chicagotribune--2020-11-13--Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer moves to shut down Great Lakes oil pipeline

“ Enbridge has routinely refused to take action to protect our Great Lakes and the millions of Americans who depend @ @ @ @ @ water and good jobs , ” the Democratic governor said in a statement .
`` @ @ @ @ @ terms of the 1953 easement by ignoring structural problems that put our Great Lakes and @ @ @ @ @

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took legal action Friday to shut down a pipeline that carries oil beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes.
Whitmer’s office notified Canadian company Enbridge Inc. that it was revoking an easement granted 67 years ago to extend a roughly 4-mile section of the pipeline through the Straits of Mackinac. The revocation takes effect in 180 days, when the flow of oil must stop.
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“Enbridge has routinely refused to take action to protect our Great Lakes and the millions of Americans who depend on them for clean drinking water and good jobs,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. "They have repeatedly violated the terms of the 1953 easement by ignoring structural problems that put our Great Lakes and our families at risk.
“Most importantly, Enbridge has imposed on the people of Michigan an unacceptable risk of a catastrophic oil spill in the Great Lakes that could devastate our economy and way of life.”
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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she filed a lawsuit Friday to carry out Whitmer’s decision. Another pending case that Nessel filed last year targets the pipeline as a public nuisance.
Enbridge said there was “no credible basis” for Whitmer’s action.
“Line 5 remains safe, as envisioned by the 1953 Easement, and as recently validated by our federal safety regulator,” said Vern Yu, the company’s president for liquids pipelines.
Line 5 is part of Enbridge’s Lakehead network of pipelines that carries oil from western Canada to refineries in the U.S. and Ontario. The pipeline carries about 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids daily between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, traversing parts of northern Michigan and Wisconsin.
The underwater section between the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, is divided into two pipes that are 20 inches (50 centimeters) in diameter. Enbridge says they are in good condition and have never leaked. Environmental groups contend they’re vulnerable to a catastrophic spill.
Enbridge reached an agreement with then-Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, in 2018 to replace the underwater portion with a new pipe that would be housed in a tunnel to be drilled through bedrock beneath the straits.
The company is seeking state and federal permits for the $500 million project, which is not affected by Whitmer’s shutdown order.
Environmental activists, native tribes and some elected officials began pushing to decommission Line 5 after another Enbridge pipe spilled at least 843,000 gallons (3.2 million liters) of oil in the Kalamazoo River in southern Michigan in 2010.
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Pressure grew as the company reported gaps in protective coating and installed supports when erosion opened wide spaces between sections of pipe and the lake bed.
An anchor dragged by a commercial tug and barge dented both pipes in April 2018. One of the pipeline supports was damaged this summer, apparently by a boat cable.
In a termination notice, Whitmer’s office said the easement should not have been granted in 1953. Placing the pipes beneath a busy shipping lane, with no cover to protect from anchor strikes, violated the state’s duty to protect the public’s interest in Great Lakes waters and bottomlands, the document said.
It referred to a Michigan Technological University report that warned that the straits' swift currents could propel oil over vast distances, potentially damaging fish populations and hundreds of miles of beaches, dunes and wetlands.
The notice said Enbridge repeatedly violated a requirement that the pipelines rest on the lake bed or have other supports at least every 75 feet. Spaces exceeding the threshold have been detected as far back as 1963 and most were never dealt with, it said.
Enbridge has repeatedly defended its operation of the pipeline, saying the coating gaps posed no serious threat. It has installed more than 120 supports to improve stability and stepped up patrols and other measures to prevent anchor strikes.
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The company says shutting down Line 5 would cause shortages of crude oil for refineries in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and eastern Canada, as well as propane shortages in northern Michigan. It also would boost shipments of oil by rail or truck, Enbridge says.
Environmental groups contend there are other means of meeting those demands but that closing Line 5 should be part of a global effort to curb use of climate-warming fossil fuels.
Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, a member of the Senate committee that oversees the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, endorsed Whitmer’s move and said he would work with officials “to swiftly evaluate alternatives to Line 5 while continuing to hold Enbridge accountable.”


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--Should you get tested for COVID-19 before your Thanksgiving gathering? Here’s what the experts say.

It may be important for many people ’ s mental health to see their family members for the holidays , @ @ @ @ @ that , said Dr. Rahul Khare , CEO of Innovative Express Care , an immediate @ @ @ @ @ in Lincoln Park and Downers Grove .
He believes families can still get together but @ @ @ @ @ groups of 10 or fewer and isolate for two weeks beforehand , or test four @ @ @ @ @ then isolate .

Carrie Mangoubi had a plan for Thanksgiving.
She’d ask her guests to quarantine for two weeks before the holiday, or quarantine for one week and then get tested for COVID-19 right before Thanksgiving. Her family members agreed to the arrangement.
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But amid travel concerns and rising cases of COVID-19, Mangoubi, 40, abandoned her plan to host the holiday dinner. She now anticipates a quiet Thanksgiving at her Gold Coast home with her husband and two young children.
Rapidly rising cases of COVID-19 have put Illinois families in a tough position as the holidays approach. On Thursday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told Chicagoans to cancel their normal Thanksgiving plans, especially if those plans include guests outside their immediate households. The Cook County Department of Public Health is recommending people postpone holiday gatherings or celebrate virtually. Stay-at-home advisories are set to begin Monday in Chicago and suburban Cook County.
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Still, some Illinois residents may be wondering if they can save a sliver of Thanksgiving through COVID-19 testing and strict quarantines before the holiday.
Some medical experts say testing could add a layer of protection when combined with quarantining. Others say families are better off avoiding in-person gatherings altogether.
“It’s a very difficult question,” said Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “It sounds like it should be so easy, but it’s not easy at all.”
Dan Lakier and Caroline Rohan make dinner with their children, Naomi, 14, left, Zach, 11, and Eva, 9, right, at their home in suburban Deerfield on Nov. 5, 2020. They plan to spend Thanksgiving at Dan's parents home in Deerfield, but are opting not to see Caroline's parents due to their age and health issues. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
About 35% of 1,005 Americans surveyed in late October, as part of an Ipsos poll, said they plan to have smaller-than-usual Thanksgiving gatherings. About 5% said they plan to get a COVID-19 test before celebrating, and 5% said they’ll ask everyone attending their festivities to get tested.
‘Not worth the risk’
The Illinois Department of Public Health is recommending people stay home as much as possible, only leaving for essential activities. At a recent event, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, asked, “Do we want to sit with people at Thanksgiving, and weeks later attend their funeral?”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the lowest-risk Thanksgiving plans include celebrating only with those who already live in your home, or a virtual dinner with friends and family. College students who live away from home should not be considered part of the household. The CDC also recommends if people from different households do plan to gather, that everyone involved avoid contact with those outside their homes for 14 days beforehand.
Dr. Michael Lin, an infectious disease specialist at Rush University System for Health, said he doesn’t recommend testing as a prelude to holiday gatherings.
“Testing, in general, only applies to the day of your test. It tells you something about your status,” Lin said. “It’s important to know the next day or the day after you may have a different situation. I can’t use a test on one day to guarantee on another day you’re going to be negative.”
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That’s part of the reason that Caroline Rohan, 46, of Deerfield, didn’t consider testing as a way to gather with more of her family for Thanksgiving. Rohan, her husband and three children plan to celebrate with her in-laws, whom they’ve been seeing regularly as part of their bubble, but not her parents, who are older and have health issues.
Caroline Rohan and husband Dan Lakier with their children, from left, Eva, 9, Zach, 11, and Naomi, 14, at their home in suburban Deerfield on Nov. 5, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
“I don’t know how much you can 100% rely on it,” Rohan said of testing.
At first, Rohan and her relatives discussed whether they could host her parents if they sat two rooms away, or if they ate in the garage.
But they decided those protections weren’t enough — and her parents didn’t really want to dine in a garage.
‘No right or wrong answer'
Some experts, however, say COVID-19 testing could lessen the danger of gathering for the holidays — though they agree that it’s not a foolproof way to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Northwestern’s Murphy said people should avoid gathering for Thanksgiving this year, but if it’s essential that they do get together, everyone should get tested for COVID-19 — with a type of test known as a PCR test — as close to the event as possible. People must keep in mind that some tests can take days to return results.
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“That’s not a perfect solution, but if you test everybody, that does give you some measure of protection,” Murphy said. “Nothing is 100% protective."
It may be important for many people’s mental health to see their family members for the holidays, and testing can help facilitate that, said Dr. Rahul Khare, CEO of Innovative Express Care, an immediate care facility that offers testing in Lincoln Park and Downers Grove. He believes families can still get together but only if they gather in groups of 10 or fewer and isolate for two weeks beforehand, or test four or five days before and then isolate.
“There’s nothing wrong with seeing them, but do it responsibly,” Khare said.
People may want to also open a window during Thanksgiving gatherings, if they can stand the cold, he said.
The CDC recommends hosts wear masks while making and serving food, offer single-use utensils and plates, have all guests wear masks and keep members of different households at least 6 feet apart throughout the event. People at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and those who live with them, should avoid gathering with people who don’t reside in their households, according to the CDC. The CDC recommends gatherings be held outside when possible.
The testing process
People who want to get tested for COVID-19 before the holidays face a maze of choices — and limitations.
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There are two basic types of tests. One is an antigen test, which looks for specific proteins on the surface of the virus and often returns results within 15 minutes. However, it is not considered as accurate as the other type of test, a molecular test, such as a PCR test.
Molecular tests detect the virus’s genetic material. It can take a day to a week for results, depending on the testing facility.
Northwestern Medicine requires people to get doctors' orders for tests. Rush doesn’t require a doctor’s note, but those who want testing must talk to a nurse or doctor first, and generally must have symptoms.
Other sites, such as the 11 run by the Illinois Department of Public Health, offer tests to everyone, regardless of symptoms.
Registered nurse Anna Reinhart holds open a biohazard bag for a patient to drop in their self-administered COVID-19 test at a drive-thru testing site at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago on Oct. 20, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
People can take at-home PCR COVID-19 tests, such as those sold through Osco Drug and Costco’s website.
To take the at-home tests from Osco and Costco, people have to fill out questionnaires, receive the tests, spit in tubes and then send them to labs. Results are available within a few days. The tests cost $139.99 out-of-pocket through Osco and $129.99 through Costco. Neither store is billing insurance companies for the tests, though they say patients can try to get reimbursed by submitting receipts to their insurance companies.
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People should ask about costs upfront, regardless of where they get their tests. Federal law generally requires health insurance companies to cover COVID-19 tests at no cost to patients, but some people are being charged because of certain exemptions and nuances in the law.
A number of colleges, including Illinois State University, are offering COVID-19 tests to students before they head home for the holidays. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign already requires students to test twice a week.
Still, getting tests for everyone coming to Thanksgiving — a grandmother with health issues, college-age cousins, an uncle who doesn’t believe COVID-19 is a serious threat — can take some logistical gymnastics. And even with testing, any indoor get-together between members of different households carries risks.
That’s part of the reason many people, such as Norma Sanders, may go it alone for Thanksgiving this year.
Sanders still goes to work in person, meeting with members of South Side communities in her role as director of special initiatives for the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corp., which works to revitalize those communities.
She’s much more exposed to the outside world than other members of her extended family, who have been hunkering down in their homes since the pandemic started.
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“I am the only one who’s out almost every day,” Sanders said.
She’s kept her distance from her relatives even after testing negative for COVID-19 in recent months.
She doesn’t plan to change that behavior for the holidays.
lschencker@chicagotribune.com
hdardick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--State’s attorney’s office reviewing coronavirus policy for staff, urging them to work from home

In an emailed response to questions from the Tribune , the state ’ s attorney ’ s office said they @ @ @ @ @ procedures and processes , including feedback from staff on our internal communications.
” They did @ @ @ @ @ many staffers had tested positive for the virus over the course of the pandemic or @ @ @ @ @ .

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office is urging its employees to stay at home, foreshadowing future “COVID policy changes,” and hinting that another court shutdown is looming, according to an internal email obtained by the Tribune.
As courtrooms began to reopen over the summer, more prosecutors returned to the office, sometimes on a rotating basis. Now, employees designated as “stay-at-home staff” by their supervisors will need to get prior permission to come to the office.
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The Friday morning memo did not mention a shift in the way staffers are informed of COVID cases within the office — which has been a common source of concern among rank-and-file staffers.
The Cook County state's attorney's office on Jan. 8, 2019. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Other county entities, such as the chief judge’s office and the clerk of the Circuit Court, circulate regular memorandums notifying employees when a staffer tests positive. The memos include details about where the staffer worked and how many positive cases the offices have measured so far in the pandemic.
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The state’s attorney’s office sent out at least one such memorandum in early March, telling employees that a staffer in the suburban Markham courthouse had “significant contact” with someone under investigation for coronavirus.
But the office has since stopped releasing those notifications officewide, instead saying it alerts individual employees who have had close contact with a staffer who tested positive.
Multiple prosecutors in different areas of the office told the Tribune that the notification system seems uneven and scattershot, leaving many staffers reliant on the rumor mill to find out who among them had been diagnosed with the virus. The rolling quarantines, the court shutdown and the immense case backlog have left many divisions of the state’s attorney’s office stretched thin.
At least once, attorneys were asked to fill in for colleagues in a different building without being told that the extra staff was needed since so many attorneys there had been quarantined, according to a source.
In an emailed response to questions from the Tribune, the state’s attorney’s office said they were “reviewing our COVID procedures and processes, including feedback from staff on our internal communications.” They did not answer questions about how many staffers had tested positive for the virus over the course of the pandemic or how many were currently quarantining.
As of Friday afternoon, Chief Judge Timothy Evans' office had not ordered any further shutdowns, though a rollback of certain operations is widely rumored as cases spike.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--Illinois closing driver services offices from Tuesday until Dec. 7 because of COVID-19

Drivers who are eligible to renew their licenses online will receive a letter from the secretary of state ’ s @ @ @ @ @ expiring between Feb. 1 , 2020 , and Jan. 31 , 2021 , who are @ @ @ @ @ expected to receive letters in December or January .
Licenses expiring in February 2021 and @ @ @ @ @ their letters roughly 90 days before their license expiration .

People stand in line for the Chicago Central Illinois secretary of state's facility located inside the Thompson Center in Chicago on June 24, 2021. Some said they arrived as early as 8 a.m. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois driver services facilities will close temporarily for in-person business starting on Tuesday because of the statewide resurgence of COVID-19, and Secretary of State Jesse White will again extend the expiration dates for driver’s licenses and ID cards, his office announced Friday.
The facilities are slated to reopen Dec. 7. The expiration date for driver’s licenses and identification cards has now been extended to June 1, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Anyone with a license that expires before the extended deadline will be considered to have a valid license until June 1, though commercial driver’s license holders are excluded from the extension due to federal requirements.
“The health and safety of employees and the public remains paramount and face-to-face transactions potentially increase the further spread of the virus,” White said in a statement Friday.
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In the meantime, a number of services for drivers are available online, including renewing license plate stickers, ID cards and driver’s licenses. And commercial driver’s license facilities will stay open for written and oral exams for those specialized licenses.
Drivers who are eligible to renew their licenses online will receive a letter from the secretary of state’s office with instructions. Licenses expiring between Feb. 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021, who are eligible for online renewal are expected to receive letters in December or January. Licenses expiring in February 2021 and later are due to receive their letters roughly 90 days before their license expiration.
During the shutdown, driver’s services facilities across the state will offer drive-thru services for license plate stickers only, including the Chicago North, Chicago West and Chicago South sites.


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker extends moratorium on housing evictions

Under the new gubernatorial order , which runs through Dec. 12 , tenants must sign a form declaring that they @ @ @ @ @ an income limit of $ 99,000 for individuals or $ 198,000 for joint tax filers @ @ @ @ @ that they are unable to make housing payments due to a COVID-19-related hardship and would @ @ @ @ @ to live in close quarters if evicted .
Tenants also have to be making their @ @ @ @ @ timely partial payments that are as close to the full payment as the individual ’ @ @ @ @ @ ”

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during a daily news conference regarding the coronavirus pandemic and other issues on Nov. 4, 2020, at the Thompson Center in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday he was extending a host of coronavirus-related executive orders for another 30 days, including an extension of a moratorium on evictions.
Under the new gubernatorial order, which runs through Dec. 12, tenants must sign a form declaring that they meet certain qualifications, including an income limit of $99,000 for individuals or $198,000 for joint tax filers. They also must attest that they are unable to make housing payments due to a COVID-19-related hardship and would likely be homeless or forced to live in close quarters if evicted. Tenants also have to be making their “best efforts to make timely partial payments that are as close to the full payment as the individual’s circumstances may permit.”
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Pritzker called the extension “the right thing to do to protect our most vulnerable residents.”
“But landlords and property owners are a crucial part of Illinois' housing cycle, just as much as renters, and they deserve protection too,” he said. “So with input from smaller landlords and property owners, this new moratorium will ensure that the rents are paid by tenants who may have been taking advantage of the eviction moratorium but who are in, fact, able to make their monthly rent payments.”
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Since the moratorium began in the spring, opponents have argued that the blanket approach was creating financial hardship for small landlords.
“We are grateful that Gov. Pritzker has fine-tuned his residential eviction moratorium rules so landlords are not taken advantage of by tenants who withhold rent payments without cause or demonstrated financial losses due to COVID-19,” Michael Mini, executive vice president of the Chicagoland Apartment Association, said in a statement Friday. “In tens of thousands of instances, landlords are working with tenants in offering extended grace periods and manageable payment plans.”
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com


Lung transplants

From scathing to supportive , editorial cartoonists provide illustrative commentary on Donald Trump .

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Nurse Kari Wegg sits in a chair as she recovers from lung transplant surgery for COVID-19 complications on Nov. 9, 2020, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. According to thoracic surgeon Dr. Ankit Bharat, who performed the operation, she is one of the first medical professionals with COVID-19 to receive a lung transplant. Wegg worked at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--Carjacking parolee shoots himself in the leg after Chicago cops approach SUV on South Side, police s

Carjacking parolee shoots himself in the leg after Chicago cops approach SUV on South Side, police say

The officers noticed Indiana fleet license plates on the silver SUV and knew there had been a rash of thefts @ @ @ @ @ to a police report .
They approached the SUV and talked to the driver , @ @ @ @ @ as Evans got out and sat near the gas pumps

A man on parole just over four months for carjacking accidentally shot himself in the leg after Chicago police approached a suspicious SUV at a South Side gas station this week, authorities said.
Noriyhea Evans, 20, was a passenger in a Dodge Durango that caught the attention of officers about 12:45 p.m. in the 200 block of West Pershing Road just south of Guaranteed Rate Field, according to police.
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The officers noticed Indiana fleet license plates on the silver SUV and knew there had been a rash of thefts of similar vehicles, according to a police report. They approached the SUV and talked to the driver, Jalen Howard, 18, as Evans got out and sat near the gas pumps
Howard gave the officers his driver’s license, which they found was suspended, and they handcuffed him. As Evans was sitting by the pumps, talking on a cellphone, there was a gunshot and officers saw Evans bleeding from the right thigh, the report states.
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Cameras captured Evans shooting himself “while he was alone and not handcuffed,'' the police report states.
Officers applied a tourniquet and took him to the University of Chicago Hospital. They searched Evans and found a semi-automatic weapon in his pants.
Police also confiscated a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun from Howard after finding it inside his Canada Goose jacket.
Howard was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and misdemeanor driving on a suspended license. He was ticketed for operating an uninsured motor vehicle, police said.
Evans was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm, both felonies. He was also wanted on a warrant and charged with one misdemeanor count of obstructing identification.
He had been paroled in June after being convicted of carjacking. He had been sentenced to four years in prison after being charged with felony vehicular hijacking, aiding and abetting, possessing and selling a stolen vehicle.
[ From 2017: Chicago Tribune reporter carjacked in Bridgeport ]
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--As surging COVID-19 cases collide with Thanksgiving food shopping, city warns of a crackdown on crow

As surging COVID-19 cases collide with Thanksgiving food shopping, city warns of a crackdown on crowds at grocery stores

But the exposure risk at grocery stores may be twice as high in lower-income communities than wealthier areas , according @ @ @ @ @ the journal Nature .
Grocery stores visited by people from lower-income areas had 59 % @ @ @ @ @ foot , with people staying in those stores 17 % longer on average , creating @ @ @ @ @ the study found .
It was based on a model created by researchers at Northwestern @ @ @ @ @ virus transmission rates based on people ’ s movements during the first three months of @ @ @

Grocery shoppers making their Thanksgiving runs may encounter something they haven’t seen since the early days of the pandemic: Lines outside of stores as the city steps up enforcement of capacity limits during the holiday rush.
When announcing a stay-at-home advisory that starts Monday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned businesses will face fines and potentially be shut down if they don’t follow social distancing rules or properly manage crowds.
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Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection plans to proactively investigate retail stores to ensure compliance with capacity limits and other COVID-19 regulations, which carry fines up to $10,000 for violations, spokesman Isaac Reichman said.
State and city rules cap essential businesses, such as grocery stores, at 50% occupancy and nonessential retailers, such as clothing stores, at 40%. Neither can have more than 50 people gathered at choke points, like checkout areas.
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Customers shop at Pete's Fresh Market in Chicago on Nov. 13, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association, a trade association for retailers in the state, sent a note to members after the mayor’s announcement Thursday, urging them to publicly demonstrate that they were monitoring customer counts. Earlier in the week, the association alerted members that the mayor and her team were unhappy to see full parking lots yet no lines of people waiting to get inside and didn’t think the industry was doing enough to control capacity.
“We strongly encourage you to take actionable steps to get capacity under control or the industry will see a crackdown at its most critical time of the year which will include aggressive fines,” the association said in the note, which was obtained by the Tribune.
The heightened enforcement comes as COVID-19 cases in Chicago, the suburbs and elsewhere in the state and nation soar. Illinois reported 15,415 confirmed or probable cases Friday and an average seven-day case positivity rate of 13.2%, up from 3.4% two months ago. As of Thursday it had more people hospitalized with COVID-19 than at any point during the first spike of infections in the spring.
Meanwhile, grocers expect bigger holiday crowds than usual given that restaurant closures, scuttled travel plans and calls by city officials to cancel family gatherings could result in smaller yet more Thanksgiving dinners cooked at home.
Earlier this year, grocery stores, at times epicenters of public life during the pandemic, implemented numerous safety measures to reduce transmission of the coronavirus. As the months dragged on, however, some loosened their most stringent practices to avoid losing customers as people grew weary of the restrictions, said Amanda Lai, manager at Chicago-based retail consultancy McMillanDoolittle.
“Throughout the pandemic there has been COVID fatigue and also a lot of letting our guard down more,” Lai said.
With the threat of a crackdown, grocers are likely to tighten the ship.
“As we anticipate serving larger crowds this holiday season, we will need to enforce customer limits more vigorously when the store is busy,” said Vanessa Dremonas, executive officer at Pete’s Fresh Market, an independent chain of 16 grocery stores in Chicago and the suburbs.
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Pete’s has maintained the same safety standards since the beginning of the pandemic, though it has scrapped some policies, like one-way aisles, which customers ignored and were too difficult to police, Dremonas said.
Pete’s places an employee at the door to count customers when a store gets busy, and if it approaches capacity — a 75,000-square-foot store is limited to 190 shoppers at any one time — there will be a line, she said. Dremonas encourages families to send just one person to do the shopping, and come on off days.
A shopper passes a one-way sign at Pete's Fresh Market in Chicago on Nov. 13, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Enforcing the limits is difficult when 10% of the chain’s staff is out because they tested positive for COVID-19 or are quarantining for other reasons, Dremonas said. Between staffing challenges, and fielding complaints over masks, grocers need customer patience and cooperation, she said.
“It is such an exhausting marathon that we’ve been running,” Dremonas said.
Some merchants announced new features to reduce crowds and the risk of virus transmission during the busy holiday shopping season.
Target, which sells groceries as well as general merchandise, introduced technology that allows customers to see if a store has a queue outside and reserve a spot in line. It also distributed 1,000 more handheld checkout devices so employees can ring up customers anywhere in the store, and it doubled the number of “drive up” spots, to 8,000 nationwide, where customers can get free, contactless curbside pickup.
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Meijer is adding more pickup time slots and by mid-December plans to install eight hand sanitizer stations near high-traffic areas at every store. It also plans to extend the time frame of promotions so people don’t all come at once.
Most grocers, including Jewel-Osco, Aldi, Mariano’s and Fresh Thyme, say they plan to manage the holiday crowds using the same safety measures they have implemented over the course of the pandemic.
At Mariano’s that includes mandating mask-wearing by both employees and customers, regular announcements reminding shoppers about social distancing and floor markers to help them stay 6 feet apart. There is also free pickup, plastic barriers at cash registers, enhanced cleaning protocols, cart wiping stations and a continued kibosh on samples.
Jeremy Randle sanitizes shopping carts at Pete's Fresh Market in Chicago on Nov. 13, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
“We’re making sure we are continuing to do everything correctly,” said Amanda Puck, spokeswoman for Mariano’s.
Mariano’s has a system for monitoring store capacity based on transactions to ensure it abides by the 50% limit, she said.
Some grocers have reinstated buying limits on certain products. Mariano’s, for example, has limits on some cleaning and paper products.
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But experts don’t expect the kind of shortages that plagued stores in the spring. Retailers stocked up early to ensure shoppers don’t find empty shelves, though they may not always find their favorite brands, said Johnathan Foster, who leads supply chain logistics at Proxima, a procurement organization headquartered in Chicago and London.
“I think we’re better prepared than we ever have been because of the early lessons, the painful lessons that we experienced,” Foster said.
Lai said she expects to see some lines at grocery stores leading up to the holiday, but doesn’t think they will be as long as they were in spring because people have changed how they shop.
Shoppers have spread out when they go to the store, with weekdays now more popular than weekends, she said. People have also become more savvy about delivery and pickup options so they’re not going into stores as much.
“Curbside delivery at Target grew over 700% throughout the pandemic,” Lai said. “We see customers really embracing those services and retailers are adapting to meet those needs.”
Grocery stores generally are not considered as risky as other gathering places for COVID-19 contagion. Over the 30 days that ended Nov. 13, grocery stores were listed as the potential exposure location in 699 confirmed or probable cases reported in Illinois, or 3.1% of the total tracked, according to data from the state’s Department of Public Health.
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Schools, meanwhile, were implicated in 2,930 cases, or 13%, and restaurants and bars another 9%.
Victoria Camacho shops for her Instacart customers at Pete's Fresh Market in Chicago on Nov. 13, 2020. Camacho said she started working as a grocery shopper since her school was canceled in the beginning of the pandemic. "I have a lot of customers who are elderly who are not able to go out," Camacho said. "I can do those things for them." (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
But the exposure risk at grocery stores may be twice as high in lower-income communities than wealthier areas, according to a study published in the journal Nature. Grocery stores visited by people from lower-income areas had 59% more hourly visitors per square foot, with people staying in those stores 17% longer on average, creating greater potential for spread, the study found. It was based on a model created by researchers at Northwestern and Stanford universities that predicted virus transmission rates based on people’s movements during the first three months of the pandemic.
Smaller stores, where many people in low-income areas do their food shopping, may be part of the issue.
Dr. Linda Forst, a professor in environmental and occupational health sciences at University of Illinois at Chicago, said the large grocery chains have imposed the right safety measures, but convenience stores and other small shops may not be as conscientious or well equipped to do so.
Stores of all kinds would benefit from returning to strict capacity quotas, keeping stores open longer to spread out shopping times, or having more checkout lanes open so people don’t hover for long, Forst said.
The risk of contracting the virus by just passing someone in a grocery aisle is very low, Forst said, but she advises against strangers standing next to each other chatting about the cereal options for five minutes. What matters is the dose of airborne particles you breathe in, she said.
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“I don’t think the customers are at gigantic risk at grocery stores if they follow the rules,” she said. “But the employees that are standing there all day, stocking shelves and customers are hanging over them, I do worry about them.”
The United Food and Commercial Workers union recently said that among its grocery members nationwide, at least 108 have died from COVID-19 and more than 16,300 have been infected or exposed to the virus.
Local 881 of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents more than 34,000 grocery store, drugstore and food production workers in Illinois and northwest Indiana, said 500 of its members have tested positive, and it is concerned about the current safety measures at grocery stores.
Aristotle Herrera stocks the shelves at Pete's Fresh Market in Chicago on Nov. 13, 2020. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Store management has not adequately enforced mask mandates so as not to confront customers, leaving workers exposed, said Steve Powell, president of Local 881. The union wants to see a comprehensive plan for how companies will address a surge in customers during the holidays.
Powell also is calling on employers to give workers hazard pay, calling the temporary “hero pay” many companies offered during the first few months of the pandemic a “publicity stunt” that was cut off far too soon.
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Some retailers are still paying front line workers extra.
Target is spending $70 million to award a $200 bonus to more than 350,000 hourly employees this month, its fourth round of bonuses, totaling $1 billion, since March.
Trader Joe’s still offers an extra $2 per hour “thank you” wage, which “will remain in place until we are no longer considered an essential business,” said Kenya Friend-Daniel, public relations director.


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--Chinatown developer who wore wire on Ald. Daniel Solis pleads guilty to fraud charge

According to the charges , Wong promised to sell units at steep discounts if money was paid up front without @ @ @ @ @ be completed .
He did so without the consent of the bank , and used @ @ @ @ @ funds to pay personal loans and other costs instead of depositing it into an escrow @ @ @ @ @ to the charges .

A Chinatown developer who wore a wire on former Ald. Daniel Solis and helped the FBI break open a sweeping political corruption probe pleaded guilty Friday to wire fraud related to a South Side condominium project.
See Y. Wong was charged in a seven-page criminal information in March for allegedly lying to banks and buyers involved with his Canal Crossing building, records show.
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He pleaded guilty Friday during a hearing held via video conference before U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle. Before the details of the plea were discussed, the judge asked Wong if he felt well and had eaten any breakfast.
“I just had a cup of coffee,” Wong said. When the judge later asked him what his plea was, Wong replied, “Guilty, your honor.”
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See Y. Wong, owner of Wabash Development Group, whose projects included the 60-unit Canal Crossing in Chinatown. (Warren Skalski / For the Chicago Tribune)
Preliminary sentencing guidelines called for up to about 5 years in prison. Under the terms of Wong’s plea agreement, though, prosecutors intend to ask for a sentence of only 2 years behind bars if he continues to cooperate.
The 20-page plea agreement does not specifically mention the Solis probe, but calls on Wong to provide “complete and truthful” information in any investigation and testify if necessary.
Wong agreed to have his sentencing delayed until his cooperation is complete. Norgle set a status hearing in the case for Feb. 5.
Wong began cooperating with the FBI in May 2014 after he was caught up in the fraud scheme and agreed to secretly record Solis in hopes of receiving a reduced sentence once he was charged, according to a federal search warrant affidavit unsealed in 2019.
While Wong was not named in the affidavit, sources with knowledge of the probe confirmed his identity to the Tribune.
Wong’s cooperation helped lead Solis in turn to wear a wire for the FBI for two years, recording numerous conversations with then-powerful Ald. Edward Burke, the Tribune has previously reported. Burke has since been charged in a sweeping corruption indictment alleging he tried to shake down business owners seeking help at City Hall.
The search warrant affidavit, which was filed in 2016, revealed that Wong also secretly recorded a meeting in August 2014 with Solis, House Speaker Michael Madigan and representatives of a Chinatown hotel project at Madigan’s law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner, which specializes in real estate tax appeals.
“Well, our interest would be that we represent buildings like that on the real estate taxes ... and we do quite a few hotels,” the affidavit quoted Madigan as saying. “And, uh, we have a little different approach to representation on hotels than the other law firms that do the work.”
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Madigan said he was interested in representing the businessman in other projects as well.
“We’re not interested in a quick killing here,” Madigan allegedly said. “We’re interested in a long-term relationship.”
Madigan has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged.
The charges against Wong revolve around a $13.7 million loan that Wong’s company, Emerald Homes LLC, took out in 2007 — at the cusp of recession that would rock Chicago’s real estate market — to fund construction of the 60-unit Canal Crossing condo building on South Canal Street.
According to the charges, Wong promised to sell units at steep discounts if money was paid up front without waiting for a building to be completed. He did so without the consent of the bank, and used some of the buyers' funds to pay personal loans and other costs instead of depositing it into an escrow account as required, according to the charges.
When the lender, Cathay Bank, found out about the discounted sale prices, it invoked liens held on the properties to force the new homeowners to pay the remainder of the purchase price before they could close on the property, according to the document.
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In all, the scheme cost Los Angeles-based Cathay Bank about $1.7 million and buyers a total of about $1 million, the charges alleged.
The 120-page affidavit filed in the Solis investigation, meanwhile, revealed the FBI spent more than two years secretly listening in on thousands of phone calls as the alderman solicited everything from campaign donations to erectile dysfunction medication and sexual services at a massage parlor.
Solis abruptly retired from the City Council in January 2019 before the document became public.
Earlier this year, attorneys for Burke revealed in a court filing that Solis had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office, meaning he may never face criminal prosecution.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--Officials want you to stay home for the holidays. Still traveling? Here’s what to expect.

Trains are running at 50 % capacity to ensure each passenger can sit next to an empty seat , a @ @ @ @ @ into next year , spokesman Marc Magliari said .
Many routes also have less frequent @ @ @ @ @ about 75 % because of the health crisis , most daily long-distance trains are operating @ @ @ @ @ .

A TSA agent works behind a splatter guard at the security check area inside Terminal 3 at O'Hare International Airport on Nov. 12, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
As COVID-19 cases rise and state and local officials urge residents to stay home as much as possible, fewer people are expected to board planes, trains and buses ahead of Thanksgiving.
AAA forecasts that 2.48 million people in Illinois, and 50.6 million nationally, are expected to travel for the holiday, with most people driving. The number of travelers could fall further as consumers monitor rising case numbers, new travel restrictions and guidance from health officials, AAA said.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked residents to avoid nonessential travel and cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans, and suburban Cook County followed up with a similar advisory Friday. Gov. J.B. Pritzker advised those choosing to travel to self-quarantine for two weeks before gathering.
Still, the desire to celebrate with family — even with a smaller group, or without a lengthy feast — could convince some who have been avoiding travel to make the trip.
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If you’re considering travel, here’s what to expect.
Planes
U.S. airline passenger numbers are down 65% compared with last year and planes are flying 54% full during the past week, according to the trade group Airlines for America.
That doesn’t mean you’ll be surrounded by empty seats. Among major U.S. carriers, only Delta Air Lines has committed to keeping middle seats open through Jan. 6. Southwest Airlines is blocking middle seats through the end of November.
United, Delta and American waived change fees to give travelers flexibility through the end of the year, and permanently eliminated the change fees for domestic tickets, except in basic economy.
A TSA agent works behind a splatter guard at the security check area in Terminal 3 at O'Hare International Airport on Nov. 12, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
All airlines require passengers to wear masks and say they are cleaning aircraft and areas like ticket counters and gates more frequently, using tools like electrostatic sprayers that spray a mist of disinfectant in hard-to-reach spots. Several airlines let travelers who have checked in online or downloaded the airline’s app to drop off checked bags touch-free.
When boarding, airlines call up passengers in smaller groups to limit lines. Southwest, which doesn’t let passengers pick seats in advance, said families are generally able to find seats together, but if not, flight attendants will work to keep them together.
Food and beverage offerings are limited, and many airlines are sticking to packaged snacks and drinks, though some have started to introduce more options.
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Dr. Emily Landon, head of infection prevention and control at the University of Chicago Medicine, recommends against eating or drinking while on board to avoid removing a mask while near others, and to consider wearing a face shield in addition to a mask.
A worker sanitizes a baggage check kiosk at United Airlines in Terminal 1 at O'Hare International Airport on Nov. 12, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
A recent study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found the combination of precautions on planes, including air circulation and filtering systems and mask wearing, resulted in a low risk of the coronavirus spreading during flight. Most reports of in-flight transmission came before airlines implemented strict mask requirements, the study said.
A separate Defense Department study using a mannequin that released particles found the way air circulates and is filtered on planes limits the the risk of exposure to the virus. The study assumed passengers wore masks throughout the flight, didn’t move around the cabin and that there was one infected person on board.
Because passengers may not wear masks properly, or may lower masks to eat and drink, extra space, like an empty middle seat, can still matter, said Mercedes Carnethon, vice chair of the department of preventive medicine and a professor of epidemiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
Travelers also need to think about the rest of their trip, like the journey to, and through, the airport, experts said.
Trains
Amtrak is encouraging people not to wait until the last minute to book trips on the busiest holiday travel days because there will be fewer seats available.
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Trains are running at 50% capacity to ensure each passenger can sit next to an empty seat, a policy Amtrak plans to keep into next year, spokesman Marc Magliari said. Many routes also have less frequent service. With business down about 75% because of the health crisis, most daily long-distance trains are operating about three times a week.
Travelers can see how full a train is before booking a ticket, and change fees have been waived through the end of the year.
Masks are required, except when a passenger is eating or drinking or in a private room with the door closed. People who refuse to comply after multiple warnings will be required to get off at the next stop, Magliari said.
Michigan travelers board the Wolverine Amtrak train minutes before leaving Union Station on Nov. 13, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Train windows don’t open, but the trains have filtration systems that circulate fresh air every four or five minutes, Magliari said.
Cafe cars temporarily are offering only carryout service, and traditional dining car service has been suspended on all routes except the Auto Train through Dec. 15, according to Amtrak’s website. Sleeping car customers can order room service.
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Buses
Most Megabus riders book tickets within a week of travel, so it’s hard to predict how full buses will be, spokesman Sean Hughes said. Megabus guarantees every passenger will have an empty seat next to them through Jan. 6.
Greyhound has not set a capacity limit or guaranteed everyone will sit next to an empty seat, but will add buses to the schedule to help customers spread out if certain buses start to fill, spokeswoman Crystal Booker said.
Both companies say they require passengers wear masks while riding, and Megabus says passengers who don’t comply can be barred from future travel. Drivers must wear masks when interacting with passengers, but not while driving and separated from passengers.
Greyhound said air on buses is replaced with fresh outside air every five minutes. Megabus said it replaces air with fresh outside air every 10 minutes, filters air every two minutes, and is in the process of upgrading its filters.
Before you travel
Keri Althoff, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, recommended researching the precautions airline, train and bus companies are taking and look for reviews from recent customers before booking.
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“It will help you know what to expect and come prepared, or make a different decision,” she said.
If people choose to travel, Landon, the University of Chicago Medicine physician, recommends ensuring everyone limits contact with people outside their household for at least a week before meeting. Getting tested and taking all the right precautions during travel won’t help if someone picked up the virus between the test and their departure.
“What you’re bringing to the table on Thanksgiving is more than just wine or mashed potatoes, you’re bringing all the risk you’ve accumulated during the seven to 14 days before you showed up there,” she said.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--Two dead, three injured in steam pipe blast at West Haven VA hospital

In talking about a steam pipe explosion at the VA Medical Center that killed two , including a Navy veteran @ @ @ @ @ VA Director Al Montoya ( left ) said , `` Today , as I sat @ @ @ @ @ the hardest moments of my VA career , and told his loved one that he @ @ @ @ @ so difficult .
But I will tell you what she said back to me , @ @ @ @ @ reason he came in .
As a veteran , he wanted to take care of @ @ @ @ @ to give back to those men and women who fought so hard .
It 's @ @ @ @ @ tear at your heart and tear at your soul . ''

An employee and a contractor died and three were injured in an explosion Friday morning at the West Haven VA Medical Center. (Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant)
WEST HAVEN — A Department of Veterans Affairs employee and a contractor died Friday morning at the West Haven VA Medical Center when a steam pipe they were repairing exploded.
Three others were treated on the campus for non-life-threatening injuries, Alfred Montoya Jr., director of the center, said at an afternoon news conference.
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Neither of the men killed was identified Friday afternoon, but officials revealed one was a U.S. Navy veteran, and Montoya shared a small part of what his widow said after learning of his death.
“I’ll tell you what she said to me,” Montoya said. “'This is the reason he came in. As a veteran, he wanted to take care of fellow veterans. He wanted to give back to those men and women who fought so hard. It’s moments like that that really tear at your heart and tear at your soul.”
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In talking about a steam pipe explosion at the VA Medical Center that killed two, including a Navy veteran, and injured three, VA Director Al Montoya (left) said, "Today, as I sat there on probably one of the hardest moments of my VA career, and told his loved one that he was deceased, it was so difficult. But I will tell you what she said back to me, is that this is the reason he came in. As a veteran, he wanted to take care of fellow veterans. He wanted to give back to those men and women who fought so hard. It's moments like that that really tear at your heart and tear at your soul." (Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant)
Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy joined Montoya and other public officials at the afternoon news conference to discuss the incident and the start of an investigation into what caused the explosion.
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy, and I have instructed our state agencies to provide full resources as the response and investigation continues,” Lamont said.
The explosion rocked a building on the western edge of the sprawling campus near I-95, disrupting service to several nearby buildings but not the main medical facilities, which continued to treat patients and remained open for surgeries and other inpatient procedures, officials said.
This is the scene late Friday morning outside the West Haven VA Medical Center, where two people died and three were injured in a steam pipe explosion. (Photo by Mark Mirko, Hartford Courant)
The two-person team began “regularly scheduled replacement of a leaky steam pipe” at about 7:30 a.m. They finished their work a little after 8 a.m., but when they refilled the steam pipe, it exploded, killing them, Montoya said.
VA officials and emergency personnel swarmed the area and West Haven police quickly located the two victims and swept the building for any other people but found none in the immediate vicinity, West Haven Police Chief James O’Brien said Friday afternoon. Three other individuals, who are VA employees, suffered minor injuries when they tried to enter the area after the explosion occurred, O’Brien said.
Vice President Charles Brough of Mulvaney Mechanical in Danbury confirmed Friday morning that one of the company’s team members, whom he did not name, died in the explosion. He added that the company was cooperating with the investigation.
Two died and three were injured when a steam pipe exploded at the West Haven VA Medical Center on Friday. (Photo by Mark Mirko, Hartford Courant)
Connecticut State Police and the FBI have begun an investigation into the cause of the explosion, but officials emphasized that the facility’s aging infrastructure likely played a role. The campus originally was built in the 1940s and 1950s, and although its exterior appears newer, it is literally an outer shell over the original bricks from decades ago, Montoya said.
Blumenthal called for a “full, complete, aggressive” investigation into the cause of the explosion and indicated the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which has oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs and of which he is a member, may also look into the matter. He called on Congress to fully fund the modernization and rebuilding of VA facilities across the country.
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“Our hearts go out to the families of the two men who perished today in repairing a system that, unfortunately, probably should have been replaced long ago, but it’s a clear alarm bell, a wake-up call, that we need to do better for our veterans facilities across the country,” Blumenthal said. “It’s on Congress to perform that mission.”
The West Haven campus is on a list of facilities to be upgraded but has not yet had its turn, Murphy said. He said he will work as a member of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee to ensure VA facilities are prioritized for such funding going forward.
Specially trained troopers from the state police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit headed to the hospital at 950 Campbell Ave. mid-morning to help the local fire marshal at the scene, according to the state police Media Relations Unit.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also is looking into what happened, spokesperson Jim Lally said.
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Tributes to the two killed poured in from local and federal officials throughout Friday, many noting how closely the tragedy occurred to Veterans Day.
West Haven Mayor Nancy R. Rossi said, “My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the two individuals who lost their lives at the VA. I want to thank our many first responders for assisting the hospital in this tragic incident.”
State Sen. James Maroney, a Milford Democrat whose district includes West Haven, also offered his condolences to the families of the victims, adding that he had “nothing but gratitude and appreciation for the first responders who are on hand dealing with the situation as we wait to find out what caused the explosion.”
West Haven Fire Department officials unload supplies while on scene at the West Haven VA Medical Center after a steam pipe explosion killed two and injured three. (Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant)
Both Murphy and Lamont underscored the importance of the dangerous work all employees at a health care system do every day, let alone the work they’ve done this year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“I just urge you to dust yourself off,” Lamont said, thanking the medical personnel present at the news conference. "We appreciate what you’re doing for the Connecticut family, especially the nurses and doctors. We’ve got a lot of work to do.
“Two guys lost their life in that steam blast, [one] a Navy veteran. They were here fighting for your lives as well. I’m proud of Connecticut. I’m proud of the VA. I’m proud of the work you guys are doing on our behalf.”
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Courant staff writers Russell Blair and Zach Murdock contributed to this report.
Eliza Fawcett can be reached at efawcett@courant.com.


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--Column: Now THAT’S a big, beautiful wall; award-winning lakefront barrier at Northwestern shows how

Column: Now THAT’S a big, beautiful wall; award-winning lakefront barrier at Northwestern shows how to upgrade infrastructure

Perkins and Will worked with SmithGroup civil engineers to give the wall ’ s lake-facing profile two curves — a @ @ @ @ @ waves and an upper one to protect from windblown spray .
The design was refined @ @ @ @ @ that used scale models and waves , according to the AIA .

A lakefront wall at Northwestern University's Ryan Fieldhouse and Walter Athletics Center has won a design award from the American Institute of Architects' Chicago chapter seen here in Evanston on Nov. 13, 2020. The wall is about 400 feet long and made of precast concrete. It follows a curving path and also curves in profile in order to protect the fieldhouse and athletics center from lake waves. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The subject of today’s column: a big, beautiful wall.
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Not that wall, the one President Donald Trump claimed we needed along the Mexican border.
We’re talking about a 400-foot-long wall that protects a Northwestern University field house and athletics center from the pounding of Lake Michigan.
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This wall could have been a monstrosity — an ugly, straight-lined barrier of steel or concrete.
Instead, it’s a curving piece of sculpture — and a timely reminder, with President-elect Joe Biden seeking to rebuild the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, that utilitarian projects can be attuned to human experience as well as environmentally responsive.
Easily overlooked, the wall got a star turn Friday at the annual awards program of the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Its designers, Chicago architects Perkins and Will, were recognized in the “divine detail” category, which singles out a well-handled aspect of a larger project.
In the wall’s case, that project happens to be the domed, glass-sheathed Ryan Fieldhouse and Walter Athletics Center, a spare-no-expense facility dubbed the “Fitz Mahal,” a reference to Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald. The football team practices there, as do other teams.
The building sits along the lake and an Evanston public beach, a location that gives athletes running through their workouts great views, but also challenged the project’s architects to safeguard the building, its foundations and an adjoining pedestrian and bike path from powerful, potentially destructive lake waves.
Now two years old, the building was completed before rising lake levels shrank beaches, eroded bluffs and submerged trails in Chicago and its suburbs, but the wall nonetheless anticipated those problems.
Perkins and Will worked with SmithGroup civil engineers to give the wall’s lake-facing profile two curves — a lower one to protect against waves and an upper one to protect from windblown spray. The design was refined at a Texas testing facility that used scale models and waves, according to the AIA.
“The curves aren’t just arbitrary curves. They’re based on reduction of water pressure,” said Perkins and Will’s chief designer Ralph Johnson, who worked on the project with Bryan Schabel, a principal at the firm.
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The design would have cost less if the walls were straight, Johnson added, but the wall “wouldn’t do the job it’s supposed to do.”
Made of precast concrete segments, the wall takes a sinuous route along the shoreline, meaning it curves in both its path and its profile.
The result is anything but an eyesore.
Along its land-facing side, the wall’s softly curving profile recalls a tall sand dune or the back side of a wave. The sweeping concave curves of the lake-facing side echo the shoreline’s arc.
An earth-toned tint in the concrete mix adds visual warmth, an upgrade from the concrete’s usual cool gray. The concrete itself, shaped by steel formwork, is smooth to the touch. At its ends, the wall gracefully tapers downward instead of slamming to an awkward stop.
“What could have been a terrible sea wall becomes a sculpture,” one of the jurors for the divine detail award commented.
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In another good stroke, the architects interrupted the wall to maintain access to the neighboring public beach.
The wall restarts to the west, but as a low retaining wall, not a wave-blocking line of defense. A long bench is built into the land-facing side of this section of the wall, furthering the project’s contribution to the public realm.
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When I visited Thursday, I noticed that graffiti artists have tagged parts of its lake-facing side with a variety of messages, including “BLM" (for “Black Lives Matter”) and “Don’t Panic.” This continues a long-standing campus tradition of painting sea-wall rocks along its lakefront. The rocks extend to the wall’s eastern end.
While the campus allows the rock painting, “our intention is to keep the sea wall near Ryan Fiedhouse clean,” Northwestern spokesman Jon Yates wrote in an email. “We are looking at various ways to achieve this but have not yet finalized a long-term solution.”
What is clear at this stage is that wall represents a perfect example of how Biden should make good on his campaign slogan to “Build Back Better" — through a combination of art and science, use and beauty.
This wall truly is big and beautiful.
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Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-11-13--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives COVID-19 update

Illinois Gov .
J.B. Pritzker will give an update on the state ’ s response to the coronavirus in a @ @ @ @ @ CST .
Get the latest updates on COVID-19 here .

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