing title in 1966 with a career-best 1,231 yards in a 14-game season.
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But in 1968, nine games into his fourth season, Sayers suffered his first catastrophic knee injury.
The play — “49 Toss Left” — was called in the huddle by quarterback Virgil Carter. It was designed to be run to the outside of the left tackle. It called for Sayers’ blocker, Randy Jackson, to lead the way, but instead of waiting a half-second for the play to unfold, Sayers instinctively ran up on the heels of his blocker.
Sayers planted his right leg to make a cut, but San Francisco 49ers right cornerback Kermit Alexander lunged ahead and pounced on his leg.
Sayers was carried off on a stretcher as the Wrigley Field crowd gasped and feared the worst.
The play occurred right in front of the Bears bench, as Halas described in his autobiography.
“His helmet crashed into Gale’s knee,” Halas wrote. “My heart sank. I knew Gale would not get up. I cried with him as he was carried off. He was such a magnificent person and a great player. What pained me so much was the type of man who had been hurt.”
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Sayers was taken to the hospital and was on the operating table for three hours. He later would learn that the ligaments on the medial side were destroyed, as well as the anterior cruciate ligament.
During an era before arthroscopic surgery, Sayers endured months of tortuous rehabilitation. Amazingly, he returned for the 1969 season to run for 1,032 yards and win the rushing title, although it was clear he no longer had the elusiveness to cut on a dime, which had been his signature.
Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers is carried from the field to an ambulance after he was injured in the second period Nov. 10, 1968 in a game in Chicago with San Francisco. (AP Photo)
In 1970, Sayers suffered a second knee injury, this time to his left knee. During that time off he took classes at New York University to become a stockbroker. After another rehabilitation period, Sayers tried for a comeback but was not successful.
He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame at age 34. During his induction speech, he emphasized how important it was for pro football players to remain “mentally afloat.”
“I meant to seek out offseason job opportunities when I came to the game,” he said. “I did from the start. In my first three years, I had job opportunities from two companies. It kept me mentally afloat and gave me the incentive to go back to school and finish my undergraduate degree and my master’s degree. It brings to mind what I was all about in the first place. I went to college not as an athletic student but a student-athlete.”
[ ‘When he got the football, he was gone. That was it.’: Bears leaders and teammates tell their Gale Sayers stories ]
Indeed, Sayers returned to Kansas in 1973 to work as an assistant athletic director. He became director of the Williams Educational Fund, the primary fundraising body for Kansas athletics. During that time, he earned his master’s degree in educational administration.
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After three years at Kansas, he took the athletic director job at Southern Illinois in 1976. Following five years in that position, he formed his own sports marketing and public relations firm, which evolved into Sayers Computer Source. The firm began in 1982 as a computer supplies reseller.
Sayers’ legacy is partly defined by his close relationship with teammate Brian Piccolo, who died at age 26 in 1970 from a rare form of cancer. Sayers and Piccolo were believed to be the first interracial roommates for a major professional sports organization. Their story was documented in the Emmy Award-winning, made-for-TV movie “Brian’s Song.”
In May 1970, Sayers famously honored Piccolo when he accepted the George Halas Award, which is given annually by the Pro Football Writers of America to the NFL player, coach or staff member who best overcame adversity to succeed.
Gale Sayers (left) and Brian Piccolo at a Bears practice in the late 1960s. (Chicago Tribune)
Sayers was honored for his 1969 season in which he won the league’s rushing title in his comeback from multiple torn knee ligaments. Sayers knew Piccolo was very ill; as it turned out, Piccolo died three weeks later.
“You flatter me by giving me this award,” Sayers said in his speech. “But I tell you that I accept it for Brian Piccolo. It is mine tonight. It is Brian Piccolo’s tomorrow.”
The Bears retired Sayers’ No. 40 — along with Butkus’ No. 51 — in a halftime ceremony during an Oct. 31, 1994, game against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field.
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Sayers’ condition began to starkly deteriorate shortly into the 2010s. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2013.
That year, he sued the NFL, claiming the league negligently handled his repeated head injuries during his career. He said he suffered headaches and short-term memory loss after retirement.
In the lawsuit, Sayers claimed he sometimes was sent back into games after suffering concussions and that the NFL overall didn’t do enough to protect him from the “devastating concussive head traumas.”
Sayers’ brain health worsened to the point he barely could speak at the Bears100 Celebration.
“I know from talking to him that he was a very deep thinker,” said Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary, who joined the team 12 years after Sayers’ last game. “To see what I see now, it’s amazing someone that was so beautiful and gifted and talented as a player, later in life to have that happen to him, I know it’s tough on everybody.”
Said Butkus: “It’s a shame his condition now. It’s a terrible thing he’s going through. He’s a great guy and a hell of a runner.”
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According to the New York Times, Sayers is survived by his wife, Ardythe; daughter Gale Lynne and sons Timothy and Scott from his first marriage; sons Gaylon and Gary from his second marriage; stepson Guy Bullard; brothers Roger and Ron; and two grandchildren.
Rich Campbell and Fred Mitchell are former Chicago Tribune sports writers.


chicagotribune--2020-09-23--Chicago fall bridge lifts start Wednesday; Lake Shore Drive lifts could take 45 minutes

Bridge lifts will start around 9:30 a.m. every Wednesday and about 9 a.m. every Saturday through Nov. 14 and move @ @ @ @ @ sailboats and other large boats to move inland from Lake Michigan to where they ’ @ @ @ @ @ , according to a release from the city ’ s Department of Transportation .

People along the Riverwalk watch as the Tall Ship Windy navigates through the first bridge lift of the fall season on the Chicago River as the summer sailing season on Lake Michigan winds down Sept. 23, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Fall bridge lifts were scheduled to start Wednesday on the Chicago River’s main and south branches, with raising and lower the Lake Shore Drive Bridge taking possibly much longer than usual because of construction, according to the city.
Bridge lifts will start around 9:30 a.m. every Wednesday and about 9 a.m. every Saturday through Nov. 14 and move west and south to give sailboats and other large boats to move inland from Lake Michigan to where they’re stored for the winter, according to a release from the city’s Department of Transportation.
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Lifts typically take eight to 12 minutes, but raising and lowering the Lake Shore Drive Bridge may include “longer than usual delays,” up to 45 minutes, because of construction work on the bridge, according to the release.
“A total of 27 bridges will be lifted in succession from Lake Shore Drive to Ashland Avenue Bridge on the south branch of the Chicago River,” according to the release.
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If no boat owners have arranged to move their vessels on a given day, the bridges won’t be lifted.
For more information on the bridge lifts and schedule, as well a streets affected by the closures, check CDOT’s website.


chicagotribune--2020-09-23--What to know in the final weeks of the 2020 census

Officials have warned about an undercount in the Chicago region , particularly in communities of color .
Census tracts with @ @ @ @ @ rates in Chicago include Back of the Yards , West Englewood , Little Village and @ @ @ @ @ that are already struggling with lack of resources and stand to lose the most from @ @ @ @

Elizabeth Navarrete, right, gives a response to census worker Lu Babatu on Sept. 11, 2020, at a 2020 census community giveaway day hosted by Metropolitan Family Services on Chicago's Northwest Side. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
As the United States nears the end of its 2020 census count, the response rate in Illinois has just surpassed 2010 levels, while Chicago’s rate continues to lag behind, hovering around 60%.
Responses are particularly low on the South and West sides, with some areas reporting rates just above 30% as officials warn that an undercount in these neighborhoods will only exacerbate existing inequities.
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Here is what to know about the final weeks of the 2020 census:
When’s the last day I can fill out a census form?
The 2020 census count was set to end Sept. 30 but last week, a federal judge in California ruled the Census Bureau must extend the deadline to Oct. 31. The decision came after a coalition of civic organizations and local governments filed a lawsuit against the agency.
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The Trump administration filed a notice Friday that it would appeal the court order, creating uncertainty about the end date.
While the case moves through the courts, the bureau is prohibited from winding down operations. However, a number of Chicago census workers have reported their hours had been cut in half after Labor Day, with some receiving no work at all.
Residents are still encouraged to fill out their census forms as soon as possible.
Where can I fill out the census?
The 2020 census can be completed online or over the phone in English at 844-330-2020 and in Spanish at 844-468-2020. Households can also complete the form by mail by returning questionnaires.
Ellisa Johnson, deputy regional director for the Census Bureau in Chicago, said households should still have enough time to respond by mail if they prefer, but questionnaires must be postmarked by the Sept. 30 deadline and arrive by Oct. 7.
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What questions are asked on the census form?
The 2020 census includes fewer than a dozen basic demographic questions about the household and its residents. The form asks the name, sex, age and race of every person in the house.
If there is more than one person living in a home, the bureau also asks for a description of the resident’s relationship — there are options for roommates, same-sex partners or siblings.
Two people walk past an advertisement on a truck promoting the 2020 census Sept. 16, 2020, in the 3000 block of West 26th Street in the Little Village neighborhood. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Does the 2020 census include a question about citizenship?
No, the 2020 census does not include questions about immigration or citizenship status.
The U.S. Department of Commerce sought to include the controversial question, but the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the effort.
Still, advocacy organizations in the area have noticed many immigrant communities remain fearful of the census, and they continue to urge all households to complete the form, regardless of citizenship status.
Will my answers be confidential?
The Census Bureau is bound by federal law to keep all personal information collected confidential. Personal information “is never published,” according to the bureau’s website, and “cannot be used against respondents by any government agency or court.”
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Census data is only to be used for statistical purposes.
Are census workers still visiting homes?
Yes, census workers are still visiting homes. Census workers should be visiting the homes of those who have yet to respond, and if no one answers, they will leave a postcard reminding residents to complete the census, according to Johnson.
What happens after the deadline?
After the counting deadline, census officials begin to analyze the data. Johnson said some households may be recontacted as officials work to verify information and correct any errors.
If a household does not fill out the census on its own, Johnson said the bureau has “a number of undisclosed operations and ways that continue to collect the data.”
Census officials have until Dec. 31 to review the data and hand it over to the president.
What is at stake for Illinois?
Census data determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and dictates how the government will distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal aid for the next decade.
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Experts predict Illinois is at risk of losing one or two House seats because of population loss alone.
Officials have warned about an undercount in the Chicago region, particularly in communities of color. Census tracts with some of the lowest response rates in Chicago include Back of the Yards, West Englewood, Little Village and North Lawndale, all neighborhoods that are already struggling with lack of resources and stand to lose the most from an inaccurate count.


chicagotribune--2020-09-23--ComEd, other state utilities extend moratorium on residential disconnections due to COVID-19 pandemi

ComEd, other state utilities extend moratorium on residential disconnections due to COVID-19 pandemic until March 31

The moratorium covers low-income residential customers who qualify for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program and to those who are @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
The ICC is stressing that customers need to call their utility company if @ @ @ @ @ are struggling to pay a bill .
It also said deferred payment arrangements are available @ @ @ @ @ business customers having difficulty making payments at this time .

Ameren, Commonwealth Edison and other state utilities have agreed to extend a moratorium on residential disconnections until March 31 for low income customers and those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The voluntary agreement by the utilities is for a much longer time than a moratorium extension announced earlier this month. At that time, most of the state’s utilities agreed to extend the disconnect moratorium only until the end of September. Ameren and ComEd only agreed to extend it until September 10.
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The latest agreement comes only days after the Illinois Commerce Commission sent a letter to the utilities asking them to extend the moratorium until the end of March.
“Illinois citizens are facing extraordinary challenges due to the pandemic,” ICC Chair Carrie Zalewski said in a statement. “Low income families and those impacted by COVID-19 should not have to fear losing basic services like electricity, heat or fresh water. The voluntary actions by these utilities will provide our most vulnerable citizens with some peace of mind, especially as cold weather approaches.”
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The moratorium covers low-income residential customers who qualify for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program and to those who are financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ICC is stressing that customers need to call their utility company if they have missed payments or are struggling to pay a bill. It also said deferred payment arrangements are available to both residential and small business customers having difficulty making payments at this time.
In addition to Ameren and ComEd, utilities who agreed to extend the disconnect moratorium until March 31 include Aqua Illinois, Illinois American Water, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, and Utility Services of Illinois.
MidAmerican is extending the moratorium for LIHEAP-qualified residential customers and “is further considering additional options to help their customers. ...” the ICC said.
Nicor Gas and Liberty Utilities have agreed to extend the moratorium for all residential customers until March 31.
City Water, Light and Power in Springfield has a disconnect moratorium in place for both residential and commercial customers until the end of September, said spokeswoman Amber Sabin. It hasn’t been determined what will happen after that.
However, Sabin said service won’t be disconnected for a customer that gets on a payment plan. Also, CWLP, like other utilities, does not disconnect customers during winter months.
The five ICC commissioners sent a letter to the state’s utilities Friday asking for the longer extension because the coronavirus continues to be a major problem in the state. At the time, the state had confirmed over 240,000 cases and there were 30 counties that were under warnings because of increasing COVID-19 cases.
The commissioners asked that the utilities extend the moratorium to align with winter heating rules that prohibit gas and electric disconnections from December 1 until March 31.


chicagotribune--2020-09-23--Column: Take a deep breath and repeat, ‘Despair is not an option.’ An election season to-do list.

Don ’ t rely on the official media rehash , the social media snippets and the talking heads to tell @ @ @ @ @ for yourself .
The debates won ’ t supply all , or even most , @ @ @ @ @ to vote intelligently .
And chances are you already know who you ’ re going @ @ @ @ @ , watching will be interesting and in some way informative .

Bethel Gascho walks past a bright red fall tree along East Main Street in Barrington on Sept. 22. Gascho said, "I love to walk, reflect and pray." (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
We’ve entered a new season. It’s not just the season of autumn, it’s election season, six weeks that stretch before us like an eternity and a nanosecond, weeks that risk being a nonstop brawl. As the countdown proceeds, the noise will get louder and uglier, meaning we, the people, will get louder and uglier. And more anxious.
So today, we turn to a time-honored anxiety management tool, the to-do list. Keep this list handy. Place a check next to each item you accomplish. You can do it.
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2020 ELECTION SEASON TO-DO LIST
1. Register to vote.
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2. Take a deep breath and repeat, “Despair is not an option.”
3. Educate yourself on where and how to vote.
4. Once more, take a full inhale. A full exhale. And repeat, “Despair is not an option.”
5. Go outside.
Gluing yourself to Twitter, Facebook and the TV is not a patriotic duty. On the contrary, it will fog your brain and shrivel your soul. Given that it’s often accompanied by excessive eating and drinking, it might even rot your teeth.
Reading or watching reliable media reports on the candidates and the issues is important, but so is getting out in the fresh air, looking at the autumn trees, calming down. That cliche about how if you’re not angry all the time you’re not paying attention? Wrong. If you’re angry all the time you can’t pay attention.
6. And again. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat, “Less Twitter, more trees.”
7. Vote early. Do it in person, socially distanced and wearing a mask. Or do it by mail. There’s no evidence that voting by mail favors one party over the other, no matter what your cousin insists or what you read on Facebook.
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8. Watch the presidential debates.
Don’t rely on the official media rehash, the social media snippets and the talking heads to tell you what happened. Watch for yourself. The debates won’t supply all, or even most, of the information you need to vote intelligently. And chances are you already know who you’re going to vote for. Still, watching will be interesting and in some way informative.
9. After watching the debates, you’ll really, really, really need to breathe. So again. Inhale, exhale, and repeat, “Despair … etc."
10. Sometimes the best thing to do is to not do. So stop doomsday scrolling. Nothing is improved by reading one more story on our inevitable civil war and the coming apocalypse. And resist the urge to share posts from unreliable sources. Don’t be duped by deceptive organizations and individuals operating on the “enrage to engage” principal.
See “Go outside” above.
11. Time for another full breath. You can’t take too many. How many other things in life can you say that about?
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12. Keep wearing your mask. If you don’t wear one, today’s the perfect day to start.
Conquering the coronavirus requires more than voting. But voting for the guy who understands that the coronavirus is serious will help conquer it in the long run.
13. Take another full breath and repeat Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s wise words: “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
14. Find out what else is on the ballot before you vote. Do some research. In Illinois, we’re voting for a variety of candidates, including judges. (See links below for details.)
15. Make soup.
OK, I never make soup, but it sounds like a comforting thing to do as the weather gets cool and we wait for the election. It would be a good activity while watching the debates.
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16. Make a log every day of three good things that happened to you. Even when the thought of the election sends you toward despair, you can always find three good things, even if one of them is only, “I woke up today.”
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 >
17. If you didn’t vote early, vote on Election Day. It’s Tuesday, Nov. 3, an eternity and a nanosecond from now.
18. Keep going. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat, “Despair is not an option.”
If you need help with any aspect of voting, try these websites:
ACLU of Illinois
The League of Women Voters of Illinois
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Illinois State Board of Elections
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-09-23--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Sept. 22 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

And its vaccine has potentially consequential advantages over some competitors .
It uses a technology that has a long safety @ @ @ @ @ diseases .
Its vaccine could require just one shot instead of two — important considering @ @ @ @ @ the world needs vaccination .
And it does not have to be kept frozen as @ @ @ @ @ and other places where it will be given to patients , simplifying the logistics of @ @ @ @ @ .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago on Tuesday, for the second time, added Wisconsin to its list of states from which travelers into the city should stay inside their homes for two weeks after traveling there because of high coronavirus counts. Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady made the call as part of her weekly update on the states that have earned the designation because of high virus counts.
Earlier in the day, Illinois public health officials reported 1,531 newly diagnosed cases and 30 additional deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the statewide tally to 277,266 known cases and 8,486 deaths.
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Meanwhile, the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 200,000 Tuesday, by far the highest in the world, hitting the once-unimaginable threshold six weeks before an election that is certain to be a referendum in part on President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis.
The number of dead is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 67 days. It is roughly equal to the population of Salt Lake City or Huntsville, Alabama.
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Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
9:15 p.m.: Cook County Health officials send Board of Commissioners $3.4B budget plan as pandemic shortfall looms
Cook County Health’s board of directors sent the county’s Board of Commissioners its preliminary $3.4 billion 2021 budget plan this week that would enact cuts across departments aimed at closing a projected $187 million deficit.
In an 8-3 vote, with one director absent, the health system’s board on Monday approved its budget recommendation, despite discord over how much additional tax revenue Cook County should provide the health system that makes up about half of the total county budget. The proposal, which includes slightly more revenue funding from the county, but less than what system officials previously requested, heads to the County Board for further consideration.
The health system board’s initial request had been for an additional $23 million in order to stave off some of the layoffs and other reductions slated for the next fiscal year, but the directors went along with the lesser amount of $10 million in new funds offered by the county.
“Ten million is less than $23 million,” board Chair Hill Hammock said during the meeting. Hammock, who voted yes for the plan, said although the need is great enough that the system could receive an extra $50 million and still be in want, “we have to be realistic. … The county has indicated, to me anyway, that ($23 million) wasn’t available. So we’re looking at a compromise here, no question about it.”
Read more here. —Alice Yin
6:15 p.m.: Chicago-area Catholic schools enrollment drops, with worst decline among pre-kindergarten students
The number of students enrolled at Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago dropped this fall, driven by a decrease in younger students and continuing a nationwide trend of fewer students receiving a Catholic-based education.
Student enrollment is down 10.6% from last year, with a large portion of that decline coming from prekindergarten students, according to the archdiocese.
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“We expected this because a lot of stay-at-home parents are keeping their kids home,” said archdiocese spokesman Manuel Gonzales.
Archdiocesan students returned to in-person learning this fall, while the schools also offered remote learning for students who weren’t comfortable returning to the classroom.
Read more here. —Javonte Anderson
2:35 p.m. (update): Wisconsin again added to Chicago’s quarantine list for travelers
For the second time, Chicago on Tuesday added Wisconsin to its list of states from which travelers into the city should stay inside their homes for two weeks after traveling there because of high coronavirus counts.
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady made the call as part of her weekly update on the states that have earned the designation because of high virus counts. Her move came as Wisconsin’s governor on Tuesday declared “a new public health emergency” because COVID-19 is spiking there.
“Unfortunately, Wisconsin is currently in very poor control when it comes to COVID,” Arwady said. The Badger State now trails only North Dakota and South Dakota in terms of case rates, she said.
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Arwady warned last week that if Wisconsin’s case rate didn’t come down below the 15 cases per 100,000 residents threshold Chicago officials use to determine the self-quarantine list, then she would include it soon.
Wisconsin’s is now at 31 cases per 100,000 residents, she said..
Read more here. —John Byrne
1:45 p.m.: Huge crowd gathers at Rotary Hill near Naperville District 203 offices to demand area schools reopen
Hundreds of Naperville-area parents and students rallied Monday to urge local school boards to bring students back to the classroom and the playing field.
Most public schools kicked off the academic year with remote learning due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. But parents and students at Monday’s rally said spending a school day in front of a computer screen just isn’t working for them.
Naperville District 203 eighth-grader Eleni Nicolaudes carried a sign that summed up her feelings on remote learning: “Stressed Out.”
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“I feel as if I learn better in person,” said Eleni, who attended the rally with her mother and younger sister. “I’m a more hands-on learning. I like being in school.”
Read more here. —Alicia Fabbre
1:25 p.m.: COVID-19 pandemic takes toll on Evanston’s economy: ‘We are in the calm before the storm’
Evanston’s unemployment rate has more than tripled and local businesses are in the midst of a “retailpocolypse.”
That was just some of the dire financial news recently outlined by Evanston officials. They say the city is likely only at the beginning of the economic fallout from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are in the calm before the storm,” said Paul Zalmezak, Evanston’s Economic Development Division manager, during a virtual presentation to the Evanston City Council Sept. 14.
Read more here. —Genevieve Bookwalter
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1 p.m.: Wisconsin expected to return to Chicago’s travel quarantine list
Chicago is expected on Tuesday, for the second time, to add Wisconsin to the city’s list of states from which travelers into Chicago should stay inside their homes for two weeks after traveling there because of high coronavirus counts, a source said.
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady warned last week that if Wisconsin’s case rate didn’t come down below the 15 cases per 100,000 residents threshold Chicago officials use to determine the self-quarantine list, then she would include them soon.
Wisconsin’s cases remain above 20 per 100,000, according to city records, and Arwady is expected to announce the move on Tuesday, a source said.
The city of Chicago announces the additions and subtractions from its largely symbolic roll call of states on Tuesdays, and the new quarantine requirements take effect the following Friday.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration first added Wisconsin to the 14-day quarantine order in late July, only to take it off the list in mid-August when case numbers there dropped.
Read more here. — John Byrne
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12:50 p.m.: Individuals at two Northbrook schools test positive for COVID-19
Northbrook District 28 has seen two positive COVID-19 cases in its schools in the past week, according to officials.
The cases were reported at Greenbriar and Meadowbrook, two of the district’s K-5 schools that serve about 400 students each. The schools are running full in-person and full remote options, and about 77% of families had opted for in-person learning ahead of the school year, according to communications director Terry Ryan.
Ryan said the district would not specify whether the recent cases were of students or staff members “in order to protect the identity of the individual” but said the two cases do not appear to be related.
Superintendent Larry Hewitt sent a message to families Monday to notify them that someone at Meadowbrook School reported earlier that day testing positive for COVID-19.
He said the district has been working with the Cook County Department of Public Health to identify and notify close contacts and require them to stay home for 14 days, as well as deep cleaning and sanitizing the school.
According to Hewitt, the individual had been in isolation since the onset of their symptoms, and no close contacts were associated with the person in this case.
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Another case was reported a week earlier on Sept. 14 at Greenbriar School. In a message to families the following day, Hewitt said the individual had been in isolation since Sept. 11.
—Kaitlin Edquist
12:35: Notre Dame cancels its Tuesday football practice in the wake of COVID-19 positive results and contact tracing
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly on Monday called his team’s COVID-19 plan “an evolving situation.”
No joke. The Irish canceled Tuesday’s practice, as first reported by Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel, after four players tested positive last week. Another six were quarantined because of contract tracing.
None of those 10 played in Notre Dame' 52-0 dismantling of South Florida on Saturday.
The 2-0 Irish are scheduled to face Wake Forest on Saturday in their first road trip of the season.
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As part of the team’s COVID-19 protocol, players will not be able to meet up with family members before the game.
Read more here. —Teddy Greenstein
12:30 p.m.: Restaurants bleeding cash during the pandemic are investing big to improve indoor air quality. But will diners come inside?
The host greeting diners at Formento’s, an Italian restaurant in the West Loop, now offers guests a luxury alongside the menu and wine list: a portable air purifier for their table.
The tabletop devices are among a series of air quality upgrades the restaurant introduced this month to assure customers they can breathe easy dining inside.
Diners can also expect to see bussers using ultraviolet wands to sterilize glassware and utensils, and little air-sucking robots in various corners of the restaurant that use heat to kill microorganisms. Unseen are new air filters installed in the HVAC system meant to trap virus particles.
The changes were costly for a restaurant that continues to lose money due to COVID-19. But Phillip Waters, whose B. Hospitality Co. owns Formento’s as well as its sister sandwich restaurant Nonna and The Bristol in Bucktown, said it’s a necessary investment if the businesses are going to survive.
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“We have to convince people that restaurants are safe,” Waters said.
Restaurants hoping to see the other side of the pandemic are pouring money into air quality upgrades and other safety features even as business remains devastated by COVID-19. As they burn through cash, they are counting on customers taking comfort in the changes and filling seats.
Read more here. —Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
11:25 a.m.: Chicago International Film Festival goes digital AND outdoors, featuring ‘Belushi,’ Rachel Brosnahan, Kate Winslet, ‘One Night in Miami’ and ‘Nomadland’
Nobody’s film festival this year resembles anybody’s film festival in previous years. The Oct. 14-25 Chicago International Film Festival lineup, announced Tuesday, proves it.
The 56th edition follows a pandemic festival hybrid model of mostly digital offerings, along with eight films presented at the popular ChiTown Movies drive-in. Since the summer this modest 2020 Chicago phenomenon has become the city’s preferred drive-in location, located in Pilsen, just off South Throop Street behind the big brick ChiTown Futbol facility.
The previously announced John Belushi documentary “Belushi,” a Showtime project, opens the festival at the Pilsen drive-in. Closing night brings director Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” a prestige smash (and a lovely movie) all across the fall festival circuit, starring Frances McDormand. The road movie recently won top prize at the Venice film festival, followed by the equivalent “audience award” at the Toronto festival.
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Chicago International’s drive-in component includes the concert movie “David Byrne’s American Utopia,” directed by Spike Lee (Oct. 15); “Ammonite,” a discreetly torrid 19th Century love story starring 2020 festival Career Achievement Award winner Kate Winslet (Oct. 17); the Chicago-made documentary “The Road Up” (Oct. 18); and Regina King’s directorial debut “One Night in Miami” (Oct. 23) about the time Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke got together after Clay’s heavyweight victory over Sonny Liston in 1964.
Read more here. —Michael Phillips
11:05 a.m.: Chicago-based mall operator Brookfield to cut hundreds of employees; 20% of retail group workforce
Brookfield Properties, one of the nation’s largest mall operators, is cutting 20% of its workforce in its retail division, as the pandemic has accelerated online shopping and resulted in a string of store closings.
The Chicago-based mall operator, which operates 170 mall properties, has more than 2,000 employees in its retail division, according to the company.
“2020 has had a profound impact on us all, both personally and professionally,” Jared Chupaila, CEO of Brookfield Properties' retail group, wrote in a email to its employees. “Our business has been frustrated, interrupted and constrained. All of our constituents — retailers, lenders, communities, partners and our own employees— have been affected by the events of this year and forced to revisit their relationships with our industry and our company.”
Read more here. —Associated Press
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11 a.m.: US death toll from coronavirus tops 200,000, equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 67 days
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 200,000 Tuesday, a figure unimaginable eight months ago when the scourge first reached the world’s richest nation with its sparkling laboratories, top-flight scientists and stockpiles of medicines and emergency supplies.
“It is completely unfathomable that we’ve reached this point,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher.
The bleak milestone, by far the highest confirmed death toll from the virus in the world, was reported by Johns Hopkins, based on figures supplied by state health authorities. But the real toll is thought to be much higher, in part because many COVID-19 deaths were probably ascribed to other causes, especially early on, before widespread testing.
The number of dead in the U.S. is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 67 days. It is roughly equal to the population of Salt Lake City or Huntsville, Alabama.
And it is still climbing. Deaths are running at close to 770 a day on average, and a widely cited model from the University of Washington predicts the overall U.S. toll will double to 400,000 by the end of the year as schools and colleges reopen and cold weather sets in. A vaccine is unlikely to become widely unavailable until 2021.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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10:30 a.m.: Avoid ‘traditional trick-or-treating,’ the CDC says, in its guidelines for Halloween 2020
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidance for Halloween 2020 that ranks activities from low risk to high risk for spreading COVID-19.
The CDC says “traditional trick-or-treating” is considered high risk.
"Many traditional Halloween activities can be high-risk for spreading viruses. There are several safer, alternative ways to participate in Halloween.
If you may have COVID-19 or you may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, you should not participate in in-person Halloween festivities and should not give out candy to trick-or-treaters," the CDC says on its website.
Read more here. —Pennlive.com
7:45 a.m.: When the gyms closed, the gym rats moved to a patch of workout space in Lincoln Park — and some locals don’t like it
Summer 2020 is officially gone, and as it leaves, in a normal year, the shirtless young men of Grove 13 would leave with it, driven indoors by the chill of autumn. Grove 13 is the Chicago Park District’s official name for the patch of Lincoln Park at Wellington and inner Lake Shore Drive, just north of the Diversity Driving Range. Here, beneath the watchful glare of nearby apartment buildings and senior living facilities, there is a small workout space. It’s nothing exciting to look at. It’s smaller than a typical playground and the equipment is so spartan — parallel bars, gymnast rings, some stairs — you might say it looks more like a playground that someone lost interest in midway through designing.
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Yet, for Lakeview gym rats, bulked out, V-shaped, intense, this fitness area — which has no name itself — became a respite early into the pandemic, a gym away from gym.
A gym that, according to the Chicago Park District, remains closed, like playgrounds and other public fitness areas in the city. Commercial gyms reopened weeks ago at reduced capacity, with social-distancing measures. Yet this outdoor space in Lincoln Park is both closed and busy.
The Park District confirmed what many regulars here already know: A few of the neighbors are not their biggest fans. The city has received complaints about people removing the fencing and police tape.
Read more here. —Christopher Borrelli
6:50 a.m.: Chicago to announce if Wisconsin to be added back to city quarantine list
Chicago could add Wisconsin back to its travel quarantine list Tuesday after warning residents last week that the state again had been seeing an uptick in coronavirus cases.
City Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said at the time that Wisconsin could again join other states on the mandatory self-quarantine list if numbers didn’t improve.
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Arwady said the city was “advising against travel to Wisconsin,” because in the prior week, the state “had the most cases that it has had at any point since COVID broke out last week," with high rates of positive cases.
—Chicago Tribune staff
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
In case you missed it
Here are five stories related to COVID-19 from Monday:


chicagotribune--2020-09-24--Daywatch: Hundreds in Chicago protest Breonna Taylor decision, Boystown drops its name and where to

Daywatch: Hundreds in Chicago protest Breonna Taylor decision, Boystown drops its name and where to go apple picking in the Chicago area

The summer heat has come and gone .
With the weather starting to cool down , the time for fall @ @ @ @ @ and pumpkin patches — is here .
If you ’ re looking for a way @ @ @ @ @ house for a few hours because of the coronavirus pandemic , here is a list @ @ @ @ @ patches around the Chicago area .

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Good morning, Chicago. On Wednesday, Illinois public health officials reported 1,848 new known coronavirus cases and 22 more fatalities. The news came as Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned that the northwest region of Illinois could be headed for stricter COVID-19 regulations.
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Meanwhile, all the time we’ve spent at home the last six months has had an impact on the travel patterns in the city. The Tribune’s Kori Rumore broke down how COVID-19 and staying at home changed how Chicago gets around.
Here’s more coronavirus news some and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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A group of about 100 people shut down the corner of Racine and 79th St. in Chicago following the announcement of charges in the Breonna Taylor case on Sept. 23, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Kellie Black said she was expecting an announcement regarding Breonna Taylor’s grand jury inquiry but didn’t think anything was amiss until businesses in her Gresham neighborhood began boarding up windows.
On Wednesday, Black joined about 100 community residents and activists who blocked off a trucking route on the South Side in a peaceful protest after a Kentucky grand jury decided not to charge any Louisville police officers for their role in Taylor’s killing. Later in the evening, about 300 people gathered at the east end of a dark Palmer Square Park and other groups gathered by The Bean in Millennium Park.
Voting at Orozco Community Academy school in Chicago on March 17, 2020. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Balloting for the Nov. 3 general election kicks off Thursday with the opening of some early-voting polling sites while election officials across the state begin to mail out ballots to some of the more than 1.7 million applicants and brace for an unprecedented surge in both types of voting because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Devlyn Camp is one of the authors of a petition calling for a name change for Chicago's Boystown neighborhood. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
The Boystown banners are coming down. Business leaders in Chicago’s largest LGBTQ neighborhood announced Wednesday that they would stop marketing the area as Boystown, following complaints that the 30-year-old name excludes women and gender nonbinary people.
The Dreadhead Cowboy, aka Adam Hollingsworth, stands on his horse Prince on June 23, 2020, in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
A lone cowboy rode out from obscurity this summer and into local fame, an oddball bright spot in a bleak year. The Dreadhead Cowboy — born Adam Hollingsworth — became a social media sensation, “our Batman,” a mainstay at Black Lives Matter protests, the mayor’s census ambassador, a friend to children across the city.
But his gallop down the Dan Ryan Expressway this week ended in ugly allegations that he criminally mistreated his horse, which may now need to be euthanized, Cook County prosecutors said.
Sam DeMoon picks an Empire apple from a tree at Heinz Orchard in Green Oaks. (Anthony DeMoon)
The summer heat has come and gone. With the weather starting to cool down, the time for fall activities — like apple picking and pumpkin patches — is here. If you’re looking for a way to get out of the house for a few hours because of the coronavirus pandemic, here is a list of apple orchards and pumpkin patches around the Chicago area.


chicagotribune--2020-09-24--‘This is not good enough.’ Chicago-area parents rally to get kids back in school, and some districts

‘This is not good enough.’ Chicago-area parents rally to get kids back in school, and some districts are making it happen.

School board members are trying to appease parents and students who want to be in class , while trying to @ @ @ @ @ remain afraid of in-person instruction .
Neither side is entirely happy .
Some parents think @ @ @ @ @ behind if they opt to remain with remote learning when others go back to class @ @ @ @ @ about the spread of the virus .

Her three children had always been good students, but since being relegated to online learning in Downers Grove, Carrie Swenson has had to guard against sleeping during class, poor grades and the temptation to cheat.
At random times, with all three in band but no group practice, they take turns playing a trumpet, saxophone or percussion, while their golden retriever howls. Swenson’s son is dejected and no longer in the Advanced Placement classes at which he excelled.
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“This is not good enough,” Swenson said of remote learning. “It’s like they’re watching TV. I’ve heard of more and more students disengaging. Overwhelmingly, parents are saying this isn’t enough, we cannot do this.”
Parents and students of Districts 45 and 88 rally at Lufkin Park in support of reopening schools, Sept. 21, 2020, in Villa Park. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Swenson recently joined in a wave of parent rallies across the suburbs, calling for kids to get back in the classroom and into athletics in Algonquin, Barrington, Libertyville, Naperville, Orland Park, Villa Park and Wheaton, among other towns. They say online learning is not working, noting that some districts are operating with children in class, showing it can be done safely despite the coronavirus. In response, some boards are taking steps to reopen schools, many through a hybrid plan of remote and in-person learning.
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In Downers Grove School District 99, officials recently announced plans for an Oct. 19 reopening, with students in class two days a week and online the rest of the time. That’s not enough for Swenson and some other parents, but they are relieved administrators are taking steps in the right direction.
School board members are trying to appease parents and students who want to be in class, while trying to please parents and teachers who remain afraid of in-person instruction. Neither side is entirely happy. Some parents think their kids will be left behind if they opt to remain with remote learning when others go back to class. Teachers especially are concerned about the spread of the virus.
The Illinois Education Association, representing 135,000 teachers and other members, said in a statement that it “stands firmly on the side of science and safety.”
Association President Kathi Griffin stated that in-person learning is best for students, but each district must develop an appropriate and practical safety plan following health guidelines.
“If districts cannot open safely, then the school buildings should not open and all learning should be fully remote,” she said. "We certainly understand how difficult this is for everyone, but safety must come first. We need to put the health and safety of our students, our staff and our communities first as we combat this deadly virus.”
In Chicago, the teachers union opposed a proposal for hybrid learning. Parents called for transparent criteria to reopen at the school board meeting Wednesday, but plans call for sticking with remote learning at least through the end of the first quarter in November. But elsewhere, as state and regional positivity rates have gone down or held steady recently, school boards are beginning to feel more comfortable with classroom instruction.
The North Shore, which includes some of the highest-performing districts in the state, has been leading the way. In Winnetka School District 36, the district’s roughly 1,600 students returned to the classroom in late August under a hybrid instructional model that includes both in-person and remote learning.
“This was and will continue to be no small feat,” Superintendent Trisha Kocanda wrote in a letter to parents. “Each decision is new and every step in planning takes tremendous effort.”
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Officials have said the district has budgeted up to $2.3 million for coronavirus-related expenses, which breaks down to about $1,400 per student — a price many districts cannot afford.
Part of that cost includes a partnership with Ambry Genetics to provide immediate coronavirus testing to staff, including an overnight kit for employees who are exhibiting symptoms that yields test results within 24 to 72 hours of receipt.
Parents and students of Districts 45 and 88 rally at Lufkin Park in support of reopening schools on Sept. 21, 2020 in Villa Park. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
In addition, the district purchased a collection of supplies, including plastic protective desk shields for every student and teacher, upgrades to the air quality in classrooms by installing HEPA air-filtration units, as well as 23 outdoor canopy-style tents to be used at all five school campuses.
Kocanda urged families to continue following COVID-19 safety guidelines.
“In order to maintain our learning model, we depend on all in our community to remain vigilant about social distancing and mask-wearing, staying home when sick, and traveling with caution,” Kocanda said.
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In Deerfield School District 109, elementary students are phasing in a return to class through Oct. 5, starting with kindergartners on Thursday. Students will split up to space out, going to class for half a day, then having prerecorded online instruction the rest of the day.
A parents group there is pushing to get middle school students back in school as well, as recommended by a committee that studied the issue. While the majority of parents indicated in a survey in August that they wanted in-class instruction, because much has changed since then, the board sent out a new survey this week, and will hold a special meeting next week to consider how to proceed, spokesman Eric Steckling said.
All plans are being worked on in collaboration with the teachers union, Steckling said. “There’s definitely a segment of teachers that (believes) safety is a concern for everybody,” he said. “They want to make sure we’re thinking through everything.”
Illinois Department of Public Health guidelines call for requiring students and teachers to wear masks and keep at least 6 feet apart, limiting crowds to 50 at a time, certifying participants are symptom-free each day, and disinfecting classrooms.
The Illinois State Board of Education also asked schools to emphasize instruction for special ed students, English language learners and those who had difficulty learning remotely.
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Other North Shore school districts that have provided in-person instruction include those with students in Glencoe, Glenview, Northbrook, Highland Park and Lake Forest. Districts also started the year with full-time in-class instruction in Oak Brook, Roselle and Rosemont.
Parents and students of Districts 45 and 88 rally at Lufkin Park in support of reopening schools, Sept. 21, 2020, in Villa Park. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Similar efforts are now underway in the south suburbs, where Lockport Township High School District 205, Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 and Consolidated High School District 230 are transitioning to a mix of in-person and remote learning.
Many private and downstate schools are also providing in-class instruction, with occasional reports of COVID-19 cases among students or teachers, forcing some of them to quarantine.
Libertyville District 70 recently recommended a phased hybrid approach for the beginning of October.
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Randi Carlson, of Arlington Heights, whose son is a senior at Hersey High School in District 214, said she loves her school district, which still is teaching remotely.
But as an environmental consultant who works with data by profession, she questions how officials are using the various COVID-19 metrics to inform their decision-making.
“I sympathize with District 214, which has been forced to make these decisions with very little guidance and direction,” Carlson said. “It’s not their expertise, and I’m not bashing the superintendent or the teachers. But the district was all ready to reopen with a hybrid plan, and then they just flipped on a dime, and it’s hard to understand why it flipped.”
Above all, Carlson said she’s disheartened about how remote learning has had a negative impact on her 17-year-old son’s start to his senior year of high school, where he had planned to participate in a project-based mechanical engineering class, as well as being a member of Hersey’s award-winning robotics team.
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“I’ve been a little concerned that there has been so much emphasis on students missing sports, because everyone’s in activities, not just the athletes,” Carlson said. “We should all be focused first and foremost on getting the kids back to school.”
Chicago Tribune’s Hannah Leone and Mike Nolan of the Daily Southtown contributed.
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Deerfield School District 109 spokesman Eric Steckling.