chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Family alleges brutal police restraint with knee on neck in arrest caught on video

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Chicago police surrounded a vehicle , brake windows and arrest a women near Brickyard Mall @ @ @

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chicagotribune--2020-06-03--As some Chicago restaurants gear up to open outdoor dining Wednesday, others take a more reserved ap

As some Chicago restaurants gear up to open outdoor dining Wednesday, others take a more reserved approach

“ Our No .
1 is keeping our employees safe and the public safe , ” he said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ the pivoting phase and figuring out what to do .
The information is coming out @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re not going to throw anything out of the playbook right now .
@ @ @ @ @ see where things are going .
...
It ’ s the Wild West right now @ @ @ @ @ lot of other things on their hands right now .
”

Kyle Kowalski replanes the wood planks of tables so they can be refinished in the rooftop space of West Town Bakery in Chicago on June 2, 2020. The business will reopen for outdoor dining Wednesday. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
After waiting more than a week since Gov. J. B. Pritzker announced the reopening of outdoor dining in Illinois, restaurants in the city of Chicago finally have the green light to do the same Wednesday.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Tuesday morning that Chicago would move ahead to phase three of her reopening plan, allowing some industries to resume business, including restaurants’ outdoor dining spaces. While some Chicago restaurants eagerly prepare to reopen Wednesday, others are taking a more reserved approach, some citing the civil unrest that has shaken the nation over the past few days.
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Restaurants are required to have a permit or license to operate outdoors, whether they plan on setting up a sidewalk cafe or outdoor patio. Lightfoot also launched the Expanded Outdoor Dining Permit last week, which allows for temporary outdoor operations in the street or on private property, like in a parking lot.
Greg Mohr, co-owner of the Fifty/50 Restaurant Group, which includes Roots Handmade Pizza in West Town and Lincoln Square and Utopian Tailgate in Old Town, said he’s excited to get back to serving people again. To add even more outdoor space, the Roots and West Town Bakery patios will be open for normal hours. But Fifty/50 has decided not to open another restaurant, Homestead on the Roof, reversing the plan it announced Tuesday.
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Between delivery, takeout and the charity food bank the restaurant group has run, the biggest kitchens have remained fully operational during the pandemic, so he expects the transition to go smoothly.
[ Outdoor dining guide: A running list of Chicago and suburban rooftops and patio reopenings ]
“A lot of the work was already done,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier with how it’s coming together.”
While Utopian Tailgate, the irreverent, nostalgic bar and restaurant atop Piper’s Alley, is getting rid of its lawn games, customers can still play tabletop games — the games will be sanitized between each use. Patrons also will find QR codes to access the menu, and if they want a paper one, it’ll be disposed of after it’s used. When dining at Roots, customers will be encouraged to use an app to order and pay.
“We’ll continue to pivot as we find better ways to do things,” Mohr said. “I’m very excited. It’s been a very long journey and we’re all pretty worn out and stressed out. We don’t know how it’s going to go. ... But I’m excited to work again and serve people again and seeing people smiling and eating and drinking and all the things.”
Eric Fritzsche, general manager of Utopian Tailgate restaurant in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood, is seen on the rooftop space on June 2, 2020. The popular bar will reopen Wednesday. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
It’s no secret that the restaurant industry has taken a clobbering during the pandemic. And now, with the fallout in Chicago and across the nation over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a police officer, some restaurants are even more wary about opening too soon.
Dave Nalezny, co-owner of Park & Field in Logan Square, had been set to reopen the restaurant on Thursday. But Tuesday afternoon, he contacted a reporter to say they would wait. He did not offer a new opening date, saying management would decide after an all-staff meeting Wednesday over the Zoom teleconferencing app.
Nalezny had spent Tuesday removing the boards he had put up to protect the restaurant against looters and rioters who wreaked havoc Sunday on other businesses on his block of West Fullerton Avenue. “It’s been a whirlwind,” he said.
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Many of his employees have expressed concern about traveling to and from work with the CTA closures, so he hopes public demonstrations will remain peaceful to assuage their fears.
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In Hyde Park, restaurateur Rico Nance hopes to put out a few chairs and tables in the weeks to come, but not right now.
“The turmoil of the nation dealing with George Floyd and everything else that has been going on, I’m not sure how smart it is to put someone outside right now with looters running past, snatching purses,” said Nance, who owns Litehouse Whole Food Grill, Mikkey’s Retro Grill and The Soul Shack, all in Hyde Park. “But once the climate calms down, it might be the only thing to keep us in business.”
Although an ATM was stolen from the back of Litehouse, Nance said his restaurants have remained relatively unscathed because of their relationship with the community.
Some restaurants, however, are waiting even longer to reopen. While Birrieria Zaragoza, the popular Mexican restaurant in Archer Heights, has toyed with the idea of converting its parking lot into dining space, owner Jonathan Zaragoza said his team is currently focused on curbside pickup and exploring the idea of meal kits.
“Our No. 1 is keeping our employees safe and the public safe,” he said. “Honestly, everyone is in the pivoting phase and figuring out what to do. The information is coming out by the hour, so we’re not going to throw anything out of the playbook right now. We’re going to see where things are going. ... It’s the Wild West right now and the city has a lot of other things on their hands right now.”
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For Mike Simmons, chef and co-owner of Cafe Marie-Jeanne in Humboldt Park, the fact that there’s no treatment or prevention of COVID-19 is reason enough not to open the restaurant for dine-in customers. With delivery drivers servicing multiple restaurants who have employees that come into contact with diners, Simmons described the network as a mycelium that would contribute to the spread of the virus.
“As far as I can tell, the only thing that has happened is a lot of people got sick and died and it’s starting to maybe slow down, whatever that means, and the economy fell apart,” he said. “We haven’t gotten anywhere with the disease. On top of that, there’s massive civil unrest because our government hates black people. So getting six people on a plexiglass patio is such a low priority for us right now.”
He has kept two people on payroll and has been trying to break even with takeout orders. The rest of his money he’s been giving to the Chicago Community Bond Fund, Reclaim the Block in Minneapolis, and “some other organization that needs money more than people need smoked chicken and french fries.” And for the people who need smoked chicken and french fries, they can order through his website and do contactless pick-up.
During the pandemic, Simmons’ ordering system requires guests to order a day in advance. He’s exploring same-day pickup with a new menu this weekend. To fully open, he said he needs to feel like the health care system is both equipped to prevent the spread of the disease and treat the disease once people contract it.
“Right now, it does not feel like that,” Simmons said. “Just opening up does not make the disease go away. Money does not make the disease go away. The economy was booming when the disease came. Our economic health is being watched out for rather than actual human health.”
This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Homestead on the Roof will not open for another two weeks.
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gwong@chicagotribune.com


Corrections and clarifications

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· In Wednesday’s Business section, a graphic on construction spending had a bar incorrectly labeled April 2019. That information was for May 2019.
The Tribune regrets the error.
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chicagotribune--2020-06-03--The Spin: Politicians pivot to police reform | For Lightfoot, Preckwinkle and others, George Floyd d

The Spin: Politicians pivot to police reform | For Lightfoot, Preckwinkle and others, George Floyd death a painful reminder of racism in their lives |  Chicago begins reopening

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle recounted a story she ’ s told before about the two black families — @ @ @ @ @ — in her grade school in St. Paul , Minnesota , just across the river @ @ @ @ @ a weekend news conference where she reflected on Floyd ’ s death , her recounting @ @ @ @ @ at the hands of racist kids somehow felt more brutal : “ From the first @ @ @ @ @ first grade until about fourth grade , my younger brother and I were frequently waylaid @ @ @ @ @ way home from school.
” She said the boys called them racial slurs and started @ @ @ @ @ she said , was one of the reasons she studied history , so she could @ @ @ @ @ hated us so much .
”

A Chicago police officer kneels with people observing a moment of silence during a march through the Heart of Chicago neighborhood June 2, 2020, to promote a unity between Latinos and African Americans in the wake of tension between the two groups. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Politicians across the country — including in Chicago and even in Congress — are pivoting to long-discussed police reforms in the aftermath of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd last month.
During a televised speech last night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot called for “peace” in Chicago. But the mayor also announced that she’s asked new police Superintendent David Brown to enact a series of reform measures in the next 90 days aimed at improving police-community relations, from classes to help officers understand the history of the neighborhoods they’re patrolling to a crisis-intervention program to help officers struggling with trauma and mental illness in a department that saw a cluster of suicides between 2018 and 2019.
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Chicago boasts a diverse lineup of city leaders, including African American women elected to lead the city and Cook County governments, as well as the prosecutor’s office. But as they and other several high-profile African American officials have called news conferences to condemn the bursts of violence and looting following George Floyd’s death, they also have shared their own deep anger and grief over another black man dying at the hands of a white police officer. Some have related personal accounts of how systemic racism and prejudice has touched their lives.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle recounted a story she’s told before about the two black families — hers being one of them — in her grade school in St. Paul, Minnesota, just across the river from Minneapolis. But at a weekend news conference where she reflected on Floyd’s death, her recounting of the bullying she faced at the hands of racist kids somehow felt more brutal: “From the first time I was in about first grade until about fourth grade, my younger brother and I were frequently waylaid by white boys on the way home from school.” She said the boys called them racial slurs and started fights. The torment, she said, was one of the reasons she studied history, so she could “discover why white people hated us so much.”
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While not an elected leader, Brown talked about his resolve to change things — one shared by Preckwinkle and other black leaders. During a news conference this week, he shared a story about the push and pull of being African American and in law enforcement that began as soon as he decided as a 20-something college student to become a cop.
Brown said he wanted to not only fight crime in his own neighborhood, but to change an institution that his own father — who tried to talk him out of a policing career — saw as oppressive to African Americans.
Welcome to The Spin.
Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Lori Lightfoot at a rally in support of Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx on Feb. 28, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
They have lauded the peaceful marches and have made it clear they’ll crack down on opportunist burglars and arsonists taking advantage of the painful global outpouring over the death of George Floyd. But some of Chicago’s elected leaders, the people we vote for (or against), are also sharing personal reflections of how the Floyd case — and systemic racism in this country — has affected them.
Mayor Lightfoot, the first African American woman to hold the post in Chicago, has praised the city’s police for doing the “heroic work” of answering thousands of calls daily to stem gun violence and shutter drug markets — made more difficult in recent months by a pandemic and, in recent days, some violent protests.
But the mayor also gets the strong public reaction to an unarmed black man killed by a white police officer. “I understand the anguish and pain that many people are feeling. Its roots stretch back across our history and reach the very fibers of our society, stemming from that original sin” of racism, the mayor told reporters this week.
The fraught history of police and the black community is something she said she carries with her when she walks through the front door at night: “We can’t rest knowing that black mothers and fathers in our city still live in fear of getting a phone call about something terrible happening to one of their children. I know I hug my daughter a little longer at night every time I hear a story about Mr. Floyd and I think about my brothers and men in my family; another black American that is killed in this way. And it’s a generational burden. I know my mother carried it, and I carry it too.”
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, the first African American woman to serve as the office’s top prosecutor, said watching video of the now-fired Minneapolis police officer kneel on Floyd’s neck, hand in pocket, knowing he was being filmed reflects a larger “casual acceptance of racism in this country”: “For those who don’t understand — to watch a man casually take the life of another under the color of law — as a law enforcement professional and as a black woman ... my heart broke,” Foxx said during a Sunday news conference. “What we have seen in this country are broken hearts and anger at the continual cycle that we have seen of the casual acceptance of racism in this country,” she said, ticking off other examples including health care and economic disparities that run along race lines.
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Foxx, who’s up for reelection this November, has campaigned on a promise to continue trying to shore up yet another disparity: a criminal justice system where African Americans and Latinos historically have been overrepresented in the courts, jails and prisons.
As a parent, too, she is grieving and frustrated: “I have four teenage daughters who are frightened out of their mind.”
For Brown, a mayoral appointee, his regular reminder that policing is a difficult but “noble profession” came Saturday night as he watched some demonstrators turn violent and go after officers who held forth and worked to calm the situation. The experience took him back to why he wanted to get into law enforcement, despite his own father’s misgivings, he said during a recent news conference.
“I’m nearly 60 years old now, but when I was 21 ... I wanted to make a difference in what was happening in my neighborhood.” he said, adding: “I wanted to be a cop, I wanted to help, I wanted to help people.”
Brown recalls his father, born in 1939 Jim Crow America “asked — he lectured me, ‘Why do you want to be associated with an organization like that, that mistreats people of color?’ I told my dad: ‘How will it ever change if we don’t serve and get involved?’”
‘This is a step back.’ Latino activists speak out about racial tension with black Chicagoans on Southwest Side amid George Floyd fallout: The Tribune’s Laura Rodriguez Presa has the story here.
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Special prosecutor in Laquan McDonald case says George Floyd’s a call for swift change in criminal justice system: Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon, the special prosecutor who secured a guilty verdict against white Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke in the 2014 shooting death of Laquan McDonald, issued a statement today expressing his “disgust” over the Floyd killing, saying “there’s no known police technique I’m aware of that justifies” an officer kneeing on the neck of someone handcuffed and prone, begging for his life.
McMahon, a Republican who decided not to run for reelection this year, said it goes beyond policing: “Our system of justice must recognize where it has fallen down with inconsistencies in charges, prosecutions and sentences, in addressing police misconduct and how these mixed messages are received by the public.”
And in a moment of self-reflection, the outgoing prosecutor added: “I, like many across Kane County and our nation, ask myself if I have contributed to the discord. Have I done my part to strengthen the fabric of America? What have I learned since 2014” when Laquan McDonald was killed in Chicago or “the Rodney King beating in 1991 and the civil rights movement in the 1960s? We have made some progress, but we need to do better.”
Former Dallas police Chief David Brown appears with Mayor Lori Lightfoot at City Hall on April 2, 2020, where she announced he's the next Chicago police superintendent. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
During a televised speech last night, Mayor Lightfoot said she’s asked Chicago police Superintendent David Brown to enact a series of reform measures in the next 90 days aimed at not only improving police-community relations but also to help officers deal with the trauma that comes with crime fighting.
The Tribune’s Gregory Pratt lays out the mayor’s to-do list she gave Brown to complete over the next three months, including launching crisis intervention and procedural justice training for all officers, and establishing a new program for recruits on police-community relations and community policing with input from residents, she said.
The mayor also is calling for Brown to flesh out an officer “wellness” program as well as a support program for officers in crisis. Read Pratt’s full story in the Tribune, here.
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Reminder: This comes as the city is under a federal consent decree that mandates changes to training, supervision and discipline. The reform rollout has been slow, as my colleague Dan Hinkel wrote in a piece out yesterday: “Late last year, the first periodic report from the independent monitoring team hired to guide the department’s progress found the city had missed 37 of its 50 deadlines during the first six months of implementing the court order.”
The court-supervised consent decree came on the heels of the police killing of African American teen Laquan McDonald and a wide-ranging report by the U.S. Department of Justice that portrayed the city’s police as poorly trained and loosely supervised, with little reason to fear discipline. The Justice Department’s findings echoed long-standing complaints about flawed investigations into shootings and the disproportionate use of force against minorities, among a host of other issues.
Minneapolis may follow Chicago’s lead on the consent decree: Read The Associated Press story here.
Prosecutors level more serious murder charge against Minneapolis police officer in death of George Floyd, as they announce new charges against three other officers: Read the story here.
Discipline factor: I spoke with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, earlier this week, who said he’s heard time and again that it’s a few “bad apples” responsible for the crime and other problems on the any given police force. While that may be true, he sees a flawed system that makes it difficult to get rid of bad actors — either because of a “Code Blue” system in which fellow officers don’t report a problem colleague or police union contracts that make it difficult to fire an officer.
Snapshot: Several years ago, the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois examined “314 disciplinary appeals the police union pursued on behalf of officers between February 2010 and February 2017.” Of those, “266 led to favorable outcomes for officers. Police had their punishments reduced or — in 58 of those cases — had them overturned entirely.”
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Perspective: “About half of the 314 total grievances were decided by an independent arbitrator selected by the union and the city. In the others, union officials and city lawyers negotiated settlement agreements before arbitration began, typically for officers to receive a reduced punishment in exchange for withdrawing their grievances,” The Tribune and ProPublica reported.
Quotable: Sharon Fairley, the former chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates allegations of officer misconduct, said at the time that the frequency with which officers win grievances raises questions about the disciplinary system. Read the full piece here.
The Wrigley Field marquee reads "END RACISM" as demonstrators walk North Clark Street as they protest the death of George Floyd. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Robert Channick: "While small businesses tend to broken store windows and damaged merchandise amid fallout from George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, major brands are busy weighing in on systemic racism in America.
“McDonald’s, Walgreens and the Chicago Cubs are among the Chicago-area companies that have posted social media messages, sent letters to employees and held town halls in recent days denouncing discrimination, and pledging commitments to diversity and inclusiveness. Nationally, the list of companies and CEOs taking a stance is a who’s who of consumer brands: Apple, Google, Nike, Citigroup, Uber and Netflix, among others.”
Expert eye: Channick notes, “Taking a stand can help both the company and the cause, according to Myriam Sidibe, a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and an expert on the impact of social mission marketing campaigns by brands.” Read the full story here.
Faith leaders, supporters, and members of the community attend a rally in Bronzeville after the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune's Gregory Pratt: "On Chicago’s first day easing coronavirus restrictions on city businesses, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown expressed hope that the city’s civil unrest was calming.
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"But, they said, the city remains on guard against both the COVID-19 disease and looting.
"The city’s keeping all of its resources in place, including the National Guard, and making strategic adjustments to help make sure residents in the neighborhoods feel safe, “given the looting,” Brown said.
By the numbers: Pratt also reports that officials recorded the lowest number of arrests since the weekend, with 274, Brown said. The city also had the lowest number of looting calls and arrests, he said. There were 46 disorderly conduct arrests, he said, mostly for people throwing rocks or verbally assaulting city cops.
Recovering from a pandemic, then vandalism: Many store owners are dealing with empty shelves and shattered windows, the wreckage left by looters, largely on the South and West sides, but downtown as well. With a 9 p.m. curfew in place and the ongoing threat of the coronavirus, the so-called return to normal will likely be slower than already expected.
Chicago mayor sets up $10M fund amid vandalism, unrest, calls for insurance companies to ‘start cutting checks’ as ransacked businesses clean up: You can read the Tribune stories here and here.
Illinois congressional Democrats to President Donald Trump: ‘We strongly object’ to suggestion of sending military to state to halt protests: U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, of Schaumburg, and other Democrats in the state’s Washington delegation told Trump in a letter they objected to his call to send the military to states where unrest continues over George Floyd.
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“While a president reserves the authority, under the Insurrection Act of 1807, to dispatch the military to the states in extremely limited circumstances,” the letter states, “we strongly object to asserting that authority here because not only are such limited circumstances not present, but also such a course would prolong and exacerbate the current unrest.” Read the full letter here. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she’d take Trump to court if he tried to deploy the military on protesters.
Downtown definitely reopens: After days of road closures and reduced transit service because of incidents of looting and violence, access to downtown Chicago started today, the Tribune’s Mary Wisniewski reports. Read her story here.
But CBOE delays reopening of trading floor after widespread disruption in the Loop: The Tribune’s Robert Channick has the details here.
Lavance Fulton restocks shelves at Mariano's in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood amid the coronavirus pandemic on March 19, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz and Jonathon Berlin: "Before the death of George Floyd ignited a powder keg of tensions over social inequities in the U.S., COVID-19 had already laid them bare.
“Blacks and Latinos, as well as lower-income people, are not only more likely to die from the disease than whites, but also are disproportionately hurt by the economic fallout because of the kinds of jobs they tend to hold. In a new report, the Illinois Economic Policy Institute quantifies the “significant structural inequities” COVID-19 has revealed about Illinois’ economy.”
Snapshot: “Face-to-face workers, who hold jobs like restaurant servers and hair stylists, make up a quarter of the workforce and are disproportionately made up of blacks and Latinos. Remote workers are more likely to be white and living in Chicago.” Story and graphics here.
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Museum layoff wave continues: Lincoln Park Zoo cuts 18 workers amid COVID-19 budget shortages: The Tribune’s Steve Johnson has the details here.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Downtown begins to reopen today, after days of shutdowns and reduced transit service

Metra , which has been out of service since Monday morning , resumed a modified schedule today on most lines @ @ @ @ @ and rail service to downtown at 5 a.m. , though some train stops located within @ @ @ @ @ closed , according to the city .

A protester has his face mostly covered while riding a Divvy bicycle in the Loop on May 29, 2020, during a march to bring attention to the May 25 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
After days of road closures and reduced transit service because of incidents of looting and violence, access to downtown Chicago will start to reopen today, , in time for loosened restrictions on businesses.
Metra, which has been out of service since Monday morning, resumed a modified schedule today on most lines. The CTA restarted bus and rail service to downtown at 5 a.m., though some train stops located within or near downtown will remain closed, according to the city.
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Pace suburban bus service also resumed normal service, including I-55 express service and ADA paratransit service to downtown Chicago. Both CTA and Pace had canceled overnight service on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Divvy bikes, out of service since Sunday afternoon, reopened at 6 a.m, and will be available until 8 p.m., the city said.
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Lake Shore Drive reopened, but with exits at Michigan, Chicago and Grand avenues, Lower Wacker Drive and Randolph Street remain closed. Also reopened are entrance and exit ramps on Interstate 290 and I-90/94, the city said.
Bridges in the central business district, which had been raised to discourage looting and vandalism, were lowered over the Chicago River on Clark, Dearborn, Lake, Randolph, Wells and Washington streets, the city said.
The citywide curfew for all residents and visitors, effective from until 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. remains in effect until further notice.
A limited number of businesses will reopen today, after months of closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The transit and road shutdown was in response to fallout from protests against racial injustice and the killing of an African American man, George Floyd, while he was in police custody in Minneapolis.
The closures caused some residents problems getting to and from work.
On Tuesday the Active Transportation Alliance, a local advocacy group for biking and transit, launched a petition to bring back Divvy and transit service. Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded that both the CTA and Divvy bikes have been used to commit crimes, and she could not turn a “blind eye” to the issue.
“We’ve seen people trying to commandeer buses, threatening bus drivers,” Lightfoot said during a news conference Tuesday. She said city officials also saw people committing criminal acts while riding around on Divvy bikes.
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Metra spokeswoman Meg Thomas-Reile said there will be no service on the SouthWest Service, Heritage Corridor or North Central Service lines, and Metra could adjust schedules daily depending on circumstances. Due to curfews throughout the region, the last inbound and outbound trains in the late evening will not run.
Thomas-Reile said that the modified schedule will run through Sunday, and that riders should check metrarail.com for the latest updates.
CTA riders are encouraged to check the agency’s website for updates.
mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Small Northwest Side shops’ return following pandemic shutdowns is slowed by recent unrest

Tomas Rodriguez , co-owner of Cafeteria Marcela ’ s at 3503 W. Fullerton , said he has been closing at @ @ @ @ @ staff .
“ We are the type of restaurant where the same people come every @ @ @ @ @ and we know their orders , ” Rodriguez said .
“ Now we do everything @ @ @ @ @ nervous and nobody wants to go out .
”

The Fulton Market area of Chicago is no longer the ghost town it was during the depths of the COVID-19 virus pandemic shutdown. As restrictions on restaurants are eased, a worker takes a woman's temperature before she can enter Federales restaurant on Morgan Street on July 1, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
The lights are slowly blinking on in the small storefronts that stretch down Fullerton Avenue west of Kimball Avenue.
But in this modest microcosm of The City That Works, lined with mom-and-pop restaurants and independent clothing shops, many storefronts remained shuttered Wednesday. Other shops planned to close long before sundown, with owners anxious about the safety of their staffs and the viability of their businesses.
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Armando Pantoja said his Festa Pizzeria restaurant, 3525 W. Fullerton Ave., was attacked Sunday evening by would-be looters who demanded free pizza and threw chairs around before they dispersed.
A nearby pawnshop and a liquor store were targeted by burglars who broke windows Sunday, he and other neighborhood business owners said. And so he has been closing early, forgoing the busy evening hours.
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“I lost more business with the protests than the virus,” said Pantoja, who said he has owned Festa for almost 18 years.
The small restaurant was open but dim Wednesday morning, with plywood covering the windows. “Through the pandemic, we were OK, but this new thing — you can’t be safe,” he said.
After a furlough of more than two months, haircutter Yolanda Hernandez said she was relieved to be back at her chair at Darlene’s Unisex, 3442 W. Fullerton. But Hernandez said she was closing the shop in the early afternoon Wednesday because of the violence that scarred nearby businesses Sunday evening.
"I feel afraid of what is going on," Hernandez said. "I feel safe from the virus, but it's scary seeing all these people running around and taking stuff from businesses that are working hard."
Down the street at El Taconazo El Tio, 3529 W. Fullerton, server Rocio Arceo glanced up anxiously when a helicopter circled in the sky overheard. Her father, who has co-owned the restaurant with his brother for four years, never shut the restaurant’s doors — until scattered violence on the street Sunday, Arceo said.
“My dad, he is the type of guy, he don’t close ever — not Christmas Day, not when it’s freezing outside,” Arceo said.
But on Monday, she said, “We took a family decision for the safety of everyone and our drivers. We are definitely on edge. I understand where the protesters are coming from, but they are destroying small businesses in their own neighborhood, and I am not with that. For us, we’re scared that we might be attacked.”
Tomas Rodriguez, co-owner of Cafeteria Marcela’s at 3503 W. Fullerton, said he has been closing at 3 p.m. to protect his staff. “We are the type of restaurant where the same people come every day — they know us and we know their orders,” Rodriguez said. “Now we do everything to go. Everybody is nervous and nobody wants to go out.”
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Layers of plywood covered the front of Ramon Velasco’s R V Tire Shop at 3554 W. Fullerton on Wednesday, but Velasco was still guiding customers through a back entrance. He said he has been steadily patching flats and sanding rims.
“We are protecting this business so it will soon be operating as usual,” Velasco said. “The city should open everything up, because the worst thing that can happen is hunger.”
Bradley Treusdell, co-owner of The Little Pickle restaurant, 3703 W. Fullerton, said he decided not to board up his restaurant’s picture windows.
“I certainly empathize with the anger and the frustration people have been dealing with, and can’t blame anyone,” he said. “Even if something did happen, they’re windows. They’re replaceable.”
Ald. Felix Cardona Jr., whose 31st Ward includes part of the stretch of Fullerton, said 26 businesses in his ward were looted Sunday, and so he urged the smaller stores in the area to start closing before sundown.
“We do need these small businesses, which are the anchor of this neighborhood, to be open," Cardona said. "But I asked them to close early to be safe. I expressed to them that it is only temporary. I want my small businesses to get going.”
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dyjackson@chicagotribune.com


Reopening in Chicago

Stacker collected the top 100 narrative fiction films over 165 minutes , according to IMDb .
To qualify , the @ @ @ @ @ least 3,500 user votes .

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The Fulton Market area of Chicago is no longer the ghost town it was during the depths of the COVID-19 virus pandemic shutdown. As restrictions on restaurants are eased, a worker takes a woman's temperature before she can enter Federales restaurant on Morgan Street on July 1, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Chicago leaders cautiously optimistic as city reopens amid calming protests: ‘We are not letting our

Chicago leaders cautiously optimistic as city reopens amid calming protests: ‘We are not letting our guard down’

“ We have been out in the community pretty much since the crisis began , and we started to see @ @ @ @ @ destruction in the many communities , ” Escareno said .
“ I will tell you @ @ @ @ @ excited to be reopening but , obviously , in many of our neighborhoods the hurt @ @ @ @ @ made it much more difficult for them to reopen .
”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivers a televised message to the public about events arising from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
On Chicago’s first day easing coronavirus restrictions on city businesses, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown expressed hope that the city’s civil unrest was calming.
But, they said, the city remains on guard against both the COVID-19 disease and looting.
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“We’re still only one day where we have some calming of the activities of looting and disorderly conduct. We are not letting our guard down,” Brown said. “We’re cautiously optimistic but prepared for this to escalate in case it does.”
The city’s keeping all of its resources in place, including the National Guard, and making strategic adjustments to help make sure residents in the neighborhoods feel safe, “given the looting,” Brown said.
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Still, after being rocked by widespread looting downtown and in city neighborhoods over the weekend, Chicago experienced on Tuesday its quietest night of protests since they started, Brown said. Officials also recorded the lowest number of arrests since the weekend, with 274, Brown said.
The city also had the lowest number of looting calls and arrests, he said. There were 46 disorderly conduct arrests, he said, mostly for people throwing rocks or verbally assaulting city cops.
Reiterating a point she’s made for days, most notably in a televised speech Tuesday evening, Lightfoot said the city continues to encourage peaceful protest.
“We are continuing to preach a message of unity and honoring George Floyd and the victims of all police violence,” Lightfoot said.
"As I announced last night in my address to the city, we are setting up a new fund starting at $10 million to help support businesses that have been affected by recent events in neighborhoods,” the mayor added. “We’re continuing to push insurance companies to do the right thing by their customers and cut through red tape and start cutting checks in neighborhoods.”
In her speech, Lightfoot also laid out a series of long-stalled police reform measures she wants to implement within 90 days, which include teaching Chicago cops about the history of neighborhoods taught from the perspective of community members, inspired by youth-led neighborhood tours done by My Block, My Hood, My City.
The city also will implement an officer wellness program and complete an officer support program that supports cops in crisis, mandate crisis intervention and procedural justice training for all officers, and establish a new recruit program on police-community relations and community policing with views from the community about what works, she said.
But those measures have drawn criticism for not going far enough, and Lightfoot’s administration is in a dispute with activists over how a civilian oversight commission of the Police Department would work, with critics wanting more power given to people outside City Hall.
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Asked about the status of negotiations, which stalled in March, Lightfoot said, “There are I think two or three issues that have been an impediment to getting past this point. My team is hard at work on trying to see what we can forge common ground. … But these are challenging issues, which is why we haven’t been able to have a breakthrough.”
Addressing complaints alleging police misconduct in dealing with protesters, Brown said the department is “firm on ensuring those cases are looked at and, if necessary, investigated and discipline given out. We will not tolerate — zero tolerance — for our officers crossing the line and violating someone’s rights or using excessive force or violating our use of force policy.
“While we’re not perfect, for the most part our officers have been professional and have made Chicago very proud in the way they conduct themselves,” Brown said.
Although Wednesday marked the city’s first day of cautious reopening, not all businesses welcomed back customers. Numerous downtown eateries remained closed, including Portillo’s, and many businesses around the city couldn’t reopen due to recent looting and concerns for more.
Rosa Escareno, the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection commissioner, noted the bittersweet nature of Chicago’s reopening amid the recent unrest.
“We have been out in the community pretty much since the crisis began, and we started to see a lot of issues of destruction in the many communities,” Escareno said. “I will tell you that the businesses are extremely excited to be reopening but, obviously, in many of our neighborhoods the hurt has just deepened and has made it much more difficult for them to reopen.”
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Public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the city’s seen 46,739 coronavirus cases and continues to add hundreds more each day.
As the city continues to open up, she said, “We will need to continue to keep COVID in mind.”
Lightfoot said the city chose to reopen on a Wednesday in part to give restaurants a chance at “a soft opening before any kind of weekend traffic.”
“In light of what’s happened over the last couple days, some are choosing to open now and really kind of getting some cadence with all the safety and public health measures they need to take,” Lightfoot said. “Others are saying nope, I’m going to wait a few days and see how the dust clears. But really, today isn’t a mandatory reopening. We’re open and then individual businesses really have to make their own call about how they’re going to do that and when.”
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Charting structural inequities: How lowest-paid, least-secure jobs also tend to have highest risk fo

Charting structural inequities: How lowest-paid, least-secure jobs also tend to have highest risk for COVID-19

Workers who hold the essential jobs that have kept society running during the pandemic , as well as nonessential workers @ @ @ @ @ workers who are most at risk of virus exposure because of the face-to-face nature of @ @ @ @ @ greater job and financial insecurity than their higher-paid counterparts who are able to work from @ @ @ @ @ .

Before the death of George Floyd ignited a powder keg of tensions over social inequities in the U.S., COVID-19 had already laid them bare.
Blacks and Latinos, as well as lower-income people, are not only more likely to die from the disease than whites, but also are disproportionately hurt by the economic fallout because of the kinds of jobs they tend to hold.
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A new report quantifies the “significant structural inequities” COVID-19 has revealed about Illinois’ economy. The report was produced by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Project for Middle Class Renewal.
Workers who hold the essential jobs that have kept society running during the pandemic, as well as nonessential workers like hair stylists and restaurant workers who are most at risk of virus exposure because of the face-to-face nature of their work, grapple with greater job and financial insecurity than their higher-paid counterparts who are able to work from home, the report said.
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The report lists long-term policy recommendations to support workers at risk of being left behind in the economic recovery, including statewide paid sick leave and a state-run public health insurance option, in hopes they return to a normal that is better than the one they had before.
Here are some findings from the report.
Large share of essential workers live downstate
About half of the state’s workforce is employed in sectors considered essential during the pandemic, including nurses, police officers, manufacturing and delivery drivers, and a disproportionate share lives downstate. Face-to-face workers, who hold jobs like restaurant servers and hair stylists, make up a quarter of the workforce and are disproportionately made up of blacks and Latinos. Remote workers are more likely to be white and living in Chicago.
Remote workers have more financial security ...
Remote workers have far higher earnings than essential or face-to-face workers, even when education is taken into account. People in face-to-face occupations are the lowest paid.
... and more job security, too
Unemployment among face-to-face workers surged to 34% during the pandemic as stay-at-home orders urged people to avoid contact with others. Latinos and those with less education experienced the greatest job losses.
COVID-19 risk is higher for lower-paid, less-secure jobs
Low-paid face-to-face jobs and middle-class essential jobs are at highest risk of exposing workers to COVID-19. Many of those same face-to-face workers carry the additional risk of losing employer-provided health insurance in the economic fallout of the pandemic.


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Officers arrest man they interrupted breaking 80 windows at Northwest Side school, cops say

Officers were called to the area because of a report of criminal damage to a school on Strong , and @ @ @ @ @ , then arrested him after a short foot chase , according to a police media @ @ @ @ @ about 80 windows in the school , according to police .

A Norwood Park-area man faces felony charges after police say he broke dozens of windows in a school around the corner from his home early Wednesday.
Michael T. Mangan, 36, was arrested about 1:40 a.m. in the 4800 block of North Nashville Avenue, the block where he lives, after officers interrupted him breaking windows with a golf club at a building in the 6400 block of West Strong Street, according to a news release.
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At an afternoon hearing Wednesday, Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz released Mangan on a personal recognizance bond with electronic monitoring, according to court records. He was scheduled to appear at the Skokie Courthouse next Wednesday.
Michael Mangan, 36, was charged June 3, 2020, with breaking about 80 windows in a school around the corner from his home in the Norwood Park area. (Chicago Police Department)
Officers were called to the area because of a report of criminal damage to a school on Strong, and saw a man breaking windows, then arrested him after a short foot chase, according to a police media notification. The man broke about 80 windows in the school, according to police.
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Beard Elementary is located at 6445 W. Strong St.
Mangan faces felony charges of criminal damage to property worth between $500 and $10,000.
Chicago Tribune’s William Lee contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--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--2020-06-03--Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 5,621 deaths, 123,830 confirmed cases, 959,175 tests,  12% positivity

Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 5,621 deaths, 123,830 confirmed cases, 959,175 tests,  12% positivity rate for Northeast region

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Man arrested after pointing gun at federal agents, then stashing it next to diapers and baby bottle

Man arrested after pointing gun at federal agents, then stashing it next to diapers and baby bottle as he ran off with toddler

As the agents arrested Hammond , they saw an extended magazine and the pistol grip of a gun inside the @ @ @ @ @ was a 10mm loaded Glock , according to the complaint .
In images from the @ @ @ @ @ is seen next to diapers and a baby bottle .

A man is facing federal charges after prosecutors say he pointed a gun at a federal agent and instructed him and others to “keep walking” while a small child stood by his side.
Joseph Hammond was arrested early Wednesday after agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to a call of an armed man holding a book bag and a baby and shooting in the 900 block of West 68th Street, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
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When the agents arrived, Hammond pointed a handgun with an extended magazine at one of the agent’s faces and instructed them to “keep moving,” according to the complaint. Hammond then picked up the child and ran.
About 12:45 a.m., Hammond was found walking on West 68th Street with a backpack, the toddler and another small backpack. Agents drove toward Hammond, announcing themselves and instructing him to stop and show his hands.
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As the agents arrested Hammond, they saw an extended magazine and the pistol grip of a gun inside the open backpack. The firearm was a 10mm loaded Glock, according to the complaint. In images from the court filing, the gun is seen next to diapers and a baby bottle.
Hammond apologized to the agents and told them he did not realize they were law enforcement. All agents were wearing vests with the word “Police,” according to the complaint.
He was charged with unlawful use of a firearm by a felon.
Hammond has several previous convictions, according to federal prosecutors. They include a 2006 first-degree murder conviction for which he served 6 years, and a 2008 conviction for aggravated assault of a police officer for which he served 3 years.


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Watch live: Minnesota AG announces new, upgraded charges in George Floyd case

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announces new and upgraded charges in the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis .
@ @ @ @ @


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Chicago-based PR firm Edelman to lay off 390 employees due to COVID-19 losses

“ This decision is gut wrenching , especially as I told you in March that we would have no job @ @ @ @ @ , ” Edelman said in his memo .
“ Despite all efforts , we are @ @ @ @ @ and to ensure the long-term health of our business , I must change course .
@

Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman, during a Q&A at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, is laying off 390 people, or about 7% of its workforce, due to revenue declines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The firm, co-headquartered in Chicago and New York, declined to disclose Wednesday how many people in the Chicago office would lose their jobs. Edelman, which has about 5,700 employees worldwide, also will reduce salaries from 5% to 20% for mostly senior people not affected by the layoffs.
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Richard Edelman, president and CEO of the PR firm started by his father in Chicago nearly 70 years ago, sent employees an email Tuesday explaining the decision — a reversal of an earlier pledge to avoid layoffs during the pandemic.
“This decision is gut wrenching, especially as I told you in March that we would have no job losses due to the pandemic,” Edelman said in his memo. “Despite all efforts, we are beyond the threshold of loss-making and to ensure the long-term health of our business, I must change course."
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Edelman cited “a succession of body blows” to the business, with travel, hospitality, automotive and airline clients facing “historic declines in demand.” Declining oil prices brought “massive cuts” in the firm’s energy business, he said.
When profits turned to losses — despite a number of cost-saving measures, including a 15% to 20% reduction in top executive pay — the firm was “no longer able to sustain” its business without layoffs, Edelman said in the memo.
Employees affected by the layoffs were notified beginning Tuesday. In addition to severance, each will receive career transition services, employee assistance programming including “emotional support” and a $1,000 credit toward personal technology such as a laptop.
Edelman generated $892 million in revenue last year, the company said.
The privately held firm was founded in Chicago in 1952 by Dan Edelman, considered by many to be the father of modern public relations.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--LGBTQ Chicagoans face a Pride Month without street festivals, bar-hopping or the iconic parade: ‘It’

LGBTQ Chicagoans face a Pride Month without street festivals, bar-hopping or the iconic parade: ‘It’s kind of heartbreaking.'

It looks really different just in terms of I ’ m not going to be surrounded by community in the @ @ @ @ @ the annual traditions like Dyke March , for example , aren ’ t happening this @ @ @ @ @ ve seen a lot of people coming up with creative ways ( to respond ) @ @ @ @ @ fundraising to create a mutual aid fund right now , even though they can ’ @ @ @ @ @ march and rally .
So yeah , I ’ m really proud of the ways @ @ @ @ @ organized around this moment , and been able to prioritize what ’ s been needed @ @ @ @ @ really impressed by the work of Brave Space Alliance on the South Side , and @ @ @ @ @ ve organized a food pantry and provided shelter to protesters .
Some of the most @ @ @ @ @ food , having shelter , having a ride home , those are the things that @ @ @ @ @ struggling with right now .

It’s a family reunion for LGBTQ Chicago.
It’s a citywide celebration that draws 1 million people into streets transformed by music and laughter, pink hair and washboard abs, rainbow flags and feather headdresses.
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It’s a chance to celebrate who you are, loudly and proudly, at teeming festivals and boisterous bars.
However you define Pride Month, the June celebration of LGBTQ identity and activism will be very different this year, with many of its signature events gone, diminished or transformed due to social distancing restrictions made necessary by COVID-19.
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“It’s kind of heartbreaking because a lot of people use this time to be free,” said Tyrone Landingham, 29, a registered nurse who would typically be enjoying a Pride Month reunion with out-of-town friends.
The 51-year-old Pride Parade, one of Chicago’s largest public celebrations, is a particularly big loss. Never canceled before, it is now officially postponed until the fall, organizers say, and may not be held this year at all.
Veteran Chicago LGBTQ activist Gary Chichester had hoped to carry a flag from the 1971 parade in this year’s celebration.
Chicago Pride Parade coordinator Tim Frye, 77, had been looking forward to honoring the memory of his late husband, Richard Pfeiffer, who ran the parade for more than 40 years before dying of cancer in October.
“I came out in the second parade,” Frye said. “Richard came out in the first. And in the days of email, we used to get emails from little towns all over the Midwest. I grew up in a small town in Indiana, and I got a phone call — this was a long time ago — from an even smaller town, 10 miles from where I grew up, and they wanted to know when the parade was because it was ‘their day.’”
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 49 Gay Liberation Front members march through Bughouse Square (now Washington Square Park) on their way to a rally at the Civic Center (now Daley Plaza) on June 27, 1970, as part of the city’s first Gay Pride Week. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
But if there’s disappointment, there’s also a surge of energy and excitement with the feisty Pinta Pride Project in suburban Buffalo Grove pivoting to a Pride Drive, in which residents decorate their houses with flags, ornaments and banners, and invite spectators to drive by and see the DIY splendor.
H. Melt, a Chicago poet who is transgender and uses they/them pronouns, said they are proud that Dyke March has created a mutual aid fund for those affected by COVID-19 and its fallout, and that Brave Space Alliance has organized a food pantry.
H. Melt sees such developments as a return to Pride Month’s activist roots. America’s Pride parades were born of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, when LGBTQ New Yorkers, including transgender people of color, protested government-sanctioned police raids on gay bars.
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“I think that (Pride Month) energy has been redirected in really beautiful ways,” said H. Melt.
[ 30 key moments in Chicago’s LGBTQ history, from Jane Addams to Lori Lightfoot ]
There are also virtual parades and get-togethers, such as Virtual Chicago Pride Fest, and some Chicagoans are hosting small gatherings with friends. Cultural resources include the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives website, which is releasing newly digitized videos of Chicago Pride Parades and rallies dating to 1970.
“Pride isn’t just a parade — it’s something in your head,” said Chichester. “When you’re proud of yourself, you can accept yourself. I think that’s really one of the most important things about the celebration of Pride: to be able to accept yourself.”
The Tribune spoke to five LGBTQ Chicagoans from different backgrounds and perspectives about this unprecedented Pride Month. The following interviews were edited for brevity and clarity.
Molly Pinta, who is bisexual, is a co-founder of the Pinta Pride Project in Buffalo Grove. She is 14.
What does Pride Month mean to you?
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Pride is a time when I can celebrate my identity without limits or judgment. When I go to Pride events, you can dress however you want or act however you want, and people won’t judge you for your identity.
What will you miss most this year?
Seeing all the people. At the (Buffalo Grove Pride) Parade‚ you can look into the crowd and see hundreds of people wearing rainbow outfits and all different colors and smiling faces, but you won’t really be able to see that.
How else will you be celebrating?
This year we will be doing a Pride celebration, but of course different. It’s going to be a kind of reverse parade. There will be houses that will be decorated, and people can drive through the streets in their cars, so there’s no risk of passing along COVID. People will be giving out rainbow accessories and things like that (without contact). There will be drag queens and music and a Santa that people can enjoy from the safety of their cars.
Marchers carry colorful balloons June 30, 2019, at the 50th Chicago Pride Parade. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Tim Frye, who is gay, is coordinator of the Chicago Pride Parade. He is 77.
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What does Pride Month mean to you?
My whole idea — and I think this applies to Pride Month as well as the parade itself — is that I’ve always done it for that one person that comes and says, “Oh boy, I’m not alone.” That to me is the most important thing of all. I hope there’s more than one (person who says that), but one will do. If we could change one person’s life with the parade, that was great.
Tell me about the 1972 parade.
I was standing and watching it, and it was like, “Shazam!” I guess you could say. I came home and I came out to an old friend I was sharing an apartment with. He didn’t fall on the floor and faint. It was like, “OK, good for you.” And back in 1972, that was kind of extraordinary.
What did you feel during the “Shazam” moment?
Relief more than anything. You see other people, and you know they’re your family. You’re not from Mars. When I was in high school, I felt like I landed from Mars and nobody else could possibly know (how I felt). Suddenly you feel like you’re part of something, and it makes a huge difference.
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What will you miss most this year?
Oh, I was with (my husband) Richard (Pfeiffer) for 48 years, and he is who I will miss most. He did the Pride Parade. He was the coordinator for most of the years we were together (and died of cancer in October). Other than that, I’ll miss the excitement of the parade and when it starts. You always get — I don’t know — a bit of a shiver.
H. Melt, at Women & Children First, in October 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
H. Melt, 29, is a Chicago poet. They are transgender and gender nonconforming.
What does Pride Month mean to you?
One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is that while the Pride Parade is (postponed) and corporate Pride is canceled, there are so many things going on at this moment that really connect to queer history. The reason that the Pride Parade even exists is in response to Stonewall and police harassment and police brutality (toward) queer and trans folks, and (toward) black queer and trans folks in their own spaces. Some of the issues that are (now) affecting the most vulnerable folks in the queer and trans community are police brutality and imprisonment. Just remembering Pride as resistance, especially as a white queer person supporting black and brown movements for liberation, is really important.
Is Pride Month different for you this year?
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It looks really different just in terms of I’m not going to be surrounded by community in the same way. Some of the annual traditions like Dyke March, for example, aren’t happening this year. But I’ve seen a lot of people coming up with creative ways (to respond). Dyke March is doing fundraising to create a mutual aid fund right now, even though they can’t physically have their annual march and rally. So yeah, I’m really proud of the ways that the queer community has organized around this moment, and been able to prioritize what’s been needed. I’ve been really impressed by the work of Brave Space Alliance on the South Side, and the ways that they’ve organized a food pantry and provided shelter to protesters. Some of the most essential needs, like having food, having shelter, having a ride home, those are the things that a lot of people are struggling with right now.
Tyrone Landingham (Michael McGee)
Tyrone Landingham, 29, is gay and a registered nurse in Chicago.
What does Pride Month mean to you?
For me, it’s really just freedom to express yourself, whatever that means to you. To just really let your hair down and be free.
Will it be different this year?
Absolutely, there’s usually lots of activities going on during the entire month, and now with bars being closed and party promoters not being able to host events, (those are gone). My friends from undergrad normally fly in, or I fly to them during these times. It’s somewhat of a reunion for us. We’re all living our adult lives, and we don’t always get together and hang out and celebrate one another. We kind of use these times to do that, in spaces where we can be free.
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What will you be doing this year?
I’ll definitely spend time with my friends who are here. And maybe we’ll do something creative, like have a margarita contest: Who can make the best margarita? We can just get a colorful array of margaritas and have a margarita party.
Gary Chichester was planning on marching in the 2020 Chicago Pride Parade with a flag from the 1971 parade. He is shown here speaking at the 2013 Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Rick Aguilar / HANDOUT)
Gary Chichester, 73, is a former co-chair of The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame. He is gay.
What does Pride Month mean to you?
I go way back. I was involved in the first Pride March in 1970, and I then became president of the Chicago Gay Alliance and we basically did the first Pride Parade (the next year). My signature was on the first Streets and Sanitation permit for the parade. I’ve just seen it grow and grow over the years, and this isn’t our first pandemic. The AIDS pandemic back in the early 1980s, back then it was a death sentence; now it’s not. So it’s great to see people come out. When you see the suicide risk among (LGBTQ) kids because they feel like they’re lost, Pride is one way of showing them that they’re not the only ones in the world, and they can see people they can look up to.
Will it be different this year?
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Well there are some things going on (virtually). So I’m looking forward to sitting down in my own little home, maybe with a glass of wine — maybe Champagne, who knows — and watching. Being a person of a certain age, I’ve kind of done it all. (Laughs.) I’ve celebrated Pride in New York and LA, Chicago. I’ve even found myself in Ephesus (Turkey) one year for Pride, and I had my little rainbow flag with me. I’m surprised I didn’t get arrested, but I marched down the main street in Ephesus in my own little Pride Parade. In all the thousands of years of Ephesus, I think that’s the first Pride Parade they’ve had.
What will you be doing this year?
Because I have so many images of past parades, every day in June I’m going to make a post of a favorite Pride photo, and I’m encouraging everyone to do the same thing and just take over Facebook and the various social media with images of Pride.
nschoenberg@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--SpotHero lays off 42 employees, saying COVID-19 hurt the parking industry

COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders have kept many Americans home for months .
Mobility and transportation services have been hard-hit , @ @ @ @ @ Mosbacher , senior vice president of strategy and operations .

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)
SpotHero laid off 42 of its 189 employees Tuesday, citing a parking industry that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
The layoffs represented 22% of the Chicago-based company’s employees.
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SpotHero’s platform, launched in 2011, helps motorists find parking, and lets parking garage operators better track data and see trends.
COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders have kept many Americans home for months. Mobility and transportation services have been hard-hit, including parking, said Elan Mosbacher, senior vice president of strategy and operations.
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SpotHero hopes the industry will start to turn around soon.
“As we’ve seen in other countries, driving is expected to become a preferred mode of transportation once people do go out,” Mosbacher said.
amarotti@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @AllyMarotti


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Man in ‘Joker’ mask charged with torching Chicago cop car faces at least 5 years in federal prison i

Man in ‘Joker’ mask charged with torching Chicago cop car faces at least 5 years in federal prison if convicted

Timothy O ’ Donnell , 31 , was charged with arson in U.S. District Court on Tuesday .
O ’ @ @ @ @ @ “ Joker ” mask when he approached a police SUV parked in the 200 block @ @ @ @ @ Saturday and placed a lit object into the car ’ s gas tank , causing @ @ @ @ @ .

Timothy O’Donnell, 31, was charged with arson. Federal authorities say he set fire to a Chicago Police Department vehicle during unrest in the city on May 30, 2020. (Federal court documents)
A South Side man charged with torching a Chicago police vehicle during the downtown unrest over the weekend faces at least five years in federal prison if convicted, prosecutors said in court Wednesday.
Timothy O’Donnell, 31, was charged with arson in U.S. District Court on Tuesday. O’Donnell was allegedly wearing a “Joker” mask when he approached a police SUV parked in the 200 block of North State Street on Saturday and placed a lit object into the car’s gas tank, causing it to burst into flames.
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During a court hearing Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Durkin told the judge O’Donnell faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years behind bars.
Prosecutors are seeking to have O’Donnell held without bond pending trial. His lawyer, Michael Leonard, said he will ask for O’Donnell’s release, arguing he poses no danger to the community and is “no flight risk whatsoever.”
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O’Donnell’s mother is prepared to sign paperwork to act as her son’s custodian while his case is pending, Leonard said.
O’Donnell, who was listening in by telephone from jail, answered, “Yes, your honor” in a soft voice when the judge asked him if he understood the charges.
U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman set a detention hearing for 1 p.m. Friday.
The eight-page criminal complaint alleges O’Donnell was captured on a bystander’s video lighting the police SUV on fire. A photograph provided by a different witness showed O’Donnell then posing in front of the blaze, according to the charges.
Federal authorities say this photo shows Timothy O'Donnell near a burning Chicago police vehicle on May 30, 2020, in the 200 block of North State Street. (Federal court documents)
Though his face was obscured by the grinning mask, O’Donnell’s distinctive neck tattoo reading “PRETTY” could clearly be seen in the photo, according to the complaint.
That image — as well as several others — were included in the charging document.
Police found the mask in O’Donnell’s bedroom when they searched his apartment in the 700 block of West 19th Street, according to the complaint.
O’Donnell later admitted in an interview with law enforcement that he was the one seen in the mask igniting the blaze, the charges allege.
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O’Donnell is one of five people now charged with committing federal crimes in Chicago amid the chaos and looting that struck the city after the police-involved homicide of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--We’ve lowered the paywall on this essential coverage of coronavirus and the George Floyd fallout

Testing for COVID-19 has greatly expanded in Illinois , with the state announcing more than 10,000 test results a day @ @ @ @ @ expansion has allowed the state to open up its guidance for who should be able @ @ @ @ @ .
The Illinois Department of Public Health is saying that testing is available without a @ @ @ @ @ anyone with coronavirus symptoms or an underlying risk factor .
Tests are also provided to @ @ @ @ @ of the pandemic , such as medical workers , first responders and employees of prisons @ @ @ @ @ the map for coronavirus testing site near you .

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


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Museum layoff wave continues: Lincoln Park Zoo cuts 18 workers amid COVID-19 budget shortages

The zoo , she noted , is in an extraordinary situation because it does not charge an admission fee .
@ @ @ @ @ than some of its peers on getting people through the doors , but that also @ @ @ @ @ raises expenses .

ARKANSAS | Total WalletHub score: 26.8 | Dependency on travel and tourism industry rank: #45 | Aggressiveness against coronavirus rank: #49 Arkansas’ main tourism destination, the city of Hot Springs, is projecting huge losses as a result of the coronavirus. Three of the city’s best-known tourist attractions—the World's Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Bathhouse Row, and Oaklawn Racing—were shut down in March. (Kristi Blokhin/Shutterstock)
Even as two outdoor-focused institutions tentatively re-open, the wave of COVID-19-related layoffs at Chicago museums continues. Lincoln Park Zoo said Wednesday it is cutting 18 workers, about 7 percent of its workforce.
The move comes as the free north side zoological park anticipates a budget shortfall in the current fiscal year of $2.5 million to $5 million “minimally,” said Jillian Braun, director of public relations and communications.
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Braun said the cuts were painful to the zoo, which has long been Chicago’s most popular attraction with about 3.5 million annual visitors. Like most major museums and nature parks, it closed in mid-March to help prevent the spread of coronavirus during the global pandemic.
Just Tuesday, Chicago Children’s Museum cut about 80 percent of its staff, leaving just 20 workers to prepare for reopening. Previously, Adler Planetarium fired 120 people in a drastic reduction of its payroll.
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Last week the Museum of Science and Industry and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum also announced less severe layoffs and furloughs.
Similar news from other major institutions is expected as the pandemic continues to sicken and kill Illinoisans, the organizations face uncertain prospects for even partial-capacity reopening, and emergency federal payroll protection loans run out this month.
The eastern gateway of Lincoln Park Zoo in October, 2019. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Morton Arboretum, in west suburban Lisle, on Monday opened its outdoor spaces only, and Chicago Botanic Garden, in Glencoe, enacts a similarly limited plan beginning next Tuesday. Each draws over 1 million people per year, and the arboretum’s marketing chief said her institution loses about $40,000 in revenue each day the gates aren’t open.
The Art Institute has said it is very tentatively planning for some kind of reopening July 1.
Amid Lincoln Park’s calculations were the fact that group events that pay institutions a healthy rental fee won’t be allowed until the final phase of city and state reopening plans, when there is a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19.
And even when Lincoln Park Zoo reopens for limited, outdoor-only access — an announcement that Braun said could come soon — “we aren’t sure what people’s comfort levels will be with food or gift shops,” she said.
The zoo, she noted, is in an extraordinary situation because it does not charge an admission fee. It is therefore less reliant than some of its peers on getting people through the doors, but that also means that opening the gates raises expenses.
Braun said the zoo layoffs came across departments and were accompanied by pay cuts for remaining staff at the “assistant director level or above." The fiscal year at the zoo, run by the private, not-for-profit Lincoln Park Zoological Society on Chicago Park District land, begins in April, and the annual budget has been about $35 million, she said.
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sajohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @StevenKJohnson


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Latino activists speak out about racial tension with black Chicagoans

The organizing efforts of some Latino groups to peacefully protest and help protect their communities from unrest were quickly overshadowed @ @ @ @ @ that alleged Latino gang members were profiling and targeting black people in Little Village .
@ @ @ @ @ began to spread to Chicago neighborhoods , and Little Village residents rallied together to stand @ @ @ @ @ businesses and on street corners .

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 16 A young girl bikes with other protesters as they walk down South Blue Island Avenue during a march to call for unity between black and Latino communities, in Pilsen on June 3, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
The organizing efforts of some Latino groups to peacefully protest and help protect their communities from unrest were quickly overshadowed by racial tensions after reports that alleged Latino gang members were profiling and targeting black people in Little Village. But things changed. Looting began to spread to Chicago neighborhoods, and Little Village residents rallied together to stand guard in front of neighborhood businesses and on street corners.


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--5-year-old boy dies after being hit by car in Glenview, police say

Pikosky was with some form of a caretaker at the time of the accident , according to Glenview police spokesman @ @ @ @ @ were not present .

A 5-year-old boy was fatally hit by a car in the 700 block of Waukegan Road early Tuesday afternoon, according to officials.
The medical examiner’s office identified the boy as Jacob Pikosky, of the 2700 block of Pauline Avenue.
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Glenview police responded just before 1 p.m. to a report of a crash involving a northbound vehicle striking a child, police said. Pikosky was transported by the Glenview Fire Department to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, according to a news release.
Advanced life support was given to Pikosky, according to a fire department news release. He died a few hours later, police said.
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Pikosky was with some form of a caretaker at the time of the accident, according to Glenview police spokesman Jim Foley. His parents were not present.
The man who was driving the vehicle is “cooperating fully with the investigation,” according to police. Investigators saw no indication of impairment, police said.
The driver was transported to Glenbrook Hospital, according to the release.
The crash remains under investigation by Glenview police and the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force’s Major Crash Assistance Team.
Charges, if any, will be determined following further investigation, police said. None have been filed at this time.
kedquist@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @kaitlinedquist


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--More than 20 shot over 12 hours in Chicago as gun violence remains high for second week

A 24-year-old man was shot in the back and was in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center @ @ @ @ @ 28-year-old was shot in the right arm , a 20-year-old man was shot twice in @ @ @ @ @ man was shot in the right leg .
All three were in good condition at @ @ @ @

Police at the scene where four people were shot on the 8400 block of Colfax in the South Chicago neighborhood on June 2, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
More than 20 people were shot in Chicago over 12 hours Tuesday through early Wednesday as gun violence remains high across the city for the second week in a row.
In two of the overnight shootings — on the Far South Side and South Side — three or more people were wounded, according to police.
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Shootings started spiking in Chicago over the long Memorial Day weekend, when at least 50 people were shot. The next day, 28 more people were shot, including a 5-year-old girl standing with her family.
Last weekend, as looting and disturbances spread across the city, more than 80 people were shot, nearly 20 of them fatally. At least 15 of the fatal shootings occurred Sunday, requiring the Cook County medical examiner’s office to call in extra pathologists to conduct autopsies.
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[ Lootings spread into neighborhoods as Chicago sees one of its most violent weekends with more than 80 shot ]
More than 1,200 people have been shot in Chicago so far this year, and there have been more than 220 homicides — a level similar to 2016 and 2017, the most violent years in the city since the 1990s, according to data kept by the Tribune.
On Tuesday, four men were standing on the street in the 8400 block of South Colfax Avenue in the South Chicago neighborhood around 9:30 p.m. when a man approached and began firing, police said.
A 24-year-old man was shot in the back and was in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. A 28-year-old was shot in the right arm, a 20-year-old man was shot twice in the back and another 20-year-old man was shot in the right leg. All three were in good condition at the medical center.
At the scene, police taped off a large section of Colfax in the residential area. Dozens of police officers stood by the scene as neighbors sat on their porches and watched. A large group of men gathered a block over.
Just after 1 a.m. Wednesday, three men were shot while standing on a front porch in the 7300 block of South Green Street in the Englewood neighborhood, according to police.
A 43-year-old man was shot in the chest and was in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. A 41-year-old man was shot in the right leg and a 39-year-old man was shot in the back. They were both in good condition.
Earlier in the night, three men were shot in the Logan Square neighborhood, police said.
The men were standing on a sidewalk at 6:10 p.m. in the 2700 block of West Wabansia Avenue when someone in a white SUV fired at them, police said. Two of the men were hit by the gunfire and the third shot himself as he tried to pull out his own gun, police said.
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A 19-year-old man was shot in the right hand and taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in good condition, police said. Another 19-year-old man was shot in the right thigh and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition. The 23-year-old man who shot himself was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said.
No arrests have been made in any of the shootings, police said.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Cicero tells residents to stay indoors and let police do their job after looters clash with officers

Cicero tells residents to stay indoors and let police do their job after looters clash with officers as well as vigilantes armed with clubs and guns

Solis , who works at El Patron , said he was at the corner of Cermak Road and 50th Avenue @ @ @ @ @ with other armed men around 6 p.m. , when one of the two fatal shootings @ @ @ @ @ had been put up , blocking eastbound traffic on Cermak Road , when he and @ @ @ @ @ passing slowly northbound on 50th Avenue .

Two men emerge from a backroom inside El Patron Liquor Store in Cicero after looters broke in on June 1, 2020. Police arrested them. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Cicero officials urged people Tuesday to stay indoors and let the police to do their job after two men were shot dead, stores were vandalized and 60 people were arrested as looters clashed with officers and residents armed with clubs and guns.
Three men have been arrested for a fatal shooting just off Cermak Road in the western suburb, and the investigation continues into the second homicide. Charges have not been filed in either case.
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Town President Larry Dominick said he welcomed peaceful protesters to Cicero but added that law enforcement would “stand up” to those bent on criminal acts.
“When they come here to riot, break windows, fight, shoot, we are not going to tolerate it,” he said at an afternoon news conference. “We are going to stand up to them … and I know in the end we are going to win.
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“If the protesters come, that’s fine, but we do not allow criminals,” he said.
Dominick urged residents not to take the law into their own hands. On Monday afternoon, witnesses said, dozens of residents — including business owners and some alleged gang members — took up positions along Cermak Road armed with bats, pipes, wooden clubs and guns.
Cicero Town President Larry Dominick talks with protesters as they rally in support of Black Lives Matter and for equality for all minorities outside the Cicero City Hall complex in Cicero on June 2, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
“I hope residents stay out of the Cicero police business because the police can handle it,” he said.
Cicero police Superintendent Jerry Chlada Jr. denied police had cooperated with the vigilantes, but at least one witness claimed police vehicles drove by as he and other armed men stood guard in front of Cicero Town Hall.
“Everybody had sticks and bats,” said Rudy Solis, who was armed with a crowbar. “They destroy their neighborhood and now they want to destroy our neighborhood. It’s not right.”
Solis and others admitted the violence and looting had a racial undertone, pitting African Americans against the largely Hispanic residents of Cicero.
About 30 protesters — many of them African Americans — stood outside Cicero Town Hall on Tuesday to express their indignation over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Black protesters who live in Cicero said they were also targeted by the vigilantes.
Rudy Solis, employee at El Patron Bar and Liquor Store in Cicero, discusses the civil unrest and robbery of the business on June 2, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Following his news conference, Dominick went out and spoke to them.
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“Several of the protesters who were African Americans said that not enough was done to protect them,” said town spokesman Ray Hanania. “Dominick told them they needed to call 911 whenever that happens.”
The looting began Sunday and escalated Monday afternoon when someone threw a paver stone through the front window of El Patron Liquor Store and dozens of people rushed in, grabbing whatever they could.
Sandip Patel, the owner, said he had closed the store an hour or so earlier because he had seen looting taking place at the mall across the street. Police arrived within minutes, but by then Patel said he had lost more than $40,000 in merchandise.
“They ransacked everything,” said Patel, who has owned the store for a decade. “I don’t know why they are doing it.”
Solis, who works at El Patron, said he was at the corner of Cermak Road and 50th Avenue with his crowbar, standing with other armed men around 6 p.m., when one of the two fatal shootings took place. Orange cones had been put up, blocking eastbound traffic on Cermak Road, when he and others spotted a blue Nissan passing slowly northbound on 50th Avenue.
People were yelling at them to get out of Cicero. “They were scared,” he said of the people in the car. “They were intimidated. All the streets were blocked. We didn’t want them here.”
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A man approached the car, yelled something and was shot dead. “He dropped straight to the ground,” Solis said.
Police arrested three men. Cicero officials identified the victim as a 29-year-old Chicago resident, but authorities have not released his name because family members have not been notified.
The second homicide took place minutes earlier outside the Super Espiga Grocery at 4920 W. 14th St. Victor Cazares, a 27-year-old Cicero resident, was shot dead; a second person was injured. No one was in custody.
By Tuesday afternoon, a small memorial had been set up for Cazares on the sidewalk outside the store, with red roses and other flowers, candles and two bottles of unopened Miller beer. The bouquets of flowers were held to a stop sign pole by yellow police tape.
A manager of the store said the windows had been smashed but there had been no looting. He declined to give his name.
Despite the violence, Cicero was bustling Tuesday with supermarkets and other stores packed, even as many businesses — including Super Espiga — boarded up their shattered windows with plywood.
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Residents were hoping for the best but bracing for more violence.
“I’m a little uneasy,” said Mario Reyes, manager of Trans-O-Mex auto repair shop on Cermak Road, just across the street from one of the shootings. “We may have to close up early if we see things are going to happen.”


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--Glendale Heights hires security firm to review arrest caught on videos that appear to show officer p

Glendale Heights hires security firm to review arrest caught on videos that appear to show officer punching woman

“ The video of the arrest that is circulating on social media is shocking and distressing to see , ” @ @ @ @ @ to Village President Linda Jackson posted on the town ’ s website .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ our community by being as transparent as possible .
”

Glendale Heights in the western suburbs has hired a security risk management firm to review an arrest caught on videos that appear to show an officer punching a woman during a struggle that bloodied her.
The videos of the Monday morning arrest, shared through social media, helped fuel a protest at the Village Hall later that day that the town’s police department described as peaceful.
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“The video of the arrest that is circulating on social media is shocking and distressing to see,” according to a letter attributed to Village President Linda Jackson posted on the town’s website. “We must preserve the trust of our community by being as transparent as possible.”
Warning: Graphic content. An arrest caught on video appears to show a Glendale Heights police officer punching a woman during a struggle that bloodied her. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
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Authorities identified the woman as Tyler Russell, 23. She was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer, a felony, after prosecutors alleged in a charging document that she bit the police officer, “causing a severe wound."
Both she and the officer were sent to the hospital, police said. She was transferred to DuPage County’s jail, with online jail records indicating Tuesday evening she had not yet posted $3,500 bond to be released.
The officer was identified in court documents by his first initial and last name, M. Guerrero. While not naming the officer in her statement, Jackson said the officer involved in the altercation was placed on administrative leave.
The department, in an earlier statement posted on Twitter, said police were called to an apartment complex in the 500 block of Gregory Avenue for a disturbance around 9:35 a.m. Monday and determined a woman had been driving drunk. The woman “became combative” as they arrested her.
A male officer was bit in the arm and head-butted, according to the police statement.
A video of the initial part of the encounter was shot from a nearby balcony by resident Kiara Brown, who said she didn’t see the woman head-butt or bite the officer.
Brown said she saw the officer punch the woman as police struggled to move her away from a car near a sidewalk, then wrestled her to the ground. Her video shows the officer’s right arm swinging at the handcuffed woman.
“After he punched her, everybody came outside, instantly,” she said. “And from there, it just went downhill. She was hysterical, crying, scared. So she was just screaming.”
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A video shot from another angle shows the woman lying facedown on a sidewalk in a pool of blood, still handcuffed, before officers pull her to sit up as onlookers scream at the officers.
The village president’s statement said the village hired the firm Hillard Heintze to review the case and asked any witnesses to call police because “significant portions of the video are missing from the publicly available posts.”
Brown, pulling up her phone for reference, said one officer called her to get her statement before 10:30 a.m. Monday, for five minutes, and Brown said she called back about 1:30 p.m. to make a formal complaint with a sergeant, leaving a voicemail.
She said Tuesday morning that she hadn’t heard back from the sergeant.
Village spokeswoman Lissa Druss said Tuesday evening that additional witnesses have come forward, and the department is continuing its own internal investigation.


chicagotribune--2020-06-03--So many were killed by gunfire in Chicago Sunday, the medical examiner brought in extra pathologists

So many were killed by gunfire in Chicago Sunday, the medical examiner brought in extra pathologists for the autopsies

Of the more than 20 killed by gunfire across the city over the weekend , 15 died on Sunday , @ @ @ @ @ medical examiner ’ s office said it had to bring in additional pathologists to handle @ @ @

Paramedics tend to one of two gunshot victims in an incident in the 2700 block of West Haddon in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on June 1, 2020. Over 80 people were shot over the weekend in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Last Sunday was the most violent day of one of the most violent weekends in Chicago in recent memory.
Of the more than 20 killed by gunfire across the city over the weekend, 15 died on Sunday, so many the Cook County medical examiner’s office said it had to bring in additional pathologists to handle the autopsies.
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“This is an unprecedented amount of homicides in one day for our office,” said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar. “The most I can recall in one day since I started here in 2003 is 10.”
In all, more than 80 people were shot over the weekend in Chicago amid widespread looting in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
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Most of Sunday’s homicides — 11 — occurred in Chicago. One happened in North Riverside and three at unknown locations, the office said.
Ages of the victims range between 18 and 39. Thirteen are men, and two are women. Twelve are black, two Latino and one is identified by the office as “other.”
The office said so many autopsies were scheduled for Sunday that three additional forensic pathologists were called in. There are usually five pathologists scheduled each day.