chicagotribune--2020-06-30--What happens when a restaurant worker gets COVID-19? With dining-in open across Chicago, restaurants

What happens when a restaurant worker gets COVID-19? With dining-in open across Chicago, restaurants grapple with infection risks

The owner of another restaurant that had an employee with COVID-19 said the store has received no guidance from the @ @ @ @ @ by the Center for Disease Control in addition to the ones by local government .
@ @ @ @ @ name and his restaurant ’ s name anonymous out of fear for his business , @ @ @ @ @ want to add to the anxiety that customers or his employees may feel about the @ @ @ @ @ most stringent health and safety protocols can only do so much , he said .

Alinea restaurant manager Rizqi Soeharsono checks on carryout customers who are waiting outside of the restaurant for their food orders in Chicago on June 20, 2020. Due to the coronavirus, Alinea shifted to carryout on March 17. Since then, it has served 82,000 meals, said Nick Kokonas, the restaurant's co-owner. (Nam Y. Huh / AP)
On June 1, The Alinea Group announced on Twitter that an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Even though that employee had not worked in eight days, every other person who worked the same day was tested, and the restaurant closed for cleaning. A few weeks later, another employee tested positive, and the restaurant repeated the same steps.
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Early last week, Longman & Eagle, a take on a traditional drinking inn in Logan Square, announced on Instagram that it would be closing because it also had an employee who tested positive for COVID-19. Its entire staff is quarantining and being tested, and the space is being cleaned, the post said.
Although the city gave restaurants the green light to open indoor dining up to 25% capacity as part of phase four of the pandemic plan, which started last Friday, some restaurant operators are wondering if it’s worth it to do so with COVID-19 infection risks still present.
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“If every time someone tests positive the restaurant must do a fire drill of testing, shut down, deep clean, re-open, then that becomes very troubling and planning is uncertain,” said Nick Kokonas, co-owner of The Alinea Group, in an email. “Just not very sustainable long-term. If there were daily, fast testing at $2 per test with instant results, we’d simply test everyone every day. Easy.”
But such a test doesn’t exist. The restaurant group, which includes Next, Aviary, Roister and Alinea, spent about $8,000 on reimbursing affected employees for getting tested, and despite the good news of all negative results, the cost of testing all the employees exceeded the profits of being open.
And then there’s the question of contact tracing. Some affected restaurants, like Longman & Eagle, have relied on social media to alert guests that an employee was affected. Kokonas said he was not assigned a contact tracer from the city or state, but no guests would have been affected because the restaurant group was not open for dining in at the time.
Other restaurants are taking contact tracing into their own hands. Sun Wah BBQ, the North Side Hong Kong restaurant famous for its Peking duck, is requiring all guests to sign a health declaration that provides the restaurant with personal information so owners can contact trace if needed. Tweet, the popular Uptown brunch spot, is figuring out a plan to have at least one person from each party provide a phone number.
Restaurants say they remain frustrated, confused and isolated, especially when it comes to contact tracing. But the city points to the guidelines that it has shared with all business owners, including restaurants.
According to the Chicago Department of Public Health, when a positive COVID-19 case that is found in a business is reported to CDPH, a case investigator calls the patient to discuss the illness and identify close contacts. Then, a contact tracing team calls the identified contacts to talk about exposure and make referrals.
If there are two or more cases at a business within 14 days, then the employer is required to report it to CDPH, which will work with the business to assess risk and make additional recommendations. CDPH issued a document June 16 with guidelines for businesses should they have someone test positive.
More than 200 people from CDPH and partnering organizations are working on contact tracing, including more than 150 CDPH and city employees. More than 90% of case investigations are initiated within 25 hours of assignment, according to a statement from CDPH. The department hopes to have about 800 contact tracers by mid-September by connecting with community-based organizations and health care partners.
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To mitigate risk, many restaurants are sticking to takeout and delivery for now. Luella’s Southern Kitchen in Lincoln Square said in an Instagram post that it cannot provide the safest environment for its team and guests without data.
“We are preparing to reopen and working on the logistics of doing so but want to be encouraged that the reopening is safe and the businesses that have decided to reopen haven’t gotten any new cases or at least the amount that unfortunately do are low,” the post says.
Kokonas said he had mixed feelings about the city moving into phase four, and that success would be dependent on the public’s willingness to take precautions and other businesses’ ability to adhere to strict guidelines. At The Alinea Group, the city, state and federal guidelines are considered a baseline to add onto, not the ideal goal.
The owner of another restaurant that had an employee with COVID-19 said the store has received no guidance from the city but follows protocols recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in addition to the ones by local government. He wished to keep his name and his restaurant’s name anonymous out of fear for his business, saying that he did not want to add to the anxiety that customers or his employees may feel about the situation. Even following the most stringent health and safety protocols can only do so much, he said.
“It’s worthless if someone, employee or customer, comes in the store with covid and no symptoms, that’s the big unknown danger,” he wrote in a Facebook message. He also said he did not receive any calls from the city, nor was he assigned a contact tracer or given information on how to contact trace himself.
Won Kim, owner of Bridgeport’s Korean-Polish restaurant Kimski, isn’t opening for on-premise dining for now. His decision is based on his own experience: In April, he tested positive for COVID-19, thus beginning a harrowing eight weeks of high fevers and pneumonia that left him unable to stand. He has since recovered, but said he wishes the experience on no one.
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Most of his duties fell to his sous chef during that time, but he said there are just some responsibilities, like creating recipes and ensuring quality, that still fall on his shoulders, on top of working with, reassuring and monitoring the comfort of a staff already anxious about their survival during a pandemic.
Although the restaurant’s parking lot is being converted to a patio, Kim said he’s laying low for now and in no rush to open for dining in, either outdoors or indoors.
“I just want to be extra, extra safe,” Kim said. “It’s the only fair thing to do for your co-workers.”
Restaurants are held to extremely rigorous health codes, so if an employee were to get sick, Kim believes it would be because a guest was not exercising the same level of caution. He believes that the city went to phase four too quickly.
“It’s scary and it’s terrifying, and we don’t want to get anyone sick and we have to look out for our employees, that’s really important to us,” Kim said. “We want to make people comfortable and a little more safe, we just don’t know how that looks like or what that is. We’ve done everything on our own.”
gwong@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Illinois coronavirus graphs: 6,923 deaths, 143,185 confirmed cases, 1.6 million tests, 4.42% positiv

Illinois coronavirus graphs: 6,923 deaths, 143,185 confirmed cases, 1.6 million tests, 4.42% positivity rate for northeast region

The positivity rate for Chicago and the suburbs continues to decline according to state data , from 4.77 % a @ @ @ @ @ Tuesday .
The southern region continued to increase , climbing from 2.89 % a week @ @ @ @ @ .
All of the state ’ s four regions are far below the 20 % @ @ @ @ @ J.B. Pritzker to trigger moving a region back a phase .
The state ’ s @ @ @ @ @ .

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


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

Search below by street address , ZIP code or city , then click on the map to see the number @ @ @ @ @ state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer .

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
Illinois releases the number of positive COVID-19 cases by ZIP code daily. The map below shows the cumulative cases for each area as well as other analysis of the data.
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Tracking daily Illinois coronavirus deaths, cases and tests.
Search below by street address, ZIP code or city, then click on the map to see the number of confirmed and probable cases. The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer.
Data as of June 10.
The map search tool above works best in Chrome or Firefox and may not perform consistently in Internet Explorer.
Note: Because of a coding error this map was displaying the incorrect rates for new cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people — the issue should now be resolved.. The Tribune adjusted the data shown on the map below to focus on new cases, those the state tracked in the last 7 seven days. The totals for the entire pandemic are still available, but in the pop-up after tapping or clicking on a ZIP.


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Man sentenced to life in prison for 2017 murder of Hinsdale mother in her home

In announcing Sanders ’ sentence , DuPage County State ’ s Attorney Robert Berlin said , “ On May 4 @ @ @ @ @ brutally and mercilessly took Andrea Urban ’ s life .
The pain and suffering he @ @ @ @ @ entire Hinsdale community that day will never go away .
The physical pain Andrea endured @ @ @ @ @ Sanders has now transformed into emotional and psychological pain thrust upon the shoulders of those @ @ @ @ @ pain they must now bear with no end in sight .
”

Dominic Sanders, of University Park, was sentenced June 30 to life in prison for the murder of Hinsdale mother Andrea Urban. (DuPage County sheriff's office)
The 33-year-old man convicted of murdering Hinsdale mother Andrea Urban in 2017 was sentenced Tuesday to natural life in prison without the possibility of parole.
DuPage County Judge Brian Telander also sentenced Dominic J. Sanders, formerly of University Park, to 30 years for home invasion and 15 years for residential burglary.
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In January, a jury convicted Sanders of all three charges after a nine-day trial. All three sentences will be served consecutively, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office reported.
At about 3:30 p.m. May 4, 2017, Hinsdale police received a 911 call about an unconscious woman found by her son in her home on the 700 block of Town Place. Officers found Urban, 51, lying deceased on the kitchen floor with knife injuries to her head and neck.
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On May 27, 2017, Hinsdale police charged Sanders with Urban’s murder. He has been held in jail without bond since then.
In announcing Sanders’ sentence, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said, “On May 4, 2017, Dominic Sanders brutally and mercilessly took Andrea Urban’s life. The pain and suffering he inflicted upon Andrea and the entire Hinsdale community that day will never go away. The physical pain Andrea endured at the hands of Dominic Sanders has now transformed into emotional and psychological pain thrust upon the shoulders of those who loved her. A pain they must now bear with no end in sight.”
Urban’s daughter was a fifth-grader at Hinsdale Middle School and her son was a senior at Hinsdale Central High School when she was killed.
Andrea Urban of Hinsdale was killed in her house May 4, 2017. (Babes 'n Beaus)
Investigators from the Hinsdale Police Department and the Felony Investigative Assistance Team determined Sanders entered Urban’s house, while she was home alone having returned from the La Grange Farmers Market that morning.
An altercation ensued, during which Sanders repeatedly struck Urban in the head and slashed her throat, prosecutors said. After the murder, Sanders stole family heirloom jewelry and wedding rings from the house and fled, the state’s attorney’s office reported. Later, Sanders pawned the jewelry at a Melrose Park pawn shop, which linked him to the crime.
Sanders admitted to police he stole the rings, but denied he had attacked Urban.
On May 25, 2017, Sanders was taken into custody and arrested on an unrelated Will County traffic violation.


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Suspension recommended for CPD sergeant who ordered arrest of CTA supervisor after she complained ab

Suspension recommended for CPD sergeant who ordered arrest of CTA supervisor after she complained about cop

Spyker then called Haran over and after a brief discussion ordered him to arrest Lee , an eight-year CTA employee @ @ @ @ @ disciplinary record with the transit agency .
She stood handcuffed on the platform for the @ @ @ @ @ tears running down her face as she wondered if her decision to speak out had @ @ @ @ @

Sgt, William Spyker, right, speaks with CTA Supervisor Martesa Lee, left, and her supervisor after Lee was arrested for walking into a crime scene. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
A civilian oversight agency wants a Chicago sergeant stripped of his police powers while it investigates an allegation he ordered the arrest of a CTA supervisor in retaliation for her complaint against one of his officers, the Tribune has learned.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability made the recommendation to the Chicago Police Department on June 16, but Superintendent David Brown has not yet responded to the notification. The sergeant continues to serve in his regular capacity on the street.
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“We are aware of COPA’s recommendation and have taken this under review,” department spokesman Luis Agostini said.
The recommendation shortly after the Tribune published on its website body-camera recordings showing Sgt. William Spyker giving CTA supervisor Martesa Lee the option of dropping a complaint against a police officer or face arrest. When she refused to rescind her complaint, Spyker ordered her arrest in front of her co-workers and a platform of riders.
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“Is it worth it to you?” the sergeant asks shortly before Lee was placed in handcuffs.
Spyker has denied any wrongdoing in court records related to a civil rights lawsuit filed by Lee earlier this year.
COPA investigators, however, found the exchange problematic enough to take the nonobligatory step of requesting the sergeant turn in his gun and be barred from making arrests until the investigation concludes. The agency typically reserves such recommendations for officer-involved shootings and situations in which the preliminary evidence suggests egregious behavior.
“We are looking into this allegation and have recommended the sergeant be stripped of his police powers pending the outcome of the investigation,” COPA spokesman Ephraim Eddy said.
Amid high-profile deaths at the hands of police officers around the country, the incident exemplifies the kind of small, typically undocumented interactions that can corrode a community’s trust in the Chicago Police Department. Critics also contend it highlights, yet again, a decades-old “code of silence” — an unwritten understanding that officers protect one another at all cost — that has led to federal oversight of the department in recent years.
In this case, not only did the sergeant immediately dismiss Lee, he had the officer who was the subject of her complaint cuff her.
“A civilian’s ability to lodge a complaint of police misconduct is of paramount importance in the department’s efforts to rebuild trust with the community and should never be ignored or prohibited,” COPA Chief Administrator Sydney Roberts said. “Citizens should have unfettered access to file a complaint against law enforcement and attempts to do so should not be met with threats of arrest in a seemingly punitive and retaliatory manner.”
Lee, 35, was about to start the second half of her swing shift Feb. 4, when a call came over her CTA radio for a supervisor needed immediately at the Red Line’s Jackson stop. Though her shift wouldn’t start for another 15 minutes, Lee responded she was close and could handle it.
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Martesa Lee, a Chicago Transit Authority supervisor, was arrested after complaining to a Chicago police sergeant about an interaction she had with an officer at a crime scene at the Jackson Red Line station on Feb. 4, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The public transit agency appointed her as its incident commander at the scene.
When Lee arrived at the stop, she saw musician Michael Malinowski, a street performer best known as “Machete Mike” for the way he shreds on his electric guitar, standing shirtless and bleeding on the track. She sought help for him, then began assessing the situation to determine whether the trains should bypass the station or continue normal operations.
Authorities later charged a 38-year-old woman with a long criminal history and a possible mental illness in connection with Malinowski’s stabbing. According to police, the woman told Malinowski she wasn’t in the mood for his music before slashing his arm, damaging his amplifier and tossing his guitar on the tracks.
As Lee was making the determination on whether the Red Line trains could stop at Jackson, Chicago police determined the platform was a crime scene. But they did not cordon the area off because they didn’t have enough of their standard yellow tape to do so, according to the body camera recordings.
As the waited for the tape, Lee and more than a dozen other people walked through the unmarked crime scene. Officer Raymond Haran made physical contact with Lee after telling her several times to get out of the crime scene.
The two got into a brief, but heated, argument, with Lee accusing Haran of pushing her and Haran blaming Lee for not listening to his orders.
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The interaction lasted just 31 seconds and ended with both going back to work, according to a body camera recording. Haran made no mention of arresting Lee and later said on video that, from his perspective, the incident was “over” at that point.
Seven minutes later, Lee approached Spyker, 22-year CPD veteran, and told him that one of his officers had “grabbed and pushed” her while she was doing her job. The situation quickly escalated as Spyker warned Lee that her complaint could prove problematic for her.
“If he tells me that you were obstructing the crime scene, we’re going to arrest you,” Spyker said.
“You aren’t going to arrest me for doing my job,” Lee told him.
“Yes, we are,” the sergeant said. “That’s the way it’s gonna go if you want to complain.”
Spyker then called Haran over and after a brief discussion ordered him to arrest Lee, an eight-year CTA employee with no criminal history or disciplinary record with the transit agency. She stood handcuffed on the platform for the next eight minutes, with tears running down her face as she wondered if her decision to speak out had just cost her job.
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“Martesa did not go into this to affect anyone’s employment (when she first approached Spyker),” her attorney Jordan Marsh said. “All she wanted was someone to listen to her complaint and consider what she had to say. And the next thing she knows, she’s in handcuffs.”
After listening to pleas from Lee’s manager, police released her and did not press charges. However, her name appears in the official report from the scene, accusing her of obstruction of justice and potentially contaminating the crime scene.
“Haran escorted Offender (Lee) from the perimeter of the scene,” the report states. “Offender became irrate (sic) and was momentarily detained.”
The report does not mention Lee’s request to lodge a complaint or that she wasn’t arrested for another seven minutes after Haran removed her from the unmarked crime scene and returned to his job.
Department rules require police supervisors to “initiate a complete and comprehensive” investigation after receiving a complaint. On the video, Spyker raised the specter of arrest within 35 seconds of Lee approaching him with her concerns.
City policy also requires Spyker to report her grievance to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability within one hour of receiving it. A police spokeswoman declined to say whether Spyker forwarded the complaint to the independent agency for review.
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Lee submitted her own report to COPA, where the matter remains under investigation. She also has filed a federal lawsuit against Haran, Spyker and the city of Chicago, alleging false arrest and a violation of her First Amendment right to free speech.
COPA has not recommended any change to Haran’s status during its investigation.
Police accountability experts previously told the Tribune that it’s unlikely Haran would face discipline for removing Lee from the crime scene as he has a responsibility to protect the scene’s integrity.
sstclair@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Why does one Chicago ZIP code have more COVID-19 cases than the next? Finger-prick blood tests may h

Why does one Chicago ZIP code have more COVID-19 cases than the next? Finger-prick blood tests may help find an answer.

“ We want to know what percentage of people look like they ’ ve had exposure , that their bodies @ @ @ @ @ response to this , ” said McNally , who ’ s part of the research @ @ @ @ @ really importantly , we want to ask how these people do over the next three @ @ @ @ @ beyond .
... Do a bunch of these people actually get sick going forward in @ @ @ @ @ they stay relatively well ?
”

Thomas McDade, a biological anthropology professor at Northwestern University, holds blood samples that just arrived from research participants in a study for coronavirus antibodies at his lab in Evanston on June 30, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Northwestern University scientists will be asking Chicagoans to prick their fingers and send in a dried blood sample as part of an effort to figure out why some parts of the city are hit so much harder by COVID-19 than others nearby — research they hope could help control future disease flare-ups.
The blood tests for COVID-19 antibodies, also known as serology testing, will be conducted in five pairs of adjoining city ZIP codes initially. Each pair includes an area with much higher infection rates than its neighbor, as determined by city data from the end of April that is based on traditional coronavirus tests.
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For example, the study is comparing the 60612 ZIP code, which includes the Near West Side and had an infection rate exceeding 1,000 cases per 100,000 people, to 60622, which includes Ukrainian Village and had an infection rate below 644 per 100,000. Researchers will also collect web-based surveys of the participants and analyze other data.
“The numbers are shocking,” said Thomas McDade, the biological anthropologist leading the effort at Northwestern. “So why is that?”
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McDade was referring to the known disparities in COVID-19 infection and mortality for different groups, particularly among Black Chicagoans, who are dying of COVID-19 at higher rates than any other ethnic or racial group, and Latinos, who have the highest infection rates in the city and state.
Thomas McDade, a biological anthropology professor at Northwestern University, holds blood samples from research participants in a study for coronavirus antibodies. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
One possibility, McDade said, is there’s just more virus present in some neighborhoods. Another is that the virus is present in equal proportion but it spreads more rapidly or is more likely to be fatal because of socioeconomic differences, prevalence of preexisting conditions and lack of access to health care.
“But there’s no good way to answer that question unless you get out and do some serology and find out just how many people have been exposed, because there are so many cases that never get registered because people don’t get an actual test or are asymptomatic,” said McDade, whose team includes Northwestern doctors, a pharmacologist, a psychologist and others.
Recently, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that infection rates in the United States were 10 times higher than previously known, a conclusion based on antibody test results from across the country. The agency estimated 23 million U.S. residents have been infected.
Most antibody tests are conducted by drawing blood in a lab, but McDade and his team are turning to a method he has used for decades in anthropology. Instead of a traditional blood draw, kits will be mailed to the 3,000 or so participants that allow them to prick their finger, place a drop of blood on filter paper to dry and send in the resulting sample.
It’s the same protocol that has been used since the 1960s to test newborns for genetic diseases with a prick to the heel, and it costs only about $1 to collect each sample, McDade said. It also will allow people to conduct the tests safely in their own homes, he added.
The tests Northwestern is using are better at detecting lower levels of antibodies than most of the commercial antibody tests on the market, said Dr. Elizabeth McNally, director of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Center for Genetic Medicine. That will help detect cases where the person wasn’t severely ill or had no symptoms. The method is also “much more sensitive” than the tests used by the CDC, she added.
“We want to know what percentage of people look like they’ve had exposure, that their bodies developed some kind of immune response to this,” said McNally, who’s part of the research team. “And then really importantly, we want to ask how these people do over the next three months, six months and beyond. ... Do a bunch of these people actually get sick going forward in the future, or do they stay relatively well?”
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The 3,000 anticipated participants, who will be identified through social media and neighborhood organizations, will be asked to fill out surveys to identify potential contributing factors, such as social-distancing and mask-wearing practices, as well as whether participants used public transportation, had to leave home to work or had kids in day care. People can apply to participate online through a dedicated website.
McDade and his colleagues hope that the results of the study, which could be completed before summer’s end, will help inform public health policy in time for a potential second wave of infections in the fall.
“You just think about what we did nationally and in Illinois three months ago, it was a sledgehammer approach,” McDade said. “We shut everything down and made everyone stay home.
“And now we’re starting to open up. So what if we get a spike in infections? Do we bring out the sledgehammer again, or can we bring out a scalpel and identify the things that are most effective at mitigating the chance of transmission and just implement those.”
Secondarily, the study also will try to determine whether the dried blood samples can be used to detect “neutralizing antibodies,” which are different from the “binding antibodies” commonly now identified through COVID-19 serology tests.
Binding antibodies work by attacking a virus that has already infected someone and may diminish more quickly than neutralizing antibodies, which prevent the virus from invading the cells in the first place. McDade said the presence of neutralizing antibodies might be a better indication that someone is truly immune from the disease.
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The study is funded with a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
Here are the initial five sets of ZIP codes that will be studied, and the neighborhoods to which they roughly correspond, listed with the harder-hit ZIP codes first:
· 60645 (West Rogers Park) and 60660 (Edgewater)
· 60639 (Belmont Cragin) and 60647 (Logan Square)
· 60612 (Near West Side) and 60622 (Ukrainian Village)
· 60609 (Back of the Yards) and 60615 (Kenwood)
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· 60655 (Mt. Greenwood) and 60643 (Beverly)
hdardick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Chicago police, feds seek public’s help identifying 18 suspected arsonists during recent unrest

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives on Tuesday tweeted out a link to video footage @ @ @ @ @ of the businesses and vehicles being set ablaze between May 30 and June 3 , @ @ @ @ @ death of George Floyd in Minnesota devolved into chaos .

Chicago police and federal authorities are asking for the public’s help identifying 18 suspected arsonists responsible for setting some of the dozens of blazes across the city during the recent civil unrest.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Tuesday tweeted out a link to video footage and still images of some of the businesses and vehicles being set ablaze between May 30 and June 3, when protests over the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minnesota devolved into chaos.
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One video taken by a surveillance camera on May 30 appears to show several men ignite something inside the back of a Chicago Transit Authority van parked in the 300 block of North State Street.
Others show looters using cigarette lighters to ignite fires inside ransacked stores on the South and West sides. In one video from a looted Ulta cosmetics store at 41st Street and South Pulaski Road, a man appeared to pour nail polish remover on a counter before setting it ablaze.
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At a news conference outside the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, U.S. Attorney John Lausch said those responsible for the fires were “acting on the periphery of peaceful protest” and need to be held responsible for their actions.
“They put first responders and people in the community at risk,” Lausch said.
Kristen deTineo, special agent in charge of the Chicago ATF, said a total of 53 arsons remain under investigation by the ATF’s National Response Team, which is working with Chicago police and other federal partners to comb through surveillance footage and reconstruct crime scenes.
“We are not finished,” said deTineo, imploring anyone with information on the suspects to come forward. “Solving these fires and rebuilding our neighborhoods is important ... without partnership we cannot build trust.”
This man is among those suspected in the recent arsons in Chicago, according to the Chicago Police Department and FBI. (Chicago Police Department)
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said that while he understood the flash point of anger and frustration that Floyd’s killing caused in Chicago’s communities, some people saw it as nothing more than “an opportunity to steal and vandalize businesses and property.”
“Tensions were high during this time, and of course people are always more important than property,” he said. “But make no mistake, people were hurt by the damage to property that took place. Their communities were hurt.”
Earlier this month, federal prosecutors charged Pilsen artist Timothy O’Donnell with arson for allegedly setting fire to a Chicago police SUV in the Loop while wearing a “Joker” clown mask.
O’Donnell, 31, was seen on video taken by a bystander approaching the police vehicle parked in the 200 block of North State Street and placing a lit object into the car’s gas tank, according to the charges.
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After the squad car burst into flames, O’Donnell was captured in a photograph provided by a different witness posing in front of the blaze.
O’Donnell faces a mandatory minimum five-year prison term if convicted.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--University of Wisconsin students call for removal of Abraham Lincoln statue on Madison campus

“ History is complex and nuanced and a lot of the figures we revere , like ( George ) Washington @ @ @ @ @ perfect in all things , ” she said .
“ We should be able to @ @ @ @ @ of saying , ‘ This guy was all bad and we should get rid of @ @ @ @ @ our entire history because it ’ s based entirely on dispossession of Native Americans .
@

Kelly Meyerhofer, The Wisconsin State Journal

The Abraham Lincoln statue on Bascom Hill on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in 2015. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal)
MADISON, Wis. — Some University of Wisconsin-Madison students of color want the university to remove one of its most iconic landmarks, a statue of Abraham Lincoln, because of what they see as the former president’s anti-Indigenous and anti-Black history despite Lincoln’s legacy of ending slavery in the U.S.
Two student organizations, the Black Student Union and the Student Inclusion Coalition, pushed for the statue’s removal in early June, days after George Floyd died in Minneapolis police custody and protests erupted nationally over racial injustice.
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The students’ efforts gained newfound attention after protesters tore down two other statues at the state Capitol earlier this week — one of Civil War abolitionist Hans Christian Heg and another of a female figure that represents the state’s “Forward” motto.
The toppling of those statues divided the famously liberal city, with activists arguing the action calls attention to inequities long ignored by white liberals and others denouncing the destruction of what they see as symbols having little to do with the Black Lives Matter movement.
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The proposed removal of the Lincoln statue will likely fall along a similar fault line: Students of color say aspects of Lincoln’s history disqualify him from being honored in the most prominent spot on UW-Madison’s sprawling campus. Opponents, including UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank, question where the line can ever be drawn in recognizing the country’s history if the “Great Emancipator” is among those to be booted.
Since 1909, the bronze statue depicting the 16th president has sat steadfastly atop Bascom Hill, looking down State Street toward the Capitol Dome. “Honest Abe” is baked into the Badger tradition: New students rub Lincoln’s left shoe for good luck and his lap is often a last stop for seniors seeking a commencement photo.
But Lincoln’s time in office includes several actions that the Black Student Union says warrants replacing the statue with someone “who stands for the justice of all people.”
Lincoln ordered the largest mass execution in U.S. history, condemning 38 Dakota men to death by hanging in Minnesota in 1862. He signed the Homestead Act, which provided settlers with land taken away from Native Americans who were pushed onto reservations. During a debate speech, he argued that there is a physical difference between black and white races and that he favored the “superior” position assigned to the white race, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
“There is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races from living together on terms of social and political equality,” Lincoln is quoted as saying.
Lincoln also signed the Morrill Act, which established the nation’s land grant universities, including UW-Madison, by seizing land from Native Americans.
“For him to be at the top of Bascom as a powerful placement on our campus, it’s a single-handed symbol of white supremacy,” Black Student Union president Nalah McWhorter said in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal.
“As the leader of UW-Madison, I believe that Abraham Lincoln’s legacy should not be erased but examined, that it should be both celebrated and critiqued,” Chancellor Blank said in a statement.
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Lincoln’s opposition to the institution of slave-owning is well documented, and Wisconsin is the birthplace of his Republican Party, founded in large part to oppose slavery in America’s expanding west.
In a speech in 1854 in Peoria, the Journal Sentinel reports Lincoln said, “my ancient faith teaches me that ‘all men are created equal;’ and that there can be no moral right in connection with one man’s making a slave of another.”
Past efforts to end Abe
Student-led efforts calling for Lincoln’s removal have unsuccessfully cropped up throughout the years.
In 2015, a different student group called “About Race UW” created a list of demands, including the removal of Lincoln from Bascom Hill. But the Badger Herald reported the idea was abandoned after being seen as “too extreme” within the Black community.
More recently, the university’s student government called in 2017 for the addition of a plaque recognizing Lincoln’s role in the deaths of the 38 Native Americans. The Daily Cardinal reported that Blank declined, saying Lincoln’s role in the matter was “restrained” and he had refused a territorial governor’s proposal to sentence 350 others to death.
In the years since, Blank has not changed her position on keeping Lincoln just outside her office in Bascom Hall.
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“Like those of all presidents, Lincoln’s legacy is complex and contains actions which, 150 years later, appear flawed,” she said in a statement. “However, when the totality of his tenure is considered, Lincoln is widely acknowledged as one of our greatest presidents, having issued the Emancipation Proclamation, persuaded Congress to adopt the 13th Amendment ending slavery and preserved the Union during the Civil War.”
Complex American history
University of Connecticut professor and Civil War historian Manisha Sinha said she would be “horrified” if UW-Madison took Lincoln’s statue down because of his long list of redeeming qualities. She characterized the recent push to expand statue removal beyond Confederate generals and other obvious symbols of slavery to include widely celebrated individuals with complicated pasts, such as slave-owning presidents, as “misplaced.”
“History is complex and nuanced and a lot of the figures we revere, like (George) Washington or Lincoln, are not perfect in all things,” she said. “We should be able to tell that complex story instead of saying, ‘This guy was all bad and we should get rid of him.’ You could destroy our entire history because it’s based entirely on dispossession of Native Americans.”
[ Confederate monuments in Richmond, former capital of the Confederacy, ordered removed immediately by mayor ]
Taking down a statue of Lincoln won’t erase the pain minority groups were subjected to then and continue to experience today, she said. A better strategy is to acknowledge and contextualize this history, as well as finding ways to make amends, such as funneling more money toward scholarships for students of color.
That’s an approach UW-Madison has been pursuing in recent years to make campus more diverse and welcoming to students who have historically felt ignored.
University of Wisconsin students walk up Bascom Hill in 1999. The Abraham Lincoln statue is in the background of the frame, in front of Bascom Hall near the top of the hill. (Morry Gash/Associated Press)
The university installed a plaque on Bascom Hill last summer acknowledging that the campus was built on Ho-Chunk land and hired its first tribal relations director in the fall. The Wisconsin Union renamed two of its spaces previously named after prominent alumni who, while students in the 1920s, belonged to a campus group called “Ku Klux Klan.” And a multi-year public history project is underway to collect stories of individuals who experienced and overcame prejudice on campus.
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“Everyone agrees that there is much more to do,” Blank said, adding that some new commitments will be announced in early July.
UW-Madison students of color said recent efforts are appreciated but do little to overcome the daily isolation of living on a campus where 2% of the student body is Black and less than 1% of students are Native American.
McWhorter, a junior studying marketing and management, said she understands the university is overwhelmed with challenges right now amid the pandemic and associated economic fallout.
“But I do wish to see more action to show that Black students do really matter here,” she said. “It’s a lot of talk about how they support us, but I just want to see more done.”
[ ‘Poisonous thorns’: The times Abraham Lincoln got mad — like, really mad — at the Chicago Tribune ]
State Journal reporter Tamia Fowlkes and Chicago Tribune staff contributed to this report


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Aon to restore most salaries cut by COVID-19 pandemic — and pay employees back what they gave up, pl

Aon to restore most salaries cut by COVID-19 pandemic — and pay employees back what they gave up, plus a bonus

In April , Case painted a bleaker economic forecast when the pay cuts were announced , predicting in an email @ @ @ @ @ consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic were likely to play out for ” months , or @ @ @ @ @ ” citing projections that one-third of American workers — nearly 47 million people — could @ @ @ @

The Aon Center is seen at 200 E. Randolph in downtown Chicago. Aon, a global insurance giant, announced June 30, 2020, that it was ending salary reductions it had said were in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
Two months after cutting pay for most employees by 20% in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Aon is restoring their salaries, repaying them for what they gave up — and adding a bonus.
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The global insurance giant announced Tuesday it was ending those salary reductions July 1, in part because the likelihood of a worst-case macroeconomic outcome had “decreased significantly” since the pay cuts were implemented.
“We took decisive action from a position of strength to protect every Aon colleague against the worst-case economic scenarios from this pandemic,” Aon CEO Greg Case said in a statement. “We based our decisions on a set of core principles and a belief that we’d emerge stronger by staying together.”
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In April, Case painted a bleaker economic forecast when the pay cuts were announced, predicting in an email to employees that the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic were likely to play out for ”months, or even years to come,” citing projections that one-third of American workers — nearly 47 million people — could lose their jobs.
In restoring employee salaries, Case reiterated a pledge Tuesday that “no one at Aon is going to lose their job” because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Aon, which shifted its global headquarters from Chicago to London in 2012, generated $11 billion in revenue last year, according to SEC filings. The company has about 50,000 employees worldwide.
Cost-saving measures included a 20% cut in pay for 70% of Aon’s employees — those whose earnings were above an undisclosed salary floor. The median employee salary last year was $65,497, according to SEC filings.
Beyond restoring the salaries, employees will get an additional 5% of the withheld amount to “recognize their personal resilience and dedication,” the company said. Pay cuts will remain in place “at this time” for executive officers and board members, whose salaries were reduced by 50% in April.
Other cost-savings measures remain in place including a pause in Aon’s stock buyback plan, the company said.
Case, Aon’s CEO since 2005, has an annual base salary of $1.5 million, but last year earned more than $16 million through stock awards and other compensation, according to SEC filings.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Watch live: Chicago police and ATF officials discuss investigation into arson incidents during city

Watch live: Chicago police and ATF officials discuss investigation into arson incidents during city unrest

Chicago Police Dept .
and ATF officials discuss the arson incidents that occurred during city unrest at a briefing scheduled @ @ @ @ @

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chicagotribune--2020-06-30--‘I was just a person at a gas station’: Man recounts how he tried saving child who was shot

Police say Sincere was riding with his mother after a visit to a laundromat when another car pulled alongside in @ @ @ @ @ Halsted Street shortly after 2 p.m .
Someone inside fired at least seven times , @ @ @ @ @ chest and grazing his 22-year-old mother in the head .

Johana Stead hugs her 10-year-old niece Mya DeJesus on June 29, 2020, during a vigil for 10-year-old Lena Nunez, who was killed Saturday by a stray bullet in her home in Logan Square. Mya was a classmate of Lena's. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Jeremy Dean had stopped at a gas station in Englewood after picking up his children Saturday afternoon when a red sedan sped into the parking lot.
“A woman jumped out the car and screamed that somebody shot her baby,” Dean said.
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Chicago police survey the victim's car at the ER entrance of St. Bernard Hospital, after a woman and child were shot in the 6000 block of South Halsted Street on June 27, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
The baby was 20-month-old Sincere Gaston and he had been shot while sitting in the back seat of a car driven by his mother. In the next minutes, Dean would try in vain to save the little boy.
“I was just a person at a gas station,” Dean told the Tribune. “I heard a baby get shot and I just jumped into action and didn’t think about it. Something was triggered in me, I had to do something.”
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Dean said he opened the back car door and found the boy slumped over a blood-soaked car seat. He jumped into the car and drove to St. Bernard’s Hospital just around the corner from the gas station at 63rd Street and Yale Avenue.
Dean said he saw the boy’s stomach move and thought he was still breathing.
After pulling up to the hospital, Dean said he got out and sought help. After watching the woman and baby being taken inside the hospital, Dean said he ran back to his children.
“It hurt me that the baby died,” he said.
Police say Sincere was riding with his mother after a visit to a laundromat when another car pulled alongside in the 6100 block of South Halsted Street shortly after 2 p.m. Someone inside fired at least seven times, hitting the boy in the chest and grazing his 22-year-old mother in the head.
The boy was pronounced dead not long after he was brought to St. Bernard’s.
Chicago police, near the family of a woman and child who were shot, outside St. Bernard Hospital on June 27, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Detectives believe the gunman was targeting the child’s father and mistakenly thought the man was in the red Hyundai. Police have released a video of the car used in the attack but no one is in custody.
Homicide | 6100 Block of South Halsted| 06/27/2020| RD #JD278060 Help the Chicago Police Department identify this vehicle. The vehicle was in the vicinity of a homicide on the 6100 block of South Halsted. If you have any information, you are asked to contact Area 1 Detectives at 312-747-8380. You can also submit an anonymous tip at www.CPDTIP.com. If you see these individuals, DO NOT APPROACH. CALL 9-1-1 Posted by Chicago Police Department on Monday, June 29, 2020
Hours after Sincere was killed, a 10-year-old girl was shot and killed while watching TV in her home in Brighton Park. Police say she was hit by a bullet fired by gang members a block away. No one is in custody in that case either.
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At least 51 people were shot over the weekend in Chicago, 18 of them fatally, according to data kept by the Tribune.
jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Bud Billiken Parade through the years

Bud Billiken Parade through the years

Treja Kelley had been hesitant to come forward after witnessing the murder of her 17-year-old cousin .
But she found @ @ @ @ @ stand last year and helped secure a guilty verdict .
Her testimony , though , @ @ @ @ @ head , prosecutors said .
Just a few months after testifying , Kelley was shot @ @ @ @ @ not far from where her cousin had been slain .
She was 18 and pregnant @

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 35 The Dunbar Vocational Academy marching band performs at the 92nd annual Bud Billiken Parade in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood on Aug. 14, 2021. (Vashon Jordan Jr. / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago's Bud Billiken Parade, first hosted in 1929, is the oldest and largest Black parade in the U.S. and aims to bring students and families together before school starts each year.


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Attorney hints of September resolution for teen client in shooting death of Portage woman

A third defendant , who was then 15 , is being held at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center , @ @ @ @ @ for July 15 , to determine if he will be moved into the adult court @ @ @ @ @ being named by the Post-Tribune because he has not been waived to adult court , @ @ @ @ @ aiding , inducing or causing a murder ; murder in the perpetration of a robbery @ @ @ @ @ serious bodily injury , according to court documents .

The attorney for one of three teen defendants in the November shooting death of a Portage woman said in court Tuesday he is working on a resolution for his client’s case, which he hopes to have in hand by the next court hearing in September.
Attorney Mark Gruenhagen made the statement before Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary DeBoer on behalf of his client, Jonathan Brown, 18, of Gary.
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According to court documents, Brown, then 17, and two other teens also from Gary allegedly killed Adriana Saucedo, 27, on Nov. 19, shooting her to death just blocks from her home after picking her up so she could purchase marijuana.
Adriana Saucedo (Provided by Portage police / Post-Tribune)
Brown and Shaun Thompson, who was 16 at the time of the alleged crime, were both charged with murder in the perpetration of a robbery and a felony count of robbery in adult court because of the nature of the crimes. They are being held at Porter County Jail without bond; Thompson’s next court date, also before DeBoer, is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 21.
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A third defendant, who was then 15, is being held at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center, pending a waiver hearing scheduled for July 15, to determine if he will be moved into the adult court system. He is not being named by the Post-Tribune because he has not been waived to adult court, and faces felony counts of aiding, inducing or causing a murder; murder in the perpetration of a robbery; and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, according to court documents.
The juvenile’s attorney, Harold Harper, asked for and received a diagnostic evaluation of the teen, scheduled to take place at the Logansport Juvenile Correctional Facility Intake Unit, because of the seriousness of the charges against the teen and his lack of a criminal history.
Brown appeared in court via videoconference from the jail, alone in a room and wearing a mask because of the COVID-19 pandemic. DeBoer said Brown had a right to appear in court in person but because of the virus, signed a waiver stating that he did not object to appearing in court by video.
She also noted that one of Saucedo’s family members was in the courtroom for the hearing.
DeBoer scheduled the next hearing in the case for 9 a.m. Sept. 8 in her courtroom.
“I’m not sure what we will be doing by September with this but regardless, we’ll see you then,” she told Brown.
According to charging documents, the 15-year-old arranged a marijuana deal on Facebook with Saucedo on Nov. 19 in a conversation that started about the purchase of an iPhone. The boy told the older teens they should rob her instead.
The trio picked Saucedo up from her home in the 6200 block of Kathryn Court, stopped to buy gas with $20 provided by Saucedo, and drove to a parking lot not far from her home where Thompson allegedly shot her to death. In all, after Saucedo paid for gas, the teens netted $80 in the robbery, with Brown receiving $20 and the youngest teen and Thompson splitting the remaining money, court documents state.
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The teens, according to court documents, then drove to the abandoned Horace Norton Elementary School, 1356 Harrison Blvd. in Gary to dispose of Saucedo’s body.
The trio, according to court documents, went to eat at McDonald’s and Pizza Hut after leaving the school.
The youngest teen later led Portage detectives and his parent to her body, according to court documents.
Saucedo’s family reported her missing on Nov. 20. Portage police tracked the 15-year-old down through his Facebook profile and located him at Thea Bowman Academy in Gary.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--‘What if I don’t get better?’ Some COVID-19 survivors struggle with symptoms for weeks, even months,

‘What if I don’t get better?’ Some COVID-19 survivors struggle with symptoms for weeks, even months, mystifying doctors.

“ We ’ ve never been in the situation before , ” she said .
“ We just don ’ @ @ @ @ @ going to look like in six months .
How are these patients going to do @ @ @ @ @ they going to continue to have straggling symptoms ?
Are they going to have other @ @ @ @ @ t know or anticipate ?
And I think that ’ s a lot of the @ @ @ @ @ to develop now , to figure out what do we need to worry about weeks @ @ @ @ @ these patients .
”

Necole Muhammad, 47, walks through Palmer Park on June 25, 2020, in Chicago. Muhammad walks six days a week to reduce headaches that have been troubling her after recovering from COVID-19. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Candy Malina of the Lakeview East neighborhood tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-March, with a cough and flu-like illness she described as debilitating but never life-threatening or requiring emergency care.
Yet more than three months later, the 60-year-old social service agency administrator says she still suffers from lingering symptoms: hoarseness, coughing and gastric issues, along with an unrelenting fatigue that makes it difficult to function.
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Since her diagnosis, she has tested negative for the virus twice. A positive serology test showed that her body is producing COVID-19 antibodies. But she does not feel recovered.
“I just passed 100 days … and I still have that intense feeling of fatigue and ‘brain fog’ every day,” said Malina, who has mild asthma but was otherwise healthy prior to the virus. “I have not been able to drive yet or walk more than a few blocks.”
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Candy Malina, seen outside her Chicago home on June 10, 2020, survived her bout with the COVID-19 virus but continues to feel ill effects more than two months later. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
She is among an emerging group of COVID-19 survivors, dubbed the “long-haulers,” who endure symptoms for weeks — even months — past the expected recovery period, mystifying physicians and scientists who are still grappling to understand the new virus.
“This disease, it has many faces, and we’re just starting to scratch the surface of what convalescence is like,” said Dr. Reynold Panettieri Jr., a pulmonary critical care physician and director of the Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
While many COVID-19 patients bounce back relatively quickly from mild cases — and others are asymptomatic — Panettieri said a growing number are reporting a prolonged recuperation often marked by intense fatigue. Many of these survivors are younger and without major underlying medical conditions; some were even athletes, he said.
“Even those who weren’t in the (intensive care unit) or put on a ventilator have manifested this almost chronic fatigue-like syndrome for a period of time, displaced by weeks and sometimes even months, and it’s somewhat inexplicable,” said Panettieri, who is leading a six-month study of COVID-19 in front-line hospital workers.
Along with persisting physical ailments, he said many are also experiencing heightened fear and anxiety because so much about the new virus is still unknown.
Their questions loom, unanswered: When will symptoms fade? When will the exhaustion subside? How long is the virus still shedding? Will antibodies provide protection from reinfection, and for how long?
For Malina, the most troubling thought is that her health and stamina might never return to normal. She has read about patients who survived SARS years ago but suffered abiding chronic fatigue syndrome-like symptoms, without relief.
“To function at this level long-term is just really scary,” she said. “I don’t know at what point I shifted from ‘when am I going to get better?’ to ‘what if I don’t get better?’”
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‘You’re not alone’
One infectious disease expert from England has referred to this lengthy recovery as the “long tail.”
In a May blog post chronicling his own battle with COVID-19, Paul Garner, professor of infectious diseases at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, described seven weeks of poor health with symptoms that changed “like an advent calendar, every day there was a surprise, something new.”
“The illness ebbs and flows, but never goes away,” he wrote. “Health professionals, employers, partners, and people with the disease need to know that this illness can last for weeks, and the long tail is not some ‘post-viral fatigue syndrome’ — it is the disease.”
Earlier this year, as the novel coronavirus initially spread across the nation, medical experts were primarily consumed with keeping the most severely ill patients alive and handling surges at hospitals, Panettieri said. Now more physicians and scientists likely will be shifting their focus to understanding the long-term consequences of the virus, as well as what recovery looks like, he said.
The lack of definitive answers can be disheartening for survivors.
Some say their loved ones or employers have expressed disbelief at their prolonged sickness; other patients start to question whether the long-term symptoms are real and if they are the only ones suffering, he said.
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“They start to doubt, is this all mental anguish or post-traumatic stress from this?” Panettieri said. “The prolonged symptoms you’re experiencing are real. You’re not alone. Others are having the same kinds of symptoms, and the scientific community is working tirelessly to try to characterize the long-term consequences.”
A Change.org petition urging leading international health organizations to revise COVID-19 guidelines to “accurately reflect recovery periods” has more than 9,000 signatures from supporters across the globe. The site includes a mosaic of images of 360 patients who had less severe cases of the virus but are reporting prolonged illness, according to the petition.
Comments posted beneath the signatures offer a glimpse at the frustrations of COVID-19 patients who don’t seem to be getting better.
“I’m signing because I have been suffering for three months with this bizarre and debilitating virus, and many people seem ignorant or dismissive of the long haul, or the long tail of COVID-19,” one person wrote.
“I’m a doctor with symptoms over eight weeks now,” another person wrote. “Please spread the word to healthcare professionals so appropriate public health decisions can follow!”
“It’s not just about not dying,” wrote a third person.
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Still so much to learn
Necole Muhammad of the Roseland neighborhood tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-May but said her symptoms began weeks prior to the diagnosis.
The first thing she noticed was a strange metallic flavor in her mouth. Then she lost her sense of smell and taste. The cough and shortness of breath were moderate. Headaches felt “like a vise – someone squeezing a vise” around her head, she said.
Muhammad said she never had a fever, but the exhaustion and chills were intense.
“I can’t get warm,” she recalled telling her husband. “These shivers, it’s tripped out; I can’t fight it.”
In late May, she took another test, which came back negative. Yet weeks later, she said many symptoms persist.
Necole Muhammad, 47, walks through Palmer Park on June 25, 2020, in Chicago. Muhammad walks six days a week to reduce headaches that have been troubling her after recovering from COVID-19. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Her taste and smell haven’t returned to normal. The fatigue comes and goes. Walking outside twice a day seems to ease the headaches a little, she said.
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“Here’s the scary part,” said Muhammad, a 47-year-old licensed clinical social worker. “You are sick and you can’t, there’s nothing really you can do about it, except try to build up your immune system.”
Dr. Meeta Shah, an emergency medicine physician and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Rush University Medical Center, calls the virus “probably the most confusing illness I’ve ever experienced before in my life.”
Shah said medical experts still have much to learn, including why some patients recuperate quickly and others have long-term complications or residual symptoms. For example, Shah recently had a young woman come in with a blood clot that turned out to be an unexpected complication from COVID-19.
“We’ve never been in the situation before,” she said. “We just don’t know what this is going to look like in six months. How are these patients going to do in six months? Are they going to continue to have straggling symptoms? Are they going to have other complications that we don’t know or anticipate? And I think that’s a lot of the research that’s starting to develop now, to figure out what do we need to worry about weeks and months from now for these patients.”
After being sick for so long, Muhammad said she’s particularly concerned about the economy reopening, with Illinois and other states around the country easing restrictions. While she’s sympathetic to small businesses owners and workers who worry about their jobs, she fears for the public health consequences, particularly in states experiencing a surge in cases, like Florida, Texas and Arizona.
It can also be frustrating to watch others flout social distancing guidelines or behave as though the pandemic is over, she said. She recalled walking with her husband recently to get some Italian ice, and seeing a group of youths congregating nearby without masks.
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“It can have a serious emotional toll on the person, the level of anxiety,“ she said. “You have a different lens when someone approaches, or when someone coughs nearby.”
Muhammad added that she was healthy and exercised frequently, working as a yoga instructor, before she caught the virus. While individuals with certain underlying medical conditions are at a higher risk, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Muhammad believes there’s a misconception that COVID-19 can sicken only the elderly and people with existing health problems.
“I just want people to understand you can’t put a face or a specific profile … on COVID-19,” she said. “It should be a wake-up call for a lot of us. This could happen to anybody.”
eleventis@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus

As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward , the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have @ @ @ @ @ Chicago area or who have connections to our region .
These are some of those @ @

They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. Many were proud grandparents. Two were sisters from a tight-knit South Side family. All were loved, relatives say, and will be forever missed.
As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward, the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have lost their lives in the Chicago area or who have connections to our region. These are some of those victims.
If you know of someone or would like to offer a remembrance of someone please share your information here. To file a death notice, go here.
Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune: Our mission is to deliver trusted and meaningful local news. Your support allows us to continue providing the award-winning, watchdog and in-depth journalism our community deserves. Subscribe here.


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Chicago Gourmet cancels main event for 2020, plans smaller programs

This shouldn ’ t come as a huge surprise , but Chicago Gourmet will not take place this September in @ @ @ @ @ event , where thousands of paying guests crowd into tasting pavilions to sample the food @ @ @ @ @ s biggest chefs , will be suspended until at least September 2021 .

This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, but Chicago Gourmet will not take place this September in Millennium Park. The main event, where thousands of paying guests crowd into tasting pavilions to sample the food of dozens of Chicago’s biggest chefs, will be suspended until at least September 2021.
According to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” reopening plan, we are in phase four, which allows gatherings of no more than 50 people. Currently, larger events will not be allowed in the state until there is a COVID-19 vaccine.
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But that doesn’t mean that Chicago Gourmet, which is in its 13th year, will be entirely silent. According to a press release, the Illinois Restaurant Association will “soon reveal new programming that celebrates Chicago’s diverse culinary landscape while safely bringing food and drink enthusiasts the memorable experiences they crave.”
Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, says that guests can still “look forward to several experiential events championing a range of cuisines, chefs, beverage experts and more.” Those events will hopefully be announced in the upcoming month.
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Chicago Gourmet joins a long list of festivals that have had to cancel because of the coronavirus pandemic, including the largest food festival in the city, Taste of Chicago.
nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Column: A modernist masterpiece, the Farnsworth House, reopens for tours, weeks after floodwaters hi

Column: A modernist masterpiece, the Farnsworth House, reopens for tours, weeks after floodwaters hit

While the return of tours “ brings at least some relief , it ’ s nowhere close to the volume @ @ @ @ @ we serve during what ’ s typically our busiest time of the year .
The @ @ @ @ @ for as much as 85 percent of its income and operates without an endowment , @ @ @ @ @ email .

The Farnsworth House is a modernist masterpiece designed by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The house museum in Plano is opening an exhibition, "Edith Farnsworth's Country House," that displays replicas of furnishings of the house's original owner. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Weeks after being seriously threatened by floodwaters, the Farnsworth House, a modernist masterpiece in Chicago’s far southwest suburbs, will reopen for public tours Wednesday, with a temporary exhibit devoted to its often-overlooked namesake — the late Chicago kidney doctor Edith Farnsworth.
The exhibit, “Edith Farnsworth’s Country House,” will refurnish the single-story, steel-and-glass weekend retreat, now a house museum owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to its 1955 appearance, when it was 4 years old.
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Edith Farnsworth in a 1938 photo that was attached to her application form for internship appointment at Passavant Memorial Hospital (now Northwestern Memorial Hospital). (HANDOUT)
Visitors can expect to see wood furniture and other features that differ markedly from the house’s usual furnishings, such as the sleek Barcelona chairs designed by its architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
The reopening of the home in Plano, about 60 miles southwest of the Loop, is the latest sign that Chicago’s architectural tour scene is coming back to life after being shut down by the coronavirus.
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The Chicago Architecture Center, which features exhibitions about the city’s architecture at its 111 E. Wacker Drive headquarters, will reopen Friday. The center restarted select architectural walking tours June 20.
Architectural tour boats on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, which were sidelined by the virus, began running again in mid-June.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust has restarted interior tours of Wright’s Robie House in Chicago and the architect’s Oak Park home and studio. That step, like the Farnsworth House tours, is allowed under phase four of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s five-phrase reopening plan.
If crowds return, the resumption of tours will provide much-needed revenue for the organizations, which have been hard hit by the shutdown during their busy summer season. But it’s not enough to prevent some organizations from making layoffs.
The Chicago Architecture Center just laid off 10% of its full-time staff and most of its part-time staff, according to the center’s CEO, Lynn Osmond.
While the return of tours “brings at least some relief, it’s nowhere close to the volume of visitors and tour attendees we serve during what’s typically our busiest time of the year. The CAC relies on earned revenue for as much as 85 percent of its income and operates without an endowment,” Osmond wrote in an email.
Completed in 1951, the Farnsworth House is widely considered a masterpiece of 20th century modernism. It sits on stiltlike columns that have protected it from floodwaters from the neighboring Fox River, most recently in mid-May. On other occasions, however, floodwaters have inundated the house, leading to thousands of dollars in damage.
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The temporary refurnishing of the house is part of an 18-month focus on its namesake, a leading medical researcher who had a falling out with Mies over cost overruns. The architect wound up suing Farnsworth and prevailed in a trial.
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The exhibition was to have opened March 31, but was postponed because of the coronavirus.
Guided tour tickets cost $20 per person. In addition, for the first time, the house’s grounds will be open for hiking, lawn picnicking, or self-guided tours restricted to the house’s exterior. Tickets for admission to the grounds are $10 per person.
Tickets can be purchased in advance on the Farnsworth House website or by calling 866-811-4111.
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Four shot while sitting in car at Near North gas station, police say

A 26-year-old woman was shot in the lower left leg and was grazed on her right torso , police said @ @ @ @ @ shot in the hand .
A 23-year-old man was grazed in the right torso , @ @ @ @ @ shot in his stomach and back .

Four people were shot while sitting in a car at a gas station in the Near North neighborhood early Tuesday, according to Chicago police.
Someone in a red sedan fired at them around 12:30 a.m. in the 300 block of West Chicago Avenue, police said.
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A 26-year-old woman was shot in the lower left leg and was grazed on her right torso, police said. A 28-year-old man was shot in the hand. A 23-year-old man was grazed in the right torso, and a 19-year-old man was shot in his stomach and back.
All of the victims were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition, police said.
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No arrests have been made.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--City releases bodycam video from night former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep a

City releases bodycam video from night former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep at the wheel

Sources previously told the Chicago Tribune that the city inspector general ’ s office , which was tasked with investigating @ @ @ @ @ footage showing Johnson drinking for a few hours on the evening of Oct. 16 with @ @ @ @ @ his wife at the Ceres Cafe , a popular restaurant and bar at the Chicago @ @ @ @ @

The city of Chicago released bodycam footage related to an October incident where former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep in a car. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
The city of Chicago on Monday released records and body camera footage related to an October incident in which then-police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep at the wheel, which led Mayor Lori Lightfoot to angrily fire him.
But Lightfoot’s administration is declining to release Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s report on the matter, despite having pushed the City Council to approve a law allowing certain IG reports of high public interest to be released.
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[ UPDATE: Former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson drank ’several large servings of rum,’ sat in car for two hours at Chicago intersection, report finds ]
The ordinance backed by the mayor last fall would have allowed the corporation counsel to decide whether to release IG investigation reports in cases that involve a death or that are “or may be” a felony, and are “of a compelling public interest.”
Kathleen Fieweger, the Law Department’s spokeswoman, defended withholding the report on Johnson, disputing that there’s any conduct that may have been a felony.
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Records released by the city show the incident that led to Johnson’s firing started when an unidentified man called 911 to report someone asleep in a vehicle at a stop sign at 34th Place and Aberdeen Street.
The caller told officials that the vehicle’s lights were off but the engine was running and smoke was coming out of the exhaust.
“They’ve been sitting there at least five minutes,” the caller says at one point.
In footage from a responding officer’s bodycam, Johnson is at the wheel when the officer asks, “You just sitting here or you wanna go home?”
“I’m good,” Johnson replies.
The officer responds, “You good? All right, sir. Have a good night.”
Sources previously told the Chicago Tribune that the city inspector general’s office, which was tasked with investigating the incident, obtained video footage showing Johnson drinking for a few hours on the evening of Oct. 16 with a woman who was not his wife at the Ceres Cafe, a popular restaurant and bar at the Chicago Board of Trade building.
In his initial remarks about the incident, Johnson blamed his failure to take his blood pressure medication, saying he felt ill as he drove home from dinner with friends.
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The then-superintendent said he removed old medication from his weekly pillbox after his cardiologist had recently changed his dosage but that he had not yet obtained the new prescription.
[ Former Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson due a monthly pension of nearly $16,000 despite early dismissal ]
“How can I explain it? It’s just your body kind of gives you a warning with the high blood pressure thing that you may pass out, so I pulled over, stopped and I just rested myself until that feeling passed,” said Johnson, who underwent a successful kidney transplant in August 2017.
He did not explain, however, why he was driving home from a dinner engagement at 12:30 a.m., particularly on a day when he said he felt fatigued.
He also defended his driving home without being tested for whether he had been drinking, saying, “Someone asleep in a car doesn’t mean they’re impaired.”
But when she fired Johnson, Lightfoot told reporters she had reviewed the inspector general’s report into the incident as well as videotaped evidence that left her with no choice.
“I saw things that were inconsistent with what Mr. Johnson had told me personally and what he revealed to members of the public,” she said.
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For months, the city declined to release the video and documents in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from media outlets including the Tribune on the grounds that Ferguson was still investigating, even after the Better Government Association sued.
The city’s Law Department on Monday did not respond directly to questions about when the records had been received from Ferguson.
The release of records on an incident that gripped the city last fall came as Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown, whom she picked to replace Johnson, are facing daily criticism about their handling of the city’s gun violence.
Several recent shootings of young children have brought intense scrutiny about the way the Lightfoot administration is addressing crime heading into the traditionally violent July Fourth weekend.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
jebyrne@chicagotribune


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--Mourners gather under gray skies to remember 10-year-old killed by gunfire

One woman cried as a speaker asked whether there were others in the crowd who have lost a child .
@ @ @ @ @ “ Stop Gun Violence ” and “ Families are hurting.
” One woman handed out @ @ @ @ @ with a balloon in his hand held his candle up to light a few more @

Johana Stead hugs her 10-year-old niece Mya DeJesus on June 29, 2020, during a vigil for 10-year-old Lena Nunez, who was killed Saturday by a stray bullet in her home in Logan Square. Mya was a classmate of Lena's. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
A crowd gathered outside a Logan Square home Monday night to remember 10-year-old Lena Marie Nunez, who was hit by a stray bullet Saturday in the front room of her house.
Under a cloudy sky, mourners held white balloons and carnations. Speakers, including community organizers, aldermen, pastors and family, cried out for justice, neighborhood investment, protection for those who come forward with information and an end to the city’s violence that can end a child’s life in an instant.
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Neighbors came out to porches, watched from windows.
Candles flickered around a teddy bear on the sidewalk outside the home. Above dozens of bouquets was a banner that said: “We love you princess Lena.”
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Prisila Serrano lights candles during a vigil for 10-year-old Lena Nunez. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
One woman cried as a speaker asked whether there were others in the crowd who have lost a child. Some held signs that said “Stop Gun Violence” and “Families are hurting.” One woman handed out candles; a young boy with a balloon in his hand held his candle up to light a few more.
Albano Leyva, a neighborhood resident, said he came to the vigil because he was saddened by what happened to the girl and her family.
“We’re here to support the family,” Leyva said. “It’s not just her, it’s all the kids around Chicago getting shot for no reason.”
“They’re shooting at each other and they don’t know who they’re hurting,” Leyva said.
Shortly after 7:30 p.m., the crowd released balloons, some purple stars floating up against gray clouds.
One mom turned to her children and told them: “They’re going to go to her in heaven.”
Meanwhile, police officials reported little progress Monday in their investigation of the death of the second-youngest victim of gun violence over the weekend.
Attendees raise their hands and pray during a vigil for 10-year-old Lena Nunez. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Nunez and her 8-year-old cousin were sitting in the front room of an apartment in the 3500 block of West Dickens Avenue when a man fired several shots in the alley down the block, police said. Lena was struck in the head by a stray bullet and her cousin was struck by glass.
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Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said it appears that gang members were gathered outside her home and rivals shot at them, hitting the girl as she sat in the front room of an apartment.
Police said they have a description of a car in the attack but no one in custody.
“You have a 1-year-old and a 10-year-old killed for no reason at all,” Deenihan said Monday at a news conference at police headquarters.
He called on the public to come forward. “We’re going to need the help of the community,” he said.
Nunez’s death came on a violent Saturday, in which eight people, including three children, were killed in separate shootings. By Sunday morning, more fatal shootings added to the growing toll.
mgreene@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-30--More police to hit Chicago streets, but mayor and top cop say city must find other ways to curb viol

More police to hit Chicago streets, but mayor and top cop say city must find other ways to curb violence. ‘Dear God … we have to do better.'

“ It ’ s not enough for a mayor or a police superintendent or city government , ” Lightfoot said @ @ @ @ @ has to ask ourselves , what more can we do every single day in our @ @ @ @ @ around these children .
And I don ’ t mean just the victims , I @ @ @ @ @ .
What do we need to do to reach them , to give them hope @ @ @ @ @ recognize the sanctity of human life ?
”

Sophie Sherry, Annie Sweeney, Gregory Pratt

Friends and family of a woman and child who were shot in Englewood wait outside St. Bernard Hospital on Saturday, June 27, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
On Saturday afternoon, someone shot into a car without even knowing for sure who was inside. Hours later, gang members fired down a darkened alley at rivals who were near a house a block away.
The first shooting killed a 20-month-old boy in the back seat. The second hit a 10-year-old girl playing with her 8-year-old cousin in the front room of the house. It was the second straight weekend of children getting caught in gunfire in Chicago, and both the mayor and the police superintendent were clearly frustrated over what to do to curb the gun violence that has raged for nearly two months.
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Police Superintendent David Brown spoke of clearing corners of drug dealers and announced 1,200 more officers would be on the streets for the Fourth of July weekend, typically the most violent time of year in Chicago. But that number is down from the 1,500 officers deployed a year ago, and Brown said he wants to curtail overtime to give his officers a break.
“I struggle to make sense of the reckless gun violence that continues to take the lives of our young people,” Brown said at a news conference at police headquarters. He mentioned several times that he has been on the job just eight weeks.
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Hours later, Mayor Lori Lightfoot spoke of finding ways to reach those behind Chicago’s violence.
“It’s not enough for a mayor or a police superintendent or city government,” Lightfoot said. “Each of us has to ask ourselves, what more can we do every single day in our lives to wrap our arms around these children. And I don’t mean just the victims, I mean the shooters as well. What do we need to do to reach them, to give them hope and love and have them recognize the sanctity of human life?”
Chicago’s killers, she added, “aren’t strangers coming into our communities.”
The cases of the two slain children illustrate how difficult it is to reach those committing the kind of reckless actions that killed Sincere Gaston in his parents’ car and Lena Marie Nunez in her home.
Police say a gunman apparently believed Sincere’s father was in the car when he opened fire at least seven times from a gray Infiniti around 2 p.m. Saturday in Englewood. Lena was hit by a bullet fired down the alley by gang members who missed the rivals they were shooting at.
“You have a 1-year-old and a 10-year-old killed for no reason at all,” Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said, appearing with Brown. While detectives had descriptions of cars used in the attacks, no one was in custody.
Orlando Mayorga, the director of reentry services at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, works everyday with both victims and offenders. They are from neighborhoods that have long suffered from neglect and lack of resources, and they are often burdened by their exposure to violence and poverty.
“There is a lot of hurt there,” he explained. “There is a lot of childhood trauma that one has to peel back and work through to get to that core person. I don’t think a person is born with an idea they want to hurt people.
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“It begins with not valuing yourself,” he said. “Because in the moment, those moments that can either cost your life or another person’s life, it’s almost like consequences become a far thought in our minds. Until after the fact.“
While Brown spent much of his news conference calling for stricter enforcement of gun and drug laws — repeatedly referring to shooters as “evil bastards” — he also acknowledged how hard it is to police the problem away.
“That’s why they’re there — to feed their families,” he said. “It’s a bad choice. But without the help of mentors in my neighborhood, I would have been one of these kids.”
Brown called himself a “community policing person,” and said he believes officers who arrest young people need to use the ride to jail as an opportunity for mentoring. “We have to offer them options,” he said. “If we say, ‘Get off the corner and stop the behavior of selling drugs, carrying a gun,' we have to be able as a city to say, ‘And let me introduce you to an option that will help you provide for your family.‘”
Still, Brown said he believes too many people arrested on drug and gun charges are being released on low bonds or on electronic monitoring — a criticism several of his predecessors regularly voiced. He called drug dealing and possessing guns “precursors to violence.”
“When they have no consequence, violence continues,” he said. “Our endgame is arrest. … Every day we’re going to be clearing corners, every day we’re going to be clearing these drug corners to protect these young people from violence.”
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Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, an outspoken supporter of bail reform, later released a statement saying that “public safety remains our top priority. We will continue to focus our attention on violent crime, and prosecuting those when an arrest is made by law enforcement.”
She added that it is “critical that we continue to work collaboratively with our law enforcement, community, and justice partners at the city and county for a fair and equitable criminal justice system.”
Lightfoot spoke of longer-term solutions, like investment in neighborhoods, as she described her “incredible sense of dread, incredible feeling of despair because of the weekend violence.”
“What causes me the greatest heartache as a mayor, as a mother, just as a human being, is seeing our babies being killed — 1-year-old, 17-year-old, 3-year-old. A 10-year-old,” the mayor said. “This can’t be who we are as a city. ... Dear God, and dear Chicago, we have to do better than what we’re seeing.”
She spoke at a news conference where she unveiled grants of $4 million to a community group in Auburn Gresham on the South Side and $7 million to another in North Lawndale. Both communities are racked by gun violence.
In the first six months of the year, Chicago has experienced a sharp spike in shootings and homicides over the same time last year.
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Through last Sunday, the city saw a jump of more than 25% in the number of homicides, reaching 295, which is 60 more than the same period a year ago, according to a review of crime statistics. Ninety-six of those occurred during a 28-day stretch that covered most of June, the statistics show.
With the prospect of a long and violent weekend ahead, the city plans to deploy 1,200 more officers to “hot spots” from Thursday through Sunday. Yet Brown said he was apprehensive about asking officers to work more overtime.
“There’s a limit to how many hours people can work,” he said. “I’ve been a cop (for) 33 years. Tired cops make mistakes. This is not the time to make mistakes as a cop.”
ssherry@chicagotribune.com
asweeney@chicagotribune.com