chicagotribune--2020-10-25--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State reports 4,062 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 24 additi

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State reports 4,062 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 24 additional deaths Sunday

The steep increase in daily cases in October has also seen a slight increase in hospitalizations related to the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ there were 37.9 % of the state ’ s ICU beds open .
On Friday @ @ @ @ @ , there were 33.7 % ICU beds available .
While none of the state ’ @ @ @ @ @ the benchmark 20 % of available medical/surgical or ICU beds , Chicago , suburban Cook @ @ @ @ @ counties , Will and Kankakee counties , and the Metro-east region that includes East St. @ @ @ @ @ points .

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois public health officials Sunday reported 4,062 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 24 additional deaths.
The numbers come a day after the state announced a record 6,161 known cases and 63 deaths. That brings the state’s total to 374,256 known infections and 9,505 fatalities.
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There were 72,097 tests reported in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate remained at 6.1% for a second straight day.
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On Friday, the Illinois health department placed half of the state’s 102 counties on a warning list for a resurgence of COVID-19.
The county warning list, which the state Department of Public Health issues weekly, includes Kane, McHenry and Will counties, which all came under stricter state regulations Friday aimed at slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Meanwhile, days after threatening to roll back restrictions on Chicago businesses if COVID-19 cases continue to spike, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday imposed a 10 p.m. curfew on all nonessential city businesses.
In addition, the city is again prohibiting indoor service at traditional taverns and brewery taprooms that don’t have food licenses, and asked residents to cap any social gatherings at six people starting Friday.
Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
4,062 newly confirmed cases and 24 addition deaths reported Sunday
Illinois public health officials Sunday reported 4,062 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 24 additional deaths.
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The numbers come a day after the state announced a record 6,161 known cases. That brings the state’s total to 374,256 known infections and 9,505 fatalities.
There were 72,097 tests reported in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate remained at 6.1% for a second straight day.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s not giving up on COVID-19 relief before election
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s not giving up on passing another coronavirus relief economic package before the Nov. 3 election.
At issue is a huge virus relief bill that would send another $1,200 direct payment to most Americans, restart bonus unemployment benefits, fund additional testing and vaccines, provide aid to schools and allocate money to state and local governments, a Democratic priority.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Saturday
Pelosi, Mnuchin trade blame as likelihood for COVID-19 package is ‘very, very slim’
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House traded blame for the latest stall in negotiations on a new coronavirus stimulus as pessimism built at the Capitol that anything could be accomplished before Election Day.
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Pelosi said the burden is on President Donald Trump to push forward on stimulus talks and get reluctant Republicans to go along with any eventual deal reached with the White House on a nearly $2 trillion aid package.
“We could do that before the election, if the president wants to,” Pelosi said Friday in an interview on MSNBC.
Read more here. —Bloomberg News
Concern over holiday exposure to COVID-19 prompts Chicago Archdiocese switch to remote learning for 2 weeks in January
The Chicago Archdiocese has decided to move to remote learning for 14 days after winter break, worried students may be at risk of COVID-19 exposure at family gatherings, according to a statement released Friday.
Archdiocese officials asked that families consider traveling to their gatherings before Jan. 4, 2021, when virtual learning is scheduled to begin. Schools have mostly been open since the fall session began.
Read more here. —Deanese Williams-Harris
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6,161 new known COVID-19 cases and 63 additional deaths reported; positivity rate climbs to 6.1%
The 6,161 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 announced by the state Saturday is a new daily record high, topping a daily total of 5,368 from early September when the state cleared a backlog of results.
The surge pushed the state’s positivity rate from 5.6% to 6.1% and set a new high mark for seven-day rolling average with 4,341. During the height of the first surge in April and May, the seven-day average of daily cases did not top 2,600.
Trailing indicators that signal the seriousness of the outbreak like deaths and hospitalizations also are showing increases.
Saturday saw 63 new deaths from COVID-19 announced. That number is not nearly as high as the spring, when daily deaths topped 100 for nearly three weeks in May. However, the last time the state saw daily death totals of higher than 60 was in June.
The steep increase in daily cases in October has also seen a slight increase in hospitalizations related to the coronavirus. On Oct. 1, there were 37.9% of the state’s ICU beds open. On Friday, the most recent data, there were 33.7% ICU beds available. While none of the state’s 11 regions are below the benchmark 20% of available medical/surgical or ICU beds, Chicago, suburban Cook County, DuPage and Kane counties, Will and Kankakee counties, and the Metro-east region that includes East St. Louis are within 10 percentage points.
The state continues to process a massive number of tests daily with 83,517 results announced Saturday, a total more than four times what was announced in the spring and summer.
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Cumulatively, Illinois now has recorded 370,194 cases, 9,481 deaths and 7.2 million test results.
—Jonathan Berlin
University of Dayton student from La Grange dies after contracting COVID-19
A University of Dayton student from LaGrange has died after contracting the COVID-19 virus, according to university officials.
Michael Lang, 18, died on Thursday following a “lengthy hospitalization,” according to a message sent to the student body from the university’s president, Eric F. Spina, and other officials.
Lang was a first-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences, the message said. He had returned home to the western suburb on Sept. 13 for remote learning.
Read more here. —Madeline Buckley
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Confused about outdoor dining? Here’s a breakdown of the rules and safety guidelines.
After a flurry of news this week surrounding outdoor dining, restaurants and customers alike are playing catch-up on what they are allowed and not allowed to do. And as the weather gets colder, these questions become even more pressing as business owners make decisions on what elements they want to invest in and customers figure out if outdoor dining is even safe at all.
We answer some of your questions here, but if there’s something else you’re unsure about, reach out to us.
Read more here. —Grace Wong


chicagotribune--2020-10-25--Campaign trail tracker: Where Trump, Biden and their running mates have traveled in presidential rac

Campaign trail tracker: Where Trump, Biden and their running mates have traveled in presidential race’s final weeks

In the final sprint ahead of the Nov. 3 election , both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ travel despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic .
Starting in September , Biden abandoned his monthslong @ @ @ @ @ in Delaware while Trump has accelerated his travel and is once again welcoming crowds at @ @ @

In the final sprint ahead of the Nov. 3 election, both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden have ramped up their campaign travel despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Starting in September, Biden abandoned his monthslong virtual campaign from his basement in Delaware while Trump has accelerated his travel and is once again welcoming crowds at some events.
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Here’s a look at the campaign trail stops made by Trump, Biden and running mates since Sept. 1.
Campaign trail tracker
Tap or click on a dot to see details of the stop.
Don’t see the map? Some mobile browsers disable it. Try this link.


chicagotribune--2020-10-25--Woman injured in fatal Waukegan police shooting tells protesters: ‘No one should be allowed to do th

Woman injured in fatal Waukegan police shooting tells protesters: ‘No one should be allowed to do this to us'

Williams was behind the wheel of a car , with Stinnette , 19 , in the passenger seat about 11:55 @ @ @ @ @ police officer fired on them .
The officer said the car began backing up toward @ @ @ @ @ fire in fear of his safety .
However , late Friday night , the officer @ @ @ @ @ for what Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles called “ multiple policy and procedure violations.
” @ @ @ @ @ that she and Stinnette did not do anything to provoke the shooting .
Lake County @ @ @ @ @ to join the Illinois State Police investigation of the incident .

Clifftina Johnson, left, mother of Tafara Williams, participates in a march and protest through the South side of Waukegan on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. The group was protesting against the shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette and the wounding of Tafara Williams by a Waukegan police officer on Tuesday night. The officer has since been fired and the FBI has joined the investigation. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
The Waukegan woman injured when a police officer shot and killed her boyfriend, a 19-year-old Black man, spoke to protest marchers gathered at the site of the shooting Saturday.
From her hospital bed, where she is recovering from gunshot wounds, Tafara Williams spoke via cellphone for several minutes as her mother, Clifftina Johnson, held up the phone to a bullhorn.
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“I want to thank everyone that’s out there marching for me and Marcellis and Marcellis Jr. because he is now left without a father,” said Williams, who sounded as if she was struggling to keep her emotions in check. “No one should be allowed to do this to us anymore. No justice, no peace, and I won’t sleep until Marcellis gets justice.”
Clifftina Johnson, center, points toward her 7-month-old grandson, Marcellis Stinnette Jr., at the corner of Helmholz Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue where her daughter, Tafara Williams was wounded and the boy's father, Marcellis Stinnette, was shot to death by a Waukegan police officer on Tuesday night. The family and community members marched in protest through the South side of Waukegan on Saturday. The officer has been fired and the FBI has joined the investigation. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Nyanna Stinnette, 16, (left) hugs Sherrellis Stinnette, at the corner of Helmholz Avenue and Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue in Waukegan where Marcellis Stinnette was shot and killed by a Waukegan police officer Tuesday night. Nyanna is a cousin and Sherrelis the grandmother of Marcellis. Relatives and community members marched through the South side of Waukegan in protest of the shooting on Saturday. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Another family member held Marcellis Stinnette Jr. nearby, the young child looking on, wide-eyed under a wool cap with a pacifier in his mouth.
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Williams was behind the wheel of a car, with Stinnette, 19, in the passenger seat about 11:55 p.m. Tuesday when a Waukegan police officer fired on them. The officer said the car began backing up toward him, causing him to fire in fear of his safety. However, late Friday night, the officer was fired from the department for what Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles called “multiple policy and procedure violations.” Williams has told family members that she and Stinnette did not do anything to provoke the shooting. Lake County authorities have asked the FBI to join the Illinois State Police investigation of the incident.
Williams' call was the emotional high point of a two-hour march around the mostly Black southside neighborhood where Williams and Stinnette lived. The protest rally drew around 100 participants, some carrying “Black Lives Matter” signs.
People march through the South side of Waukegan Saturday while protesting against the shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette and the wounding of Tafara Williams by a Waukegan police officer on Tuesday night. The officer has since been fired and the FBI has joined the investigation. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
After Williams ended her call, Clyde McLemore, founder of the Black Lives Matter Lake County chapter, led the crowd in chanting the names of Williams and Stinnette. He concluded by looking over at their baby, and said, “You’re a handsome young man.”
“Just like his daddy,” said Johnson, the child’s grandmother.
Leaders of the rally said they were glad the city fired the officer involved in the shooting. But they said he should also be identified and charged with a crime. Waukegan has only said that he is Hispanic and had been a police officer there for about five years.
People march through the South side of Waukegan on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020 while protesting against the shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette and the wounding of Tafara Williams by a Waukegan police officer on Tuesday night. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
McLemore also reiterated his demand that a special prosecutor be appointed and that the city release body camera footage of the incident. The march featured a number of speakers who expressed frustration with the relationship between police and the Black community, but offered differing ideas on how to proceed. All agreed, though, that systemic change is needed.
McLemore said there will be prayer vigil Sunday at 3 p.m. at the site of the shooting, which is at the intersection of Hemholz Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Kay'lyn Bates (center), 7, and Zadon Dedrick, 10, participate in a march through the South side of Waukegan on Saturday while protesting against the shooting death of their cousin, Marcellis Stinnette, and the wounding of Tafara Williams, by a Waukegan police officer on Tuesday night. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
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chicagotribune--2020-10-26--Column: A pile of stacked boxes at the University of Chicago - exhibitionism or architecture?

The U. of C. deserves credit for commissioning this adventurous building rather than a forgettable design that would have meekly @ @ @ @ @ And the architects get kudos for bringing something fresh to the university ’ s storied @ @ @ @ @ bold building by , and for , bold thinkers — even if we don ’ @ @ @ @ @ is truly meets the test of form that follows function .

The exterior of the David Rubenstein Forum building at the University of Chicago on Oct. 19, 2020. Its 10-story tower includes a conference center and classroom building. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
It’s an eye-grabbing pile of irregularly stacked boxes, seemingly designed to land on magazine covers and draw attention — as well as big donations — to its university. Following that script, its namesake donor is a billionaire who has his own TV talk show and its architects are stars whose credits include Manhattan’s wildly popular High Line.
All those things make me wonder whether the new David Rubenstein Forum at The University of Chicago is the real deal or a reversion to the self-indulgent days of “starchitecture” — before the Great Recession poured cold water on architects' overheated form-making.
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Is the design more show than substance? More interesting than good?
A view from the south of the David Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago on Oct. 19, 2020. The Forum's ten-story tower includes meeting rooms and pre-function spaces. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
It’s impossible, at this stage, to know. We live with architecture; we don’t just look at it. The new structure’s chief purpose is to host academic meetings, events and conferences, but COVID-19 has made convening a potential health hazard. However, a first pass suggests that the Rubenstein Forum is more than just another superficial, look-at-me icon wannabe.
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The 10-story structure at 1201 E. 60th St. rises on the south side of the Midway Plaisance, across that swath of green from The U. of C.'s picturesque palisade of Collegiate Gothic towers. It cost about $100 million, according to university officials.
Rubenstein is a graduate of the university’s law school, a co-founder of The Carlyle Group private equity firm, and the host of a PBS and Bloomberg TV show that bears his name. Fortunately, Rubenstein resisted the temptation to slap his name in large letters on the facade, as other donors and developers are wont to do. No sign is necessary. The architecture is the building’s calling card.
That’s what you expect from New York architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, who pride themselves on being purposeful provocateurs.
In 1999, the firm’s founders, the husband-and-wife team of Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, won a “genius” grant from Chicago’s MacArthur Foundation. Ten years later, after architect Charles Renfro became a partner, their co-design of the High Line, which converted an abandoned elevated rail line into a chic promenade, won near-universal praise. Of late, their work includes the Shed, a shape-shifting, multipurpose arts hub with a movable outer shell at Manhattan’s much-maligned Hudson Yards.
What they’ve done at The U. of C. has echoes of their previous work, especially the 2006 Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, whose galleries cantilever a jaw-dropping 80 feet over a harborside public space.
But this is no mindless retread. Nor, I hasten to add, is it stunningly original.
Architects have been doing stacked boxes for years, beginning, perhaps, with the memorable mountain of prefab housing units, called Habitat, that architect Moshe Safdie designed for the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal. In recent years, the trend has become a visual cliché.
At the Rubenstein Forum, however, it succeeds because the strongly sculptural exterior grows directly from the imaginative layout of the interior and the building’s unusual structure — a series of concrete boxes formed by robust side walls and floor slabs.
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The U. of C. needed the forum, university officials say, because it recently converted a nearby building, originally a conference center and hotel, into the Keller Center, home to the Harris School of Public Policy. The university did not want to continue hosting conferences at downtown hotels.
Chris Steffich, general manager of the David Rubenstein Forum, looks out from the top level conference area with a view of the University of Chicago campus, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and the Chicago skyline. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Diller Scofidio + Renfro conceived the design as an innovative addition to Chicago’s renowned collection of tall buildings. Instead of uniform office floors, the tower transitions from a city-engaging ground floor to contemplative, multi-level clusters of meeting rooms above. (The New Yorkers worked on the project with associate architects, Brininstool + Lynch of Chicago.)
Atop a two-story base, which houses a restaurant and bar as well as a meeting room that can seat more than 600 people, rises an eight-story tower that offers a powerful study in projections and recesses. Its in-out visual rhythms make it an arresting presence, one that seems at home alongside The U. of C.’s quirky towers, even though it lacks their Gothic verticality.
The forum’s exterior glass effectively blends reflectivity and transparency, allowing passersby to gaze into its double-height meeting spaces and letting the energy of the room enliven the building’s surroundings. Rather than replicating The U. of C.'s intimate, inward-turning Gothic cloisters, Renfro said during a recent tour, the architects sought to “rip the cloister off and let the cloister see and be seen from outside."
Another plus: The glass is designed to be visible to migrating birds so they won’t crash into it and kill themselves.
While the building is tall, at 166 feet, it does not upstage the university’s prime symbol, the 217-foot Rockefeller Chapel across the Midway. Instead, the design offers a contemporary counterpoint to the Gothic Revival chapel. It doesn’t just exhibit a different style; it’s organized in a fundamentally different way — not as a singular icon, but as an assemblage of parts. lt is, too, a visual anchor for the university’s collection of buildings by notable architects (among them Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eero Saarinen) south of the Midway.
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Scalpel-like diagonal incisions accentuate the visual drama of the building’s cantilevers and create pleasing textures and shadow patterns in the zinc panels that cover the massive concrete side walls. The panels and other details add a hint of verticality, like pinstripes on a suit. There is artistic license in such moves, but, at root, the design is rational, not arbitrary.
A cross-section of the David Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago shows the innovative arrangement of the building’s interior. Each two-story pre-function space serves two levels of meeting rooms. Pre-function spaces also serve a 3rd floor auditorium and a 10th floor meeting room. The architects rotated the location of the pre-function rooms, giving the building it dynamic exterior profile. (Diller Scofidio + Renfro)
As a cross-section of the design reveals, each of the building’s exterior projections houses a sizable, two-story suite of meeting rooms (or, on the third floor, an auditorium). The recessed portions of the facade, in contrast, contain smaller two-story “pre-function” areas. People going to different meetings within each suite will share the pre-function rooms, leading, at least in theory, to interaction among academic disciplines
But instead of putting all the meeting rooms on one side and all the pre-function rooms on the other, the architects rotated them, giving the building its dynamic profile. That move also gives he Rubenstein Forum two compelling fronts — one facing the Midway, the other facing the Woodlawn neighborhood.
The building also appeals at street level.
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The aforementioned 40-foot cantilever forms a welcoming canopy along 60th Street. Terrazzo paving extends from sidewalk into lobby, blurring the boundary between inside and outside. To the building’s south are a handsome bosque of maple trees and a new section of an east-west path that will link the university’s building’s south of the Midway.
A view inside the lobby of the David Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
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The light-filled two-story lobby features visual drama inspired by the exterior’s overhangs. A thin, ultralong piece of blackened structural steel serves as a cantilevered reception desk as well as guardrails for the lobby’s grand stair and a bridge linking the building’s two sides. The white-on-white elevators, unfortunately, are as clinical as anything you find in a hospital.
Upstairs are some stirring spaces, starting with the third floor’s 285-seat auditorium, which is lined with wood and overlooks the Midway and Rockefeller Chapel. The pre-function and meeting rooms offer panoramic views of the South Side, Lake Michigan and the downtown skyline. They culminate in a 10th floor meeting room, also lined in wood, where the over-the-treetop views unfurl with stunning majesty.
The U. of C. deserves credit for commissioning this adventurous building rather than a forgettable design that would have meekly tried to fit in. And the architects get kudos for bringing something fresh to the university’s storied campus. This is a bold building by, and for, bold thinkers — even if we don’t know yet whether it is truly meets the test of form that follows function.
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
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bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-10-26--Daywatch: Property taxes climb higher than other bills, Lightfoot counts on big increase in speeding

Daywatch: Property taxes climb higher than other bills, Lightfoot counts on big increase in speeding tickets and the state’s plan to save monarch butterflies

Does it seem like your property tax bill is rising faster than others ?
Well , that ’ s because @ @ @ @ @ past 20 years , the total annual amount of property taxes billed by local governments @ @ @ @ @ nearly three times the rate of inflation , according to a new study out of @ @ @ @ @ office .
The total tax tab went up by 99 % , while the regional @ @ @ @ @ by just 36 % , the study found .

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Good morning, Chicago. Over the weekend, Illinois reported its most daily coronavirus cases ever — 6,161 known cases were recorded on Saturday. On Sunday, officials announced 4,062 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 24 additional deaths. The seven-day statewide positivity rate remained at 6.1% for a second straight day as of Sunday.
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Meanwhile, last week was flurry of news about outdoor dining. Restaurants and customers alike are playing catch-up on what they are allowed and not allowed to do, so the Tribune’s Grace Wong made a list of what you need to know about the rules and safety guidelines.
Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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A man walks past a house in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago on Oct. 22, 2020. The house is highlighted in Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas' report on Cook County property tax increases over the past 20 years. The tax on the house was $3,352 in 2000. Today, it is $15,245. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Does it seem like your property tax bill is rising faster than others? Well, that’s because it is. In the past 20 years, the total annual amount of property taxes billed by local governments in Cook County increased at nearly three times the rate of inflation, according to a new study out of the county treasurer’s office. The total tax tab went up by 99%, while the regional cost of living went up by just 36%, the study found.
The contrast was even greater in the city of Chicago, where overall property taxes rose by 115%, compared with 87% in the county’s 126 suburbs overall, according to Treasurer Maria Pappas, who provided an advance look at the report.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivers her budget address Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, in Council Chambers at City Hall. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who campaigned on a pledge to end Chicago’s “addiction” to fines and fees, is counting on a big increase in city collections from speeding tickets and other violations to balance her 2021 budget.
And she wants part of the boost to the bottom line to come from speed cameras across Chicago issuing speeding tickets to drivers caught going as little as 6 miles per hour over the posted limit.
Ken Griffin, the founder and CEO of Citadel, in 2014. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Ken Griffin, in a billionaire battle with Gov. J.B. Pritzker over the governor’s effort to switch Illinois to a graduated-rate income tax system, pumped another $7 million of his wealth to oppose it, state campaign finance reports showed Friday.
Sameka Gates works as a teacher while also helping her daughter, Kylee, 11, with a school question on Oct. 22, 2020. Gates' son, Ethan, 5, does a live remote kindergarten class in the kitchen of their Chicago home. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Remote learning has been a challenging adjustment for many since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March. But for students who are spending an inordinate amount of time in front of screens to learn, on top of managing the general anxieties that come with being an adolescent, overall wellness — whether mental, emotional or physical — has, in some cases, been negatively impacted.
A recent nationwide study on teacher and student wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic showed 46% of teachers reported encountering student mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, academic stress, trauma and grief more often than they did before the pandemic.
Monarch butterflies rest on giant hyssop plants in Lurie Garden at Millennium Park in Chicago on Aug. 30, 2019. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Monarch butterflies have flown south for the winter, but efforts to protect them in Illinois are sticking around. As butterflies east of the Rocky Mountains migrated thousands of miles toward Mexico, a group of stakeholders representing farms, cities, roadsides and natural areas signed on to the Illinois Monarch Action Plan, the state’s all-hands-on-deck effort to ensure the survival of that unmistakable orange-winged butterfly.


chicagotribune--2020-10-26--Rare blue moon to rise on Halloween night, but don’t expect it to look blue in Chicago

For the first time in nearly two decades , a full moon will be spotted in the Chicago sky on @ @ @ @ @ according to experts .
It will also be a blue moon , an occurrence that @ @ @ @ @ full moons in one calendar month .

This Halloween, witches on broomsticks can finally fly across a full moon.
For the first time in nearly two decades, a full moon will be spotted in the Chicago sky on All Hallows' Eve, according to experts. It will also be a blue moon, an occurrence that happens when there are two full moons in one calendar month.
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A full moon on Halloween is more rare than a blue moon, said Michelle Nichols, director of public observing at the Adler Planetarium. The last time we saw a full moon on Halloween was in 2001.
“You think Halloween and you think it’s a full moon, but it’s hardly ever the case,” she said. “You have to go almost 20 years between seeing a full moon on the actual date of Halloween.”
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Given that it takes the moon on average 29 ½ days to go around the earth once, we typically see a full moon every month. But, about every 2 ½ years, we get an extra full moon in a season, Nichols said.
Blue moons, a term coined by astronomers in the 1800s, are simply a quirk of the calendar system, Nichols said. Longer months sometimes allow the moon phases to repeat.
A plane flies below the full moon over Chicago on Oct. 24, 2018. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Contrary to popular belief, full moons do not have an impact on more crazy or unnatural occurrences, though they do add to the holiday’s spooky appeal. Songs, television shows and other pop culture references often misrepresent the uniqueness of the blue moon, she added.
“We don’t always refer to it thinking astronomically and use the term ‘blue moon’ to mean something that doesn’t happen very often, but really it’s something that does happen once every 2 ½ years or so,” she said. “It seems more rare than it really is.”
A blue moon can be defined as the second of two full moons in the same month or the third full moon of a season that has four full moons.
The next monthly blue moon after Halloween will occur on Aug. 30, 2023, while the next seasonal blue moon will occur on Aug. 22, 2021, according to the planetarium.
The first full moon in October was a harvest moon, an ode to the history of farmers who depended on the full moon to harvest crops.
“These moon phases favor hunters and farmers because the moon is moving from south to north across the celestial equator, meaning it will be higher and higher in the sky and come up earlier than usual,” said Dan Joyce, a board member of the Chicago Astronomical Society who has studied astronomy for more than 65 years.
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Extra light gives farmers more time to harvest crops and hunters more ability to spot prey at night.
Another common misconception is the appearance of a blue tint on the moon during this phase, Nichols said. The moon can appear blue in any phase, and this is caused when there is a lot of dust from smoke particles in the air.
“If you see full moon pictures that are blue, those have probably been photoshopped,” she said. “There’s a next to zero chance for the moon to be blue in Chicago. You can see it in places close to sources of dust, ash and smoke, but in our area, it’s close to zero."
jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JessicaVillag


chicagotribune--2020-10-26--Feel like your property taxes are climbing higher than your other bills? New 20-year study shows you

Feel like your property taxes are climbing higher than your other bills? New 20-year study shows you’re right.

“ You can ’ t — if you ’ re a small government , you ’ re the child — @ @ @ @ @ the state , and say fix it for me when you spent like a drunken @ @ @ @ @ , who also has highlighted the amount of tax-driving debt accumulated by local taxing districts @ @ @ @ @ live in a suburb , or if you live someplace , and you have sat @ @ @ @ @ haven ’ t said anything , then OK , you ’ ve got to do @ @ @ @

If it seems like your property tax tab is climbing far faster than your other bills, that’s because it is.
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In the past 20 years, the total annual amount of property taxes billed by local governments in Cook County increased at nearly three times the rate of inflation, according to a new study out of the county treasurer’s office. The total tax tab went up by 99%, while the regional cost of living went up by just 36%, the study found.
The contrast was even greater in the city of Chicago, where overall property taxes rose by 115%, compared with 87% in the county’s 126 suburbs overall, according to Treasurer Maria Pappas. She provided an advance look at what she calls “The Pappas Study” to the Tribune before its formal release.
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Pappas, who has held her post since 1998, said she was spurred to conduct the study by taxpayers who have flooded her office with stories of not being able to afford their tax bills. More than two decades of gathering data and a series of technological upgrades over that time made it possible, she added.
“I’m hoping that as people continue to look at this data … that at some point, the plug is going to be put on property taxes, especially in this pandemic," she said. “Everyone is cutting back, but the property tax bill is going up. It’s not working.”
The study comes as Mayor Lori Lightfoot — facing mounting city costs amid an economic downturn fueled by pandemic restrictions — has proposed another significant property tax increase for next year and raising property taxes every year after that by the rate of inflation.
Just as Lightfoot and other local government leaders stare down some of the biggest budget shortfalls in decades, Pappas is highlighting the swelling burden of the property tax, which school and municipal government leaders often view as their most reliable source of revenue despite its reputation as the third rail of Illinois politics for its unpopularity among voters.
A man walks past a house in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago on Oct. 22, 2020. The house is highlighted in Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas' report on Cook County property tax increases over the past 20 years. The tax on the house was $3,352 in 2000. Today, it is $15,245. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The treasurer plans to post the study on her office’s website, complete with an online calculator that will allow individual home and business owners to look up how the tax burden has grown on their specific properties over the years. It also will include interactive maps, so people can look up overall tax increases in their ward, suburb or unincorporated area.
A quick caveat: Increases on specific properties from 2000-19 vary widely, depending on where they are located, the rate of home price growth, and decisions made by government leaders and voters in tax-increase referendums.
The study also documents regional trends, showing the pattern of increases in each of the city’s wards, and individual suburbs and school districts. Those tables show some wards where taxes more than doubled and others where the tax increases were not nearly as steep.
Laurence Msall, president of The Civic Federation, a government budget watchdog group, commended Pappas for the study. “This is the first time this level of detail has been made available,” Msall said.
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“It really does show the reliance on property taxes to fund schools and other local governments, and how that is building over time and putting Chicago and Cook County in a place where it is very difficult to withstand the level of increase they continue to see over time without any end in sight," he added.
Pappas dedicated the study to former Tribune editorial page editor John McCormick and former editor R. Bruce Dold, noting their efforts to highlight government spending and taxation issues.
Homeowners hit harder
The study’s primary point is to show how property tax increases have eclipsed the rate of inflation, but it also shows how the overall growth in property taxes has outstripped earning power. During the 20 years that taxes increased by nearly 100%, average wages in the county increased by 57%, the study found.
The study also revealed uneven increases between residential and business properties, with homeowners seeing far bigger increases.
Residential tax bills in the city swelled by 164%, while those on business properties grew by a comparatively modest 81%. As a result, slightly more than half of the city’s nearly $7 billion city property tax burden is now borne by homeowners. By contrast, Chicago businesses paid 59% of the overall tab 20 years ago.
In suburban Cook, residential bills rose by 116%, compared with 57% for commercial properties. Most of the overall $8.6 billion suburban property tax tab is picked up by homeowners, with residential taxpayers now paying about 62% of that tab. That figure is up from 53% two decades earlier.
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Such statistics could add to the debate over Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s property valuations for property tax purposes. Kaegi, who took office in late 2018, has been increasing commercial valuations at a far faster clip than predecessor Joe Berrios — much to the consternation of many business property owners.
The undervaluing of larger commercial properties at the expense of other taxpayers also was highlighted in “The Tax Divide,” a collaborative investigative series published by the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois.
Pappas' study does not explore how assessments are set, but they are a key component in calculating tax bills. In general, the higher the assessed fair market value of the property, the higher the tax bill.
That equation plays heavily into tax bills in some city wards where gentrification has sent property values soaring. For example, in the 3rd Ward that includes the South Loop, the amount billed to residents grew by nearly 863% over 20 years, while the commercial tab more than doubled — for a combined increase of 431%.
Property taxes 101
Historically, property taxes in Illinois are among the nation’s highest because they remain the primary source of school funding. Property taxes also are controversial because they are billed twice a year and cost thousands of dollars each time, reminding voters of the substantial sums they are paying to government.
Yet property taxes are considered one of the most reliable money generators because they’re collected in fixed amounts that tend not to diminish much during economic downturns and the state gives local governments the power to set them. Most of your property tax money funds schools, but villages, the county, park districts, suburban townships and many other local government agencies also rely on the cash.
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Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel raised property taxes to pay for city worker pension funds, including a 2015 plan that boosted them by $543 million over four years.
Largely as a result of that tax hike, city property taxes increased the last five years from under $1 billion to nearly $1.7 billion, records show. Lightfoot has proposed increasing property taxes by nearly $94 million in 2021 and by the rate of inflation in future years.
Lightfoot, who’s facing some pushback from aldermen, has said the inflation-tied increases would provide “stability” and “predictability” for taxpayers. As for the proposed 2021 increase, the mayor blamed the pandemic hurting city finances. She noted it amounts to a $56 hike on a home valued at $250,000.
Another driver of city property tax bills is the often-cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools. Under Emanuel and Lightfoot, the district has increased its property taxes by the maximum allowed each year. CPS property taxes have jumped from around $2 billion in 2007 — as far back as county levy records go — to nearly $3.2 billion.
Illinois has a tax cap law that limits most government agencies to property tax increases that don’t exceed the rate of inflation, plus capturing the value of newly constructed buildings. In CPS’ case, the state also authorized a new property tax dedicated to teachers’ pension system payments.
Suburban angst
While complaints about city property tax increases get a lot of attention, the pain is being felt in the suburbs too — although voters have in some cases agreed to the bigger increases.
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In suburban Cook, school districts have asked voters to raise taxes higher than the state limits or borrow money to build and renovate buildings. During the study’s 20 years, suburban voters approved referendums to exceed the tax cap 63 times and to issue bonds 176 times. The bond approvals were for $3.92 billion in borrowing. Pappas noted that such ballot questions appear in off-year elections, when sometimes fewer than a quarter of voters go to the polls.
In south suburban Markham, total taxes billed grew by 158%, followed by southwest suburban Lemont, where they grew 157%, and northwest suburban Bartlett, where the grew by 147%. In Bartlett, voters approved two school referendums that allowed the issuance of $151.4 million in bonds.
Like the city, suburbs also in many cases are grappling with reduced federal and state funding, pandemic-driven revenue losses, underfunded pension systems and rising costs — the same woes that led Lightfoot to her tax increase proposal. The debates this year could be supercharged, considering that restrictions resulting from the pandemic have hit homeowners who may have lost their jobs and are struggling to figure out how they will pay their bills, even without a tax hike.
Solutions?
Pappas does not offer recommendations in her report for addressing the issue of rapidly rising property taxes, but does point to a series of other studies with potential solutions that have been released in the last decade.
Many critics say the problem lies with the state and its reliance on property taxes to fund schools, even as other states have moved to fund schools primarily with state government revenue.
Illinois has increased education funding in recent years, but not by enough to provide significant property tax relief. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said his proposal to switch the state to a graduated income tax system where those who make more pay more would allow the state to continue increasing the amount dedicated to education. That proposal is on the Nov. 3 ballot.
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Pappas said local government leaders need to take responsibility for their own spending, while voters need to make their voices heard on the issue.
“You can’t — if you’re a small government, you’re the child — go to the parent, the state, and say fix it for me when you spent like a drunken sailor,” said Pappas, who also has highlighted the amount of tax-driving debt accumulated by local taxing districts. "And if you live in a suburb, or if you live someplace, and you have sat there for 20 years and haven’t said anything, then OK, you’ve got to do something about this.
“You have to show up at the public hearings that are held once a year on budgets, you need to talk to your elected, but you can’t just sit there and say, ‘I got a bill, and now I’m gonna complain about it.’”
The Tribune’s John Byrne contributed to this report.
hdardick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-26--Fired Buffalo police officer who contends she stopped another cop from choking a man finds new suppo

Fired Buffalo police officer who contends she stopped another cop from choking a man finds new support — in Chicago

“ I have been doing this work 25 years , ” he said .
“ She is not given to @ @ @ @ @ a woman that condemns all police officers , she is a woman who tells her @ @ @ @ @ she just shows up .
Every instinct I have about Cariol has guided me to @ @ @ @ @ been guided to , which is ( she is ) an extraordinary mother , grandmother @ @ @ @ @ been speaking her truth . ''

Former Buffalo police Officer Cariol Horne in Chicago on Oct. 22, 2020. Horne said she was fired from the force in 2008 for stopping a fellow officer from choking a suspect. Horne, who has earned support in Chicago for a legal challenge to her case, was honored at an event hosted by Inner-City Muslim Action Network. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
The arts collective at the Inner-City Muslim Action Network on Chicago’s Southwest Side supports artists from across the country, encouraging them to inspire change through storytelling.
But the details of Cariol Horne’s story, shared there during a summer of intense national conversation over police abuse, struck an unusually troubling note — Horne has maintained for 15 years that she was fired from the Buffalo Police Department because she broke ranks and saved a man who was being choked by another cop during an arrest.
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Her dismissal, when she was just shy of 20 years on the job, cost Horne a full pension.
Now the dramatic story has become part of an unusual musical collaboration between IMAN founder Rami Nashashibi and a Buffalo music artist who wrote a nine-track album, a reflection on race and social justice that calls for spiritual healing and radical changes, such as a law Horne helped pen that makes it mandatory for officers to intervene and stop police abuse.
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But Horne’s story has not only been elevated in the music.
At the request of IMAN, powerhouse Chicago law firm Kirkland & Ellis agreed to review her firing and this month launched a court battle to get Horne’s job back, a surprising new legal development in her long-standing effort to fight the decision that ended her career.
Former Buffalo police Officer Cariol Horne poses in Chicago on Oct. 22, 2020. Horne said she was fired from the Buffalo department in 2008 for stopping a fellow officer from choking a suspect. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
A legal team that includes a former White House chief legal counsel to President Barack Obama filed a motion in New York state court seeking to vacate Horne’s firing, arguing it was “in the interest of justice” to do so. The filing cited recent examples of arrests that led to controversial deaths blamed on asphyxia, including those of Daniel Prude in Rochester, New York, and George Floyd in Minneapolis, which happened as fellow officers looked on.
“For doing precisely what we expect and hope from our law enforcement officers — upholding the law and protecting life — Ms. Horne was assaulted by her colleague, and her employment was terminated,” the lawsuit reads. “ ... In Buffalo, in America, and in the world the public is now recognizing the cost of not having officers like Ms. Horne who are willing to intervene.”
The new legal battle has yet to play out in court, but on Thursday evening Horne was at Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African American History in a dimly lit rotunda for the official listening party for the album, which includes the single “Mama Please,” a song about police violence and oppression that spotlights Horne’s story.
Horne, 52, sat listening in the center of the room with the producers, headphones rimmed in blue light snug on her head of white hair. She rocked gently, her head down as she listened to the lyrics.
Mama, please. I can’t breathe. Get these demons off of me.
Later, a video for the song, which features Horne and is dedicated to her, was played for the audience.
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“The last 15 years has been an uphill battle,” Horne told the Tribune in a recent interview. “And now that IMAN has come into my life, I feel like I am about to reach the top. It feels liberating.”
Chicago connection
While IMAN’s work focuses mainly on helping people released from jail and prison make a successful transition, community organizing is a key component of their work.
They’ve woven the arts into that mission, including by maintaining a national roster of artists who gather for retreats, quarterly conference calls and are eligible for an annual fellowship.
Drea D’Nur, who is from Buffalo and is one of the rostered artists, knew Horne’s story, and shared it with Nashashibi earlier in the year while they were producing the album, “This Love Thing,” which aimed to explore the pain so many communities worldwide were experiencing.
Vocalists, emcees, spoken-word poets and musicians — many of them longtime IMAN artists — took part, including Louisville community activist and musician Jecorey Arthur, who was recently elected to the city council in that city, where the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor by police has sparked protests and calls for reform.
Former Buffalo police Officer Cariol Horne, center, speaks with Inner-City Muslim Action Network Executive Director Rami Nashashibi during an event in Chicago on Oct. 22, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
“There is this intersection between art and social justice,” D’Nur said. “(Singer-songwriter) Nina Simone said an artist’s duty is to reflect the times."
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Nashashibi was moved, and then got to know Horne personally on trips to Buffalo this summer to work with D’Nur on the album. He attended protests with her just as her case had taken on new life in the wake of the Floyd case, and found Horne and her story genuine. He decided to see if there were any legal options available to help her.
“I have been doing this work 25 years,” he said. “She is not given to hyperbole. She is not a woman that condemns all police officers, she is a woman who tells her story with profound believability because she just shows up. Every instinct I have about Cariol has guided me to what I think others have been guided to, which is (she is) an extraordinary mother, grandmother, beautiful person who has been speaking her truth."
Nashashibi was not deterred, either, by the number of times Horne’s story had been rejected by fellow officers and the courts, saying recent cases — including in Chicago — have shown that official police versions of events are not always accurate.
Nashashibi was already speaking to Kirkland & Ellis about the potential of opening a legal clinic in the community when he decided to call and tell them about Horne.
The firm agreed to take her case in June, along with a team that includes attorneys from Harvard Law School.
Neil Eggleston, a partner at Kirkland who served as White House legal counsel under Obama and oversaw the administration’s major task force on police reform, said the understanding of policing after Floyd and similar cases now dictates that officers like Horne should be celebrated — not silenced.
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“I think in some ways the fundamental aspect of the recommendations from the task force were to emphasize that police officers are protectors of the public and not adversaries of the public,” Eggleston said. “Cariol presents a classic example of that, which was she was acting to protect the public. And arrestees have as much right to be protected.”
A contentious case
Exactly what happened on Nov. 1, 2006, has been the subject of intense debate and several legal probes over the years.
Everyone agrees Buffalo officers were trying to remove a suspect from a home when Horne arrived.
According to the new lawsuit filed by her attorneys, Horne, who is Black, saw Officer Gregory Kwiatkowski, who is white, punch the handcuffed suspect, Neal Mack, who is also Black. Then, as Mack was being removed from his home, Kwiatkowski pulled him down and put him in a chokehold, prompting Horne to tell him to stop and to physically remove his arm from Mack’s neck, the lawsuit alleges.
Kwiatkowski has acknowledged he put Mack in a “bear hug headlock,” according to the lawsuit and court documents. But the officer said it was Horne who physically attacked him by jumping on him — something Horne denies.
“Ms. Horne told Mr. Kwiatkowski that he was choking Mr. Mack, but Mr. Kwiatkowski did not stop,” the lawsuit reads. “... Horne then intervened to prevent Mr. Kwiatkowski from inflicting serious harm or death.”
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According to the filing, Kwiatkowski then struck Horne, causing enough damage that she required dental surgery.
After the department filed disciplinary charges against her, Horne opted not to accept an offer of a short suspension, and also demanded that her hearing be public.
“I was not going to take a suspension for something I didn’t do,” she told the Tribune, explaining the decision.
In 2008, an independent hearing officer sustained 11 department charges against Horne, including that she interfered with the arrest and failed to assist Kwiatkowski.
Horne challenged her firing in court, but failed.
While the filing from her new Chicago lawyers does not bring new evidence, it argues that key witness statements do not dispute the story Horne has been telling from the start: that she intervened to protect Mack.
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“Both accounts converge on a description of a violent arrest, involving a chokehold, during which Ms. Horne intervened with reasonable acts calculated to prevent a death by chokehold," the lawsuit reads. "While the accounts differ on the extent of force Ms. Horne used to remove Mr. Kwiatkowski ... all accounts include his use of a chokehold and another officer’s intervention.”
The lawsuit also notes that the charges against Mack, the suspect, were later dropped, and that Kwiatkowski, who resigned from the force in 2011, was later convicted in an unrelated federal civil rights case in which he slammed the heads of four Black teens into a squad car.
Contacted by the Tribune, Kwiatkowski pointed to several decisions and rulings that failed to confirm Horne’s version of events, including a defamation suit that he won against her, which Horne said was because she was not notified of the court date and didn’t appear. Kwiatkowski has said a physically combative Mack had reached for his service weapon once they were outside the house, but he never put him in a chokehold.
A spokesman for the city of Buffalo declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
‘I never gave up’
Horne, meanwhile, lost her full pension because she had been working for the department 19 years — just one shy of eligibility. Reversing the firing would restore the pension, her attorneys said.
In the years since her dismissal, Horne has made ends meet by driving a truck and for Uber. She raised five children and has 14 grandchildren.
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And she was an activist before the country had heard of Floyd or Eric Garner, who died in 2014 when he was placed in a chokehold during an arrest in New York City. She was trying to make sure her own story was not ignored, but also raising awareness of police brutality.
“I never gave up,” Horne said. “So long as the police are killing people, I had reason to speak back up.”
She has traveled around the Northeast to talk about Cariol’s Law, which she wrote in 2016. The law requires that officers intervene to stop colleagues from committing brutality — and demands that departments protect those who do.
The city of Buffalo already had a policy in place requiring that officers intervene, but its city council in September passed a version of Horne’s law. The city’s mayor has yet to sign it, something that Horne and her supporters are demanding.
As Thursday’s musical event in Chicago ended, the website for Cariol’s Law flashed on the large video screen in the rotunda.
Horne quickly moved around the room to find D’Nur and Nashashibi, and the three stood, 6 feet apart, for a photo in the glow of the screen.


chicagotribune--2020-10-26--Libertarian candidate in Cook County state’s attorney race faced 2019 misdemeanor arrest in family d

Libertarian candidate in Cook County state’s attorney race faced 2019 misdemeanor arrest in family dispute

The woman , who accused her ex-husband of “ inappropriate and disturbing behavior '' toward a young relative , was @ @ @ @ @ protection on Jan. 17 , 2019 , according to court records .
The next day @ @ @ @ @ being accused of violating the protective order when he sent three Skype messages to an @ @ @ @ @ and the relative , according to court records .
The protective order barred contact with @ @ @ @ @

The Libertarian candidate in the race to be elected Cook County’s top prosecutor pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct last year after being accused of breaking the law when he messaged a young family member with whom a judge had temporarily barred contact.
Brian Dennehy was placed on one-year court supervision and paid about $350 in court fees as part of a July 29, 2019, agreement with prosecutors after entering a guilty plea in far northwest Jo Daviess County, court records show.
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The Chicago tax attorney had about a week left to serve of the court supervision when he filed his nomination papers to run for Cook County state’s attorney. Dennehy submitted the paperwork July 20, the final day an independent or third-party candidate may file, according to Cook County clerk officials.
In response to Tribune questions, the 49-year-old Dennehy said in a statement that he pleaded guilty “to dispose of the case and get on with my life.”
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Brian Dennehy, Libertarian candidate for Cook County state’s attorney. (Campaign photo)
“The case is now dismissed,” he said in the statement. “Based on my experience as a defendant in the criminal justice system, I can only imagine what happens to people without my education or means.”
Dennehy is in a three-way race against incumbent Kim Foxx, a Democrat, and Republican candidate Patrick O’Brien. Dennehy’s opponents in the November race declined to comment.
Dennehy so far has waged a low-key campaign. He has not established a campaign committee with the state. Candidates are required to do so when they raise or spend $5,000 in a 12-month period, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Dennehy sought a divorce from his second wife when they lived in Will County in 2017, court records show. She filed her own petition to end the seven-year marriage shortly after. The divorce was granted in 2018, but the two remain in a protracted court battle over parenting issues.
The matter was transferred last year to Jo Daviess County, where his ex-wife lives.
The woman, who accused her ex-husband of “inappropriate and disturbing behavior" toward a young relative, was granted an emergency order of protection on Jan. 17, 2019, according to court records. The next day, Dennehy was arrested after being accused of violating the protective order when he sent three Skype messages to an account used by the ex-wife and the relative, according to court records. The protective order barred contact with her and the relative.
His arrest was not related to the petition’s allegations, which authorities did not substantiate. His ex-wife withdrew her petition about three weeks later and the protection order was vacated, court documents said.
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On July 29, 2019, Dennehy pleaded guilty to the amended charge of disorderly conduct, a less serious misdemeanor than violating an order of protection. He admitted in the plea deal that he acted “in an unreasonable manner as to alarm and disturb another and to provoke a breach of the peace,” according to the public court file.
Dennehy successfully completed his supervision and the misdemeanor case was dismissed without a conviction, court records show.
A resident of the Buena Park neighborhood on the North Side, Dennehy has pledged in his campaign to “stop wasting time and resources arresting, prosecuting, and caging nonviolent people," according to his campaign’s Facebook page. In a recent post, the candidate said if elected he would "focus almost exclusively on violent crime and stop wasting resources pursuing adult consent or licensing crimes.”
In his statement Tuesday to the Tribune, Dennehy said he is innocent of “any claims that I violated an order of protection.” The candidate said he was inspired to run for office based, in part, on his experience, prodding by fellow Libertarians and events of the past year. He declined to elaborate.
“Law (and) order without justice (and) equity is inconsistent with a free and peaceful society," he said, according to the statement.
ayin@chicagotribune.com
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cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-26--Column: This election isn’t just about Donald Trump and Congress. Pay attention to those judges on t

Column: This election isn’t just about Donald Trump and Congress. Pay attention to those judges on the ballot too.

Judge Jackie Portman-Brown was placed on administrative duty after she was seen on video locking a 6-year-old relative in a @ @ @ @ @ period .
While some have praised her tough demeanor on the bench , others have @ @ @ @ @ bully .
She has said the incident with her grandniece was misrepresented .

Judges have it made. Once they are elected in Illinois, it is almost impossible to get them off the bench, regardless of how awful they might be.
Though Cook County Circuit Court judges are responsible for overseeing courtrooms where guilt or innocence is decided as well as interpreting laws that affect all of us, they receive the least amount of consideration by voters of anyone on the ballot.
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That’s because many people don’t spend the time necessary to educate themselves before going to the polls to vote on whether judges should be retained or not.
County judges are elected to a six-year term, and after that must receive 60% “yes” votes in order to retain their position. In the past 46 years, only 29 judges in Illinois have failed to be retained.
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Perhaps it’s because there are so many of them on the ballot. Rather than doing our homework, some people leave the entire section blank, vote no on all of them or blindly follow the recommendations of news organizations or lawyers groups.
But we cannot afford to do that this year.
Every decision in 2020, from the president to the graduated-rate income tax amendment, seems more crucial to our democracy that ever before. In the era of Black Lives Matter, police misconduct and social justice reform, competent judges are major components.
We must make sure that we have jurists who are guided by the law and are committed to ensuring that every defendant receives fair and equitable treatment.
I spent hours at my computer recently poring through judicial sites, newspaper endorsements and news articles trying to find out exactly who the 60 Circuit Court judges and two Appellate Court judges on my ballot were.
Some of the most popular sources are Injustice Watch, the Chicago Council of Lawyers and the Illinois Bar Association. But even if they deem a judge qualified or recommend retention, it doesn’t mean we should automatically vote yes. And a negative rating doesn’t always mean we should vote no.
That’s when our research skills have to kick in. I voted no for 17 of the 62 judges.
Some, such as Judge Kenneth Wadas, should be a no-brainer. His decisions have been reversed on appeal 25 times in the past six years, more than any criminal court judge on the ballot.
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Wadas never should have been elected to the Circuit Court in 1996. As a prosecutor in 1983, the Illinois Appellate Court called Wadas’ conduct “an insult to the court and to the dignity of the trial bar.”
In 1999, a defendant was convicted of attacking a woman at a bus stop with a box cutter after Wadas refused to allow evidence that another man had confessed to five similar attacks in the same areas two weeks after the defendant was arrested. The defendant spent nearly 10 years in prison before he was finally exonerated.
In 2004, Wadas sentenced a juvenile to 100 years in prison for a murder he committed when he was 16. An appeals court ordered the sentence reduced because of his age.
Judge Thomas Byrne denied certificates of innocence to two men who spent decades in prison for crimes they confessed to after being tortured by detectives under the command of the notorious police Cmdr. Jon Burge.
Judge Kerry Kennedy once threatened a woman with contempt of court if she would not watch a video of her alleged rape. Sexual assault advocates forced him to back down.
Others, including Judge Michael Toomin, who heads the juvenile justice division, are more nuanced.
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Toomin insists that the Democratic Party refused to endorse him as retaliation for appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case.
But some question Toomin’s commitment to judicial reform. He opposed a program that would provide alternatives to incarcerating juveniles and made it difficult for juveniles to be released from detention during the coronavirus outbreak, according to Injustice Watch.
Judge Jackie Portman-Brown was placed on administrative duty after she was seen on video locking a 6-year-old relative in a holding cell for a brief period. While some have praised her tough demeanor on the bench, others have criticized her for being a bully. She has said the incident with her grandniece was misrepresented.
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Judge Megan Goldish, a former prosecutor, is accused in a lawsuit of helping to convict a teenager in 2002 based on witness statements that were allegedly false and coerced by police, according to Injustice Watch. She has denied any wrongdoing.
Two judges shouldn’t be on the ballot. Judge Mauricio Araujo resigned from the bench this month after the Illinois Courts Commission found evidence that he had harassed women. Judge Patricia Martin plans to retire as presiding judge of the child protection division in December.
For some voters, the decision might have more to do with a judge’s previous life than his time on the bench. Voters with long memories might recall that prior to becoming a judge, Daniel Kubasiak managed Alderman Ed Vrdolyak’s failed racially charged campaign to unseat Mayor Harold Washington in 1987.
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For most voters, the decision about judges will come down to how strongly we feel about maintaining the integrity of our judicial system. We will be guided by our individual views on what is right and what is wrong in our society.
Inevitably, our vote will reflect our feelings about justice. But we don’t need judges who see their jobs the way we do. They must put their personal and political agendas aside and follow the law.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-10-27--SUV left running with baby boy inside stolen from outside Southwest Side convenience store

When the woman returned to where she had left the SUV , it was gone , and investigators found that @ @ @ @ @ , heading north on California Avenue , according to police .

Chicago police said they found a 7-month-old boy in the care of a babysitter Monday afternoon after the car a woman said he was riding in was reported stolen from outside a Marquette Park neighborhood convenience store.
Police found the vehicle abandoned on the city’s West Side with no signs of the child. Authorities found the boy late Monday evening in the care of a babysitter after releasing photos of the child, Jaylen Mojica, in a community alert where he was classified as an endangered missing person.
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A 30-year-old woman told police she left the gray SUV running in the 2700 block of West 71st Street about 12:45 p.m. while she went into a convenience store, according to a police media notification. The child had been left inside the car, according to police.
When the woman returned to where she had left the SUV, it was gone, and investigators found that someone had driven it off, heading north on California Avenue, according to police.
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Police recovered the SUV two hours later in the 1400 block of South Keeler Avenue but did not immediately find Jaylen. Police later determined that he was in the care of a babysitter the whole time and had not been in the SUV, according to an updated police media notification.
Area One detectives were investigating. Police on Tuesday refused to say how they located the boy and the SUV.


chicagotribune--2020-10-26--‘He’s the kind of Catholic I want to be’: Chicagoan reflects on class with Wilton Gregory, who will

‘He’s the kind of Catholic I want to be’: Chicagoan reflects on class with Wilton Gregory, who will become first Black US cardinal

Tuten summed up the conversation in a Facebook post : “ He asked me if I believed in helping others @ @ @ @ @ .
He told me that Confirmation doesn ’ t mean you have all the answers @ @ @ @ @ humans .
But it meant that we promise to help other people .
To love @ @ @ @ @ that he himself can ’ t prove anything to me .
But I ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ for myself .
And I ’ ll see it in the love of others .
@

When he was 12, Tim Tuten remembers arguing about the relevance of Bible stories and the existence of God with a young first-year pastor guiding his confirmation class.
In 1973 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview, that pastor was Wilton Gregory. On Sunday, Gregory was among 13 new cardinals named by Pope Francis, and he will become the first Black U.S. prelate.
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“I may question the existence of God, but I have complete faith in someone like Father Gregory,” Tuten, now 59, said Monday. "He’s able to explain faith to a 12-year-old bratty kid, and he’s able to talk to a pope.
Tuten, who is a co-owner of The Hideout, credits Gregory with making him “rethink what being a Catholic was.”
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Tuten said he first met with Gregory after saying he didn’t know whether he believed in God in a confirmation class.
“At first I thought he was like every other priest at our church,” he said. “It is like you are told to be quiet, you are to follow the rules, do as you are told to. But he was the opposite of that. He was a listener and engaged in conversations with our class.”
Washington, D.C., Archbishop Wilton Gregory, left, greets parishioners following Mass at St. Augustine Church in Washington on June 2, 2019. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
Tuten summed up the conversation in a Facebook post: “He asked me if I believed in helping others. I told him yes. He told me that Confirmation doesn’t mean you have all the answers. We’re only humans. But it meant that we promise to help other people. To love our neighbor. He said that he himself can’t prove anything to me. But I’ll just have to see it for myself. And I’ll see it in the love of others.”
Gregory, 72, was born in Chicago and spent much of his early career in Chicago and its suburbs. He was ordained a priest in 1973. He was also a professor at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein and a master of ceremonies to Cardinals John Cody and Joseph Bernardin before being ordained an auxiliary bishop in Chicago in 1983.
In 1993, Gregory became the bishop of Belleville, Illinois, and went on to become archbishop of Atlanta in 2005. He has been bishop of Washington, D.C., since 2019.
“He is well-regarded by the bishops in our country and has proven himself as an individual who can bring people together in a wonderful form of leadership,” Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, said in an interview with the Tribune.
As Gregory rose through the ranks of the church, his impact remained with Tuten.
“When I think of what kind of Catholic I am, I think of Father Gregory because he’s the kind of Catholic I want to be,” he said.
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The Associated Press contributed.
jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JessicaVillag


chicagotribune--2020-10-26--Suburban Cook County placed under tougher coronavirus restrictions starting Wednesday that will proh

Suburban Cook County placed under tougher coronavirus restrictions starting Wednesday that will prohibit indoor dining and bar service

“ But that ’ s not the end of the story , ” she said .
“ The people who @ @ @ @ @ virus tomorrow has not been determined .
And that is where every one of us @ @ @ @ @ mask and our clean hands and our physical distancing , we can prevent exposure to @ @ @ @ @

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)
By Wednesday, more than half of Illinois residents will be living under stricter measures meant to slow the latest surge of the coronavirus as suburban Cook County and the Metro East region outside St. Louis join four other regions where the state has shut down indoor dining and bar service and lowered the cap on crowds to 25.
A week ago, only one of the 11 regions in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan was subject to those rules.
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State health officials on Monday announced 4,729 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the seven-day average for new daily cases to 4,546. It’s the first time since the pandemic began that the seven-day average has exceeded 4,500. In all, there have been 378,985 known cases statewide.
“No matter where in Illinois you call home, as you go about your daily lives, remember that this is not over,” Pritzker said during his daily COVID-19 briefing in Peoria. “There seems to be COVID storm on the rise, and we have to get prepared.”
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Suburban Cook County has had eight consecutive days of test positivity rate increases and seven days of increased hospital admissions. It is the first region to surpass the state-set thresholds for those two metrics at the same time. The other region have triggered tougher rules by reaching an 8% positivity rate threshold for three consecutive days. As of Friday, the rolling seven-day positivity rate for the Cook County suburbs was 7.7%.
[ COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area ]
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said the stricter rules are needed to slow the recent surge and prevent the state’s health care system from becoming overwhelmed as weather turns colder and flu season takes hold.
With hospitalizations already on the rise, health officials are concerned about the percentage of newly diagnosed patients who may soon end up in the hospital, in intensive-care units and on ventilators, Ezike said.
“But that’s not the end of the story,” she said. “The people who will get exposed to the virus tomorrow has not been determined. And that is where every one of us comes in. With our mask and our clean hands and our physical distancing, we can prevent exposure to this deadly virus.”
As of Sunday, the share of positive coronavirus tests statewide was 6.3% on a seven-day average, up from 5.4% a week earlier and 3.5% at the beginning of October.
Officials also reported 17 more fatalities Monday, bringing the death toll to 9,522. While the daily total was relatively low compared with recent days, Illinois has been averaging 41 deaths per day over the past week, up from 23 per day at the beginning of the month. At the height of the first peak in May, the state was averaging more than 100 fatalities per day.
Based on the current trajectory, the state is on pace to exceed 11,000 deaths by the end of the year, Ezike said.
Illinois isn’t alone as cases and deaths have been on the rise in neighboring states and across much of the country.
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The Metro East region will see its reopening rolled back for a second time after its test positivity rate surpassed 8% for three consecutive days. The region that includes seven counties in southwestern Illinois and the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis was the first to see its reopening rolled back in August, but it later reached a state threshold that allowed that to be relaxed.
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
Will and Kankakee counties also are under the stricter rules for a second time, and those rules were imposed for DuPage and Kane counties last week.
If recent trends continue, even more regions could see their restaurants and bars closed for indoor service before long.
Lake and McHenry counties hit a combined 8.1% rolling positivity rate as of Friday, which means restrictions could come within days if the rate doesn’t drop. Chicago was at 7.7%, up from 6.2% a week earlier, but Mayor Lori Lightfoot has already enacted a curfew for nonessential businesses and suspended indoor service at bars and taprooms that don’t serve food.
The east central Illinois region that’s home to Champaign-Urbana and Decatur was at 7.8% — excluding the saliva-based testing at the University of Illinois — as was the Springfield region in west central Illinois. The north central region, home to Peoria, Bloomington and the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, was at 7.2%.
[ As second wave of COVID-19 roils Illinois, here are 5 updated ways doctors say you can stay healthy ]
In addition to indoor dining and bar service being closed in regions subject to the stricter rules, outdoor dining will need to close at 11 p.m., reservations will be required for restaurants, and outdoor dining tables should be spaced 6 feet apart, according to the state-imposed rules.
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Casinos and other gaming facilities must also close at 11 p.m. and limit capacity to 25%. State officials have said casinos have been allowed to remain open at limited capacity because they haven’t been shown to be a major location of virus transmission.
The Cook County Department of Public Health has been recommending even more stringent guidelines, such as limiting outdoor restaurant and bar seating to groups of six or fewer, since August, but it’s unclear how widely those practices have been adopted. The county health department also doesn’t cover Evanston, Oak Park, Skokie or Stickney Township, which have their own health agencies.
Last week, the nine counties in the northwest corner of the state became the first region to see an even more stringent set of rules imposed as its positivity rate continued to rise despite the earlier rollback. Those rules include a six-person limit on seating for outdoor dining and a 10-person cap on gatherings.
The region, which includes Rockford, DeKalb and Galena, has been under the stricter rules since Oct. 3. The rolling positivity rate there hit 12.8% as of Friday, up from 11.1% a week earlier.
jmunks@chicagotribune.com
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-26--CPS reports most weekly COVID-19 cases since pandemic began, but the numbers remain low. Can they st

CPS reports most weekly COVID-19 cases since pandemic began, but the numbers remain low. Can they stay that way if schools reopen next quarter?

Of the cases reported this quarter , most have been isolated , with 19 schools reporting two or more cases @ @ @ @ @ Edwards and Pulaski , have each reported four cases , while three schools — Greeley @ @ @ @ @ Northside Prep — have each reported three cases , according to CPS data .
Of @ @ @ @ @ learning hubs ” listed by the district , Wadsworth has had two cases , Nightingale @ @ @ @ @ one case , and the other six have reported no cases this quarter .

Chicago Public Schools on Monday reported the greatest number of COVID-19 cases tied to its more than 500 school buildings in any week since the pandemic closed them in March.
For the week ending Saturday, CPS reported that 29 adults who tested positive were in a school building when they were likely contagious. That brings the total to 119 cases at more than 90 schools since fall quarter began in September, including seven students, and 228 total cases since March.
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Though students and most teachers have been learning or working from home, a limited number of staff have been reporting to buildings, such as clerks, security officers, technology coordinators, cafeteria workers, custodians and administrators. Some schools have also hosted standardized testing or opened as regional “learning hubs” for a limited number of children to be supervised by CPS or a community-based organization during the remote school day.
Of the cases reported this quarter, most have been isolated, with 19 schools reporting two or more cases. Two elementary schools, Edwards and Pulaski, have each reported four cases, while three schools — Greeley Elementary, Hubbard High and Northside Prep — have each reported three cases, according to CPS data. Of the nine elementary school “learning hubs” listed by the district, Wadsworth has had two cases, Nightingale and Jamieson have each had one case, and the other six have reported no cases this quarter.
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The rise of COVID-19 cases tied to schools aligns with trends in the city and state. In Chicago, the daily positivity rate based on a seven-day rolling average was 7.1% Monday, up from 5.4% a week ago. The seven-day average of 703 new daily cases is a 39% increase from last week’s 506.
On Saturday, the state announced a record 6,161 known cases and 63 deaths. Illinois public health officials on Monday reported 4,729 newly confirmed cases and 17 additional deaths. With 57,264 tests reported in the last 24 hours, the seven-day statewide positivity increased to 6.3% from 6.1%.
While recent studies have shown little correlation between open schools and outbreaks in some cities, the resurgence of cases in Chicago has raised concerns among educators and health officials as CPS figures out a plan for second quarter, which begins Nov. 9.
The Chicago Teachers Union has voiced many concerns about reopening in current conditions and claims that despite regular talks, CPS is refusing to actually bargain with them over the plan.
The district is challenging an independent arbitrator’s ruling that CPS violated its contract with the union by making some employees work in person unnecessarily under what may not have been “safe and healthful” conditions. Since employees began returning in late August, the CTU has reported problems at schools ranging from ventilation issues to widespread failure to enforce mask wearing and social distancing. But CPS maintains its schools are following public health guidance.
District leaders have said students will continue with remote learning, but that children in preschool and special education cluster programs will have the option to learn in person before the end of the calendar year with the goal of phasing in more grades in early 2021.
Some suburban districts had barely reopened when spikes in local cases prompted them to close again. The Chicago Archdiocese said Friday that its schools would be moving to remote learning for 14 days after winter break, worried about COVID-19 exposure at family gatherings.
Meanwhile, numbers released Monday in the agenda for Wednesday’s Chicago Board of Education meeting show the school district estimates $116.3 million in COVID-19-related spending through Sept. 30, including $54.4 million attributed to a $75 million emergency authorization passed in the spring.
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hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-26--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Suburban Cook County under tougher restrictions starting Wednesday;

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Suburban Cook County under tougher restrictions starting Wednesday; 4,729 new cases reported as seven-day average tops 4,500 for first time

Officials also reported 17 more fatalities Monday , bringing the death toll to 9,522 .
While the daily total was @ @ @ @ @ days , Illinois has been averaging 41 deaths per day over the past week , @ @ @ @ @ at the beginning of the month .
Based on the current trajectory , the state @ @ @ @ @ 11,000 deaths by the end of the year , officials said .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Suburban Cook County and the Metro East region outside St. Louis will come under stricter rules meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, including a shuttering of indoor dining and bar service.
The two regions will join four other regions of the state under stricter rules that also include a smaller gathering cap of 25 people. As of Wednesday, roughly half of the state’s population will be living under the tighter restrictions.
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Meanwhile, state health officials on Monday announced 4,729 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the seven-day average for new daily cases to 4,546. It’s the first time since the pandemic began the seven-day average has exceeded 4,500. The seven-day statewide positivity rate jumped to 6.3% from 6.1%.
Officials also reported 17 more fatalities Monday, bringing the death toll to 9,522. While the daily total was relatively low compared with recent days, Illinois has been averaging 41 deaths per day over the past week, up from 23 per day at the beginning of the month. Based on the current trajectory, the state is on pace to exceed 11,000 deaths by the end of the year, officials said.
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Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:40 p.m.: ‘Blindsided and heartbroken.’ Mood of restaurant, bar owners dismal as COVID rules are rolled back in suburban Cook
Suburban Cook County will soon join other communities living under stricter measures intended to slow the latest COVID-19 surge, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday, much to the dismay of bar and restaurant owners who have already endured a dismal year.
“All the progress we’ve made over the last two months is out the door now, and we have to start back from zero,” said Arnie Krause, owner of The Claim Company restaurant in Northbrook.
It was a widespread sentiment in the suburbs after Pritzker announced the latest round of restrictions as coronavirus cases began to creep higher. A week ago, only one of the 11 regions in the governor’s reopening plan was forbidden to have indoor dining, bar service and crowds of more than 25 people. By Wednesday, more than half of the state’s population will be living under the stricter rules.
Read more here. —Chicago Tribune staff
5:20 p.m.: Zanies in Rosemont is closed by stricter COVID rules
The Zanies Comedy Club Rosemont location has been closed by new COVID-19 regulations for suburban Cook County.
Stricter rules designed to help prevent the spread of the virus go into effect Wednesday, affecting Cook County as well as the Metro East region outside St. Louis, and include closing down indoor dining and bar service. According to an announcement Monday by Zanies, shows by psychic/comedian Karen Rontowski Oct. 29-31 at Zanies in Rosemont have been canceled; ticket holders can get more information at rosemont.zanies.com.
The downtown Chicago Zanies on Wells Street remains open, with show this weekend by Gabriel Rutledge.
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—Doug George
4:40 p.m.: WeatherTech, maker of car floor mats, switches gears to make COVID-19 face shields
WeatherTech owner and Trump megadonor David MacNeil is bucking the president with a new product line — plastic face shields to protect against COVID-19.
Eight months into the resurgent pandemic, the southwest suburban car floor mat manufacturer is getting into the personal protection equipment business in a big way, despite ongoing politicization over face masks.
“We have hundreds of thousands of them in stock, ready to go,” said MacNeil, 61.
The FaceShield Air, a sort of wearable sneeze guard, includes a comfort pad, headband and anti-fog lens. Priced at $24.95 for a three-pack, the reusable full-face device can be worn with or without a mask, according to the WeatherTech website.
Made in the same factory that turned Bolingbrook into the aftermarket vehicle floor mat capital of the U.S., WeatherTech’s latest addition to its eclectic catalog was months in development.
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When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, MacNeil reached out to the federal government, initially offering to produce ventilators. He then contacted Ford and GM, which had been enlisted to make ventilators by the White House under the Defense Production Act, as well as ventilator manufacturers, to see if WeatherTech could help.
No one accepted his offer, and MacNeil decided to shift gears and make plastic face shields using WeatherTech’s injection molding production line.
“We thought we could make a great face shield, right here in America, and not have those jobs exported overseas,” MacNeil said.
Read more here. —Robert Channick
3:35 p.m.: CPS has reported 228 coronavirus cases since March. Can the numbers stay low if schools reopen?
Chicago Public Schools on Monday reported the greatest number of COVID-19 cases tied to its 500 school buildings in any week since the pandemic closed them in March.
With only 228 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic – and buildings still closed to in-person classes -- the numbers have remained low, despite last week’s increase.
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Whether they can remain that way when schools reopen is another question, with lingering concerns about the safety of resuming in-person classes in the quarter starting Nov. 9, as CPS intends to do.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
2:50 p.m.: Wisconsin surpasses 200,000 COVID-19 cases
Wisconsin health officials reported Monday that more than 200,000 people have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began in March, a disturbing milestone as the virus continues to surge unabated across the state.
The Department of Health Services reported 2,883, newly confirmed cases on Monday. While that’s the lowest daily tally since Oct. 11, it still brought the overall case count to 201,049.
The agency tweeted that it took seven-and-a-half months to reach 100,000 cases in Wisconsin and just 36 days to double that figure.
The department also reported that the virus was a factor in 10 more deaths, bringing the overall death toll to 1,788. In a bit of good news, only about 1% of all those infected have died.
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Read more here. —Associated Press
1:15 p.m.: Cook County to give direct payments to suburban residents hurt by COVID-19 pandemic: ‘What they need is cash’
Suburban Cook County residents who faced financial hardships during the coronavirus pandemic are eligible for a one-time cash payment of $600, officials announced Monday.
Using about $2.1 million in federal CARES Act money, the resident cash assistance program will accept applications until Nov. 6 and serve about 3,000 people, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said at a news conference. The $600 will be transferred directly to selected applicants. Residents can apply at https://fund.uptogether.org/suburbancookcountyfund.
“Unfortunately, COVID-19 cases are on the rise and the pandemic is far from being over,” Preckwinkle said. “Many of our communities are facing layoffs, furloughs and the notion of living check-to-check is becoming less of a possibility. People are choosing between buying groceries or paying bills.”
To be eligible, residents must have made no more than 250% of the federal poverty level before March 1, or $65,500 for a family of four. They need to show documents proving they suffered unpaid leave, cared for sick or vulnerable relatives or lost wages from closures during the pandemic.
The application also requires either a government-issued identification with the applicant’s address or two alternative IDs. Money will be deposited into a bank, CashApp, PayPal or Chime account, or it will be delivered in a prepaid card, depending on the applicant’s preference.
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Read more here. —Alice Yin
1:10 p.m: Coronavirus deaths are rising again in the US and cases are climbing in nearly every state
Deaths per day from the coronavirus in the U.S. are on the rise again, just as health experts had feared, and cases are climbing in nearly every state, despite assurances from President Donald Trump over the weekend that “we’re rounding the turn, we’re doing great.”
With Election Day just over a week away, average deaths per day across the country are up 10% over the past two weeks, from 721 to nearly 794 as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Confirmed infections per day are rising in 47 states, and deaths are up in 34.
Health experts had warned that it was only a matter of time before deaths turned upward, given the record-breaking surge in confirmed cases engulfing the country. Deaths are a lagging indicator — that is, it generally takes a few weeks for people to sicken and die from the coronavirus.
The virus is blamed for more than 8.6 million confirmed infections and over 225,000 deaths in the U.S., the highest such totals anywhere in the world, with a widely cited model from the University of Washington projecting about 386,000 dead by Feb. 1.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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12 p.m.: 4,729 newly confirmed cases and 17 new deaths reported; positivity rate climbs to 6.3%
Illinois public health officials Monday reported 4,729 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 17 additional deaths.
It’s the first time since the pandemic began the seven-day average has exceeded 4,500. That brings the state’s total to 378,985 known infections and 9,522 fatalities.
There were 57,264 tests reported in the last 24 hours. As of Sunday, the share of positive coronavirus tests statewide was 6.3% on a seven-day average, up from 5.4% a week earlier and 3.5% at the beginning of October.
11 a.m.: State puts suburban Cook County under tougher coronavirus restrictions starting Wednesday that will prohibit indoor dining and bar service
Suburban Cook County and the Metro East region outside St. Louis will come under stricter rules meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, including a shuttering of indoor dining and bar service.
The two regions will join four other regions of the state under stricter rules that also include a smaller gathering cap of 25 people.
The suburban Cook County region has had eight consecutive days of test positivity rate increases and seven days of increased hospital admissions. It is the first region to surpass the state-set thresholds in these two areas at the same time. The other regions that have triggered tougher rules have done so by reaching an 8% positivity rate threshold.
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“At the beginning of the pandemic, we were concerned about overwhelming our hospitals and we must take action now to prevent that possibility,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a statement. “We are entering flu season and our hospitals are facing both COVID-19 and flu admissions.”
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
8 a.m.: Farm-fresh produce delivered to your door? Because of COVID-19, a growing number of services are offering just that.
The pandemic-driven decline in dining out has had a silver lining for home cooks: The high-quality produce and meats typically destined for restaurants are increasingly finding their way to people’s kitchen tables.
Now one of Chicago’s top restaurant produce distributors is using its muscle to deliver fresh foods to consumers' doorsteps, bringing a heavyweight to a growing movement to bypass grocery stores and give shoppers direct access to high-quality farm products.
Fresh Midwest, a company launched by the family that owns Midwest Foods and Edible Cuts, home-delivers fresh meat and produce as well as snacks prepared in-house and meals and meal kits developed in partnership with restaurants.
It serves ZIP codes located between Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, but plans to expand throughout the region, south to Indiana, by the end of March.
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The pandemic has transformed how people buy food. A surge in online grocery shopping sent grocers scrambling to satisfy customers' expectations of convenience. Whole Foods last week announced free same-day pickup for Prime members and Jewel-Osco recently introduced temperature-controlled pickup lockers at its stores. Some grocers are operating customer-free “dark stores” dedicated to filling online orders.
There are also more ways for shoppers to forgo the grocery store altogether and buy fresh food direct from suppliers, as business disruptions drive farms and restaurants to seek new revenue streams.
Read more here. —Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
7:10 a.m. Cook County officials to announce availability of COVID-19 cash assistance program for residents
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and other county officials were scheduled Monday to launch a cash assistance program for people hit financially by the coronavirus pandemic.
Preckwinkle, several Cook County commissioners and officials with the Family Independence Initiative and the Community Economic Development Association of Cook County were scheduled to hold a news conference Monday morning to announce the county COVID-19 Recovery Resident Cash Assistance program.
The $1.2 million program is for suburban Cook County residents who have suffered financial setbacks because of “unpaid leave, care for vulnerable or infected relatives, or loss of wages due to business or school closures,” according to the website for the program. —Chicago Tribune staff
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